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TRACTS 



AMEKICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



([General c r U s . 




VOL. V. 



PRINTED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU. STREET, NEW YORK. 



CONTENTS 



VOL. V. 

No. Paoes. 

142. The Death-bed of a Freethinker, or the Last Hours of Hon. 

Francis Newport, 20 

143. On Early Rehgious Education. By Rev. Daniel Huntington, 16 
141. Conversion of President Edwards, 16 

145. On Hearing the Word of God. By Rev. Robert Hall, A. M., 16 

146. Helps to Self-E.\amination, 8 

147. The Gospel Ministry entitled to Support. By Rev. James 

Bennett, D. D., 24 

148. The Barren Fig-tree, 8 

149. Christ Formed in the Soul. Addressed to the Young. By 

Rev. Philip Doddridge 20 

150. Memoir of WiUiam Churchman. By Rev. Thomas Sinclair, 16 

151. An Important Discovery, or Temper is Everything, . 8 

152. The Sin and Danger of Neglecting the Saviour. By Rev. 

John Owen, D. D., 20 

153. The End of Time. By Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D., . . 12 

154. Memoir of Dr. Bateman, an eminent Physician of London, 12 

155. On Universalism, ........ 8 

156. Search the Scriptures, 8 

157. To the Parents of Sabbath-school Children, ... 4 

158. Examine your Hopes for Eternity, 8 

159. The Rewards of Drunkenness, 4 

160. The Two Ends and the Two Ways, .... 4 

161. The Rescued Brand, 8 

162. Common Errors, 16 

163. Thomas Brown, or the Sabbath-breaker Reclaimed, . . 4 

164. Bethel, or the Flag Unfurled. By Rev. G. C. Smith, . 16 

165. True and False Conversions Distinguished, . . .12 

166. Christ the Only Refuge from the Wrath to Come. By Rev. 

James Hervey, ........ 8 



4 CONTENTS. 

No. Pages. 

167. The Single Talent Improved, ..... 4 

168. To a Person Engaged in a Lawsuit, 8 

169. Memoir of Mrs. Harriet Newell, Wife of Rev. Samuel New- 

ell, Missionary to India, 28 

170. Simplicity in Dress, 4 

171. Parental Faithfulness, 12 

172. A Time to Dance, 4 

173. The Cross of Christ, 20 

174. Quench not the Spirit, 4 

175. To Mothers, 8 

176. The Well-conducted Farm, 12 

177. Institution and Observance of the Sabbath, . . .20 

178. Joy in Heaven over the Penitent, ..... 12 

179. The Way to be Saved, 12 

180. The Swiss Peasant. By Rev. Caesar Malan, ... 12 

181. Duration of Future Punishment. By Rev. T. Dwight, D. D., 16 

182. To the Inhabitants of New Settlements. By Rev. Alexan- 

der Proudfit, D. D., 12 

183. On Repentance. By Rev. Jos. S. Christmas, ... 8 

184. The Chimney-sweeper, . . . . . . . 8 



]¥o. 149. 

THE 

DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER; 

EXEMPLIFIED IX THE LAST HOURS 

OF THE 

HON. FRANCIS NEWPORT, 

WHO DIED AT WESTMIXSTER, DEC. 8, 1692. 

ABRIDGED FROM THE NARRATIVE PUBLISHED BY A PERSONAL 
WITNESS OF THE FACTS. 



At sixteen, the honorable Francis Newport was sent to 
the University, perfectly acquainted with the Latin and 
Greek languages, -where he continued five years, and be- 
haved so agreeably to his religious education, that he was 
looked upon as a blessing and ornament to his family. 

At twenty-one, he came to London, and entered himself 

at , to study the law. His new acquaintance began to 

rally him for his religion : to whom he would say, " Gentle- 
men, you, who pretend to reason, cannot count laughter a 
conclusive argument ; if religion be so absurd as you would 
have me believe, why do you not give some fair reasons 
ao-ainst it ?" This, some of them would attempt ; and 
thouo-h their arofuments at first were as unsuccessful as 
their raillery, yet the poison sunk by degrees, and at last 
tainted him as deeply as themselves. He was adopted into 
their society, which met to lay down rules for being so 

VOL. V. 1* 



2 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

critically wicked, that the law should not be able to take 
hold of them. He had too much prudence to lay himself 
open : he still kept a fair correspondence with his friends, 
and in strange places w^as sober and reserved ; but in secret, 
and among his acquaintance, he was as wicked as good 
parts, abundance of temptations, and a fair estate, enabled 
him to be. 

On November 30, 1692, he was ill ; and found, notwith- 
standing all his precautions, that he had not shaken off the 
expectations of another life. 

This made him throw himself upon a bed, and break out 
into these expressions : " Whence this war in my breast ? 
What argument is there now to assist me ao-ainst matter of 

o o 

fact ? Do I assert that there is no hell, while I feel one in 
my own bosom ? Am I certain there is no after retribution, 
when I feel a present judgment ? Do I affirm my soul to 
be as mortal as my body, when this languishes, and that is 
vigorous as ever ? 0, that any one could restore me to my 
ancient guard of piety and innocence ! Wretch that I am ! 
whither shall I fly from this breast ? What will become of 
me ?" 

One of his old companions coming in, said, " How now, 
brother ! Why this ? Why this melancholy posture ? What 
is the matter?" He replied, " It is you and your compan- 
ions, w^ho have instilled your principles into me, Avhich now, 
when I have most need of them, leave me in confusion and 
despair. What advice or comfort have you now to fortify 
me with, against the fearful expectations of another life ? 
Are you sure that the soul is material and mortal, and that 
it will dissolve with the body ?" "So certain," replied the 
other, "that I venture my whole upon it." 

Here T interrupted them by coming into the room ; and 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHLN'KER. 3 

applying myself to the sick person, told him I was a stran- 
ger to him, but hearing he was ill, I thought it my duty to 
offer him what service I was capable of. "I thank you," 
said he, " I desire you to engage that gentleman, that sits 
there, and prove to him that the soul is not matter, nor 
mortal." This I endeavored to do by several arguments ; 
to which the sick gentleman answered only with a sigh, 
while his friend made haste out of the room. I was sur- 
prised at such an effect, and desired to know the reason. 
*' Alas, sir," said he, " you have undeceived me too late ; 
I was afraid of nothing so much as the immortality of the 
soul : now you have assured me of that, you have ascer- 
tained me of a hell, and a portion among those who have 
apostatized from their religion. You have now sealed my 
damnation, by giving me an earnest of it : I mean an awak- 
ened conscience, that brings my sins into remembrance, by 
reckoning up the numerous catalogue for which I must go 
and give an account. 0, apostate wretch, from what hopes 
art thou fallen ! that I had never known what reliirion 
was ; then I had never denied my Saviour, nor been so 
black an heir of perdition !" 

I stood speechless some time at the strange expressions ; 
but, as soon as I could recollect myself, said, " Sir, I would 
have you take care how you violate the mercy of God, and 
think so lightly of the sufferings of Christ, as if they were 
not sufficient for the redemption of the greatest sinner. 
This may be a delusion of the devil. If you are convinced 
the soul is immortal, I hope it is to a good end ; if you had 
died ignorant of it, you had been miserably undeceived 
in another world ; now you have some time to prepare for 
your welfare." 

To which he replied, "As to the mercies of God in 



4 THE DEATHBED OF A FREETHLNKER. 

Christ, I once knew and tasted what they were ; Avhich is 
now part of my curse, in that I am now sensible of my loss : 
they are, I grant you, sufficient for those that have any 
share in them ; but what is that to me, who have denied 
Christ ? I have daily crucified him afresh, and put him to 
an open shame. The devil has nothing to do with the tor- 
ture I undergo; it is no delusion of his, but the just judg- 
ment of God ; and it is also a part of my heavy judgment, 
that you have given me a sensible horror of my sin, by 
proving my soul is immortal. Had I gone straight to hell 
in my old opinion, I had endured but one hell, whereas I 
now feel two ; I mean not only an inexpressible torture 
which I carry in my own breast, but an expectation of I 
know not what change. that I were in hell, that I misrht 
feel the worst ! and yet I fear to die, because the worst 
will never have an end." All this he spoke with an air of 
eagerness, and such horror as is scarcely to be imagined. 

He was got to bed, refusing all sustenance, and had an 
exceeding sweating, through the extremity of his torments. 

Before I took my leave of him, I desired to pray by 
him ; which, with much reluctance, he consented to. In 
the midst of prayer, he groaned extremely, tossing himself 
as if he were in the agonies of death. When prayer was 
over, I asked him the reason of it. He answered, "As 
the damned in hell, who lift up their eyes in torments, and 
behold afar off the saints in Abraham's bosom, have thereby 
their torments doubled, first, by reflecting on the misery 
they are in, and, secondly, by observing the happiness they 
have lost ; so I, knowing myself to be hardened, and sealed 
to damnation, hearing the prayers of the righteous, to which 
God's ears are ever open, have my torment increased by 
thinking how I am excluded from such a privilege, and 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHLNKER. 5 

have no other portion left me, than blaspheming, weeping, 
wailing, and gnashing of teeth for ever." 

*'Pray, sir," said I, "consider there is a vast difference 
between you and them in hell : they are lost irrecoverably 
for evermore, without any opportunity of a reprieve, or 
hope of pardon ; you are yet alive, and have the promises, 
in common Avith other sinners ; Christ died for sinners ; and 
God hath sworn by himself, "As I live, saith the Lord, I 
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, hut that the 
wicked turn from his way and live'' 

He replied, with his usual earnestness, *' I will grant as 
much difference between me and those in hell, as between a 
common devil and a devil incarnate : if these are irrecover- 
ably lost, without opportunity of reprieve, or hopes of par- 
don, and I am yet alive, what then? what is the conse- 
quence ? Not that the promises belong in common to me 
w^ith other sinners, nor to any sinners but such as believe 
and repent. If Christ died for sinners, it was such as re- 
pent and believe ; but though I would, I can do neither : I 
have outstood my day of grace, am hardened and reprobate. 
If God delight not in the death of sinners, it is of such sin- 
ners as repent and turn to him ; but his justice will vindicate 
itself on such obstinate sinners as I, Avho have denied his 
power and providence, both in my words and actions. JSTow 
he has met with me for it : and ! it is a fearful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God. If God was not against 
me, I should not care, though all the power and malice of 
men were joined against me ; though all the legions of hell 
continued to torture me. with the most consuming pains; 
but when an irreconcilable God looks down upon his crea- 
ture in wrath, and consigns him over to eternal vengeance, 
this is intolerable, inexpressible ! Ah, who can dwell with 



6 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHLXKER. 

eternal burnings ? ye, that have any hope, that have not 
passed the day of grace, cry mightily to God day and night ; 
think no labor too much to secure you from the wrath of 
God. ! loJio can stand before him, when he is angry ? 
What stubble can resist that consuming fire ?" 

This, and more to the same purpose, he spoke with so 
deep a concern, the tears all the while trickling doAvn his 
face, that no one in the room could forbear weeping. Per- 
ceiving this, he said, " If ye weep at the image and bare 
relation of the effects of God's wrath, what, then, do I suf- 
fer, who actually lie under the very weight of his fury ? 
Refrain your tears, for it is in vain : pity is no debt to me : 
nothing is so proper for me, as some curse to complete my 
misery, and free me from the torment of expectation." Here 
he paused a while ; then looking towards the fire, he said, 
" Oh that I was to lie and broil upon that fire a thousand 
years, to purchase the favor of God, and be reconciled to 
him again ! But it is a fruitless wish ; millions of millions 
of years will bring me no nearer the end- of my torments, 
than one poor hour. Oh, eternity, eternity ; who can dis- 
cover the abyss of eternity? Who can paraphrase upon 
these words for ever and ever ? 

It began to grow late ; so I took my leave of him for 
that night, promising to come again the next day, when I 
found his mind in the same condition still, but his body 
much weakened : there were Avith him three or four divines, 
Avho had been at prayer ; Avhich, they told me, had pro- 
duced the same uneasiness in him as before. 

One of them reminded him that Peter denied his Master 
with oaths and curses, and was received again into his fa- 
vor. He replied, " It is true, Peter did deny his Master, as 
I have done ; but Avhat then ? His Master prayed for him. 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHXKER. 7 

that his faith should not fail : accordingly, he looked him 
into repentance, and assisted him by his Spirit to perfect it. 
Now, if he would assist me to repent, I should do so too ; 
but he has justly withdrawn his intercession from me : I 
have grieved his Holy Spirit so often, that he has justly 
withdrawn his influences from me, and in the room thereof 
has left me the spirit of impenitence and reprobation ; and 
given me a certain earnest of a fearful inheritance in another 
life." He spoke little more that day; much company 
pressing towards night, orders were given to prevent it : at 
six o'clock, we all looked upon one another to know what 
course to take ; no texts being offered in his favor, but which 
he turned another way. 

While we were thus musing, he cried out with the ut- 
most vehemence, " How long, Lord! shall thy wrath burn 
for ever against me ? Shall thy eternal justice exact upon 
a poor despicable worm ? What is my value or worth, 
that thou shouldest pour out full vials of wrath upon me ? 
Oh, that thou wouldst let go thy hand for ever, forget, and 
let me fall into my first nothing ! As my righteousness 
could have profited thee nothing, so my impieties can have 
done thee no hurt ; therefore annihilate me, and let me 
perish. Be not angry that I thus expostulate with thee ; 
it will be but a little while before thy Avrath shall force the 
most dreadful blasphemies from me. Oh, that thou wouldst 
take away my being, or misery ; neither can increase or 
diminish thy happiness ; and therefore let them both cease, 
and let my name be known no more. But if I must be, and 
be immortal, and thou wilt punish me because I have de- 
spised thee, let a privation of thought suffice, and let me 
pass my eternity in a dream, without ever being awakened 
by the pangs of torment, or by the gnawing of the worm 



8 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

that never dies. But oli, fruitless desires ! I am expostu- 
lating with a God that for ever hath shut out my prayers ; 
and only protracts my breath a little longer, to make me an 
example to others. ! ye rocks and mountains, that ye 
would cover and hide me from the wrath of an incensed 
God : but I cannot flee from his presence ; what he hath 
begun he will finish. He will extend his wrath against me 
for ever and ever," 

Here some one knocked at the door, and it proved to be 
the postman, with a letter for him ; which being told him, 
*' How," said he, " a letter for me ! A little longer, and I 
expect another sort of message ; I am very shortly to give 
an account of every secret action I have done ; and I have 
a mind to make an experiment to see how I can bear it. 
Pray, sir," added he to me, " do me the favor to read me 
this letter. The contents I know not, but I suspect it 
comes from some of my old acquaintance." I desired to be 
excused, alleging there might be something in it improper 
to be divulged. " Nothing," replied he, " can affect me 
now ; I have no honor, no reputation, and, what is yet 
worse, no heaven to lose, by this or any other act." Upon 
this, I broke it open. The letter received was as follows : 

"■ Dearest Sir — Understanding you are dangerously ill, 
and that it has had a melancholy effect upon you, I could 
not, considering our strict friendship, but endeavor to re- 
move those e\dls your mind may be under ; which, perhaps, 
is an office no less grateful than making the body sound. 
Sickness and death are the common lot of mankind ; and to 
repine and grieve at this lot, is to combat the laws of nature, 
and fight against impossibilities. What wise man repines at 
the heat in summer, or the cold in winter ? A common evil 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 9 

ceases to be an evil. But perhaps your melancholy suggests 
to you, that it is a dismal thing to launch into an unknown 
abyss. I answer, Sometimes I dream of dreadful things, 
but when I awake, all vanishes. Thus, if we examine death 
and its consequences by our reason, those formidable mon- 
sters grow tame and familiar to us. I would demand of 
him who asks me what estate I shall be in after death, what 
estate he was in before life. Pain and pleasure will leave 
their impressions upon a human spirit. If I was either 
happy or miserable before I was born, I must still retain 
the impression ; but I do not now, therefore I shall not 
hereafter ; I came out of nothing, and shall return into it. 
As the flame of an extinguished candle dissolves and loses 
itself in the circumambient air, even so the taper of life 
vanishes into ether, and is no more, when once the laws 
of the vital union are broken. Death itself is nothing, and 
after death is nothing. Take courage, man : either die like 
yourself, master of your own fate and happiness, so long 
as it is to be kept ; or else recover, and live worthy of the 
character of a person who knows how either to live or die. 
So wishes, etc." 

This letter was but fuel to the tormenting flame before 
in the breast of the sick gentleman, who immediately dic- 
tated the following answer : 

" Sir — Being not able to use my own, I have borrowed 

another hand to answer yours. You say well, it is a more 

grateful office to endeavor to remove the disorders of the 

mind than of the body. What you urge of the common lot 

of mankind, as death and sickness, I could wish were my 

case ; but my affliction is, that despair and hell are the 
VOL. V. ' 2 



10 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

common lot of atheists. N"ow your argument cannot reach 
my case, unless you first prove that atheism is as inevitable 
as death and sickness, and that therefore the effects of it 
are to be borne patiently, unless a man will combat neces- 
sity and fight against the laws of fate. I have formerly 
used this way of arguing myself, but wonder now how I 
could ever think it conclusive. 

" You say, that if we examine death and its supposed 
consequences by our reason, those formidable monsters 
grow tame and familiar : if, by our reason, you mean either 
that peculiar to atheists, or the common reason of human 
nature, I am sure these monsters will grow less tame and 
familiar, the more we think of them. Since no reason shows 
what an unexperienced death is, or what the change conse- 
quent upon it, how can we judge of things we do not know ? 
Reason on such things as long as you please, and you will 
be at last as far from the truth as when you began. 

" Your argument is extremely weak about a preexistent 
and a future state : I retain no impression of past happiness 
or misery, therefore there is none to come ; how that is a 
consequence, I do not see. Next you would have me be- 
lieve, upon your bare word, that death is nothing, and 
after death is nothing : pray, how do you know, having not 
yet tried ? There are a great many that say the contrary. 

" I have only concerned myself with the rationality of 
your letter, that you may believe I am not distracted ; 
which I would desire you to believe, that what I am going 
to say may not have less weight with you. It is true, and 
whether you believe it or not, you will find it so at last ; if 
I could force you to believe it, I would. All I can do is, 
to deal with you as a reasonable creature, by opening my 
breast to you, and then leaving you at vour liberty to act 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHLXKEK. H 

as you please. While we are in health and business, we 
may act contrary to our intentions, and plead for the thing 
we believe not ; but when we come to die, the vizard is 
taken off, and the man appears as he is. This is my condi- 
tion, and therefore I can have no motive to impose upon 
my friends. 

*' Religion is no imposture, heaven and hell are real, and 
the immortality of the soul as certain as the existence of the 
body. For a time we have officiously deluded and cheated 
ourselves out of religion and happiness : and God, who will 
not always be despised by his creatures, has chosen me as 
an example to you all, and a warning to the lazy and indif- 
ferent Christian. But who, alas, can write his own tragedy 
withovit tears, or copy out the seal of his oAvn damnation 
without horror ? That there is a God, I know, because I 
continually feel the effects of his wrath ; that there is a 
hell, I am equally certain, having received an earnest of my 
inheritance there already in my breast ; that there is a nat- 
ural conscience, I now feel with horror and amazement, be- 
ing continually upbraided by it with my impieties, and with 
all my sins brought to my remembrance. Why God has 
marked me out for an example of his vengeance, rather than 
you, or any other of our acquaintance, I presume is because 
I have been more religiously educated, and have done 
greater despite to the Spirit of grace. What egregious 
folly is it for dust and ashes to contend with its Creator, to 
question his justice, his power, yea, his very being ; when 
at the same time, without this God, every such wretch 
would immediately fall into nothing, being without him not 
able to exist one moment ! What vile ingratitude is it scur- 
rilously to reflect on His religion, who died to reconcile such 
reflectors to himself ! 



12 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

"Do not mistake yourself; it is not a light matter to 
contend with the God of nature, to abuse religion, and deny 
its Author, and, what is worst of all, to apostatize from it, 
as I have done. God has met with me for it, after a long 
forbearance of my inveterate impiety and profaneness. Let 
me entreat you to leave off j^our sins : who knows but God 
may yet receive you ? I speak not this out of any love to 
virtue, or hatred of vice — for I am hardened and impeni- 
tently reprobate — but, like Dives, I am unwilling my breth- 
ren should come into this place of torment. Make what 
use of this you please, only remember, if it does not reclaim, 
it will enhance your guilt, possibly to be overtaken in this 
world, as I am, by the just judgment of God; if not, be 
sure you will be met with hereafter. 

*' Which is all from," etc. 

As soon as the letter was read and sent, the night being 
far worn, we all took our leave of him, wishing him good 
rest and a happier condition the next day. To Avhich he 
replied, *' Gentlemen, I thank you, but my happiness is at 
an end : and as for my rest to-night, thus I spend the little 
remainder of my miserable moments. All the ease I expect 
will be wishing for the day, as in the daytime I wish for 
the night, and in a fearful expectation of my dissolution, 
and the account I must make upon it. But, gentlemen, 
good night to you ; and remember me, to confirm you in 
the religion I have disoAvned, that you may stand more 
cautiously by my folly, and secure the happiness I have 
forfeited." 

The next day came several of his friends out of the 
country. Having had an account of his circumstances, one 
of them told him that he and several more of his relations 



TPIE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 13 

came to town, and were sorry to find him in so weak a con- 
dition as lie appeared to be in, for now he w^as nothing but 
skin and bone, the agonies he lay under doing the work of 
the quickest consumption. 

He answered, " I am obliged in common civility to 
thank you all ; but who are my relations ? Our Saviour 
said, such as did the will of his heavenly Father were his 
relations. I may properly say, that none but the atheist, 
the reprobate, and such as do the work of the devil, are 
my relations. This little tie of flesh and blood will dis- 
solve in a moment, but the relation I have with the damned 
is permanent. The same lot, the same place of torment, 
the same exercise of blasphemy, and the same eternity of 
horror, will be the common lot of us all ; so the similitude 
of torments, place, and duration, will join us in a very strict 
imion." 

His friends, who only had heard he was distracted, hear- 
ing him deliver himself in such terms, were amazed, and 
began to inquif e of some of us what made him talk at such 
a rate. He, hearing them whispering together, and imag- 
ining the cause, called them all to him, and said, 

*' You imagine me melancholy or distracted ; I wish I 
were either ; but it is a part of my judgment that I am not. 
No : my apprehension of persons and things is rather more 
quick and vigorous than it was when I was in perfect health ; 
and it is my curse, because thereby I am more sensible of 
the condition I am fallen into. Would you be informed 
w^hy I am become a skeleton in three or four days ? See 
how then I have despised my Maker, and denied my Re- 
deemer ; I have joined myself to the atheists and profane, 
and continued this course under many convictions, till my 

iniquity was ripe for vengeance, and the just judgments of 
VOL. V. 2=^ 



14 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

God overtook me, when my security was the greatest, and 
the checks of my conscience were the least. Since I have 
denied that salvation which cometh by Jesus Christ, there 
is no other mediator or intercessor for sinners ; if there be, 
which is he that can redeem my soul from hell, or give a 
ransom for my life ? No, no ; * if we sin wilfully, after Ave 
have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no 
more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for of judgment 
and fiery indignation to consume the adversary.' * There 
remains no more sacrifice for sin,' that is the wound that 
pierces my soul. Christ Jesus was the only expiatory sac- 
rifice God would accept ; I not accepting — I would say, I 
despising this, there remains no other for me to accept of, 
no other to make atonement and satisfaction for me ; ' there 
is no other name given under heaven but the name of Jesus, 
whereby we may be saved :' and it is that Jesus whom I 
have reproached, and ridiculed, and abused in his members ; 
nay, to whom I have induced others to do the same. 

" Methinks your breasts all are open to me, and in the 
midst of your pity and surprise, you would bid me hope, and 
believe, and supplicate the mercy I have abused, because 
Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and to bring to repent- 
ance. In that I know all your thoughts. Alas, how fain 
would I hope and beheve ! Can a man in torments not 
desire to be freed from them ? No, assure yourselves I 
would upon any terms ; but the wrath of God obstructs the 
power of hoping and believing, and though I would, I can 
do neither. I know not what some divines mean, Avho say, 
He that desires to repent, does it in some measure ; I expe- 
rience the contrary. A fruitless wish that comes not into 
act, is no more than a conviction, which shall lay such per- 
sons under great condemnation. You would have me sup- 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 15 

plicate that mercy I have abused. Alas, of that I have no 
hopes, but what depend upon abused mercy ! 

" But why said I hopes ? I have no hopes ! My hopes 
are frustrated, my expectations are cut off; and what re- 
mams behind ? Why am I bid to hope and believe ? Oh, 
what mockery is this upon me ! To find me in misery, and 
bid me be happy, without affording me any power of being 
so ! Indeed, should Jesus Christ say so to me, it would be 
comfort ; but for you to say so, is the same thing as to bid 
a malefactor shake off his chains, and assume his liberty ; 
or call upon the dead to rise out of their graves, and chal- 
lenge their estates and honors again. How idle is it to bid 
the fire not burn, when fuel is administered ; and to com- 
mand the seas to be smooth in the midst of a storm ! Such 
is my case ; and what are the comforts of my friends ? But 
I am spent, I can complain no more. Would to God that 
the cause of my complaining would cease ! The cause of 
my complaining ! this renews my grief, and summons up the 
little strength I have left, to comphiin again, like an expir- 
ing blaze, before it is extinguished. It is just so Avith me ; 
but whither am I going ?" 

As he said this, he fainted away, and lay in a swoon for 
a considerable time ; but by the help of some spirits, we 
brought him to himself again. As soon as he had opened 
his eyes, he said, " Oh, cruel, unkind friends, to awaken me 
from a dream, in which I had a cessation from my tor- 
ments !" This he spoke with so lively a concern, that no 
one could refrain from tears. '' You weep," said he, '' but 
your tears come too late. Was I like another person that 
goes out of the world, it would be one of my greatest troubles 
to see you weep, or, at best, it would add to my pains ; for 
he must be unnatural and senseless that would not be troub- 



16 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

led at the afflictions of others, especially his friends and 
relations. But the case is otherwise with me. My cup is 
full, and runs over already ; the bitterness of my soul is as 
great as it possibly can be in this world ; my heart is full 
of horror and anguish ; no grief can add to mine, being so 
great that it is incapable of receiving more. Perhaps this 
may seem a paradox to you at first ; but what think you of 
time, and eternit}^, Avhich comprehends and swallows up all 
time ? Can any one add any thing to the Avrath of God, 
which includes the fury of devils and men? this being 
derivative from, and independent of that. And can any one 
add to my grief and torture, who am fallen into the hands 
of the living God ? No, no ; reserve your tears for your 
sins, and cast them not away upon one who is neither the 
better nor the worse for them." 

You may easily imagine what impressions this would 
make upon the spirits of his friends. However, in the 
midst of their grief and amazement, they had the prudence 
to think of the reputation of their family, and to provide 
for as much secresy as was possible. They therefore con- 
veyed him by night to new lodgings. But he was grown 
so weak that he fainted several times in the chair ; they 
got him into his chamber, and to bed as soon as they could. 
After a little rest, he yet found strength to express himself 
thus : 

" I am not concerned to know whither you have brought 
me, or your reasons for so doing. It had been something, 
if you had changed my state with my lodgings ; but my 
torments are greater than before, for I see that dismal hour 
just at hand, when I must bid you all farewell." 

The physicians were now sent for again, but they still 
declared they could do nothing for him ; only they ordered 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 17 

him some cordial julep, which they said might strengthen 
nature to hold out two or three days longer. 

My business calling me away for a da}^ or two, I came 
again on Thursday morning, pretty early. AVhen I came 
in, I inquired of his friends how he had spent his time. 
They told me he had had little company, and his expres- 
sions were much shorter than before ; but what he did 
speak, seemed to have in it more horror and despair. I 
went to his bedside and asked him how he did. 

He replied, "Damned, and lost for ever!" I told him 
the decrees of God were secret ; perhaps he was punished 
in this life, to fit him for a better. He answered, " They 
are not secret to me, but discovered ; and my greatest 
torment, my punishment here, is for an example to others. 
Oh, that there was no God, or that this God could cease 
to be, for I am sure he will have no mercy upon me !" 
" Alas," said I, " there is no contending with our Creator, 
and therefore avoid such words as may provoke him more." 
*' True," replied he, " there is no contending : I wish there 
were a possibility of getting above God : that would be a 
heaven to me." I entreated him not to give way to such 

blasphemous thoughts, for Here he interrupted me. 

" Read we not in the Revelation of them that blasphemed 
God, because of their pains ? I am one of their number. 
Oh how do I envy the happiness of Cain and Judas!" 
"But," replied I, "you are yet alive, and do not feel the 
torments of those that are in hell." 

He answered, " This is either true or false : if it be true, 
how heavy will those torments be, of which I do not yet 
feel the uttermost ! But I know it is false, and that I en- 
dm-e more than the spirits of the damned ; for I have the 
very same torture upon my spirits that they have, besides 



18 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

tliose I endure in my body. I believe, at the day of judg- 
ment, the torments of my mind and body will both together 
be more intense ; but as I now am, no spirit in hell endui'es 
Avhat I do. How gladly would I change my condition for 
hell ! How earnestly would I entreat my angry Judge to 
send me thither, were I not afraid that out of vengeance he 
would deny me !" Here he closed his eyes a little, and 
began to talk very wildly, every now and then groaning and 
gnashing his teeth; but soon after, opening his eyes, he 
grew sensible again, and felt his own pulse, saying, *' How 
lazily my minutes go on ! When will be the last breath, 
the pulse that shall beat my spirit out of this decayed man- 
sion into the desired regions of death and hell ? Oh, I find 
it is just now at hand ! and what shall I say now ? Am not 
I afraid to die ? Ah, the forlorn hopes of him that has not 
God to go to ! Nothing to fly to for peace and comfort !" 
Here his speech failed him ; we all beheving him to be dy- 
ing, went to prayer, which threw him into an agony ; in 
which, though he could not speak, he turned away his face, 
and made what noise he could, to hinder himself from hear- 
ing. Perceiving this, we gave over. 

As soon as he could speak — which was not till after 
some time — he said, " Tigers and monsters, are ye also 
become devils to torment me, and give me a prospect of 
heaven, to make my hell more intolerable ?" 

"Alas, sir," said I, ''it is our desire of your happiness 
that casts us down to the throne of grace : if God denies 
assistance, w^ho else can give it ? If he will not have mercy, 
whither must we go for it ?" 

He replied, " Oh, that is the dart that wounds me ! God 
is become my enemy, and there is none so strong as to 
deliver me out of his hands. He consigns me over to eter- 



THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 19 

nal vengeance, and there is none able to redeem me ! Was 
there such another God as he, who would patronize my 
cause ; or was I above God, or independent of him ; could 
I act or dispose of myself as I pleased, then would my 
horrors cease, and the expectations and designs of my for- 
midable enemies be frustrated. But, oh ! this cannot be, 

for I " 

His voice failed again, and he began to struggle and 
gasp for breath ; which having recovered, with a groan so 
dreadful and horrid, as if it had been more than human, he 
cried out, ''OH, THE UNSUFFERABLE PANGS OF 
HELL AND DAMNATION !" and then expired. 

How terrible are the judgments of God, even of that 
God who delighteth in mercy ! He who encourages re- 
turning sinners with the most gracious promises of mercy, 
threatens the impenitent with the most fearful denunciations 
of wrath. To the one he says, " Come unto me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ;" to the 
other, " Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish." 

Is there, then, no mercy for a sinner, who earnestly 
desires to fly unto Christ and his salvation in his dying 
moments ? There is one such instance of repentance and 
pardon given us in the Bible — that of the penitent thief 
upon the cross : there is, however, only one ; and it has 
been well observed, " There is one example of this nature, 
that none need despair ; and but one, that none might pre- 
sume." Remember, that in the midst of life you are in 
death ; that you may be called away in a moment, without 
time even to utter a wish for mercy. Delay not. Presume 
not that there will be time for you to repent and call for 
mercy by and by, if you neglect it now. 



20 THE DEATH-BED OF A FREETHINKER. 

CHRIST IN JUDGMENT. 

Day of judgment, day of wonders! 

Hark ! the trumpet's awful sound, 
Louder than a thousand thunders, 

Shakes the vast creation round ! 
How the summons 

Will the sinner's heart confound ! 

See the Judge our nature wearing, 

Cloth'd in majesty divine ! 
You who long for his appearing 

Then shall say, " This God is mine." 
Gracious Saviour, 

Own me in that day for thine ! 

At his call the dead awaken, 
Rise to life from earth and sea ; 

All the powers of nature, shaken 
By his looks, prepare to flee : 

Careless sinner. 
What will then become of thee? 

Horrors, past imagination, 

Will surprise your trembling heart. 

When you hear your condemnation — 
" Hence, accursed -wTetch, depart ! 

Thou with Satan 
And his angels have thy part !" 

But to those who have confessed, 
Lov'd and serv'd tlie Lord below, 

He will say, " Come near, ye blessed. 
See tlie kingdom I bestow ; 

You, for ever. 
Shall my love and glory know." 

Under sorrows and reproaches. 

May this thought our courage raise. 

Swiftly God's great day approaches — 
Sighs shall then be chang'd to praise : 

We shall triumph 
When the world is in a blaze. Newton. 



j¥o. 143. 

ON 



EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 



BY REV. DANIEL HUNTINGTON, 



Fathers axd Mothers — Permit a friend to your best 
interests to address you plainly and affectionately on a sub- 
ject of the highest importance. I plead the cause of those 
to whom your hearts are attached by the strongest ties — 
whose bodies and souls the God of nature and of grace hath 
committed to your care, and who, under God, depend on 
you for every thing precious in time and eternity. Will 
you not give the subject the regard of a serious and pray- 
erful mind ? 

The comprehensive precept of St. Paul to the Ephesians 
is, " Ye fathers " — or parents, for both are evidently interested 
in the direction — "provoke not your children to lorath, hut 
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.'' 
Eph. 6:4. This passage is of high authority, and of ex- 
tensive import. A complete illustration of it will not be 
attempted in these few pages. Some general observations 
only can be made, in answer to the inquiries which may be 
supposed to arise in the mind of every serious parent, on 
perusing it. ''In what way am I hable to provoke my 
children to wrath ; and what is implied in bringing them up 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ?" 

The first, or cautionary clause of the passage before us 
relates principally to the mode and degree in which paren- 
tal AUTPiORiTY is exercised. This authority, though of a 
VOL. V. 3 



2 ox EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATIOX. 

very general and discretionary kind, is not unlimited. Like 
every similar trust, it may be, and often is exceeded or 
abused ; and this is done whenever parents use unjust, un- 
necessary, unseasonable, or excessive severity, in domestic 
discipline. Some indeed have excluded every thing of a 
compulsory nature from their system of family government, 
and profess to rely wholly on the power of persuasion and 
example. But this system, I conceive, is unscriptural and 
fallacious. It is directly opposed to the dictates of that 
divine wisdom which has declared, " He that spareth the 
rod, hateth his son ; but he that loveth him, chasteneth 
him betimes." If children came into the world without any 
corrupt propensity, as some suppose they do, then the 
work of education would be light and sweet indeed. Small 
were the labor, and sure the reward, of sowing good seed 
in a vacant soil. But such is not the human mind. The 
stones and weeds and thorns of vice have preoccupied the 
ground ; and these will require of him who cultivates it, 
vigorous and persevering exertions, without which it will 
never produce the fruits of holiness. It is false tenderness 
which withholds correction from youthful or even infantile 
errors. Real benevolence, in all its exercises, regards the 
character of its object. To praise the blameworthy is as 
imkind as to blame the praiseworthy. The misapplication, 
either of rewards or of punishments, is essentially unjust; 
and as enlightened affection will not obstruct innocent en- 
joyment, so neither will it withhold a salutary pain. 

Let parents, therefore, beware of that dangerous par- 
tiality which would make them blind to the native deprav- 
ity of their children ; and wiiich would consequently lead 
them to rely on feebler means than God has appointed for 
their improvement. Let them remember that " foolishness 
is bound up in the heart of a child," and that "the rod of 
correction" is necessary to "drive it far from him." Of 
that true love, which will ever influence to the observance 
of this inspired counsel, our heavenly Father has conde- 



ox EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 3 

scended to exhibit himself as an example. "Whom the 
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom 
he receiveth." His benevolence regards the character of 
his adopted family, and is manifested in all those chasten- 
ings which " for the present are not joyous, but grievous ;" 
but which his wisdom sees necessary to produce " the peace- 
able fruits of righteousness." 

Having premised these things to show that something 
in the way of punishment may be requisite to the due main- 
tenance of parental authority, I return to a foregoing remark, 
and observe, 

1. The exercise of this authority must always be regu- 
lated by justice ; otherwise it will but provoke children to 
wrath, instead of correcting their tempers or habits. A 
sense of justice is implanted, by the Creator, in the breast 
of every rational creature ; and the youngest child, in whom 
the exercise of the mental faculties has commenced, intui- 
tively knows that suffering is the proper consequence of 
doing evil, and of that only. If, then, you inflict bodily or 
mental pain on your children without manifest cause, you 
will but irritate their passions, lose their confidence, and 
discourage their exertions. This is done when punishment 
is inflicted, or displeasure expressed, on the mere suspicion 
of a fault, or for inattention to a command or prohibition 
which was in itself unreasonable. The forcible maintenance 
of one requisition which is contrary to Scripture, or unsup- 
ported by the plain dictates of common sense, will do much 
to alienate the child's aff'ections and weaken the parent's 
authority ; eveiy exercise of w^hich will then bear something 
of that odious character which perhaps one only has de- 
served. But, 

2. It is not enough that severity be just. You must be 
well assured that it is necessary, before you use it. Guard 
equally against that overweening tenderness which can never 
see the necessity of punishment, and that gross and hasty 
authority which is supported exclusively by the rod. Some 



4 ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

parents seem to prefer this mode of government because it 
is the shortest, and to them the most convenient. But they 
should consider that it is a very insufficient, and often a 
very injurious one. Though the fault committed may be 
such that severe punishment could not be called unjust, yet, 
if expostulation, reproof, or any milder method of treatment 
Avould have availed to produce in the child the sentiment 
of real regret, and the resolution of amendment, that method 
were certainly preferable ; nor ought severity to be ever 
used, until every gentler method has been tried in vain. 
For if the child receives the idea that such severity is chosen 
as more congenial to the feelings of his parent, he will in- 
wardly resent it : it will irritate, grieve, and discourage him ; 
because it deprives him of an opportunity for voluntary con- 
fession and amendment, and almost compels him to regard 
his parent as an enemy, who finds pleasure in his pain. It 
is highly important not only that punishment should be just 
and necessary, but also that it should evidently ajypear so 
to the subject of it ; else, instead of having a salutary influ- 
ence, it will but provoke him to wrath. I add, therefore, 

3. It should not be unseasonable. The ti)ne of uttering 
reproof, or inflicting punishment, is of much consequence. 
It should not be too early or too late. Few parents, how- 
ever, err by too much delay in expressing their displeasure 
at the faults of their children. The generality are rather in 
haste to do it : either because they think that punishment 
will be more eff'ectual if it immediately follow the fault ; or 
because, during the irritation of their own minds, which the 
fault has produced, they find it easier for them to inflict it. 

The first of these reasons is founded in error. It is not 
true that punishment is generally more eff'ectual for coming 
immediately upon the commission of a fault ; on the con- 
trary, I would recommend, in most cases, that some hours, 
at least, be suff'ered to intervene. This will give the off'ender 
a proper opportunity for reflection on his conduct ; which, 
aided by the faithful representations of the parent, will gen- 



ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATIOxX. 5 

erally lead to conviction of liis demerit — a conviction highly- 
important to the salutary effect of punishment. Such delay 
will also enable the parent to form a more accurate judg- 
ment of the case, and give him opportunity to use those 
milder means of reformation which should always precede 
actual punishment. Thus will he most successfully avoid 
the use of unjust or unnecessary severity, against which we 
are cautioned by the apostle. 

But some parents may prefer the immediate infliction of 
punishment for the other reason which was mentioned : "I 
cannot," one may say, " summon resolution to correct my 
children, if I wait till the anger which the offence excites 
has subsided. I must do it while my feelings are warm and 
powerful, or else the resentment which I would express is 
easily overcome, and I make a mere mock of punishment." 
But sm-ely those who plead such a necessity are unfit to 
exercise parental authority at all. IS'ever attempt the cor- 
rection of your children under the influence of anger. 
Wherever this passion exists, it is visible ; and wherever 
it is visible, it must eftectually frustrate the design of pa- 
rental chastisement, which should proceed from a principle, 
and be accompanied by expressions of love. A parent can- 
not take a more direct method to provoke his children to 
wrath, than to exercise his power over them while he is 
himself under its impulse. Haste in the infliction of pun- 
ishment also leads to another evil, which may be considered 
as included in the apostle's caution. 

4. I mean excessive severity. Whatever is done in haste, 
is liable to be done wrong ; and this is peculiarly true with 
respect to the exercise of parental authority. As domestic 
government is not administered by the aid of explicit and 
particular laws, but rests much in the discretion of the par- 
ent, great care is necessary in proportioning the measure 
of restrictive or punitive power which is used, to the exi- 
gency or importance of the occasion which calls for it. 
Perhaps the substance of this obsen^ation has been in part 
VOL. V. 3* 



G ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

anticipated ; for it is evident that, so far as the exercise of 
authority exceeds the occasion, it must be considered un- 
necessai'y and uvjust ; and certainly it must be \evj dan- 
gerous in its tendency to those by whom it is felt. If 
prohibitions and reproofs are multiplied on unimportant 
subjects, they must tend to weaken parental influence when 
exerted on subjects of real importance. He who aims too 
high, as well as he who aims too low, will assuredly miss 
the mark. Let your domestic regulations be as feiv and 
sim2jle, and the claims of your authority as moderate, as 
they consistently may be ; but whenever they are resisted, 
let them be maintained witli calmness and gentleness, but 
with unshaken resolution. 

Thus much must suffice by way of caution against the 
abuse of parental authority. Those who wish to see this, 
as well as the succeeding branches of my subject, more 
fully and ably discussed, will do Avell to consult Babington's 
" Practical View of Christian Education," and the anony- 
mous " Hints on Early Education and Nursery Discipline," 
both of which are worthy the serious and careful perusal 
of all to Avhom the "nurture and admonition" of young 
immortals is committed. 

To proceed, then, Avith the preceptive part of my sub- 
ject, let me observe, 

1. In order to bring up your children in a proper man- 
ner, you must early and carefully study their dispositions. 
Common observation must convince any one, that there is 
often a very considerable variety, in this respect, among 
children of the same family. The temper of one, for in- 
stance, is warm and irritable, but pliant and manageable : 
that of another is comparatively cool and equal, but obsti- 
nate and unyielding. One is distinguished by timidity and 
tenderness of mind ; another, by fortitude and firmness. 
These and other distinguishing traits of character very early 
appear, and should be carefully observed ; as the knowledge 



ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 7 

of them may assist much in the proper discharge of every 
parental duty. Children require to be taught and governed 
very differently, according as they vary in their character- 
istic propensities, the degree of their susceptibility, or the 
measure of their capacity. A topic of instruction which 
would interest and enlarge the mind of one, would but con- 
fuse and discourage another. That which, to one, Avould be 
but wholesome and necessary restraint, might, on another, 
have all the effect of tyranny and oppression. While one 
requires severe chastisement, another would be sufficiently 
corrected, for the same offence, by a word or a look. It 
scarcely need be added, that parents, in observing these 
varieties of talent and disposition, should carefully guard 
against the slightest appearance of partiality ; that all the 
distinctions which they make among their children, in con- 
sideration of age, sex, or character, may appear to be just 
and necessary : otherwise their labor will be worse than 
lost. 

Having acquired that knowledge of the characters of 
your children which is here recommended, you will be pre- 
pared, 

2. To regulate their tempers. That this may be in a 
great measure effected, experience and observation abun- 
dantly show. It is not indeed in the power of any parent 
to destroy the seeds of sin in the hearts of his offspring. 
But he may resist and check, in a considerable degree, its 
growth. Whatever be the passion or propensity, in which 
natural coiTuption makes its earliest or most evident appear- 
ance, against that should parental influence be immediately 
and constantly directed. Do not argue that, because you 
cannot do every thing which you wish, therefore you are 
to do nothing. The Divine Spirit usually operates by 
means ; and the most hopeful means of correcting the irreg- 
ular propensities of our fallen nature are placed within the 
reach of parents. As noxious plants are most easily de- 
stroyed while just springing from the ground, so timely 



8 ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

exertion may eradicate from the minds of children and 
youth those germs of vice, which otherwise will 

" Grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength." 
3. Therefore earlj/ instruct your children in the truths 
and jyrincijyies of religion. Few, comparatively, seem to be 
sensible how soon the performance of this duty may be 
commenced. Young children cannot indeed be successfully 
or safely led into the depths of theology ; but some know- 
ledge of their Creator and his attributes may be communi- 
cated to them at a very early age. Before they can make 
any use of divine revelation, they may be taught to read 
lessons of important and delightful instruction in the book 
of nature ; to discern much of the power, wisdom, and 
goodness, displayed in creation and providence ; and to 
hear and lisp Avith reverence the name of the Maker, Pre- 
server, and Proprietor of all things. To these principles 
of natural religion, may soon be added some of the plainest 
doctrines of revelation ; for thence the parent, imitating, 
and depending upon the Spirit of wisdom, may take of the 
things of God and show them to his offspring, while yet 
they are unable to peruse the sacred pages for themselves. 
From the greatness and goodness of God, for example, as 
exhibited in creation and providence, he may take occasion 
to show the guilt and danger of offending him. These con- 
siderations will give weight to all the precepts of the moral 
law ; from among which the judicious parent will select, as 
the theme of early instruction, those which are peculiarly 
adapted to the comprehension and use of his interesting 
pupils. 

By the law is the knowledge of sin. A judicious ap- 
plication of the plain precepts of religion may therefore lead 
the young mind to perceive the necessity of a Saviour from 
sin and from death. The character of the Redeemer may 
then be delineated, and his work described ; and thus the 
way is prepared for a gradual inculcation of all the im- 



ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 9 

portant doctrines and duties of Christianity, as tlie age and 
capacity of the child may admit. 

These hints are not designed to furnish a rule of religious 
education adapted to all cases ; or to describe the order in 
which you should uniformly proceed in the work. If you 
are truly desirous to make your children acquainted with 
the way of life, you need not be at a loss for method or op- 
portunity. The best general rule is, to begin with those 
truths which are most simple and easy to be apprehended, 
or those to which the inquiries of the child may first lead 
the way. But whatever method you may adopt, or what- 
ever order you may observe, in giving religious instruction 
to your children, remember that "Christ crucified" is the 
grand pervading subject of divine revelation, the Alpha and 
Omega of that Avord of truth, through which God's people 
are to be renewed and sanctified. Let it then be your chief 
object to make them familiar with the history and character 
of their Redeemer : lead them to his lowly cradle — rehearse 
all the interesting particulars recorded of his childhood and 
his youth — exhibit his peculiar tenderness to the young, his 
condescension to the obscure and the ignorant — his com- 
passion to the indigent and the afflicted — and, above all, his 
boundless love to sinners, as expressed upon the cross. 
Teach them with all possible plainness the connection be- 
tween their sins and his suflferings, and the absolute necessity 
of those suff"erings for the salvation of their souls. In short, 
teach them to " look on Him whom they have pierced," and 
you will take the most effectual method to promote, in their 
temper and deportment, " whatsoever things are true, hon- 
est, just, pure, lovely, and of good report." 

Great assistance Avill also be derived from the use of 
those excellent catechisms, both of a historical and doctrinal 
kind, which may now be so easily obtained. To these should 
be added such other books as are adapted to the capacities 
of children and youth, and which are either professedly re- 
ligious, or at least of a religious tendency. And great care 



10 ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

should be taken to keep out of their hands those trifling- and 
corrupt pubhcations with which the world abounds, and 
which are often so carelessly distributed among the rising 
generation, to debase and defile their young minds. As 
soon as children can read, they will, if possible, buy or 
borrow books of amusement ; and as there are enough to 
be obtained, which combine amusement and instruction, 
their desire of them, though it should be regulated, should 
not be overcome. Instead of pampering the bodies of chil- 
dren ^\-ith delicacies, as is the manner of some parents, we 
should encourasfe and reward their dilis^ence and obedience, 
by giving them food for their minds. But let it be procured 
by a careful hand ; for food and poison are often exposed to 
sale on the same shelf. He who deals in them, disposes of 
both with equal satisfaction ; and, having obtained his profits, 
inquires not after the moral health of his customers. On 
this account, parents should not furnish their children with 
money to purchase books for themselves. They will easily 
be satisfied with the selection of a riper judgment, if they 
are not carried to the bookstore to assist in the choice, and 
thus to bewilder their minds amidst an endless variety. I 
hope it will not be thought that this subject is magnified 
above its real importance. It is well known that those ideas 
and impressions which are earliest received are longest re- 
tained. It is surely of great consequence, therefore, that 
the first books for children be such as tend to promote the 
interests of morality and piety; for otherwise they must 
powerfully coimteract the influence of the most faithful 
parental instructions. 

4. In order to give the best effect to domestic instruction 
and discipline, precept must be constantly illustrated and 
enforced by a consistent example. This remark applies to 
the most minute particulars of our daily deportment ; all 
of which are more closely observed by children than parents 
generally seem to suppose ; and each of which contributes 
its proportion to those ideas of good and evil, of right and 



ox EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. H 

wrong, which their young minds are constantly acquiring. 
On this subject I would willingly enlarge ; but my limits 
forbid. Whatever of principle or duty you wish to incul- 
cate on your children, remember that "actions speak louder 
than words," and that all your counsels and directions will 
go for nothing, if contradicted by your life. 

5. Finally : FroA/ ivith and for ijour children. If this 
parental duty be neglected, I venture to say all others will 
be but ill-performed, if performed at all : the hearts of your 
children are in the hands of God, and he alone can render 
your efforts for their salvation effectual. All those efforts, 
therefore, must be made in his strength, and accompanied 
by devout acknowledgments of your dependence on his 
grace. Nothing can have a more direct tendency to impress 
on the minds of children a sense of the excellent nature and 
indispensable obligations of religion, than a regular main- 
tenance of family worship. Regular I say, for unless it be 
so, the good effect of example is in a great measure lost. 
The exercises of family devotion, when becomingly per- 
formed, are calculated to give greater dignity to the parental 
character, and greater weight to parental authority, than 
any thing besides. Children can hardly fail to reverence, 
love, and obey those parents who appear to be thus solici- 
tous for their temporal and eternal welfare, and to hold such 
exalted intercourse with the King of heaven. 

Permit me also to suggest the importance of leading 
children to the throne of grace in a more private manner, 
as well as in the regular exercises of family devotion. Should 
you occasionally draw your offspring into retirement,, and 
there, having affectionately and solemnly set before them 
the nature of the relation which subsists between you, and 
the duties which you owe each other, your fellow-creatures, 
and your God, cause them to kneel down with you in the 
presence of their heavenly Father, while you implore for 
them the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Spiiit 
of grace, in the name of a crucified Redeemer, the happiest 



12 ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

effects may be expected to follow. This practice is especially 
recommended whenever any fault has been committed, or 
any difficulty has arisen among them, which calls for the 
interference of parental authority. 

You should not only pray with and for your children, 
collectively and singly, but also teach them to pray for 
themselves. Early accustom them to retire regularl}^ for 
this purpose. Furnish them with suitable forms of prayer, 
in the commencement of the practice ; and assist them, by 
plain and familiar instruction, gradually to lay their forms 
aside, and to express their wants and desires in their own 
simple language. Do not apologize for the neglect of this 
duty, by the stale plea that you are afraid of making them 
hypocrites. They may, and while unrenewed they will be 
actuated by wrong motives in the performance of every out- 
ward duty ; yet duty must be inculcated. To pray Avithout 
the spirit and the understanding is sinful ; and so is it to 
"restrain prayer:" you are not to take your choice of the 
evils for your children, but do your utmost to avoid them 
both. 

To this faint outline of parental duty, I might add many 
MOTIVES to the faithful discharge of it. But can this be 
necessary ? Will it not offend you ? Will you not think I 
deeply wrong you, in supposing that you can be unmindful 
of the highest interest of those who are bone of your bone, 
and flesh of your flesh ; and whose derivation from you, and 
dependence upon you, give them the strongest claim to your 
unremitting care and solicitude ? Indeed, I would willingljr 
rest in the conclusion, that nothing of the kind which I now 
propose is requisite ; and that no parent, at least no pro- 
fessedly Christian parent, can be found, so inconsistent as 
practically to " deny the faith," by giving less diligence to 
"provide for his own" the bread of eternal life, than to 
furnish their daily table with the sustenance of a mortal 
frame. But, alas ! facts are stubborn thinsfs. Multitudes 



ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 13 

of children are evidently growing up like heathen in this 
Christian land ; and too many instances are to be found, in 
which the offspring of those professing godhness are suf- 
fered to remain as ignorant of the Scriptures, as ungoverned 
in their tempers, and as irregular in their habits, as those 
whose parents make no pretension to religious principle. 
Such solemn and sorrowful facts must be my apology for 
dosing this Tract with a few inducements to the faithful 
discharge of parental duty. Consider, then, 

1. The duty of bringing up your children in the nurture 
and admonition of the Lord, results from a divine command. 
You have before you the express will of God on this subject, 
and in a requisition, too, which makes a constant appeal to 
the tenderest feelings of your hearts. AVhy has our Crea- 
tor established this interesting relation, made children thus 
dependent on their parents, and implanted in their breasts 
those tender sympathies which render this dependence a 
source of the most refined pleasure to both ? It is to 
strengthen the bond of religious obligation, and facihtate 
the performance of those important duties, in the discharge 
of which the rising generation are to be trained up for his 
service. The fowls of the air and the beasts of the field 
protect and provide for their young a few weeks or days, 
and then their connection is dissolved, and their relation 
forgotten. But the offspring of a human pair demand pro- 
tecting and providing care for years. Wherefore is this 
difference made ? It is because the latter have souls as well 
as bodies to be provided for, and it is fit that the strength 
of their attachment should bear some proportion to the im- 
portance of their claim. The doctrine that children do best 
when their minds are unbiassed by religious instruction, and 
uncurbed by parental authority, is a specimen of that " wis- 
dom of the world" which "is foohshness with God." The 
invariable dictate of inspired Wisdom is, " train up a child 
in the way he should go ; and when he is old, he will not 
depart from it," 

VOL. V. 4 



14 ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

2. The good of your cliildren requires that they be 
brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
Should you find a parent totally neglectful of the temporal 
wants of his offspring, turning a deaf ear to their earnest 
cries for shelter, food, and raiment, or contenting himself 
with cold ivishes for their support and comfort — saying, " be 
ye warmed and filled," and yet using no exertions to obtain 
for them those things which are needful to the body — would 
not your pity and indignation be at once excited ? Certainly 
you AYOuld consider the character of such a parent altogether 
ononstrous and abominable — and justly too. What then 
must be thought of the parent who, while he provides for 
the mortal bodies, neglects the immortal souls of his chil- 
dren — who exhibits no concern for their spiritual welfare — 
or Avho, though he may express a ivish for their salvation, 
will not be at any pains to use the appointed means of 
effecting it ? You can indeed only use means. You can- 
not renew and sanctify the hearts of your children; yet 
surely there is the greatest encouragement to the use of 
those means which God has appointed, and which, when 
faithfully employed, he has promised to bless. When you 
consider also that your children have derived their corrupt 
nature from you, Psa. 51:5, you must surely feel your- 
selves bound to do every thing in your power for their 
recovery from that degradation and misery into which our 
race has fallen. 

Lay then, I beseech you, these things to heart. Con- 
sider well the consequences of doing or neglecting your duty 
in this respect. Anticipate the joy or the sorroio which 
you will procure to yourselves, and the endless yood or evil 
which you may bring upon your precious offspring. 

How exalted must be the pleasure of one who has care- 
fully brought up his children for the service of God, when, 
as he declines into the vale of years, he looks around him, 
and beholds the blessed fruit of his labors, example, and 
prayers, in their pious, honorable, and useful lives ! If he 



ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 15 

be blessed witb abundance, how pleasing the thought that 
the portion* of it which he leaves behind him, will be in 
the hands of those whom he has taught to feel their ac- 
countability, as stewards of the divine bounty, and who will 
hopefully employ it for the glory of God and the good of 
their fellow-men. Or if he feel in his old age the cold blast 
of adversity, how doubly welcome the shelter, the table, 
and the couch, which his own good counsel has assisted to 
provide, and to which the voice of filial love and gratitude 
invites him ! 

On the other hand, what pain and anguish may every 
unfaithful parent anticipate from the situation and conduct 
of his children ! Have these pages met the eye of such an 
one ? Oh, let me expostulate — let me appeal to your con- 
science on this infinitely important subject. Suppose — and 
the case is not at all improbable — that one of those intrust- 
ed to your care should be suddenly arrested by a mortal 
disease. You call for medical aid, and while the physicians 
sit in council, your mind tremblingly vibrates between hope 
and fear. At length the melancholy, the awful decision is 
announced — the malady is too deeply rooted for the reach 
of human skill ; and you must prepare to part with an ob- 
ject, around which the finest fibres of your heart are twined. 
But the preparation of your mind is not all that is necessary. 
While that much-loved frame returns to the dust as it was, 
the spirit must return to God who gave it. And how is it 
fitted for the solemn summons ? Your child, perhaps, has 
reached the end of eight, ten, or twelve years. Has he an 
interest in Christ ? Has he hopefully repented of sin, and 
sought the grace of the Redeemer? Has he been well 

* I say the poHion of it, because I do not think it consistent 
that Christians should hoard up great wealth for their children, 
when the calls for religious charity are so loud and affecting. 
Lend, without delay or grudging, to the Lord. Thus you will 
make the safest investment of your funds, and lay up for your- 
selves and families the best inheritance. 



16 ON EARLY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

instructed as to the nature of sin, the character and will of 
God, and the way of salvation? Has he enjoyed the ben- 
efit of family devotion and parental example? Alas, all 
these questions must be answered in the negative. The 
precious opportunity for parental instruction has passed 
away without improvement ; and now the only hope — and 
that a forlorn one — is, that a few moments' diligence may 
compensate for the negligence of years ! In such sad and 
discouraging circumstances, the pastor is called to build 
where no foundation has been laid — to sow the seed of the 
word m a soil which has never been prepared. Should you 
be brought into such circumstances, would not your heart 
upbraid you ? What would you not then give for the tes- 
timony of a good conscience, to support you to the throne 
of grace, bearing thither in the arms of faith an expiring 
child ! 

To conclude — remember, I entreat you, that however 
smoothly you may pass through this life in the neglect of 
parental duty, you must meet your children before the 
judgment-seat of Christ. Though the relations and con- 
nections Avhich subsist among us in this life will then have 
been dissolved, I doubt not they will be called to most sol- 
emn recollection. How pure and exalted, then, must be 
their joy, who welcome to the right hand of the Judge those 
perfected spirits, w4iom they, in the faithful discharge of 
parental duty, were instrumental in preparing for the ser- 
vices, the felicities, and the glories of heaven! But oh, 
with what emotions of shame, remorse, and horror, must 
faithless parents meet their offspring on that dreadful day ! 
How will they stand together, to receive the sentence of 
everlasting banishment and '' destruction from the presence 
of the Lord, and from the glory of his power " — and how 
will their eternity be employed ! 



]\o. 144. 

CONVERSION 

OF 

PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 

FROM A NARRATIVE WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 

I had a variety of concerns and exercises about my soul 
from my childhood ; but had two more remarkable seasons 
of awakening before I met with that change by which I 
was brought to those new dispositions, and that new 
sense of things, that I have since had. The first time was 
when I was a boy, some years before I went to college, at 
a time of remarkable awakening^ in mv father's conofreofa- 
tion. I was then very much affected for many months, and 
concerned about the things of religion and my soul's salva- 
tion, and was abundant in religious duties. 1 used to pray 
five times a day in secret, and to spend much time in re- 
ligious conversation with other boys, with whom I used 
frequently to meet for prayer. I experienced I know not 
what kind of delight in religion. My mind was much en- 
gaged in it, and had much self-righteous pleasure ; and it 
was my delight to abound in religious duties. I joined 
with some of my schoolmates and built a booth in a swamp, 
in a very retired spot, for a place of prayer. And besides, 
I had particular secret places of my own in the woods, 
where I used to retire by myself; and was from time to 
time much affected. My affections were lively and easily 
moved, and I seemed to be in my element when engaged 
in religious duties. And I am ready to think, many are 
deceived with such affections, and such a kind of delight 
as I then had in religion, and mistake it for grace. 

But in process of time, my convictions and affections 
wore off; and I entirely lost all those affections and de- 
lights, and left off secret prayer, at least as to any constant 

VOL. V. 4^ 



2 CONVERSION OF 

performance of it ; and returned like a dog to his vomit, 
and went on in the ways of sin. Indeed 1 was at times 
very uneasy, especially towards the latter part of my time 
at college ; when it pleased God to seize me with the 
pleurisy, in which he brought me nigh to the giave, and 
shook me over the pit of hell. And yet, it was not long 
after my recovery before I fell again into my old ways of 
sin. But God would not suffer me to go on with any 
quietness ; I had great and violent inward struggles, till, 
after many conflicts with wicked inclinations, repeated 
resolutions, and bonds that I laid myself under by a kind 
of vows to God, I was brought wholly to break off all for- 
mer wicked ways, and all ways of known outward sin ; 
and to apply myself to seek salvation, and practise many 
-religious duties ; but without that kind of affection and de- 
light which I had formerly experienced. My concern now 
wrought more by inward struggles and conflicts, and self-re- 
flections. I made seeking my salvation the main business 
of my life. But yet, it seems to me, I sought it after a 
miserable manner ; which has made me sometimes since 
to question, whether ever it issued in that which was sav- 
ing, being ready to doubt whether such miserable seek- 
ing ever succeeded. I was iodeed brought to seek salva- 
tion in a manner that I never was before ; I felt a spirit to 
jDart with all things in the world for an interest in Christ, 
My concern continued and prevailed, with many exercis- 
ing thoughts and inward struggles ; but yet it never seemed 
to be proper to express that concern by the name of terror. 
From my childhood up, my mind had been full of ob- 
jections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty. But I 
remember the time very well when I seemed to be con- 
vinced, and fully satisfied as to this sovereignty; yet I nev- 
er could give an account how, or by what means I was 
thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the time, nor 
a long time after, that there was any extraordinary influ- 
ence of God's Spirit in it ; but only that now I saw further, 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS, 3 

and my reason apprehended the justice and reasonableness 
of it. However, my mind rested in it ; and it put an end 
to all those cavils and objections. And there has been a 
wonderful alteration in my mind, with respect to God's 
sovereignty, from that day to this ; so that I scarce ever 
have found so much as the rising of an objection against it. 
But I have often, since that first conviction, had quite an- 
other kind of sense of it than I had then. I have often since 
had not only a conviction, but a delightful conviction. The 
doctrine has very often appeared exceedingly pleasant, 
bright and sweet. But my first conviction was not so. 

The first instance that I remember of that sort of in- 
ward, sweet delight in God and divine things that I have 
lived much in since, was on reading those words, Noiv un- 
to the King eternal, inunortal, invisible, the only wise God, 
be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Tim. 1:17, 
As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was 
as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the 
Divine Being ; a new sense, quite different from any thing 
I ever experienced before. Never any words of Scripture 
seemed to me as these words did. I thought within my- 
self, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I 
should be, if I might enjoy that God and be rapt uj^ to him 
in heaven, and be as it were swallowed up in him for ever ! 
I kept saying over these words of Scripture to myself; 
and went to pray to God that I might enjoy him, and pray- 
ed in a manner quite different from what I used to do 
with a new sort of affection. But it never came into my 
thoughts that there was anything spiritual, or of a savincr 
nature in this. 

From about that time I began to have a new kind of 
apprehension and idea of Christ, and the work of redemp- 
tion and the glorious way of salvation by him. An inward, 
sweet sense of these things at times came into my heart, 
and my soul was led away in pleasant views and contem- 
plations of them. And my mind was greatly engaged to 



4- CONVERSION OF 

spend my time in reading and meditating on Clirist, on 
the beauty and excellency of his person, and the lovely 
way of salvation by free grace in him. I found no books 
so delightful to me as those that treated of these subjects. 
Those words used to be abundantly with me, I am the 
Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys. Cant. 2:1. 
The words seemed to me sweetly to represent the loveli- 
ness and beauty of Jesus Christ. The whole book of Can- 
ticles used to be pleasant to me, and I used to be much in 
reading it about that time ; and found, from time to time, 
an inward sweetness that would carry me away in my 
contemplations. This I know not how to express other- 
wise than by a calm, delightful abstraction of the soul 
from all the concerns of this world ; and sometimes a kind 
of vision, or fixed ideas and imaginations of being alone 
in the mountains or some solitary wilderness, far from all 
mankind, sweetly conversing with Christ, and rapt and 
swallowed up in God. The sense I had of divine things 
would often of a sudden kindle up an ardor in my soul 
that I know not how to express. 

Not long after I began to experience these things I gave 
an account to my father of some things that had passed in 
my mind. I was much affected by the discourse we had 
together ; and when it was ended I walked abroad alone, 
in a solitary place in my father's pasture, for contempla- 
tion. And as I was walking there, and looking up on the 
sky and clouds, there came into my mind a sweet sense 
of the glorious majesty and grace of God, that I know not 
how to express. I seemed to see them both in a sweet 
conjunction ; majesty and meekness joined together ; it 
was a sweet, and gentle, and holy majesty ; and also a ma- 
jestic meekness ; a high, great, and holy gentleness. 

After this my sense of divine things gradually increased, 
and became more and more lively, and had more of that 
inward sweetness. The appearance of every thing was 
altered : there seemed to be, as it were, a calm, beauti- 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 5 

ful appearance of divine glory in almost every thing. 
God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love seemed 
to appear in every thing ; in the sun, moon, and stars ; in 
the clouds, and blue sky ; in the grass, flowers, and trees ; 
in the water, and all nature ; which used greatly to fix my 
mind. I often used to sit and view the moon for a long 
time ; and in the day spent much time in viewing the 
clouds and sky, to behold the glory of God in these things ; 
in the meantime singing forth, with a low voice, my con- 
templations of the Creator and Redeemer. Scarcely any 
thing, among all the works of nature, was so delightful to 
me as thunder and lightning : formerly, nothing had been 
so terrible to me. Before, I used to be uncommonly ter- 
rified with thunder, and to be struck with terror when I 
saw a thunder-storm rising ; but now, on the contrary, it 
rejoiced me. I felt God, if I may so speak, at the first 
appearance of a thunder-storm, and used to take the op- 
portunity, at such times, to fix myself in order to view the 
clouds, and see the lightnings play, and hear the majestic 
and awful voice of God's thunder, which oftentimes was 
exceedingly entertaining, leading me to sweet contem- 
plations of my great and glorious God. While thus en- 
gaged, it always seemed natural for me to sing or chant 
forth my meditations ; or to speak my thoughts in solilo- 
quies with a singing voice. 

I felt then great satisfaction as to my good state : but 
that did not content me. I had vehement longings of soul 
after God and Christ, and after more holiness, wherewith 
my heart seemed to be full, and ready to break ; which 
often brought to my mind the words of the Psalmist, Mjj 
soul breahctli for the longing it hath. Ps. 119 : 28. I often 
felt a mourning and lamenting in my heart, that I had not 
turned to God sooner, that I might have had more time 
to grow in grace. My mind was greatly fixed on divine 
things ; I was almost perpetually in the contemj^lation of 
them. I spent most of my time in thinking of divine things, 



6 COXVERSION OF 

year after year ; often walking alone in the woods and so- 
litary places, for meditation, soliloquy, and prayer, and 
converse with God. ; and it was always my manner, at such 
times, to sing forth my contemplations. I was almost con- 
stantly in ejaculatory prayer, wherever I was. Prayer 
seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which the 
inward burnings of my heart had vent. The delights 
which I now felt in the things of religion were of an ex- 
ceedingly different kind from those before mentioned, that 
I had when a boy, and what I then had no more notion of 
than one born blind has of pleasant and beautiful colors. 
They were of a more inward, pure, soul-animating, and 
refreshing nature. Those former delights never reached 
the heart, and did not arise from any sight of the divine 
excellency of the things of God, or any taste of the soul- 
satisfying and life-giving good there is in them. 

My sense of divine things seemed gradually to increase 
for about a year and a half, when I went to preach at New- 
York, and while I was there I felt them very sensibly in 
a much higher degree than before. My longings after 
God and holiness were much increased. Pure and hum- 
ble, holy and heavenly Christianity, appeared exceeding- 
ly amiable to me. I felt an ardent desire to be in every 
thing a complete christian, and conformed to the bless- 
ed image of Christ ; and that I might live, in all things, 
according to the pure and blessed rules of the Gospel. I 
had an eager thirsting after progress in these things ; which 
put me upon pursuing and pressing after them. It was 
my continual strife, day and night, and constant inquiry, 
how I should be more holy, and live more holily, and more 
becoming a child of God and a disciple of Christ. I now 
sought an increase of grace and holiness, and a holy life, 
with much more earnestness than ever I sought gi-ace be- 
fore I had it. I used to be continually examining myself, 
and studying and contriving for likely ways and means how 
I should live holily, with far greater diligence and earnest 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 7 

ness tlian ever I pursued any thing in my life ; but yet with 
too great a dependance on my own strength, which after- 
wards proved a great damage to me. My experience had 
not then taught me, as it has done since, my extreme 
feebleness and impotence, every manner of way, and the 
bottomless depths of secret corruption and deceit there 
were in my heart. However, I went on with my eager 
pursuit after more holiness and conformity to Christ. 

The heaven I desired was a heaven of holiness : to be 
with God, and to spend my eternity in divine love and 
holy communion with Christ. My mind was very much 
taken up with contemplations of heaven and the enjoy- 
ments there, and living there in perfect holiness, humility, 
and love ; and it used at that time to appear a great part of 
the happiness of heaven, that there the saints could ex- 
press their love to Christ. It appeared to me a great clocr 
and burden, that what I felt within I could not express as 
I desired. The inward ardor of my soul seemed to be 
hindered and pent up, and could not freely flame out as it 
would. I used often to think how in heaven this principle 
should freely and fully vent and express itself Heaven 
appeared exceedingly delightful, as a world of love. It 
appeared to me that all happiness consisted in livino- in 
pure, humble, heavenly, divine love. 

I remember the thoughts I used then to have of holiness, 
and said sometimes to myself, " I do certainly know that I 
love holiness, such as the Gospel prescribes." It appeared 
to me that there was nothing in it but what was ravishingly 
lovely; the highest beauty and amiableness — a divine beau- 
ty; far purer than any thing here upon earth ; and that every 
thing else was like mire and defilement in comparison with it. 

Holiness, as I then wrote down some of my contempla- 
tions on it, appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleasant, 
charming, serene, calm nature ; which brought an inex- 
pressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, and ravishment 
to the soul. In other words, that it made the soul like a 
field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant flow- 



8 CONVERSION OF 

ers ; all pleasant, delightful, and undisturbed ; enjoying a 
sweet calm and the gently vivifying beams of the sun. 
The soul of a true christian, as I then wi'ote my medita- 
tions, appeared like such a little white flower as we see in 
the spring of the year; low and humble on the ground, 
ojDening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the 
sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture; dif- 
fusing around a sweet fragrancy ; standing peacefully and 
lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about ; all in 
like manner opening their bosoms to drink in the light of 
the sun. There was no part of creature holiness of which 
I had so great a sense of its loveliness as humility, bro- 
keiniess of heart, and poverty of spirit ; and there was 
nothing that I so eaniestly longed for. My heart panted 
after this : to lie low before God, as in the dust ; that I 
might be nothing, and that God might be all ; that I might 
become as a little child. 

While at New-York I was sometimes much affected 
with reflections on my past life, considering how late it 
was before I began to be truly religious ; and how wick- 
edly I had lived till then ; and once so as to weep abun- 
dantly, and for a considerable time together. 

On January 12, 1723, I made a solemn dedication of 
myself to God, and wrote it down ; giving up myself, and 
all that I had to God ; to be for the future in no respect 
my own ; to act as one that had no right to himself, in any 
respect ; and solemnly vowed to take God for my whole 
portion and felicity ; looking on nothing else as any part 
of my happiness, nor acting as if it were ; and his law for 
the constant rule of my obedience ; engaging to fight, with 
all my might, against the vrorld, the flesh, and the devil, 
to the end of my life. But I have reason to be infinitely 
humbled when I consider how much I have failed of an- 
swering my obligations. 

I had then abundance of sweet religious conversation in 
the family where I lived, with Mr. John Smith and his 
pious mother, ]\Iy heart was knit in affection to those in 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS. » 

whom were appearances of true piety ; and I could bear 
the thoughts of no other companions but such as were 
holy, and the disciples of the blessed Jesus. I had great 
lono-intrs for the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the 
world ; and my secret prayer used to be, in great part, 
taken up in praying for it. If I heard the least hint of any 
thing that happened, in any part of the world, that ap- 
peared, in some respect or other, to have a favorable as- 
pect on the interests of Christ's kingdom, my soul eagerly 
seized upon it, and it would much animate and refresh me. 
I used to be eager to read public newspapers, mainly for 
that end ; to see if I could not find some news favorable 
to the interests of religion in the world. 

I very frequently used to retire into a solitary place, on 
the bank of Hudson's river, at some distance from the city, 
for contemplation on divine things, and secret converse 
with God ; and had many delightful hours there. Sometimes 
Mr. Smith and I walked there together, to converse on the 
things of God ; and our conversation used to turn much on 
the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the world, and the 
glorious things that God would accomplish for his church 
in the latter days. I had then, and at other times, the 
greatest delight in the holy Scriptures of any book what- 
soever. Oftentimes, in reading it, every word seemed to 
touch my heart. I felt a harmony between something in 
my heart and those sweet and powerful words. I seemed 
often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, 
and such a refreshing food communicated, that I could not 
get along in reading ; often dwelling long on one sentence, 
to see the wonders contained in it ; and yet almost every 
sentence seemed to be full of wonders. 

I came away from New- York in the month of April, 
1723, and had a most bitter parting with Mrs. Smith and 
her son. My heart seemed to sink within me at leaving 
the family and city where I had enjoy ad so many sweet 
and pleasant days. I went from New-York to Wethers- 
field by water, and as I sailed away, I kept sight of the 
VOL. V. 5 



10 CONV^ERSIOX OF 

city as long as I could. However, that night, after this 
sorrowful parting, I was greatly comforted in God at West- 
chester, where we went ashore to lodge, and had a plea- 
sant time of it all the voyage to Saybrook. It was sweet 
to me to think of meeting dear christians in heaven, 
where we should never part more. At Saybrook we went 
ashore to lodge on Saturday, and there kept the Sabbath, 
where I had a sweet and refreshing season, walking alone 
in the fields. 

After I came home to Windsor I remained much in a 
like frame of mind as when at New-York, only sometimes 
I felt my heart ready to sink with the thoughts of my 
friends at New- York. My support was in contemplations 
on the heavenly state, as I find in my Diary of May 1, 
1723. It was a comfort to think of that state where there 
is fulness of joy ; where reigns heavenly, calm, and delight- 
ful love, without alloy ; where there are continually the 
dearest expressions of this love ; where is the enjoyment 
of the persons loved, without ever parting ; where those 
persons who appear so lovely in this world, will really be 
inexpressibly more lovely and full of love to us. And how 
sweetly will the mutual lovers join together to sing the 
praises of God and the Lamb! How will it fill us with 
rapture to think that this enjoyment, these sweet exer- 
cises, will never cease, but will last to all eternity ! 

I continued much in the same frame, in general, as 
when at New-Y^ork, till I went to New-Haven as tutor of 
the college, particularly once at Bolton, on a journey from 
Boston, while walking out alone in the fields. After I 
went to New-Haven I sunk in religion, my mind being 
diverted from my eager pursuits after holiness by some 
affairs that greatly perplexed and distracted my thoughts. 

In September, 1725, I was taken ill at New-Haven, 
and while endeavoring to go home to Windsor, was so 
ill at the North Village that I could go no further, where 
I lay sick for about a quarter of a year. In this sickness 
God was pleased to visit me again with the sweet influ- 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 11 

encei of his Spirit. My mind was greatly engaged there 
in divine and pleasant contemplations and longings of souj 
I observed that those w^ho watched with me, would often 
be looking out wishfully for the morning, which brought 
to my mind those words of the Psalmist, and which my 
soul, with delight, made its own language, My soul wail- 
etlifor the Lord, more than they that icatchfor the 7norning^ 
I say, more than they that tvatch for the morning ; and 
when the light of day came in at the window it refreshed 
my soul from one morning to another. It seemed to be 
some image of the light of G od's glory. 

I remember, about that time, I used gi'eatly to long for 
the conversion of some that I was concerned with ; I could 
gladly honor them, and with delight be a servant to them, 
and lie at their feet, if they were but truly holy. But, 
some time after this I was again greatly diverted with 
some temporal concerns that exceedingly took up my 
thoughts, greatly to the wounding of my soul, and went 
on through various exercises that it would be tedious to 
relate, which gave me much more experience of my own 
heart than ever I had before. 

Since I came to Northampton I have often had sweet 
complacency in God, in views of his glorious perfections 
and of the excellency of Jesus Chrict. God has appeared 
to me a glorious and lovely being, chiefly on the account 
of his holiness. The holiness of God has always appeared 
to me the most lovely of all his attributes. The doctrines 
of God's sovereignty and free grace, in showing " mercy 
to whom he would show mercy," and man's absolute de- 
pendance on the operations of God's Holy Spirit, have 
very often appeared to me as sweet and glorious doctrines. 
These doctrines have been much my delight. God's sov- 
ereignty has ever appeared to me a great part of his glory. 
It has often been my delight to appi^oach God, and adore 
him as a sovereign God, and ask sovereign mercy of him. 

I have loved the doctrines of the G ospel ; they have 
been to my soul like gi-een pastures. The Gospel has 



12 CONVERSION OF 

seemed to me the richest treasm-e, the treasure that I 
have most desh'ed, and longed that it might dwell richly in 
me. The way of salvation by Christ has appeared glori- 
ous and excellent, most pleasant and most beautiful. It 
has often seemed to me that it would in a great measure 
spoil heaven to receive it in any other way. That text 
has often been affecting and delightful to me, *' A man 
shall be a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from 
the tempest," &c. Isa. 32 : 2. 

It has often appeared to me delightful to be united to 
Christ ; to have him for my head, and to be a member of 
his body ; also to have Christ for my teacher and prophet. 
I very often think, with longings and pantings of soul, of 
being a little child, taking hold of Christ, to be led by 
him throuoh the wilderness of this world. That text, 
Matt. 18 : 3, has often been sweet to me, " Except ye be 
converted and become as little children," &c. 1 love to 
think of coming to Christ to receive salvation of him, poor 
in spirit and quite empty of self, humbly exalting him 
alone ; cut off entirely from my own root, in order to grow 
into and out of Christ ; to have God in Christ to be all in 
all ; and to live by faith on the Son of God, a life of hum- 
ble, unfeigned confidence in him. That Scripture has of- 
ten been sweet to me, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto 
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for 
tliy truth's sake." Psalm 115: 1. And those words of 
Christ, " In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, 
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that 
ihou hast hid these things from the wase and prudent, and 
hast revealed them unto babes : even so. Father, for so it 
seemed good in thy sight." Luke, 10 : 21. That sovereign- 
ty of God which Christ rejoiced in, seemed to me worthy 
of such joy ; and that rejoicing seemed to show the excel- 
lency of Christ, and pf what spirit he was. 

Sometimes, only mentioning a single word, has caused 
my heart to burn within me ; or only seeing the name of 
Christ, or the name of some attribute of God. And God 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 13 

has appeared glorious to me, on account of the Trinity. 
It has made me have exalting thoughts of God, that he 
subsists in three persons : Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
The sweetest joys and delights I have experienced, have 
not been those that have arisen from a hope of my own 
good estate ; but in a direct view of the glorious things of 
the Gospel. When I enjoy this sweetness, it seems to 
carry me above the thoughts of my own estate : it seems 
at such times a loss that I cannot bear, to take off my eye 
from the glorious, pleasant object I behold without me, to 
turn my eye in upon myself. 

My heart has been much on the advancement of Christ's 
kingdom in the world. The histories of the past advance- 
ment of Christ's kingdom have been sweet to me. When 
I have read histories of past ages, the pleasantest thing in 
all my reading has been to read of the kingdom of Christ 
being promoted. And when I have expected, in my read- 
ing, to come to any such thing, I have rejoiced in the 
prospect all the way as I read. And my mind has been 
much entertained and delighted with the Scripture prom- 
ises and prophecies which relate to the future glorious 
advancement of Christ's kingdom upon earth. 

I have sometimes had a sense of the excellent fulness 
of Christ, and his meetness and suitableness as a Savior ; 
whereby he has appeared to me, far above all, the chiei 
of ten thousands. His blood and atonement have appear- 
ed precious, and his righteousness precious ; which was al- 
ways accompanied with ardency of spirit, and inward struo-- 
glings and breathings, and groanings that cannot be utter- 
ed, to be emptied of myself and swallowed up in Christ. 

Once as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 
1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place; as 
my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine con- 
templation and prayer, I had a view that for me was ex- 
traordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator 
between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full. 
Dure, and precious grace and love, and meek and gentle 

VOL. V. 5* 



]4 CONVERSION OF 

condescension. This grace, that appeared so calm and 
sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The per- 
son of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excel- 
lency great enough to swallow up all thought and concep- 
tion. This view continued, as near as I can judge, about 
an hour, and kept me the greater part of the time in a 
flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of 
soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, 
emptied and annihilated, to lie in the dust, and to be full 
of Christ alone ; to love him with a holy and pure love ; to 
trust in him ; to live upon him ; to serve and follow him, 
and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine 
and heavenly purity. I have, several other times, had 
views very much of the same nature, and which have had 
the same effects. 

I have many times had a sense of the glory of the third 
person in the Trinity, in his ofSce of sanctifier ; in his 
holy operations, communicating divine light and life to 
the soul. God, in the communications of his Holy Spirit, 
has appeared as an infinite fountain of divine glory, being 
full and sufficient to fill and satisfy the soul ; pouring forth 
itself in sweet communications ; like the sun in its glory, 
sweetly and pleasantly diffusing light and life. And I have 
sometimes had an affecting sense of the excellency of the 
word of God, as a word of life ; as the light of life, a sweet, 
excellent, life-giving word ; accompanied with a thirsting 
after that word, that it might dwell richly in my heart. 

Often since I lived in this town I have had very affect- 
ing views of my own sinfulness and vileness ; very fre- 
quently to such a degree as to keep me in a kind of loud 
weeping, sometimes for a considerable time together ; so 
that I have often been forced to shut myself up. I have 
had a vastly greater sense of my own sinfulness and the 
badness of my heart, than ever I had before my conver- 
sion. It has often appeared to me, that if God should 
mark iniquity against me, I should appear the worst of all 
mankind, and have the lowest place in hell. When others. 



PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 15 

that have come to talk with me about the concerns of their 
soul, have expressed the sense they have had of their ovm 
w^ickedness, I thought their expressions seemed exceed- 
ingly faint and feeble to represent my sinfulness. 

My sinfulness, as I am in myself, has long appeared to 
me perfectly ineffable, and swallowing up all thought and 
imagination ; like an infinite deluge, or mountains over 
my head. I know not how to express better what my 
sins appear to me to be, than by heaping infinite upon in- 
finite, and multi23lying infinite by infinite. Very often, foi 
these many years, these expressions are in my mind and 
in my mouth, " Infinite upon infinite ; infinite upon infi- 
nite !" When I look into my heart, and take a view of 
my sinfulness, it looks like an abyss deeper than hell. 
And it appears to me, that were it not for free gi'ace, ex- 
alted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fulness 
and glory of the gre»t Jehovah, and the arm of his power 
and grace stretched forth in all the majesty of his power, 
and in all the glory of his sovereignty, I should appear 
sunk down in my sins below hell itself, far beyond the 
sight of every thing but the eye of that grace which can 
pierce even down to such a depth. And yet, when I have 
had turns of weeping and crying for my sins, I thought I 
knew at the time that my repentance was nothing to my sin. 

I always think of myself, that I ought, and it is an 
expression that has long been natural for me to use 
in prayer, " to He infinitely low before God." And it is 
affecting to think how ignorant I was, when a young 
christian, of the bottomless, infinite depths of wickedness, 
pride, hypocrisy, and deceit, left in my heart. 

I have a much greater sense of my universal, exceeding 
dependance on God's grace and strength and mere good 
pleasure, of late, than I used formerly to have ; and have 
experienced more of an abhorrence of my own righteous- 
ness. And yet I am greatly afflicted with a proud and 
self-righteous spirit, much more sensibly than I used 
to be formerly. I see that serpent rising and putting 



16 CONVERSION, &c. 

forth its head continually, every where, all around me. 
Though it seems to me that, in some respects, I was a 
far better christian, for two or three years after my first 
conversion, than I am now, and lived in a more constant 
delight and pleasure, yet, of late years, I have had a more 
full and constant sense of the sovereignty of God, and a 
delight in it, and have had more of a sense of the glory 
of Christ, as a Mediator revealed in the Gospel. On one 
Saturday night, in particular, I had such a discovery of the 
excellency of the Gospel above all other doctrines, that I 
could not but say to myself, " This is my chosen light, my 
chosen doctrine ;" and of Christ, " This is my chosen Pro- 
phet." It appeared sweet, beyond all expression, to follow 
Christ, and to be taught, and enlightened, and instructed 
by him ; to learn of him, and live to him. Another Satur- 
day night, (January, 1739,) I had such a sense of the 
blessedness of walking in the way of duty ; of doing that 
which is right and meet to be done, and agreeable to the 
holy mind of God, that it caused me to break forth into a 
kind of loud weeping for a long time, so that I was forced 
to shut myself up, and fasten the doors. I could not but, 
as it were, cry out, " How happy are they who do that 
which is right in the sight of God ! They are blessed in- 
deed, they are the happy ones 1" I had, at the same time, 
a very affecting sense how meet and suitable it is that 
God should govern the world and order all things accord- 
ing to his own pleasure ; and I rejoiced in it, that God 
reims, and that his will is done. 

Note. — President Edwards was bora at Windsor, Con. October 5, 1703 ; gradu- 
ated at Yale College, September, 1720 ; preached in New-York eight months in 
1722-3 ; was appointed tutor at Yale College, September, 1724 ; ordained at North- 
ampton, Mass. February 15, 1727; dismissed, June 22, 1750; stationed as a mis. 
Bionary to the Indians at Stockbridge, August, 1751, where he wrote his Treatise 
on the Will; elected President of New Jersey College, October, 1757; died, 
March, 1758, aged 54.— The above account of his religious exercises was found 
among his papers at his death, and is supposed to have been written at Northamp. 
'.on, when he was about forty years of age, for his own private advantage. 



T¥o. 145. 
ON HEARING 

THE ¥OED OF GOD. 



BY REV. ROBERT HALL, A. M. 



Preaching is an ordinance of God, not entirely con- 
fined to the Christian dispensation. From the Old Testa- 
ment history it appears that Ezra, upon the return of the 
Jews from Babylon, assembled them in the streets of Je- 
rusalem ; and ascending a stage or pulpit, for the advantage 
of being better seen and heard, read the Law in the ears of 
the people, and gave the interpretation thereof. From that 
time synagogues were erected in all the cities throughout 
Judea, and regular officers appointed to read, first the 
Pentateuch, and, after the persecution by Antiochus, the 
Prophets, and explain them in ample paraphrases or com- 
ments. Such was the origin of preaching. 

When the fulness of time was come for God, in his in- 
finite mercy, to send forth his Son, his appearance was first 
announced by John's proclaiming, in the wilderness, " Pre- 
pare ye the way of the Lord;" which, after a short time, 
was succeeded by the personal ministry of Christ and his 
apostles, with whom the dispensation of the Gospel, prop- 
erly speaking, commenced. After his resurrection, our Lord 
extended the commission of the apostles to all nations : " Go 
ye into all the loorld, and ineach the Gospel to every crea- 
ture.''^ Upon the formation of Christian churches, an order 
of men was appointed for the express purpose of preaching 
the word and administering the sacraments, wherein the 
wisdom and kindness of the Great Head of the Church is 



2 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

eminently conspicuous ; for sucli are the necessary avo- 
cations of life, so little the leisure most Christians possess 
for the acquisition of knowledge, and such the deficiency 
of many in the elementary parts of education, that they 
Avill always, under the blessing of God, be chiefly indebted 
to this appointment for any extensive acquaintance with 
divine truth. 

The privilege of reading the Scriptures in our native 
language, is of inestimable value : but were it much more 
universal than it is, it would not supersede the necessity of 
hearing the Word ; for there are not only difficulties in the 
Bible which require to be elucidated, but the living voice 
of a preacher is admirably adapted to awaken the attention 
and to excite an interest, as well as to apply the general 
truths of revelation to the various cases of Christian ex- 
perience, and the regulation of human conduct. When an 
important subject is presented to an audience, with an ample 
illustration of its several parts, its practical improvement 
enforced, and its relation to the conscience and the heart 
insisted upon with seriousness, copiousness, and fervor, it 
is adapted, in the nature of things, to produce a more deep 
and lasting impression than can usually be expected from 
reading. He who knows how forcible are right ivords, and 
how apt man is to be moved by man, has consulted the 
constitution of our frame, by appointing an order of men 
whose office it is to address their fellow- creatures on their 
eternal concerns. Strong feeling is naturally contagious ; 
and if, as the wise man observes, " as iron sharpeneth iron, 
so doth the countenance of a man his friend," the combined 
effects of countenance, gesture, and voice, accompanying 
a powerful appeal to the understanding and the heart, on 
subjects of everlasting moment, can scarcely fail of being 
great. 

But, independent of the natural tendency of the Chris- 
tian ministry to promote spiritual improvement, it derives 



ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 3 

a peculiar efficacy from its being a divine appointment. It 
is not merely a natural, it is also an instituted means of good ; 
and Avhatever God appoints by special authority, he gra- 
ciously engages to bless ; provided it be attended with right 
dispositions, and proceed from right motives. The means 
of grace are, as the word imports, the consecrated channels 
in which his spiritual mercies flow ; and as the communi- 
cation of spiritual blessings always implies an exertion of 
divine power^ so these become the stated instrument, or 
occasion of its exercise. These are emphatically His ways, 
in which he is wont to walk with his people: "Thou meet- 
est him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those 
that remember thee in thy ways." Isa. 64 : 5. Though the 
Spirit bloweth where it listeth, where the Gospel is not 
preached the effects of his operation are rarely to be dis- 
cerned ; and we witness few or no indications of a renewed 
character out of the bounds of Christendom. 

So intimate, by divine appointment, is the connection 
between the salvation of man and the ministry of the word, 
that the method of salvation under the Gospel derives from 
the latter its distinguishing appellation, being denominated 
the hearing of faith. St. James, in like manner, asserts it 
to be the instrumental cause of our regeneration: "Of his 
own will begat he us, by the word of truth." And to the 
same purpose St. Peter reminds the Christians whom he 
Avas addressing, that they were " born not of corruptible 
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God ; which 
word," he adds, "is by the Gospel preached unto you." 
The written word, we are told indeed from the highest 
authority, is "able to make us wise unto salvation;" and 
many pleasing instances of its saving efficacy might be 
produced to confirm this position ; but as the Gospel was 
'preached before it was i^nned, it is certain that most of the 
passages w^hich speak on this subject, are to be referred to 
its public ministry, and that, in subsequent ages, God has 



4 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

put a distinguishing honor upon it, by employing it as the 
principal means of accomplishing his saving purposes. There 
is every reason to suppose that the far greater part of those 
who have been truly sanctified and enlightened, will ascribe 
the change they have experienced principally to the hearing 
of faith. 

What a powerful motive results from thence to take 
heed hoio ive hear ! If we feel any concern for a share in 
the great salvation, how careful should Ave be not to neglect 
the principal means of obtaining it. If there be a class 
from whom the spiritual beauty and glory of the Gospel 
remain concealed, it consists of a description of persons, 
the very mention of whom ought to make us tremble. " If 
our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." Let no 
man allow himself to neglect the hearing of the word, or 
hear it in a careless or irreverent manner, under the pre- 
tence of his having an opportunity of reading it in private ; 
since its public ministry possesses, with respect to its ten- 
dency to excite the attention and interest the heart, many 
unquestionable advantages : besides, that such a pretence 
will generally be found hollow and disingenuous. If 3'ou 
find a person habitually inattentive under an awakening 
ministry, folloAV him into his retirement, and it may be 
confidently predicted you will seldom see the Bible in his 
hands ; or, if he overcome his aversion to religion so far 
as occasionally to peruse a chapter, it will be in the same 
spirit in which he hears : he will satisfy himself with hav- 
ing completed the task, " and straightway go his Avay, and 
forget Avhat manner of man he was." If the oreneral course 

o o 

of the world were as favorable to reliofion as it is the con- 
trary ; if an intercourse with mankind Avere a school of 
piety, the state of such persons Avould be less hopeless, 
and there Avould be a greater probability of their being 
gained Avithout the Avord ; but while every thing around 
us conspires to render the mind earthly and sensual, and 



ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 5 

the world is continually moulding and transforming its vo- 
taries, the situation of such as attend the means of grace 
in a careless manner is unspeakably dangerous ; since they 
are continually exposing themselves to influences which 
corrupt, while they render themselves inaccessible to such 
as are of a salutary operation. What can be expected but 
the death of that patient, who takes a course which is 
continually inflaming his disease, while he despises and 
neglects the remedy ? When we see men attentive under 
the ministry of the Avord, and evidently anxious to com- 
prehend its truths, we cannot but entertain hopes of their 
salvation ; " for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by 
the word of God." 

It is observed of the Jews of Berea, that they were 
more noble than those of Thessalonica, because " they re- 
ceived the word with all readiness of mind, and searched 
the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so ;" 
and the result was such as might be expected — a great 
multitude of them believed. Candid and attentive hearers 
place themselves, so to speak, in the way of the Spirit ; 
while those who cannot be prevailed upon to give a seri- 
ous attention, may most justly be said to put the kingdom 
of God far from them, and judge themselves unworthy of 
eternal life. To such, the awful threatenings recorded in 
the Proverbs are most applicable: "Because I have called, 
and ye refused : I have stretched out my hand, and no man 
regarded : I will laugh at your calamity, and mock when 
your fear cometh." In such cases the ministers of the 
Gospel can do little more than, like Jeremiah, " retire to 
weep in secret places" for their pride. 

Previously to your entering into the house of God, seek 
a prejmred heart, and implore the blessing of God on the 
ministry of his word. It may be presumed that no real 
Christian will neglect to preface his attendance on social 
worship with secret prayer. But let the acquisition of a 
VOL. V. 6 



5 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

fervent and serious frame of mind, freed from the cares, 
vanities, and pollutions of the world, accompanied with 
earnest desires after God, and the communications of his 
grace, form a principal subject of your private devotions. 
Forget not to implore a blessing on the public ministry, 
that it may accomplish, in yourselves and in others, the 
great purposes it is designed to answer ; and that those 
measures of assistance may be afforded to your ministers, 
which shall replenish them with light, love, and liberty, 
that they may speak the mystery of the Gospel as it ought 
to be spoken. As the duties of the closet have the hap- 
piest tendency, by solemnizing and elevating the mind, to 
prepare for those of the sanctuary ; so the comdction of 
having borne your minister on your heart before the throne 
of grace, would, apart from every other consideration, dis- 
pose him to address you Avith augmented zeal and tender- 
ness. We should consider it as such a token for good, as 
well as such an imequivocal proof of your attachment, as 
would greatly animate and support us under all our dis- 
couragements. 

Establish in your minds the highest reverence and esteem 
of the glorious Gospel. Recollect the miracles wrought to 
confirm it ; the sanction, the awful sanction by which a 
due reception of it is enforced ; and the infinite value of 
the blood by which its blessings were ratified and procur- 
ed. Recollect, that on its acceptance or rejection, on the 
effects which it produces on the heart and life, depends 
our state for eternity ; since there are no other means de- 
vised for our recovery, no other name given under heaven 
by Avhich we can be saved, besides that which it exhibits. 
It is not merely the incorruptible seed of regeneration ; it 
is also the mould in which our souls must be cast, agreeably 
to the apostle's beautiful metaphor, " Ye have obeyed from 
the heart that form," or mould, "of doctrine into which 
ye were delivered," In order to our bearing the image of 



ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 7 

Christ, who is the first-born among many brethren, it is 
necessary to receive its impress in every part ; nor is there 
any thing in us what it ought to be, any thing truly excel- 
lent, but in proportion to its conformity to that pattern. 
Its operation is not to be confined to time or place ; it is 
the very element in which the Christian is appointed to hve, 
and to receive continual accessions of spiritual strength and 
purity, until he is presented faultless in the presence of the 
Divine Glory. The more you esteem the Gospel, the more 
will you be attached to that ministry in which its doctrines 
are developed, and its duties explained and inculcated ; be- 
cause, in the present state of the world, it is the chief, 
though not the only means of possessing yourselves of its 
advantages. To tremble at God's word, is also mentioned 
as one of the most essential features in the character of him 
to whom God will look with approbation. 

Hear the word ivith attention. If you are convinced of 
the justice of the preceding remarks, nothing further is 
requisite to convince you of the propriety of this advice, 
since they all combine to enforce it. We would only re- 
mark, in general, that the knowledge derived from a dis- 
course depends entirely upon attention ; in exact proportion 
to which will be the progress made by a mind of a given 
capacity. Not to listen with attention, is the same thing 
as to have ears which hear not, and eyes which see not. 
While you are hearing, whatever train of thoughts of a 
foreign and extraneous nature obtrude themselves, should 
be resolutely repelled. In the power of fixing the attention, 
the most precious of the intellectual habits, mankind differ 
greatly ; but every man possesses some, and it will increase 
the more it is exerted. He who exercises no discipline over 
himself in this respect, acquires such a volatility of mind, 
such a vagrancy of imagination, as dooms him to be the 
sport of every mental vanity ; it is impossible such a man 
should attain to true wisdom. If we cultivate, on the con- 



8 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

trary, a habit of attention, it will become natural : thought 
will strike its roots deep, and we shall by degrees experience 
no difficulty in following the track of the largest connected 
discourse. As we find it easy to attend to what interests 
the heart, and the thoughts naturally follow the course of 
the affections, the best antidote to habitual inattention to 
religious instruction, is the love of the truth. " Let the 
word of Christ dwell in you richly," and to hear it atten- 
tively will be a pleasure, not a task. 

The practice of sleeping in places of worship — a prac- 
tice, we believe, not prevalent in any other places of public 
resort — is not only a gross violation of the advice we are 
giving, but most distressing to ministers, and most disgrace- 
ful to those who indulge in it. If the apostle indignantly 
inquires of the Corinthians whether they had houses to eat 
and to drink in, may we not with equal propriety ask those 
who indulge in the practice, whether they have not beds to 
sleep in, that they convert the house of God into a dor- 
mitory? A little self-denial, a very gentle restraint on the 
appetite, would, in most cases, put a stop to this abomina- 
tion ; and with what propriety can he pretend to desire the 
sincere milk of the word, who cannot be prevailed upon, 
one day out of seven, to refrain from the intemperance 
which absolutely disqualifies him from receiving it ? 

Hear the word of God with imjxirtialitij. To be partial 
in the law was a crime formerly charged upon the Jewish 
priests ; nor is it less sinful in the professors of Christian- 
ity. There is a class of hearers who have their favorite 
topics, to which they are so immoderately attached, that 
they are offended if they are not brought forward on all 
occasions ; 'while there are others, of at least equal im- 
portance, which they can seldom be prevailed upon to 
listen to with patience. Some are never pleased but with 
doctrinal statements : they are in raptures while the preach- 
er is insisting on the doctrines of grace, and the pri\ileges 



ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 9 

of God's people ; but when he proceeds to inculcate the 
practical improvement of these doctrines, and the necessity 
of adorning the profession of them by the virtues of a holy 
life, their countenances fall, and they make no secret of 
their disgust. Others are all for practical preaching, while 
they have no relish for that truth which can alone sanctify 
the heart. But, as it is a symptom of a diseased state of 
the body to be able to relish only one ^ort of food, so it 
is not less of the mind to have a taste for only one sort 
of instruction. It is difficult to suppose that such persons 
love the word of God as the word of God ; for if they did, 
every part of it, in its due proportion and its proper place, 
would be acceptable. It is possible, in consequence of the 
various exigencies of the Christian life, that there may be 
seasons to which some views of divine truth may be pe- 
culiarly suited, and on that account heard with superior 
advantage and delight ; but this is perfectly consistent with 
an impartial attachment to the whole revelation. But to 
feel an habitual distaste to instruction the most solemn and 
Scriptural, unless it be confined to a few favorite topics, is 
an infallible indication of a wrong state of mind. It is only 
by yielding the soul to the impression of every divine com- 
munication and discovery, that the several graces which 
enter into the composition of the new creature are nourish- 
ed and sustained. As the perfection of the Christian system 
results from the symmetry of its several parts, in which 
there is nothing redundant, nothing disproportioned, and 
nothing defective ; so the beauty of the Christian character 
consists in its exhibiting an adequate impress and repre- 
sentation of the whole. If there be any particular branch 
of the word of God to which we are habitually indisposed, 
we may generally conclude that it is precisely the part 
which we most need ; and instead of indulging our distaste, 
we ought seriously to set ourselves to correct the mental 
disease which has given occasion to it. 
VOL. V. 6* 



IQ ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

In some instances the partiality to certain views of triitli, 
to the exclusion of others of which we are complaining, may 
arise not so much from moral disorder as from a deficiency 
of religious knowledge, and that contraction of mind which 
is its usual consequence. We would earnestly exhort per- 
sons of this description not to make themselves the standard, 
or attempt to confine their ministers to the first principles of 
the oracles of God.. There are in most assemblies some who 
are capable of digesting strong meat, whose improvement 
ought to be consulted ; and it behooves such as are not, in- 
stead of abridging the provisions of the family, to endeavor 
to enlarge their knowledge and extend their inquiries. A 
Christian minister is compared by our Lord to a great house- 
holder, who brings out of his treasure things new and old. 

Hear the word with constant self- application. Hear not 
for others, but for yourselves. What should we think of a 
person who, after accepting an invitation to a feast, and tak- 
ino' his place at the table, instead of partaking of the repast, 
amused himself with speculating on the nature of the pro- 
visions, or the manner in which they are prepared, and their 
adaptation to the temperament of the several guests, Avith- 
out tasting a single article ? Such, however, is the conduct 
of those who hear the word, without applying it to them- 
selves, or considering the aspect it bears on their individual 
character. Go to the house of God with a serious expecta- 
tion and desire of meeting with something suited to your 
particular state, something that shall lay the axe to the root 
of your corruptions, mortify your easily besetting sins, and 
confirm the graces in Avhich you are most deficient. A little 
attention will be sufficient to give you that insight into your 
character, which will teach you what you need, what are 
the peculiar temptations to which you are exposed, and on 
what account you feel most shame and humiliation before 
God. Every one may know, if he pleases, the plague of 
his own heart. Keep your eye upon it while you are hear- 



ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 1 1 

ing, and eagerly lay hold of whatever is best adapted to heal 
and correct it. 

Remember that religion is a personal thing, an individ- 
ual concern ; for every one of us must give an account of 
himself to God, and every man bear his own burden, " Is 
not my word as a fire," saith the Lord ; " and as a hammer, 
that breaketh the rock in pieces?" If such be its power 
and efficacy, lay your hearts open to it, and expose them 
fully to the stroke of the hammer, and the action of the 
fire. Do not imagine, because you are tolerably well ac- 
i[uainted with the system of the Gospel, you have therefore 
nothing to learn ; and that your only obligation to attend to 
its ministry, arises from the necessity of setting an example. 
It is probable, your knowledge is much more limited than 
you suppose : but if it be not, it is a great mistake to 
imagine the only advantage derived from hearing is the 
acquisition of new truths. There is a spiritual perception 
more important than the knowledge which is merely specu- 
lative. The latter is at most but a means to the former, 
and the perception is not confined to new propositions : it is 
frequently, nay, more frequently attached to truths already 
known ; and when they are faithfully and affectionately ex- 
hibited, they are the principal means of calling into action 
and strengthening the habits of internal grace. Love, joy, 
humility, heavenly-mindedness, godly sorrow for sin, and 
holy resolutions against it, are not promoted so much by 
novel speculation, as by placing in a just and affecting light 
the acknowledged truths of the Gospel, and thereby stirring 
up the mind by way of remembrance. " While I am in this 
tabernacle," said St. Peter, "I will not be negligent to put 
you in remembrance of these things, though you know them, 
and are established in the present truth." We appeal to 
the experience of every real Christian, whether the sweetest 
and most profitable seasons he has enjoyed, have not been 
those in which he is conscious of having learned no new 



12 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

truth, strictly speaking, but was indulged with spiritual and 
transforming views of the plain, unquestionable discoveries 
of the Gospel. As the word of God is the food of souls, 
so it corresponds to that character in this respect among 
others — that the strength and refreshment it imparts de- 
pends not upon its novelty, but upon the nutritious proper- 
ties it possesses. It is a sickly appetite only which craves 
incessant variety. 

Hear with candor. The indulgence of a nice and fas- 
tidious taste is as adverse to the improvement of the hearer, 
as it is to the comfort of the minister. Considering the 
variety of our avocations, the necessity we are under of 
addressing you in all states of mind, and sometimes on the 
most unexpected occasions, if we could not rely on your 
candor, our situation would be scarcely tolerable. When 
the general tendency of a discourse is good, and the in- 
struction delivered weighty and solid, it is the part of candor 
to overlook imperfections in the composition, manner, or 
elocution of the speaker ; imitating, in this respect, the ex- 
ample of the Galatians, of whom Paul testified that they 
did not despise his temptation which was in the flesh — some 
peculiarity in his speech or countenance, we may suppose, 
which exposed him to the derision of the unfeeling. 

The Lord, by the mouth of Isaiah, severely censures 
such as make a man an offender for a word: a fault too 
prevalent in many of our churches, especially among such 
as are the least informed and judicious ; for the disposition 
to sit in judgment upon the orthodoxy of ministers, is ex- 
actly in an inverse proportion to the ability. Be not hasty 
in concluding that a preacher is erroneous, because he may 
chance to use a word or phrase not exactly suited to your 
taste and comprehension ; it is very possible the idea it is 
intended to convey may perfectly accord with your own 
sentiments ; but if it should not, it is equally possible the 
propriety of it may be vindicated by considerations with 



ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 13 

which you are not acquainted. '' Be not many masters, 
many teachers," saith St. James, "knowing ye shall re- 
ceive the greater condemnation." Hear the word of God 
less in the spirit of judges than those who shall be judged 
by it. If you are not conscious of your need of religious 
instruction, why attend the places appointed for that pur- 
pose? But if you are, how inconsistent is it to indulge 
that spirit of cavil and censure, which can have no other 
effect than to deter your ministers from the faithful dis- 
charge of their office, from declaring the whole counsel of 
God ? In most congregations there is one or more persons 
who value themselves on their skill in detectinof the un- 
soundness of ministers ; and who, when they hear a stranger, 
attend less with a view to spiritual improvement, than to pass 
their verdict, which they expect shall be received as decisive. 
It is almost unnecessary to add, that they usually consist of 
the most ignorant, conceited, and irreligious part of society. 
Such a disposition should, as much as possible, be discouraged 
and suppressed. 

" Receive with meekness the ingrafted word, which is 
able to save your souls." Despise not men of plain talents, 
who preach the truth, and appear to have your eternal wel- 
fare at heart. If you choose to converse with your fellow- 
Christians on what you have been hearing — a practice which, 
if rightly conducted, may be very edifying — let your con- 
versation turn more upon the tendency, the spiritual beauty 
and glory of those great things of God, which have engaged 
your attention, than on the merit of the preacher. We may 
readily suppose that Cornelius and his friends, after hearing 
St. Peter, employed very few words in discussing the ora- 
torical talents of a great apostle, any more than the three 
thousand who, on the day of Pentecost, were pricked to the 
heart : their minds were too much occupied by the momen- 
tous truths to which they had been listening, to have room 
for such reflections ; yet this is the only kind of religious 



14 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

conversation — if it deserves the appellation — in which too 
man}' professors engage, " Give me," says the incomparable 
Fenelon, " the preacher who imbues my mind with such a 
love of the word of God, as makes me desirous of hearing it 
from amj mouth." 

When your ministers are exposing a particular vice, and 
endeavoring to deter from it by the motives which reason 
and revelation supply, guard against a suspicion of their 
heing 2yersonal. That they ought not to be so, we readily 
admit ; that is, that they ought not to descend to such a 
minute specification of circumstances as shall necessarily 
direct the attention to one or more individuals ; but if they 
are not at liberty to point their arrows against the particu- 
lar vices among them ; or are expected, lest they wound, 
to make a courteous apology, by assuring the audience of 
their hope and conviction that none among them are imph- 
cated, they had better seal up their lips in perpetual silence. 
It is a most indispensable part of our office to warn sinners 
of every description ; and, that we may not beat the air, to 
attack particular sins, as well as sin in the abstract ; and if, 
without our intending it, an individual suspects he is per- 
sonally aimed at, he merely bears an involuntary testimony 
to our fidelity and skill. 

Hear the word of God tvitk a sincere resolution of obey- 
ing it. "■ If ye know these things," said our Lord, " happy 
are ye if ye do them." " He that heareth these sayings 
of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a man who 
built his house upon a rock." To be a forgetful hearer of 
the word, and not a doer, is to forget all the advantages of 
the Christian dispensation, which is imparted solely with a 
view to practice. The doctrine of faith is published with a 
design to produce the obedience of faith in all nations. The 
doctrine of repentance is nothing more or less than the 
command of God, that all men, everywhere, should repent. 
If we are reminded that "he whn, in times past, spake to 



ox HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 15 

the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken 
unto us by his Son," it is that we may be admonished not 
to refuse him that speaketh. If we are taught the supreme 
dignity and exaltation of Christ, as a Mediator, it is that 
" every knee may bow, and every tongue confess that he is 
Lord."' If the apostles, having the mind of Christ, faith- 
fully imparted it, it was that the same mind might be in us, 
to purify our passions and regulate our conduct. We can 
scarcely imagine a greater inconsistency, than to hear the 
word Avith apparent seriousness, without intending to com- 
ply with its directions. It is a solemn mockery, concealing, 
under an air of reverence and submission, a determination 
to rebel. To suppose the Supreme Being pleased with such 
a mode of attendance, is to impute to him a conduct which 
it would be an insult to ascribe to a fellow- creature ; for 
who but the weakest of mortals, under the character of a 
master, or a sovereign, would be gratified with the profound 
and respectful attention with which his commands were 
heard, while there existed a fixed resolution not to obey ? 
Remember, I entreat you, the practical tendency of every 
Christian doctrine. Remember, that the ministry of the 
Gospel is the appointed instrument of forming the spirits 
of men to faith and obedience ; and that, consequently, the 
utmost attention and assiduity in hearing it are fruitless. 
and unavailing, if they fail to produce that effect. 

Finally : Be careful, after you have heard the word, to 
retain and 2^erpetuate its impressions. Meditate, retire, di- 
gest it in your thoughts, turn it into prayer ; in a word, 
spare no pains to fasten it upon your hearts. You have 
read of those to whom the Gospel Avas preached as Avell as 
to us ; " but the word did not profit them, not being mixed 
with faith in them that heard it." Endeavor to exert upon 
it distinct and vigorous acts of faith, and thereby to mingle 
and incorporate it with all the powers of the mind, and all 
the springs of action ; but this you can never accomplish 



16 ON HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. 

without deep and serious reflection, for want of which, it is 
too often left loose, and exposed, like uncovered seed, which 
the fowls of heaven easily pick up and devour. *' Then 
cometh that wicked one," says our Lord, " and taketh it 
out of his heart, and he becometh unfruitful." How many 
hearers, by engaging in worldly conversation, or giving way 
to a vain and unprofitable train of thought, when they leave 
the sanctuary, lose the impressions they had received, in- 
stead of conducting themselves like persons who have just 
been put in possession of a treasure they are anxious to 
secure from depredation ! If Satan watches for an oppor- 
tunity of taking the word out of our hearts, what remains 
but that we oppose vigilance to vigilance, and effort to 
effort ; and since the prize contended for, by the powers of 
darkness, is our souls, what a melancholy reflection will it 
be, if the disinterested malice of our enemies renders them 
vigilant and active in seeking our destruction, while we are 
careless and negligent in seeking our own salvation ! Sa- 
tan, conscious that the word of God is capable of elevating 
us to that pinnacle of happiness from whence he fell, con- 
templates its success with alarm, and spares no artifice, nor 
stratagem, which his capacious intellect can suggest, to 
obstruct its progress ; and if we, by our criminal negligence, 
give him the possession of our hearts, we shall be guilty of 
that prodigy of folly and infatuation, which is equally con- 
demned by the counsels of heaven and the machinations 
of hell. 



]\o. 146. 
HELPS 



SELF-EXAMOATIOI 



Question 1. Have you a jyractkal judgment of your 
being a guilty, iveak, blind creature ? 

You may know how far you have a practical judgment 
of your being a guilty creature, by your being without con- 
fidence to approach God but through a Redeemer. By 
your patience in waiting for all mercies, spiritual and tem- 
poral. By your thankfulness for all things. By your re- 
signation when under the hand of God or man. By your 
freedom to own your faults when needful. By your meek- 
ness in bearing reproof. By your aptness to esteem others 
better than yourself. 

You may know how far you have a practical judgment 
of your iveahiess, by your referring all good thoughts, desires, 
purposes, and deeds, to God's grace. By your distrust of 
your own strength on all occasions. By your frequency in 
looking up for strength to enable you to perform all duties, 
and resist all temptations. By your importunity in asking 
the grace of God. By your diligence in the use of all the 
means of obtaining this grace. 

You may know how far you have a practical judgment 
of your blindness, by your looking to the word of God for 
all direction. By your seeking the light of the Spirit to 
make you understand the Scriptures, and not referring 
yourself to your own reasonings upon them. By your de- 
pendence on the light of the Spirit in prayer. By your 
distrust of your own judgment. By your patience in hear- 
ing the judgment of others. By your not being apt to 
dispute. By your readiness to seek advice. 
VOL. V. 7 



2 HELPS TO SELF-EXAMINATION. 

Question 2. Have you a 2yractical knoivledr/e of Christ 
Jesus as of God made unto us ivisdom, and righteousness, 
and sanctification ? 

You may discover how far you practically know Christ 
as of God made unto us wisdom, by your referring yourself, 
not to the reason of men, but to the word of God, for 
direction in all matters of religion. By your having your 
foundation for what you believe and practice, built on God's 
word, not man's authority. By your being fully satisfied 
with what God declares in any case, so as to find no doubt 
remaining. By your steadiness, and not being disconcerted, 
because of the diff"ering judgments of others concerning what 
you have seen with your own eyes in the Scriptures. By 
your meekness towards those who differ from you. By your 
diligence in reading and hearing God's word. 

You may discover how far you practically know Christ 
as your righteousness, by your fleeing to him for refuge from 
the accusations of conscience, the sense of guilt, and the fear 
of death. By the relief you find in your soul from such ap- 
plications in all these cases. By the frequency and speediness 
of your applications to Christ. By your humble boldness 
in them. By your being able to look on God as a father in 
Christ. By the hope you have of glory through the meiits 
of Christ. 

You may discover how far you practically know Christ 
as your strength for sanctification, by the frequency of your 
application to him for grace. By your confidence that his 
grace is sufficient to keep you, in every case, against every 
enemy, and to sanctify you wholly. By your not declining 
any duty to which you are called, through fear of failing in 
it. By your being sensible that whatever you are, and do, 
according to God's will, is by his grace. By your persist- 
ing vigorously in opposing sin, especially that which most 
easily besets you, and in seeking advancement in holiness, 
under whatever discouragements. By your not despairing 
of success, though sin be apt sometimes to gain advantage 
over you. 



HELPS TO SELF-EXAMINATIOxX. 3 

Question 3. Do you practically choose God as your 
master to serve, and your 2'>ortion to enjoy ? 

You may judge lio\y far you choose God for your mas- 
ter, by the care you take to please him. By the cheerful- 
ness with which you do it. By your cleaving steadfastly to 
his will in all trying cases. By the self-displeasure you feel 
whenever you have done any thing to offend him. By the 
diligence you use in searching the Scriptures to know what 
his will is. By the constancy and importunity of your 
prayers for grace to enable you to serve him better. By 
your watchfulness against temptations. By the determina- 
tion of your heart against the sin that does most easily beset 
you. By your sorrow to see him dishonored as he is in the 
world. 

You may determine how far you choose God for your 
portion, by the care you take to w^alk in the sense of his 
presence. By jour abstaining from such indifferent things 
as you have found by experience cause you to lose the sense 
of his presence. By your endeavors to keep the sense of 
his presence wdth you in the duties of your calling. By the 
support which the consciousness of his being near gives your 
soul. By the desire you have of meeting him in all divine 
ordinances. By the desire you have of being satisfied, on 
Scripture grounds, that you are in his favor. By the de- 
light you take in those who love him. By the preference 
which, when brought to the trial, you in fact give to God's 
favor beyond every earthly thing. By the encouragement 
you receive from the hope of seeing him face to face, and 
being for ever with him. By the effect which this hope has 
upon you in purifying your soul ; leading you to be per- 
severing in the daily performance of secret prayer in your 
closets, and to revive prayer in your families ; carefully 
avoiding what you know to be sin, and doing whatever 
you know to be your duty. 

Question 4. Do you desire and delight in the spiritual 
and temporal welfare of all mankind ? 

You may know how far you desire the spiritual welfare 



4 HELPS TO SELF-EXAmNATION. 

of all others, by the concern you feel that your conduct may 
encourage them in all good ways. By the concern you feel 
that there may be notlnng in your conduct that may be an 
offence to any. By your cheerfulness in foregoing any thing 
which you judge may be an offence. By your forbearance 
with all, for their good. By your readiness to improve all 
opportunities of benefiting your neighbor's soul. By your 
valuing your gifts and influence chiefly because they may 
render you helpful to the souls of others. By the frequency 
and importvmity of your prayers for the grace of God upon 
them. By the satisfaction you take in those who are good. 
By your readiness to hope the best. By your finding your- 
self grieved at the faults and backslidings of others. By 
your compassion over sinners. By the indignation you find 
against yourself, for any risings of disgust against any for 
being better than yourself. By your joy in the success of 
the Gospel, whoever be the instrument. 

You may know how far you desire the temi^oral welfare 
of others, by your aptness to make th^ir case your own, 
thinking and acting for them as need is. By your readiness 
to give of your abundance. By your frugality, that you may 
have wherewith to help others. By your willingness to 
give or lend without being asked, where you see it is want- 
ed. By your not secretly envying them their advancement. 
By your hearing of it without disgust. By your speaking 
of it without lessening it. By your rejoicing in their pros- 
perity, as far as it is not made prejudicial to their souls. 

Question 5. Is it your real desire and daily endeavor 
to grow in grace ? 

You may know this, by your not looking back on any 
past good works to stop or rest in them. By your jealousy 
over every thing that looks like decay. By your actual 
desire of grace in the use of all religious ordinances. By 
your diligence in the use of all such means. By the desire 
you find in you of the most searching and quickening preach- 
ing and conversation. By the sorrow it gives you, that you 
have not better improved your opportunities and time. 



HELPS TO SELF-EXAMLXATIOX. 5 

Question 6. Is the law of sin in your meinhers not 
only in a state of subjection, hut losing its poioer and influ- 
ence day hy day ? 

You may know whether corrupt nature be in subjection, 
by the purpose of your heart to do God's will in opposition 
to fear and shame, interest and ease, which the will of the 
flesh would have consulted and considered. By your act- 
ing in your general course upon the plan of obedience to 
God, while your corrupt nature is soliciting for a quite con- 
trary course. By your hatred of indwelling sin, and regard- 
ing it as the heaviest of all your burdens. By your jealousy 
over, and watchfulness against your own deceitful heart, 
lest it should get advantage of you. By your godly shame, 
sorrow, and self-displeasure, when corrupt nature has gained 
advantage in any instance, stirring you up to oppose and 
deny it with immediate purpose of heart and greater dili- 
gence. By your not declining self-denying duties, though 
your flesh pleads for being spared. 

You may know if corrupt nature be losing ground, by 
the greater steadfastness of your purposes for God and 
duty. By the greater readiness and ease wherewith you 
put them into practice. By the greater calmness and 
resolvedness of mind wherewith you reject the solicitations 
of the flesh. By the less influence your corruptions have 
over you, and the less power they have to make you appre- 
hensive for them. By the greater command you have of 
yourself, to think and act with freedom and without bias. 

Question Y. Do you maintain that holy fear of offend- 
ing God, luhich keeps you duly on your guard against fall- 
ing into sin ? 

You may know how far you do this, by your care to 
keep yourself out of all needless temptations. By the 
restraint of your mind in certain company, where your 
integrity may be in danger. By the diligence you use to 
preserve the spirituality of your temper against that vanity 
of mind which is natural to you. By your carefulness not 
to fall into lightness in conversation. By the abiding jeal- 
VOL. V. 7*' 



6 HELPS TO SELF-EXAMINATION. 

ousy you have over the whole body of sin, and especially 
that member of it which has most power with you. By 
the abiding reverence you have upon your mind of God's 
majesty and continual presence. 

Question 8. Have you such a tender concern for God's 
glory, as engages your attention to it beyond all other con- 
siderations ? 

You may know how far this is your case, by the desire 
you have that the temper and disposition of your heart 
may be in more practical conformity to God's majesty and 
perfections, in faith, fear, love, trust, and submission. By 
your endeavor that your whole conduct may be not only 
inoffensive, but also calcvilated to promote faith in God, and 
submission to him, in all who are witnesses of your conver- 
sation. By your setting a value on your learning, know- 
ledge, wealth, and influence, principally because God may 
be glorified by them. By your sorrow for any part of your 
conduct which has brought disgrace on God's name, and by 
your readiness to remove that disgrace by any means, how- 
ever disagreeable to your pride, or seemingly prejudicial to 
your character. By your special regard to God's glory in 
your particular calling, serving him therein with that will- 
ingness, simplicity, diligence, and honesty, which shall tes- 
tify your resignation to his will appointing you thereto, and 
most effectually promote his honor by you. 

Question 9. Do you, in all your dealings, do that unto 
all men which you ivould they should do unto you? 

You may judge of yourself herein, by your abhorrence 
and rejection, in your practice, of that worldly and most 
dishonest maxim, " Buy as cheap and sell as dear as you 
can." By your being as ready to pay as to receive. By 
your being as faithful in doing your work, as you are willing 
to be paid your Avages. By your making conscience of using 
your time and ability to the benefit of those who have paid 
you for them. By your not lessening the worth of that 
you would buy, nor overrating the worth of that you would 
sell. By your taking no advantage of the necessities or 



HELPS TO SELF-EX A MIX ATIOX. 7 

ignorance of any you deal with. By your not borrowing 
what you have no fair prospect of repaying. By your 
honest endeavor to pay what you owe. By your restoring 
what you have fraudulently taken, or what is not your own. 
By your making conscience of not defrauding the govern- 
ment of tribute and customs. By your being more than 
an eye-servant, who works only when he is looked upon. 

Question 10. Ai-e you waiting and longing for the joy 
that shall he revealed in you, lohen your soul, being perfected 
in holiness, and your body made spiritual, you shall see and 
enjoy God for ever in the face of Jesus Christ? 

You may discover how far this hope is in you, by the 
indifference it has begotten in you to the pleasures, riches, 
and honors of the world. By your readiness to part with 
them Avhen they interfere with these your future expecta- 
tions. By your quietness and patience in present troubles 
or reproaches. By the light account you make of such 
troubles and reproaches. By the frequency of your think- 
ing of this approaching glory. By the delight which the 
thought of it gives you. By the desire you have to depart 
and be with Christ. 

Question 11. Do you maintain a thankful temper of 
heart for God's mercies towards you, spiritual and temporal? 

Are you thankful that you are not in despair of mercy ? 
That you have hope thereof? That you enjoy peace of 
mind, notwithstanding your manifold sins, while you strive 
perfectly to obey God ? That you have confidence towards 
God as your God ? Are you thankful for good motions, 
for good purposes ; for grace enabling you to perform duty, 
though done with much imperfection ? For grace following 
you, when you have fallen? Are you thankful for your 
knowledge of the Gospel ? For any abiding place it has 
in your mind ? For any of its promises, threatenings, or 
directions brought home to you in time of need ? For your 
steadfastness in believing the Gospel, so as that you are not 
unsettled and disordered by the different opinions of others, 
or by the falling away of any who have long made open 



8 HELPS TO SELF-EXAMINATION. 

profession ? You may know how far you are tliankful for 
spiritual mercies in general, by your looking on them as 
marks of God's good-will towards you. By their preserv- 
ing you in a quiet, cheerful temper of heart, in whatever 
circumstances. By your readiness to own them to the glory 
of God. By the influence they have to promote in you a 
grateful and childlike obedience. 

As to temporal mercies, you cannot be duly thankful 
for them, unless you are sensible you have forfeited all right 
to them by sin. And you may know how far you are so, 
by the frequency and fervency of your thanksgivings for 
life, and all the blessings you enjoy, which make life com- 
fortable to yourself, or render you useful to others. By 
the frequency and fervency of your thanksgivings for those 
providences which keep or deliver you from danger, which 
prevent you from falling into sin, which bring you in the 
way of the means of grace, which are suited to quicken and 
forward you in faith and holiness. 

In one word, do you feel that you have destroyed your- 
self by sin ; and that in Christ alone is your help ? Do you 
hate all sin, and receive Christ as the Lord your righteous- 
ness ; and trust in him alone for salvation? Do you love 
him more than father or mother, houses or lands, or any 
earthly object ? Is it your delight to obey all his command- 
ments ? Do you receive temporal mercies as his gifts, and 
make it your object to honor him in them ; feel that you 
are not your own, but are bought with a price ; and strive 
to glorify him in body and spirit, which are his ? If so, you 
may hope that " your life is hid with Christ in God ;" that 
when Christ, "who is your life, shall appear, then shall 
you also appear with him in glory." 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETy. 



]¥o. 147, 

THE 



GOSPEL MIIISTPiY 

ENTITLED TO SUPPORT.* 



BY REV. JAMES BENNETT, D. D, 

PRESIDENT OF ROTHERUAM COLLEGE, ENGLAND. 



" If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your 
carnal things ?" — 1 CoR. 9 : 11. 

It devolves on me, my dear hearers, by the appoint- 
ment of others, and not by my own choice, to mifold and 
enforce the duty of supjjorting the ministry of the word. 
I am not unaware that the first mention of this subject will 
startle many, and awaken a thousand reflections on the 
delicacy, not to say the invidiousness, of the attempt. But 
as I hope to give the most satisfactory proof that divine 
authority binds this duty on the conscience, I presume that 
you feel it would be an affront to your good sense, and a 
reflection on your Christian principles, to waste your time 
in eff"orts to display the propriety of inculcating that which 
God has commanded, and of resolving, that neglect on this 
point shall not rob us of the right to say, " We have kept 
back nothing that was profitable to you, nor shimned to 
declare the whole counsel of God.-" 

If any shrink from this subject, not on their own account, 
but for the sake of others — lest the discussion should prove 

* The first American edition of this discourse was published 
in the New York Methodist Magazine for Jan. and Feb. 1822. 



THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 



injurious to religion, by giving color to the suspicion of 
mercenary motives, which some affect to entertain against 
the ministers of religion — I respect their fears, I sympathize 
with their delicate solicitudes, and say, with the apostle, it 
were better for us to starve, or to die, than that any man 
should make void our glorying that we preach the Gospel, 
" not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; and seek not 
yours, but you." 

I would, however, remind such hearers, that the words 
I have chosen for my text are extracted from a passage 
in which the same apostle, who was so exquisitely alive to 
every thing that might commit the honor of the Gospel, 
inculcated the duty of supporting the ministry on an infant 
church, whom he might naturally be afraid of prejudicing 
against that religion which they had so recently embraced. 
Yet we shall soon see with what frankness and decision he, 
who would sacrifice every right or interest of his own, or 
even life itself, to the honor of the Gospel, demands the 
recompense due to pastoral toils ; without once betraying 
the slightest suspicion that he might injure the religion of 
Jesus, by pressing a duty which bears the impress of divine 
authority, and commends itself alike to the coolest decision 
of the judgment and the noblest feelings of the heart. 

That those who live under the highest inspirations of 
religion, will welcome the consideration of this subject, 
I am satisfied ; because I know that they grieve for the 
inadequate attention paid to that which so deeply affects 
the interests of the church ; while those who would gladly 
lose sight of the grand Christian duty, or blot it from the 
code of Scripture and the Christian's breast, are the very 
persons for whose " correction and instruction in righteous- 
ness" we are compelled to unfold the duty, and urge to 
that obedience which heaven demands for its honor and 
their highest good. 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 3 

On the coolest consideration, therefore, I feel myself 
entitled to all Christian freedom in discussing this subject; 
not forgetting that, as I am often called to address young 
ministers on their duty to the churches, and can appeal to 
some present that I have endeavored to discharge that 
delicate task with imsparing fidelity, showing all that the 
churches have a right to expect fronj us, I may be indulged 
with equal boldness, while I call upon Christians to yield 
an adequate support to those who " watch for your souls 
as they that must give an account." 

I request, then, your candid attention to, 

I. The divine appointment, that the church of Christ 
should support its ministers. 

To a Christian audience, scarcely any thing more is 
necessary, certainly nothing is more conclusive and author- 
itative on any point, than to show that ''thus saith the 
Lord." In the mode of adducing my proof of this, I can- 
not follow a better example than that of the inspired apos- 
tle, who shows that the ancient dispensation enjoined the 
same duty ; that Christ perpetuated it under the Gospel ; 
and that, in fact, it may be termed a duty of natural relig- 
ion, or, in other words, that it is but common justice. 

1. Under the Mosaic dispensation, God enjoined that the 
ministers of religion should be supported by the contribu- 
tions of the people. 

Let no one take alarm at this appeal to the Law, as if I 
wished to bring them under the Jewish yoke of ceremonies ; 
for it should be remembered, that all that is most dear to 
our hearts as Christians, was first announced to the world 
by Moses and the prophets, before Christ and his apostles 
proclaimed the fulfilment of the promised grace. '* The 
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," said 
Moses in the Law ; " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son 
is given," sang the sublime prophet Isaiah ; while those 



4 THE GOSPEL MLMSTRY. 

Psalms which kindle our devotion, and give utterance to the 
emotions they inspire, were penned by David for the service 
of the Mosaic tabernacle and the temple which Solomon 
built. If ever, therefore, we read the Old Testament with 
reverence and delight ; if, at any time, it cheers our hearts 
with its consolations, or guides our steps by its counsels ; 
we admit that the mose ancient half of the inspired code 
may be our instructor, though it was given under a dispen- 
sation that has now yielded to one more glorious and com- 
plete. In fact, the very apostle Avho most strenuously con- 
tended that the law^ was but a " shadow of good things to 
come, of which the body is Christ," in that same epistle, 
which was designed and blessed to call off the earliest 
Christians from doting upon that which Avas abolished, so 
fully displays the various and interesting modes in which 
the legal rites unfolded evangelical truths, that he leaves 
no doubt of the propriety of learning Christian duty from 
the general principles of a dispensation, w^hose peculiar 
rites are no longer of force. 

Justly, therefore, the apostle says to the Corinthian 
church, *' Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? 
who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? 
or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the 
flock ? Say I these things as a man ? or saith not the law 
the same also ? For it is WTitten in the law of Moses, Thou 
shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the 
corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it alto- 
gether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, it was 
written; that he that plougheth, should plough in hope ; 
and he that thresheth in hope, should be partaker of his 
hope. . If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a 
great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ? If others 
be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather ? 
Nevertheless we have not used this power ; but suff'er all 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 5 

tilings, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ. Do ye 
not know, that they who minister about holy things hve of 
the things of the temple ? and they who wait at the altar 
are partakers with the altar ? Even so hath the Lord or- 
dained, that they who preach the Gospel should live of the 
Gospel." 1 Cor. 9 : 7-14. 
This leads me to show, 

2. The same duty, of supporting the ministers of rehg- 
ion, is enjoined by Christ under the Gospel. 

Here, also, as in all other things, that Saviour, who is 
the Legislator, has made himself the model of virtue. He 
who wrought, as it is probable, at the trade of a carpenter, 
to support himself and the family in which he was born, 
previously to his coming forth to the public ministry, would 
not have disdained to continue that course of honest indus- 
try, however it might have shocked the pride of the carnal 
mind ; yet he deemed it proper to discontinue it, from the 
time that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the 
Gospel of the kmgdom. As he came not " to be ministered 
unto, but to minister, and to give his hfe a ransom for many," 
we might have expected that he would rather give than re- 
ceive ; and to him who wrought miracles to meet the exigen- 
cies of the starving thousands who attended his ministry, it 
had been easy to create all that was necessary for him and his 
attendant band. He chose, however, to cast himself on the 
liberality of his hearers, to hve upon the contributions of those 
whom he was serving ; for, in addition to the entertainment he 
received, wherever he went, preaching the Gospel, '' certain 
women, who followed, ministered to him of their substance." 
In harmony with the same design, and as a part of the 
same plan, when he sent forth the Apostles for a short ex- 
cursion, while he was with them, that these newly-fledged 
eaglets might try their wings before he should be taken from 

them, and they should fly through the whole world, having 
VOL. V. " 8 



6 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 

the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation under heav- 
en, he gave them this charge : '* As ye go, preach, saying, 
The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse 
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils : freely ye have 
received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor 
brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two 
coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves ; for the workman is 
worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye 
shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy ; and there abide till 
you go thence. And when ye come into a house, salute it. 
And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it ; 
but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And 
"whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when 
ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your 
feet. Yerily, I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for 
the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, 
than for that city." He could have wrought miracles for 
them every day, and supplied all their need each moment. 
Or he, who raised money from the bottom of the sea, in the 
mouth of a fish, to pay the contribution required for the 
service of the temple, could, in a moment, have filled their 
purses with all that their journey would require. Nor is it 
improbable that it would have been far more gratifying to 
the feelings, I would not say the pride, of the disciples, to 
pay for all they obtained, and openly confer, rather than 
seem to receive obligation. But the superior wisdom of 
their Lord and ours determined that they should go with- 
out scrip, and without purse ; that those to whom they 
ministered should entertain and support them all their 
journey through ; that they should inquire for the most 
worthy persons, and there abide, as putting honor upon 
their host ; for it is a maxim in Christ's kingdom, that he 
and his faithful servants richly repay their entertainment, 
since the laborer is well worthy of his meat. 



ENTITLED TO SUPrORT. 7 

When, therefore, the Sphit descended on them at Pen- 
tecost, the apostles gave themselves up wholly to their 
ministry ; so entirely withdrawing from all secular concerns, 
that even the distribution of the alms of the faithful was not 
sufficiently spiritual for their hands. They said, therefore, 
" It is not meet for us to leave the word of God to serve 
tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven 
men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, 
whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give 
ourselves continually to prayer, and the ministry of the 
word." Acts 6 : 2-4. 

In those letters to the ministers, Timothy and Titus, in 
which Paul portrays the character and describes the duties 
of the Christian pastor, he says, " Give thyself wholly to 
these things, that thy profiting may appear to all." " No 
man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this 
life ; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a 
soldier." 2 Tim. 2 : 4. 

I know, indeed, that it is objected, that Paul himself is 
an exception to this rule. But for what reason did Paul 
make himself an exception to that which he declared the 
Lord ordained should be the general practice? Because 
there Avere some, among the first churches, who, being ill 
affected to his person, his ministry, and doctrine, would 
gladly have seized any opportunity to charge him with sin- 
ister motives. He determined, therefore, to cut off all oc- 
casion, " from them who desire occasion ; that wherein they 
glory, they may be found even as we." 2 Cor. 11 : 12. 
Who, therefore, can require their minister to imitate the 
Apostle, in thus declining to receive support from those to 
whom he ministered, without making the unenviable ad- 
mission, that they imitate the ill-disposed persons who view 
the ministry and the Gospel with an evil eye ; whom it is 
therefore necessary to melt down by heaping coals of fire on 



^ THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 

tlieir heads ; to vanquish, by such a course of voluntary 
martyrdom for their welfare as would stop the mouth of an 
infidel, and compel the bitterest foe to admit we were their 
disinterested friend ? 

For this reason, our missionaiies among the heathen are 
obliged, at first, to support themselves, or must be assisted 
by the churches at home ; because we cannot expect idol- 
aters to contribute to the support of a religion whose truth 
and value they have yet to learn. But shall we deal thus 
with the churches of Christ ? The love of Christ forbids 
that we should treat you, brethren, as heathens. 

But after all, it was only at certain intervals, and in par- 
ticular places, that Paul labored, working with his own hands 
to minister to his wants. For we read most distinctly, of 
the contributions made to his support, by the disciples of 
Christ. One beautiful acknowledgment of their liberality 
may well suffice. " In Thessalonica, ye Phihppians sent 
once and again unto my necessity. Not that I desire a 
gift ; but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. 
But I have all, and abound ; I am full, having received of 
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor 
of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well- pleasing to God ; 
but my God shall supply all your need, according to his 
riches in glory by Jesus Christ." 

Even in Corinth, where the Apostle received nothing 
from the church he served, he was assisted by churches at 
a distance. " Have I committed an offence in abasing my- 
self that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to 
you the Gospel of God freely ? I robbed other churches, 
taking wages of them to do you service. And when I was 
present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man ; 
for that which was lacking to me the brethren who came 
from Macedonia supplied." If the persons to whom this 
was written had any generous sensibility, how must they 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 9 

have been stung by this reflection on themselves, and how- 
must they have envied the churches of Macedonia their 
superior honor in supporting the apostles of Christ ! 

3. It is the dictate of Avhat may be termed natural re- 
ligion, as it is but common justice, that those who labor for 
others should be supported by them. Had not God ex- 
plicitly interposed his authority, nor regulated this subject 
in divine revelation ; but had he only said, now judge of 
your ownselves ; does not nature teach you what is right ? 
Would it not have been manifest, to every man of common 
sense and just feehng, that if one class of society give them- 
selves to secular duties, and to provide what is useful for this 
life, and another devote their days to mental and spiritual pur- 
suits, to promote the interests of the soul, t^ose who derive 
the benefit of the spiritual man's seclusion and studies, should 
share with him the benefit of their labors and commerce ? 

To w^ish that it w^ere otherwise, betrays such a perversion 
of mind, and such a destitution of all just moral feeling, as 
is utterly inconsistent wdth common honesty, apart from all 
consideration of the nobler impulses of the Christian religion. 
For the flock to desire the advantages of the minister's ex- 
ertions, his mental solicitude and physical powders, while he 
receives no adequate support from their w^orldly gains, is as 
manifestly unequal and unjust, as it w^ould be for the min- 
ister to be supported by their labors, and do nothing for 
them in return. 

Let us now inquire, 

II. The extent to which this duty should he carried. 
If Christ has not prescribed how much we shall give, 
say some hypocritical pretenders to religion, we may assign 
the merest pittance, and not violate any express precept. 
Yet, replies the genuine disciple of Christ, are there not 
certain considerations that furnish some clue by which we 
may judge of our duty to Christ and his servants ? May 
VOL. V. 8* 



10 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 

vre not consider what measures will best answer the ends 
of justice ; most fully accord Avith the language of Scrip- 
ture ; most effectually promote the interests of the church, 
and proyide for the salvation of the world ? If we can 
ascertain these points, will they not furnish us with an 
imperative rule ? To what extent, then, should a church 
provide for the support of its ministers, so as, 

1. To satisfy the claims oi justice? 

I say justice, for so the Scriptures speak, and I most 
strenuously deny that it comes under the head of charity, 
or alms. For who ever supposed, that when any one had 
labored hard for them all day, it was mere charity to pay 
him at night ? On this footing our support is placed by 
Christ : " The laborer is worthy of his hire," or "of his 
meat." What proprietor ever complimented himself for 
his charities, because he paid the steward who watched 
over his property, and secured to him his income ? 

Nor will that Christian who employs an unbiassed un- 
derstanding on the subject, assign the contribution to the 
mmistry to any other class of expense than the payment of 
just debts, recompense given for services performed. 

The question arises; then, what sum is necessary to 
answer the ends of justice ? To determine this, we must 
compare the services of ministers with those of others who 
benefit society by their talents and their toils. Mental 
services are adjudged worthy of a higher recompense than 
mere physical or bodily powers • because they demand the 
exercise of the higher qualities of our nature, and are more 
difficult to be procured than mere muscular force. If, then, 
the recompense given to physicians, counsellors, and others, 
whose intellect benefits their fellow-men, be the standard, 
I ask whether ministers are justly paid ? Are they not 
frequently put off with that which is given to the mechanic 
or laborer for mere muscle and sinew ? 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 11 

Our surprise and censure are increased, when we ob- 
serve, that the same persons who adjudge the lowest recom- 
pense demand the loftiest talent. They are never satisfied, 
without such powers in the pulpit as would, in any other 
place, secure a fortune, and yet refuse to allow the minister 
a mere h^dng. Is this justice ? 

Others, while securing to themselves a fortune, by the 
veiy habits of reflection, industry, frugality, and integrity, 
which the ministry first taught, and still cherishes, would 
be alarmed at the mention of such a salary for the minister, 
as would enable him to make the slenderest provision for a 
future day. Is this justice ? 

AVould not that venerable quality require, that, if a man 
is placed in a certain rank in society, he should be enabled 
to support himself and his family in such a way as will 
permit him to mingle with persons of that rank, without 
exciting in their minds or his own, reflections on his pov- 
erty ? Yet there are some persons who would be shocked 
at the appearance of degradation in their minister or his 
family, while the slightest reflection might convince them 
that they had never contributed that which should enable 
him to spare their feelings or his own. Is this justice ? 

If others think it the duty of good husbands and fathers 
to provide for their widows and orphans, should not a min- 
ister, who is equally subject to mortality, be a husband and 
a father as tender and faithful as any of his flock ? Most 
readily I admit, that this care for a temporal futuiity is often 
carried to guilty extremes, from which a minister should 
stand afar off. The same duty, however, lies upon his 
hearers. Covetousness and worldly care are sins in them, 
as well as in him ; and if there is any degree, in which it 
is lawful for a Christian to provide for those who are dear 
to him in the event of his death, in that degree it is lawful 
for a minister. Yet, how few are the preachers of the 



12 THE GOSPEL MLMSTIIY 

Gospel who can, from the income of their ministry, provide 
both for their family while they live, and for the wddow 
and orphan they may leave at death ? That the income of 
ministers ceases at their death is well known. And should 
they be cast upon the charity of the churches, w^ho have 
been identified with him that had a claim in equity for him- 
self, and the wife of his bosom, and the children of his 
care ? Is this justice ? 

Christians declare, with equal truth and warmth, that 
the ministry so demands the whole man, that no employ- 
ment will less admit of a divided heart : they are quick- 
sighted to perceive when a minister gives but a moiety of 
his powers to their edification, and yet they leave him to 
be distracted by all the solicitudes attendant on a straitened 
income. Is this justice ? 

A minister's salary is often so inadequate, that, unless 
he could work miracles to multiply the loaves and fishes, 
they wdll not hold out ; if he is not a man of criminal in- 
sensibility to the claims of justice, he must be distracted 
wdth solicitude to devise the ways and means to meet his 
creditors ; or he must employ the larger part of his time 
in secular labors for his support. His hearers know he 
is not endued wdth the power of working miracles ; they 
insist upon his being a man of high sense of justice ; they 
will have all his time, and will not increase his income. Is 
this justice? 

I turn to show^ to what extent ministers should be pro- 
vided for, in order, 

2. To accord with the language of Scripture. 

The Lord has ordained, that "they who preach the 
Gospel should live of the Gospel," not starve of the Gos- 
pel, but so live by it, as " they who served at the altar of 
old lived by the altar." For the fair construction of this 
inspired passage is, that such a remuneration as the tribe of 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 13 

Levi enjoyed under the ancient dispensation, the Christian 
ministry should now receive. What this was, we may learn 
from what has already been said, that a twelfth part of the 
population had a tenth of the produce of the land, besides 
cities with their suburbs, and certain parts of the offerings 
of the Lord. From this, and from the ancient Sacred His- 
tory, we may learn, that the ministers of religion were not 
intended to be depressed to the rank of paupers, but were 
enabled to live about as comfortably as any of the ordinary 
inhabitants of the land, neither pining in poverty, nor riot- 
ing in wealth. 

Nor can any thing less than this accord with the duty 
of ministers of the Gospel, who are enjoined to be " ready 
to every good work/' and to be "examples to the flock" 
of all that is useful and benevolent. Is it possible that this 
can be a duty in ministers who are to be provided for by 
you, and that it should be your duty only to provide for 
them so scantily as to make it impossible for them to do 
more than pay the debts necessarily contracted to procure 
food and raiment for their own house ? 

Are they not enjoined to be "given to hospitality," that 
they may entertain the strangers, who will often apply to 
the pastor as to a common pubhc friend ? Have not they, 
therefore, mistaken their duty, who think they make up 
the minister's support by inviting him often to their table ? 
Can they have studied that Bible, that commands a minis- 
ter to have a hospitable table of his own ? In consistency 
wdth this injunction, Paul teaches Timothy by what prin- 
ciples a Christian church should be guided, in their choice 
and treatment of a bishop, by saying, " Let the elders that 
rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially 
they who labor in word and doctrine. For the Scripture 
saith, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that 
treadeth out the corn; and the laborer is worthy of his 



14 THE GOSPEL iMIMSTRY 

reward." A niggardly spirit towards ministers may be 
learned from the Koran or the Shasters, sooner than from 
the blessed volume of inspired Truth. 

Again, my friends, I entreat you to consider to what 
extent you should provide for your ministers, in order, 

3. To promote the highest interests of the Church. 

As the spirit of Inspiration charges a young minister to 
''give himself ivholly to these things, that his profiting may 
appear to all ; for no man that warreth entangleth himself 
with the affairs of this life, that he may please him that 
hath chosen him to be a soldier ;" we are taught that an 
undivided attention to the ministry is essential to the edifi- 
cation of the church, and the approbation of Christ. In 
fact, our Lord, Avhose laws are our mercies, ordained that 
ministers should be supported free from Avorldly labors, in 
order that you might have the full benefit of their undi- 
vided attention and their utmost elasticity of mind. And 
when there are several hundreds of persons collected in one 
Christian society, it is manifestly to their highest interest to 
determine to maintain their minister entirely free from all 
temporal cares and pursuits, that they may enjoy the full 
benefit of his time, his talents, his thoughts, his heart. But, 
when the support they allow is so scanty that he cannot live 
without adding to his income the profits of some secular 
employment ; or when, in attempting to avoid that which 
he fears will eat out the heart of the minister, he is so en- 
tangled with the difficulties of making his pittance hold out, 
that he is haunted with anxious cares ; they cannot possibly 
receive the full benefit of his labors, but are robbed of the 
pleasure and the profit they might have derived from the 
unobstructed spring of his mind, and the generous flow of 
his soul. In worldly professions, men are enabled to rise 
superior to this pressure, by the direct hope, that profes- 
sional exertions will extricate them from pecuniary embar- 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 15 

rassments. But woe to the pastor and the flock, where the 
fires of the pulpit are of that unhallowed kind that are kin- 
dled by the mercenary desire of earning a morsel of bread. 
The church, therefore, is left without remedy ; and if the 
evil arise from want of inclination, rather than ability to 
support their minister, it is aggravated hy all the lueight of 
the Saviour s anger, who will call them to answer for their 
sin, when imstor and peoi:)le shall he judged at his bar. 

I am not ignorant of the wretched apologies that are 
sometimes urged. " It is dangerous for a minister to be 
rich !" And is it not for the hearers too ? And are you 
not afraid of increasing the hazards of your own soul, by 
adding to your wealth all that you withhold from him? 
And have you sincerely risen to that exalted height, of 
loving your minister better than yourself ; so that you would 
-watch for his security from the snares of wealth, at the 
price of increasing your own danger of being found among 
them that " shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God ?" 

But "troubles are good for ministers, who preach bet- 
ter under the rod !" Thus the epicure torments the crea- 
tures of God, that they may afford him a more delicious 
treat ! As if the world and the devil would not furnish 
ministers with troubles enough, unless the flock for whom 
they labor add starvation to the hst ! But "we preach 
better for affliction!" A broken heart, I know, is good 
for prayer, but it is bad for preaching. I^ the pulpit, the 
jo2/ of the Lord is our strength. Then we reign and tri- 
umph over your hearts, Avhen you reign and triumph over 
ours. If we preach better under the rod, it is when that 
rod is in the hand of God, not in yours. 

But, to turn from cavils which scarcely admit of serious 
replies, I ask again, if a minister's wife be afflicted, and he 
be obliged to nurse her himself, because he cannot afford 
to pay one for giving her the attentions that are her due, 



16 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 

can the hearers hope that he will come from the incessant 
watchings of a sick chamber, like a giant refreshed with 
new wine ? Or when his children need education, and he 
is compelled to teach them at home, because the bills of a 
school would swallow up his whole income, how can he 
come from the horn-hook, the grammar, and the slate, on 
jire with sacred meditations, to i^oiir forth the full tide of 
hallowed eloquence, and give to ancient, well-known truths, 
all the charms they may derive from novel and surprising 
illustrations ? 

When, again, the apostle says to the young evangelist, 
"give attendance to reading," he supposes that he has 
books, and these demand mone)^ But I have unhappily 
known a fine mind, athirst for information, that would have 
poured forth the treasures it might have acquired from 
reading, into the hearts of his hearers, stunted in its growth, 
for want of the resources which a library would have fur- 
nished, and yhich a generous people would have afforded, 
and doomed to chastise their covetousness hy the repetition of 
old things. No punishment is severer than that which is 
inflicted by the reaction of our own sin. 

Consider too, my friends, that the church of God is 
bound to have ministers w^ho enjoy a good report of them 
that are without. This, however, in great measure depends 
on yourselves. I once heard a person speak of the useful- 
ness of a minister thus : ''If he were doing much good to 
that people, they Avould give him a better coat." 

If it be objected that w^e should not attach too much 
importance to the opinion of the world, for our grand con- 
cern should be, to know what is Christ's estimation of our 
conduct, I most readily grant the truth. And are we not 
assured that an apostle, under infalhble inspiration, was 
delighted with the generosity of a certain church towards 
him, because it redounded to their high advantage before 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 17 

the throne of heaven ? ''I desire not a gift, but fruit that 
may abound to your account. But I have received that 
from you, which is an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice 
well-pleasing to God. My God shall supply all your need, 
according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ." 

And is that which is given to his servants, a grateful 
odor to their Lord ? And must we not wish that heaven 
may smell such perfumes from you? Who can refrain from 
tears, when he thinks of those from whom Christ never 
receives such an offering, but is insulted with their covet- 
ousness and injustice ? Alas, that he should have to look 
down, and blush to know, that these persons are called by 
the sacred name of Him who^impoverished himself to make 
us for ever rich ! 

But here, again, we see a reaction in the moral, like 
that which prevails in the physical world ! For that Sav- 
iour who is pleased with all that is, like himself, generous 
and kind, rewards this spirit in the flock, by kindling in the 
breast of its pastor that affection for their persons, and 
solicitude for their souls, which give to his thought all the 
beauties of the bow of heaven, and to his voice all the 
sweetness of angelic tones. But how can this be expected 
by a people, whose ungenerous treatment renders it difficult 
for their minister to do much more than forgive their wick- 
edness ! It is reserved for a liberal congregation to hear 
strains like those which Paul addressed to the Philippian 
church. 

To the last consideration that may show us the extent 
to which ministers should be supported, I now advance. 
^Ye should consider, 

4. What may best promote the conversion of the world. 

The church should consider itself placed in the earth, 
as a o-olden candlestick, to hold out the light of divine 
truth to a benighted world ; that, from this centre, the rays 
VOL. V. 9 



18 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 

of heaven may dart forth in every direction, till the whole 
earth shall believe on Him whom the Father hath sent. No 
clime, no class, no character should be excluded from our 
benevolence. A minister, therefore, should be enabled to 
gain admittance into every rank of society. He should not 
be so exalted as to be beyond the reach of a poor man, nor 
so depressed as to be beneath the notice of the rich ; but 
should stand in that happy mediocrity that will permit him 
to lay his hands on both extremes. I plead not for great 
wealth. If, however, ministers are so poor as to be unable 
to gain access to persons of Avealth, Avho have souls to be 
saved or lost, as well as others, how can we be said to do 
our iitmost for the salvation of men ? A minister should 
be rich enough to give a shilling, or, if needful, a guinea, in 
a case of distress. In fact, the men of the world, both rich 
and poor, do expect a minister to give ; and they will very 
much esteem or despise him, according as they find him 
generous or covetous. 

But a minister should be enabled to show a generous 
spirit, by having a liberal income. On the conversion of 
the world he should set his heart, and for this he should 
" devise liberal things." Poverty, however, shrivels the 
soul. Let, then, your ministers find access to every class 
of society ; be men of general science and literature, who 
can mingle in conversation on every subject, to turn it to 
good account; and, by the stimulus of their own example, 
teach the world the love of God and man. 

A person with a large and generous heart, will often 
think of the handsome manner in which a whole people 
ought to support that one man who is, or who wishes to 
be, incessantly laboring for their good. He spurns at the 
thought of clogging the wings of an angel, or pressing down 
to earth one who would bear others with him in his flight 
to heaven : and he who has just views of himself, will aim 



ENTITLED TO SLTrorvT. 19 

to inspire tliem in the minds of others ; for, '' out of tlie 
abundance of the heart the mouth will speak." 

Some, however, soothe themselves by saying, '' But our 
minister is contented." How do they know ? " Because 
he does not complain." What, then, must a minister's del- 
icacy always be tried, by being left to suffer until he is 
compelled to complain? Is this generous? Ought not 
his people to think it their duty to consider whether he has 
not reason to complain, and, if they are conscious that he 
has, should they not determine to spare his feelings, by 
never leaving him to ask for that addition to his income 
which they feel to be his due ? 

The mischief sometimes done by Avant of liberality 
among the rich, is incalculable. It is a blight that withers 
the fruits of all around. For a plain, and even poor man, 
would willingly give his proportion ; but he says, if such a 
rich man gives only five dollars, then five shillings, or even 
five pence, are as much as can be expected from me. But 
the rich man replies, " I have so many other expenses 
which you do not know." "True," says the other, ''I 
give you credit for them ; but then, you support all the 
other expenses, and think you must, in order to maintain 
your station in society. Why is this, which you owe to a 
minister, the only expense you throw off from your shoul- 
ders ? Or is it only in religion, that it is genteel to be 
penurious ? But as when wise people find their expenses 
beyond their income, they begin to reduce them, we must 
suppose that you are doing so, and have begun wdth relig- 
ion, as that for which you care least. But you have begun 
there many years ago, and w^e have not seen the reduction 
in other things yet." 

O Thou, whose omnipotence can accomplish what to us 
is impossible, and cause even a rich man to enter thy king- 
dom, make them to whom thou hast committed ten talents, 



20 THE GOSPEL MLMSTRY 

faithful over many things ; and inspire in their hearts the 
language of thy servant : " Lord, deliver me from men of the 
world, who have their portion in this life ; who are full of 
children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. 
As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall 
be satisfied, when I awake in thy likeness." 

There are, however, many who would not be placed 
among the richest, but whose expenditure is several hundred 
pounds a year ; who get their own praise, at the marvel- 
lousl}^ cheap rate of giving one guinea every year, to sup- 
port a minister to whom they profess to be attached. Were 
I to speak as a man, I should censure in strong terms such 
stinted benevolence. But as a Christian and a minister, I 
had rather drop the tear of bitter regret and deep commis- 
eration : regret, for the reproach brought on the religion 
of Jesus ; and commiseration for the men Avho have not 
learned, even from such a master as Christ, how blessed it 
is to give. 

But I should hope, that these persons have erred, in a 
great measure, through inconsideration. They have never 
reflected, what proportion their expenses for religion bear 
to all their other expenditures. They have never once 
thought that they give to a minister one- seventh part of 
what they pay to a maid-servant ; and, perhaps, they keep 
two or three of these. But some will say, Our servant is 
our own, who spends all her time for us alone ; Avhile the 
minister serves many others, every one of whom ought to 
contribute. 

This I do not forget. But you say, that from the Gos- 
pel you receive more delight, and expect more benefit, than 
from any earthly service ; and all we wish is, to bring you, 
and every other person who enjoys the sound of the Gos- 
pel from the minister's lips, to contribute in such proportion 
as will produce a comfortable income. 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 21 

As we come down to the lower ranks of life, we are 
reminded of what a shrewd person once said : " I pay more 
for the lowest article of my dress than for my soul." It 
costs multitudes much more for insuring their houses than 
for instructing their minds. We are also compelled to say, 
that the very persons who are excused, through mere pov- 
erty, from contributing at all to support the man by whom 
they are taught, often spend as much on their pleasures as 
others give for the pastor's support. 

Many excuse themselves from making an adequate rec- 
ompense to a minister, because, they say, " he is a man 
of fortune, and does not need it." To this I have two 
replies. 

First : Are you sure that this is true ? I plead for 
ministers with more earnestness, because I can declare, be- 
fore heaven and earth, that I believe they are often the 
most liberal subscribers to the cause of religion which the 
church of God contains. Many of them, who cannot be 
considered rich men, but may rather be called poor, yet 
contribute with a spirit that may put others to shame. 
They will go to associations, and missionary meetings, at 
an expense which they can ill afford, because they know 
that these useful objects would, without them, languish and 
die ; while some far richer persons stay at home, not merely 
to gain money by attendance to busniess, which it is often 
their duty to do; but sometimes, also, because they do not 
choose to afford the expense of travelling. I see on the 
lists of subscriptions the guinea of a minister, when the 
names of far richer men are attached to no greater sum. 
If you judge by these signs, you may conclude the minister 
to be rich, when it is not his property, but his liberality , 
which is thus proved. 

But a second re])hj demands notice. If it should be 
true, and a minister should be rich, what can that have to 

VOL. V. 9* 



22 THE GOSPEL MLMSTRY 

do with the payment of your just debts ? If you enter the 
shop of a tradesman, you never inqmre after his private 
property, before you pay your bills. When a medical 
man has given you his time and talents, you would not 
think of refusing to reward him because he was a man of 
fortune. 

And by what rule of righteousness is a minister to be 
the only person whose services are to be unpaid, because 
he happens to be rich? When Christ says, the spiritual 
" laborer is worthy of his reward," he does not add, " except 
he should be rich ;" and why should you add this excep- 
tion ? But you say, " he does not need to receive it." To 
which I reply, hut you need to give it. Do your duty, and 
let him judge concerning his. But you think, that if Prov- 
idence has blessed him with abundance, he ought to give 
away as much as his salary would produce. Well, let him 
give it away. Do not assume to yourself the right to give 
it for him. And if you do not pay it to him, do you really 
give it away to the poor, or to the heathen ? Are there 
not instances in which it is retained for yourselves ? What, 
then, are you the poor persons whom he is to relieve, be- 
cause he is rich? The very persons who, perhaps, are, 
after all, richer than himself. 

But, supposing him to be able to labor without receiv- 
ing his full recompense, to whom should he give that 
advantage. To a rich and covetous people ? Not if he 
values his accountability to Him who entrusted him with 
property ; who has said, " he that robbeth the poor, and 
he that giveth to the rich," are alike guilty in his sight. 
No : if I spend my life and labors for nothing, it must he 
to benefit a people who cannot repay them ; not for those 
■who will not. And he is not worthy of the name and office 
of a Christian minister, who would not esteem it a high 
privilege to be able thus to preach to a flock, who could 



ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 23 

not otherwise enjoy the Gospel of Christ. Yet, even there, 
he Avould be their best friend who would see that they 
did all they could to repay their minister, though be should 
give it back among them a hundred fold. 

I cannot close without recurring to the solicitude with 
which I commenced. Some may harden themselves in 
their sins, by pretending to think that this has been a mer- 
cenary discourse. But I would most tenderly warn you, 
my friends, that you will find, at the last day, that many a 
pious youth has sacrificed the prospect of a fortune, and 
many a minister endured severe poverty , to devote their lives 
to win you from that love of the world to which you are sac- 
rificing your soul. But how precious must be your soul, 
and how desirable your salvation, for the sake of which 
others will endure that poverty which you would rather 
lose your soul than bear ! 

Nor can I conclude without reminding my brethren in 
the ministry, that though I have endeavored to prove our 
claims on the liberality of our flocks, no pen of man, or 
tongue of angel, can declare all that intensity of mind, or 
fidelity of labor, which we owe to the souls committed to our 
care. Let not" any mercenary attention to your temporal 
dues shed a blighting mildew over the pasture to which 
you lead your flock. You can scarcely ever say or do 
much about your own income, without injuring yourselves 
and your charge. Consecrate yourselves to serve Christ's 
interest, and trust him to take care of yours. 

For the liberal friends, whose hearts have echoed, as I 
know some do, to all that I have said on the minister's 
behalf, I return to God our grateful vows, that the generous 
sacrifices you have made for our support may be abundantly 
repaid, " But this I say, he who soweth sparingly, shall 
reap also sparingly ; and he who soweth bountifully, shall 
reap also bountifully. Every man, according as he pur- 



24 THE GOSPEL MLVISTRY, ETC. 

poseth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of 
necessity ; for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is 
able to make all grace abound towards you ; that ye, always 
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every 
good work." 



How beauteous are their feet 

Who stand on Zion's hill ! 
Who bring salvation on their tongues. 

And words of peace reveal. 

How charming is their voice ! 

How sweet the tidings are ! 
*' Zion, behold thy Saviour King ; 

He reigns and triumphs here." 

How happy are our ears. 

That hear this joyful sound, 
W^hich kings and prophets waited for, 

And sought, but never founds! 

How blessed are our eyes, 

That see this heavenly light ; 
Prophets and kings desired it long, 

But died without the sight ! 

The watchmen join their voice. 

And tuneful notes employ ; 
Jerusalem breaks forth in songs, 

And deserts learn the joy. w\\tts. 



]¥o. 148. 



THE 



BAREEN FIG-TREE 




" Cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground V 
One morning, about the close of December, a farmer 
went into his orchard to cut down an apple-tree, which for 
several years had }aelded no fruit. Whilst employed in the 
work, the minister, walking near, was induced to stop ; and 
after the usual salutations, inquired why he destroyed the 
tree, as it did not appear a very old one. 

Farmer. It is like a good many people, sir ; it looks 
better than it is. I have these ten years been looking for 
fruit from it, and not one apple has it borne : all my other 
trees of the same planting generally do well ; and this in 
the spring blossoms, but never bears. I have been several 
times tempted to cut it down and plant another in its place, 
but have every time thought, I will try it another season : 
so it has stood till now, and it is just as barren as ever. I 
determined, therefore, to wait no longer, but to cut it down 
and burn it. 



2 THE BARREN FIC-TREE.- 

MiNiSTER. Your judgment, sentence, and destruction 
of this fruitless tree remind me of our Lord's parable of 
the Barren Fig-tree. He tells us, "A certain man had a 
fig-tree planted in his vineyard ; and he came and sought 
fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he imto the 
dresser of his vineyard. Behold, these three years I come 
seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none : cut it down ; 
why cumbereth it the ground ? And he answering, said unto 
him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, 
and dung it ; and if it bear fruit, well : and if not, then 
after that thou shalt cut it down." Like your tree, it was 
not planted in a barren and neglected waste, where it might 
be injured both by man and beast, or storm and tempest ; 
but it stood in a vineyard, in a spot surrounded by a fence, 
in the midst of an enclosure ; and so situated as to be culti- 
vated by the overseer of the vineyard, and pruned when 
needful, whilst it possessed all the advantages of summer 
and winter, rain and sunshine. That parable, however, 
was designed to remind us of what God has done for us, 
of what he requires of us, and how we disobey him. It 
shows us his patience ; he waits for us year after year — 
but at last, if we continue his enemies, the sentence will 
be pronounced, " Cut them down ; why cumber they the 
ground ?" Have you ever thought, my friend, of what God 
requires of you ? He has planted you in his vineyard, and 
he looks for fruit ; he has created you, and he preserves 
you, giving you life, and health, and all things : he has 
given you a law to keep, and the fruit he requires is obe- 
dience to that law ; and do you think you have yielded 
him any ? 

Farmer. Why, sir, I have a large family to provide 
for ; and I find, if people do not work they cannot get 
along: one must attend to his business. I thank God, I 
give every man his due ; what I get comes by hard earn- 
ing ; I am not one of them who would wish to get any 
thing by cheating my neighbors. As for being very relig- 
ious, which is what you mean I suppose I cannot say that 



THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 



I am : at night I am glad to get to rest, and on Sunday I 
think sometimes I would like to go to church ; but we far- 
mers have so much to look after that we cannot get out. 

Minister. Perhaps you mean, you will not get out ; for 
where there is a will, there will generally be a way. If 
you Avere to set jowv heart upon going to church and read- 
ing the Bible with prayer, you would find time to do it. 
I know the farmer has a laborious life ; and if he be one, 
like you, honest and industrious, he will always find enough 
to do ; but he cannot be excused from serving God. From 
your own confession, then, it appears you are as barren, in a 
Scriptural sense, as this tree ; and in your conduct towards 
it, you have been passing sentence against yourself. Now, 
my friend, allow me to point out the resemblance between 
your case and that of the barren fig-tree in the parable of 
our Lord, which I mentioned. You live in a highly favored 
land, emphatically the land of freedom ; we may all say 
the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have 
a goodly heritage ; God has hitherto been as a wall of fire 
round about us, and the glory in the midst of us ; we live 
in a land of Bibles ; the light of Christ shines around us ; 
we have God's word, which we may procure at a small 
expense, and read in our own language ; that blessed word, 
too, is made the wisdom of God and the power of God 
unto salvation to many among us ; and we see it. We have 
our Sabbaths in regular order, when we may attend the 
house of God, and by his blessing on the ministry of the 
Gospel, may enjoy his favor, obtain the forgiveness of our 
sins, and a good hope of a blessed immortality. We have 
Sabbath- schools also for the young, where they are collected 
from the paths of the destroyer and trained up in the way 
in which they should go. And indeed every example and 
every encouragement is now afforded us for being " diligent 
in business," and at the same time " fervent in spirit, serv- 
ing the Lord." Once, a real Christian was laughed at as 
an object of contempt ; but now, how many thousands, of 
all ages and conditions, are pressing forward towards the 



4 THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 

everlasting- kingdom of God our Saviour. So that to us 
may be fully applied the congratulation of our Lord : 
" Blessed are your eyes, for they see ; for prophets and 
kings desired to see the things Avhich ye see, and have not 
seen them." Yerily, you may well be said to be planted 
in the vineyard of the Lord. 

Farmer. I certainly agree with you, sir, about our 
country ; we live in a land of liberty. As for Sabbath- 
schools, they are the best things we could have. There 
used to be more noise and mischief with children on Sun- 
day than any other day ; and it kept one continually watch- 
ing to drive them off our grounds and hedges. 

Minister. You allow, then, that you have many priv- 
ileges for which you ought to be thankful : now look a 
little farther, and you Avill see what God requires for these. 
The owner of the vineyard " came seeking fruit ;" and Avhat 
could be more reasonable ? In this way I act with my gar- 
den. In this way you act with your orchard. Xow, the 
fruit which God looks for is this : having given us the know- 
ledge of his holy will, which is contained in the Scriptures, 
he demands our obedience, in thought, word, and deed. 
As we have all failed in this instance, having " done the 
things which we ought not to have done, and left undone 
the things which we ought to have done," he requires our 
repentance. As he has sent his dear Son into the world to 
save penitent sinners, he expects that we shall seek his 
mercy and grace " to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness." And as the compassionate 
Saviour will receive all, and cast out none that apply to 
him earnestly — and without such an application Ave must 
perish for ever — God requires that we neglect not this great 
salvation. We should go, then, to his house, and hear his 
Gospel. Faith cometh by hearing ; and that faith will lead 
and unite the soul to Christ ; and holiness in heart, conver- 
sation, and life, will follow. For, receiving the gift of the 
Holy Ghost, which he will grant to those w1k> ask him, we 
shall be led into the way of truth, and be tauglit to deny 



THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 5 

ungodliness and worldly lusts ; and live soberly, righteously, 
and godly in the present evil world. 

Now, in order to produce such fruits, how many times 
has the Lord pruned us by affliction, pain, trials, losses, 
disappointments, in body, in mind, and in our circumstances. 
And how natural that, after all his kindness and care, he 
should come seeking fruit. But the proprietor, thus paying 
his annual \dsit to the vineyard, complains, " Lo, these three 
years I come seeking fruit, and find none'' How patient 
and long-suffering is our God to bear with us as long as 
three years ! For with what ease could he remove us by 
death, even at the end of one year, and place others in our 
stead, " bringing forth the fruits of righteousness." But 
what shall is^e, think when we consider how many years some 
of us have been unfruitful and useless ? For twenty, nay, 
thirty, nay, even for forty years, has the Lord of the vine- 
yard looked for your improvement, but looked in vain. And 
during this space, how carefully have you served yourself, 
whilst you neglected the gloiy of God, whose you are by 
nature, to whom you must shortly give an account, and 
whom you ought to serve in sincerity and truth, in body, 
soul, and spirit, which are his. 

But let us notice the sentence which was passed. He 
said to the vine-dresser, *' Cut it clown ; why cumhereth it 
the ground r This, my good friend, has been your com- 
mand in the instance now before us, and it is just ; for, by 
removing this fruitless tree, you may supply its place by a 
better. And can we form a different opinion of unrighteous 
persons ? Who can tell what injury their bad example may 
do ? If they are masters, or parents, or even neighbors, by 
neo-lectino- their own salvation they sanction the neglect of 
others around them. Hence our Lord has said, " He that 
is not with me, is against me." So that we perceive there 
are no neutrals — if we are not his friends, we are his ene- 
mies. But, oh, how dreadful would this sentence be ! To 
be called hence in the midst of your days, without hope, 
without mercy, and cast into the fire of hell, with all your 
VOL. v. ' 10 



6 THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 

sins upon you, under the weight of God's displeasure ! This 
would be the fulfilment of that solemn passage, " Because 
I have called and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, 
and no man regarded ; but ye have set at naught all my - 
counsel, and would none of my reproof: I will laugh at 
your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh." How 
useless will it then be for you to say, " I have paid every 
one his own ; I have been industrious and careful, attentive 
to my family and to my business." If your soul is lost, 
what will you be profited by all this ? All this only con- 
cerns your duty to your neighbor ; but how have you 
fulfilled your duties to God ? " These things ought you to 
have done, and not to have left the other undone." For 
what is the body when compared to the immortal soul ? 
What is time when compared to eternity ? And who can 
tell how soon this sentence against you may be put in exe- 
cution? Even this night, when deep sleep falleth upon 
others, your soul may be required of you ; and then whose 
shall these things be whicli you have so anxiously gained ? 
Hence you perceive that the Most High has judgment as 
well as mercy, justice as well as patience ; and whilst he is 
" long-suffering " toAvards the truly penitent, he will ''by no 
means clear the guilty," who still go on in sin, and live with- 
out God in the world. 

The farmer acknowledged the force of these remarks ; 
said he knew they were all very true, and he hoped the 
Lord would have mercy upon him, and not take him out of 
this world until he was prepared for a better. 

Minister. Your wish is very natural ; every one must 
be concerned for his safety, even for this life ; how much 
more for that life which is to come ? But here is a great 
error ; too many are only anxious about their future Avelfare 
at the moment when alarming considerations are pressing on 
their minds ; but their convictions soon wear away, and they 
become as thoughtless as before. Like a person in a storm 
at sea, he will anxiously cry for mercy whilst the waves roar 
around him, and promise, should he be preserved, to lead a 



THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 7 

new life ; but when the storm is over, his repentance is often 
like the morning cloud and the early dew, it soon passeth 
away: 

There is one other circumstance to which I Avould advert : 
I mean the intercession of the vine-dresser, that the tree thus 
condemned might he tried one year longer ; and then, if it 
lore no fruit, if it ivere still a cumherer of the ground, he 
would withdraw his hopes and his regard for its safety, and 
plead for it no more. This was granted. It was to be 
spared — it was to be tried yet another year. Without 
doubt, this part of the parable is to point out the com- 
passionate intercession of Christ on behalf of unprofitable 
sinners. It is wholly on account of his plea that any barren 
soul is spared. But observe how his request is limited : 
it does not extend to years, but only to one year lono-er ; 
then, if it be still unfruitful, it shall be hewn down and cast 
into the fire. Righteousness shall then be added to the 
line, and truth to the plummet. The exercise of the Lord's 
long-suffering will then be exhausted. The great destroyer 
of the nations shall receive his commission. The axe shall 
be laid to the root of the tree. The last decisive blow shall 
be given, and the unbeliever left without excuse. 

Perhaps, reader, this is God's determination respecting 
you. Perhaps from this very day he intends to give you 
one year more, and only one. Dming this space he may 
also design to send you trials, or afflictions, in his providence, 
to prune you ; or he may compassionately send you his pe- 
culiar blessing, to act like the manure at the root of the 
tree ; but all with the merciful intention of trying you yet 
another year. But if unhappily you should still remain in 
the same state as before, you can expect nothing but tribu- 
lation and wrath ; and, sooner or later, " swift destruction 
from the presence of the Lord," who searcheth the hearts 
and trieth the reins of the children of men. Or, if your life 
should even be spared beyond the year, the judgment of 
God may be still poured out upon you. He may withdraw 
all kind of restraint : conscience may cease to convict ; 



8 THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 

providence may cease to chastise ; friends may cease to 
caution ; ministers may cease to warn ; till at length, by one 
tremendous stroke, God may take you from this place of 
sinning, and cast you into the gulf of despair, where the 
worm of anguish never dies, and the fire is never quenched. 

The farmer, wiping away an involuntary tear, acknow- 
ledged himself the Barren Fig-tree. " I have done nothing 
for God," said he ; " I have neglected the Lord Jesus Christ 
and his salvation. I have profaned his Sabbaths. I have 
been ungrateful for all his goodness to me. I have abused 
his patience. Instead of yielding him any fruit, I have been 
striving to get a few dollars together, and to lay up the 
things of this world. Avhat a wonder that the Lord has 
not long before this cut me down ! I will not any longer 
live as I have done : by the help of God, I will change my 
course of life ; if I am spared till another Sabbath, it shall 
find me in the house of prayer, and may I be enabled so to 
trust in the merits of Christ, that I shall find mercy." 

With tears of joy glistening in his eye, the minister re- 
plied, " My friend, let me give you one word of caution : do 
not make these promises, good as they are, in your oion 
strength, as that will produce pride, instead of humble de- 
pendence on the grace of God ; but seeing their importance, 
carry them before God ; make them the matter of secret 
prayer ; be humble before him for the sins of the past ; 
seek forgiveness through the blood of Christ ; implore the 
gift of the Holy Ghost to renew your heart, and his grace 
to strengthen and be sufficient for you. Then you will 
realize that promise, * Him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out.' " 



PUBLISHED Blf THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



JVo. 149. 

CHRIST 

FOEMED II THE SOUL, 

THE 

ONLY FOUNDATION Of HOPE FOR ETERNITY. 

ADDRESSED TO THE YOUNG. 



BY REV. PHILIP DODDRIDGE, D. D 



It was the unhappy case of Agrippa, that though al- 
most, he was only almost, persuaded to be a Christian ; 
and I fear it is now the case of many, and particularly of 
many young persons, who have enjoyed the advantages of 
a religious education. 

I beheve it is difficult to find any among them Avho have 
not been brought, at some time, under serious impressions. 
With regard to the internal operations of the blessed Spirit, 
as well as external means, the morning of life is generally 
to them, in a peculiar sense, the day of their visitation ; and 
they often seem to know it, and in some measure to improve 
it : but, in too many instances, Ave find their goodness as a 
morning cloud, and as the early dew, which soon passeth 
away. The blossoms open fair and beautiful, and give a 
very agreeable prospect of plentiful fruits of hohness in the 
life ; but too often, when storms of temptation and cor- 
ruption arise, the goodly appearance is laid in ruins ; the 



VOL. V. 



10* 



2 CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

blossoms fall to the ground, and leave the tree blasted and 
naked, or at best, covered only with the leaves of an ex- 
ternal profession, which, however green and flourishing 
they may for the present be, will not at last secure it from 
being "cut down, and cast into the burning." Though they 
for a while had escaped the pollutions of the world through 
lust, they are afterwards entangled and subdued ; and the 
consequence is, they prove a scandal to religion, and a dis- 
couragement to others, till, in the end, they bring aggravated 
destruction on themselves ; so that, on the whole, as the 
apostle observes, " it had been better for them not to have 
known the way of righteousness, than" thus, "after they 
have known it, to turn aside from the holy commandment." 

These are matters of universal importance. But, though 
I hope my remarks may be useful to all, I would, at pres- 
ent, address them especially to the young. I hope there 
are some among you who are experimentally acquainted 
with the essence of Christianity, and have received from 
above an "incorruptible seed." There are others, to whom 
I must say, with the apostle to the Galatians, " I stand in 
doubt of you ;" and to such I hope I can apply myself, 
in the language of the same apostle, " My little children, 
of whom I travail in birth again, till Christ he formed in 
you'' Pardon me, if, in this instance, " I am jealous over 
you with a godly jealousy." I would endeavor, with the 
sincerest and tenderest affection, and with such freedom 
as the importance of the case requires, first to guard you 
against those sandy foundations, which will bury you and 
your hopes in eternal ruin ; and then to direct you to " the 
Rock of ages,'' on which they who build shall " never he 
ashamed." 

I therefore entreat your serious attention, and would 
humbly ask, both for myself and you, the teachings of that 
blessed Spirit, whose peculiar office it is, in the most 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 3 

efficacious manner, to show you your danger and your 
remedy. 

I. I would caution you against several things, on which 
young persons are peculiarly prone to build a false con- 
fidence. 

As you love your own souls, and value your eternal 
hopes, trust not to the privileges of your birth, or the 
rectitude of your speculations in matters of religion, or 
the purity and frequency of your forms of worship, or the 
warmth of your jDassions, or the morality of your conduct ; 
for none of these apart, nor even all of them united, can, 
according to the tenor of the Gospel, be sufficient for your 
security and happiness. 

1. Trust not to the privileges of your birth and education, 
as the foundation of your eternal hopes. 

You may be ready to plead, that you were born of pious 
parents, and have been brought up in the most regular and 
conscientious manner : you have been surrounded with holy 
instructions and correspondent examples, from your infancy ; 
and fervent prayers, both in the family and in secret, have 
been sent up to heaven upon your account. These are, 
indeed, signal advantages, and you may justly rejoice in 
them: for, in these respects, you are the children of the 
kingdom : but rejoice with trembling ; for our Lord hath 
told us, that it is more than a possible case that the chil- 
dren of the kingdom may be cast out, and have their portion 
in utter darkness. 

The piety of your parents may, perhaps, be abused by 
some of you, as an encouragement to presumptuous hopes. 
But remember, that Ishmael was the son of Abraham, and 
Esau of Isaac, and yet neither the one nor the other inher- 
ited the blessing of his father. Remember that beautiful, 
but dreadful parable, which represents a wretched creature 
in hell, that could cry. Father Abraham, and yet in vain 



4 CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

added, have mercy upon me, and send me a drop of water 
to cool my tongue. Once more, remember those emphatical 
words of John the Baptist, so expressly levelled against 
this arrogant presumption. "Think not," says he, "to say 
within yourselves, we have Abraham for our father ; for I 
say unto you, that God is able, of these stones, to raise up 
children unto Abraham:" as if he had said, "The promises 
made to those who are the children of Abraham, respect 
not merely them who are lineally descended from him, but 
those who are the heirs of his piety and faith ; for if God 
were to turn these stones into men, and to form them by 
his grace to a holy character and temper, such, though de- 
scended from no human parents at all, would, in the sense 
of the promise, be children of Abraham." And it were 
more reasonable to expect such a transmutation, than that 
God should acknowledge "a generation of vipers" as his 
people, because they were derived from hohj ancestors. 

On the contrary, God directly assures us, that if the 
son of the most religious father forsake the way of virtue 
and holiness, and prove as " the degenerate plant of a 
strange vine," "in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and 
in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." And 
surely herein the ways of the Lord are equal ; for it is most 
evident, that a long descent from God's people is a re- 
proach and condemnation, rather than an honor, to those 
who abandon that good old way in which their ancestors 
have trod, and which was the care and the glory of pre- 
ceding generations. 

2. Trust not to the correctness of your sentiments, in 
matters of religion, as the foundation of your eternal hopes. 

So various are the workings of men's hearts, and the 
devices of Satan, that, if I mistake not, there are some that 
place their confidence in the strictness, and others in the 
latitude of their religious opinions : but the one and the 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 5 

otlier will appear equally vain, when considered in the xievr 
now before us. 

Some may possibly persuade themselves that their con- 
dition is secure, because their sentiments are orthodox. 
They live, perhaps, in the midst of the unbelieving and 
profane, and see daily contempt and derision thrown upon 
the blessed Gospel, or its most glorious peculiarities ; but 
through the influence of a good education, or from some 
other principle, short of true piety, they may, nevertheless, 
not only hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints, but 
even contend earnestly for it : they are, perhaps, learned in 
the controversies of the time, and can, indeed, pronounce 
concerning them in a very rational and accurate manner. 

If this, my friends, be the case with any of you, I con- 
gratulate you on the happiness of a well-informed judgment, 
but must caution you against mistaking it for a sanctified 
heart. The mystery of faith, as the apostle himself assures 
us, is to be held with a good conscience ; and in vain do 
you profess to retain the one, while you make shipwreck 
of the other. As precious a treasure as the knowledge 
of the truth is, if we go no farther than mere speculation, 
it will be to you " but as a talent of gold to a man sinking 
in the sea, which only serves to plunge him so much the 
deeper in ruin." 

There are some who err in the contrary extreme. They 
pride themselves in having broken the shackles in which 
others ar3 confined, and in seeinir throuo-h the mist in which 
multitudes have been perplexed. They esteem many things 
which divide the world, as merely controversies about words ; 
and are not much concerned about others in which there is 
a real difference, because they think themselves ^rery sure 
that the fundammfnls of religion lie in a very little room. 
They are confident of the innocency of error, and the safety 
of an honest mind, under those mistakes which have been 



6 CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

branded by the severest names. A wicked life is, in their 
esteem, the only dangerous heresy ; and morality the only 
thinof that is worth contendinfj about. Charmed with their 
own wisdom and happiness in this freedom of thought, they 
look down with pity on persons under the influence of a 
contracted education and narrow sentiments, and possibly 
mingle their pity with a great deal of scorn, not to say 
indignation. But they are indeed themselves the objects 
of much juster pity, if, whilst they glory in their freedom, 
they are the servants of corruption. 

3. Trust not in the external forms of devotion, as the 
foundation of your hopes for eternity. 

.You are, it may be, joined to some society, which not 
only wears the Christian name, but separates itself from 
others, under the apprehension at least of a more pure and 
scriptural worship. You, perhaps, so much approve and 
esteem this worship, as to be diligent and constant in at- 
tending on the pubhc exercises of it, not only in its stated 
returns, but on occasional opportunities. You fill your 
places, from time to time, not merely in obedience to the 
commands of your parents and governors, but by your own 
voluntary choice. And, it may be, to these you add the 
forms of family devotion morning and evening, and, possi- 
bly, a few moments of daily retirement for reading and 
prayer. What can such religious persons have to fear ? 
Kay, rather, what can you have to hope, if, while you 
" draw near to God with your mouth and your lips," you 
" remove your hearts far from him ?" if, while you " come 
before him as his people come," and present yourselves 
in the posture of humble worshippers, "your heart be 
going after your covetousness ?" God hath for ever con- 
founded such vain presumption, by declaring that the 
prayer of the wicked is an abomination to him ; and that 
his shall certainly be so, who " turns away his ear from 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 7 

hearing the law," that is, who refuses obedience to it. 
The " servant that knew his Lord's will, and did it not," 
became justly liable to ''be beaten with many stripes;" 
and it is not to be wondered, if, in this sense, "judgment 
begin at the house of God," and seize first on those who 
affront and profane his ordinances, by making them to su- 
persede the very things which they were originally appoint- 
ed to promote, 

4. Trust not to the warmth of your ixissions, in matters 
of religion, as the foundation of your most important hopes. 

Some of you, to whom I now speak, have perhaps ex- 
perienced very bitter agonies' of conscience. You have 
been roused from the sleep of carnal security, as by an 
earthquake, which has shaken the very centre of your 
soul : the flames of hell have seemed, as it were, to flash 
in your face ; and all these mingled horrors have compelled 
you to cry out, "Woe is me, for I am undone!" Oh, 
"what shall I do to be saved?" And yet, to allude to 
the story of Elijah, the "Lord hath not been in the earth- 
quake, or in the fire." Consider to what purpose the in- 
quiry after salvation has been made, and with what resolu- 
tion it has been pursued ; otherwise you may be fatally 
deceived. The murderers of Stephen were cut to the 
heart by his preaching, and we are sure that, if the most 
deep and terrifying convictions could have secured a man's 
salvation, the traitor Judas would have been safe, who un- 
doubtedly felt the most violent convulsions of soul before 
he proceeded to that dreadful extremity which sealed him 
up under everlasting despair. 

But you may have been impressed Avith the sweeter and 
the nobler passions; you have not only trembled at the 
thunder of the law, but rejoiced in the message of Gospel 
grace. The news of a Redeemer has been welcome to 
your souls, and the feet of those messengers beautiful, 



CHRIST FORMKL) IN THE iM)VL 



that have come to publish peace in his name. You liave, 
perhaps, been melted into tears of pleasure and tenderness, 
when you have heard the representation of his dying love : 
and when the precious promises established by it have 
been unfolded, and the prospects of cternaJ glory displayed, 
your minds have been elevated and transported ; so that 
you have hung, almost with a trembling eagerness, on the 
lips of the speaker. I readily acknowledge that such as 
these are frequently the workings of the blessed Spirit of 
God upon the souls of his chosen people ; and when found 
in a due connection with the great effects they are designed 
to produce, are highly to be esteemed and rejoiced in. But 
remember, I entreat you, that every tear of tenderness, and 
every sally of joy, does not arise from so divine a spring. 
You might weep at a mournful scene in a well-wrought 
tragedy, as you have done at the story of a Redeemer's 
sufferings ; you might find yourselves transported with a 
fine poetical description of a pagan elysium, or a Mahom- 
etan paradise, just as you have been with the views of a 
heavenly Canaan, which Gospel ordinances have presented. 
Mere self-love might be the foundation of such a joy in the 
tidings of pardon and happiness, without the least degree 
of renewing and sanctifying grace ; as it was in those hear- 
ers, represented by the " stony ground," who "immediately 
received the word with joy, but had no root, and so endured 
but for a while." 

But, perhaps you will say, you are confident it is not 
merely self-love in you, for you have often found your 
mind impressed with a grateful sense of the divine good- 
ness ; so that, when you own it before God in prayer, or 
converse with his saints on the copious and delightful sub- 
ject, your souls flow forth in love to your great Benefactor, 
and you look up to him in the most thankful acknowledg- 
ments of his favors. If it be gratitude that captivates 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 9 

tlie soul into a willing obedience, and engages joii to yield 
yourselves as willing sacrifices to God, then is Christ 
formed in your souls, and you are not the persons to whom 
I would give the alarm ; on the contrary, I would rather 
confirm your hopes, and rejoice with you in them. But if 
your gratitude does not rise to this ; if it rest only in some 
tender emotion of mind, or some transient external expres- 
sion of that emotion, I must faithfully tell you, that I fear 
it is only a nobler degree of that natural instinct, which 
causeth the ox to know his owner, and the ass his master's 
crib. To find your spirit in this manner impressed, does 
indeed plainly prove that the day of your visitation is not 
entirely past ; it proves you have not sinned yourselves into 
utter insensibility of soul ; nay, it may possibly, at length, 
through the communications of sanctifying grace, lead you 
on to real religion, and to eminent attainments in it : but at 
present it falls far short. Thus those illuminations, or those 
affections, on which you are apt to lay so great a stress, 
are, perhaps, at best, .but the preparatory workings of the 
Spirit upon your minds, which, if they are not improved, 
may leave you more hard and more miserable than they 
found you. 

5. Trust not to the morality of your behavior, as the 
foundation of your eternal hopes. 

Morality is certainly a very excellent thing, and it were 
scandalous indeed for any professed Christian to pour con- 
tempt upon it. Wherever this is wanting, pretences to 
faith and Christian experience are not only vain, but inso- 
lent and detestable. He that committeth sin is of the devil ; 
and only he that doth righteousness, is righteous : nor hath 
the grace of God ever savingly appeared to that man, 
through whatever uncommon scenes of thought he may 
have passed, who is not effectually taught by it " to deny 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, right- 

VOL. V. 11 



10 CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

eously, and godly." But it will by no means follow from 
thence, that wherever there is a sober and virtuous conduct, 
such a soul is passed from death to life. If the whole of 
the Gospel be wrapt up in the rules of morality, " then is 
Christ dead in vain;" or, at least, it is in vain that the 
records of his death are published to us. Beware, I entreat 
you, of so pernicious an error. I think myself obliged 
more earnestly to caution you against it, because, while the 
devil is attempting, on the one hand, to engage some, under 
the specious pretences of an evangelical spirit, " to turn the 
grace of God into wantonness ;" he seems to be ensnaring 
others, by extolling the virtue which he hates, in order to 
lead them into a neglect of Christ and his righteousness, 
and all the peculiarities of the Gospel scheme of salvation ; 
so that it is difficult on the whole to say which of these 
devices is most destructive to the souls of men. 

From my heart I rejoice to think, there are so many 
amongst you whose character in life is fair and unblem- 
ished. You escape the grosser pollutions of the world ; 
you abhor brutal intemperance ; you scorn the mean arti- 
fices of deceit, and renounce the hidden things of dishon- 
esty ; you honor your parents and subordinate governors ; 
you treat the ministers of Christ Avith respect and esteem ; 
you are affable and courteous in your behavior to all ; and 
on this account we behold you and love you ; but alas, if 
things rest here, you will never enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. All these things had the young man in the Gospel 
observed from his youth. But he lacked one thing ; and 
the lack of that was the ruin of his soul, as it will be of 
yours, if you remain destitute of it. 

I know that they are especially in danger of being de- 
ceived here, who converse frequently with persons of an 
abandoned character ; or who are themselves reformed 
from some gross irregularities, to which they were once 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. H 

addicted. Comparing themselves with others, or with 
themselves in a more licentious and corrupt state, they 
pronounce a favorable sentence, and conclude they are 
safe and happy : but let me entreat you, my friends, that 
you would rather compare your hearts and lives with that 
perfect law of God which cannot be repealed ; weigh your- 
selves in that balance, and see whether you are not found 
wanting there. Review even the upright conduct of these 
days of your reformation, and then say whether there be 
such a redundancy of merit in them as will not only answer 
present demands, but atone for your past ofifences too. You 
will soon be confounded on such a review. You will soon 
acknowledge, on an impartial examination, that "the bed 
is shorter than a man can stretch himself upon, and the 
covering narrower than he can wrap himself in:" that 
neither you, nor any one living, can be "justified by the 
works of the law." 

The case of St. Paul affords a practical illustration of 
all that has been advanced. Had the privileges of birth 
and education been a sufficient security, Paul had been 
secure before his conversion to Christianity ; for he was 
" circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of 
the tribe of Benjamin" — which had not, like the rest, re- 
volted from the house of David — and by his mother's side, 
as well as his father's, "a Hebrew of the Hebrews'' If 
the exactest regularity in religious notions, or the strictest 
formality in the externals of worship, could have secured 
a man, Paul had been secure ; for he was, as touching the 
law, a Pharisee : he lived according to the rigor of that 
sect, and, both with respect to doctrines and ceremonies, 
"was exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the fathers." 
If a transport of passion in the cause of God could have 
secured a man, Paul had been secure ; for, " concerning 
zeal, he persecuted the church, and wasted it beyond meas- 



12 CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

lire." And, lastly, if morality of behavior could have done 
it, Paul had been secure; for, "touching the righteousness 
which is by the law," he was ''blameless." In these 
things he was once so weak and so wretched as to place 
a great deal of confidence ; but when he was illuminated, 
and called by divine grace, he assures us, that what things 
were gain unto him before, those he counted lost for Christ ; 
he renounced all dependence upon them: "yea, doubtless," 
says he, "and I count all things but loss, for the excellency 
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." But let us 
consider, 

II. What will be a solid foundation for hope and 
joy, when all these inadequate dependencies fail ; or, in 
other words, what it is to have Christ formed in the soul. 
And here let me entreat you to turn your thoughts inward, 
that you may judge whether you have been experimentally 
acquainted with the temper and change which I shall now 
describe, as signified by this remarkable expression, Christ 
formed in you. 

It implies right apprehensions of Christ in the heart ; 
that the man is brought to an exphcit choice of him, and 
deliberately enters into covenant with him ; and that, in 
consequence of both these, something of the temper and 
spirit of Christ is by divine grace wrought in his soul. 

1. It supposes right ajjprehensions of Christ in the 
heart. 

It evidently implies, that the external revelation of him 
hath not only been admitted as a speculative truth, but 
attended to as a matter of the highest concern. Previous 
to the forming of Christ in the soul, there must be a con- 
viction that we are naturally without Christ, and that, in 
consequence of this, we are in a most unhappy condition. 
And this conviction must strike deep upon the heart ; for, 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL 13 

till the evil of sin be felt, what can make the news of a 
Saviour welcome? Since, as he himself has declared, 
" the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.' 
The man in whose heart Christ is formed, has seen himself 
condemned by God's righteous law ; has seen himself equal- 
ly unable to answer its demands, or to bear the execution 
of its penalties. And feeling this to be no light matter, 
but the very hfe of his soul, he has then been engaged, 
with the greatest seriousness and earnestness, to cry out, 
*' Woe is me, for I am undone !" Oh, " what shall I do to 
be saved?" I have said, there may be these convictions 
and awakenings, where Christ is never formed in the soul ; 
and I now add, that the degree of them may be various, 
according to the various tempers and circumstances of dif- 
ferent persons ; but it is most evident that something of 
this kind must make way for the Redeemer's entrance, who 
comes to seek and to save that which was lost ; to bind 
up the broken-hearted ; and to give rest to the weary and 
heavy-laden. And I the rather insist on this, because I 
am fully persuaded that slight thoughts of sin, and of the 
misery of our natural estate by it, have been the principal 
cause of all the infidehty of the present age, and are daily 
ruining a multitude of souls. 

2. The formation of Christ in the soul farther implies 
an exjMcit choice of him, and a dehberate entering into 
covenant with him. 

When such a soul hears of a Redeemer, and of the way 
of salvation by him, exhibited in Scripture, it cordially ap- 
proves the scheme, as entirely worthy of its di\^ne author ; 
and though corrupt nature raises a thousand proud thoughts, 
in a vain and ungrateful rebellion against it, yet they are, 
by divine grace, subdued and brought into captivity. The 
man really sees such a suitableness, and such an amiable- 
ness, in the blessed Jesus, under the character in which the 
VOL. V. 11* 



14 CHRIST FORMED IX THE SOUL. 

Gospel reveals him, that he judges him to be '' the pearl 
of great price ;" and as God has laid hini as " the founda- 
tion-stone," he is, in that view, inconceivably " precious to 
him." Far from contenting himself with applauding this 
plan, as regular, beautiful, and magnificent in general, the 
true believer is solicitous that he may have his OAvn share 
in this edifice of mercy ; and that, " coming to Christ as a 
living stone," he may himself be one of those who shall 
" on him be built up for an habitation of God through the 
Spirit." When he considers the Lord Jesus represented 
as standing at the door and knocking, it is with pleasure 
that he hears his voice, and opens to him, and, as Zaccheus 
did, receives him joi/fidlij. He regards him as one on whom 
he can joyfully fix his eternal hopes, infinitely important as 
he sees them to be. And while he thus anchors his soul 
on the rio'hteousness, the atonement, and the intercession 
of the Redeemer, he humbly bows to his authority, as his 
Lord and his God. It is his desire to seat him on the 
throne in his heart, and, as it were, to put into his hand 
the sceptre and the sword, that all the powers of nature 
may be governed, and all the corruptions of it destroyed 
by him. In a word, as he knows that Christ was given for 
a covenant to the people, he deliberately sets his seal to 
that covenant, thereby devoting himself to Christ, and to 
the Father. Such are his views, his purposes, and his en- 
gagements ; and by divine grace he is enabled to be faithful 
to them. Which leads me to add, 

3. When Christ is formed in any soul, something of the 
temper and character of the blessed Jesus is by divine grace 
wrought there. 

I might with ease multiply Scriptures in proof of the 
absolute necessity of this; but it is so obvious, that you 
must yourselves know how expressly it is required. You 
know how plainly St. Paul has told us, that " if any man 



CHRIST rORMED IN THE SOUL, 1 5 

have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his:" and where 
this spirit resides, Christ dwells in the heart. The same 
mind, or temper, is in such a one, as was also in Christ 
Jesus ; and as he professeth to abide in him, it is his care 
so to walk as Christ also walked. On which account the 
true Christian is said to have '' put on Christ," in allusion 
to the Hebrew phrase, of being clothed with any temper 
or affection that greatly prevails, or governs in the soul. 

It is a very pleasing as well as useful employment, to 
trace the lineaments of the temper and conduct of Christ 
in his people. Our Lord is in a peculiar sense the Son of 
God ; but his people are, through him, taken into the same 
relation: for they "have not received the spirit of bondage 
again to fear," though perhaps they were once subjected 
to it, but they ''have received the spirit of adoption;" and 
because they "are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of 
his Son into their hearts, crying, Abba, Father." By this 
Spirit a filial temper is Avrought in their souls, by which 
their obedience to their heavenly Father is so animated, 
as to be most honorable and grateful to him, as well as 
most easy and delightful to themselves. Under the in- 
fluences of this Spirit, the Christian desires it may be his 
character now, as he trusts it will be his happiness at last, 
to "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth ;" to follow 
that Jesus, who was " holy, harmless, undefiled, and sepa- 
rate from sinners." But when he hath done all, he calls 
himself an unprofitable servant ; yet he sees so much of 
the internal beauties of holiness, so much lustre and glory 
in the image of God, as drawn on the soul of man, that it 
is the great concern of his heart, and labor of his life, to 
pursue it. 

Nor would he only abstain from grosser enormities, and 
practise those virtues which are most honorable amongst 
men, and attended with the greatest secular advantage ; but 



16 CHFilST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

he would, in every respect, " maintain a conscience void of 
offence," and " perfect holiness in the fear of God." He 
hath so affectionate a sense of the riches of di\ane grace, 
displayed through a Redeemer, in adopting so unworthy a 
creature as himself to the dignity and privilege of a son of 
God, that he often cries out in raptures of holy gratitude 
and joy, " What shall I render to the Lord for all his ben- 
efits towards me ?" Inspired with this noble principle, he 
searches his Father's will impartially; and when he has 
discovered it, he obeys it cheerfully, and it is his meat and 
his drink to perform it. He loves the Lord his God above 
all, and loves his fellow- creatures for his sake as well as 
their own, and entertains the highest veneration and affec- 
tion for those who most heartily resemble " his Father and 
their Father, his God and their God." 

It is his prayer, and his endeavor, that he may go about 
doing good, and be useful to all as he hath opportunity ; 
that he may pass through the w^orld with a holy moderation 
and superiority of soul to the things w^hich are seen and are 
temporal; thankfully owning every mercy as proceeding 
from God's paternal love and care, and serenely submitting 
to every affliction, as the cup which his Father puts into 
his hand. In a word, he desires that in all the \dcissitudes 
of life he may still be intent on the views of an everlasting 
inheritance, humbly looking and longing for that blessed 
hope, yet willing patiently to wait his Father's time, having 
this constant expectation, and reviving assurance, that 
" whether he liveth, he shall live unto the Lord, or whether 
he dieth, he shall die unto the Lord ; so that whether he 
live or die, he shall be the Lord's." 

This is the Christian ; this is the man in ivhom Christ 
is formed ; or, rather, these are some faint lineaments of his 
character. And I will venture to say, that he who cannot 
discern something in it, even as thus imperfectly described, 



CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 17 

wliicli is vastly superior to that morality and decency of 
behavior which arises merely from prudential views, or from 
the sweetness and gentleness of a man's natural temper, is 
sunk below the boasted religion of nature, and must take 
refuge in the wretched principles of atheism, if he would 
pretend to form any thing of a consistent scheme. 

I cannot conclude without suggesting the following re- 
'flections : 

1. How important is it, that ministers of the Gospel 
should lead young 2^ersons into such views as these ! 

Our great and important business in life is to promote 
the eternal happiness of our hearers, and " other foundation 
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 
Here, then, let all our labors centre. It is the good old 
way, in which our fathers in the ministry went, and in which 
they prospered. Let us follow their steps, and exert our 
most vigorous efforts here. Modern refinements may amuse 
us in our closets, but they will never feed the souls of our 
hearers, nor spread the triumphs of a Gospel, which ''is the 
power of God to salvation." I hope, God is my witness, 
that I am heartily concerned for the interests of virtue — if 
by that be meant the advancement of practical religion — • 
but I never expected to see it promoted by the most philo- 
sophical speculations concerning its nature, or the finest 
harangues on its innate beauties, when the name and pe- 
culiar doctrines of Christ are thrown off, as unfashionable 
incumbrances of a discourse. Experienced Christians, who 
have tasted the bread of life, will not contentedly be put 
off with such chaff : and if we imagine that the younger part 
of our auditors may be trained up to a relish for it, we may, 
perhaps, succeed in the attempt ; but I much fear that suc- 
cess will be the calamity of the church, and the destruction 
of souls. 



18 CHRIST FORMED IN THE SOUL. 

2. We may learn from hence what are the most valua- 
ble proofs oi parental affection. 

Certainly there is no reason to esteem as such that fond 
indulgence, which suffers ill habits to grow up in the young 
mind, and fears its present disturbance more than its future 
ruin ; no, nor yet the more prudent care of providing plen- 
tiful and agreeable accommodations for the subsistence and 
delight of your infant offspring, as they advance to maturity 
and settlement in life. These things, indeed, are not to be 
neglected ; but wretched are the children, and I will add 
the parents too, where this is the principal labor. Would 
you express a wise and religious tenderness, for which your 
children shall have reason to thank you in their dying mo- 
ments, and to meet you with joy in the interviews of the 
eternal world, do your utmost that Christ he formed in their 
soul ; and let them plainly see that you even travail in birth 
again, till this happy work be accomplished. 

3. How needful is the loorkofthe Holy Sjyirit on the hearty 
in order to the laying this great foundation. 

The idea of Christ being formed in the soul, naturally 
implies an agent, by whom the work is done ; and when 
you consider what kind of a work it is, I appeal to your 
own consciences, whether it is to be thought merely a human 
production. Were it only a name, a ceremony, a specula- 
tion, or a passion, it would not be worth a moment's dis- 
pute, whether you or we should have the glory of it. But 
as it is nothing less than the transformation of a corrupt and 
degenerate creature into the holy image of the Son of God, 
it were impiety for either to arrogate it to ourselves. 

Let the matter,, therefore, be brought to a serious and 
immediate review, and let us judge ourselves by the char- 
acter described, as those that expect very shortly to be 
judged of the Lord. If, on the examination, any of you 
have reasoji to conclude that you arc strangers to it, remem- 



CHRIBT FORMED IN THE SOUL. 19 

ber that the invincible battery of the word of God demol- 
ishes all the towering hopes you may have raised on any 
other foundation. Let conscience then say, whether any 
amusement, or any business in life, be so important as to 
be attended to, even for one single day, in neglect of this 
great concern, on which all the happiness of an immortal 
soul is suspended. If nothing be indeed found of greater 
moment, apply yourselves seriously to this, and omit no 
proper and rational methods of securing it. Consider the 
ways by which Christ uses to enter into a soul, and wait 
upon him in those ways. Reflect seriously on your present 
condition ; constantly attend the instructions of his word, 
and the other solemnities of his worship ; and choose to 
converse intimately with those in whom you have reasoli to 
think he is already formed. But in all, remember that the 
success depends upon a divine cooperation, and therefore 
go frequently into the presence of God by prayer ; go into 
it this day, or if possible, this hour, and importunately 
entreat the regenerating and sanctifying influences of his 
Spirit, which, when you really and earnestly desire them, 
the Gospel gives you such ample encouragement to expect. 
But if you have reason to hope that you have already 
received them, learn to whom the praise 'should be ascribed ; 
and let it animate you to pray that, through farther com- 
munications from the throne of grace, you may be made 
continually more and more like your Redeemer, till you are 
prepared for that world where you shall shine forth in his 
complete resemblance, and shall find it your consummate 
and eternal felicity. Amen. 



20 CHRIST FORMED IX THE SOUL. 



SINNERS INVITED TO CHRIST. 



Come, ye Aveaiy, heavy laden, 
Lost and ruined by the fall ; 

If you tarry till you're better, 
You will never come at all : 

Not the righteous — 
Sinners Jesus came to call. 

Let not conscience make you linger, 
Nor of fitness fondh'- dream ; 

All the fitness he requireth. 
Is to feel your need of him. 

This he gives you — 
'Tis the Spirit's rising beam. 

Agonizing in the garden, 

Lo ! your Maker prostrate lies ; 

On the blood}^ tree behold him ; 
Hear him cry before he dies, 

''It is finished :'^ 
Sinners, Avill not this suffice ? 

Lo ! the incarnate God ascended, 
Pleads the merit of his blood ; 

Venture on him, venture wholly. 
Let no other trust intrude : 

None but Jesus 
Can do helpless sinners good. 

Saints and angels, joined in concert. 
Sing the praises of the Lamb ; 

While the blissful seats of heaven 
Sweetly echo with his name : 

Hallelujah !— 
Sinners here may sing the same. 



HART. 



Wo. 150. 

M E M O I R 

OF 

WILLIAM CHURCHMAN 

AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE. 

BY THOMAS BINGHAM, 

MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. 




I take the liberty to assure the public that the following little nar- 
rative is not a work of imagination, nor is it merely founded on fact 
in its principal circumstances. It is literally a true and unadorned re- 
lation of events, the bare recollection of which warms my heart after 
the lapse of several years, and will, I am certain, while it continues to 
beat ; nor can I separate the idea of renewed converse with the once 
poor and deformed cripple, from my hopes of enjoying the communion 
of saints in that pure and blissful region the Bible has taught me to look 

VOL. V. 12 



2 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

for; and into which, from my advanced age, I humbly trust I 
shall, ere long-, enter, by the same way he entered, even Jesus 
Christ 

This memoir furnishes, in addition to the weight of argument 
already brought forward, an incontestable answer to the delirious 
ravings of those cold-hearted men, who, roused from tlieir iron 
slumbers by the exertions of the Bible Society, awake in horror, 
and exclaim against it, as employing an insufficient engine to en- 
lighten and renovate the moral world, by giving to the ignorant 
and vicious the bible alone. 

Let this poor cripple, healed of his mental maladies by the 
Holy Spirit, without any external means of instruction but the 
Bible alone — who did not recollect having ever read any other 
book in his life, except as mentioned in the narrative, and who had 
never heard a sermon, nor entered a place of worship — stand forth, 
like the blind man that had been restored to sight by the Lord 
Jesus, and say of this book, as he did of the Saviour it reveals, 
" If this Bible were not of God, it could do nothing ; since the 
world began, it hath not been known that any man opened the 
eyes of one who was born blind." 

It is possible that some persons, whose views of Scripture 
truths may not exactly coincide with those of the poor man, will 
be ready to object to his application of some of the texts quoted 
by him, as being introduced in a way which argued a strong bias 
in his mind in favor of what is called tlie evangelical mode of 
understanding the Scripture docti'ines. Should such a case occur, 
will the objectors permit me to suggest, in reply, that, as a faith- 
ful narrator of facts, I durst not venture to alter his words, but 
have related them exactly as he spake them, and therefore I am 
not accountable for his sentiments ; but I frankly acknowledge 
they are fully agreeable to my own views of divine truth. 

It may probably appear to some critical reader tliat his lan- 
guage, in a few instances, is superior to what might have been 
expected from a person of his very limited information, and from 
hence he may be led to form the conclusion that the story is in- 
deutea to the narrator, and consequently the argument in favor of 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 3 

the poor man's being taught solely by the Bible may appear in 
some measure to be weakened. 

I shall content myself, in reply, with simply asserting that the 
words, the very words which are ascribed to him, are entirely his 
own, and are copied verbatim from the minutes I took on my re- 
turn ; that I felt surprise when I heard them spoken by him, and 
that I can account for tlie sensible and lucid manner in which he 
uttered them, only from the sentiment of Solomon : " The heart of 
the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips." 

T. BINGHAM. 



MEMOIR. 

The most interesting and useful memoirs with which w^e 
are furnished by the pen of biography, are not always those 
of the most distinguished public characters. The purple 
tints of the violet are not less pleasing, nor is its delicate 
odor less fragrant, when vre accidentally discover it in a 
sequestered vale, than w^hen it assists, amidst a multitude 
of different flowers, in ornamenting the garden : on the 
contrary, it affords our senses a superior gratification Avhen 
unexpectedly discovered, and engrosses our attention more 
completely when mingled with no rival beauties, nor merely 
contributing a partial share of sweetness to the variegated 
perfumes of the parterre. 

Thus, genuine lowliness, faith unfeigned, piety undis- 
sembled, pure evangelical religion, advanced to high degrees 
of eminence — when they appear in a character to the for- 
mation of w^hich a variety of concurring circumstances have 
contributed — w411 interest the mind of every real Christian ; 
but when unexpectedly discovered in a soil, to the fertility 
of w^hich neither the possession of brilliant talent, the ad- 
vantages of early tuition, continual cultivation, nor extensive 



4 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

information received from reading the works of tlie learned, 
and conversing with the wise and good, have rendered the 
least assistance, the hand of the divine Former more con- 
spicuously appears, and even the tongue of incredulity has 
been constrained to exclaim, with the vanquished sorcerers 
of Egypt, " It is the finger of God !" 

I delight in retracing sensations of this kind, though a 
considerable period of time has passed since I beheld the 
scenes that awakened them in my heart ; especially, since 
the character then fonning by divine influence is now per- 
fected in a superior region ; and while I recollect, with sacred 
pleasure, the delightful feelings which it produced when 
viewed in its infant state, I earnestly anticipate the richer 
delight of beholding its com^plete glory and radiance in the 
blissful world above. 

Some years ago, soon after I had commenced preaching 
an occasional lecture in the village of Overton, I was casually 
informed, in conversation with a person who himself made 
no great pretensions to a religious character, that he had 
accidentally conversed with a poor deformed cripple, living 
in a wretched cot in the neighborhood of that place, whose 
name was William Churchmax, who had much surprised 
him by his fluency in talking on religious subjects ; and the 
more so, because the man did not appear to have read any 
book but the Bible, nor to have attended any public worship, 
nor conversed with religious people of any denomination, so 
that he could not possibly conceive how he could have 
acquired the knowledge he appeared to possess. 

My curiosity was much excited by this account, and I 
formed an instant deteimination to gratify it by visiting the 
subject of it on the evening of the following Sabbath, when 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 5 

I was engaged to preach at Overton, and wliich I could 
conveniently accomplish, as his residence was near the road 
by which I sometimes returned home. 

It was a delightful summer evening ; the sultry heat of 
the day had given place to the coolness of a gentle and re- 
freshing breeze, the sun was disappearing behind the hill 
which was the boundary of the prospect to the west, and 
his mild declining beams gave a faint lustre to the woods 
which crowned its summit. The feathered songsters were 
chanting melodious vespers, and to their thrilling airs the 
cawing rooks, the bleating flocks, and lowing herd formed a 
solemn and not unpleasing bass. The flowery meadows, 
clad in luxuriant herbage, and studded with variegated 
flowers, exhaled delicious odors ; my own mind, warmed 
and enlivened by the subject I had been endeavoring to 
illustrate to my rustic auditory, was in a disposition cal- 
culated to enjoy the charming scene, while I walked to- 
wards the little group of huts, one of which I had been in- 
formed was the residence of the poor man and his widowed 
mother. 

As I approached the cottage, its exterior gave me at 
once an idea of the wretched poverty of the inhabitants ; 
the thatch of the decayed roof was pervious in many places 
to the rain of heaven, 

" And all the pelting of the pitiless storm." 

The windows, of which there were two, one in each 
story, retained scarcely any unbroken panes of glass, and 
their many apertures were imperfectly stopped with straw, 
hay, and many- colored rags. 

The shattered door stood open : on entering, I beheld, 

seated on a little stool, Avhich, with a broken chair, and an 
VOL. V. 12'*' 



6 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

old oaken table, composed the whole furniture of the mis- 
erable hovel, an object whose external appearance was 
expressive of greater wretchedness than even that of the 
habitation itself ; and in spite of the favorable idea I had 
conceived of him before, excited in my frame a shuddering 
of mingled pity and horror. 

His countenance appeared to be that of a man about 
thirty years old, pale, and squalid ; his head, of an immode- 
rate size, formed a shocking contrast to his withered limbs, 
which were not larger than those of a child of ten years 
old. He was distorted and deformed by several curvatures, 
both in the legs and spine ; a sad consequence of neglect 
suffered in his infancy, from the carelessness and brutality 
of an io-norant and drunken mother. 

o 

He was reading when I went in. Pursuant to a design 
I had formed, of knowing his sentiments and character 
from himself, without discovering my o\^ti, I accosted him 
with a very careless and indifferent air : " William, how 
do you do ? What book is that you are reading ?" He 
raised his head to look at me, and replied, with a look and 
tone of seriousness and affection, which instantly removed 
all those unpleasant sensations his appearance had excited 
in my mind, ''The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ." 

" Ha !" said I, " I have heard your religious people 
say, that a great deal of good may be got from that book : 
perhaps you can tell me if it is so ; for I am sure I am bad 
enough, and if it will make me better, I'll read it too." 
He replied, very gravely, " If the same Spirit who moved 
holy men of old to write it, open your heart to understand 
it, then it will do you good ; but not else, for the natural 
man discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God, for 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 7 

they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, 
because they are spiritually discerned." 

'' But," rejoined I, still affecting ignorance of his mean- 
ing, " how, then, came you to understand them ? surely, 
you cannot be a learned man ?" 

Eying me with a solemn and piercing attention, he re- 
turned, " Sir, I don't know you, nor do I know why you 
came in here ; but this I know, that I am commanded by 
this book to be ready to give to every man that asketh a 
reason of the hope that is in me ; and I pray God that I 
may be enabled of him to do it with meekness and fear. 
You see, sir, what a cripple I am, but you do not know 
what a sinner I am !" 

" You a sinner !" exclaimed I, " how can that be ? you 
are not able to get about to drink, game, dance, and ca- 
rouse, as the rest of us can ; how, then, is it possible that 
you should be a sinner ?" 

" True," said he, " I could not ; but yet I am one of 
the very vilest of sinners, for I believe no son of Adam 
ever sinned in the way I have done ; for I thought, because 
God Almighty had made me such a poor lame cripple, and 
punished me so much, I supposed for nothing, that there- 
fore I might take the liberty to sin without fear : I thought 
that he would never be so hard as to punish me here and 
hereafter too ; so, because that was the sin I could most 
easily indulge, I delighted to curse and swear ; and I am 
sure I made such new oaths and curses, that even if you 
have been used. to swear yourself, they were so very dread- 
ful that they would make you tremble to hear them. 

" However, blessed be God, about three years ago, as I 
was walking on my crutches in a fine sunshiny day, near 
the door, I was seized all at once with a violent pain in my 



8 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

stomacli ; I cried out, and fell down, and I really tliought 
I was going to die presently. At first, I did not seem to 
have any fear of death, for the reason I told you before ; 
but as I continued in violent pain, a thought came across 
my mind. What good work have I done in my life ? Alas, 
none ! Then I shall not go to heaven now ; and if not, why 
I must go to hell at last. Now I was miserable indeed, for 
I did not know any other way to heaven than by my own 
w^orks." 

" Dear me," interrupted I, " what other way can there 
be than doing all the good we can, in order to gain the favor 
of God Almighty ?" 

He answered me, " By the deeds of the law shall no 
flesh living be justified, for by the law is the knowledge of 
sin : not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing 
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which 
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Sav- 
iour." 

*' But," continued he, " in this distress I tried to pray ; 
but of all the prayers you ever read in your life, if ever 
you read any, or all that you ever heard, if you ever heard 
any body pray, I believe you never heard any thing like it ; 
I don't think it was the prayer of faith, and yet I believe 
that God heard and answered it. I do not know why, 
but it was as it pleased him. This was it, as near as I can 
remember : 

" ' Lord, I am a poor sinner that never did any good in 
my life, and now I am afraid I must die and go to hell ; 
but, O Lord, if thou canst save me, pray do ; though I 
don't know how it can be. O try me once more, and I 
■will be better than David ; for he prayed seven times a 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 9 

day, but I ^Yill pray eight times, and read twelve chapters.* 
But by praying, I only meant reading eight collects out of 
my mother's Prayer-Book." 

"Well," interrupted I again, "what can be better pray- 
ing than reading those excellent collects ?" 

"Ah, sir!" said he, very earnestly, "you might read all 
the prayers over that ever were made by man ; you might 
make very good prayers for yourself, or you might make 
prayers for other people, which they might pray in reading, 
and God might hear them, and yet never pray yourself in 
your life." 

"Well," said I, "this is very strange; what is praying, 
then ?" 

He replied, " Praying is telling the great God what 
y^efeel that we want of him." 

Returning to his narrative, he proceeded thus : "It 
pleased God that I soon got somewhat better, and I set 
about my task, as I had promised ; but alas ! in a little time 
I found that I did not pray. I could not believe that I 
could not love God, that I could not repent of sin ; and at 
last I left off reading my prayers, because I was afraid 
of mocking God any longer ; but, blessed be his name, he 
did not suffer me to leave off reading the Testament, though 
the more I read the worse I was ; for I read it all through, 
and all seemed to condemn me. Now I can see in it ex- 
ceeding great and precious promises, but I could not see 
any of them then ; I could only attend to such awful words 
as these : 

" * Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye 
escape the damnation of hell V 

" ' Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
quenched.' 



10 MEMOIR OF W^LLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

" ' The smoke of tlieir torment ascendetli up for ever 
and ever.' 

" ' Thou, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treas- 
urest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and 
revelation of the righteous judgment of God.' 

'-' ' The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against 
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.' 

" ' The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, in 
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, 
and that obey not the Gospel.' 

*' Yet I began to read it over again, and when I came 
the second time to the blessed first chapter of the first 
epistle of John, and read these precious words, ' The blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,' I felt 
that precious blood relieve my wounded conscience, and I 
seemed to myself as if I was in a new world. I could 
now repent, I could believe, I could love God, and if I 
had a thousand lives I could have laid them all down for 
Christ." 

"These are very wonderful things," said I, "that you 
tell me ; but what was the reason why God showed them 
to you ? Was it because you were so zealous and so ear- 
nest in reading the Testament?" 

He returned, with inexpressible energy, " Who hath 
saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according 
to our works, but according to his purpose and grace, given 
us in Christ Jesus before the world began." 

" What !" exclaimed I, " can you possibly make me 
believe that the great God ever thought any thing about 
such a poor, insignificant, crippled man as you are, before 
he made the world?" 

"Yes," said he ; "else why is it said, ' Chosen in him. 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 1 1 

before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy 
and without blame before him in love ?' " 

"Surely," said I, "you have never sinned since that 
time." 

He replied, " In many things we offend all. If we say 
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 
in us." 

" But," said I, "if you should sin so much as to go to 
hell after all this, you had better have remained as igno- 
rant as I am." 

"Being confident," he replied, "that He who hath be- 
gun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of 
Jesus Christ. 

" ' My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they 
follow me ; and I give unto them eternal life, and they 
shall never perish ; neither shall any pluck them out of my 
hand.' 

" ' If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ the righteous : and he is the propitiation for 
our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
whole world.' 

" * Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the 
tree.' " 

"Do I understand you rightly," asked I, "that it does 
not signify what sins you commit, or how you live, now he 
is become your Saviour ?" 

He replied, with a look and accent of animated and 
holy indignation, "God forbid ! how shall we, who are dead 
to sin, live any longer therein ? for the love of Christ con- 
straineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for 
all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they 
which live should not any longer live unto themselves, but 



12 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

to him that died for them and rose again." Glancing his 
eye on my face, while he was thus speaking, he discerned 
a rising tear, which I could no longer suppress, and instantly 
cried out, " I am sure, sir, you are not what you seem ; I 
adjure you, tell me what you are, and why you came to 
see me ?" 

"My dear Christian brother," said I, "it is true, as you 
say, I am not what I seem ; I am a poor sinner, who, like 
you, have been led by the Holy Spirit to trust in that Jesus 
who died for the ungodly." 

After a short pause, in which he seemed revolving some- 
what in his mind, he said, " I have heard one of the neigh- 
bors say that there is a strange kind of man who comes 
sometimes to preach at David Truman's house, and that 
folks call him a metridate" — meaning a methodist — "or 
some such name ; are not you the man?" 

" Yes, my dear friend," said I, " I am the man. I have 
just been telling your poor neighbors that ' the wages of 
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord.' " 

Never shall I forget his look or his action ; rising hastily 
from his seat, and grasping one of my hands in both of his, 
he instantly dropped on his knees, and lifting up his eyes, 
beaming with ecstasy, he cried aloud, 

" my God, I thank thee ; thou hast not only answered, 
but exceeded my request ; I prayed that I might see and 
converse with one of thy people before I died, and lo, thou 
hast sent me one of the ministers of Jesus. 

" And now, my dear sir," to me, "you must tell me what 
you said to the people upon that sweet verse, for I never 
heard a Gospel sermon in my life." 

I comphed, and for one time only, enjoyed a pleasure 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHM.IN. 13 

unequalled in the twenty-six years of my ministry, but 
which I should rejoice to witness in a numerous assembly: 
the unspeakable delight of beholding my whole audience 
dissolved in sacred pleasure, and feasting with more than 
epicurean eagerness on the divine word. 

When I had closed, *' You know not," said he, " how 
you came to be inclined to preach at Overton, but I can tell 
you : ever since I have been new-born, I have daily prayed 
to my heavenly Father, that if there was any minister of 
Christ in England, Avhich I thought there must be some- 
where, because the Bible was here, he would send one to 
teach my poor blind neighbors, and he has sent you ; and, 
therefore, viewing you as sent in answer to prayer, I doubt 
not but God will make you useful to them." 

After some further conversation, I commended him to 
God in prayer, and we parted. 

During these interesting scenes, time glided unperceived 
by either of us : it was now late ; the moon was absent, but 
thousands of the distant lamps of heaven studded the sable 
robe of night, and afforded a glimmering hght, better suited 
to the solemn and delightful feelings of my soul than the 
bright glare of day. The profound silence was interrupted 

by 

" No noise but water, ever friend to thought," 

except the sadly pleasing strains of the nightingale, for the 
rest of the aerial choir were sunk in sleep, and even the 
grasshopper had forgotten his chirping. 

As I pursued my solitary walk homewards, I felt my 
mind expand, my views of the excellence of the Bible were 
heightened and extended. 

Precious volume ! exclaimed I ; how comparatively mean 
VOL. V. 13 



14 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAX. 

and insignificant is all knowledge, except that which thy 
inestimable leaves display ! 

" Here the fair Tree of Knowledge grows, 
Nor danger dwells therein." 

! that every eye which beholds " the sun when he 
shineth, or the moon walking in brightness," or gazes on 
yonder gems of the night, which declare the glory of their 
Maker, was blest with the superior radiance of this divine 
luminary — that every man in every clime possessed, and 
duly prized, the invaluable treasure of a Bible ! 

But the blind are insensible of the cheering ray of light. 
O, Spirit divine, who, with influence irresistible, accompa- 
niedst the mandate, " Let there be light," 

" Knock with the hammer of thy word, 
And break into each heart." 

And while reflecting on the sovereignty of the divine Spirit, 
in his making this poor, despised, obscure being wise unto 
salvation, by means of the Bible alone, I humbly trust I 
felt glowing in my heart somewhat of the sentiment of my 
dearest Lord and Master, when he said, "I thank thee, 
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid 
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto babes : even so. Father, for so it seemed good 
in thy sight." 

The communication which I made of these very interest- 
ing particulars to my friends on my return, induced sev- 
eral Christians, of different denominations, repeatedly to 
visit him with me, whose surprise and pleasure were equal 
to my own. 

A plan was laid, by a few benevolent friends, to render 
his outward circumstances more comfortable, though I must 



MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 15 

do him the justice to say, he was very averse to it. " I can 
Uve," said he, *' on the parish allo^Yance," which was only 
two shilhngs per week ! '* and perhaps some of God's chil- 
dren, who have families, are in much greater want than I." 

But God's ways are not as our ways! This jewel was 
to lie no lono^er in the dunorhill ; this radiant star was no 
longer to be enveloped in the mist and clouds of this gloomy 
atmosphere ; it was destined to adorn a brighter region. We 
just caught a transient glance of the sparkling radiance of 
the descending luminary, w^hich was now to set on the earth, 
that it might rise to set no more, in the world of eternal 
glory. 

One evenino;, soon after, he was sittinor with his mother, 
and reading the Bible to her, apparently in as good health 
as ever he had enjoyed, when he on a sudden cried out, 
" Mother, I am taken very ill ; help me up the ladder" — the 
only staircase they had — " to bed ; and then I shall have but 
one more step to ascend, and I shall be in my Father's 
house." 

She assisted him to bed, and went to the next house to 
procure some gin, her only supposed Bemedy for every 
disease ! and to call her neighbor to her assistance ; but 
when she returned he was speechless ; and, in a few min- 
utes, without a sti-uggle or a sigh, entered into the joy of 
his Lord. 

I give no comments ; I make no remarks : I leave this 
narrative to the blessing of God, and the reflection of the 
reader. 



X6 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CHURCHMAN. 

THE NEW BIRTH. 

Awak'd by Sinai's awful sound, 
My soul in guilt and thrall I found, 

Expos'd to endless woe ; 
Eternal truth did loud proclaim, 
" The sinner must be born again," 

Or else to ruin go. 

Amaz'd I stood, but could not tell 
Which way to shun the gates of hell ; 

For death and hell drew near : 
I strove indeed, but strove in vain ; 
" The smner must be born again !" 

Still sounded in my ear. 

When to the law I trembling fled. 
It pour'd its curses on my head ; 

I no relief could find. 
This dreadful truth renew'd my pain, 
" The sinner must be born again," 

And whelm'd my tortur'd mind. 

Again did Sinai's thunders roll. 
And guilt lay heavy on my soul, 

A vast oppressive load : 
Alas ! I read and saw it plain, 
" The sinner must be born again," 

Or feel the wrath of God. 

The saints I heard with rapture tell 
How Jesus conquer'd death and hell, 

And broke the fowler's snare ; 
Yet, Avhen I found this truth remain, 
" The sinner must be born again," 

I sunk in deep despair. 

But w^hile I thus in anguish lay. 
The gracious Saviour pass'd this way, 

And felt his pity move : 
The sinner, by his justice slain. 
Now, by his grace, is born again. 

And sings Redeeming love. ockum. 



No. 151 

AN 



IMPORTAIT DISCOVERY: 



OR, 



' TEMPER IS EVERY THING." 



Taking a -walk the other day, I met an aged woman, 
who inquired very particularly after her brother who lived 
at a distance, and whom I had lately seen. I told her that 
he was well when I saw him, and that Providence had been 
kind to him, in giving him a suitable wife. "Very well," 
said the old lady, " I am happy to hear that ; for he suftered 
a great deal by his first wife." "Why," said I with a de- 
gree of surprise, " I have always heard that she was a pious 
woman, and I never heard any thing objected against her, 
excepting her temper!" " Temper T' replied she; "well, 

Mr, , temper is every thing ^ I was so much struck 

with the expression, and the manner in which it was ut- 
tered, that I could not help reflecting upon it after I had 
parted from her. 

Returning home, I called at the house of an acquaint- 
ance, and found the husband and wife engaged in a trifling 
dispute. It was their fault to have acquired such a habit 
of contradicting each other, that they seemed to take a 
pleasure in it ; and the children had caught so much of the 
spirit of their parents, that you seldom heard them open 
their mouths but in an angry tone. On this occasion, the 
wife still continued to maintain her ground, and the husband, 
in a fit of ill-nature, left the room. A few minutes after- 
wards, a boy about nine years of age quarrelled with his 
sister, who appeared to be about eleven, and gave her a 
violent blow. The mother began to bluster, and the boy 
VOL. V. 13* 



2 ~ AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 

put on so surly a countenance, and assumed such an air of 
defiance, as plainly indicated that he had no apprehension 
that his mother's threats would be carried into execution. 
By this time I was glad to get away, and took leave, say- 
ing to myself, ''Well, I see that temper is every thing." 

A short time after this, I drank tea in a family where I 
expected to spend an agreeable evening ; but I was greatly 
disappointed, owing to the following circumstance. The 
wife had received an intimation, some way or other, that 
her husband had given away more money to a charitable 
institution than she thought he should do ; and there was 
no pleasing her. She continued scolding her husband, and 
telling him that he would give away all that he had ; that 
he would reduce her and her family to beggary ; and a great 
many things of the same kind. The husband bore it with 
patience, and I made my visit as short as possible. Coming 
away from this scene, I could not help repeating to myself, 
" Well, I see that temper is every thing." 

A feAv weeks after, a friend of mine told me that he was 
going to introduce me to a good young man, who was very 
much tried with a bad wife, and he hoped I would say 
something to support him under his trial. He added, that 
his friend's wife treated him in such a haughty and un- 
reasonable manner, that, had it not been for the consolations 
of the Gospel, he believed that before now his friend must 
have died of a broken heart. "It is a pity," said I, "that 
he did not know her temper before mamage." "He was 
not altogether ignorant of it," replied my friend ; " but she 
had many other things." "Poor man!" said I, "then it 
seems he has found, by experience, that many other things 
are nothing, and that 'temper is ever}^ thing.' " 

I was lately called in to assist in settling a difference that 
had taken place between some persons, and which might 
have been easily done, had either of the parties yielded to 
the other ; but I could not prevail on any one of them to 



AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 3 

give way in the least, and I left them more than ever con- 
vinced that ''temper is every thing." 

A friend of mine, who is connected with the town of 

A ; and who has a vote in the election of the , 

told me, a few days ago, that one of the candidates for that 
office had formerly used him in a very imgentlemanlike 
manner; but, finding that his election was doubtful, he 
came to him, and apologized for his former conduct, and 
solicited his vote. After hearing his apology and his re- 
quest, my friend replied, " Sir, had you not called on me 
upon this occasion, I was determined to support you in your 
election, to convince you that the religion which I profess 
possesses a better spirit than yours." This, said I, my 
friend, was noble, and I am glad to find that you have 
learned that important lesson, that "temper is every thing." 

Calling, one day, upon a poor man, who appeared to be 
serious, I asked him what Avere the means by which he was 
brought to the knowledge of the truth ? After pausing a 
little, while the tears ran down his cheeks, he told me that 
his wife was brought to the knowledge of the truth before 
him ; that he treated her very ill because of her religion ; 
and that it was her amiable and engaging conduct under 
his ill-treatment of her, that was the first means of lodging 
conviction in his mind. ''Well," said I, "temper is every 
thing." 

I happened to dine one day at the house of a valuable 
friend, who had a numerous family. After dinner, the 
husband conducted us into the drawing-room, to entertain 
us with some valuable pictures. While w^e were examining 
and admiring one of them, his wife said to him, "My 
dear, that is mine." "Yes," said he, "my dear, all mine 
are thine!" This delicate and unexpected return from the 
husband was received with such a graceful and approving 
smile by his amiable wife, as diffused pleasure over the 
whole room, and excited in every heart the highest ideas 



4 AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 

of domestic felicity. During my visit to this lovely family, 
nothing was to be seen or heard but what was very pleas- 
ing, as all of them spoke kindly and tenderly to each other. 
What added greatly to my pleasure was, that every expres- 
sion seemed to flow from the heart, and the children were 
the living copies of their parents. ''Like parents, like 
children," as it respects harmony and mutual affection, is a 
maxim which, with very few exceptions, will be found to 
hold good ; and I have seldom found those children want- 
ino- in their affection, one to another, of whose education 
proper care had been taken, and Avho were accustomed to 
see examples of mutual tenderness and affection in their 
parents. Leaving this happy family, and returning home, 
I could not help comparing the pleasure I had experienced 
on this visit, with the pain I had felt on some of the occa- 
sions which I before mentioned, and repeating aloud, as I 
walked along, "Temper is every thing." 

The greater part of our happiness and misery, in this 
vale of tears, appears to me to be referable to temper. 
When I see a man envious, angrj^, ambitious, revengeful, or 
stung with disappointment, uneasy himself, or the cause of 
uneasiness to others, I still say, that " temper is every thing." 

From the conduct of most persons, one would be tempt- 
ed to entertain a different opinion, and to think that tem- 
per was scarcely any thing. Yea, I met with a person the 
other day, to whom I had occasion to repeat my favorite 
maxim, who insisted, with a great deal of ill-nature, that 
*' temper is nothing." I was not to be borne down by mere 
assertion, and I told him that he himself was an illustra- 
tion of Avhat I had asserted ; for he was always unhappy 
himself, and he made every one around him unhappy. When 
I hear people speak against temper, I always inquire whether 
they have not themselves a bad temper ; and when I find 
this to be the case, as I generally do, I allow their testimo- 
ny to have no weight, because I consider that a person 



AN IMPORTANT DISCOVER V. 



who is found to be a party, is not allowed to pass judgment 
in his own cause. This austere acquaintance professes to be 
very orthodox in his opinions ; and he referred me to the 
Scriptures in proof of what he had said. As my favorite 
maxim had not yet been tried by the touchstone of truth, I 
began to be a little startled for its safety ; but I took up 
the Bible, and was happy to find the following passages, 
which I read to him : " He that regardeth reproof, shall be 
honored." Prov. 13 : 18. "Wherefore, laying aside all 
malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all 
evil speakings." 1 Pet. 2 : 1. "This wisdom descendeth 
not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where 
envying and strife is, there is confusion, and every evil work. 
But the wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peace- 
able, gentle, and easij to he entreated, full of mercy and good 
fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the 
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, of them that make 
peace." James 3 : 15-18. "Now the works of the fiiesh 
are manifest, ' which are these, adultery, fornication, im- 
cleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, va- 
riance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envy- 
ings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like ; as I 
have told you in time past, that they who do such things 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the 
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
faith, meehiess, temperance ; against which there is no law. 
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the 
affections and lusts." Gal. 5: 19-24. "We know that 
we have passed from death unto life, because we love the 
brethren. He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death." 
1 John, 3:14. " Though I speak with the tongues of men 
and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sound- 
ing brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the 
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all 
knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could 



6 AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 

remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." 
1 Cor. 13 : 1, 2. To mention no more, "He that is joined 
to the Lord is one spirit; and if any man have not the 
spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 

My opponent was now silent ; and I not only considered 
myself as having gained a complete victory, but as having 
made a great discovery also. Now, said I to myself, many 
professors of religion do not seem to know that these pas- 
sages are in the Bible. I shall make known my discovery 
to all whom I happen to meet, and, from its nature, it can- 
not fail to obtain a favorable reception. I shall tell them, 
said I, that Jesus was meek and lowly in heart, that he 
railed not, he threatened not ; and that if they know the 
power of his cross, they will subdue their evil temper ; 
that the correction of the temper is of great importance to 
their own happiness, and to the happiness of their families 
and connections ; that the ornament of a meek and quiet 
spirit is of great price in the sight of God ; and that 
they can have no evidence that they are the children of 
God Avithout it. But how much was I disappointed, when 
some to whom I made known my discovery told me, with 
a great deal of coldness and indifference, that they knew all 
that before ; others said it Avas cold and legal, and they 
wanted another kind of doctrine ; while others remarked, 
that I had a good natural temper myself, which Avas the 
reason I talked so much about it; hut that I ought to re- 
memher that nature is not grace. Of this I was reminded 
very frequently. I told them, however, that if a good 
temper was the mere offspring of nature, it was not for that 
reason to be undervalued ; that God was naturally good, 
and that angels Avere naturally pure ; but that Ave Avere not 
on that account to despise the goodness of the one, nor the 
purity of the other. But all that I said was to no purpose ; 
they still persevered in justifying themselves, and repre- 
sented as nothing what I considered as "cA^ery thing." 



AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 7 

Let not the temper which is here enjoined, be mistaken. 
It is a compound of firmness and complacency, of peace 
and love ; it manifests itself in acts of kindness and courte- 
sy : a kindness not pretended, but genuine ; a courtesy not 
false and superficial, but cordial and sincere. The person 
who has such a temper, will be unshaken in constancy, un- 
wearied in benevolence, firm without roughness, and atten- 
tive without servility. A disposition like this, however, 
belongs not to any one by nature, and it becomes every 
reader to reflect, whether he is now possessed of it, in a 
degree at least ; or, if not, how it is to be produced in him. 

In regard to the subject of temper, as well as every 
other mark of genuine C hristianity, we ought constantly to 
recollect the injunction of our blessed Lord, "Make the 
tree good," as the necessary means of obtaining good fruit ; 
for the mistake of many in religion appears to be, that they 
do not begin with the beginning. They do not lay their 
foundation in the persuasion, that man is, by nature, in a 
state of alienation from God. They consider him rather as 
an imperfect, than as a fallen creature. They allow that he 
requires to be improved, but deny that he requires to be 
renewed, or, as the Scriptures emphatically say, " born 
again." It is well if these persons are not finally and fa- 
tally deceived, by considering the gentle and pacific temper 
which is owing to constitution, as making up for the w^ant 
of Christian principle. We must carefully avoid adopting 
the external display of an amiable temper, as a substitute 
for piety ; and carefully observe, that without repentance 
towards God, and faith in his dear Son, it is impossible to 
please God. 

Mistakes on this subject, however, are, alas ! not con- 
fined to one class, or character. The cause of real religion 
sufi'ers inconceivably in the eye of the world, by the bad 
humor of many of its professors. Yes ; persons are to be 
found among us, who, while they profess Christianity, pay 



8 AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 

little regard to their temper and disposition. They approve 
Christianity as a theory, rather than as a principle which 
should maintain a sovereign influence over the spirit of their 
mind. They do not sufliciently consider, that gentleness, 
peace, and meehiess, are the " fruit of the Spirit," nor that 
"courtesy," and "whatsoever things are lovely," are en- 
joined upon them by divine authority. The possession of 
these essential ornaments of the Christian faith, they ascribe 
to natural disposition ; and, alas ! so far from lamenting the 
indulgence or display of an unchristian temper in them- 
selves, they treat the subject as though it were unconnected 
■with that faith which saves the soul. The Holy Scriptures 
uniformly represent divine truth as the seed in the believer 
of every holy disposition ; the graft through w^hich the tree 
is made good, and its fruit good, and the mould into which 
the soul is cast, and from which it receives its form and 
impression, as the metal is fashioned by the skill of the 
artist. Thus, we are not only justified, but sanctified by 
faith. 

Though some treat this subject as matter of inferior 
moment, perhaps my reader is of a different mind. He may 
plead guilty. Nay, he often confesses the inequality of his 
temper, and, before God in secret, he says he laments it. 
But does he also implore the Spirit, that he may mortify 
the deeds of the body? Are the fruits of the Spirit 
earnestly sought for in Christ's name, and watchfull}^ reared 
with unremitted prayer for divine grace ; or are you declin- 
ing in religion? No wonder, then, you complain. How 
can you be otherwise than unhappy ? How can you thus 
ever adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour ? Oh remem- 
ber, that Christianity enjoins the same temper, the same 
spirit, the same dispositions on all its real professors ; so 
that if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none 
of his ! 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



THE 



]¥o. 132. 



SIN AND DANGER 

OF 

NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 

BY REV JOHN OV/EN, D.D 




This little book comes to you with the most friendly in- 
tention, and addresses you upon a subject which involves in 
it every thing that is dear to you in time and eternity. 

I. Ask yourself whether you Iiave well considered your 
present state with respect to God and eternity. This Moses 
wishes for the Israelites : " Oh that they were vdse, that 
they understood this, that they would consider their latter 
end I" It is the greatest folly to leave the issues of these 
things to an uncertain hazard. And that man who cannot 
prevail with himself strictly to examine what is his state 



VOL. V. 



14 



2 THE Sm AND DANGER OF 

with respect to eternity, never does any good, nor abstains 
from any evil, in a due manner. Remember, therefore, that 
" many are called, but few chosen," To be called, is to enjoy 
all the outward privileges of the Gospel ; yet this you may 
do, and not be chosen. Even among those to whom the 
word is preached, they are few that shall be saved. In the 
distribution made by our Lord of the hearers of the word 
into four sorts of ground, it was but one of them that re- 
ceived real benefit thereby. Many herein deceive them- 
selves, until they fall under woful surprisals. And this is 
represented in the account of the sinner's doom ; for the 
generality of those who have professed the Gospel, are 
introduced as complaining of their disappointment : " And 
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they 
that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the 
door was shut. Afterwards came also the other virgins, 
saying. Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, and 
said, Yerily, I say unto you, I know you not." 

IL Take heed of being deluded by common j)rcsump- 
tions. Most men have some thouo-hts, in oreneral, about 
what their state is, and what it will be in the issue, but 
they make no diligent search into this matter, because a 
number of common presumptions immediately insinuate 
themselves into their minds for their relief — such, perhaps, 
as these : that they are Christians ; that they are in the 
right way of religion ; that they are partakers of the out- 
ward privileges of the Gospel, hearing the word, and par- 
ticipating of the ordinances ; that they have light and con- 
victions, so that they abstain from sin, and perform duties 
as others do not, and the like. All those who are behind 
them in these things, they judge to be in a dangerous 
condition, whence they entertain good hopes concerning 



NEGLECTliNG THE SAVIOUR. 3 

themselves ; and this is all that most trust to. I shall not 
discourse on the vanity of presumptions ; it hath been done 
by many : I give only this warning in general to those 
who desire to be made partakers of Christ, that they put 
no trust in them ; for, if they do so, they will eternally de- 
ceive their souls. This was a great part of the preparatory 
ministry of John the Baptist: "Think not to say within 
yourselves. We have Abraham to our Father." This was 
their great comprehensive privilege, containing all the out- 
ward church and covenant advantages. These they rested 
in, and trusted to, to their ruin : herein he designed to un- 
deceive them. 

III. Consider aright ivhat it is to live and die without an 
interest in Christ, without a participation of him. Where 
this is not seated in the mind, where thoughts of it are not 
continually prevalent, there can be no one step taken in 
the way towards him. Unless we are thoroughly convinced 
that without him we are in a state of apostasy from God, 
under the curse, and obnoxious to eternal wrath, as some 
of the worst of God's enemies, we shall never truly flee 
unto him for refuge : " The whole have no need of a phy- 
sician, but the sick;" Christ came not to call the righteous, 
but sinners, to repentance ; and a conviction of this is the 
principal end of the ministry of the law. The misery of 
this state has been the subject of innumerable discourses ; 
but few think themselves concerned in it. Let us tell men 
of it a thousand times, yet they either take no notice of it, 
or believe it not, nor look on it as that which belongs to 
the way and course of preaching wherein they are con- 
cerned. These things, it seems, preachers must say, and 
they may believe them who please. It is a rare thing that 
any one will so much as say unto himself, " Is it so with 



4 THE SIX AND DANGER OF 

me ?" And if we now, together with this caution, tell the 
same men again, that, while they are uninterested in Christ, 
not ingrafted into him by faith, they run in vain ; that all 
their labor in relioion is lost, that their duties are all negr- 
lected, that they are under the displeasure and curse of 
God, that their end is eternal destruction, which things are 
unquestionably certain, yet will they let them all pass by, 
without any further consideration. 

But here I must fix with them to whom I speak at 
present: imless there be in them a full conviction of the' 
woful, deplorable condition of every person, of whatever 
quality, profession, religion, or outward state he be, who 
is not yet made partaker of Christ, all that I have farther 
to add will be of no use. Remember, then, that the due 
consideration hereof is, to you, in your state, your chief 
concern in this world, and be not afraid to take in a full 
and deep sense of it ; for, if you are really delivered from 
it, and have good evidence thereof, it is nothing unto you 
but matter of eternal praise and thanksgiving. And if you 
are not so, it is highly necessary that your mind should be 
possessed with due apprehensions of it. The work of this 
conviction is the first effect of true religion ; and the great 
abuse of religion in the world is, that a pretence of it de- 
ludes the minds of men to apprehend that it is not neces- 
sary. To be of this or that religion, or of this or that way 
in religion, is supposed to be sufficient to secure the eternal 
state of men, though the}^ are never convinced of their lost 
estate by nature. 

IV. Consider the infinite condescension and love of 
Christ, in his invitations and calls to you to come unto 
him for life, deliverance, mercy, grace, peace, and eternal 
salvation. Multitudes of these invitations and calls are 



NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 5 

recorded in the Scripture, and they are all of them filled 
with those blessed encouragements which divine wisdom 
knows to be suited to lost sinners in their present state. 
It were a blessed contemplation to dwell on the infinite 
condescension, grace, and love of Christ, in his in\dtations 
to sinners to come unto him, that they may be saved ; on 
that mixture of wisdom and persuasive grace that is in 
them ; on the force and efficacy of the pleading and argu- 
ments by which they are accompanied, as they are recorded 
in Scripture ; but that belongs not to my present design : 
this only I shall say, that in the declaration and preaching 
of them, Jesus Christ yet stands before sinners, calling, 
inviting, encouraging them to come unto him. 

This is the word which he now speaks unto you, " Why 
will ye die ? Why will ye perish ? Why will ye not have 
compassion on your own souls ? Can your hearts endure, 
or can your hands be strong, in the day of wrath that is 
approaching ? It is but a little while before all your hopes, 
your reliefs, and presumptions will forsake you, and leave 
you eternally miserable ; look unto me, and be saved ; come 
unto me, and I will ease you of your sins, sorrows, tears, 
and burdens, and give rest unto your souls : come, I entreat 
you, delay no longer ; put me off no more, eternity lies at 
the door ; cast out all reserves, do not so hate me, as that 
ye will rather perish than accept of deliverance by me." 

These and the like things doth the Lord Christ continu- 
ally declare, proclaim, plead, and urge on the souls of sin- 
ners, as it is fully declared, Pro v. 1 : 22-27 : "How long, 
ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ; and the scorners 
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge ? Turn 
you at my reproof ; behold, I will pour out my Spirit upon 

you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I 
VOL. V. 14=^ 



6 THE SL\ AND DANGER OF 

have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, 
and no man regarded ; but ye have set at naught all my 
counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh 
at your calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh ; 
when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction 
as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon 
you." He calls you in the preaching of the word, as if he 
were present with you, stood among you, and spake per- 
sonally to every one of you ; and because this would not 
suit his present state of glory, he hath appointed the min- 
isters of the Gospel to appear before you, and to deal with 
you in his stead, avowing, as his own, the invitations that 
are given you in his name, " To wit, that God was in 
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed unto us 
the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors 
for Christ, as though God did beseech you -by us ; we pray 
you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 

Consider, therefore, his infinite condescension, grace, 
and love. Why all this towards you ? Doth he stand in 
need of you ? Have you deserved it at his hands ? Did 
you love him first ? Cannot he be happy and blessed with- 
out you? Hath he any design upon you, that he is so 
earnest in calling you to him ? Surely not. It is nothing 
but the overflowing of mercy, compassion, and grace, that 
moves him herein. Here lies the entrance of innumerable 
souls into a death and condemnation far more severe than 
those contained in the curse of the law ; " For," says the 
npostle, " we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them 
ihat are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we 
are the savor of death unto death ; and to the other the 
savor of life unto hfe." 2 Cor. 2 : 15, IG. In the contempt 



NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 7 

of this infinite condescension of Christ in his invitation of 
sinners to himself, He the sting and poison of unbehef, which 
unavoidably gives over the souls of men unto eternal ruin : 
and whom will they have to blame but themselves for their 
miserable doom ? Yea ; but, 

V. Perhaps if you should, on his invitation, begin to 
look on him and resolve to come to him, you are greatly 
afraid that, when it comes to the trial, he will not receive 
you; for no heart can conceive, no tongue can express, 
what a wretched, vile, and provoking sinner you have 
been : that the Lord Christ will receive unto him such as 
you are, you have no hope, or that ever you shall find ac- 
ceptance with him. It is well, when persons come so far 
as to be sensible of what discouragements they have to 
encounter, what difficulties lie in their way, and what obsta- 
cles rise against them ; for the most do perish in a sense- 
less stupidity : they will not consider how it is with them, 
what is required of them, nor how it will be in the latter 
end ; they doubt not but that either they do believe already, 
or can do so when they please. But when they come so 
far as to charge the failure of their acceptance with Christ 
on their own unworthiness, and so are discouraged from 
coming unto him, there are arguments for their conviction 
and persuasion, which nothing but the devil and unbelief can 
defeat : wherefore, that which is now proposed to consider- 
ation in answer to this, is the readiness of Christ to receive 
every sinner, be he who or what he will, that shall come 
unto him ; and we have the highest evidences that Divine 
wisdom and grace can give unto us. This is the language 
of the Gospel : of all that the Lord Christ did or suffered, 
which is recorded therein. This is the Divine testimony of 
the Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, 



9 THE SIi\ AND DANGER OF 

and the Holy Gliost ; and of the Three that bear witness in 
earth, the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, all give their 
joint testimony, that the Lord Christ is ready to forgive all 
sinners who come to him ; they who receive not this testi- 
mony make God a liar. Whatever the Lord Christ is, in 
the constitution of his person, in the representation of the 
Father, in his office, in what he did on earth, in what he 
doeth in heaven, proclaims the same truth. Nothing but 
obstinacy in sin and unbelief can suggest a thought to our 
minds, that He is not willing to receive us when Ave come 
unto him. Herein we are to bear testimony against the 
unbelief of all unto whom the Gospel is preached, that come 
not unto him. Unbelief includes a contempt of the wisdom 
of God, a denial of his truth or faithfulness, an impeachment 
of the sincerity of Christ in his invitations, making him a 
deceiver ; and it will issue in an express hatred of his per- 
son and office, and of the wisdom of God in him. Here, 
then, you are shut up, you cannot from hence take any 
countenance unto your unbelief. 

VI. Consider that he is as able to save us, as he is ready 
and willinof to receive us. The testimonies which he hath 
given us of his goodness and love are undeniable, and 
none dare directly call in question, or deny his power. But 
Christ is able to save all them, and only them, who come 
to God by him. Yet when it comes to the trial in partic- 
ular, some are apt to think, that although they will not 
conclude that Christ cannot save them, yet they do, on 
various^ accounts, saj^ that they cannot be saved by him. 
This, therefore, we also give testimony unto, in our exhor- 
tation to come unto him : namely, that his power to save 
those that shall comply with his call is sovereign, uncon- 
trolable, and almighty. All things in heaven and earth are 



NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 9 

committed to him, all power is his, and he will use it to this 
end ; namely, the assured salvation of all that come unto 
him. 

VIT. Consider particularly what hath been spoken of 
the character of God, and all the holy properties of his 
nature. Nothing can possibly give us more encouragement 
to come to him ; for we have shown that God, who is infi- 
nitely wise and glorious, hath designed to exercise all the 
holy properties of his nature, his mercy, love, grace, good- 
ness, righteousness, wisdom, and poAver, in Christ, in and 
unto the salvation of them that do believe. Whoever, there- 
fore, comes unto Christ by faith on this representation of 
the glory of God in him, he ascribes and gives to God all 
that glory and honor which he aimeth at from his crea- 
tures ; and we can do nothing wherewith he is pleased equal 
unto it. Every poor sinner, that comes by faith unto Christ, 
gives to God all that glory which it is his design to mani- 
fest and be exalted in ; and what can we do more ? There 
is more glory given to God by coming unto Christ in believ- 
ing, than in keeping the whole law ; inasmuch as he hath 
more eminently manifested the holy properties of his nature 
in the way of salvation by Christ, than in giving the law : 
there is therefore no man who, under Gospel invitations, 
refuseth to come unto Christ by believing, but secretly, 
through the power of darkness, blindness, and unbelief, 
hates God, dislikes all his ways, would not have his glory 
exalted, nor manifested, choosing rather to die in enmity 
against him, than to give glory to him. Do not deceive 
yourselves : it is not an indifferent thing whether you will 
come to Christ upon his invitation or no ; a thing that you 
may put off from one season unto another ; your present 
refusal of it is a high act of enmity against God. 



IQ THE SIN AND DANGER OF 

VIII. Consider that, by coming unto Christ, you shall 
have an interest in all that gloi'y which we have proposed 
to you ; for Christ will become yours, for ever yours, and 
so all his glory is yours also. All are apt to be affected 
Avith the good things in their relatives ; their grace, their 
riches, their beauty, their power ; for they judge themselves 
to have an interest in them, by reason of their relation to 
them. Christ is nearer to believers than any natural rela- 
tions are to us ; they have therefore an interest in all his 
glory. And is this a small thing in your eyes, that Christ 
shall be yours, and all his glory shall be yours, and you 
shall have the advantage of it unto your eternal blessed- 
ness ? Is it nothing to you to continue strangers to, and 
uninterested in, all his glory ; to be left to take your por- 
tion in this world of lusts, and sins, and pleasures, and a 
few perishing trifles, with eternal ruin in the close, whilst 
such durable substance, such riches of glory, are tendered 
to you ? 

IX. Consider the horrible ingratitude there is in a neglect 
or refusal to come to Christ upon his invitation, with the 
eternal ruin that will ensue thereon ! " How shall we es- 
cape, if we neglect so great salvation ?" Unbelievers, under 
the preaching of the Gospel, are the vilest and most un- 
f)-rateful of all the creation of God. The devils themselves, 
wicked as they are, are not guilty of this sin, for Christ is 
never tendered to them ; they never had any ofter of salva- 
tion on condition of faith and repentance. 

Some, it may be, will say, " What, then, shall we do ? 
What is it that is required of us ?" 

Take the advice of the apostle : " To-day, if ye will hear 
his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in 
the day of temptation in the wilderness ; but exhort one 



NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 1 1 

another daily, while it is called to-day, lest any of you be 
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." This day, even 
this, is unto you, in the tender of grace, the acceptable time, 
this is the day of salvation. Others have had their day as 
well as you, and have missed their opportunity ; take heed, 
lest it should be so with you also. How, if any one should 
write it down, or peculiarly commit it to remembrance, 
" This day there was a tender of Christ, and salvation in 
him, made unto my soul ; from this time I will resolve to give 
up myself unto him." Having fixed your resolution, charge 
your consciences with what you have engaged, and make 
yourselves to know, that if you go back from it, it is a token 
that you are going to ruin. 

Consider that it is high time for you to make somewhat 
of religion. Do not hang always in suspense ; let it not be 
a question with yourselves, whether you choose to be saved 
or no. This is as good a time and season for a resolution 
as ever you are like to have while in this world. Some 
things, nay, many things, may fall in between this and the 
next opportunity, that shall put you backward, and make 
your entrance into the kingdom of heaven far more difficult 
than ever it was ; and the living in that uncertainty which 
you do, of what will become of you in eternity, is a misera- 
ble life in this world. Those who put far from them the 
evil day, in the pursuit of lusts and pleasures, have some- 
what that gives them present satisfaction ; but you have no 
enjoyment, neither will your latter end be better than theirs, 
if you die without an interest in Christ Jesus. Come, there- 
fore, to a determinate resolution what you will do in this 
matter. Christ hath waited long for you, and who knows 
how soon he may withdraw, never to look after you any 
more. 



12 THE SLN- AND DANGER OF 

I have thought it necessary to stir up your minds by 
this exhortation to faith in Jesus Christ, aiming to suit it to 
the capacity of the weakest sinner that is capable of any 
self- consideration as to his eternal welfare. But yet a little 
farther, to give efficacy to this exhortation, it will be neces- 
sary to REMOVE SOME OF THOSE COMMON AND OBVIOUS 

EXCUSES to which convinced sinners usually betake them- 
selves, to put off a present compliance Avith the calls of 
Christ to come unto him ; for although it is unbelief alone, 
acting in the darkness of men's minds, and the obstinacy of 
their wills, that effectually keeps sinners from coming unto 
Christ upon his call ; yet it shrouds itself under various 
pretences, that it may not appear in its own ugly form ; for 
no sin, whereof men can be guilty in this world, is of so 
horrible a nature, and so dreadful an aspect, as this unbe- 
lief, where a clear view of it is obtained in evangelical light ; 
wherefore, by the aid of Satan, it suggests other pleas and 
pretences unto the minds of sinners, under which they may 
countenance themselves in a refusal to come to Christ : " In 
whom the o-od of this world hath blinded the minds of them 
that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of 
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 
Any thing else it may be, but not unbelief: that they all 
disavow. I shall, therefore, notice a few of those excuses 
which are obvious, and which are exemplified in the Gospel 
itself. 

Some say, on such exhortations, '' What is it that you 
would have us to do? We hear the word preached, we 
believe it as well as we can, we do many things, and abstain 
from many evils ; what more is required of us ?" This is 
the language of the hearts of most of those with whom, in 
this case, we have to do. 



NEGLECTLVG THE SAVIOUR. 13 

It is usual with them who do somethino: outwardly in 
the ways of God, but nothing with a right state of heart, 
and so nothing in due manner, to expostulate against re- 
quiring of them more than they do. So the people dispute 
with God himself : " A son honoreth his father, and a ser- 
vant his master ; if, then, I be a father, where is mine honor ? 
and if I be a master, where is my fear ? saith the Lord of 
hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name ; and ye 
say. Wherein have we despised thy name ?" Mai. 1 : 6. 
" Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed me ; but ye 
say. Wherein have we robbed thee ? In tithes and offer- 
ings. Your w^ords have been stout against me, saith the 
Lord ; yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against 
thee ?" Chap. 3 : 8, 13. So they in the Gospel, who es- 
teemed themselves to have done their duty, being pressed 
to believe by Jesus Christ, ask him, with some indignation, 
" What shall we do, that we might work the works of 
God?" John 6 : 28. If what w^e do be not enough, w^hat 
is it that you require more of us ? So was it with the young 
man, Matt. 19 : 20, "What lack I yet?" Be advised, 
therefore, not to be too confident of your state, lest you 
should yet lack that one thing, the want of which might 
prove your eternal ruin. 

The things mentioned, with all of the like nature, may 
be where there is not one spark of saving faith. Simon 
Mao-US heard the Word, and we are informed that he be- 
lieved. Herod heard it, and did many things gladly ; and 
all sorts of hypocrites do, upon their conviction, perform 
many duties, and abstain from many sins : so that, notwith- 
standing this plea, you may perish forever. 

Where these things are sincere, they belong unto the 

exercise of faith ; they may be, after a sort, without faith, 
VOL. V. 15 



14 THE SIN AND DANGER OF 

but faith cannot be without them. But there is a funda- 
mental act of faith whereby we close with Christ, whereby 
we receive him, that is, in order of nature antecedent unto 
its acting in all other duties and occasions : it is laying the 
foundation ; other things belong to the building. This is 
that which you are called on to secure, and you know it 
by these two properties : 

It is singular. So our Saviour tells the Jews, *' This is 
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath 
sent." John 6 : 29. The act, work, or duty of faith in 
receiving Christ, is a peculiar, singular work, wherein the 
soul yields especial obedience unto God ; it is not to be 
reckoned among such common duties as those before men- 
tioned ; but the soul must find out wherein it hath closed 
with Christ, upon the command of God. 

It is accompanied with a universal sjnritual change in 
the soul. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; 
old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become 
new." 2 Cor. 5:17. Wherefore, if you would not choose 
rather to deceive and ruin your own souls, come to the trial, 
whether, indeed, you have received Christ in such a singu- 
lar, transforming act of faith ; do not, on such pretences, 
refuse to comply with the word of exhortation proposed 
unto you. 

But some may say, they knoio not hoio to i^roceed in this 
Avork. They can make nothing of it ; they have tried to 
come to this believing, but do still fail in what they design ; 
they go on and off, but can make no progress, can come to 
no satisfaction ; therefore they think it best to let things go 
in general as they are, without putting themselves to farther 
trouble as to any special act of faith in the receiving of 
Christ. This is the language of men's hearts, though not 



NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 15 

of their mouths ; it is another shelter of unbehef, and they 
act accordingly; they have a secret dependency, which 
keeps them from attempting a real closing with Christ on 
the tender of the Gospel. Something may be offered to the 
mind thus distempered. 

Remember the disciples that were fishing, who had 
toiled all night, but caught nothing. Upon the coming of 
Christ unto them, he requires that they should cast out 
their net once more. Peter makes some excuse, from the 
labor which they had taken in vain all the night ; however, 
he would venture once more, on the command of Christ, 
and had an astonishing draught of fishes. Luke 5:9. 
Have you been wearied in the disappointments attending 
your attempts and resolutions ? Yet cast in your net this 
once more, upon the command of Christ ; venture this once 
more to come unto him, on his call and invitation ; and, be 
assured, you shall not come to him in vain. 

Many can give you their experience, that if they had 
been discouraged by present overwhelming difficulties, aris- 
ing from their disappointments and relapses into folly, they 
had been utterly ruined, whereas now they are at rest and 
peace in the bosom of Christ. On a great surprisal, Christ 
lost at once many disciples, and they lost their souls. 
"They went back, and walked no more with him." John 
6: 66. Take heed of hke discouragements. 

Some may say, yea, practically they do say, that these 
things indeed are necessary : they must come to Christ by 
believing, or they are undone ; but this is not the season for 
it ; there will be time enough to apply themselves to it when 
other occasions are past ; at present they have no leisure to 
enter upon and go through with this duty, wherefore they 
will abide in their present state for a while, hearing and 



16 THE SL\ AND DANGER OF 

doing many things, and, when time serves, will apply them- 
selves imto this duty also. 

This is an evidence of the sottishness and folly which 
are come upon our nature by sin ; a deprivation that the 
apostle places in the evils of corrupted nature : " For we 
ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, 
serving divers lusts and pleasures." Tit. 3:3. Can any 
thing be more foolish, sottish, and stupid, than for men to 
put off the consideration of the eternal concerns of their 
souls for one hour, being altogether uncertain whether they 
shall live another or not ? to prefer present trifles before a 
regard to the blessedness or misery of an immortal estate ? 
For those who never heard of these things, who never had 
any conviction of sin and judgment, to put the evil day far 
from them, is not much to be wondered at ; but for you, 
who have Christ preached unto you, who own a necessity 
of coming unto him, to put it off from day to day, upon such 
slight pretences, it is astonishing folly. May you not be 
spoken imto in the language of the wisdom of God, " How 
long wilt thou sleep, sluggard ? when Avilt thou arise out 
of thy sleep ?" Prov. 6:9. You come to hear the word, 
and when you go away, the language of your heart is, 
" Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the 
hands to sleep." We will abide a little while in our pres- 
ent state, and afterwards we will rouse up ourselves. Under 
this deceit do multitudes perish every day. This is a dark 
shade wherein cursed unbelief lies hid. 

Consider that delay is the greatest engine that Satan 
makes use of in the world, among them that hear the word 
preached, for the ruin of their souls. He hath other arts, 
and ways, and methods of dealing with other men, as by 
sensual and worldly lusts ; but as to them who through 



NEGLECl'ING THE SAVIOUR. 17 

their convictions attend to the preaching of the word, this 
is his great and almost only engine for their ruin : " There 
needs," say they, "no haste in this matter, another time 
will be more seasonable ; you may be sure not to fail of it 
before you die : this present day, however, is most unfit for 
it ; you have other things to do ; you may come again to 
hear the word the next opportunity." Know, assuredly, if 
your minds are influenced to delay coming to Christ by such 
insinuations, you are under the power of Satan, and he is 
like to hold you fast unto destruction. 

This is as evil and dangerous a posture, or frame of 
mind, as you can well fall into. If you have learned to put 
off God, and Christ, and the word, for the present season ; 
and yet relieve yourselves in this, that you do not intend, 
like others, always to reject them, but will have a time to 
hearken to their call ; you are secured and fortified against 
all convictions, and persuasions, and fears. 

Remember, then, that the Scripture confines you to the 
present day, without the least intimation that you shall have 
either another day, or another tender of grace and mercy in 
any day. " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now 
is the day of salvation." " Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost 
saith, To-day, if ye will hear his voice. But exhort one 
another daily, while it is called to-day ; lest any of you be 
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." "Looking 
diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God ; lest any 
root of bitterness, springing up, trouble you, and thereby 
many be defiled." Take care lest you come short of the 
grace of God. Redeem the time, or you are lost for ever. 
As to the pretence of your occasions and business, there 
is a ready way to disappoint the craft of Satan in that pre- 
tence, that is, to mix thoughts of Christ, and the renewing 
VOL. V. 15* 



19 THE SIN AND DANGER OF 

of your resolutions either to come or to cleave unto him, 
with all your occasions ; let nothing put it utterly out of 
your minds ; make it familiar unto you, and you will beat 
Satan out of that strong hold : " Say unto wisdom, Thou art 
my sister ; and call understanding thy kinswoman." Pro v. 
7:4. However, shake yourselves out of this dust, or 
destruction lies at the door. 

It is the language of the heart of some, that if they give 
up themselves unto a compliance with this exhortation, and go 
seriously about this duty, they must relinquish and renounce 
all their lusts and 'pleasures, yea, much of their converse and 
society wherein they find so much present satisfaction that 
they know not how to part with them. If the}^ might retain 
their old ways, at least some of them, it were another mat- 
ter, but this total relinquishment of all is very severe. 

We can here use no condescension, no compliance, with 
respect unto any sin or lust ; we have no commission to 
grant that request of Lot, "Is it not a little one?" let it 
be spared ? Nor come to Naaman's terms, " God be mer- 
ciful to me in this thing, in all others I will be obedient." 
We must here be peremptory with you, whatever be the 
event ; if you are discouraged by it, we cannot help it. We 
cannot encourage you to come to Christ, with the hope of 
indulgence in any one sin Avhatever. I speak not this, as 
though 3"ou could at once absolutely and perfectly leave all 
sin in the root and branches of it ; but only you are to do it 
in heart and resolution, eno-aofino: in a universal mortification 
of all sin, as by grace from above you shall be enabled. 
But your choice must be absolute, without reserves, as to 
love, interest, and design ; God or the world, Christ or 
Belial, holiness or sin ; there are no medium, no terms of 
composition : " What concord hath Christ with Belial ? or 



NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 19 

wliat part hath he that beheveth with an mfidel? And 
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? For 
ye are the temple of the living God ; as God hath said, I 
will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will be their 
God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come ont 
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and 
touch not the miclean thing ; and I will receive you ; and 
will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and 
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. 6 : 15-18. 

It will be said by some, that they do not see that tliose 
xoho profess to he believers are so much better than them- 
selves, that you need to press them so earnestly to so great 
a change ; they know not why they should not be accounted 
believers already, as well as others. I shall in a few words, 
as well as I am able, lay this stumbling-block out of the 
way, though I confess at this day it is weighty and cumber- 
some. And I say, 

1. Among them that profess themselves to be believers, 
there are many false, corrupt hypocrites ; and it is no won- 
der that, on various occasions, they lay the stumbling-block 
of their iniquities before the face of others ; but they shall 
bear their own burden. 

2. It is acknowledged, and lamented, that some who 
have reason to be judged true believers, yet, through their 
unmortified pride, or covetousness, or carelessness in their 
conversation, or their vain attire and conformity to the world, 
or forwardness, do give just occasion of offence. We con- 
fess that God is displeased herewith, Christ and the Gospel 
dishonored, and many that are weak and wounded are dis- 
couraged. But as for you, this is not your rule ; this is not 
proposed to you, but that word only is so, that will never 
fail you. 



20 NEGLECTING THE SAVIOUR. 

3. The world doth not know, nor is able to make a right 
judgment of believers : nor do you, for it is the spiritual 
man alone that discemeth the things of God. Their in- 
firmities are visible to all, their graces invisible ; the King's 
daughter is glorious Avithin. And when you are able to 
make a right judgment of them, you will desire no greater 
advancement than to be of their society. Psalm 16:3. 

These few instances of the pretences wherewith unbelief 
covers its deformity, and hides that destruction wherewith 
it is accompanied, may suffice to our present purpose ; they 
are multiplied in the minds of men, impregnated by the 
suggestions of Satan on their darkness and folly. A little 
spiritual wisdom will rend the veil of them all, and expose 
unbelief acting in enmity against Christ under them. 



]¥o, 153, 



THE 



EID OE TIME. 



BY REV. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 



The word of prophecy assures us, that there shall come 
a day on which an angel shall lift up his hand to heaven, 
and swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that there 
shall "be twie no longer.'" Rev. 10 : 5, 6. However dis- 
tant that awful period may be, the same language is, in 
effect, daily addressed to thousands of our fellow-mortals. 
They hear, and die. Death, as on the wing of an angel, 
flies from house to house, proclaiming to each inhabitant 
in turn, " Time with thee shall be no longer. Thou hast 
finished thine appointed course on earth — enter the eter- 
nal w^orld," Before this message be delivered to us, it 
would be wise to ask ourselves, "Are we prepared to 
receive it ?" 

The end of time ! This includes the end of our earthly 
gains and enjoyments, Now, the lust of the flesh, the lust 
of the eye, and the pride of life, are variously indulged. 
But then, the miser is forced from his gold ; the lofty are 
brought low ; the drunkard no longer calls for his glass ; 
the lewd no longer glory in their shame. And is it fit, 
men, that you should fill up life with vices that degrade, or 
with vanities that can, at best, but amuse you ? Take heed 
that your souls do not live too much on any of the satisfac- 
tions of the world ; that your affections be not set upon 
them ; that you make them not your idols, lest you be left 
helpless and miserable ; for they cannot follow you into the 
world of souls : they are the things of time, and have no 
place in eternity. " The end of all things is at hand, there- 
fore be ye sober." Be ye moderate in every enjoyment on 



2 THE END OF TIME. 

earth, and prepare to part with all, when the angel pro- 
nounces that " time shall be no longer." His sentence puts 
an end to every earthly joy, and every mortal hope. 

The end of time ! Then closes the season of conversion. 
We come into the world ignorant, and are naturally prone 
to sin. The image of God is lost, and life is the only space 
allotted for its recovery. If we die without a change, we 
must remain for ever unholy. Oh, what awakening inqui- 
ries does the thought suggest ! Am I renewed by the Holy 
Spirit ? What are my dehghts and my desires ? Is my 
heart a temple of God, or the seat of sin ? How short the 
term during which these inquiries are to be resolved ! 

The end of time ! Then the means of restoring us to 
the enjoyment of God will be withdrawn. We live here as 
in a state of banishment ; we cannot behold him as he is ; 
yet he has not utterly forsaken us. He spreads a table in 
this desert ; he proclaims himself merciful, and ready to 
forgive. He saith, ''Now is the accepted time ; now is the 
day of salvation." Prophets and apostles, though dead, 
yet speak to us. They describe a Mediator who gave him- 
self a ransom for us; that, believing in him, "we might 
have life through his name." His ministers are still sent as 
ambassadors, beseeching us to be reconciled to God, and 
assuring us that with open arms he stands ready to receive 
us. Shall we slight their invitations, and thus pour con- 
tempt on their divine Master ? The loss will soon appear 
to be all our own, and irrecoverable ; for the sound of par- 
don reaches not beyond the limits of this world. Now the 
blessed God comes to the door of our hearts, as if to plead 
for admittance ; he invites us to return and confess our sins, 
fliat he may forgive them. Harden not your hearts, lest when 
the angel lifts up his hand to announce the end of time. 
The Lord himself, in vengeance drest, 

Should lift his hand, and swear, 
" You tliat despised my promised rest, 
Shall have no portion there." 

The end of time ! Then shall the sinner's heart give up 



THE END OF TIME. 3 

its last hope. None are completely miserable before death. 
Indeed, the vilest men are often the most full of mirth. 
But it will not be always so ; their joy will be turned into 
heaviness. Imagine the Judge on his throne, calling you 
to answer these inquiries at his bar : " What have you done 
with all the time of your life in yonder world ? You spent 
there, some, twenty ; some, forty ; some, seventy years ; and 
I gave you this time with a thousand opportunities and 
means of grace and salvation. What have you done with 
them all ? How many Sabbaths did I afford ? How many 
sermons have you heard ? How many seasons did I give 
you for prayer and retirement, and converse with God and 
your own souls ? Did you improve time well ? Did you 
pray ? Did you converse with your souls, and with God ? 
Or did you suffer time to slide away in a thousand follies, 
and neglect the one thing needful?" What if your con- 
sciences should plead guilty ? Who knows the keenness of 
that agony with which you will cry out, " Oh, wretched man 
that I am ! God hath spoken to me by a parent, by a min- 
ister, and by his written word ; I have neglected these, and 
ruined my soul !" Awful subject ! let us muse thereon, 
while there is yet a hope for mercy. 

Time shall end I How valuable, then, while it lasts, 
particularly to the unprepared ! Every hour you live is a 
merciful respite. Go forth and meet your offended Sover- 
eign. " Seek him while he may be found ; call upon him 
while he is near." Go in the name of Jesus, plead his 
righteousness, his death, his intercession, and say, " God be 
merciful to me a sinner!" 

Trme shall end ! Oh, the strange folly and madness of 
those who are afraid of the end of time, whenever they 
think of it ; and yet who know not what to do with their 
time, as it runs off daily and hourly ! They find not their 
souls ready for death ; and yet they hve, from year to year, 
without any further preparation for dying ; they waste their 
hours of leisure in mere trifling ; they lose their season of 
grace, their means and opportunities of salvation. 



4 THE END OF TIME. 

the wretched ignorance of the children of men, that 
are sent hither on a trial for eternity, and yet know not how 
to pass aAvay time ! They know not how to wear out life, 
and get soon enough to the end of the day. They doze 
their hours aAvay, or saunter from place to place, Avithout 
any design or meaning. They inquire of every one they 
meet, what they shall do to kill time ; because they cannot 
spend it fast enough, they are perpetually calling in the 
assistance of others to laugh, or sport, or trifle with them, 
and to help them off with this dead weight of time ; while, 
at the same moment, if you do but mention the end of time, 
they are dreadfully afraid of coming near it. What folly 
and distraction is this ! What inconsistency is found in the 
heart and practice of sinful men ! " The heart of the sons 
of men is full of evil ; madness is in their heart while they 
live, and after that they go to the dead." Eccles. 9 : 3. 

0, that these loiterers would once consider that time 
loiters not ; days and hours, months and years loiter not : 
each of these flies with swiftest wings, and bears them 
onward to eternity. If they delay among toys and shadows, 
time knows no delay ; and they will one day learn, by bitter 
experience, what substantial, important, and eternal bless- 
ings they have lost by their criminal waste of time. The 
apostle Peter assures them, though they slumber and sleep 
in a lethargy of sin, so that you cannot awaken them, yet 
" their judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slum- 
bereth not." 2 Peter, 2:3. The awful moment is hasten- 
ing upon them, which will teach them terribly the true value 
of time ; then they would give all the golden pleasures, and 
riches, and grandeur of this world, to purchase one short 
day more, or one hour of time, wherein they might repent 
and return to God, and get within the reach of hope and 
salvation ; but time, and salvation, and hope, are all van- 
ished, and out of their reach for ever. 

Time shall end ! How rich a source of reflection to a 
thinking mind. Do I observe the declining day, and the 
setting sun sinking into darkness ? So decline the days of 



THE END OF TIME. 5 

life, the hours of labor, and the seasons of grace. O may 
I finish my apjDointed work with honor, ere the light be 
fled ! May I improve the shining hours of grace, ere the 
shadows of the evening overtake me, and my time of labor 
be no more ! 

Do I see the moon gliding along through the midnight 
sky ? This planet also is measuring out my life, and bring- 
ing the number of my moments to an end. May I be pre- 
pared to take leave of the sun and moon, and bid adieu to 
these visible heavens, and all their twinkling glories ! These 
are all but the measures of my time, and hasten me on 
towards eternity. 

Am I walkinor in a o-arden, and do I stand to observe 
the slow motion of the shadow upon a dial there ? It passes 
over the hour-lines with an imperceptible progress, yet it 
will touch the last line of daylight shortly : so my hours 
and my moments move onAvard with a silent pace, but 
they will arrive with certainty at their last limit, how 
heedless soever I am of their motion, and how thoughtless 
soever I may be of the improvement of time, or of the end 
of it. 

Does a new year commence, and the first morning of it 
dawn upon me ? Let me remember that the last year was 
finished, and is gone over my head, in order to make way 
for the present. I have one year the less to travel through 
this world, and to fulfil the various services of a travelling 
state : may my diligence in duty be doubled, since the num- 
ber of my appointed years is diminished. 

Do I find a new birthday in my survey of the calendar, 
the day wherein I entered upon the stage of mortality, and 
was born into this world of sins, frailties, and sorrows, in 
order to my probation for a better state ? Blessed Lord ! 
how much have I spent already of this mortal life, this 
season of my probation ; and how little am I prepared for 
that happier world ; how unready for my dying moment ! 
I am hastening hourly to the end of that life which began 
at my nativity. Am I born of God ? Have I begun the 
VOL. T. 16 



(J THE END OF TIME. 

life of a Christian ? Am I prepared for that awful day 
which shall terminate the number of my months on earth ? 
Am I fit to be born into the world of spirits, through the 
strait gate of death ? Am I renewed in all the powers of 
nature, and made meet to enter that unseen world, where 
there shall be no more of these revolutions of days and 
years, but where one eternal day fills up all the space with 
divine pleasure, or one eternal night with long and deplora- 
ble distress and darkness ? 

When I see a friend ex23iring, or the corpse of my neigh- 
bor conveyed to the grave, their months and minutes are 
all determined, and the seasons of their trial are finished for 
ever ; they are gone to their eternal home, and the state of 
their souls is fixed imchangeably ! The angel that has 
sworn their " time shall be no longer," has concluded their 
hopes or fears ; and, according to the rules of righteous 
judgment, their misery or happiness is decided for eter- 
nity. Take this warning, my soul, and think of thine 
own removal. 

Are we standing in the church -yard, paying the last 
honor to the relics of our friends ? What a number of hil- 
locks of death appear around us ! What are the tombstones 
but the memorials of the inhabitants of that town, to inform 
us of the period of all their lives, and to point out the day 
W'hen it was said to each of them, Yoiii' time shall he no 
longer ! 0, may I readily learn this important lesson, that 
my turn is hastening too ! Such a little hillock shall shortly 
arise for me on some unknown spot of ground ; it shall cover 
this flesh and these bones of mine in darkness, and shall 
hide them from the lio-ht of the sun, and from the sio-ht of 
man, till the heavens be no more. 

Perhaps some surviving friend may engrave my name, 
with the number of my days, upon a plain stone, as a fresh 
monument of the frailty of nature and the end of time. It 
is possible, some friendly foot may now and then visit the 
place of my repose, and some tender eye bedew the cold 
memorial with a tear : one or another of old acquaintances 



THE END OF TIME. 7 

may possibly attend there, to learn the silent lectures of 
mortality from my grave-stone ; and it may be, he will point 
with his finger and show his companion the month and day 
of my decease. O that solemn, that awful day, w^iich shall 
finish my appointed time on earth, and all the labors of my 
hand ! 

Think, my soul, that, while friends or strangers are 
engaged on that spot, and reading the date of thy departure 
hence, thou wilt be fixed under a decisive and unchangeable 
sentence ; rejoicing in the reward of time well-improved, or 
suffering the endless sorrows that shall attend the abuse of 
it, in an unl^nown world of happiness or misery ! 

Thne shall end ! What a reproof is here administered ! 
The proper business of life and the solemn duties of relig- 
ion have been delayed ; while we, under the pretence that 
there is time enough, have burdened ourselves with things 
needless and unprofitable. 

How useful a practice w^ould it be, to suppose ourselves 
often at the end of time ; to imagine ourselves just under 
the sound of the anorel's voice, or at the tribunal of Christ, 
and to call our souls to a solemn account in what manner 
we have passed our time hitherto ! Give me leave to enter 
into particulars a little ; for generalities but seldom convict 
the conscience, or affect the heart, 

1. Have you not slmnhered or squandered away too 
much time Avithout any useful purpose or design at all ? 

How many are there who, when they have morning 
hours on their hands, can pass them away in their beds, and 
lose their time in '' a little more sleep, and a little more 
slumber !" A few trifles, with breakfast and dressing, wear 
out the morning, without God. And how many afternoons 
and evening hours are worn away in the like sauntering 
idleness, without one half hour's useful work, from the 
dawn of the morning to the hours of rest ! Time is gone ; 
and, as they knew not what to do with it Avhile it was pres- 
ent, so, now it is past, they know not Avhat they have done 
with it ; they keep no account of it, and are never prepared 



8 THE END OF TIME. 

to come to a reckoning. But will the great Judge of all 
take this for an answer to such a solemn inquiry ? 

2. Have 3^ou not laid out much more time than was 
needful in recreations and 2)leasiire ? Recreations are not 
unlawful, so far as they are necessary and proper to relieve 
the fatigue of the spirits Avhen tired with business or labor, 
and to prepare for new employments. But have you not 
followed them without due bounds ? Has not some of that 
very time been spent in them, which should have been laid 
out in preparing for death and eternity, and in seeking things 
of far higher importance ? 

3. Have you not wasted much time in frequenting cluhs, 
in ivhat you call good company, and in places of public re- 
sort ? Hath not the tavern or the ale-houses seen and known 
you from hour to hour for a whole evening, and that, some- 
times, before the trade or labor of the day should have been 
ended ? And when your Bible and your closet, or the 
devotion of your family, have sometimes called upon your 
conscience, have you not turned the deaf ear to them all ? 

4. Have you not made useless and im2)ertinent visits? 
When conversation has run low, even to the dregs, and both 
you and your friends have been at a loss what to^ say next, 
and knew not how to fill up the time ; yet the visit must go 
on, and time must be wasted. Sometimes the wind and the 
weather, or what is much worse, scandal on persons or fam- 
ilies, have come in to your relief, that there might not be 
too long silence : but not one word of God or goodness could 
find room to enter in and relieve the dull hour. Is none of 
this time to be accounted for ? And Avill it sound well in 
the ears of the Judge, " We ran to these silly topics, these 
slanderous stories, because we could not tell what to talk 
of, and knew not how to spend our time ?" 

5. Have you not been guilty of frequent, and even per- 
petual delays or neglects of your 2^^'oper necessary business 
in civil life, or in the solemn duties of religion, by busying 
yourself in some other needless thing, under this pretence, 
** There is time enough yet ?" 



THE END OF TIME. 9 

Have you learnt that important and eternal rule of pru- 
dence, " Never delay till to-morrow what ma}^ be done to- 
day ; never put off till the next hour what may be done in 
this ?" Have you not often proved your own folly by neg- 
lecting present duty? Solomon tells us, Eccles. 3 : 1, 7, 
" There is a time for every purpose, and every work under 
the sun ;'' a proper time for every lawful work of nature 
and life ; and it is the business and care of a wise man to do 
proper work in proper time ; but when we have let slip the 
proper season, how often have we been utterly disappointed ! 
We have sustained great evils, and sometimes it has so hap- 
pened that we could never do that work or business at all, 
because another proper season for it hath never offered ; 
time hath been no more. Felix put off his discourse with 
Paul, about the faith of Christ, and righteousness, and judg- 
ment to come, to a more convenient time, which probably 
never came. Acts 24 : 25. And the word of God teaches 
us, that if we neglect our salvation in the present day of 
grace, the angel is ready to swear, that " time shall be no 
longer." 

What time may yet lie before you for improvement, God 
only knows ; the remnant of your days is with him, and 
every evening the number is diminished. Let not the rising 
sun upbraid you with continued negligence. Remember 
your former abuses of hours, and months, and years, in folly 
and sin ; or at best in vanity and trifling. Let these thoughts 
of your past conduct impress your heart, so as to keep you 
ever vigorous in present duty. Since you have been so 
loitering in your Christian race in times past, take larger 
steps daily ; and stretch all the powers of your soul to 
hasten towards the crown, and the prize. Hearken to the 
voice of God, in his word, with more attention and desire to 
profit ; pray to a long-suffering God with double fervency ; 
cry aloud, and give him no rest, till your sinful soul be 
changed into penitence, and renewed to holiness ; till you 
have some good evidence of your sincere love to God, and 
unfeigned faith in his Son Jesus. Never be satisfied till you 
VOL. V. 16* 



10 THE END OF TlME. 

come to a well-grounded hope, through grace, that God is 
your friend, your reconciled Father ; that, when days and 
months are no more, you may enter into the regions of 
everlasting light and peace. 

Time shall end ! Thanks be to God that it is not already 
ended. Let us admire his compassion in warning us so long. 
Every stroke of sickness warns us that life is coming to its 
period ; every death among our friends and acquaintances 
is a tender and painful admonition that our death also is at 
hand. The end of every week, and every returning Sabbath 
Avarns us ; every sermon we hear of the shortness of time 
and the uncertainty of life, is a fresh intimation that the 
great angel will shortly pronounce a period to our time. 
How inexcusable shall we be, if we turn the deaf ear to all 
these warnings ! 

Alas ! how long did Jesus, and his mercy, and his Gos- 
pel, wait on you, before you began to think of the things 
of your everlasting peace ! And if you are now solemnly 
awakened, yet how long has he waited on you with fresh 
admonitions and with special providences, with mercies and 
judgments, with promises and invitations of grace, with 
threatening and words of terror, and with the whispers and 
advices of his own Spirit, since you began to see your dan- 
ger. And after all, have you yet sincerely repented of sin ? 
Have you yet received the offered grace ? Have you given 
up yourself to the Lord, and laid hold of his salvation? 
"This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation. 
To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." 
It is never said. To-morrow is the day of grace, or, to-mor- 
row is the time of acceptance ; it is the present hour only 
that is offered. Every day and every hour is a mercy of 
unknown importance to sinful men. It is a mercy, sinner, 
that you awoke not this morning in hell, and that you were 
not fixed, without remedy, beyond the reach and hope of 
mercy. 

Time shall end! Then happy they who welcome the 
event, because they are prepared for it. They need not be 



THE END OF TL\IE. 1 1 

afraid of the sentence, nor the oath of his mighty Angel, 
when he hfts up his hand to heaven, and swears, with a 
loud voice, "There shall be time no lono;er." 

O blessed creatures, who have so happily improved the 
time of life, and day of grace, as to obtain the restoration 
of the image of God in some degree on their souls, and a 
divine assurance of the favor of God through Christ, for 
which end time was bestowed upon them. They have re- 
viewed their follies with shame in the land of hope ; they 
have mourned and repented of sin, ere the season of repent- 
ance was past, and are become new creatures, and their lips 
and their lives declare the divine change. They have made 
preparations for death, for which purpose life and time were 
given. Happy souls, indeed, who have so valued time as 
not to let it run off in trifles,, but have obtained treasures 
more valuable than that time which is gone, even the riches 
of the covenant of grace, and the hope of an eternal inheri- 
tance in glory ! 

Blessed souls, indeed ! Their happiness begins when the 
duration of their mortal life is finished. Let us survey this 
their happiness in a few particulars : 

There is no more time for temptation and clanger. When 
once you are got beyond the limits of this visible world, and 
all the enticing objects of flesh and sense, there shall be no 
more hazard of your salvation, no more doubting and dis- 
tressing fear about your interest in your Father's love, or in 
the salvation of his beloved Son. 

There is no more time or place for sin to dwell in you : 
the lease of its habitation in your mortal body must end 
when the body itself falls into the dust ; you shall feel no 
more its powerful and defiling operations, either in heart or 
life, for ever. 

The time of convict with your spiritual adversaries is no 
longer. There is no more warfare betwixt the flesh and the 
spirit, no more combat with the world and the devil, who, 
by a thousand ways, have attempted to deceive you, and 
to bear you off" from your heavenly hope. Your warfare is 



12 THE END OF TIME. 

accomplished ; your victory is complete ; you are made even 
/'more than conquerors, through him that loved you." 

There is no more time for you to be vexed with the 
society of sinners. Your spirit within you shall be no more 
ruffled and disquieted with the conversation of the wicked ; 
nor shall you be interrupted, in your holy and heavenly 
exercises, by any one of the enemies of God and his grace. 

The time of your painful lahors and sufferings is no more, 
" Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest 
from their labors," that carry toil and fatigue with them ; 
*' there shall be no more sorrow nor crying ;" the springs 
of grief are for ever dried up ; "neither shall there be any 
more pain," in the flesh or in the spirit. " God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes," and death itself shall be no 
more. 

It is finished ! said our blessed Lord on the cross. It 
is finished ! may every one of his followers say, at the hour 
of death, and at the end of time : " My sins and follies, my 
distresses and sufferings, are finished for ever ; and the 
mighty Angel swears that the time of these evils is no longer. 
They are vanished, and never shall return. happy souls, 
who have wisely so counted the short and uncertain number 
of your days on earth, as to make an early provision for a 
removal to heaven ! Blessed are you above all the powers 
of present thought and language ! Days, and months, and 
years, and all these short and painful periods of time, shall 
be swallowed up in a long and blissful eternity. The stream 
of time, which has run between the banks of this mortal life, 
and borne you along amidst many dangerous rocks of temp- 
tation, fear, and sorrow, shall launch you out into the ocean 
of pleasures which have no period : those felicities must be 
everlasting, for duration has no limit there ; time, with all 
its measures, is lost in vast eternity. 



IVo. 154. 

MEMOIR 

OF 

DR. BATE MAI, 

AN EMINENT PHYSICIAN OF LONDON. 



The late Dr. Bateman settled in London soon after he 
graduated at Edinburgh, in the year 1801 ; and his pro- 
fessional merits being very considerable, he was speedily 
elected Physician to two public institutions — a large Dis- 
pensary, and the House of Recovery for Fever. 

In the summer of 1815 his health began to dechne, and 
in the following year a complaint in his eyes came on, which 
threatened loss of sight, and precluded him from all liis 
accustomed sources of occupation and amusement. Under 
these circumstances, the writer of this Memoir became his 
constant companion and attendant ; and for four years had 
the misery of witnessing his total estrangement from God 
and religion. His health continuing to decline, he left 
London in July, 1819, with the intention of trying the 
effect of a sulphurous water at Middleton, in the county 
of Durham, on his debilitated constitution. He was taken 
ill on the road, and with difficulty reached a village near 
Beverly, in Yorkshire, where he was obliged to remain 
during the following winter ; and finding, at length, that 
his health required the sacrifice, he finally determined not 
to attempt returning to London. He had for some time 
been subject to attacks of the most alarming nervous lan- 
guor, during which he was thought, by all around him, as 



2 MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 

well as by himself, to be dying ; and these now retunied 
upon him continually, especially after using the least bodily 
exertion. 

It was on Sunday, the 9th of April, that he first spoke 
to me on the subject of religion. He had passed the whole 
of the day in a state of extraordinary suffering, from lan- 
guor, and a variety of nervous feelings, which he always 
said it was impossible to describe, farther than that they 
were inconceivably painful and distressing; and he went 
to bed at night with a firm persuasion that he should never 
again quit it ; and, in fact, he did confine himself to it for 
the following three weeks, from the mere apprehension 
of the consequences of exertion. Religion was a subject 
which, for many reasons, had never been discussed between 
us. Though the tenor of his life had made me but too 
well acquainted with the state of his mind, he had always 
avoided any declaration of his opinions, knowing the pain 
it AYOuld give me to hear them. He was habitually fond 
of argument, and skilled in it ; and I knew that I was 
quite incompetent to argue with him. I considered, too, 
that the habit of disputing in favor of any opinion, only 
serves, in general, to rivet it more firmly in the mind ; men 
commonly finding their own arguments more convincing 
than those of their adversaries. And, above all, I knew 
that this was a case in which mere argument must always 
be insufficient; for ''it is with the heart that man believe th 
unto righteousness :" and in most, if not in all cases of 
scepticism, the will and the affections need to be set right 
even more than the understanding ; and upon these, argu- 
ment can have no influence. 

On the evening of the day I have mentioned, Dr. Bate- 
man had been expressing to me his conviction that he could 



MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 3 

net live mucli longer, and complaining of the dreadful 
nervous sensations whicli continually harassed him ; and 
then he added, "But all these sufferings are a just punish- 
ment for my long scepticism, and neglect of God and re- 
ligion." This led to a conversation, in the course of which 
he observed, that medical men were very generally scepti- 
cal ; and that the mischief arose from what he considered a 
natural tendency of some of their studies to lead to mate- 
rialism. I replied, that the mischief appeared to me to 
originate rather in their neglect to examine into the evi- 
dences of the truth of the Bible, as an actual revelation 
from God ; because, if a firm conviction of that were once 
established, the authority of the Scriptures must be para- 
mount ; and the tendency of all inferior studies, in opposition 
to their declaration, could have no weight. He said, he 
believed I was rio-ht, and that he had in fact been intending: 
to examine fully into the subject, when the complaint in his 
eyes came on, and shut him out from reading. Our con- 
versation ended in his permitting me to read to him the 
first of Scott's " Essays on the most Important Subjects in 
Religion," which treats of "■ The Divine Inspiration of the 
Scriptures." He listened with intense earnestness ; and 
when it was concluded, exclaimed, " This is demonstration ! 
complete demonstration!" He then asked me to read to 
him the account given in the New Testament of the res- 
urrection of our Saviour ; Avhich I did from all the four 
Evangelists. I read also many other passages of Scripture, 
with some of which he was extremely struck ; especially 
with that declaration, that " the natural man receiveth not 
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness 
unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are 
spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. 2 : 14. 



4 MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 

For two or three days he showed increasing interest in 
the subject of rehgion ; and I read to him continually the 
Scriptures, and other books which seemed to be best cal- 
culated to give him the information he thirsted for. When 
I w^ent into his room a few mornings after, he said, "It is 
quite impossible to describe to you the change which has 
taken place in my mind ; I feel as if a new world was 
opened to me, and all the interests and pursuits of this 
have faded into nothing in comparison with it. They seem 
so mean, and paltry, and insignificant, that my blindness, in 
living so long immersed in them, and devoted to them, is 
quite inconceivable and astonishing to myself." He often 
expressed in the strongest terms, and with many tears, his 
deep repentance, and his abhorrence of himself for his 
former sinful life and rebellion against God ; but he seemed 
to have, from the first, so clear a view of the all- sufficiency 
of the Saviour's atonement, and of the Christian scheme 
of salvation, as freed him from that distrust of forgiveness 
w^hich is so apt to afflict persons at the first sight of their 
sins, and of the purity and holiness of Him " with Avhom 
they have to do." The self- abasing views which he enter- 
tained of himself necessarily enhanced his sense of the par- 
doning love and mercy of God, in Christ Jesus, thus gra- 
ciously extended to him ; and which he felt so strongly, that 
he was filled with the liveliest emotions of gratitude and 
joy, and in this happy state continued for several days. • 

He soon, however, experienced an afflicting reverse of 
feeling. One evening I left him to visit a near relative, 
at that time confined to her room in a precarious state of 
health ; and his mother, who had been attending upon her, 
took my place at the bedside of her son. Dr. Bateman 
told her, that I had been reading to him various detached 



MEMOm OF DR. BATEMAN. 5 

portions of Scripture, and that lie now wished to hear the 
New Testament read regularly through from the beginning. 
She consequently began to read, and had proceeded as far 
as the tenth chapter of St. Matthew, when he suddenly 
exclaimed, that he could not beheve in the miracles of the 
Saviour, and that therefore he must perish for ever. This 
suggestion of his spiritual enemy threw him into a state of 
the most dreadful anguish, and I was immediately sent for 
to his bedside. 

On my arrival he had become a httle more composed, 
but was still in great agitation ; and was praying in agony 
to be saved, and not to be given up to this dreadful state 
of unbelief. To comfort his mind, we said what we could 
from Scripture, and from the experience of other Christians : 
and he was a little relieved by hearing some passages from 
an Essay in the volume before mentioned, " On the Warfare 
and Experience of Believers ;" finding that his was not, as 
he had supposed, a case of ne^v^ occurrence ; but that the 
author of that work was already acquainted with its symp- 
toms, and argued favorably of them, as often accompanying 
the progress of religion in the soul. Still, the idea that his 
death was fast approaching, and that there was no hope 
of his mind being convinced before it arrived, quite over- 
whelmed him. Feeling ourselves to be very inadequate 
guides and comforters in these afflicting circumstances, we 
gladly adopted the suggestion of a friend, that we should 
request a neighboring clergyman of piety and judgment to 
visit him. Dr. Bateman himself grasped eagerly at the 
proposal, and I wrote immediately to the clergyman in 
question ; but he was from home, and was not expected to 
return for two or three weeks. A few days after this un- 
welcome intelligence, Dr. Bateman told me he had no doubt 

VOL. V. 17 



C MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 

this disappointment was for his good ; and that it was bet- 
ter for him to be left to himself, as he did not think any 
thing could have convinced him so fully of the efficacy of 
prayer, as the sensible relief which he experienced from it 
durinof those conflicts of doubt and unbelief with which his 
mind continued to be harassed. He added, that he now 
spent whole nights in prayer. He felt perfectly assured 
that these doubts were the suggestions of the great adver- 
sary of souls ; and remarked, that they were vividly and 
manifestly darted, as it were, into his mind, instead of aris- 
ing from his own reflections, or resulting from any train of 
reasoning ; and the absurdity of them, in many instances, 
was so obvious, that his judgment detected it at once, 
though he still had not power to drive them from the hold 
they took on his imagination, or to banish them, for the 
time, from his thoughts. 

To these paroxysms of distress and conflict, which some- 
times lasted many hours, "L-a continued to be subject for 
about a fortnight ; but they gradually became shorter and 
less violent, and he experienced increasing relief from prayer 
during their continuance ; till at length they subsided en- 
tirely, and left his mind satisfied on all those points which 
had before presented so many obstacles to his belief. 

About this time, he received an unexpected visit from a 
medical friend, whose piety and truly Christian character 
distinguish him still more than his eminent abilities and 
professional skill. This gentleman, with great difficulty, 
succeeded in persuading him that he was by no means in 
that state of danger and debility which he had apprehended, 
and that he had the power of taking exercise if he could 
but have sufiicient resolution to attempt it. Experiment 
convinced him that this opinion was correct : he was pre- 



MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 



vailed upon to leave his bed, and in a very few days was 
able to be some hours daily in the open air, and to take 
considerable exercise ; and it is remarkable that from this 
time he had no return of languor after fatigue, except in 
one instance. Thus was he delivered, by the gracious 
providence of God, from those overwhelming apprehensions 
of immediate death which had been so instrumental in 
bringing him to Christ, as soon as they had effected that 
blessed purpose. 

He now rarely spoke of the state of his mind and feel- 
ino-s : for such was the extreme reserve of his character, 
that it could only be overcome by deep and powerful emo- 
tions ; and when no longer agitated by these, he returned 
to his natural habits, and was silent on the subject that 
most deeply interested him. Still, it was abundantly evident 
that it did interest him. The avidity with which he listened 
to the word of God — his eagerness to attend public wor- 
ship, which for many years he had entirely neglected, and 
the heartfelt and devout interest which he obviously took 
in the service — his enlarged and active benevolence — the 
change which had taken place in his tastes, inclinations, 
and pursuits— all testified that he was indeed "brought 
out of darkness into marvellous light;" that "old things 
had passed away, and all things had become new." 

In the course of the summer his health and strength 
were considerably recruited ; but towards the close of it, a 
httle too much exertion in walking brought on an accession 
of fever, and a great aggravation of all the symptoms of his 
disorder ; but still he continued able to take a Httle exer- 
cise. While he remained in the country he had much lei- 
sure, which was devoted entirely to religious reading ; for 
every other subject had now become insipid and uninterest- 



Q MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 

ing to him ; and never did the pursuits of science and lit- 
erature afTord him such vivid enjoyment as he now received 
from these hallowed studies. In November he removed to 
Whitby for the winter : and his health continued in much 
the same state till a short time before Christmas, when a 
walk, rather longer than usual, again increased his fever 
and debility ; and from that period his strength and appe- 
tite evidently dechned, while his spirit was as evidently 
ripening for heaven. His faith and patience were strength- 
ened ; his hope was increased ; his charity enlarged : yet 
he was naturally so extremely reserved in the expression 
of his feelings, that he rarely spoke of them till within the 
last month of his life, when he rejoiced " with a joy un- 
speakable and full of glory," which bore down all oppo- 
sition; for he experienced a happiness to which all the 
accumulated enjoyments of his whole previous life could 
bear no proportion or comparison, even that "peace of 
God" which "passeth all understanding," and which must 
be felt, or at least witnessed, in order to form any just con- 
ception of its nature and effects. 

What a striking example did our dying friend now ex- 
hibit to us ! From his early youth he had devoted himself 
with delight and industry to the acquisition of knowledge, 
and the pursuits of literature and science; and he "had 
his reward " in the honor and reputation which his success 
had procured for him — a reward which he keenly enjoyed, 
and very highly prized. Those who have known only the 
pleasures which arise from worldly gratifications, surely 
ought to recollect, that, being confessedly ignorant of those 
spiritual enjoyments which they despise, they cannot be 
competent to decide upon their reality or their value : it 
belongs only to those who have experienced both, to appre- 



MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 9 

ciate either. And how did Dr. Bateman appreciate them ? 
In contrasting, as he frequently did, his present happiness 
with ail that he had formerly enjoyed and called happiness, 
he seemed always at. a loss to find words to express how 
poor, and mean, and despicable all earthly gratifications 
appeared to him, when compared with that ''joy and peace 
in belie\ing" which now filled his soul ; and " one particle 
of which," he sometimes said, *'ten thousand worlds would 
not tempt him to part with." 

And it should be remembered, that this was not the 
evidence of a man disappointed in his worldly pursuits : he 
had already, as before observed, " had his reward " in this 
world — ^lie had experienced the utmost success in the path 
which he had chosen — he had been keenly susceptible of 
intellectual pleasures ; and of these, as well as of all inferior 
amusements, he had enjoyed more than a common portion. 
But when the only object that can satisfy the affections and 
fill the capacities of a rational and immortal beiijg was 
revealed to him— when he viewed, by the eye of faith, that 
life and immortality which are brought to light by the Gos- 
pel — earthly fame, and honor, and pleasure, sunk into the 
dust; and, in refiecting upon his past life, the only thing 
that gave him any satisfaction was the hope that his labors 
might have been beneficial to his fellow- creatures, for whom 
his charity had now become unbounded. He often said, 
that " the blessing of his conversion was never out of his 
mind day or night ; that it was a theme of perpetual thanks- 
giving ; and that he never awoke in the night without being 
overwhelmed with joy and gratitude in the recollection 
of it." 

He always spoke of his long bodily afflictions with the 
most devout thankfulness, as having been instrumental in 

VOL. V 11* 



10 MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 

bringing lilni to God ; and considered his almost total blind- 
ness as an especial mercy, because, by shutting out exter- 
nal objects, it had enabled him to devote his mind more 
entirely to spiritual things. Often, latterly, he expressed 
an ardent desire to " depart and be with Christ ;" but 
ahvays added, that he was cheerfully willing to wait the 
Lord's pleasure, certain that if he was continued in this 
world, it was only for his own good, and to make him more 
" meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in 
light." 

He bore his bodily afflictions with the most exemplary 
patience, and even cheerfulness ; and continually expressed 
his thankfulness that they were not greater, sometimes say- 
ing, " What a blessing it is to be allowed to slip gently and 
gradually out of life, as I am doing !" He would not allow 
any one to speak of his sufferings, always saying, " they did 
not deserve a stronger name than inconveniences." He 
neither complained himself, nor would permit others to 
complain for him. Once, when' the nurse who attended 
him said, /'Oh, that cough! how troublesome it is!" he 
rephed, " Have a little patience, nurse : I shall soon be in 
a better world ; and what a glorious change that will be !" 
Indeed, the joy of his mind seemed to have absorbed all 
sense of his physical sufferings. . I once remarked to him, 
that he appeared to have experienced no intermission of 
these joyful feelings ; and he answered, "For some months 
past, never, and never the smallest rising of any thing like 
impatience or complaint." 

His mind, naturally active and ardent, retained all its 
powers in full vigor to the last moment of his life, and was 
never once clouded or debilitated, even in seasons of the 
most depressing nervous languor. Indeed, after the whole 



MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. H 

current of his tastes and affections had been turned into a 
new channel, its ardor and activity rather increased than 
diminished, from the deep conviction which he felt of the 
superiority of his present views and pursuits to all that had 
hitherto enirrossed him. Durinsj the last week of his life, 
especially, the strength and clearness of his intellect, and 
of his spiritual percej)tions, were very remarkable ; and on 
its being one day observed to him, that as his bodily powers 
decayed, those of his soul seemed to become more vigorous, 
he replied, " They do, exactly in an inverse ratio : I have 
been very sensible of it." 

He conversed with the greatest animation all the day, 
and almost all the night, preceding his death, principally 
on the joys of heaven and the glorious change he was soon 
to experience ; often exclaiming, " What a happy hour will 
the hour of death be !" He dwelt much on the description 
of the new Jerusalem in the Revelation of St. John, and 
listened with great delight to several passages from Bax- 
ter's " Saints' Rest," and to some of Watts' hymns on the 
same subject. Once in the night he said to his mother, 
*' Surely, you are not in tears ! Mine is a case that calls for 
rejoicing, and not for sorrow. Only think what it Avill be 
to drop this poor, frail, perishing body, and to go to the 
glories that are set before me !" Not more than an hour 
before his death, when he had been expressing his faith 
and hope in very animated terms, I remarked to him, how 
striking was the uniformity of faith and of feeling expressed 
by believers at every distance of time and place, and spoke 
of it as an indisputable evidence that these graces are 
wrought by "one and the same Spirit," and as a proof of 
the truth of the Bible, the promises and descriptions of 
which are thus so strikingly fulfilled and exemplified. He 



12 MEMOIR OF DR. BATEMAN. 

entered into tlie argument with his accustomed energy, and 
assented to its truth with dehght. 

It seemed remarkable, that though he had during his 
whole illness been very sensible of his increasing weakness, 
and had watched and marked accurately all its gradations, 
yet he spoke, in the last moments of his life, of going down 
stairs, as usual — (he had been carried up and down for 
several days) — and said, it could not require more than a 
very few weeks now to wear him out ; not appearing to be 
at all aware that his end was now very near, till about half 
an hour before his death. Finding himself extremely lan- 
guid, he took a little milk, and desired that air might be 
admitted into the room ; and on being asked if he felt 
relieved at all, said, " Very little : I can hardly distinguish, 
indeed, whether this is languor or drowsiness which has 
come over me ; but it is a very agreeable feeling." Soon 
after, he said suddenly, '' I surely must be going now, my 
strength sinks so fast;" and on my making some observ^a- 
tions on the glorious prospect before him, he added, '' Oh, 
yes, I am glad to go, if it be the Lord's wdll." He shut 
his eyes and lay quite composed, and by and by said, 
" What glory ! the angels are w^aiting for me !" — then, after 
another short interval of quiet, added, *' Lord Jesus, receive 
my soul !" and to those who were about him, " Farewell !" 
These were the last words he spoke: he gradually and 
gently sunk away, and in about ten minutes breathed his 
last, calmly and without a struggle, at nine in the morning 
of the 9 th of April, the very day on which, twelve months 
before, his mind had first been awakened to the hopes and 
joys of the ever-blessed Gospel ! 



]Vo. 155. 

01 TJNIYEPtSALISM. 



" IF THE BLIND LEAD THE BLIND, BOTH SHALL FALL INTO THE DITCH. 

I WAS some time ago called to visit tlie death-bed of a 
professed Universalist. For many months of lingering ill- 
ness, he had retained his confidence ; and he now seemed 
as if about to expire in the full belief of his favorite doc- 
trine. But the near approach of the destroyer revealed to 
him the unsubstantial character of his foundation, and anni- 
hilated his hope. " I find," he observed to an afflicted rel- 
ative and friend, " that my principles do not support me. 
The doctrine of universalism answers well enough to live 
by, but not for the dying hour." Such was the heart- 
rending confession of one who had been, for a series of 
years, extremely confident in his behef. He lived to dis- 
cover and acknowledge his unhappy mistake ; but alas ! — 

Soon after his decease, another individual of the same 
creed, with whom the writer had been particularly acquaint- 
ed, was laid upon a sick bed. In a few days, his case 
assumed an aspect which greatly alarmed his friends. He 
was kindly informed of the prospect before him, and grad- 
ually relinquished all expectation of recovery ; but he be- 
trayed no anxiety, and actually felt none, for the result. 
His language to his afflicted relatives was, " Do not mourn 
over me ; I have no fears of death ; nor do I wish to live 
beyond my appointed time. If it is God's will that I de- 
part, I am prepared to go." 

On one occasion we were summoned to his bed side to 
see him expire. He thought himself to be dying, and still 
manifested the greatest composure, both in respect to his 
dissolution and the consequences that were to follow it. 
We had ceased to reason with him as to the grounds of his 
confidence ; but we persevered in commending his precious 
soul to the mercy of that God who has promised to hear 
the prayer of faith. A few hours after this scene, he was 
suddenly, and in a manner unaccountable to himself, im- 



2 ON UNIVERSALISM. 

pressed with the reality of a hell, and his fearful exposure 
to descend into it. His conviction of his sinfulness before 
God, and his apprehensions of immediate destruction, be- 
came, in an instant, overwhelming, and indescribably dread- 
ful. With the confession of the returning prodigal, and 
the trembling anxiety of the affrighted jailer, he cried to 
God for mercy. And the writer is enabled to state, as the 
pleasing result, that he became a hopeful penitent, and was, 
contrary to expectation, rescued from the mouth of the 
tomb, to afford the most satisfactory ^roo/" of his conversion 
to God. His language now is, that, through the divine 
mercy, and the renovating power of the Holy Spirit, he has 
escaped eternal damnation. 

The individuals above mentioned were possessed of dis- 
criminating minds, had both enjoyed the advantages of a 
good education, and were considered by their acquamtance 
as being moral, and uncommonly amiable. They were well 
known to be decidedly attached to the doctrine of universal 
salvation. Neither of them betrayed, at the dying hour, 
any doubt, or misgivings, on the groimd of his not being 
an honest, thorough-going Universalist ; but they both 
found universalism itself to be a delusive and fatal dream. 

The writer could add to these instances of recantation 
and solemn warning several others of essentially the same 
character ; but he chooses rather to present the reader with 
a plain scriptural argument in proof of the doctrine of future 
punishment. In doing this, however, he wishes it to be 
understood, that this argument will be one of many, and 
perhaps not the most striking, which might be produced, 
did the limits of a Tract permit a more ample discussion. 
Whether it be conclusive, is left to the candid and prayer- 
ful judgment of the reader. The Scriptures, then, inform 
us, 

That no inconsiderable number of mankind have contin- 
ued to he impenitent and unbelieving sinners, under every 
disjiensation of the Gospel; and also, that there will be a 
general judgment, at which those who have thus 2^67'severed 
in impenitence and unbelief ivill be recognized in their proper 
character, and consigned to everlasting 2)unishment. There 
are three steps by which we shall arrive at the proof of this 
proposition. 

1. No inconsiderable number of mankind have continued 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 3 

to he im])en{tent and unbeluving shiners, under every dis- 
pensation of the Gospel. Salvation by Jesus Christ began 
to be announced immediately after the apostasy ; and Avas 
unfolded to mankind with increasing light, through rites 
and ceremonies, visions and prophecies, until his incarnation 
and death removed all remaining obscurity. With this an- 
nouncement of salvation "were always connected the requi- 
sitions of repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And the Scriptures tell us of some, in the 
old world, Avho walked with God, and were righteous ; of 
many, in the ages succeeding the flood, who attached them- 
selves to the true relio-ion, and embraced the comino; 
Messiah in prospect ; and of multitudes who, during his 
ministry and that of his apostles, believed in him, followed 
his holy example, and devoted themselves to his cause in 
the world. 

Still, the Scriptures do not obscurely hint the melancholy 
and disgraceful fact, that vast numbers of mankind have, 
under e^^ry dispensation of the Gospel, pursued a different 
course. Thus did most of the antediluvians, in the days 
of Noah ; the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah ; and, 
probably, those of many of the cotemporary cities. Thus 
did many of the Israelites, in Egypt, in the Avilderness, and 
after they had been put in possession of the holy land. 
Thus, also, did most of the Jews and Gentiles, who heard 
the Gospel from the mouth of Christ and his faithful apos- 
tles. Inspiration everywhere testifies to the fact, that no 
inconsiderable portion of mankind have persevered in their 
impenitency and unbelief, in spite of all the means which 
have been used for their reformation. It as plainly distin- 
guishes such as continue impenitent and Unbelieving, from 
those who repent and obey the Gospel ; and in language 
the most humiliating and ominous. It denominates them 
*' the wicked," "the unbelieving," "the world," "workers 
of iniquity," "children of darkness," "children of the 
devil," and "children of wrath." It describes them as 
" not having the love of God in them," as " being lovers of 
pleasure," and "lovers of themselves, more than lovers of 
God," " without hope and without God in the world." The 
true believer is admonished of their hostility to Christ, and 
required to come out from among them, and renounce their 
friendship, as being enmity with God. " Whosoever, there- 



4 ON UNIVERSALISM. 

fore, will be a friend of the Avorld, is the enemy of God." 
James 4 : 4. In this manner, the impenitent sinners of the 
old world, and of subsequent ages, were distinguished from 
the pious individuals who dwelt among them. Thus, also, 
were the sinners of the Jewish nation distinguished from 
the prophets and true worshippers of Jehovah, who labored 
to reclaim them from their apostasies. And thus Jesus 
Christ and his apostles distinguished the multitudes who 
refused their instruction, from such as received and obeyed 
it. Both the Old Testament and the New, the Jewish and 
the Christian dispensations, the prophets and the apostles, 
united in recognizing this essential difference of moral char- 
acter among men ; and while they inform us that multitudes 
of our race have embraced the great salvation, and evinced 
their attachment to it by a holy life and conversation, they 
declare, with equal plainness, that other multitudes have 
continued to be, through life, impenitent and unbelieving. 

What was true of the antediluvians, the inhabitants of 
Sodom, and the Jews Avho rejected the Messiah, is true of 
all the impenitent. They carry with them into the eternal 
world the character which they have possessed and exhib- 
ited through life. But the Scriptures inform us, 

2. That there will be a general judgment, at which those 
who shall have continued through life impenitent and unbe- 
lieving, will be recognized in their proper character, and 
consigned to punishment. " I said in my heart, God shall 
judge the righteous and the wicked." " For God shall 
bring every work into judgment, with eveiy secret thing, 
whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccles. 3 : 17 ; 
12 : 14. "And the times of this ignorance God winked 
at ; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent : 
because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge 
the ivorld in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath or- 
dained." Acts 17 : 30, 3L "So, then, every one of us 
shall give account of himself to God." Rom. 14: 12. 
" It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the 
judgment." Heb. 9:27. These are a small part only of 
the passages that announce a day of general judgment. 
Not one of them has reference to the destruction of the 
Jews, or to any other partial visitation of our world. The 
judgment which they disclose is to occur after death, and 
embrace the w'hole of mankind. Every one of us shall 



ON UNIVERSALISxM. 5 

then appear before the judgment- seat of Christ, and give 
account of himself to God. " 1 saAV," said the beloved 
disciple, " the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and 
the books Avere opened." Rev. 20 : 12. 

At the general judgment, men will be recognized in 
their true character. God will bring every ivork into judg- 
ment, Avith every secret thing. " Every idle word that men 
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day 
of judgment." Matt. 12 : 36. "Therefore judge nothing 
before the time, until the Lord come, who both will hring 
to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make 77iani- 
fest the counsels of the hearts''' 1 Cor. 4 : 5. This ex- 
posure of human conduct will present every man in his 
true character ; will show to the universe what individuals 
of the human race have remained impenitent and unbeliev- 
ing. Of the certainty of this recognition of the impenitent, 
and of their being consigned to punishment, we have the 
most decisive proof. FeHx was certainly pressed with this 
assignment of the wicked to a state of punishment, or he 
would never have trembled at Paul's discourse on " right- 
eousness, temperance, and judgment to come,'' The apostle 
must have had his eye upon this very circumstance, when 
he announced to the Athenians, that God commandeth all 
men everywhere to repent, " because he hath appointed a da}^ 
in the wdiich he will judge the world in righteousness." 

But let us attend to a few plain declarations on this 
point. " He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy 
under two or three Avitnesses ; of how much sorer punishment, 
suppose ye, shall he be thought Avorthy, Avho hath trodden 
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the 
covenant, AvhereA\uth he Avas sanctified, an unholy thing, and 
hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ? For we know 
him that hath said. Vengeance belongeth unto me, I Avill 
recompense, saith the Lord." Heb. 10 : 28-30. " For as 
many as have sinned Avithout laAV, shall also perish Avithout 
laAv ; and as many as have sinned in the laAv, shall be judged 
by the laAV ; in the day ivhcn God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel." Rom. 
2 : 12, 16. "Seeing it is a righteous thing Avith God to 
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to 
you, Avho are troubled, rest Avith us, ivhen the Lord Jesus 
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in 

VOL. V. 18 



6 ON UNIVERSALISM. 

flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, 
find obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 
Thess. 1 : 6-8 " But the heavens and the earth, which are 
now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire 
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.^^ 
2 Pet. 3 : 7. The apostle having, in his first epistle to the 
Thessalonians, adverted to the coming of Jesus Christ to 
jaise the dead, observes, " For yourselves know perfectly, 
that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 
For Avhen they shall say. Peace and safety, then sudden 
destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman 
with child ; and they shall not escape." 1 Thess. 5 : 2, 3. 
Jesus Christ himself, referring to the resum-ection of the 
dead, declares, " The hour is coming, in the which all that 
are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come 
forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of 
life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of 
damnation'' John 5 : 28, 29. He has also given us, in 
the 25th chapter of Matthew, a formal and particular 
account of the general judgment, to which the reader is 
referred. Other quotations might be added ; but if the 
unequivocal declaration of God, "that he has appointed a 
day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness ;" 
" will brinor to licrht the hidden thino-s of darkness, and make 
manifest the counsels of the heart f' and that "the wicked 
shall come forth unto the resurrection of damnation," " be 
] ecompensed with tribulation,'' the " vengeance of Christ," 
Jind " perdition," do not prove " that there will be a general 
judgment, at which those who shall have continued through 
life impenitent and unbelieving, will be recognized in their 
j[)roper character, and consigned to jniriishjnejit," the writer 
knows of no form of expression, no declaration of Jehovah, 
that would prove it. It, however, remains to show, 

3. That the punishment to which the impenitent and 
unbelieving Avill be consigned is everlasting. It is sometimes 
spoken of in Scripture as a dejyrivation, and then the idea 
conveyed is, that it will he endless. "I go my way," says 
Christ to the Jews, " and ye shall seek me, and shall die in 
your sins; whither I go, ye cannot come." John 8 : 21. 
" He that believeth not on the Son, shall not see life." John 
S : 36. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not in- 
herit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : neither for- 



ON UxMVERSAUSM. 7 

nicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor cov- 
etous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall 
inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10. "If any 
man shall take away from the words of the book of this 
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of 
life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are 
written in this book." Rev. 22 : 19. A multitude of other 
passages might be added, which convey the idea that the 
impenitent will suffer a final and everlasting deprivation. 
To die in ow sins, and therefore be unable to come where 
Christ is ; "not to see life,'' nor to "inherit the kingdom of 
God ;" but to have our part " taken out of the hook of life, 
out of the holy city, and from the things written in this 
book," comprise a reprobation that is final, the exclusion 
of the soul from all future good. 

The Scriptures present the future punishment of the 
wicked in contrast ivith the reward of the righteous ; and 
then, too, the idea is conveyed of their punishment being eter- 
nal. " He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; 
but he that believeth not, shall be damned.'' Mark 16 : 16. 
** And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt." Dan. 12 : 2. " They that have 
done good, will come forth," at the call of Christ, " unto the 
resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, imto the 
resurrection oi damnation." John 5 : 29. "And these," the 
impenitently wicked, " shall go away into everlasting pun- 
ishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Matt. 25 : 46. 
Now, it will be admitted, that for a believer to be saved, to 
awake to everlasting life, to come forth unto the resurrection 
of life, and to go away into life eternal, is to enter into 
endless happiness. Will those who are damned, who awake 
to shame and everlasting contempt, who come forth unto the 
resurrection of damnation, and go away into everlasting, or 
eternal punishment, also enter into endless happiness ? Is 
not their destruction put in plain and awful contrast with 
the eternal life of the righteous ? 

But the Scriptures afford us the most direct proof of this 
fact. Hell is described as a place prepared originally for 
the devil and his angels, to whom no mercy is offered ; the 
place in which God is able to destroy both soul and body ; 



8 ON UNIVERSALISM. 

and ivhere the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 
Mark 9 : 43-48. But to this very jjrison of Satan, this 
scene of eternal torment, will the impenitent sinners of our 
race be consigned at the general judgment. They shall go 
away into everlasting 2)unishmenf, prejxwed for the devil and 
his angels ; into that very hell, where their worm dieth not, 
and into the fire that never shall he quenched ; into that 
*' lake of fire which is the second deaths They will thus 
"come forth unto shame and everlasting contempt;" will 
" be punished with everlasting destruction from the pres- 
ence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 
Thess. 1:9. " If any man worship the beast and his im- 
age, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the 
same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is 
poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; 
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the 
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the 
Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up /or 
ever and ever.'" Rev. 14 : 9-11. 

Let the reader now pause ; consider prayerfully the 
preceding argument, and decide as on his dying pillow. 
Can these most unequivocal declarations of God's Avord be 
honestly and safely set aside ? Is that system which fear- 
lessly proposes to do it worthy of thy confidence ? Es- 
pecially, is it becoming a wise and prudent man, to intrust 
his eternal welfare to this common resort of the licentious 
and profane ; to launch into the ocean of eternity upon such 
a plank ? 

Fellow-immortal, if thy soul be once lost, thou art lost 
for ever ! 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAX TRACT SOCIETY. 



ivo. isa. 



SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 




The Holy Scriptures are more ancient than any other 
writings, yet they were not given to the world to amuse us 
with an account of past occurrences, but to instruct us in 
the way to eternal life. " Whatsoever things were written 
aforetime, were written for our learning." Suppose a parent 
at a distance were to write you a letter, containing such 
information and such directions as would tend to your real 
happiness and welfare, would it not be ungrateful not to 
open his letter, or not to regard its contents ? In the Bible, 
God speaks to us with infinite condescension, as a parent to 
a child. Without it, we are all in darkness concerning his 
nature and will, and all in uncertainty respecting our future 
state. We shall do well, therefore, " to take heed unto it, 
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." Beware ot 
neglecting the Scriptures. The learned Salmasius, when 
dying, said, " I have lost a world of time. If I had another 
year added to my life, I would spend it in reading David's 
psalms and Paul's epistles." 
VOL. v. IS.' 



2 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 

That the Scriptures are given by inspiration of God, is 
proved by prophecies that have been fulfilled, by miracles 
that have been wrought, by threatenings that have been 
executed, and by promises that have been accomplished 
in the experience of all who have believed them from the 
heart. The majesty, and purity, and simplicity of these 
writings ; the uniform statement in all the books, respect- 
ing the nature of God and the character of man ; and 
the present state of the Jewish people, in addition to the 
above proofs, are more than sufficient to satisfy every hum- 
ble and inquiring mind, that none but God himself could 
have given such a book. 

Unbelievers can offer you nothing that can be compared 
with the Bible ; they would leave you in ignorance here, 
and expose you to misery hereafter. They resemble the 
maniac who was seen perpetually burnishing a piece of 
brass, and, on being asked to what use he intended to ap- 
ply it, said, " I design it for a sun, which shall give more 
light and heat than that which God has placed in the fir- 
mament." 

There is something in the oracles of God suited to every 
character and situation in life. Let the worldly-minded 
''seek out of the book of the Lord," and read Ecclesias- 
tes, to learn the vanity of the world ; the moralist, the book 
of Proverbs, and the sermon on the mount, to learn true 
morality ; the man who depends on his own merits, the Epis- 
tles to the Romans and Galatians, to know the true way of 
acceptance Avith God ; the unfruitful professor, the Epistles 
of St. James and St. Peter, to discover the genuine fruits 
of a living faith ; the profane and unbeliever, the 2d Epistle 
of Peter, and the Epistle of St. Jude, to know the fearful 
consequences of sin and unbelief; the heart in danger of 
apostasy, Hosea and Hebrews, to preserve it, or to recover 
it from its wanderings ; the man observant of Providence, the 
book of Esther, in which, though the name of God is not 
found, the hand of God is so clearly seen ; those who are 
engaged in great undertakings for Church and State, the 
books of Ezra and Nehemiah, that they may proceed in the 



SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 3 

fear of God, and in dependence on him ; the devotional, the 
Psalms of David, to purify and heighten their devotions ; 
the afflicted, the books of Job and Jeremiah, that they may 
know how to endure trials ; the true believer, the Epistles 
to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians, that he may 
perceive what it is to grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
of his Lord and Saviour ; and the prophecies of Isaiah and 
Zechariah, that he may rejoice in the prospect of the future 
glory of the church, and in the final triumph of the Chris- 
tian cause ; and the preacher, the Epistles to Timothy and 
Titus, that he may "take heed to himself and to his doc- 
trine, and continue in them, and save himself and them that 
hear him." Not that any should confine themselves to one 
part of Scripture, however appropriate to them ; but let all 
search every part, and read doctrines for their edification, 
promises for their comfort, precepts for their guidance, in- 
vitations for their encouragement, examples for their imita- 
tion, and threatenings to deter them from sin and unbelief. 

Let not difficulties discourage you : they will vanish by 
degrees. Compare one part with another, and, as you read, 
examine yourself, and inquire. What doctrine does this chap- 
ter contain ? Do I believe it ? What promise ? Do I need 
and desire the blessing? What precept? Do I make it 
the rule of my life ? What good example ? Do I follow 
it? What bad example? Do I avoid it? And as -you 
read, also pray, " Lord, give me faith in thy truth ; cause 
me to walk in the way of thy commandments ; what I know 
not, teach thou me ; let thy word be a lamp unto my feet, 
and a light unto my path ; put thy laws in my heart, and 
on my mind write them, and my sins and iniquities remem- 
ber no more, according to thy gracious promises, which are 
yea and amen in Christ Jesus," If you thus examine, in- 
quire, and pray, your path will resemble the shining light, 
"which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 
Prov. 2 : 1-9. 

The Bereans compared the doctrine they heard from St. 
Paul with the written Scriptures of the Old Testament. 
" It is incredible to any one," says Bishop Horsley, "who 



4 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 

has not, in some degree, made the experiment, what a 
proficiency may be made in that knowledge which maketh 
wise unto salvation, by studying the Scriptures in this man- 
ner, without any other commentary or exposition than what 
the different parts of the sacred volume mutually furnish 
for each other. I will not scruple to assert, that the most 
illiterate Christian, if he can but read his English Bible, 
and will take the pains to read it in this manner, will not 
only attain all that practical knowledge which is necessary 
to his salvation, but, by God's blessing, he will become 
learned in every thing relating to his religion in such a de- 
gree that he will not be liable to be misled, either by the 
refined arguments, or by the false assertions of those who 
endeavor to ingraft their own opinions upon the oracles of 
God. Let him study the Scriptures in this manner, and 
let him never cease to pray for the illumination of that Spirit 
hy lohich these books were dictated, and the whole compass 
of abstruse philosophy and recondite history shall furnish 
no argument with w^hich the perverse will of man shall be 
able to shake this learned Christian's faith. The Bible, 
thus studied, will prove to be a certain and sufficient rule 
of faith and practice, a helmet of salvation, Avhich, alone, 
may quench the fiery darts of the wicked." 

Parents, therefore, search the Scrijjtm-es, for your own 
sake, and the good of your children. *' These words shall 
be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto 
thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in 
thine house, and w^hen thou walkest by the way, and when 
thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deut. 6 : 6,1 ; 
Gen. 18 : 19. 

Children, search the Scriptures, that in early life you 
may become wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ 
Jesus, and escape the corruption and misery to which ig- 
norance of the truth will lead. Psalm 119 : 1-9; Eccles. 
12: 1; 2 Tim. 3 : 14, 15. 

Masters and heads of families, search the Scriptures, that 
you may know that "you have a Master in heaven," that 
you may enjoy the privileges of his servants, and that you 



SEARCH THE SCRU'TURES. 5 

may learn the responsibility under which you lie, with ref- 
erence to those who are under your care. Prov. 3 : 33 ; 
1 Cor. 7: 22; Col. 4:1. 

Servants, search the Scriptures, that you may know your 
duties and your privileges, and learn to fill up your appointed 
station in society in the fear of God, with credit to your- 
selves, and to the comfort of your employers. Ephes. 
6:5-8; Titus 2 : 9, 10 ; 1 Pet. 2 : 18-20. 

Rich and poor, old and young, search the Scriptures ; 
they are designed to keep you from the snares which attend 
riches, and the temptations which beset poverty ; to be the 
guide of your youth, and the comfort of your old age. 1 
Tim. 6:17; James 2:5; Heb. 13:5; Prov. 15 : 16, 17 ; 
Isa. 46 : 4 ; Jer. 3 : 4. 

"0 how joyful it is," said a Russian officer, *'to read 
that the word of God is counted worthy of all acceptation ! 
It is the only treasure I need. This, this is my riches ; with 
it I am ready to die." 

"During my stay at Antigua," says a friend to the cir- 
culation of the Scriptures, " several pious blacks requested 
a few Bibles and Testaments might be given them. For 
this they begged in a very affecting manner. We advised 
them to read to such as were unable to read, and then to 
lend their Testaments to such as were disposed to read for 
themselves. This they promised to do ; and on receiving the 
rich treasure, their joy was inexpressible, as might be seen 
by the tears which flowed down their sable faces." 

"What an excellent book is the New Testament," said a 
Catholic soldier, who had taken one with him to Breslau. 
" Twelve of us assemble every evening in the barracks ; one 
reads, and the others listen to the glorious things spoken 
there ; should I ever return to you, my dear mother, you 
shall find a son in me quite different from what I was." 

"Take and read the Scriptures," says St. Augustine, 
** for whatsoever is in them is high and divine ; there is 
verily truth, and a doctrine most fit for the refreshing and 
renewing of men's minds, and truly so tempered that every 
one may draw from thence that which is sufficient for him. 



6 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 

if he come to draw with a devout and pious mind, as true 
religion requires." 

"Love the Scriptures," sa3^s St. Jerome, "and wisdom 
will love thee." 

" I adore the fulness of Scripture," says Tertullian : " I 
do not admit what thou bringest in of thine own, without 
Scripture." 

So Justin Martyr : " We must know, by all means, that 
it is not lawful or possible to learn any thing of God, or of 
right piety, save out of the prophets, who teach us by di- 
vine inspiration." 

" There is depth enough in the Bible," says Gregory, 
"to exercise the wise, and plainness enough to instruct the 
weak ; it being like a river, as having its shallows and 
depths, wherein the lamb may wade as well as the elephant 
swim." 

" Were the Bible," says one, " but considered impartial- 
ly and attentively, in its most advantageous lights — as it 
contains all the written revelation of God's will now extant ; 
as it is the basis of our religion, and gives vigor and spirit 
to our social laws ; as it is the most ancient, and, conse- 
quently, curious collection of historical incidents, moral 
precepts, and political institutions ; as the style of it is, in 
some places, nobly sublime and poetical, and in others, 
sweetly natural, plain, and unaffected ; in a word, as the 
being well acquainted with it is highly requisite in order to 
make men useful in this life, to say nothing of their happi- 
ness in the next — of what mighty service must it be to the 
interest of religion, and, consequently, to the happiness of 
mankind !" 

Martin Luther must have had the deepest conviction of 
the excellence of the Holy Scriptures, since " he was so 
zealous to have them read, that he professed, if he thought 
the reading of his books would hinder the reading of them, 
he would burn them all before he died." 

It has been the united voice of the Protestant church 
in every age, that " the Scriptures are the only and sufficient 
rule of faith and practice." And a voice more authorita- 



SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 7 

tive than that of the church has declared, that " all Scrip- 
ture is given b}" inspiration of God ; and is profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in 
righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, thor- 
oughl}^ furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17. 

Whatever be his rank or station in society, happy is the 
man that can say, " Thy statutes have been my songs in 
the house of my pilgrimage." And unhappy is the man to 
whom " the word of the Lord is a reproach, and who has 
no delight in it." Jer. 6:10. According as ive regard it 
now, will he our state in the world to come ; we shall be 
saved or condemned accordinsf to it. What an interestinof 
book to us all ! " Heaven and earth shall pass away," was 
the declaration of Him Avho came into the world to save 
sinners, and who will appear as the Judge of quick and 
dead. Mark 8 : 36-38. 

Let no day pass without reading a portion. A single 
verse may be as the pebble out of the brook, with which 
David slew the giant ; or as a guardian angel to preserve 
you from many an evil spirit. "It is written," said the 
tempter, when he assailed our Lord. " It is written again," 
was our Lord's reply ; and with this sword of the Spirit 
the adversary was overcome. Matt. 4 : 7-11. 

Great is your privilege: *' The word is nigh thee," even 
in thy house ; or it may be so. Having procured it for 
yourself, provide such a treasure for your children ; and 
then do what you can to impart it to othei's. " If," said 
Dr. Johnson, " obedience to the will of God be necessary 
to happiness, and knowledge of his will be necessary to 
obedience, I know not how he that withholds this knowledae, 
or delays it, can be said to love his neighbor as himself. 
He that voluntarily continues in ignorance, is guilty of all 
the crimes that ignorance produces ; as to him that should 
extinguish the tapers of a lighthouse, might justly be im- 
puted the calamities of shipwreck." 

" The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul :" 
then let us give it to the unconverted of mankind. " The 
testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple :" 



8 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 

then let us give it to the uninstructed of mankind. " The 
statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart :" then let 
us give them to the miserable of mankind. Nor let us cease 
to search the Scriptures for ourselves, or cease to impart 
them to others, till our own souls be filled with wisdom, 
love, and joy ; and till there be not an unconverted, unin- 
structed, or miserable being upon the earth. For our en- 
couragement to do this, the word is gone forth, and it shall 
not return void. " The earth shall be full of the know- 
ledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 
11 : 9. 

Let these sayings sink deep into your heart : search the 
Scriptures, and forget not their leading object, which is to 
testify of Christ, as "the Lord our righteousness;" the 
propitiation for our sins, and our Advocate with the Father. 
Jer. 23:6; 1 John, 2:1,2; Rom. 10 : 9-12. Believe on 
him, and follow him, and you shall be happy with him for 
ever. 

" If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." 

" And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to 
the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and 
to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanc- 
tified." Acts 20 : 32. 

" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you 
all. Amen.'" 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



]\o. 157. 

TO THE PARENTS 
OF Sx\BBATH-SCHOOL CHILDREN 




It is a great mercy that God has preserved both you and 
your children to this time. How many f.ithers and mothers 
are torn from their helpless babes I Multitudes of infants 
pine away and die before the eyes of their weeping parents. 
Many are born blind, or deaf and dumb ; and some are idiots, 
without sense to learn, or to do any thing to get their bread. 
How kind, then, has the Lord been to you. Though you 
may be poor, he has given you health to work, or friends to 
help you; so that you and your children have been kept 
from starving. He has graciously provided for the good of 
your children's minds, by inclining people to teach them to 
read the Bible. If you cannot teach them yourselves, or pay 
to have them taught, how thankful should you be to the 
Lord for putting it into the hearts of other persons to do so 
much good to your children. It will cost them some mon- 
ey, and time, and trouble ; and they are not related to you, 
nor do they expect any reward from you ; but they are 
willing to do this for God's sake, who has taught us to 

VOL. V. 19 



2 TO THE PARENTS OF 

love our neighbors as ourselves. If you love your children, 
you will be very glad to use such means to do them good. 

By sending them to the Sabbath-school, you may do 
them great good, and keep them from much harm. Do 
you not find that if your children have nothing to do, they 
get into mischief? When they play about in the streets 
they are apt to learn the bad words and bad behavior of the 
worst children they meet with. They are not thankful nor 
dutiful to you nowj and what may you expect when -they 
grow up. Is it not likely, and almost certain, that they will 
grow worse and worse, if they are not taught better, and 
kept out of harm's way ? What can you do with them on 
the Sabbath, so well as to send them to worship God, and 
to be taught to read the Bible ? This will show them how 
wrong it is for them to lie, or swear, or steal, or disobey 
their parents. It will show them that God is angry with 
children who do such things, and that he will turn them 
into hell if they go on so. If they come to know and mind 
what the Bible tells them, you will not have the trouble to 
scold and beat them, in order to keep them from doing Avhat 
is wrong. They will remember that God always sees them, 
and they will be afraid of displeasing him. 

On the other hand, if they have not the fear of God 
before their eyes, you know not to what end they may come. 
How common it is for young people to be led to commit 
crimes that ruin them for ever ! There is not a week passes 
without some being taken up, and put in prison. Hoav 
many are sent to the state prison, who in other countries 
would suffer on the gallows ; and even here, hardihood in 
crime leads to murder and to execution. What should hin- 
der your children from taking the same course that so many 
fall into, if they are not kept from temptation, and taught 
what is right while they are young ? Most poor creatures 
that die for their crimes, say, that they began to be ruined 
by not keeping the Sabbath. And how can your children 
be hindered from this sin, but by being sent to a Sabbath- 
school, and by attending public worship ? Whether they 
are able or not to work at any thing the rest of the week, 
you cannot, and ought not, to make them work on the 
Lord's day. The fourth commandment says, " Remember 
the Sabbath-day to keep it holy : in it thou shalt not do 
any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter." If you 



SABBATH-SCHOOL CHILDREN. 3 

cannot teach your children at home 3^ourselves, the only 
way likely to keep them from wicked courses, is to send 
them to a Sabbath-school. 

Doing this, is likely not only to keep them from harm, 
but also to do them great good. If they mind what they 
are taught in the Bible, they will behave well to you, and 
to every body. Those who are so kind as to instruct 
them, will take notice of them, and will be glad to employ 
them as they grow up, or recommend them to persons who 
can provide better for them. Many poor children have 
come to be comfortable in their circilmstances, and greatly 
respected, by getting learning, and behaving well ; and 
yours are as likely to do so as others. So, they will not 
only become more dutiful and useful to you while they are 
children, but when they become men and women, and you 
are old and feeble, they will be glad to support and comfort 
you under your infirmities. 

If there were no future life, and no other world but this 
in which we live, it would be much for your own and your 
children's interests that they should read and mind the 
Bible. Among the people you are acquainted with, how 
much better off are those who are decent, sober, honest, and 
diligent, than those who are idle, drunken, lewd, and dis- 
honest ! But the Bible is GocVs hook. It was written by 
persons who knew and loved God, and all that they say is 
true. It pleased God to teach them, and by their means 
to teach us, that there is another life after this, and that 
they who know and love God in this world will go to heaven ; 
while they who will not learn and do his will, must go to 
hell. You and your children will be sure to go to one or 
the other of these places when you die, and will there be 
happy or miserable for ever. Now, how shocking will it 
be, if you and they should be together in hell, and they 
should tell you, " This is because you did not teach us bet- 
ter, nor let others teach us, who wished to do so !" But 
how happy will it be for you to see your children in heaven, 
and hear them blessing God for having given them parents 
who taught them to love and serve him ! 

Are you not ready to weep at these thoughts ? " Yes," 
perhaps you say, " but what good can that do ? I am not 
fit to go to heaven, nor my children neither. Young as 
they are, they have already learned much evil ; and they 



4 TO THE PARENTS, ETC. 

are so perverse, that I have no hope they will become bet- 
ter." Too many persons have reason to make this com- 
plaint, and too few are aware of it. If this be your case, it 
is bad indeed ; but the Bible teaches us the only w^ay to 
escape the wrath to come. It tells us that Jesus Christ 
came to save sinners, that he died for them, and all that 
believe on him shall have everlasting life. Hence it is that 
St. Paul wrote to young Timothy, " From a child thou hast 
known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee 
wise unto salvation." Neither you nor your children can 
be saved while you neglect the Scriptures. If you read 
them, you will see this to be true ; and you will see that 
God gives his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. 

If any of you cannot read, you are much to be pitied ; 
but you may hear the Scriptures explained and preached ; 
and if you do not, you will perish without excuse. But 
w^hat a happy thing it is, that the Lord provides means for 
your children to learn better ! The Lord Jesus Christ said, 
w^ien he was upon the earth, " Suffer little children to 
come unto me, and forbid them not," How guilty must 
those parents be who will not suffer their children to come 
to Christ ; and can they come to Christ, if they do not learn 
the Scriptures, Avhich teach us who he is, what he has done 
and suffered for us, and how we may be saved ? 

If your children wish to learn these things, would it not 
be unkind to hinder them ? But you cannot expect them to 
know what is good for themselves, if you do not tell them. 
They are likely to love play more than learning ; but if you 
let them have their own way in every thing, you will be 
sure to ruin them, and to make them torments to yourselves. 
Whereas, if you take care always to send them to a Sabbath- 
school, at the proper hours, they will soon get the habit of 
going, and of obeying you in other things. Bless God that 
he has inclined any body to teach them ; send them early 
and constantly to learn ; and take care to do and say noth- 
ing that would hinder the blessed effects of it for this life, 
and that which is to come. May the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ be with you ! 



PUBLISHED BT THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



]Vo. 158. 

EXAMINE YOUR PIOPES 
FOE ETERNITY. 



"Ye shall not surely die!" Gen. 3:4. This was 
:he grand delusion by wiiich the father of lies fir§t suc- 
ceeded in introducing sin into the world. The God of 
truth had declared, " In the day that thou eatest thereof 
thou shalt surely die." But as truth and falsehood are 
directly opposed to each other, Satan boldly gives the lie 
to God, and echoes his words with a flat contradiction, 
"Ye shall not surely die!" Alas! our first mother was 
beguiled by the subtlety of the serpent ; she believed the 
lie ; she ate the forbidden fruit ; and so " sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin." 

From that day to this, Satan is still carrying on the 
same delusion in the hearts of the children of men, and 
tempting them to sin, and lulling their consciences into 
security, by whispering to them, "Ye shall not surely 
die !" VVhile they are committing the very acts, and indulg- 
ing the very propensities, and walking in the very courses 
of which God has declared that the "end is death," Satan 
tells them that they shall not die, and teaches them, 
" while they hear the words of God's curse, to bless them- 
selves in their hearts, saying, I shall have peace, though I 
walk in the imagination of my heart." Deut. 29 : 19. 

Reader, it is doubtless the persuasion of your mind that 
you shall not die ; that you shall not be given over to 
that "second death," in which "the worm dieth not, 
and the fire is not quenched;" for if you had not this 
persuasion — if you verily believed that the death of your 
body would be the death of your soul too, and that your 
departure out of this world would be the beginning of ever- 
lasting torments, it would be impossible that you could 
enjoy any rest in your conscience, or any comfort in your 
soul ; you must needs tremble continually under the " fear- 
ful looking-for of judgment," and of that "fiery indigna- 
tion " which awaits you. Now, as this is a matter of such 
infinite moment, you cannot be too serious in your con- 

VOL. V. 19* 



♦4 HOPES FOR ETERNITY. 

si derations respecting it ; it becomes you to inquire, with 
the utmost humility and faithfuhiess, whether your hopes 
for eternity are such as are warranted by the word of 
God, and as will not make you ashamed in the last awful 
day : in a word, whether it is the God of truth, or the 
father of lies, that tells you you shall not die. 

''Thou shalt not surely die." What is the ground on 
which you build this hope % 

1. Is it that you do not deserve to die ? But how can 
you maintain this plea before the heart-searching God 1 
It may be that your character is comparatively amiable, 
and unstained v/ith any of those open vices which incur 
the punishment of human laws : you may even be es- 
teemed, admired, and loved, by your fellow-creatures, 
for those dispositions and qualities which render you 
agreeable and even useful in society. But, " to the law 
and to the testimony;" it is not by the standard of hu- 
man applause, but by the perfect word of God, that the 
great question of life or death will be decided at last. 
That word lays down the rule, and denounces a curse 
upon all who transgress it. The rule is, " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
thy soul, and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbor as 
thyself." The curse is, " The soul that sinneth, it shall 
die." '' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all 
THINGS that are written in the book of the law to do 
them." Now, have you never broken this law ] Have 
you never sinned against it in thought, word, or deed 1 
Have you not loved yourself better than your neighbor, 
and the world better than God '( Nay, have you not that 
carnal mind which " is enmity against God ]" Have you 
never broken the Sabbath 1 Have you not robbed God 
of the honor, worship, and reverence which you owe 
him 1 Your conscience says. Yes. The law of God re- 
quires perfect obedience, and accepts of nothing imper- 
fect. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
God." " There is none righteous, no, not one ;" and 
therefore to every one who has no better hope than his 
own deservings, God says, " Thou shalt surely die !" 

2. Another plea which many make to persuade them- 
selves that they shall not die, is, that they are no worse 
than others. They look upon the world at large, and 



HOPES FOR ETERNITY. *> 

comparing themselves with their neighbors, ask the self- 
complacent question, "If I perish, what is to become 
of thousands whose case is no better than my own V 
Doubtless Satan made very successful use of this argu- 
ment in the days of Noah : " I pretend to do as well as 
others ; and if the flood do come, I shall fare as well as 
they !" — " The flood came, and took them all away !" 
Matthew, 24 : 39. Now, with respect to this plea, which 
is so generally popular with an unthinking world, it is 
remarkable that it grounds the hope of safety on that 
very point on which the word of God rests the certainty 
of condemnation. The sinner says, I am no worse than 
the rest of the world : God says, '' The whole world 
lieth in wickedness." 1 John, 5 : 16. If, then, we are 
not distinguished from them as " a peculiar people," we 
too are " lying in wickedness." 

Again, St. Paul enumerates it among the undeniable 
evidences of a state of guilt, condemnation, and death, 
that they " walked according to the course of this world.'''' 
"Ephesians, 2 : 2. And this he declares to be the same 
as walking " according to the prince of the power 
of the air ;" that is, according to the mind and will of 
Satan. What, then, is the condition, and what the hope, 
of those whose best plea is that they are walking ac- 
cording to the course of this world 1 

But our Lord himself has clearly settled this point, 
and cut off' all hope from those who look to be saved 
because they are no worse than others ; for he says, 
'' Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth 
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. 
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which 
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Mat- 
thew, 7: 13, 14. Now, by a strange delusion of Satan, 
these persons make that as an excuse which our Lord 
declares to be the plainest mark of condemnation; 
namely, that they are walking in the "broad way;" 
that is, living as the mukitude of men are living. It is a 
point clearly defined here, that the right way is a " nar- 
row way ;" and if we are living much the same as others, 
if our conduct is that which is countenanced by the ex- 
ample of "many;" if we belong to the same class as 
the o-reat majority of men, then unquestionably we are 



4- HOPES FOR ETERrs'lTY. 

"of the world," and we are walking in '* the broad way 
that leadeth to destruction." To such persons, then, 
while Satan is saying, " Ye shall riot surely die," the 
awful and unalterable word of God declares, " Thou 
^kalt surely die !" 

3. A third ground on which many encourage hopes 
that they shall escape everlasting death is, that they 
mean to repent : they have a general conviction on their 
minds that all is not right ; their conscience tells them 
they are not fit for heaven ; nay, they will acknowledge, 
in so many words, that if they die in their present state, 
they must perish everlastingly. But then they mean to 
repent^ and make all right before they die ! Death, as 
they think, is very distant ; and old age, and sickness, 
and a death-bed, natural seasons for repentance and 
preparation for eternity : they have now many things to 
engage their attention, and make the work of religion 
unseasonable and difficult ; but then^ they think, it will 
all come to them in a way so easy and natural — nothing 
to call off their attention — nothing to do but the one 
work, which they will then do in earnest ! Others there 
are, who cling to a delusion which they consider more 
safe : they by no means intend to put off these things to 
the very last ; but the present is not the time: they are 
still waiting for some future period : " To-morrow, and 
to-morrow, and to-morrow !" It shall be the next week, 
or the next year, or some indefinite future time, and 
then they will set their hearts to it. 

Alas ! how many thousands have carried this lie in 
their right hand into eternity ! Still intending to repent, 
and never doing it ; still promising to themselves an op- 
portunity which they never find ; they die in their sins, 
and in their sins they perish ! Reader, are you thus 
forming purposes of yz^/wre repentance and amendment 1 
But what if God say to you, as he did to one of old, 
" Thou fool, THIS NIGHT thy soul shall be required of 
thee!" Luke, 12:20. "As Paul reasoned of righte- 
ousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix 
trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time ; 
when I have a convenient season I will call for thee." 
Acts, 24 : 25. 

But these resolutions of future repentance, even if 



HOPES FOR ETERNITY. 

sincere, are by no means to be relied on. For, first, 
there is the awful uncertainty whether the more " con- 
venient season," which we promise ourselves, will ever 
arrive. God may have determined to bear with us no 
long-er ; and may refuse to lengthen out the opportuni- 
ties which we have trifled with so long. '^ Boast not 
thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not w^hat a day 
may bring forth." Proverbs, 27 : 1. Death may come 
upon us in an instant, without any previous warning of 
its approach, and hurry us into the presence of our 
God before we have begun that great work which we 
have intended to do. " He that, being often reproved, 
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and 
that without remedy." Proverbs, 29 : 1. 

Again, persons who thus promise to repent at a future 
time, do not rightly consider what repentance is. They 
think it a very easy work, consisting of a few formal and 
unmeaning confessions; a superficial sorrow for sin, or 
rather a dread of its punishment ; a consenting to give 
up their sins, just when the opportunity of sinning is 
departing; and making peace with God for their past 
transgressions, by expressing their hope in Jesus Christ, 
and offering up a few prayers for mercy. Such a work 
as this, may of course be begun at pleasure; and, when 
begun, it is soon finished. How different is this from 
true repentance unto life; a " godly sorrow" for sin — 
a being "pricked in the heart" — an "abhorring our- 
selves, and repenting in dust and ashes " — a " smiting 
upon our breasts, and saying, God be merciful to me, a 
sinner " — an anxious inquiry, " What must I do to be 
saved 1" — a "looking" to the Sav^iour "whom we have 
pierced" by our sins, "and mourning for him as one 
mourneth for his only son, and being in bitterness for 
him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." Ze- 
chariah, 12 : 10. Now surely, this change of heart, this 
being " born again," and " made meet to be a partaker 
of the inheritance of the saints in light," is too serious 
and important a matter to be huddled up in the precari- 
ous hours of sickness, or to be crowded in among the 
pressing occupations of the closing scenes of life. 

Nor should it be forgotten, that the longer the work 
o^ repentance is delayed, the more dreadful our state be- 



O HOPES FOR ETERNITY. 

comes. The habits of sin grow upon us, and, by long in- 
dulgence, the chains get rivetted upon our hearts. Our 
feelings become blunted, and our consciences hardened 
against the awful concerns of eternity : we become less 
disposed to think seriously about our souls ; and every 
year and every month that we resist the warnings of 
conscience, we are provoking God to give us up to ob- 
stinate and hopeless impenitence, and tempting his Holy 
Spirit to withdraw from us utterly. We feel the force 
of habit in the most ordinary concerns of life : certainly 
its influence is proportionably greater in those concerns 
which are everlastingly important. '' Can the Ethiopian 
change his skin, or the leopard his spots 1 then may ye 
also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Jer. 13 : 23. 

If my reader, then, is one of those who are resting 
with complacent satisfaction on the promises of future 
repentance, let me earnestly entreat him to consider, 
that he has no secure hope but in an immediate repent- 
ance toward God, and faith in Jesus Christ. " To-day, 
while it is called to-day !" " Behold, now is the accept- 
ed time : behold, now is the day of salvation." " What- 
soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for 
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wis- 
dom, in the grave wdiither thou goest." " The night 
cometh, when no man can work." " Escape for thy life : 
look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain ; 
escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." Heb. 
3: 13. 2 Cor. 6: 2. Eccles. 9 : 10. John, 9 : 4. Gen. 19 : 17. 

4. But there are some whose hope is very different 
from any that have been mentioned ; who hope they 
shall not die, because Christ has died for ihem and risen 
again, and ever liveth to make intercession for them ; 
seeing they have, through grace, " fled for refuge to lay 
hold on the hope set before them" in Christ Jesus ; and 
having believed in his name, they are persuaded that 
their " sins, which are many, are forgiven " them, 
through Him who hath loved them, and washed them 
from their sins in his blood. Having also the seal and 
witness of the Holy Ghost in their hearts, even the 
spirit of Jesus, the spirit of child-like willingness to 
obey the Father, in which spirit they are striving daily 
in his strength to mortify the deeds of the body, over- 



nOPES FOR ETERNITY. 7 

come the world, and subdue Satan j the same pirit, 
even the Holy Ghost, bears witness with their spirit, 
and assures them that that shall not die for ever ! Yes, 
reader, these persons have " a good hope through 
grace." 2 Thess. 2 : 16. Every other hope but this, 
as I have attempted to show, is vain and delusive ; 
but this is " an anchor of the soul, both sure and stead- 
fast." Heb. 6 : 19. This is the hope which will not 
" make ashamed" in the last awful day, when " the hope 
of the hypocrite shall perish," and be " like the chaff 
which the wind driveth away." Job, 8 : 13. Ps. 1:4. 
In that day, when " the books shall be opened, and the 
dead shall be judged out of those things which are writ- 
ten in the books, according to their works," the true 
and faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus may exclaim, 
with triumphant hope, " Who is he that condemneth 1 
It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again." 
Rev. 20 : 12. Rom. 8 : 34. 

The security of such persons before God arises from 
this — that Christ has died for them — has endured the 
wrath of Gcd for them ; has paid the debt which they 
have incurred by their sin ; and satisfied to the utmost 
the demands of God's broken law; because his blood is 
sufficient for the salvation of all who believe; and the 
benefits of his death are freely given to all who come to 
him. His salvation is efiectual to all his people who be- 
lieve in him. They receive him as their Saviour, flee to 
him as their refuge, trust in him as their sacrifice, com- 
mit themselves to him as their surety, and obey him as 
their Lord and Master. To such all the promises of God 
are addressed, and sealed with the blood of the Re- 
deemer : '' they shall not perish, but have everlasting 
life." " I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall 
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my 
hand." John, 10 : 28. " Then shall the righteous shine 
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." 
Matt. 13:43. 

CONCLUSION. 

]\Iy dear reader ! The four descriptions of character 
here set before you, comprehend the whole world ; and 
therefore in one or other of them you are included. But 



8 HOPES FOR ETERMTY. 

how awfully important is the inquiry, to which of them 
you belong-. The first three classes are in a state of 
imminent danger ; and if they are not conscious of this, 
their danger is increased by it instead of being dimin- 
ished. Only the last class are in a state of spiritual 
safety. Let me earnestly entreat you to examine this 
great point, and endeavor to ascertain what is your 
condition before God. You would not willingly remain 
in ignorance as to the state of your worldly affairs: 
why should you be ignorant respecting those which are 
infinitely more important 1 You like to know how your 
accounts stand with your fellow-men : how much more 
necessary is it that you should inquire how matters 
stand between you and your God ! " For what is a man 
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose hif 
own soulV 

Do not, then, neglect the concerns of your soul. If 
conscience warns you that you are not in a state of 
preparation for death and fitness for heaven, lose no 
time in seeking a good hope before God. It is a matter 
of too awful importance to be trifled with. Delay may 
be ruin. You cannot measure the value of eternity ; you 
cannot conceive the unutterable magnitude of the bliss 
or the misery that awaits you beyond the grave. " Ten 
thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thou- 
sands " of years ! " Escape for thy life ;" flee for re 
fuge from the wrath to come; neglect it no longer, lest 
it be too late ! Use the means of grace, with a penitent 
and believing heart : pray ; read your Bible ; attend the 
public worship of God ; forsake your sins ; seek the 
Saviour ; lay hold on everlasting life ! 

O sinner ! embrace the offers of mercy while there is 
yet time : accept the blessings of salvation by a dying 
Saviour ; and in the hour of death and the day of judg- 
ment the voice of that Saviour will whisper to you, 
"Thou shalt not surely die." "I have redeemed 
thee:" |' thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy 
help;" ''thy sins are forgiven thee;" ''because I live, 
thou shalt live also." 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



No. 159. 



THE 



REWAEDS OF DEUNKENNESS. 




^w^^^^te*^^;^ 



If you \\ ibh to be al\\ a} s thirstA , be a Drunkard ; for the 
oftener and more you drink, the oftener and more thirsty you 
will be. 

If you seek to prevent your friends raising you in the 
world, be a Drunkard ; for that will defeat all their efforts. 

If you would effectually counteract your own attempts to 
do well, be a Drunkard ; and you will not be disappointed. 

If you wish to repel the endeavors of the whole human 
race to raise you to character, credit, and prosperity, be a 
Drunkard ; and you will most assuredly triumph. 

If you are determined to be poor, be a Drunkard ; and 
you will soon be ragged and pennyless. 

If you would wish to starve your family, be a Drunkard ; 
for that will consume the means of their support. 

If you would be imposed on by knaves, be a Drunkard ; 
for that will make their task easy. 
VOL. V. 20 



2 THE REWARDS OF DRUNKENNESS. 

If you would wish to be robbed, be a Drunkard ; wbich 
will enable the thief to do it with more safety. 

If you would wish to blunt your senses, be a Drunkard ; 
and you will soon be more stupid than an ass. 

If you would become a fool, be a Drunkard ; and you 
will soon lose your understanding. 

If you wish to unfit yourself for rational intercourse, be 
a Drunkard ; for that will accomplish your purpose. 

If you are resolved to kill yourself, be a Drunkard ; that 
being a sure mode of destruction. 

If you would expose both your folly and secrets, be 
a Drunkard ; and they will soon be made known. 

If you think you are too strong, be a Drunkard ; and 
you will soon be subdued by so powerful an enemy. 

If you would get rid of your money Avithout knowing 
how, be a Drunkard ; and it will vanish insensibly. 

If you would have no resource when past labor but a 
workhouse, be a Drunkard ; and you will be unable to pro- 
vide any. 

If you are determined to expel all comfort from your 
house, be a Drunkard ; and you will soon do it effectually. 

If you would be always under strong suspicion, be a 
Drunkard ; for, little as you think it, all agree that those 
who steal from themselves and families will rob others. 

If you would be reduced to the necessity of shunning 
your creditors, be a Drunkard ; and you will soon have rea- 
son to prefer the by-paths to the public streets. 

If you would be a dead weight on the community, and 
*' cumber the ground," be a Drunkard ; for that will render 
you useless, helpless, burdensome, and expensive. 

If you would be a nuisance, be a Drunkard ; for the 
approach of a Drunkard is like that of a dunghill. 

If you would be hated by your family and friends, be a 
Drvmkard ; and you will soon be more than disagreeable. 

If you would be a pest to society, be a Drunkard ; and 
you will be avoided as infectious. 

If you do not Avish to have your faults reformed, continue 
to be a Drunkard ; and you will not care for good advice 

If you Avould smash windows, break the peace, get your 
bones broken, tumble under carts and horses, and be locked 
up in watch-houses, be a Drunkard ; and it Avill be strange 
if you do not succeed. 



THE REWARDS OF DRUNKENNESS. 3 

If you wish all your prospects in life to be clouded, be a 
Drunkard ; and they will soon be dark enough. 

If you Avould destroy your body, be a Drunkard ; as 
drunkenness is the mother of disease. 

If you mean to ruin your soul, be a Drunkard ; that you 
may be excluded from heaven. 

Finally, if you are determined to be utterly destroyed, 
in estate, body, and soul, be a Drunkard ; and you will soon 
know that it is impossible to adopt a more effectual means 
to accomplish your — END. 

" All the crimes on earth," says Lord Bacon, " do not 
destroy so many of the human race, nor alienate so much 
property, as drunkenness T 

Drunkenness expels reason — drowns the memory — de- 
faces beauty — diminishes strength — inflames the blood — 
causes internal, external, and incurable wounds — is a witch 
to the senses, a devil to the soul, a thief to the purse — the 
beggar's companion, the wife's woe, and children's sorrow — 
makes a strong man weak, and a wise man a fool. He is 
worse than a beast, and is a self-murderer, who drinks to 
others' good health, and robs himself of his own. He is 
worse than a beast, for no animal will designedly intoxicate 
itself ; but a drunkard swallows his liquor, well knowing the 
condition to which it will reduce him, and that these draughts 
will deprive him of the use of his reason, and render him 
worse than a beast. By the effects of liquor his evil pas- 
sions and tempers are freed from restraint ; and, Avhile in a 
state of intoxication, he commits actions which, when sober, 
he would have shuddered to have thought of. Many an 
evil- deed has been done, many a murder has been commit- 
ted, Avhen those who did these things were intoxicated. 

Tremble, then, if ever you taste the intoxicating draught. 
Reflect, before you put the cup to your lips. Remember 
that you are forming a habit which will lead on to the com- 
mission of every crime to which the propensities of your 
nature, rendered violent by indulgence, can urge you. Be- 
fore you are aware, you may find yourself awaking from a 
fit of intoxication, guilty of offences against the laws of your 
country which will draw down just vengeance upon your 
head ; abhorring yourself, and an abhorrence in the sight 
of heaven. 



4 THE REWARDS OF DRUNKENNESS. 

Drunkenness, persisted in, -will assuredly destroy your 
soul, and consign you to everlasting misery. Hear what 
the word of God declares. 

"Awake, ye drunkards, and weep." Joel 1 : 5. 

*' Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who hath conten- 
tion ? who hath wounds without cause ? They that tarry 
long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. Look 
not thou upon the Avine ; at the last it biteth like a serpent, 
and stingeth like an adder." Prov. 23 : 29-32. 

" Woe unto them that rise up in the morning, that they 
may follow strong drink ; that continue until night, till wine 
inflame them !" Isa. 5 : 11. 

" Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and 
men of strength to mingle strong drink. Isa. 5 : 22. 

" The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these : 
uncleanness, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such 
like ; of the which I tell you, that they which do such things 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God'" Gal. 5 : 19, 21. 

These are awful declarations, and they will certainly be 
fulfilled upon him who continues to delight in drunkenness ; 
he cannot enjoy the love of God, he will not be received 
into heaven. 

Separate yourself, then, utterly from this ensnaring sin. 
"Touch not; taste not; handle not." In ENTIRE AB- 
STINENCE is your only safety. This persevered in, you 
shall never fall. Wherever and however the temptation is 
presented, "avoid it — turn from it, and pass away." Turn 
also from every sin. " Commit your way unto the Lord," 
and he will " direct your paths." A glorious provision is 
made for your salvation, through the atoning blood of Christ. 
" God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." John 3 : 16. Commit your soul 
and your all to him. He will guide you through life, enable 
you to vanquish every foe, and crown you with victory in 
heaven. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



No. 160. 

THE TWO ENDS 

AND 

THE TWO WAYS. 



The design of this Tract is to obtain your attention to 
a concern of the most serious moment. Read it impartially, 
and do not reject its statements, since you cannot prove 
them to be untrue or unimportant. Be assured, that what- 
ever is your age or station, you have a deep and unavoida- 
ble interest in the subject. It relates to the two ends which 
close the present life, and the tivo ivays which conduct to 
them. 

These e7ids are as far removed from each other as heaven 
and hell ; a state of everlasting happiness, and one of end- 
less misery. 

The first is spoken of in the Bible with the most invitino- 
descriptions. It is paradise, Luke 23 : 43 ; fulness of joy 
and pleasures for evermore, Psa. 16 : 11 ; a state containing 
blessings which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath 
it entered into the heart of man to conceive, 1 Cor. 2:9; 
and where the positive evils of this life, want. Rev. 7:16, 
pain, sorrow. Rev. 21 : 4, weariness, Heb. 4: 9, sickness, 
Isa. 33 : 24, separation, 1 Thess. 4:17, death. Rev. 21 : 4, 
can never come. Such are only a few of the delightful 
views of heaven which are to be found in the Scriptures. 

The second end is depicted in the most awful and alarm- 
ing terms. It is called a lake of fire and brimstone, Rev. 
20 : 10; a worm that dieth not, and a fire that is not 
quenched, Mark 9:48; a flame without one drop of water 
VOL. V. 20=5^^ 



2 THE TWO ENDS AND THE TWO WAYS. 

to cool the tongue, Luke 16 : 24, 26 ; everlasting destruc- 
tion from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thess, 1 : 8, 9 ; a 
place where is weeping, and w^aihng, and gnashing of teeth, 
Matt. 8: 12; 13 : 50. 

And can you, reader, reflect, without emotion, that to 
one of these ends you must come ? Can you feel indiffer- 
ent to wliich ? Are you desirous of knowing towards which 
you are now proceeding ? You may know it by considering 
the two ways which respectively conduct to the ends which 
have been described. 

The first, which is the way of life, is trodden by a com- 
paratively small number. It is called a narrow way, on 
account of the difficulties encountered by those who walk in 
it. Matt. 7 : 13, 14. Would you enter it, you must begin 
■with submitting your own notions of things to those con- 
tained in the Bible. What that book says of your being a 
sinner, Rom. 3 : 9, 23, under the wrath of God on account 
of your transgressions, Rom. 1:18, must be believed at the 
very outset ; and if you compare your thoughts and conduct 
with the law of the ten commandments, you will find every 
thing in the Scriptures on this head fully proved. Tlie 
declarations which they contain relating to God's mercy, 
and his forgiveness of all w^ho come to him by faith in the 
Saviour crucified for sinners, you must likewise receive. 
Rom. 3 : 24, 26. Jesus Christ is emphatically "the way," 
as well as "the truth and the life," John 14 : 6 ; "a new 
and living w^ay." Heb. 10: 19, 20. An honest confession 
of your state as a sinner, and a thankful reception of gratu- 
itous salvation through the cross of Christ, you will find to 
be very contrary to the pride and self- righteousness of your 
heart. Rom. 10 : 3. The ground of your aversion to this 
way is, that it is the way of holiness, Isa. 35 : 8, repent- 
ance. Acts 17 : 30, prayer, 1 Thess. 5 : IV, heavenly-mind- 
edness, Coloss. 3 : 1, 2, and self-denial, Mark 8 : 34. And 



THE TWO ENDS AND THE TWO WAYS. 3 

such is the alienation of your heart, that you will not cease 
your aversion to this way, until your soul is renewed by the 
operation of the Holy Spirit, and thus receives a new and 
heavenly character. Rom. 7:18; John 3 : 5. Then spir- 
itual religion will be your delight. God will give you wis- 
dom, and strength, and victory over every remaining cor- 
ruption, 2 Cor. 12:9; and the excellency of the way itself, 
with the peace, hope, and joy which attend it, a clear con- 
science and a pure heart, will make it delightful. 1 Pet. 1 : 8. 

The other way is broad, its entrance wide, its frequent- 
ers many. Matt. 7:13,14. It is the way of transgressors. 
Among its travellers are found persons of very various char- 
acters. Some are openly profane, or entirely careless of 
an eternity to come. 2 Peter, 3 : 3, 4. Others, under a 
form of religion, reject some important truth of Scripture, 
or hold the truth itself in unrighteousness. 1 Tim. 1:19; 
Rom. 1:18. The moralist who spurns the word of God, 
and the false professor of religion who perverts it, are alike 
crowding this dangerous path. Here may be found the 
drunkard, the unchaste, the liar, the slanderer, the perjured, 
the cheater, the envious, the malicious, the selfish. 1 Cor. 
G: 9-11. Here are the lovers of money, pleasure, and 
honor ; with all that countless number who gi. e their hearts 
to the world, mind earthly things, and are tims enemies of 
the cross and service of the Redeemer. Phil. 3 : 18-21. • 

Such are the ways which conduct to ends so opposite. 

And in which of these ways are you walking ? To which 
of these ends is every day bringing you nearer ? If you are 
in the road that leadeth to life, I rejoice with you. If you 
are in the broad and dangerous path, let me earnestly im- 
plore of you to lose not an instant in quitting it. The way 
of salvation lies open before you. Seek it without delay, 
lest the hand of death seal your everlasting ruin. 

Repent of your sins. Bow your knees and your heart 



4 THE TWO ENDS AND THE TWO WAYS. 

in prayer for mercy. Cast yourself wholly on Christ ; 
receive him as your only and all-sufficient Saviour, What- 
ever have been your past character and sins, he has made 
an ample provision for your return to God. " The blood 
of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." 1 John, 1 : 1. 
" Whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have 
eternal life." John 3 : 15. Object not that you are bound 
by the "chain of your sins;" that you have "no health" 
in you ; and that you cannot release or heal yourself. The 
Saviour came to proclaim liberty to the captives, Luke 
4:18, and he offers himself, as a great Physician, to heal all 
your moral and spiritual maladies, and to give you a ne^Y 
and divine nature. Luke 5: 31; 2 Peter, 1: 4. Trust 
wholly and alone in him, and he will save you with an ever- 
lasting salvation. 

With this very design has he promised the gracious in- 
fluences of his Holy Spirit, to illuminate the understanding, 
to renew the will, and to sanctify the affections. Luke 
11 : 13. And of these healing waters he invites you to par- 
take, and says, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me 
and drink." John 7 : 37-39. " Whosoever Avill, let him 
take of the Avater of life freely." Rev. 22 : 17. 

Flee, then, from the wrath to come ! Lay hold on 
Eternal Life ! 

*o.'" Look for the Scriptures referred to, and consider 
attentively the following passages: Psalm 1 ; Matt. 7 : 24- 
29; Matt. 25, throughout; John 3; Romans 3; Eph. 2; 
Hebrews 8. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



IVo. 161 



THE 



RESCUED BRAND 



A NARRATIVE OF FACTS 

ii:!i^«r''i'''^'ifllii!ilii .I'liiijidj 




Early in the spring of 1847, I was called to visit an 
aged man who was very sick. Some time previous, having 
heard of his ilhiess, I had offered to visit him, but was ad- 
vised to wait until his own consent should be procured ; for 
he had declined any conversation relative to his eternal pros- 
pects. Two or three weeks elapsed, when at his own desire 
I went to see him at the house of his son, with whom he 
resided. 

Before entering the sick room, a worthy female friend, 

who was the first-fruits of my ministry in , after she had 

attained the age of seventy-three, took me aside, and thus 



2 THE RESCUED BRAND. 

advised me : " The life of Mr. B has heen spent in dis- 
sipation and ungodliness. For many years he has never been 
inside of a church. He has spent his Sabbaths in ordinary 
employments. He has been unwilling to hear any thing of 
religion, and especially of death. Yet he cannot live long. 
His disease is violent. But he has said that he would be 
willing to see you. I don't know how he will receive you. 
Perhaps he w-ill listen ; but his son says he is afraid that he 
v/ill only insult you if you should speak with him." With 
these precautions she ushered me into the room of the sick 
man. 

It was with an agitation and perplexity, only overpow- 
ered by a sense of duty and the promises of a faithful God, 
and after breathing a silent prayer for " grace to help in this 
time of need," that the writer entered that chamber. 

Mr. B was sitting on the side of a low bedstead, 

apparently in great pain, and in his haggard countenance 
were visible the marks of disease and death, and a sunken, 
troubled spirit. His age was sixty-three. His disease dropsy 
in the chest. He received me with ajDparent indifference, 
scarcely raising his eyes from the floor. I spoke to him as 
kindly as possible, inquiring about his disease, and offering 
him a little aid in changing his position. 

After a long pause, he looked up and said, in a hurried 
tone, " So you are a minister, eh ? How long have you been 
preaching ?" 

I replied kindly to liis inquiries ; and after a few more 
similar questions and answers, stated the object of my visit, 
when he replied, 

" Sir, the Almighty has been pleased to lay his hand 
heavily upon me." 

That does not sound like infidelity, thought I, and it en- 
couraged my trembling spirit. He had now opened the way, 
and it only remained for me to follow its windings. A hint 



THE RESCUED BRAND. 3 

upon the unreasonableness of infidelity, brought him out 
again. 

" Oh, sir, I do not see how any man in his senses can be 
an infidel. Why, that setting sun, and the very grass of the 
field, prove that there is a God." 

One remark led on to another, each pressing closer upon 
his own situation as an undone sinner hastening to the judg- 
ment. He conversed freely, and 0, what a joyful surprise 
and cause of thankfulness it was, instead of meeting the ex- 
pected insult and hardened infidelity, to find that old man 
mourning over his sins, and seeking deliverance from im- 
pending wrath. 

These were some of his expressions : " God has been too 
lenient with me. I have lived sixty-three years in this world, 
and this is my first sickness. My life has been a hard one. 
Prosperity has hardened my heart. Religion has been neg- 
lected. Afflictions might have had a better influence. Now 
I am soon to die. But 0, my poor soul, my poor soul ; what 
shall become of it ?" 

I pointed him to " the Lamb of God, that taketli away 
the sins of the world," and tried to explain and bring the 
truth home to his heart. He assented to all that was said ; 
but for him there seemed no refuge nigh. His guilty con- 
science gave him no rest, nor peace. 

Before leaving, I engaged in prayer at his bedside. It 
was a solemn season, and he too appeared to feel it deeply. 
He asked me to come to see him soon again, and I retired, 
having learned a new lesson in pastoral experience, and I 
trust, with an humbled and thankful heart, that had just 
received new impulses to labor in the Master's work. Often 
when we fear most, God is most gracious. Heart and flesh 
may fail, but his word end ureth for ever ; and I have thought 
since then, that I could enter more fully into the feelings of 
Ananias when G od sent him to Saul of Tarsus. The thought 



4 THE RESCUED BRAND. 

of meeting the persecutor quelled even his spirit ; but, " be- 
hold, he prayeth," gaA^e joy and boldness. 

At the next interview with Mr. B , he appeared 

much in the same spiritual state as before, but his convic- 
tions seemed deeper, and his apprehensions more fearful. 
Yet there was "a glimmering from afar," that was full of 
promise. He acknowledged the avenging justice of God, 
He only wondered that God had not crushed him like a 
moth, years before. But the mercy of God through Jesus 
appeared to him infinite and adorable. In his cross was his 
only hope. He wanted to surrender himself to Christ ; but 
doubts and fears mingled like bitter waters in his cup. There 
was an anxiety to be saved. -He saw the M^ay of life ; but 
he must enter in by the strait gate. 

This was the state of his soul for some time longer. I 
was told by a member of the family, that they frequently 
heard him when alone, and even in the depth of night, hi 
tones of deepest anguish exclaiming, " Oh my poor soul, my 
poor lost soul ;" and then they heard prayers mingling with 
his groans, prayers for mercy and the salvation bought with 
blood. 

After this I visited him frequently until his death. His 
conversation, always interesting, and often expressed with 
great force and beauty, showed him deeply read in the secrets 
of his own heart, and increasingly desirous of a most thor- 
ough and decided change of heart. Fear of self-deception, 
a sign of spiritual exercise which should not be undervalued, 
was a most prominent trait. We cannot detail these con- 
versations, but present some specimens which will enable 
the reader to form a better idea of Mr. B 's exercises. 

In answer to the question, whether his sins of omission 
or of actual transgression gave him most concern, he replied 
with emphasis, "My sins of omission." 

Surprised, I said, " But according to your own account 



THE RESCUED BRAND. 5 

you have been a very great sinner. Your actual sins have 
been aggravated and enormous." 

" Oh yes, sir," said he ; " but then I think, if I had not 
omitted my duties, I should not have committed those sins." 

Referring one day to the darkness of his prospects, in 
connection with his belief of the gospel way of salvation, and 
his willingness to accept Christ as his Saviour, he said, 
"But I want proof — something to satisfy me that I am 
redeemed." 

" What kind of proof do you want, Mr. B ?" 

" Oh, sir, I want something tangible ; or if I may so say, 
like an audible voice telling me that I shall die happy — that 
my salvation is sure." "^ 

I endeavored to correct this erroneous impression by 
pointing him to other and better evidences of a gracious 
state — to his often-professed delight and comfort in prayer — 
to answers to prayer already granted him in his deeper con- 
victions of sin, his greater anxiety, and his comfort from 
God's word. The progressive nature of grace in the heart 
was also adverted to. On this latter point, the following 
illustration fixed his attention, and tended to change his 
views. 

" How, Mr. B , did you learn to read? Was it not 

by slow degrees ; first the alphabet, then joining letters and 
syllables and words ? and even then it was only by con- 
stant practice that you at last could read correctly and rap- 
idly. So now you are learning only the A B C of religion. 
You are a child in God's school, and you cannot expect 
immediately to 

'read your title clear 
To mansions in the skies.' " 

And again, " God will give grace according to his chil- 
dren's need. He can give you dying grace in the dying 
hour ; and while suffering affliction, give you grace to endure 
vnT.. V. 'l\ 



THE RESCUED BRAND. 

that. But it seems to me, as if you are impatient to sliout 
victory before the battle is won." 

On another occasion, when asked, " Do you read your 
Bible constantly?" he looked up earnestly and said, "My 
disease prevents me from reading." 

"But, sir, you know that the Bible is God's truth, and 
the only directory in the way of life." 

"That is true, sir," was the striking reply; "but I am 
building on what I learned from my mother when I was a 
boy. For many years afterwards I never read my Bible ; 
but passages that I learned then and had forgotten, are com- 
ing back to me as if I had learned them yesterday." 

Indeed, his acquaintance with Scripture was accurate 
and large. He quoted readily and with force, and seemed 
to derive real comfort from its remembered pages. What a 
beautiful illustration of the power of early associations, and 
of the importance of sowing the good seed in the bright 
morning of childhood. Who can estimate the power of a 
mother's teachings, even after her flesh has long rested in the 
tomb ? Look at this example, where a man, after more than 
half a century of sin, and on his dying bed, found sweet con- 
solation for his aching heart in the unforgotten tones and 
instructions of a mother's early love. Perhaps this may 
encourage to greater parental faithfulness, and even bring 
some glimmering consolation to many a father or mother 
now mourning and saddened at the thoughts of some way- 
ward, wandering, prodigal child. 

As his illness increased, Mr. B 's views brightened. 

His hope was fastened on the Redeemer's cross. Earth was 
given up without regret, and heavenly visions cheered the 
prospect. 

One afternoon I found him in great bodily distress. 
"Oh," said he, "it seems as if I could hardly suffer more. 
Sometimes I feel as if scalding water was poured upon me, 



THE RESCUED BRAND. 7 

and my bones are almost out of joint with pain. Oh, death 
would be a loving-kindness to me — death would be a lov- 
ing-kindness. Yet what is all this to what my Saviour 
endured for me ? I deserve even more than this." 

" Do you feel as if you could wait patiently till the end ?" 
I asked. 

" yes, sir, I desire to be perfectly Submissive to God's 
will. It is all right I know, and as long as he chooses I am 
willing to sufler." 

This spirit of resignation marked all his latter hours. 
There was one view respecting the Saviour, frequently ex- 
pressed by him, that seemed remarkable. It was this. 
While he rested all his hopes upon the atonement of Christ, 
his most adoring contemplations, his most precious views, 
were drawn from his intercession. "When I try to pray," 
said he, " I feel ashamed and overwhelmed ; but when I 
look upward and see my blessed Intercessor standing at the 
throne, then I can pray." Indeed, this was the name by 
which he delighted to honor his Master — " My precious 
Intercessor r 

We only ask here. Is not this a part of the mediatorial 
work which most Christians fail duly to appreciate ? Does 
it form a principal source of our holy joy and comfort ? And 
if not, why should it longer be so ? How, indeed, can we 
grow in grace, how can we be advancing Christians while 
forgetful of this high and present office-work of "our great 
High-priest, who ever liveth to make intercession for us." 

At the close of one of the visits mentioned above, an 
affecting scene occurred. After referring to his great bodily 
sufferings, and the welcome with which he would meet 
death, I engaged in prayer with him as usual. He was 
deeply affected, and immediately upon my closing, he began 
to pray himself. Such a prayer never fell upon my ears. 
It was laying hold of the everlasting throne ; and he poured 



8 THE RESCUED BRAND. 

out his whole soul there, as if none but God could hear. 
Every person in the room was melted to tears. It was as 
impressive and solemn as an earthly scene can be. I thought 
that I never knew Avliat real wrestling prayer was before 
this. And the tones of that voice, deep, though feeble and 
trembling, and uttering such petitions as you might suppose 
would liaA^e become the publican or the penitent thief, can 
never be forgotten. It was one of those scenes over which 
angels delight to hover, and rejoice. 

After this, we met but once or t\A'ice. The sick man's 
powers of mind and body sunk rapidly. For an hour or two 
before his death, he seemed lethargic and exhausted. The 
powers of expression Avere denied him at the last, but his 
previous testimony was so protracted, and full, and convinc- 
ing, that Ave have every reason to believe that his end was 
peace, and that now the sufferer is at rest. 

A death-bed repentance is generally to be suspected, but 
there are exceptions, when souls are renewed and taken 
speedily home to heaven — brands plucked from the burning, 
to shine as jcAvels in our great Hedeemer's crown. 

In this little narrative, the writer has desired to tell of a 
monument of grace, newly erected in Zion by the great 
Head of the church. It is presented as an encouragement 
to faithful pastoral duty, even when fear and trembling 
seize the heart ; as a fine illustration of the power of a 
mother's training ; as a rich record of Christian experience ; 
and as a blessed example of what the grace of the Lord 
Jesus Christ can accomplish, even m the heart of the chief 
of sinners. In the humble hope that it may do good in Zion, 
it is now sent forth on its mission to the reader's heart. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



]¥o. 163. 

C0M3I0N ERRORS. 

' THEY ALL WITH ONE CONSENT BEGAN TO MAKE EXCUSE.' 



FIRST ERROR. 

IT WILL BE SOON ENOUGH FOR ME TO THINK ABOUT RELIGION 
AT SOME FUTURE TIME. 

This is one of the most common errors, and one of the 
most successful temptations of Satan. If your conscience 
be in some measure awakened, and you feel anxious for the 
salvation of your soul, he will suggest delay. As Paul 
reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
come, Felix trembled, and answered, *' Go thy way for 
this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call for 
thee." Acts 24 : 25. This convenient season most probably 
never arrived. Though God has given this solemn warning 
against delay, and has repeated the important lesson in 
many parts of his word, yet how many thousands are con- 
tinually making the same excuse, and thus exposing them- 
selves to everlasting destruction. Can you insure your life 
for a day, or even for one moment ? The rich man, gazing 
with delight on his property, said to his soul, " Soul, thou 
hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, 
eat, drink, and be merry." But God said unto him, " Thou 
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Luke 
12 : 19, 20. God may even now be passing the same 
sentence on the sinner who dares, against his most solemn 
commands, and the warnings of his Avord, to put off the 
concerns of his soul. that the young would regard the 
admonition, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of 
thy youth." Eccles. 12:1. " The Son of man cometh at 

VOL. V. 21^- 



2 COMMON ERRORS. 

an hour when ye think not." Luke 12 : 40. The Holy- 
Ghost saith, " To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
your hearts." Heb. 3 : 7, 8. If you wait till to-morrow, 
you will then feel less ; serious thoughts may wear off, and 
you may be, and most likely will be, " hardened through 
the deceitfulness of sin." Heb. 3: 13. "He that being 
often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be de- 
stroyed, and that without remedy." Prov. 29 : 1. Though 
you have in former times often been guilty of delay, you are 
again warned of the awful danger to which you expose your 
soul, and you are now invited to hear the gracious words 
of Jesus Christ, "the way, and the truth, and the life." 
John 14 : 6. " Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if 
any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in 
to him, and sup with him, and he with me." Rev. 3 : 20. 
" Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the 
day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6 : 2. " Seek ye the Lord while 
he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near : let 
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will 
have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he Avill abun- 
dantly pardon." Isaiah 55 : 6, 7. 

SECOND ERROR. 

I HAVE NEVER INJURED ANY ONE, I HAVE NEVER BEEN A 
SWEARER, A ROBBER, OR A MURDERER, LIKE OTHERS ; IF I 
AM NOT SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF MULTITUDES ? 

This you secretly say to your own heart ; and because 
you are not so bad as some others, and have generally 
been a kind neighbor and friend, you think that you surely 
must be saved. These feelings show your ignorance of 
yourself and the word of God. Observe what the Scrip- 
tures say of all mankind, and of you among the number. 



COMMON ERRORS. 3 

"All have sinned, and come short of tlie glory of God." 
Rom. 3:23. " There is none that doeth good, no, not one." 
Rom. 3 : 12. " The imagination of man's heart is evil from, 
his youth." Gen. 8: 21, ''Every imagination of the 
thoughts of his heart is only evil continually." Gen. Q : 5. 
Why are these strong declarations of the sinfulness of 
man stated m the Bible? The Apostle Paul gives the 
reason : " That every mouth may be stopped, and all the 
world may become guilty before God." Romans 3: 19. 
Is this your character, as written in the divine word, which 
cannot lie, and yet are you boasting of your having a " good 
heart?" Delude yourself no longer, but learn that "the 
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ; 
who can know it?" Jer. IT : 9. And behold, in your 
ignorance of yourself, one proof of this affecting truth. 
Your being free from the gross outward sins which others 
commit, will not excuse you for the pride, the evil thoughts, 
the carnal desires, the secret sins, of which you have been 
guilty. If your being better than some others would save 
you, why should Jesus Christ, who is " God over all, blessed 
for ever," have taken your nature, lived a painful life, and 
died a shameful death, ''to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
himself?" Heb. 9 : 6. "They that be whole need not a 
physician, but they that are sick ; for I am not come to call 
the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matt. 9 : 12, 13. 
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 
13:3 and 5. Seriously reflect on the solemn and infinitely 
important declaration of Jesus Christ, which was made to 
Nicodemus, a man of excellent moral character : " Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. " Ye must 
be born again." John 3:7. " For God so loved the world 



4 COMMON ERRORS. 

that he gave liis only-begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
heveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
John 3:16. " Lord, save, or I perish !" " God be merci- 
ful to me a sinner." 

THIRD ERROR. 

GOD IS TOO GOOD TO PUNISH ME FOR A FEW FAULTS; TRUE, 
ALL ARE SINNERS, BUT THE ALMIGHTY IS VERY MERCIFUL, 
AND WILL BE SURE TO FORGIVE ME. 

God is merciful, and infinitely good ; but at the same 
time, as infinitely just, holy, and pure. He proclaims him- 
self, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, 
long-suft'ering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping 
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression 
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." Exod. 
34: 6, 7. You consider your sins to be few and slight; 
but does God thus regard them : the God who is " of 
purer eyes than to behold evil," Habak. 1 : 13 ; in whose 
sijxht the heavens are not clean, and even his ano-els he 
charged with folly ? Can you appear before such a God, 
and attempt to conceal or palliate your sins ? Because the 
criminal makes hght of his offence, will this indifference lead 
the judge to pass by his crime ? Because you choose to 
shut your eyes against your guilt and deserved punishment, 
can you therefore reasonably hope to escape ? Will the 
cold, dull, general, heartless confession, which you make, 
that " all are sinners," be regarded with acceptance by him 
who searches the hearts of the children of men, and is 
acquainted with all their ways ? No : for no less a sacrifice 
than that of Jesus Christ, who was Immanuel, God and 
man, could expiate sin, and thereby satisfy the infinite attri- 
bute of divine justice. Hence, the infinite value and efficacy 
of the blood of Christ in pardoning and cleansing from all 



COMMON ERRORS. 5 

sm. Eest, tlien, no longer, on a broken reed. " God re- 
sisteth the proud, but givetli grace to tlie bumble. Humble 
yourself under the mighty hand of God." 1 Pet. 5 : 6. 
Bow before the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing 
all your sins, with all their numerous aggravations. "For 
him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince 
and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgive- 
ness of sins." Acts 5: 31. "Kiss the Son, lest he be 
angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is 
kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their 
trust in him." Psalm 2:12. " God forbid that I should 
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Gal. 

6: 14. 

FOURTH ERROR. 

I don't see but I AM QUITE AS GOOD AS SOME PEOPLE, WHO 
MAKE A GREAT NOISE ABOUT RELIGION. 

Notice the parable of the Pharisee and Publican, which 
the Lord Jesus Christ spake to some who, like you, " trusted 
in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." 
Luke 18 : 9-14. Seriously read this parable, and meditate 
upon it most attentively and humbly. Self- righteousness is 
natural to the human heart ; but it is founded on ignorance 
of the holiness of God, and the spirituality of his law. 
" They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going 
about to establish their own righteousness, have not sub- 
mitted themselves unto the righteousness of God ; for Christ 
is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that 
believeth." Rom. 10 : 3, 4. In this Christian country there 
are many persons so ignorant of the word of God as to 
boast, or at least, secretly to pride themselves on account 
of their good deeds. If all the good works that ever were 
done could be performed by one individual, they could not 



6 COMMON ERRORS. 

procure the pardon of a single sin, or make atonement to a 
holy God. "When ye shall have done all these things 
■which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable ser- 
vants ; we have done that which was our duty to do." 
Luke r^ : 10. " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth 
from all sin." 1 John, 1:7. Because there are some per- 
sons pretending to be religious, who yet by their works deny 
God, and show that they are hypocrites, such conduct does 
not prove that there are no true Christians, nor will it be 
any excuse for your neglect of your soul. God will judge 
you by his hcly law, and not by comparing one sinner with 
another. All are sinners, all are condemned ; and the only 
way of escape for any, is by flying for mercy to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. " Neither is there salvation in any other ; 
for there is none other name under heaven given among 
men, whereby vre must be saved." Acts 4: 12. It will 
be in Aain for you to expect to escape in the multitude, or 
to please yourself with the idea of being as well off as others. 
" Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." 
Rom. 14 : 12. You will stand exposed singly to the pierc- 
ing eye of God, as much as if you were the only being in 
the universe to be judged. "■ How shall we escape, if we 
neglect so great salvation?" Heb. 2:3. 

FIFTH ERROR. 

I HAVE HAD so MANY SUFFERINGS IN THIS LIFE, THAT I SHALL 
NOT SUFFER HEREAFTER. 

How utterly ignorant^you must be of the word of God^ 
to imagine that your own sufferings can make any atone- 
ment for your sins before an infinitely just and holy God! 
Your sorrows are caused by your sins, they cannot procure 
pardon for, or excuse them. All the sufferings you endure, 



COMMON ERRORS. 7 

you have deserved ; and far Leavier would have been your 
distress, if God had dealt with you after your sins, and re- 
warded you according to your iniquities. If the sufferings 
of man could atone for his sins, some of the vilest of char- 
acters would escape punishment, on account of the very 
consequences of their crimes. Could you bear all the suffer- 
ings of all the miserable who have ever lived, this would 
not take away one of your sins, or in the least degree recon- 
cile you to God, or prepare you for heaven. The only 
atonement for sin is the sufferings and death of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. " He was wounded for our transgressions, 
he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. 
All we, like sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned every 
one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the 
iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53 : o, 6. Trust, then, no lon- 
ger, in your own sufferings, but remember that " Christ hath 
once suffer J d for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
brinir us to God." 1 Peter, 3: 18. Hear the words of a 
gracious Saviour: "Come unto me, all ye that labor, and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11 : 28. 
*' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of 
the world 1" John 1:29. View his ardent labors — the 
reproaches, the persecutions, the sorrows which he en- 
dured — follow him to the close of his life — gaze on his 
agonies in the garden — ascend the hill of Calvary — beheld 
him lifted up on the cross — hear him exclaim, " It is finish- 
ed," and then " he boAved his head, and gave up the ghost." 
John 19 : 30. Why all these aggravated, these undeserved 
sufferings ? Why this cruel and shameful death ? " God 
commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet 
sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8. He died that 



S COMMON ERRORS. 

sinners miglit live — he arose from the grave — ^he ascended 
to heaven — and there he is employed in pleading for all that 
believe on him. I have deserved to suffer present and ever- 
lasting misery, for my numerous sins against such a Saviour. 
"I have sinned against heaven, and before thee." Luke 
15 : 18. ''Jesus, Master, have mercy on me." 

SIXTH ERROR. 

RELIGION MAY BE VERY WELL FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LEARN- 
ING ; BUT AS FOR ME, I AM NO SCHOLAR. 

It is written in the Scriptures, " All thy children shall 
be taught of the Lord." Isaiah 54 : 13. And St. Paul 
shows, in the first chapter to the Corinthians, that it is not 
by man's wisdom or learning that he can know any thing 
of God ; therefore you may pray to God to give you his 
Holy Spirit to teach you, with as much hope of acceptance 
as the most learned man in the world. Read your Bible, 
love God, and pray to him to give you understanding, and 
a heart to profit by it ; and he will clear up to your mind 
all that is necessary for your salvation. Hear also the 
ministers of the word of God constantly, and pray to 
God to give you grace to understand and receive what you 
hear. The promise is, " Then shall we know, if Ave follow 
on to know the Lord." Hosea 6: 3. And the Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, Avho has loved you, and came down 
from heaven to redeem your soul, having shed his blood for 
the remission of your sins, will give you the Holy Spirit to 
teach you all things, if you are Avilling, and do not slight 
and neglect so great salvation ; and since he is so gracious, 
so willing, and so powerful, it is your own fault that you 
are ignorant of the Avay of salvation. The learning which 
Christ requires, he thus expresses : " Learn of me, for I am 



COMMON ERRORS. 9 

meek and lowly in heart." Matt. 11 : 29. He shows the 
reason why men do not believe on him : " This is the con- 
demnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved 
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." 
John 3 : 19. "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might 
have life." John 5 : 40. pray to be made wise unto 
salvation. " The meek will he guide in judgment, and the 
meek will he teach his way." Psalm 25 : 9. The Gospel 
inculcates humility of heart ; and this will be better for you 
than all the Avisdom of this world. " Blessed are the poor 
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5 : 3. 
See also 1 Cor. 3 : 18. 

SEVENTH ERROR. 

IT IS NO MATTER WHAT WE BE : IF WE ARE SINCERE, WE ARE 
THEN SAFE, 

To answer those who thus flatter themselves, it will be 
sufficient to refer to what the Apostle Paul said of himself, 
as he looked back on the time when he was employed in 
persecuting the saints to prison and to death : " I verily 
thought with myself that I ought to do many things con- 
trary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth ; which things also 
I did in Jerusalem." Acts 26 : 9, 10. He Avas sincere, 
though in a wrong cause, and being stopped by the grace 
of God in his evil course, he was converted, and became a 
most zealous defender of that Saviour whom he had per- 
secuted by persecuting his disciples. St. Paul, referring 
to himself at a later period of his life, still remembers his 
former sins, and says, " I am the least of the apostles, that 
am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted 
the church of God ; but by the grace of God I am what I 
am." 1 Cor. 15: 9, 10. "This is a faithful saying, and 
VOL. V. 22 



10 COMMON ERRORS. 

worthy of all acceptation, tliat Christ Jesus came into the 
■world to save sinners ; of ivliom I am chief. Howbeit, for 
this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 
might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them 
-which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
1 Tim. 1 : 15, 16. that such penitent, humble, holy sen- 
timents were deeply felt by you! Then you would no 
longer be boasting of your sincerity, but would be earnestly 
crying to God for mercy, through " Jesus, the mediator of 
the new covenant." Heb. 12 : 24. 

EIGHTH ERROR. 

I CAXNOT HAVE GRACE IF GOD DOES NOT GIVE IT TO ME, AND 
THEREFOKE I AM NOT TO BLAME. 

Do you presume to charge your Maker with injustice ? 
Will not the Judge of all the earth do right ? While you 
thus reflect on God, are you using the means of grace ? 
Are you earnest in prayer ? constant in God's house ? at- 
tentive to your Bible ? Are you earnestly striving to enter 
in at the strait gate ? You are not. You are forgetful of 
God, you are running into temptation, you are exposing 
your soul to evil ; and then you dare, while living in the 
neglect of God's commands, to accuse the Almighty of 
injustice. Would the man who had wholesome food pro- 
vided for him, which he refused to eat, be able to blame 
any one but himself because he was perishing ? Would the 
individual who voluntarily took poison, be just in blaming 
God for not preventing his death ? " Let no man say, when 
he is tempted, I am tempted of God ; for God cannot be 
tempted with evil,, neither tempteth he any man ; but every 
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts, 
and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth 



COMMON ERRORS. ' H 

forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." 
James 1 : 13-15. 

NINTH ERROR. 

I WILL TRY TO MAKE MYSELF FIT TO BE SAVED. 

Vain attempt ! You may as well endeavor to create a 
world, as to make yourself fit for the salvation of Jesus 
Christ. You are a sinner by nature and by practice, and 
of yourself will never feel any true desire to be pardoned 
and made holy. You may feel a degree of trembling when 
you think of your sins, and of the punishment they have 
deserved ; but yet not come unto the Lord Jesus Christ, 
by faith, that you may be saved in his appointed way. 
The heart of man is naturally evil : " The carnal mind is 
enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. It is utterly opposed 
to every truth on which a sinner's salvation depends. By 
vainly attempting to save yourself, and resting on your own 
efforts, you oppose Jesus Christ, you despise his great sal- 
vation, you neglect his offers of mercy, and throw contempt 
on the method God has himself appointed for the salvation 
of sinners. " He that despised Moses' law, died without 
mercy under two or three witnesses ; of how much sorer 
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worth}^, who 
hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted 
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an 
unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of 
grace?" Heb. 10: 29. 

Rest, then, no longer in your own endeavors. If you 
wait till you make yourself fit to be saved, you will not, you 
cannot be saved at all. Listen to the gracious invitation 
of Ihat God who knows the sinfulness and weakness of man, 
and rejoice that where sin abounded, grace did much more 



X2 COMMON ERRORS. 

abound : " Ho I every one that tliirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and 
eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money, and 
without price!" Isa. 55 : 1. 

The very circumstance wliich most magnifies the grace 
of God, namely, that he has offered salvation as a free and 
totally unmerited gift, appears an obstacle to ungrateful and 
unbelieving sinners. This arises from the pride and rebel- 
lion of the human heart. come, fall before the throne of 
grace, confess your sinfulness, mourn over the perverseness 
of your own heart, and pray, " Create in me a clean heart, 
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not 
away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from 
me." Ps. 51 : 10, 11. Thus humbly, and earnestly, and 
constantly pray that God the Holy Spirit would subdue 
your heart, remove your pride and self-dependence, en- 
hghten your mind, and lead you by faith, which is " the 
gift of God," Eph. 2 : 8, to the Lord Jesus Christ for that 
mercy which you do not, which you cannot deserve, and 
without which you must perish. 

Hear the kind and condescending words of the blessed 
Saviour : '* If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
imto your children, hoAv much more shall your heavenly 
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" Luke 
11 : 13. " God so loved the world that he gave his only- 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. You are, 
perhaps, partly depending on yourself, and partly on Jesus 
Christ. Know that he will not accept a divided heart. God 
addresses you : " My son, give me thy heart." Prov. 23 : 2G. 
He is a jealous God, and will not suffer any rival to usurp 
his place. Mark the description Avhich God gives of him- 



COMMON ERRORS. 13 

self: "There is no God besides me; a just God and a 
Saviour ; there is none besides me. Look unto me, and be 
ye saved, all the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and 
there is none else." Isa. 45 : 21, 22. 

The salvation of a sinner is, from beo^innino- to end, of 
God. The great Redeemer says, " Without me ye can do 
nothing." John 15 : 5. And again, " Him that cometh to 
me, I will in no wise cast out." John 6 : 37. You cannot 
come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet lean to yom-self. 
Resign, then, your heart wholly to him. Bow humbly be- 
fore God, and exclaim, with holy Job, "Behold, I am vile; 
what shall I answer thee ?" Job 40:4. "I abhor myself, 
and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42 : 6. Rejoice in the 
unmerited mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, and commit your 
soul entirely to his care ; for he, and he alone, " is able to 
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, 
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. 
7 : 25. "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever 
them that are sanctified." Heb. 10 : 14. See also Heb. 
7 : 26—28. 

Perhaps you may be secretly saying to yourself, " I am 
too great a sinner to be pardoned ; I will wait till I am 
more holy." This objection, though it appears in a differ- 
ent form, arises from the same source — a secret feeling that 
your own fitness Avill recommend you to God. Satan some- 
times appears as a " roaring lion," and sometimes as " an 
angel of light ;" either to terrify or to tempt the sinner from 
the Lord Jesus Christ. He cares not whether he can per- 
suade you to think yourself too bad, or too good, so that 
you are prevented from believing on the only Saviour. Be 
not ignorant of his devices. Keep constantly in view these 
two objects : the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the "un- 
VOL. V. 2'i"* 



X4 COMMON ERRORS. 

searcliable riches of Christ." Eph. 3 : 8. Despair of any 
thing from yourself, and look for ever}^ thing from Christ. 
Look to him as he is foretold in prophecy : " In that day- 
there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and 
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." 
Zech. 13 : 1. "The Spirit and the bride sa}^ Come. And 
let him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is athirst 
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
freely." Rev. 22:17. 

There are many other errors by which Satan, and igno- 
rant people, and a deceitful heart, lead sinners astray, to 
their everlasting destruction. Some say, " I have no time 
to attend to rehgion : my family and my business occupy 
the whole of my time, and these must not be neglected. 
Because you fulfil one duty, this will not excuse your neg- 
lect of another; and especially of this "one thing need-' 
ful" — the care of your never-dying soul. "What shall it 
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his 
own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
soul ?" Mark 8 : 36, 37. 

Others think, that if a dying person have time just to 
cry out, "Lord, have mercy upon me!'' before he die, all 
will be well ; but this idea has not the shadow of a founda- 
tion in the word of God. 

Others imagine, that if a minister, or other Christian, 
pray with a sick person before death, and especially if the 
dying person receive the sacrament, these will make his 
peace with God, and prove a passport to heaven. But 
alas ! to those who put their trust in these, the Saviour will 
say, " I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work 
iniquity." Matt. 7 : 23. 



COMMON ERRORS. 15 

Some excuse tliemselves by pleading the example of su- 
periors, as justifying them. Just as well might a poor thief 
plead that he ought to be acquitted, because he saw a rich 
man commit the same crime ; or had heard that some of 
his superiors had been guilty of murder. *' Be not deceiv- 
ed ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of 
the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit, 
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal. 6:7, 8. 

Some place a strong reliance on dreams, and the fancies 
of their minds ; but these are commonly caused by disease, 
or by some natural cause, and surely cannot be any founda- 
tion for a sinner to rely on for the salvation of his soul. 

Sometimes relatives will try to persuade sick persons 
that they have been very good, and that they need not fear. 
This is false kindness indeed ; it is trifling with the soul of 
a sinner, when on the brink of destruction. 0, dare not to 
trifle with the interests of an immortal soul ! Warn your 
afflicted friend to flee "from the wrath to come," 1 Thess. 
1 : 10, and to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," as the 
only and all-sufficient Saviour. 

All the errors and excuses which have been stated, and 
many others that might be named, are so many refuges of 
lies, devised by Satan, the father of lies, to prevent poor, 
perishing sinners from believing on Christ. They are the 
result of that state of alienation from God in which man's 
heart lies by nature. He could not indulge one of these 
dangerous mistakes, or satisfy himself with any such mise- 
rable subterfucjes, if he were not in a condition of mind 
most opposite to that of a child of God, the eyes of whose 
understanding have been opened by divine grace. Every 
such error proves that he enjoys none of the fruits of that 



16 COMMON ERRORS. 

union with the Redeemer on which his salvation depends. 
His whole soul, with every bent of its affections, needs to 
be turned from darkness unto light. It is not merely his 
conclusions which are wrong : his mmd is indisposed to 
right conclusions, for he is ''dead in trespasses and sins." 
His state itself is wrong, which leads him into numberless 
errors of both head and heart. These very errors are the 
indisputable evidences of an unconverted mind, and will 
never be effectually corrected until that great change take 
place, by which all the powers of the understanding, as 
well as the inclinations of the heart, are submitted to the 
authority of God, through the love of Christ Jesus. 

Pause, then, for a moment, and solemnly ask. Am I 
deceiving myself ? Have I an interest in the Lord Jesus 
Christ ? Am I indulging any sin in my heart ? " Search 
me, God, and know my heart ; try me, and know my 
thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and 
lead me in the way everlasting." Ps. 139 : 23, 24. Be- 
fore the heart-searching God, every excuse is vain : you 
may deceive yourself, you may deceive others ; but you 
cannot deceive God. listen now to the voice of the mer- 
ciful Saviour ! *' Hear, and your soul shall live." Isa. 
55 : 3. IS'ow seek the aids of God the Holy Spirit. " Be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
Acts 1C:31. But, if you refuse the invitations of love 
and mercy, and still harden your heart, and die in this 
awful state, that same Saviour, who now beseeches yow. to 
be reconciled unto God, will hereafter address you, and all 
who have rejected him : '' Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, 
and perish ; for I work a work in your days, a work which 
ye shall in nowise believe, though a man declare it unto 
you." Acts 13: 41. 



IXo. 163. 

THE SABBATH-BREAKER RECLAIMED, 

OR A PLEASIXG HISTORY OF 

THOMAS BROWN. 



0>' a fine Sabbath mom in the sweet month of May, 
When the haAvthorn in blossom was seen, 

When perfumes fiU'd tlie air, and all nature look'd gay, 
And the fields wore a livery of green. 

Thomas said to his wife, " The morning is fine. 

Then let us walk out at our leisure ; 
I have work'd p»11 the week, recreation we'll seek. 

And the fields will afford us much pleasure." 

Said his wife, " All our clothes are both dirty and torn, 
Which will set decent people a talking ; 

I shall feel much asham'd, and we both shall be blam'd, 
By those we may meet as we're walking." 

" The birds and tlie cattle," says Thomas, " you know. 
Dress all days alike, void of care ; 
Let us follow their plan, be as blithe as we can. 
And not make things worse than they are." 

" They can't well be worse, for at home or abroad 
We've nothing for dinner to-day ; 
Our money's all gone, and credit we've none. 
So e'en let us do as you say." 

They lock'd up their house, and their children they took, 

Unhappy at home or abroad ; 
And away they all went — 'twas a Sabbatli misspent — 

For the chance of the fields or the road. 

Not long they had walk'd, when a neighbor they met. 

And they tried his attention to shun ; 
But he saw tliem so plain, to escape hmi was vain. 

And thus to discourse he begun. 

" Where have you been wand'ring about, Thomas Brown ? 

In your jacket so out of repair ?" 
" A rambling I've been o'er the meadow so green. 

And I work in the jacket I wear," 

" But do you not hear the church bell, Thomas Brown? 

Oh ! why not the Sabbath regard ?" 
" We a living must seek, and we work all the week, 

If we can't enjoy Sunday, 'tis hard !" 



HISTORY OF THOMAS BROWxX. 

" But wliat could your work do for you, Thomas Brown, 
Were you not by your Maker befriended ?" 

" Why that I don't know ; if to church we should go. 
Perhaps matters would not be much mended." 

" What I say I intend for your good, Thomas Brown, 

And your friend am desirous to be !" 
" Why, that I suppose, or your time you'd not lose 

To discourse with a poor man like me." 

" This world is fast hast'ning away, Thomas Brown, 

And short are the pleasures of man ;" 
" Then there's no time to spare, let us drive away care, 

And merrily live while we can." 

" But what, when this world you shall leave, Thomas Brown, 

If your soul in dread torments shall lie ?" 
" Why that, to be sure, would be hard to endure. 

But I cannot well help it, not I." 

" Yet the wretch under sentence of death, Thomas Brown, 

Would be glad for a pardon to run 1" 
" Why, yes, so would I, if condemned to die ; 

But I know not what harm I have done." 

" The Bible will tell you your sin, Thomas Brown, 

And a Saviour will bring to your view ;" 
" The learn'd there may look, but I can't read the book ; 

It may, or it may not be true." 

" Hie away to the church on the hill, Thomas Brown, 

For if you can't read, you can hear." 
" The man with the band I shall not understand ; 

The rich and the wise may go there." 

" The Gospel is preach'd to the poor, Thomas Brown, 
And would lighten your cares, do not doubt it." 

" You speak like a friend, but I do not intend 
To trouble myself much about it." 

" Could I tell you where treasure is hid, Thomas Brown, 

You would spare neither labor nor pains." 
" In that you are right : I would dig day and night. 

And merrily live on my gains." 

" But what, should you gain the whole world, Thomas Brown, 

And lose your own soul at the last ?" 
" Why, my courage would cool ; I should then prove a fool, 

And sorely repent of the past." 



HISTORY OF THOMAS BROWN. 

" Seek in time for the kingdom of God, Thomas Brown, 

And your pleasures will never decay." 
" I feel half inclin'd to become of your mind, 

And I hope I shall do as you say." 

" May the God of all peace give you grace, Thomas BroAvn, 

In his fear and his favor to dwell." 
" Your wish is most kind, I shall bear it in mind ; 

And so for the present farewell." 



SECOND DIALOGUE. 

SUNDAY MORNING. 

" Whither go you, so clean and well clad, Thomas Brown, 

For your jacket's a new one, I see." 
" Sir, I go, with good-will, to the church on the hill, 

To thank God for his goodness to me." 

" To hear this, it does my heart good, Thomas Brown, 

And I hope you'll continue to go." 
" This, sir, I intend ; and as you are my friend. 

You'll be pleas'd something further to know. 

When, after our converse, I first went to church, 

I remember'd the days of my folly ; 
When I heard tliem at prayer, I thought God must be there, 

And the place appear'd solemn and holy. 

The prayers being over, then sweetly they sung : 

I felt glad that I had gone in ; 
The sermon came next, and this was the text. 

That ' death is the wages of sin.' 

The minister told us, that all wicked men. 

Who tlie paths of iniquity trod, 
Would be turn'd into hell, in darkness to dwell. 

And all people forgetting their God. 

1 listened awhile, and felt struck with fear, 

A cloud seem'd to hang o'er my head ; 
A tear stood in my eye, and I could not tell why. 

But my heart was as heavy as lead. 

On the morrow I spoke of Avhat I had heard, 
While my shopmates were laughing and lazy, 

And I should have said more, but they set up a roar. 
And cried out, ' Tom Browm has gone crazy !' 



HISTORY OF THOMAS BROWN. 

Then I laiigh'd and I sung with the best of them all, 

And tried to forget what had pass'd ; 
But I thought in my mind, shall I good in this find, 

If I lose my own soul at the last ! 

So again the next Sunday I Avent to the church, 
Though my shopmates all join'd to upbraid ; 

For I thought, why should I fear a man that will die 
More than Him by whom all things were made ? 

The minister spoke so loud and so plain, 
That the poorest might well understand ; 

' Repent ye,' said he, and seem'd pointing at me, 
' For the kingdom of God is at hand.' 

I felt myself vile, as he told me my sins ; 

That he knew them, I could not well doubt it ; 
For it came in my head what to you I liad said. 

And I thought you had told all about it. 

When I heard what my Saviour had sufFer'd, 1 wept ; 

How he groan'd and he died on the tree ; 
But O, the blest hour ! for the word came Vvith power, 

And I knew tliat he sufFer'd for me. 

Thus God has dealt with me, and thus has been pleas'd 
His great goodness and grace to impart ; 

It Avas terror and dread that first bow'd down my head, 
But 'twas mercy that melted my heart. 

Every week from my wages a sixpence I spare, 

A Bible to buy, for I need it ; 
And when time I can spare, to a friend I repair. 

Who has promis'd to teach me to read it. 

And you, sir, have been a most kind friend to me. 

This I own, though I cannot repay ; 
But yet there is One who this kindness will own 

At the last and the great judgment day. 

For myself, as becomes a poor, weak, sinful man, 

I will pray for support from on high. 
To walk in God's ways, my Saviour to praise. 

And to trust in his grace till I die. 

And though poor, and unwise in the ways of the world, 

I believe in the truth of God's word. 
That true ynches are they which will not pass away. 

And iriie icisdom, the fear of the Lord." 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



IVo. 164. 



BETHEL; 



OK, 



THE FLAG UNFURLED 

BY REV. G. C, SMITH. OF PENZANCE. 

FORMERLT A. NAVAL OFFICER. 




The meetings for religious worship, on the river Thames, 

originated with A , who was accustomed, when a boy, 

to visit the coal-ships in the port of London, his father being 
a coal-measurer. The Lord had rescued him from sin ; and 
he had suffered so much under convictions, and received so 
little attention from Christians at that time, that he had de- 
termined to pity and help any one who appeared to him 
under serious impressions. 

One day in 1814, while attending a Wesleyan chapel, 
he formed an acquaintance with the captain of the ship 
Friendship, whom he observed weeping under the sermon. 
This induced him to visit the ship ; and finding the crew un- 
employed, he invited them into the cabin, and prayed with 
VOL. v. 23 



2 BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 

them. He repeated his visit ; and was soon requested to 
hokl a similar meeting on board the Hammond. The 
work of God gradually advanced ; many ships were added 
to the number for encouraging prayer ; and it being winter, 
a lantern, hoisted at the main-topgallant-mast head, was 
fixed on as the signal to apprise the sailors what ship was 
agreed on for the night. 

As the spring advanced, it was agreed that a blue flag 
should be made ; the word Bethel in the centre, and a star 
in the corner rising in the east, in red : another flaor with a 
dove bearing an olive-branch has since been added. This 
was first hoisted on the Lord's-day afternoon, on board the 
Zephyr, when the people assembled were more numerous 
than on any preceding occasion. 

About this time, May, 1817, a friend, designated Onesi- 
phorus, sent to the Religious Tract Society the following 
account : 

" Having been informed that there was much good 
going forward among the sailors, as my business lies in the 
shipping, I determined, the first opportunity, to ascertain 
the truth of it. On/rhursday afternoon, I had occasion to 
go down the river, and, in the midst of a number of Col- 
liers, saw the signal, and rowed silently alongside. The 
quarter-deck was covered with an awning ; one of the sail- 
ors was engaged in prayer, and, on his concluding, another 
immediately began. Their expressions of gratitude for 
mercies received, and sorrow on account of the depravity 
of their hearts ; their humble trust in a crucified Jesus for 
salvation, and prayers for each other, that they might be 
kept from the evil of the world and all the temptations to 
which they were exposed, evidently showed that they had 
set their faces towards Zion. On the conclusion of the 
second prayer, they sung a hymn, one gave the benediction, 
and they began to separate. 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLEa 3 

" I immediately went upon deck, and said to the captain, 
I hoped he would excuse the intrusion of a stranger, who 
had been alongside a short time, and was happy to heai 
them so well, and, I hoped, so profitably engaged. He 
rephed, there was no occasion for any apology, as they 
were all rejoiced when any one came from the shore to their 
meetings, for it encouraged and helped them on, and he 
begged I would come, the following evening, on board the 

H ; and added, ' If you could procure us some Tracts, 

we should be very much obliged — we are much in want of 
some, and they are the means of doing a deal of good.' 
He told me there were seven shi2)s in the trade, in ivhich there 
was regular family devotion, every morning and evening, at 
sea and in harbor ; and he hoped much good would accrue 
from it. On leaving the ship, I promised, if possible, to be 
with them on Friday, and bring them some Tracts. I ac- 
cordingly Avent, having a supply from the depository, and 
took Mrs. P. and my son with me. On delivering the par- 
cel to Capt. W., he expressed his gratitude in such terms, 
that, if any of youi' Committee had been on board, I think 
it would have done their hearts good. The mate of the 

H told me, yesterday, that the people sat up on the 

half-deck till near midnight, reading them. 

" At a quarter past seven, the people were all called on 
the quarter-deck, when the service began by singing a hymn, 
and then prayer, and so alternately till nine o'clock, when 
the meeting concluded. There were about thirty present, 
of whom about nine or ten led in prayer — two or three were 
captains, the others mates and seamen ; and I do assure 
you, it is very long since I enjoyed such a pleasant oppor- 
tunity. Their fervent prayers at the throne of grace for 
the * strangers, whom nothing but Christian love could have 
induced to come and visit poor sailors,' were truly affecting. 
The place was indeed a Bethel, and I think it could have 
been said by all present, * It is good to be here.' Before 



4 BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 

we left the ship, we had many more expressions of gratitude 
for the Tracts, and an unanimous wish, that we should repeat 
our visits, and also bring some pious friends with us." 

This A^ery gracious display of divine mercy to sailors 
was chiefly among the Colliers, in what is called the Lower 
Pool ; and it w^as natural to suppose the sailors would flock 
on shore to hear the word of God. This was soon observed, 
in one meeting ; and as the numbers became too great to be 
accommodated, a respectable and pious merchant at Rother- 
hithe determined on enlarging a room he had previously 
erected for a Sunday-school. This was done at a very 
considerable expense, which Mr. J. generously bore himself, 
from an earnest wish to benefit the souls of our brave sea- 
men. 

Prayer-meetings were established every Sabbath morn- 
ing at seven o'clock, and preaching in the afternoon at 
half-past two, together with a weekly service on Wednesday 
evenings. All these means of grace have been well attend- 
ed, and exceedingly profitable. Mr. J. being in connection 
with the Wesleyan Methodists, and occasionally preaching, 
he has deemed it right to meet the pious sailors in class, 
for Christian communion, and had at one time not less than 
fifty present, who appeared to enjoy the love of Christ shed 
abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them : 
so mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed. 

It was not to be imagined that Satan would view with 
indiff"erence such an assault on his kingdom as was now 
making by converted sailors. Persecution, therefore, the 
natural consequence of a revival in religion, raged furiously 
for a time. Owners forbade their captains allowing such 
meetings on board their ships. Ungodly captains and sail- 
ors poured forth the most dreadful oaths ; even cabin-boys 
joined in throwing coals at those who were seriously dis- 
posed ; and the watermen united in the general clamor 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 5 

against this work of God. Sailors, to their utter astonish- 
ment, found, that when they called for damnation with every 
breath ; when they wallowed in uncleanness, and pressed 
forward to destroy body and soul, then they were applaud- 
ed ; but now that they wished to seek the salvation of their 
souls, the comfort of their families, and the glory of God, 
they were accursed of men, and bitterly persecuted. The 
Lord their God graciously supported them. They have out- 
lived those prejudices, weathered the storms, and compelled 
their enemies to confess that this is the work of God. 

Two months after the visit of Onesiphorus, the writer 
arrived in London, and was informed of the Thames prayer- 
meetings ; and an early evening was appointed when he 
should visit a ship, and witness the holy efforts of pious 
sailors. The vessel boarded on this occasion was the 
Zephyr. The writer, filled with astonishment at what be 
heard and saw, addressed the seamen, and, in a few days 
afterwards, preached to them on the deck of the Zephyr, 
to a crowded congregation. Determined to improve this 
pleasing gale of divine grace among English sailors, he an- 
nounced a sermon to them at Poplar, and there publicly 
solicited a ship for another sermon, if any merchant or 
owner was present. The Agenoria was immediately offered 
him, and he preached on board of that ship to an immense 
multitude of sailors. A few weeks afterwards, he preached 

again on the deck of the John, Capt. B , and invited 

the sailors to engage in prayer. These exertions produced 
in his mind the idea of a fioaling chapel : a plan in which 
Onesiphorus heartily joined, who united with the writer in 
transferring the scheme to the respectable and pious gen- 
tlemen who have so ably managed the business, and estab- 
lished the ark for the preaching of the Gospel on the liver 
Thames. These particulars are presented much more in 
detail in a Tract called the " British Ark ;" but are narrated 
here to preserve the connection of events. The prayer- 
VOL. V. 23* 



6 BETHEL OR THE FLAG UXFUKLED. 

meetings continued to advance through 1818, and the wri- 
ter again had the pleasure, in the summer of that year, to 
unite with the seamen on board the Zephyr and other ships, 
in the soul-reviving services. In June of this year, Onesi- 
phorus made the following communication to the Religious 
Tract Society: 

"A. few days after receiving your last grant of Tracts, 
I visited all the vessels at the wharves, on the south side of 
the river, from London Bridge to Pickle Herring Stairs. 
The anxiety of the sailors to obtain Tracts was great ; and 
one, in particular, said, that he took it very hind of me to 
bring the Tracts, and that he should read them with pleas- 
ure. I could not help remarking, with great satisfaction, 
after having left one tier of ships and gone to the next, 
when I looked back, and saw the men and boys, who had 
before been talking about some very idle, if not worse, 
matters, now differently engaged : two or three were seated 
on the windlass, two leaning against the capstan, some on 
the hatchways, and others in different parts of the vessels ; 
all intent on reading Tracts ; and not a word was to be 
heard. In each of the vessels I visited that evening, I 
spoke to them of t\\e Jioatlnf/ chapel, moored off the London 
docks, expressly for seamen, and urged them to go. Many 
promised they would. I have reason to think, from the 
respectable number of seamen who attend the arh, that my 
advice has been followed. May the number increase, till 
other floating places of worship are found necessary to 
contain them. I have had a great call for Tracts, to sup- 
ply the seamen Avho attend worship on the river ; and as 
we have new faces almost every Sabbath, a new distribution 
is constantly necessary. 

" I have given many to sailors, on my way to a chapel, 
on the Sabbath, as it lies near the Avater-side. One young 
sailor, who was lounging about, I asked whether he went 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 7 

to a place of worship. ' Sometimes, sir,' * And why don't 
you go now, my lad ; the church- bells are chiming, and it 
is a very bad plan to'be idling in the streets, as, very fre- 
quently, young men get into bad company through it, and 
come to a bad end.' He said his clothes were not good 
enough. I replied, ' If you will not be ashamed to be seen 
in my company, I shall not be ashamed of yours ; and as I 
am going to a place of worship, come along with me.' He 
immediately turned round, and followed me. I seated him 
in my pcAv, gave him a hymn-book ; and he was so well 
pleased, that he came on the subsequent Sunday, brought 
one of his shipmates with him, and told me he should 
make a practice of attending in future, whenever he was in 
port. 

" I am convinced, by this one instance, that, if serious 
Christians would, in an affectionate way, take these poor 
fellows by the hand, and use a little persuasion, the streets 
would, in a great measure, be cleared, and our places of 
worship better attended by seafaring men. I afterwards 
went on board the ship this young man belonged to, and 
distributed Tracts to all the ship's company. 

'' Last Monday I was invited to the prayer-meeting on 
board one of the Colliers, and was happy to find it held in 
the ship commanded by the captain who first set these 
meetings on foot ; I had often heard of him with pleasure, 
but never before saw him. We had a most pleasant even- 
ing ; many of the weather-beaten sailors prayed in a most 
fervent manner ; and it is really good to be with them. 
After the meeting was concluded, I distributed some Tracts 
to them, and reserved a few for the captain, which he was 
very thankful for. He mentioned the following circumstance 
to me, which occurred last summer, while lying in the 
Thames, discharging his cargo. * I was one morning very 
much annoyed as I was in bed, by three of the coal-heavers 
swearing at one another in the most horrid manner ; I called 



Q BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UXFL'RLED. 

the mate, and asked him if he had got The Swearer's 
Prayer ; he looked over a few Tracts I had in a drawer, 
and found one, the only one left. I dressed myself, and 
went on deck ; laid hold of the one who swore most, and 
took him to the other end of the ship ; made him call the 
other two men, and gave him the Tract, desiring him to 
read it to the others. He began, and at length got through 

it, but not without tears. He said, * Capt. H , do you 

think there can be mercy for me V He repeated the ques- 
tion Avith orreat earnestness, cryino- all the time. 'I told him,' 

said Capt. H- , 'that there Avas mercy for the vilest 

sinner that repented and fled to the blood of Christ.' The 
man replied, ' Then there is hope, and I will seek after it, 
and trust I shall never more be guilty of such sins.' " 

Thus the work of the Lord proceeded rapidly among 
the sailors, and many pious friends were raised up to en- 
courao-e it. The writer's attention, this summer, was chiefly 
directed to the Ark, and as this vessel was crowded on the 
Sabbath mornings, he usually invited three or four pious 
seamen to engage in prayer. Many hundreds from the shore 
will lono- remember those delio-htful seasons. Some strik- 
ing expressions used by the seamen at this time, have pro- 
duced the most powerful impressions on unregenerate lands- 
men. 

We had long thought of the vessels that lie between 
London bridge and the Ark; and as no prayer-meetings 
had been held in this part of the river, it was particularly 
desirable that an attempt should be made to establish them 
here. The prayer-meetings had hitherto been confined to 
the Lower Pool, among the sailors. Impressed with the 
importance of such meetings in the Upper Pool, Onesipho- 
rus one day hinted this to a captain from Hull, Avhose ves- 
sel lay at Chamberlain's wharf, close to London biidge ; an 
evening was appointed, and the writer was to open the 
meeting with an address on board liis ship, the Ocean, 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 9 

Capt. F . The winter was approaching, the days soon 

closed, and two lanterns were therefore hoisted, as a signal, 
at the main-topgallant-mast head. The writer coming down 
Fish- street hill, beheld the lanterns, and standing on London 
bridge, indulged the following train of thought. 

A signal for 'prmjer ! How strange ! I have seen almost 
every signal usually made, in the merchant service and the 
navy, but none like this. As signal officer, I have been 
accustomed to make, to repeat, and to answer signals, night 
and day, in calms, or storms, or fogs, or battles ; I have in 
consequence witnessed signals to weigh, to moor, to form in 
line, to chase, to board, and to hear prayers read, but never 
until this moment did I behold a signal, close to London 
bridge, for sailors to assemble and pray themselves. 

A signal for prayer ! How unexpected! What, Eng- 
lish sailors pray ! The river Thames exhibit a standard for 
God ! Is it possible that sailors, who have been proverbial 
for drunkenness, blasphemy, impurity, and desperate wick- 
edness — that they should be eminent for social prayer and 
personal piety ? Alas, English sailors have long been given 
up by many good men, as abandoned of God to work all 
uncleanness with greediness. They have literally been led 
captive by the devil, at his will. The Thames, with very 
few exceptions, has been under the dominion of the god of 
this world. Every week its thousands of depraved mari- 
ners have rushed on shore, and like a swarm of locusts from 
the bottomless pit, filled the public-houses and brothels on 
the banks, contaminating the very atmosphere with their 
polluted breath, and impiously defying the terrors of death, of 
judgment, and of hell. Sin has al)ounded. Satan has reigned. 
Hell has triumphed. Millions have been damned. Is the 
period now arrived when He, who led captivity captive, and 
received gifts for the rebellious, that the Lord God might 
dwell among them, should reign among sailors ? Is almighty 
grace now to superabound ? Sin has risen to the banks of 



10 BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED, 

the Thames, in a dreadful flood. Is eternal mercy now to 
overflow the banks, and grace reign among sailors through 
righteousness unto eternal life ? Wondrous thought ! surely 
the Son of God again condescends to visit this sea of Gali- 
lee, and pluck these as brands from the burning, that they 
may be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. 

A signal f 07' 'prayer ! What an exani^olefor London Chris- 
tians ! Sailors have been bold for sin, they are now bold for 
righteousness ; they were not ashamed of Satan as their 
master, and now the}' blush not to avow Christ as their Re- 
deemer. His " ensign " shall be raised, and his signals made, 
until he draws all men unto him. Christians, examine your 
prayer-meetings, how thinly attended, how dull the service, 
how heavy and long the prayers ! Say you, a little more 
sleeky, a little more slumber ? No, arouse from your supine- 
ness and lethargy, go to the Ark — go to the Thames, board 
the ship of prayer, and there learn how " the kingdom of 
heaven suff'ers violence, and the violent take it by force." 

A signal for prayer ! How cheering to my heart I Blessed 
God ! I'll hasten on board, and mingle my tears, and pray- 
ers, and praises, with my brother seamen. Ah, Lord, long, 
very long have I been a poor wanderer from thee. Pre- 
served in the storm, defended in the battle, and yet I knew 
thee not. AVell, thou hast brought me up at last in safe 
anchorage ; my anchor's cast within the veil. " The fair 
havens" are full in prospect, and eternity like a vast ocean 
rolls before me. Oh grant, God of all my mercies, ere I 
launch forth into that fathomless abyss, grant, I beseech 
thee, that the unworthiest of all thy creatures may be made 
useful to sailors. * 

The tears stole down the cheeks of the writer as he 
closed this ejaculatory address, and he hastened on board 
to use the means in which the blessing might be found. 

The night being very dark and wet, the meeting was 
licld in the cabin of the Ocean. It was ouite full, and sev- 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 11 

eral sailors stowed themselves away on tlie lialf-deck. This 
meeting was followed by several more in the Upper Pool ; 
and repeated assemblies for prayer on the decks, or in the 
cabins of different ships, produced both discovery andjimion. 
Several pious captains and sailors were discovered, and all 
were united in the grand object of benefiting the souls of 
sailors in general. 

We could insert a long list of ships, on board of which 
prayer-meetings have since been held in the Upper Pool, 
and detail many highly interesting facts ; but even this is 
not to be considered as a specimen of the Lower Pool, where 
prayer-meetings have been held in seven or nine ships in 
one night, in each of which many sailors have attended, and 
several prayed. Lanterns have been seen from tier to tier 
as sio-nals, and the lower part of the Thames has exhibited 
the most extraordinary appearance. 

It is worthy of remark how graciously the Lord has 
helped forward this work. It is now established in both 
Pools, and though ships are continually going and return- 
ing, either coasting or foreign, yet the friends of those 
prayer-meetings, who live on shore, are never at a loss for 
a ship. There are always a few in harbor on whom they 
can constantly depend ; but they usually inquire after the 
meetings, " Is there any captain present who will lend us 
his ship for to-morrow night ?" If no one offers, they give 
notice of a ship they know they can have, and the flag is 
hoisted on board of her at nine o'clock next day. A num- 
ber of sailors and cabin-boys have been truly awakened at 
those meetings, and the good that has been done is incal- 
culable. In March, 1817, Screw Bay, a most abandoned 
neio-hborhood in the Hidi-street of Rotherhithe, was fixed 
on as a place suitable for prayer-meetings on shore. Many 
of the sailors attended the Methodist Qhapeh on Sabbath 
evenings, and at half past seven, when it closed, they went 
to this bay ; and under the direction of A , who had 



12 BETHEL, OR THE FLAG Ux\FURLED. 

borrowed a room here, tliey poured out their souls to God 
for the guilty inhabitants. The same plan was adopted 
here as on board ; that is, at the close of the meeting, they 
inquired, " Is there any neighbor here who will lend a room 
for next Sabbath evening?" By such methods and by the 
distribution of Tracts, the very worst houses have been 
obtained, doors and windows thrown open, and the most 
depraved sinners driven to their Bibles, by the prayers of 
six or seven converted sailors, every Sabbath evening. At 
first, great persecution followed, but now all is tranquil, 
many have become serious, numbers attend meetings at 
seven o'clock, and shameless immorality is suppressed. 
Some watermen, who were at first most opposed, have now 
opened their houses for these meetings. 

In addition to this we have to report that some captains 
have had Bethel flags made and taken to sea with them, 
and as the signal is pretty well known among sailors, those 
captains, when obliged to anchor in a roadstead or bay, 
generally hoist the signal for prayer in the evening, and as 
many sailors as choose go on board. 

It must be obvious, to every enlightened mind, that this 
is a plan that promises the utmost usefulness throughout 
the world, in proportion as the number and zeal of praying 
captains increase. 

The writer had always viewed the floating chapel like a 
place of worship in a town surrounded with villages ; and 
as he considered it his duty to advocate itinerant exertions 
to every village and cottage of the kingdom, that the people 
might be induced to attend the worship of God in town, so 
it appeared equally important that a system of itinerant 
preaching should be adopted from ship to ship, that sailors 
might be drawn to attend the Ark, and such places of wor- 
ship as would gladly receive them. Upon this principle he 
has preached in a very large number of ships. 

Immediately after the sermon in each ship, the preacher 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 13 

has invited half a dozen seamen to engage in prayer; they 
have cheerfully complied, with such fervor, humility, and 
holy importunity, as he scarcely ever remembers to have 
seen, excepting on similar occasions. These services have 
usually been held on a very croivdcd deck of a vessel lying 
in a tier of ships, an awning overhead, sailors and landsmen 
from the shore intermixed. 

A few sentences, uttered in the honest simplicity of their 
hearts, may not be unacceptable. 

The master of the Hannah " rejoiced that he had lived 
to see the day when this ship became the house of God, 
and had the Gospel preached to so large an assembly on 
her decks." 

A captain observed, " Lord, thou know^est we sailors 
have long been a disgrace to our country ; that we may 
now become an ornament to the religion of Jesus Christ, 
wherever w'e land." 

A sailor cried, " Lord, six and twenty years ago I was a 
poor cabin-boy in this ship. Ah, what a race of iniquity I 
have since run I What has God done for me ! Lord, it 
is all of thy grace ; thou hast saved me from hell, and brought 
me among my brethren to hear thy word. Bless me, even 
me, Lord ; and bless the lad that noAv occupies the 
station thy poor worm filled six and twenty years ago." 

Another said, " Lord, what great things thou hast 
done for us poor sailors, thou hast changed the drunkard's 
song to a hymn of praise, and the blasphemer's language 
into humble prayer; surely, Lord, w^e ought to love thee." 

Another said, " Lord, how" often have we poor sailors 
been at our wit's end, and knew not what to do ! Lord, 
thou hast made the sea a calm, and brought us to our 
desired haven ; what can we vile rebels say unto thee, 
Lord ? Voyage after voyage w^e are preserved ; and yet, 
Lord, what sinners we are. make us more holy and 
more zealous." 

VOL. V. 24 



14 BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 

Another said, " Lord, how greatly our hearts rejoice to 
see what is going forward on the Thames ; surely, thou hast 
taken possession of the strong holds of Satan. Here reio-n 
triumphant, blessed Jesus, until every sailor submits to 
thine authority." 

Another said, " Lord, grant that the time may soon 
come when we shall no longer have to go from tier to tier, 
and say, Know ye the Lord ; but, when every captain, mate, 
cook, carpenter, sailor, and cabin-boy shall Imow the Lord, 
from the least to the greatest." 

Another prayed, " Lord, we rejoice to see the Bethel 
flag flying on the Thames ; may it never be struck, but 
may it fly to invite sailors to prayer in every roadstead, or 
bay, or harbor, when we come to an anchor. Lord, we have 
been champions for the devil, make us champions for 
Christ. Let our example shine, that wicked captains and 
sailors may be constrained to say. The Lord is with them." 

Another said, " The sea has again confessed thy power, 
and brought us back, after a long voyage, to join our breth- 
ren in prayer on the Thames. Ah, Lord, how many dangers 
have we escaped ! Surely, thou art the God of the sea as 
well as of the land : salvation is of thee, Lord." 

Another said, " Lord, how is it that thou shouldst come 
on board our ship and bless poor sailors. Lord, we feel, 
we know that thou art here ; and though we are not worthy 
that thou shouldst come on board to sup with us, yet we 
will not, we cannot let thee go except thou bless us." 

Another said, " Lord, how often have the waves 
rolled, and the winds blew, and all hope that we could be 
saved was taken away ; then we cried unto thee, Lord. 
In our distress, we said. Lord, save us or we perish : and, 
ah, blessed Jesus, thou hast rebuked the wind, and said. 
Peace, be still ; and there was a great calm, and we are the 
living, the living to praise thee as it is this day." 

Another said, "Lord, what a wonder it is that thou 



BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 15 

sliouldst put it into the hearts of people from shore to think 
of poor wicked sailors, and come off to our ships, and pray 
-with us. Lord, bless these dear people from the shore ; 
and, Lord, when they are lying comfortably in their warm 
beds on shore, and we are out at sea, by night, tossed with 
the tempest, and at our wit's end, Lord, grant these dear 
people may think of poor sailors, and pray for them." 

Another said, " Lord, Ave sailors have spread much evil, 
and brought a reproach on our country, by our wicked 
conduct in foreign lands : now, Lord, be pleased to grant 
that we may all become missionaries for Christ in every 
port ; and may we prove to foreigners, that God can and 
will bless sailors, and make the vilest enemies of his cross 
become the most zealous friends to his glorious cause." 

A captain said, " Lord, we have heard to-night that if a 
man has been to sea he will ever after love sailors, and if his 
heart is changed by thy grace he will love to do good for 
sailors ; Lord, thou knowest that if he does not he is not 
worthy the name of a sailor. Lord, thou knowest how we 
love to see sailors coming to Christ ; Lord, increase the 
number ; we rejoice that ever the Bethel flag was unfurled, 
and Ave pray that there may be ten flags flying every night 
in the upper pool, and double the number in the lower, 
because there are more ships." This Avas expressed with 
astonishing fervor and simplicity. 

A captain remarked, "Lord ! it is good for us to meet 
on board our ship for prayer. bless these jDOor sailors ! 
We knoAv thee to be a prayer-hearing God ! Lord, go Avith 
those of our brethren Avho are about to sail. Be thou their 
pilot, their chart, their anchor, and their desired haven." 

A sailor prayed, " Lord, pity me ; I haA'-e been a great 
rebel ! Lord, thou hast broken my hard heart ! the lion is a 
lamb ! Lord, Avho Avould ever have thought that I should 
love prayer ! save my brother sailors ! Lord make them 
thy seTA^ants !" 



IQ BETHEL, OR THE FLAG UNFURLED. 

A captain said, "We thank thee, God, in our old 
age, that vre see such a work as this going forward among 
sailors. Surely, thou art doing great things for them ! 
Some of us have been more than forty years tossed on the 
ocean, and preserved by thee. We, Lord, can tell of thy 
goodness. bless every vessel out at sea ; and every coast- 
er steerinof for this river." 

Another captain said, " Lord, how wonderful it is that 
thou shouldst have mercy on us wicked sailors, Avho have 
been the offscourings of all things. Surely thou hast, by 
thine almio-htv arm, brouo-ht back to thv fold those who 
had been driven away in the dark and cloudy day of human 
apostasy." He then poured forth his soul with imcommon 
earnestness for the brethren who were now in prayer at the 
lower pool. 

A ship- carpenter expressed his astonishment *' that such 
a set of poor, ignorant, wicked men should be brought to- 
gether in this manner. Rejoicing in the love of Christ 
Jesus ; and looking in hope of eternal life through him." 
The ardent cries they sent up to heaA'en for the writer were 
of a nature too affectionate and flattering to be repeated, 
but too pious and earnest ever to be forgotten. 

The writer cannot, as a seaman and a Christian, but 
rejoice in this great work of the Lord among British sea- 
men ; he anticipates the most glorious results to the com- 
merce, the character, and the usefulness of his country ; and 
prays that the same blessings may be extended to seamen 
and landsmen in every nation of the globe. 



No. 165. 

TRUE AND FALSE 

CONVERSIONS DISTINGUISHED. 



Let the reader lay it to heart, that deception in respect 
to our rehgioiis experience is 2)ossible. The apostle intimates, 
^hat a man may think himself to be something, when he is 
nothing, and so deceive himself. Gal. 6:3. He cannot 
deceive God, but himself he may deceive ; for " the heart 
is deceitful above all things." It is said in the Scripture, 
that " the hope of the hypocrite shall perish ;" which 
supposes that some hypocrites are self-deceived, else they 
would have no hope to lose. Five of the ten virgins had 
lamps without oil ; that is, they had hopes and profession 
without grace. In the parable of the sower, the seed which 
fell on stony places, and which sprang up without taking 
any root, represents a defective conversion. The joy with 
which the word is said to have been received, bespeaks a 
hope of pardon ; but it was a hope without foundation. 

From the Scriptures we learn, that there are those who 
trust in themselves that they are righteous — and, from a 
conceit of their own superior goodness, despise others — 
who, nevertheless, will in no case enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. " There is a generation that are pure in their own 
eyes " — i. e,, in their own conceit, they are renewed men — 
" and yet is not Avashed from their filthiness." Prov. 30 : 12. 
Let me entreat you, my dear reader, to let this thought be 
fixed deep in your mind — that you ma^ he deceived about 
the state of your own heart. I do not say that vou are 

VOL. v. 24* 



2 TRUE A.\D FALSE 

deceived, but it is a possible case : therefore examine your- 
self whether you be in the faith. 

To be deceived with a false hope, as it is possible, so it 
is very dreadful. It is a deception which will prove ruin- 
ous to those who are laboring under it. It proved ruinous 
to the five foolish virgins, who seem to have supposed, all 
the while that the bridegroom tarried, that they had oil in 
their vessels. They did not therefore think of applying for 
oil, until the comingj of the brideo^room made their destitute 
state manifest. 

The whole of our fallen race are divided into two wide- 
ly different classes, by the separating line of the new birth. 
Those who are on the one side of this line are the friends 
of God, and those on the other side are his enemies : those 
who are on the one side, are in the narrow way Avhich leads 
to life ; while those on the other side are in the broad way 
which leads to hell. Now, what a dreadful mistake it must 
be, for those who are on the wrong side of this separating 
line, to fancy themselves to be on the right side, and in the 
path to life, when there is but a step between them and 
eternal death. And there is no hope of their being turned 
out of this perilous road into the path of life, unless they 
can be convinced of the worthlessness of their religion. To 
effect this is no easy thing ; for their false religion is entire- 
ly to their taste. They have chosen their own delusions. 
Had the man who is deceived the same jealousy of his own 
heart which the true convert has, there Avould be hope that 
he would find out his mistake. But it is not so ; for, while 
he is " wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked," he fancies that he is ''rich, and increased in goods, 
and has need of nothing." 

I have reason to expect, from the light of God's word, 
that those who are most dreadfully deceived, will be the 
least apt to suspect themselves. As means to prevent 
being deceived in respect to their conversion, let my readers 
attend to the following directions. 

I. Do not rest in the good opinion which others enter- 



CONVERSIONS DISTINGUISHED. 3 

tain of your conversion. "Let every man prove his own 
work; then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and 
not in another." Another cannot know with certainty 
that your heart is right with God. There is none but the 
Searcher of hearts, and yourself, that can know Avith cer- 
tainty the state of your heart. After Peter had called Sil- 
vanus, who was an eminent Christian minister, a faithful, 
brother, he adds this quahfying clause, ''as I suiyposer By 
this we are taught, that even an apostle did not pretend to 
know the hearts of others with an infallible certainty. If 
all the ministers, and all the Christians in the world, were 
to tell you that your conversion might be relied on, it would 
be unsafe and wrong to give an implicit credit to their 
opinion. If your conversion be indeed genuine, you will 
not rely on the judgment of others ; you will prove your 
own work, and you will keep proving it. 

2. It will be unsafe to judge of the goodness of your 
religion by its agreement loith that of other men. They 
who, in these interesting concerns, "measure themselves by 
themselves, and compare themselves amongst themselves, 
are not wise." 2 Cor. 10: 12. We may suppose this to 
be the way in which the stony-ground hearers made trial 
of their conversions: One heard another relate his expe- 
riences, and they agreed with his own ; and this led him to 
conclude that his own experiences were good, because they 
were so perfectly similar to his neighbor's. It is true, they 
were similar : but what did this avail, seeing their similar- 
ity consisted in their being shallow experiences, havino- no 
root to support them ? I fear that thousands, and ten 
thousands are deceived, and for ever ruined in this way. 
And in this way we are more eminently exposed to be de- 
ceived, in those seasons of merciful visitation, when great 
numbers are religiously affected at the same time. At 
such times there are often many who entertain a confident 
hope of their regeneration, who have brought their feelings 
and views to no higher standard than to that of the expe- 
riences which they have heard related by their neighbors. 



4 TRUE ASD FALSE 

It is an affecting thought, that there should be such 
multitudes under the light of God's holy word, %yho are 
full of hopes of heaven merely because the?/ have felt as 
others have felt — they have had such distress of mind as 
they have heard others tell of, and they have been filled 
Avith such joys as others have experienced. But this is no 
sufficient evidence of a gracious state ; for multitudes may 
" receive the word anon with joy," even with the same 
kind and degree of joy, and yet none of them have any 
root in themselves. Matt. 13 : 5, 6, 20, 21. 

3. The only sure means to prevent fatal deception in 
this matter is, to try all our experiences by that infallible 
standard, the word of God. This is like silver seven times 
purified. It is everlasting truth. It will determine Avhat 
is right, and what is wrong in our opinions, experiences, 
and practices. " The ivord which I speak unto you," said 
the Saviour, " the same shall judge you in the last day." 
By the help of God's word, we may anticipate the judgment 
of the great day, as it relates to ourselves. If we have 
evidence that we now possess the religion approved by the 
Bible, we have just so much evidence that our religion will 
stand the test of the great day ; for Bible religion, and no 
other, will meet the approbation of the Judge. 

You cannot know, with infalhble certainty, that your 
most relicrious neig-hbor is a real saint ; but you know, with 
the same infallible certainty with which you know the truth 
of God's word, that Abraham, David, Paul, Peter, John, 
and many others, were real saints. Therefore, you may 
know, that if you have the same religious experiences 
which they had, your religion will bear the inspection of 
the great day. You are assured that Jesus Christ always 
did those things which pleased his Father; if, therefore, 
you have the spirit of Christ, and follow in his steps, you 
are in the path of life. 

The Bible is all of it calculated to teach us the nature 
and effects of true religion. When it exhibits the holiness 
of God, we are not only presented with the great object of 



CONVERSIONS DISTIiVGUISHED. 5 

love, but also witli the pattern for our imitation. All who 
are born of God resemble their Father, for they are ''par- 
takers of the divine nature." In God's law we also learn 
what true religion is. The law which says, Thou shalfc 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neigh- 
bor as thyself, is true religion in requirement. When this 
law is Avritten upon the heart, as it is by regenerating grace, 
then there is true religion in experience. 

What, my reader, have been your views of sin, and of 
your own sinful character in particular ? The Holy Spirit 
reproves, or convinces of sin. Those who are saved are all 
convinced of sin. The commandment comes, and sin re- 
vives in their view ; they now see what they before heard, 
viz. that they are sinners. Now they hioio every man the 
plague of his own heart. The want of this previous con- 
viction of depravity, is probably intimated by the prema- 
ture growth of the seed which fell on stony places. It is 
represented as springing up too soon. There had been an 
alarm, but no deep conviction of sin. There is nothing 
more clearly revealed in the Bible, than the entire sinful- 
ness of man's heart, and its total opposition to God. Nat- 
ural men are called the enemies of God, and haters of God ; 
and this is said concerning them all, without exception. 
See Rom. 1 : 30 ; 5: 10; 8:7. 

I do not know into the hands of what particular persons 
these pages will fall ; but this I know, that they will fall 
into the hands of none but those Avho either are, or have 
been enemies to God. And now, reader, let me ask, Have 
you been made sensible of this enmity ? If you have been 
renewed, you have undoubtedly seen that the whole of 
your unrenewed heart was contrary to God. This sight, 
given by the illumination of the Spirit, has led you to loathe 
yourself in your own eyes. The repentance which needeth 
not to be repented of, is a godly sorrow for sin. It is such 
a hatred of sin as the holy God possesses. If you have 
any godly sorrow for sin, you weep, not merely for the 
sake of being forgiven, but because you have sinned. You 



TRUE AND FALSE 



■yyould sorrow if you tlioiiglit you should never be forgiven ; 
and you will not cease from sorrowing, Avlien you have evi- 
dence that you are forgiven. 

Much of the evidence of the genuineness of our experi- 
ence depends on our growing conviction of the evil of sin, 
and of the sinfulness of our own hearts in particular. As 
the holy influence of religion widens in the soul, sin will 
be proportionably hated. This is the reason why eminent 
Scripture. saints appear to be most deeply affected with 
their remaining depravity. See Job 42 : 1-6, and Rom. 
Y : 24. What saint in his day Avas superior to Job, and 
what Christian was ever more sanctified than Paul ; and 
yet who ever appeared more vile in their own sight, or 
more burdened with sin than they? The man whose 
heart is changed, departs from iniquity ; he watches and 
prays, and strives against it ; but still he cries out, " Behold 
I am vilel" " wretched man that I am, who shall de- 
liver me from the body of this death ?" 

It is the work of the Spirit, not only to convince of sin, 
but also of righteousness. John 16 : 8. Those who are 
truly taught by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, are first 
convinced that they are sinners, deserving evil, and nothing 
but evil, at the hand of God. They see that the tears of 
repentance do not atone for their sins. They see that no 
works of righteousness which they can do, Avill satisfy divine 
justice. The penitent is convinced that God is righteous ; 
that the law is righteous ; and that God must do nothing 
to cloud the evidence of his righteousness, or diminish 
respect for his law. This prepares his mind to be greatly 
delighted with the atonement of Christ. Here he sees jus- 
tice and mercy met together. The righteousness of God 
declared, the law honored, sin condemned, and the sinner 
pardoned. Reader, has the Father drawn you to the Son ; 
and have you, through the Son, come to the Father ? Is 
Christ, the Lord, your righteousness and strength ? Have 
you discovered an entire distinction between going about to 
establish your own righteousness, and submitting yourself 



CONVERSIONS DISTINGUISHED 7 

to this righteousness of God ? Love to God exists in every 
renewed heart; and this is no modification of selfishness; 
it is a disinterested affection. If all we do in the service of 
God, be done solely with reference to ourselves, it is Avholly 
unacceptable. If he be not delighted in, as a great, holy, 
and glorious being, we have in reahty no interest in his favor. 

The limits of these pages do not allow a full discussion 
of the subject ; but I cannot refrain from affectionately cau- 
tioning every one, into whose hands this treatise may fall, 
to be on his guard against a religion of his oivn devising, 
and against depending on those, as evidences of grace, which 
are of mere hu7nan invention. 

One man thinks he has experienced a change of heart, 
because he has had a remarkable dream. Another has seen 
a wonderful light ; another has had a vision of the Saviour ; 
another has heard a voice speaking to him ; and another has 
had a Scripture 'promise immediately and unexpectedly sug- 
gested to his mind : like this, "■ Son, be of good cheer, thy 
sins be forgiven thee." Many are confident that they are 
converted, when they have no other evidence of it but such 
things as these. But where, I would ask, in all the word 
of God, are they taught that these are evidences of conver- 
sion ? I know that, in the days of old, the Most High made 
revelations of his will by dreams, by visions, and by audible 
sounds ; but these revelations are not now to be expected ; 
nor were they then confined to his sanctified ones. The 
king of Egypt, and his chief butler and baker, had divine 
communications made to them in dreams, but this did not 
pro\'e them to be any thing more than mere natural men. 
Balaam had visions of the Almighty ; but he was a sinner 
still. These are never mentioned in the Bible as the things 
by which the men of grace obtain evidence of their gracious 
state. 

Carefully examine the experiences of the man after 
God's own heart, as they are contained in the book of 
Psalms, and you will find no dreaming experiences. His 
love to God's word on account of its purity, his delight in 



8 TRUE AND FALSE 

divine ordinances, and his respect unto all the command- 
ments, are his evidences. Read Christ's sermon on the 
mount ; it is a searching portion of Scriptm-e. The religion 
which it inculcates must he felt and 2)ractised by us, or we 
are on the sand, and our building will fall. But what is the 
religion of the sermon on the mount ? It is poorness of 
spirit, mourning for sin, hungering for righteousness, shin- 
ino; as lio-hts in the world, lovinor and foro-ivinor enemies, 
praying and giving alms, not from a spirit of ostentation, 
but from a spirit of devotion, a spirit of benevolence. This 
is a specimen of the religion taught in that noted sermon ; 
yea, in all Christ's sermons. But there is not the least 
intimation that dreams and visionary appearances constitute 
any part of the religion of those whom the Saviour will own 
as his disciples. It is not intimated in any of the discourses 
of Christ, that if a man has a text of Scripture which con- 
tains a promise, suggested to his mind, or whispered in his 
ear, or spoken in the air over his head, this proves him to 
be born of God. 

How then, I would ask, comes it about, that so much 
dependence is placed on these things ? Christ has furnished 
us with a great variety of evidences of grace. These are 
overlooked, and evidences of our own making, or of mere 
human invention, are depended on. What folly can exceed 
this ? To call strips of common paper bank-notes, and sell 
our houses and lands for them, would not be folly compar- 
able to it. There is religion, which is solid and substantial ; 
which ''changes all the heart," and makes it the residence 
of the sweet graces of the Spirit, and the principle of holy 
action. What is chaff to the wheat ? What are dreams, 
and visions, in comparison to such religion as this ? See 
1 Cor. 13: 1-Y. 

Satan practices his wiles in respect to conversion with 
astonishing success. Some of those wiles — as I am led to 
\iew them — have fallen within my own observation, 

A man advanced in life, who had obtained a hope thirty 
years before, told me his experience, which was in substance 



CONVERSIONS DISTINGUISHED. 9 

as follows : One night lie was in great distress about his 
soul, so that when he turned over in his bed, it seemed to 
him like turning over in hell. Soon after this, he thought 
he saw a light come down through the roof, which rested 
upon his breast. When the cock crew, he thought it was 
the sweetest sound which he had ever heard. When he 
arose in the morning, the face of things was altered ; for 
it seemed ta him that every thing was praising God. I 
inquired of him for the fruits of this change, which had 
been of so long standing. I could not learn that he had 
ever had any stated worship in the family or closet ; or 
that he made any conscience of sanctifying the Sabbath, 
even so much as to feel himself obliged to refrain from 
labor. Indeed, he appeared to be a total stranger to all the 
fruits of the Spirit. And yet, what is painful to relate, he 
seemed to have no doubt of the genuineness of his conver- 
sion ; and could not be made to call it in question. Per- 
haps you may wish to ask me how I account for the new 
face which nature wore the morninof after he saw that liofht ; 
and how I account for the new^ language W'hich it seemed to 
him to speak, even praise to God. I answ^er. The vision- 
ary light removed his fears, and excited a full belief that 
God had delivered him from his state of condemnation. 
This was enough to make him feel very glad, very happy ; 
and to cause him for a while to abound in giving thanks to 
God. In this particular there was a resemblance of a true 
conversion ; but still it is easy to account for it on the prin- 
ciples of mere selfishness ; and what w^ent before, and what 
followed these joyful feelings, are enough to convince us 
that they could not be that joy in the Holy Ghost which is 
peculiar to true converts. 

I will now turn your attention to the case of a woman, 
who gave me an account of a hope on which she had relied 
for the term of eighteen years ; Avhich, for substance, is as 
follows : " About that time," said she, " I lost a sister. 
This excited great distress in my mind, as I viewed myself 
unprepared for eternity. Eternity was an awful thought to 
VOL. y. 25 



10 TRUE AND FALSE 

me. The word kept ringing in my ears. One day, while 
I was thus distressed with the thoughts of eternity, as I 
threw myself on the bed, something seemed to say to me, 
' Eternity is none too long to enjoy God and Christ.' This 
afforded me immediate relief." She, like a person drown- 
ing, caught at this straw, and on it she hung for eighteen 
years, when a merciful God was pleased to open her eyes 
to see that it was nothing but a straw. Do you ask me 
wherein this experience appears to be fallacious ? I answer, 
first, that there is no Scripture in favor of such an expe- 
rience. I would add, that the experience appears to be 
wholly of the selfish kind. What preceded her relief was- 
not conviction of sin ; it was nothing but terror. And her 
comfort did not arise from beholding the glory of the Lord, 
or any thing of the kind ; but merely from a belief that the 
eternity which she had dreaded would not be &pent in 
misery, but in happiness. The holy enjoyments of heaven 
were not, as I could learn, taken into the account. 

I am well acquainted with a man, who, when he was 
awake, being in distress of mind, thought he saw Christ 
reach down his arms to raise him up out of the gulf into 
which he fancied he was sinking. This he related to me 
soon after it took place, expecting that he should give me 
that joy which is occasioned by the repentance of a sinner. 
But the relation of it led me to make a new effort, in de- 
pendence on divine help, to rescue him from the snare of 
the devil. The Lord was merciful : a new and different 
experience succeeded, which produced a lasting conviction 
in the mind of the man, that the visionary discovery of 
Christ reaching down his arms was not of the nature of a 
Christian experience. 

I heard a young woman give a reason of her hope, who 
seemed to lay the greatest stress on this : that she awaked 
one morning with these words sounding in her ears : 
Dauglitcr, he of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. In 
this there were three things, which probably had influence 
in leading her to hope. I. That the words contained a 



COAVERSIOXS DISTLXGUIt^HED. H 

cheering promise, which, being appropriated to her own 
case, impUed that her sins were forgiven. 2. These words 
came to her mind imexpectedly, and without any pains being 
taken on her part, Avhich was probably one thing that led 
her to think they were sent as a direct message from God. 
3. The words gave the more consolation, as they were 
conceived to be the words of Scripture. To me, however, 
none of these reasons are sufficient to prove her conversion 
to be sound and saving. The devil knows Scripture, and 
can quote it. He can quote a promise, and can bring it 
suddenly and unexpectedly to the mind. For proof of all 
this, let me refer you to Matt. 4 : 6. The Spirit of God 
makes us love the Scriptures because they are "Holy 
Scriptures,'' and the promises, because they are holy, and 
because by them we are made partakers of the divine na- 
ture ; but the devil seeks to comfort, with the promises, 
those whose hearts are not changed, and who have no 
preparation to be pleased Avith the promises of God's Avord, 
except by a selfish application of them. A sinner dreads 
eternal punishment, and therefore will be pleased with the 
promise of the forgiveness of sins, when he merely contem- 
plates this as an escape from that punishment. 

Satan is said to be transformed into an anjrel of li"-ht. 

o o 

It is his work to deceive and beguile, and thus to destroy 
souls. The several cases Avhich I have stated, to me appear 
like the work of the Deceiver. If the relation of them 
should be the honored means of breaking up or preventino- 
one false hope, I shall not have cause to regret that I have 
put them on paper. 

I beseech my reader not to lose his soul by such amaz- 
ing folly as that of turning his hack on the marks of grace 
laid down in the Scriptures, and trusting to those which 
have no scriptural foundation. Will you not now resolve, 
that you will collect together all that in which you have 
trusted, and put it into the balance of the sanctuary, and 
see whether it has any real weight ? If I saw you selling 
your estate for those worthless strips of paper of which I 



12 TRUE AND FALSE CO.N VERSIONS DISTLXGUISIIED. 

spoke, I would caution you against doing so foolish a thing ; 
but when I see you about to lose your soul by mistaking 
the wiles of the devil for Christian experiences, I know not 
how to hold my peace. The command of God is, to look 
diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God. Those 
who are set to watch for souls, should watch " as they that 
must give account." 

My reader will bear with me while I add one more cau- 
tion. Do not confine yourself to one particular marh of 
grace. If your conversion be the work of the Spirit, you 
will have all the marks of grace. One who is born of God, 
however feeble his strength, has all the members of a living 
and proper child. If you love the brethren with compla- 
cence, you will love enemies Avith good will. If you love 
God whom you have not seen, you will love your brother 
whom you have seen. If your zeal is the fruit of the Spirit, 
you will, by the operation of the same Spirit, be also clothed 
with humility. If God prepare your heart to pray, he will 
also prepare you to every good word and work. And if he 
begin a good work in you, he will perform it imto the day 
of Jesus Christ. If, therefore, you do not " endure to the 
end," you lack an essential mark of a gracious state. Yea, 
I may add, if your conversion is the work of God's Holy 
Spirit, your religion will not be stationary ; it Avill advance. 
You Avill go from strength to strength, until you appear 
before God in Zion. 

This paper may fall into the hands of some who are not 
ignorant of Satan's devices. The prayers of such I would 
request in its behalf, that it may be the happy means of 
delivering precious souls from the snare of the fowler. 
Pray, my Christian friends, that this subtle deceiver, who 
has filled Christendom with his false and delusive conver- 
sions, may soon be chained, and not be suffered any longer 
to practise his successful wiles. 



]¥o. 166. 

CHRIST THE ONLY REFUGE 
THE WRATH TO COME 

BY REV. JAMES HERVEY. 



Give me leave to relate an uncommon incident, which 
happened a little while ago in this neighborhood, and of 
which I myself was a spectator. The day was the Sab- 
bath ; the place appropriated to div^ine worship was the 
scene of this remarkable affair. 

A boy came running into the church, breathless and 
trembling. He told, but in a low^ voice, those who stood 
near, that a press-gang was advancing to besiege the 
door, and arrest the sailors. An alarm was immediately 
taken. The seamen, with much hurry, and no small 
anxiety, began to shift for themselves. The rest of the 
congregation, perceiving an unusual stir, were struck 
with surprise — a whisper of inquiry ran from seat to seat, 
which increased by degrees into a confused murmur. No 
one could inform his neighbor ; therefore every one was 
left to guess what had happened, from the suggestions 
of a timorous imagination. Some suspected the town 
was on fire. Some were apprehensive of an invasion 
from the Spaniards. Others looked up, and looked round, 
to see if the walls were not giving way, and the roof 
falling upon their heads. In a few moments the conster- 
nation became general. The men stood like statues, in 
silent amazement and unavailing perplexity. The women 
shrieked aloud, and fell into fits. Nothing was seen but 
wdld disorder 5 nothing heard but tumultuous clamor. 
The preacher's voice was drowned. Had he spoken in 
thunder his message would scarcely have been regarded. 
To have gone on with his work, amidst such a prodigious 

VOL. V. 25* 



2 CHRIST THE ONLY REFUGE. 

ferment, had been like arguing with a whirlwind, or 
talking to a tempest. 

This brought to my mind that great, tremendous day^ 
when the heavens will pass away, when the earth will be 
dissolved, and all its inhabitants receive their fnial doom. 
If, at such incidents of so much less consequence, our 
hearts are ready to fail, what unknown and inconceivable 
astonishment must seize the guilty conscience when the 
hand of the Almighty shall open those unparalleled scenes 
of wonder, desolation, and horror ! when the trumpet 
shall sound — the dead arise — the world be in flames — the 
Judge on the throne — and all mankind at the bar ! 

" The trumpet shall sound,'''' 1 Cor. 15 : 52, says the 
prophetic teacher ; and how startling, how stupendous the 
summons ! Nothing equal to it, nothing like it, was ever 
heard through all the regions of the universe, and all the 
revolutions of time. When conflicting armies have dis- 
charged the bellowing artillery of war, or when victorious 
armies have shouted for joy of the conquest, the seas and 
sshores have rung, the mountains and plains have echoed. 
But the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, 
will resound from pole to pole. They will shake the pil- 
lars of heaven, and startle the dungeon of hell. They 
will penetrate the deepest recesses of the tomb. They 
will pour their amazing thunder into all those abodes of 
silence. The dead, the very dead, shall hear. 

When the trumpet has sounded, the dead shall arise. 
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," the graves 
open ; the monumental piles are cleft asunder ; and the 
nations under ground start into day. What an immense 
harvest of men and women, springing up from the ca- 
verns of the earth, and the depths of the sea ! Stand 
awhile, my soul, and consider the wonderful spectacle. 
Adam, formed in Paradise, and the babe, born but yester- 
day ; the earliest ages, and latest generations, meet upon 
the same level. Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Barba- 



CHRIST THE ONLY REFUGE. 3 

rians, people of all climes and languages, unite in the 
promiscuous throng. Here those vast armies, which, like 
swarms of locusts, covered countries ', which, with an 
irresistible sweep, overran empires : here they all appear, 
nnd here they are lost ; lost, like the small drop of a 
bucket when plunged into the unfathomable and bound- 
less ocean. Oh, the multitudes ! the multitudes ! which 
these eyes shall survey when God " calleth the heavens 
from above, and the earth, that he may judge his people !" 
What shame must flush the guilty cheek ! what anguish 
\\'Ound the polluted breast ! to have all their filthy prac- 
tices and infamous tempers exposed before this innume- 
rable crowd of witnesses ! Fly, guilty sinners, instantly 
fly, earnestly fly to the purifying blood of Jesus, that all 
your sins may be blotted out, that you may be found 
unblamable and unreprovable in the presence of the as- 
sembled world ; and, what is of infinitely more import- 
ance, in the sight of the omnipotent God. 

There is no more need of this habitable globe. The 
righteous have fought a good fight, and finished their 
course. The wicked have been tried, and found incorri- 
gible. " Wo be to the earth and to the Avorks thereof!" Its 
streams are turned into pitch, its dust into brimstone, and 
the breath of the Almighty, like a torrent of fire, enkin- 
dles the whole. See ! see ! how the conflagration rages 
— spreads — prevails over all ! The forests are in a blaze, 
and the mountains are wrapt in flame. Cities, kingdoms, 
continents, sink into the burningf deluore. Cities, kino-- 
doms, continents are no more ! Through all the recepta- 
cles of water, through all the tracts of land, throuirh the 
whole extent of air, nothing is discernible but one vast, pro- 
digious fiery ruin. Where are now the treasures of the 
covetous \ Where the possessions of the mighty 1 Where 
the delights of the voluptuous 1 How wise, how happy 
are they, whose portion is lodged in heavenly mansions ! 
Their inheritance is incorruptible ; such as the last 



•I CHRIST THE ONLY REFUQE. 

fire cannot reach, nor the dissolution of nature impair ! 

But see ! the azure vault cleaves. The expanse of hea- 
ven is rolled back like a scroll j and the Judge, the Judge 
appears ! "i/e comethj'' cries a mighty seraph, the herald 
of his approach, '' He cometh to judge the world in righte- 
ousness, and minister true judgment unto the people !" 
He cometh, not as formerly, in the habit of a servant, but 
clad with uncreated glory, and magnificently attended 
with the armies of heaven. Angels and the archangel 
stand before him, and ten thousand times ten thousand 
of these celestial spirits minister unto him. Behold him, 
3^e followers of the Lamb, and wonder and love. This is 
he, who bore all your iniquities on the ignominious cross. 
This is he, who fulfilled all righteousness for the justi- 
fication of your persons. Behold him, ye despisers of 
his grace, and wonder, and perish. This is he, whose 
merciful overtures you have contemned, and on whose 
precious blood you have trampled. 

The great white throne^ Rev. 20 : 11, is erected. The 
King of heaven, the Lord of glory, takes his seat on the 
dreadful tribunal. Mercy^ on his right hand, displays the 
olive-branch of peace, and holds forth the crown of 
righteousness. Justice^ on his left, poises the impartial 
scale, and unsheaths the sword of vengeance 5 while Wis- 
dom and Holiness^ brighter than ten thousand suns, beam 
in his divine aspect. What are all the preceding events 
to this new scene of dignity and awe ! The peals of thun- 
der sounding in the archangel's trumpet, the blaze of a 
burning world, the strong convulsions of expiring nature ; 
the unnumbered myriads of the dead starting into in- 
stantaneous life, and thronging the astonished skies; all 
these seem familiar incidents, compared with the ap- 
pearance of the incarnate Jehovah. Amazement, more 
than amazement, is all around. Terror and glory unite 
in their extremes. From the sight of his majestic eye, 
from the insupportable splendors of his face, the earth 



CHRIST THE ONLY REFUGE. 

itself and the very heavens flee away. How then — Oh i 
how shall the ungodly sland — stand m his angry presence, 
and draw near to this consuming fire ! 

Yet draw near they must, and take their trial — their 
decisive trial at his righteous bar. Every action comes 
under examination. For each idle word they must give 
account. Not so much as a secret thought escapes his 
scrutiny. How shall the criminals, the impenitent cri 
minals, either conceal their guilt or elude the sentence 1 
They have to do with a sagacity too keen to be deceived ; 
with a power too strong to be resisted ; and (oh ! terri- 
ble, terrible consideration) with a severity of most just 
displeasure, that will nevei^ relent, never be entreated 
more. What ghastly despair appears in their faces ! 
What racking agonies rend their distracted hearts ! The 
bloody axe and torturing wheel are ease, are down, com- 
pared with their prodigious wo. And (0, holy God ! 
wonderful in thy doings ! fearful in thy judgments !) even 
this prodigious wo is small, compared with that indig- 
nation and wrath which are hanging over their guilty 
heads — which are even novv^ falling on all the sons of re- 
bellion — ^which will plunge them deep in aggravated and 
endless destruction. 

And is there a last day 1 and must there come 

A sure, a fixed, irrevocable doom 1 

Surely, then, the main care of our lives should be to 
obtain peace and acceptance before the dreadful tribunal 
of God. And what is sufficient for this purpose but 
righteousness X What righteousness, or whose % Ours, 
or Christ's 1 Ours, in the inherent graces wrought in us, 
in the holy works wrought by us 1 Or Christ's, in his 
most perfect obedience and meritorious satisfaction, 
wrought /o7- us, and applied /o usl God is as direct on 
this subject as his word can make him ; every where bla- 
zoning the defects of our owai righteousness, every where 
extolling the perfect obedience of our Redeemer. 



O CHRIST THE 0^'LY REFUGE. 

''Behold," says the everlasting King, "I lay in Sion 
for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cor- 
ner-stone, a sure foundation : he that believeth shall not 
make haste." Isa. 28 : 16. As this text contains so no- 
ble a display of our Saviour's consummate ability for his 
great work, as it is admirably calculated to preserve the 
mind from distressing fears, and to settle it in a steady 
tranquillity, I will dwell upon it for a moment. 

HoAV beautiful the gradation ! How lively the account, 
and how A^ery important the practical improvement ! 
Come, look at the inscription which is engraven on this 
v.'onderful stone. Behold ! Intended to rouse and fix 
our most attentive regard. TheGodof heaven speaks. He 
speaks, and every syllable is balm ; every sentence is rich 
with consolation. If ever, therefore, we have ears to hear, 
let us bend them to this speaker, and on this occasion. 

" ^ stoned Every thing else is sliding sand, is yielding 
air, is a breaking bubble. Wealth will prove a vain sha- 
dow ; honor an empty breath ; pleasure a delusory dream ; 
our own righteousness a spider's web. If on these we 
rely, disappointment must ensue, and shame is inevitable. 
Nothing but Christy nothing but Christy can stably sup- 
port our spiritual interests, and realize our expectation 
of true happiness. And blessed be God, Christ is, for this 
purpose, not a stone only, but 

" A tried stone.'''' Tried in the days of his humanity, by 
all the vehemence of temptation, and all the weight of 
afflictions ; yet, like gold from the furnace, rendered 
more shining and illustrious by the fiery scrutiny. Tried, 
under the capacity of a Saviour, by millions and millions 
of depraved, wretched, ruined creatures,«who have al- 
ways found him perfectly able^ and as perfectly willing^ 
to expiate the most enormous guilt, to deliver from the 
most inveterate corruptions, and to save, to the very ut- 
termost, all that come unto God through him. 

" A corner stone.''"' Which not only sustains, but unites, 



CHRIST THE ONLY REFUGE. 7 

tlie edifice 5 incorporating both Jews and Gentiles, be- 
lievers of various lancruao;es and manifold denomina- 
tions — here, in one harmonious band of brotherly love- 
hereafter, in one common participation of eternal joy. 

" A precious stone.'''' More precious than rubies : the 
pearl of great price, and the desire of all nations. Pre- 
cious, with regard to the divine dignity of his person 
and the unequalled excellence of his mediatorial offices. 
In these, and all respects, wiser than Solomon, fairer 
than the children of men, " chiefest among ten thou- 
sand," and to the awakened sinner or enlightened be- 
liever, ^' altogether lovely.'''' 

" A sure foundation.'''' Such as no pressure can shake ; 
equal, more than equal to every weight, even to sin, the 
heaviest load in the world. The rock of ages, such as 
never has failed, never will fail those humble penitents, 
who cast their burden upon the Lord their Redeemer ; 
who roll all their guilt, and fix their whole hopes, on his 
immovable basis — or, as the Avords may be rendered, A 
foundation I a foundation ! There is a fine spirit of ve- 
hemency in this sentence, thus understood. It speaks 
the language of exultation, and expresses an important 
discovery. That which mankind infinitely want ; that 
which multitudes seek, and find not; it is here ! it is 
here ! This, this is the foundation for their pardon, their 
peace, their eternal felicity. 

Whosoever '^ believeth,''^ though pressed with adversi- 
ties, or surrounded by danger, ^^ shall not make haste.''^ 
But, free from tumultuous and perplexing thoughts, pre- 
served from rash and precipitate steps, he shall possess 
his soul in patience. Knowing the sufficiency of those 
merits, and the fidelity of that grace, on which he has 
reposed his confidence, he shall quietly, and without 
perturbation, wait for an expected end. And not only 
amidst the perilous and disastrous changes of life, but 
even in the day of everlasting judgment, such person.^ 



b CHRIST THE ONLY KEFUGE. 

shall stand wUh boldness. They shall look up to the 
grand Arbitrator — look round on all the solemnities of 
his appearance — \ook forward to the unalterable sentence 
— and neither feel anxiety, nor fear condemnation. 

Keader, these awful scenes must pass before thine 
eyes, and thou wilt feel an interest in them, infinitely 
more impressive and aflecting than all thy present joys 
or sorrows. Let thy unworthiness, fear, and guilt be 
now ever so great, there is hope concerning thee ; for 
Jesus is " exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give re- 
pentance and remission of sins ;" but when thou shalt 
see '' thy God in glory, and the world on fire," nothing 
will then remain for thee, but a " certain fearful looking 
for of judgment and fiery indignation ;" or the immediate 
and happy expectation of being received " into the joy 
of your Lord." May God deliver thee from the bitter 
pains of eternal death, and bestow on thee the glorious 
blessinsfs of everlastins" life and salvation. 



CHRIST COMING TO JUDGMENT. 

Hear the Chief among ten thousand 

Thus address his faithful few; 
" Come, ye blessed of my Father, 

"•Heaven is prepar'd for you ; 
" I was hungry — I was thirsty— I was naked — 

" And ye minister'd' to me," 

But how awful is the sentence, 

" Go from me, ye cursed race, 
" To that place of endless torment, 

" Never more to see my face : 
" I was hungry — I was thirsty — I was naked — 

" Ye to me no mercy show'd." 

Jesus, save a trembling sinner, 

While thy wrath o'er sinners roll ; 
In this general wreck of nature, 

Be the refuge of my soul : 
Jesus, save me ! Jesus, save me ! when the lighfuiug^ 

Blaze around from pole to pole. 



J¥o. 167. 

THE 



SINGLE TALENT IMPROYED. 



The Lord God is infinitely sovereign in the distribution 
of temporal blessings to men : to some he intrusts one, to 
others two, and to others five talents, and requires each to 
occupy with diligence until his Lord appear. Permit me, 
beloved reader, whose situation is obscure, and whose talent 
is inconsiderable, to show how thy money may be exchanged 
to the best advantage ; how it may be rendered most pro- 
ductive, in honor to thy Redeemer, in benefit to the world, 
and in future glory to thyself. 

1. Venture to employ a p)ortion of the little you j^ossess 
in ivories of piety and mercy. It is surely reasonable to give 
back to the Lord a part of that substance which was re- 
ceived exclusively from him ; and to withhold, when he 
requires, argues either ingratitude for past enjoyments, or 
a distrust of his providence for time to come. Besides, if 
we believe the positive declaration of God, or the experience 
of his people, in different ages, "the way to get is to give." 
Seed will not take root when kept in the granary ; it must 
be soAvn in the earth, if Ave expect it to take root, or spring- 
up, or bear a liberal harvest. Money w^ill not increase, or 
produce revenue to its proprietor, while locked up in the 
trunk ; it must be actually loaned out, if interest is expected : 
thus it is with respect to the talent intrusted in our hands 
by the living God. " There is that scattereth, and yet in- 
creaseth ; and there is that Avithholdeth more than is meet, 
but it tendeth to poverty." "To every one that hath," 
and properly improves, " shall be given, and he shall have 
abundance ; but from him that hath not," that is, who con- 
ducts as if he had not, " shall be taken away even that which 
he hath." "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with 
the first fruits of all thine increase ; so shall thy barns be 
filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new 
wine." The children of the kingdom have often found these 
promises literally verified. As they ventured to devote a 
share of their worldly treasures for spiritual uses, their little 
fund has sensibly increased, and they have executed with 
ease schemes for the advancement of the divine glorv, which 
VOL. V. 2(3 



2 THE SIXGLE TALENT IMPROVED. 

at first appeared altogether impracticable. The meal grad- 
ually multiplied in the barrel, and the oil rose in the cruise, 
as the widow distributed to the prophet of the Lord. 

2. Be not ashamed to present your offering, however 
useless or inconsiderable it may airpear. Persons whose 
circumstances are very circumscribed, are frequently dis- 
couraged ; they refuse, not from want of inclination to give, 
but because they consider their gift as unprofitable, as un- 
worthy the notice either of God or man ; and therefore, 
because they cannot do a great deal, they conclude that it 
is better to do nothing. But this conclusion is both unrea- 
sonable and unscriptural. The landlord does not expect as 
much from his tenant who occupies a hundred, as from him 
who occupies a thousand acres of his land ; yet it does not 
follow, that the former should be ashamed, or afraid, to 
bring in proportion to what he holds. The great Proprietor 
of all our talents, therefore, requires according " to what we 
have, and not according to what we have not." While the 
rich ought not to glory in the abundance of their oblations, 
the poor should not be ashamed of the scantiness of theirs. 
The two mites thrown into the treasury by the indigent 
widow, amounted to more, in the divine account, than the 
most liberal offerings of the rich. I might add, that it is 
really dangerous to attempt doing nothing, from the appre- 
hension that we can do but little. Why was the man 
possessing one talent condemned ? Not because he had no 
more, but because that one was neglected. Again, the ser- 
vants possessing two or five talents were accepted, not 
because they had more, but because their two or five were 
suitably improved. 

3. Be diligent in redeeming your time to the best ad- 
vantage, and by this means more can be spared for i^ublic 
piuposes. Inquire whether some moments have not been 
altogether w^asted, which might and ought to have been in- 
dustriously occupied ; or whether some hours have not been 
trifled away upon vanities, Avhicli might have been improved 
in a more profitable manner. When there is some great 
work to execute, or journey to perform, we are the more 
careful to occupy each moment to advantage : we rise early, 
we shake off" a slothful, indolent disposition, and actually 
add to the hours of the day by more industriously redeem- 
ing them. Let us consider the great work to be finished : 



THE SINGLE TALEXT DIPROVED. 3 

our God to be glorified ; our generation to be served ; the 
church to be editied : and time is the day in which all this 
must be done, or left undone for ever. " The night cometh, 
Avhen no man can work." True it is, thou mayest glorify 
God more perfectly in heaven than on earth ; but thou 
canst not glorify him there by advancing the edification or 
salvation of thy fellow- creatures. In heaven there will be 
no indigent members of Jesus to be relieved, no ignorant to 
be instructed, no stranger to be brought into the family, 
and no dejected, disquieted child to be comforted or sup- 
ported. Listen not to the dictates of flesh and blood, but 
look forward and inquire what will be most conducive to 
your glory and felicity for ever, and improve your life ac- 
cordingly ; if thy heart and thy flesh are ready to fail, through 
much exertion in the cause of God, remember that there is 
a long rest in the grave, and an eternity of enjoyment in 
thy Father's house. 

4. Aim at the utmost economy in every ixirt of your 
living ; in eating, in drinking, and in wearing ; and thus 
you can render what is just to your creditors, and afford 
more for generous uses. Industry will be unprofitable, 
unless connected with a becoming frugality. The proverb 
is ancient and true, "A penny saved is a penny gained." 
Look therefore into your domestic management, and examine 
whether some expenses might not be retrenched ; whether 
your children could not be clothed in a manner more plain, 
and yet decent ; whether some luxuries might not be omit- 
ted, and your famihes be no less comfortable and respectable. 
Is it not reasonable that we should be denied the superflui- 
ties of life, rather than that others should want its real 
necessaries ; or that our bodies should want pampering, 
rather than others want that knowledge Avhich is indispen- 
sably requisite to salvation ? Consider, also, to what the 
great God stooped for your sake and mine : he emptied 
himself of his glory ; he became of no reputation : and shall 
not we, for the sake of his poor, and the spread of his Gos- 
pel, deny ourselves those ornaments which are but fanciful 
and false ? For your sake and mine he endured hunger, 
and thirst, and nakedness ; and is it not reasonable that we, 
in return, be satisfied with temperate enjoyments, in order 
to feed the hungry and clothe the naked members of this 
compassionate Jesus ? Is it not better that we be denied. 



4 THE Si:,GLE TALENT IMPUOVED. 

for a time, tiiosc luxuries wliicli secure a happiness merely 
sensual, than that others, through ignorance, be deprived 
for ever of God, and glory, and all that constitutes the 
happiness of a rational being ? It is related of the excel- 
lent Mr. Hervey, that he often appeared in a dress far 
inferior to his station, while he abounded in acts of piety 
and mercy. A lady of rank, at her death, left for her chil- 
dren this advice : " Save your pocket-money, and dedicate 
it to the Lord's poor, and he will abundantly repay you ; a 
cup of cold water, given in the name of a disciple, shall not 
lose its reward." The Rev. Philip Henry held it as his 
motto, " I am no fool if I part with that which I cannot 
keep, in the prospect of being rewarded with that which I 
cannot lose." 

My beloved reader, I submit to you these few, familiar 
directions on the mode of occupying thy talent to the great- 
est advantage ; and are they not worthy of an experiment ? 
Are the honor of thy dear Lord, the most precious interests 
of the souls of others, the everlasting interests of thine ovrn 
soul, concerned in the use of thy worldly goods, and art thou 
not therefore reasonably called to try what can be done ? I 
know that the great God, he whose " is the earth and the 
fulness thereof," he at Avhose disposal are all beings, whether 
visible or invisible, has no need of thy instrumentality, or 
mine ; he could easily employ the ravens of the wilderness 
to supply the wants of his children, and not solicit our 
charity ; he could easily command " a nation to be born at 
once," and thus dispense with our aid in diffusing the know- 
ledge of salvation. But this is not his ordinary procedure. 
He stoops to ask and accept our services, however worth- 
less, for the support of his cause. Yet, although ten 
thousand talents have been forgiven us, how little do 2oe 
love ; how grudgingly do we spare a single talent at the 
call of our God ? Although we have been " bought at a 
price, all price beyond," yet how backAvard are we to spend 
a little time, a little strength, or a little treasure, as an ex- 
pression of our gratitude for so great salvation I Do angels 
weep ? It must be at this coldness and indifference of man. 

May God enable the reader to " devise liberal things ; 
and by liberal things shall he stand." 

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



]Vo. 16§, 



TO A PERSON 

ENGAGED II A LAWSUIT, 



WRITTEX BY AN EMIXENT COUXSELLOR AT LAW, STILL IX THE 
PRACTICE OF HIS PROFESSIOX. 



Sir — You find yourself involved in a suit at law, in 
which, I doubt not, you believe yourself wholly in the right, 
and your adversary wholly in the wrong. And you probably 
feel yourself justified in maintaining your rights, to the 
utmost extent of the law. Nay, you even think you " do 
well to be angry " with him for prosecuting you so unjustly, 
or for unreasonably preventing you from the recovery of 
what you consider as honestly your due. You suppose 
yourself in the way of duty — and possibly you are. You 
can better determine this point, if with a humble and devout 
spirit you have sought the blessing of God on your business 
by fervent prayer. But as a suit at law is sometimes a 
serious matter in its efi'ects, let me request your attention, 
a moment, to one or two considerations. 

I would first ask you whether, before you eno-aored in 
this contest, either as plaintiff or defendant, you sought 
direction and wisdom from Him "who giveth to all men 
liberally, and upbraideth not ?" Did you pray for yourself, 
that you might be guided in the path of duty ; or for your 
antagonist, that God would turn his heart, and dispose him 
to be just and merciful towards you? Did you try every 
VOL. V. 26=^ 



2 TO A PERSON ENGAGED IN A LAWSUIT. 

Other mode of reconciliation and redress in your power, 
before you committed your cause to the decision of the 
law ? Did you go to your opponent in person, and in the 
spirit of kindness and soberness remonstrate with him, and 
endeavor to persuade him to do you justice ? If he is 
prosecuting you for injuries inflicted, or rights withheld, 
have you offered him an honest reparation? Or, if he 
resides far from you, did you write to him to the same pur- 
pose? Or have you availed yourself of the mediation of 
friends, or neighbors, to effect a peaceable and friendly 
settlement ? Have you offered him a settlement by arbi- 
tration ? In fine, did you delay resorting to a legal remedy 
till it was evident that no other means could procure you 
that redress which it was necessary you should obtain, and 
till you were obliged to defend yourself by law, because 
your adversary would not accept any offer of reasonable 
satisfaction, or terms of reconciliation? If you have not 
done this, I fear you have gone to law hastily and unwisely. 
It is not, however, too late to attempt this now ; and I 
would earnestly recommend to you to set about it without 
delay. 

Do not say that it is his business to come to you ; for 
this is not the temper that will bring you together. In the 
business of reconciliation, some one must move first. If your 
adversary has not magnanimity enough to do this, let it 
appear that you have ; and without being nice and punctil- 
ious about the mode, set yourself honestly and earnestly to 
adjust the difficulty, and be reconciled with your neighbor. 
Perhaps you have both thrown out hard speeches against 
each other, and these have been magnified by talebearers 
till your anger- has risen to the highest pitch. It may be 
that in this way you have both been grossly abused by 
others. 

If you would reach the heart of your opponent, and 



TO A FERSCN ENGAGED IN A LAWSUIT. 3 

insure a fair and candid hearing, see him alone. If his 
usual associates are about him, he may feel bound b}' a sort 
of pride to act to your face what perhaps he has boasted 
when you were absent. Possibly you might, in similar cir- 
cumstances, do the same. If third persons must be present, 
be sure that they are peacemakers. See him when he is 
sick, or in trouble ; for then the heart is softened, and sus- 
ceptible of kindlier feelings. Indeed, every man has his 
accessible side, and his propitious moments, when those ayIio 
seek it can easily approach him, and when he will listen to 
terms of accommodation with an enemy. Avail yourself of 
these means without delay. 

A spirit of litigation is not a spirit to die in. Consider 
that you may soon die ; and that suddenly, and without 
preparation. And can you be fit for heaven, not having 
forgiven your brother on earth ? or not having rendered 
him his due, when in your power ? Do you not know that 
God will not forgive those who forgive not others ? How 
severe was the doom of the hard-hearted steward, who ex- 
erted the whole rigor of the law even on his dehtor ! His 
indignant lord consigned him to merited punishment ; and 
Jesus closes the parable with this solemn warning : " So 
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye 
from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their 
trespasses." Matt. 18 : 35. The duty of forgiveness is in- 
sisted on throughout the Gospel. " If ye forgive men their 
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you ; . 
but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither luill your 
Father forgive your trespasses^ Matt. 6 : 14, 15. " Be not 
deceived ; God is not mocked ; for what a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap." Gal. 6 : 7. 

Are you ready, by living in a state of hostility to your 
neighbor, to sow a copious and sure harvest of the wrath of 
God ? Are you prepared to reap it ? Do you not pray, 



4 TO A PERSOX ENGAGED L\ A LAWcfUIT. 

*' Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who tres- 
pass against us?" Remember the condition which you 
propose in that prayer — as ive forgive. Are you wilhng 
that the forgiveness of your sins, and of course the salva- 
tion of your soul for ever, should hang upon that condi- 
tion ? Consider, I beseech you, the import of that petition: 
''Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there 
rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, 
leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; Jirst 
he reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy 
gift." Matt. 5 : 23, 24. 

Consider the long train of evils, temporal and spiritual, 
in a lawsuit. Even in a temporal view, little or nothing is 
gained by litigation ; and what multitudes it has brought to 
rags, and intemperance, and ruin. When have you ever 
known even a successful litigant who, on settling the whole 
account of lost time, neglect of other business, fees of coun- 
sel, and other contingent expenses, could say he had, on the 
whole, gained any money by prevailing in his suit ? If the 
object of the suit be a piece of land — by the time it has 
proceeded through the usual delays in court ; search of 
records ; expense of surveys ; proof of ancient boundaries ; 
contests respecting the legality of proceedings by collectors, 
assessors, or sheriffs, and adv^erse titles by possession or 
otherwise ; together with repeated visits to consult counsel, 
and the cost and delay of questions of law arising upon ex- 
ceptions taken to the opinion of the judge who tried the 
cause — the land generally costs the prevailing party much 
more by the acre, than he would have been obliged to pay 
to extinguish the adverse claim, real or pretended, and pur- 
chase a quiet title to himself; besides the loss of the good 
will of his opponent, perhaps for ever. And such is too 
often the result of lawsuits founded on other causes. 

If the contest has been severe, the loss to the losing 



TO A PERSON ENGAGED L\ A LAWSUIT. 5 

party must be very great, and perhaps ruinous. If so, it 
is more than probable that he will entertain deadly hatred 
to you and yours during life. He will regard your suit as 
the mildew of his earthly hopes. He will never perceive 
the justice of the verdict against him ; but will attribute 
it to the perjury of your witnesses, or to the partiality of 
some juror in your favor, or to the error of them all. No 
matter what the cause, he will feel injured, and consider 
you as the author of his wrongs. His children, also, will 
be likely to regard yours as the children of him who de- 
stroyed the peace and marred the prosperity of their father. 
Or if he is able to sustain the pecuniary loss, still, the dis- 
grace or the disappointment of defeat will long rankle in 
his bosom. Thus, the animosities engendered by one law- 
suit are entailed on successive generations. What more 
could the grand adversary of the religion of Christ desire ? 
If you had submitted the matter to a considerate neigh- 
bor at the outset, and abided by his opinion, even if it were 
not strictly legal, how much evil, and sin, and trouble, 
might have been prevented ! Think seriously whether, in 
the prosecution of your suit, you may not have been the 
innocent occasion even of perjury. Has not some witness 
of yours, out of his zeal in your cause, or some one of your 
opponents, out of his zeal against you, either omitted al- 
together some material fact, or testified to something which, 
though literally true, is calculated and intended to be un- 
derstood falsely by the judge or jury ? And are you not 
in danger of being tempted yourself to pervert truth and 
justice, by keeping back some important piece of evidence, 
and giving the cause a false coloring in your own favor ? 
And may you not be even exposed to the temptation of 
procuring false testimony by some indirect means, to secure 
success ? How much equivocation, and partiality, and even 
false swearing, are daily exhibited in courts of law ! 



6 TO A PERSON ENGAGED IX A LAWSUIT. 

And if you are engaged in the yindication of your c7mr- 
acter from unjust aspersions, or in compelling the perform- 
ance of a personal contract, or avenging a personal wrong, 
or in defending yourself against an imjust prosecution, 
consider, I pray you, whether, before you appealed to the 
law, you honestly endeavored, in the spirit of Christian 
kindness and liberality, to become reconciled to your ad- 
versary ; or to persuade him by mild though earnest expos- 
tulations, to regard your rights. Have you forgiven as 
much of his misconduct as you ought to forgive ? Have 
you accorded to his frailties the same allowances you w^ould 
expect from the charity of others in the like case ? Are 
you confident that you are in no way the aggressor ? Have 
you dealt justly and fairly with him in all r€S2)€cts? Is 
there no fault or blame on your side, as well as on his ? 
Have you devoted a single hour, alone, to a careful review 
of 3'our own conduct and motives in the whole affiiir, as in 
the presence of an Omniscient Judge ? Are you sure that 
your cause is wholly just, in His sight ? Are you not en- 
deavoring, in effect, by the aid of the law, either wholly to 
avoid, or at least to put off, either the payment of an honest 
debt, or the performance of a just obligation? Are you not 
indulo-ino- yourself in the erroneous, but too prevalent no- 
tion, that it is not morally wrong fictitiously to convey away 
your property beyond the reach of attachment, lest in the 
sale of it by legal process, for payment of your debt«;, it 
should not produce its full value? Are you not making the 
law an instrument of revenge ; seeking, by success in this 
suit, to avenge an injury received at some prior period ? 
Do not deceive yourself. Let me entreat you to answer 
these questions faithfully and truly, as at the bar of the 
Judge of all ; and act towards your opponent as you would 
that he should conduct towards you. Be reconciled to him. 
See him face to face, and without the presence of witnesses 



TO A PERSON ENGAGED IN A LAWSUIT. 7 

to excite either his pride and anger, or your own. Enter 
with mildness upon the discussion of the matter of your 
dispute. Be just to him. Render to him his due. If this 
course were honestly pursued in all cases, I venture to 
affirm that a vast majority of the lawsuits which now end 
in hatred and revenge, would terminate in kindness and 
mutual reconciliation. 

Soon, very soon, this world and all its vanities will pass 
away. A few years hence it will make but little difference 
whether you have won or lost the cause in which you are 
now engaged : the more serious concern will then be, 
whether joii have forgiven your brother, and are in charity 
with all mankind, or whether your bosom is still the resi- 
dence of malignant passions ; whether you are entitled to be 
ranked among the peacemakers, or whether you have been 
accessory to the sowing and ripening of a harvest of deadly 
feuds and hostilities, which will break up the friendly in- 
tercourse of neighbors and families for generations ? Did 
not Christ die for you both ? Are you not brethren, chil- 
dren of the same common parent, professing to worship 
the same Lord — will you not stand at the bar of the same 
Judge, and do you not hope for the same salvation ? Alas ! 
if you die with hearts still rankling with rage against each 
other, have you not reason to fear that you will indeed both 
be tenants of the same dreary region of eternal darkness 
and despair? 

Consider what is the character you are now forming. 
As death leaves you, so judgment will find you. " He 
that is unjust, will be unjust still." He who is unholy at 
death, will be unholy for ever. Does your present litiga- 
tion, even if you are on the right side of the cause, tend to 
cherish in you the sentiments of love, and kindness, and 
charity, and mercy ; or does it awaken and strengthen those 
of anger, and revenge, and a severe and unforgiving tem- 



8 TO A PERSON ENGAGED IN A LAWSUIT. 

per ? And can this be a temper fit to die in ? Is it fit to 
live in ? Is it not, then, decidedly the part of wisdom to 
cease from Utigation, to be reconciled to your offending 
brother, to render to him his due, and to " have fervent 
charity among yourselves ?" for charity covereth, or excus- 
cth, the multitude of another's sins. " Be ye kind one to 
another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as 
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." 

The objects of your present concern will soon be less 
than nothing in your estimation ; the affairs of time, and all 
the pursuits of men, Avill fade from your view, and vanish 
into nothing ; and the realities of eternity will rise to a 
degree of importance, glorious to the child of God, but 
terrible indeed to those who have hitherto neglected to re- 
gard them. All flesh will be summoned before the tribunal 
of an omniscient Judge, whom no pretences can deceive, 
no strength resist, no sophistry or falsehood mislead. 

When thou, O Lord, shalt stand disclosed 

In majesty severe, 
And sit in judgment on my soul, 

O how shall I appear! 

Every character will then be clearly developed — every 
soul will go to his own place : either acquitted by the inter- 
cession of a heavenly Advocate, and admitted to happiness 
eternal ; or justly condemned, and consigned to misery 
without end ! 

117^050 is wise, and loill 2^onder these things, shall 
understand the loving kindness of the Lord. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



IVo. 169. 
MEMOIR 



MRS. HARRIET NE¥ELL, 



WIFE OF 



THE REV. SAMUEL NEWELL, 

MISSIONARY TO INDIA. 



The subject of this Memoir was a daughter of Mr. 
Moses Atwood, a merchant of Haverhill, Mass., and was 
born October 10, 1793. Her childhood was marked with 
cheerfulness, sensibility, and a taste for reading. 

She manifested no peculiar and lasting seriousness be- 
fore the year 1806. In the summer of that year, while at 
the academy in Bradford, a place highly favored of the 
Lord, she first became the subject of those deep religious 
impressions which laid the foundation of her Christian life. 
With several of her companions in study, she was roused 
to attend to the one thing needful. They turned off their 
eyes from beholding vanity, and employed their leisure in 
searching the Scriptures and listening to the instructions 
of those who taught them the way of life. A few extracts 
from her letters and diary will, in some measure, show the 
state of her mind at that time. 

" 1806. Dear L. — I need your kind instructions now 
as much as ever. I should be willing to leave every thing 
VOL. V. 27 



2 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

for God ; willing to be called by any name wbicli tongue 
can utter, and to undergo any sufferings, if it would but 
make me humble, and be for his glory. Do advise me 
•what I shall do for his glory. I care not for myself. 
Though he lay ever so much upon me, I would be con- 
tent. Oh, could I but recall this summer ! But it is past, 
never to return. I have one constant companion, the Bible, 
from which I derive the greatest comfort. This I intend 
for the future shall guide me. 

" Did you ever read Doddridge's Sermons to Young 

People ? They are very beautiful sermons. It appears 
strange to me, that I am not more interested in the cause 
of Christ, when he has done so much for us ! But I ivill 
form a resolution that I will give myself up entirely to him. 
Pray for me, that my heart may be changed. I long for 
the happy hour when Ave shall be free from all sin, and 
enjoy God in heaven. But, if it would be for his glory, I 
should be wilhng to live my threescore years and ten. My 
heart bleeds for our companions, who are on the brink of 
destruction. In what manner shall I speak to them ? But 
perhaps I am in the same way." 

In another letter to the same friend, she says, " What 
did Paul and Silas say to the jailer? 'Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt he saved. ^ Let us do the same. 
Let us improve the accepted time, and make our peace 
with God. This day, my L,, I have formed a resolution, 
that I will devote the remainder of my life entirely to the 
serA-ice of God. Write to me. Tell me my numerous out- 
ward faults ; though you know not the faults of my heart, 
yet tell me all you know, that I may improve. I shall 
receive it as a token of love." 

" Sept. 1, 1806. A large number of my companions, of 
both sexes, wuth whom I have associated this summer, are 
in deep distress for their immortal souls. Many, who were 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 3 

formerly gay and thouglitless, are now in tears, anxiously 
inquiring what tliey shall do to be saved. Oh, how rich is 
the mercy of Jesus ! He dispenses his favors to Avhom he 
pleases, without regard to age or sex. Surely, it is a 
wonderful display of the sovereignty of God, to make me 
a subject of his kingdom, while many of my companions, 
far more amiable than I am, are left to grovel in the dust, 
or to mourn their wretched condition without one gleam 
of hope. 

" Sept. 1 8. How great are the changes which take place 
in my mind in the course of one short day ! I have felt 
deeply distressed for the depravity of my heart, and have 
been ready to despair of the mercy of God. But the light 
of divine truth has this evening irradiated my soul, and I 
have enjoyed such composure as I never knew before. 

" Sept. 20. This has been a happy day to me. When 
conversing with a Christian friend upon the love of Jesus, 
I was lost in raptures. My soul rejoiced in the Lord, and 
joyed in the God of my salvation. A sermon preached by 
Mr. M. this evening, has increased my happiness. This 
is too much for me, a sinful worm of the dust, deserving: 
only eternal punishment. Lord, it is enough. 

*' Oct. 6. The day on which Christ arose from the 
dead has again returned. How shall I spend it ? Oh, 
how the recollection of misspent Sabbaths imbitters every 
present enjoyment ! With pain do I remember the holy 
hours which were formerly sinned away. Frequently did 
I repair to novels to shorten the irksome hours as they 
passed. Why was I not cut off in the midst of this my 
wickedness ? 

"Oct. 10. Oh, how much have I enjoyed of God this 
day ! Such views of his holy character, such a desire to 
glorify his holy name, I never before experienced. Oh, 
that this frame might continue through life ! 



4 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

' My willing soul would stay- 
in such a frame as this, 
And sit and sing herself away 
To everlasting bliss.' 

" This is my birthday. Thirteen years of my short life 
have gone for ever. 

"Dec. 31. This day has past away rapidly and hap- 
pily. Oh, the real bliss that I have enjoyed ! such love 
to God, such a desire to glorify him, I never possessed 
before. The hour of sweet release will shortly come ; 0, 
what joyful tidings ! 

"Jan. 5, 1807. I have had exalted thoughts of the 
character of God this day. I have ardently longed to de- 
part and be with Jesus. 

" May 2. Where is the cross, which Christians speak of 
so frequently ? all that I do for Jesus is pleasant. Though 
perhaps I am ridiculed by the gay and thoughtless for my 
choice of religion, yet the inward comfort which I enjoy 
doubly compensates for all this. I do not wish for the 
approbation and love of the w^orld, neither for its splendor 
nor its riches. 

' For one blest hour at God's right hand, 
I'll give them all away.' " 

For nearly two years, she enjo3^ed the presence of her 
Saviour. The third year of her Christian course was un- 
happily marked with something of that apathy which, it is 
painful to confess, too often characterizes the Christian of 
maturer years. In the summer of 1809, she thus pours 
forth the sorrows of her bleeding heart, in view of her de- 
parture from God : 



August 27, 1809. The first ten years of my life were 
pent in vanity. I was entirely ignorant of the depravity 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 5 

of my heart. The summer that I entered my eleventh 
year, I attended a dancing- school. My conscience would 
sometimes tell me, that my time vras foolishly spent ; and, 
thouo-h I had never heard it intimated that such amuse- 
ments were criminal, yet I could not rest, until I had sol- 
emnly determined, that, when the school closed, I would 
immediately become religious. But these resolutions were 
not carried into effect. Although I attended every day to 
secret prayer, and read the Bible with greater attention than 
before, yet I soon became weary of these exercises, and, by 
degrees, omitted entirely the duties of the closet. When I 
entered my thirteenth year, I was sent by my parents to 
the academy, at Bradford. A re\dval of religion commenced 
in the neighborhood, which, in a short time, spread into the 
school. A large number of the young ladies were anxious- 
ly inquiring what they should do to inherit eternal life. I 
began to inquire what these things meant. My attention 
was solemnly called to the concerns of my immortal soul. 
I was a stranger to hope ; and I feared the ridicule of my 
gay companions. My heart Avas opposed to the character 
of God ; and I felt that, if I continued an enemy to his 
government, I must eternally perish. My convictions of 
sin were not so pungent and distressing as many have had, 
but they were of long continuance. It was more than three 
months before I was brought to cast my soul on the Saviour 
of sinners, and rely on him alone for salvation. The ecsta- 
sies which many new-born souls possess, were not mine. 
But if I was not lost in rapture, on reflecting upon what I 
had escaped, I was filled with a sweet peace, a heavenly 
calmness, which I can never describe. The honors, ap- 
plauses, and titles of this vain world appeared like trifles 
Might as air.' The character of Jesus appeared infinitely 
lovely, and I could say, with the Psalmist, ' Whom have I 
'in heaven but thee ? and there is none on the earth I desire 
VOL. V. 27^ 



6 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

besides thee.' Tlie awful gulf I had escaped filled me with 
astonishment. My gay associates were renounced, and the 
friends of Jesus became my dear friends. The destitute, 
broken «tate of the church at H. prevented me from openly 
professing my faith in Jesus ; but it was a privilege which I 
longed to enjoy. 

" But, alas, these seasons, so precious, did not long 
continue. Soon was I led to exclaim, * that I were as in 
months past !' My zeal for the cause of religion abated ; 
while the vain world engrossed my affections, which had 
been consecrated to my Redeemer. My Bible, once so 
lovely, was entirely neglected. Novels and romances en- 
gaged my thoughts, and hour after hour was foolishly spent 
in the perusal of them. The company of Christians became, 
by degrees, irksome and impleasant. I endeavored to shun 
them. The voice of conscience would frequently whisper, 
'all is not right.' Many a sleepless night have I passed, 
after a day of vanity and sin. But such conflicts did not 
bring me home to the fold, from which, like a stray lamb, 
I had wandered far ^iwvij. A religion which was intimately 
connected with the amusements of the world, and the 
friendship of those who are at enmity with God, would 
have suited well my depraved heart. But I knew the 
religion of the Gospel was vastly different. It exalts the 
Creator, while it humbles the creature in the dust. 

" Such was my awful situation ! I lived only to wound 
the cause of my ever-blessed Saviour. Weep, my soul, 
when contemplating and recording these sins of my youth. 
Be astonished at the long-suffering of Jehovah ! " How great 
a God is our God !' The death of a beloved parent and 
uncle had but little effect on my hard heart. Though these 
afflictions moved my passions, they did not lead me to the 
fountain of consolation. But God, who is rich in mercy, 
did not leave me here ! He had prepared my heart to re- 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 7 

ceive his grace, and he glorified the riches of his mercy by 
carrying on the work. I was providentially invited to visit 
a friend in Newbiiryport. I complied with the invitation. 
The evening previous to my return home, I heard the Rev. 
Mr. M'F. preach. It was the 28th of June, 1809. How 
did the truths which he delivered sink deep into my inmost 
soul ! My past transgressions rose like great mountains 
before me. The most poignant anguish seized my mind ; 
my carnal security fled ; and I felt myself a guilty trans- 
gressor, naked before a holy God. Mr. B. returned with 
me the next day to H. Never, no, never, while memory 
retains her seat in my breast, shall I forget the affectionate 
manner in which he addressed me. His conversation had 
the desired effect. I then made the solemn resolution, as 
I trust, in the strength of Jesus, that I would make a sincere 
dedication of my all to my Creator, both for time and eter- 
nity. This resolution produced a«calm serenity and com- 
posure, to which I had long been a stranger. How lovely 
the way of salvation then appeared ! how lovely was the 
character of the Saviour ! The duty of professing pubhcly 
on which side I was, now was impressed on my mind. I 
came forward and offered myself to the church, was ac- 
cepted, received into communion, and commemorated, for 
the first time, the dvingr love of the blessed Jesus, Auo-ust 
6, 1809. This was a precious season, long to be remem- 
bered. the depths of sovereign grace ! Eternity will 
be too short to celebrate the perfections of God." 

The subsequent years of her short life evinced the sin- 
cerity of her repentance, and the constant indwelling of that 
Holy Spirit, whose office it is to illumine, guide, and sanctify ; 
who promises to "be as the dew unto Israel;" that "he 
shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." 
The limited pages of a Tract admit of only a selection from 



8 • MEMOIR OF HARRIET XEWELL. 

"what she wrote of her rehgious exercises, during the last 
year of her continuance in America. 

*' Aug. 28, 1809. I awoke last night, and spent a most 
delightful hour in contemplating divine truth. The words 
of David flowed sweetly through my mind : ' In the multi- 
tude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my 
soul.' Most willingly would I resign all earthl}^ pleasures 
for one hour in communion Avith my God. 

*' Sept. 29. Examined myself strictly by this question : 
Am I indeed a real member of Christ's kingdom ? If I 
am, whv are my affections so languid, my heart so cold, my 
desires so few for the enlargement of Christ's kingdom ? 
Why is my heart so prone to leave God ? Why am I so 
interested in the concerns of time and sense ; and why are 
the important concerns of my soul so little regarded ? De- 
cide, dearest Jesus, the doubtful case. If I never yet have 
tasted and seen that thou art gracious, let me now, be- 
fore it be for ever too late. 

'* Attended our conference this evening. I think I en- 
joyed what the world can neither give nor take away. 

"Dec. 31. I have now come to the close of another 
year. How various have been the scenes through Avhich I 
have been called to pass this year ! But what have I done 
for God ? what for the interests of religion ? and what for 
my own soul ? I have passed through one of the most 
solemn scenes of my life ; I have taken the covenant of 
God upon me ; I have solemnly joined myself to the church 
of the blessed Jesus. 

" Oh that I might now, as in the presence of the great 
Jehovah, and his holy angels, with penitential sorrow con- 
fess my past ingratitude, and, in humble reliance on the 
strength of Jesus, resolve to devote the ensuing year, and 
the remaining part of my days, to his service. 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 9 

"Feb. 10, 1810. What great reason have I for thank- 
fulness to God, that I am still in the land of the living, and 
have another opportunity of recording with my pen his 
tender mercy and loving-kindness. I have been, for almost 
five weeks, unable to Avrite ; and, for a week, confined to 
my bed. But Jesus has undertaken to be my Physician ; 
he has graciously restored me to health ; and when greatly 
distressed with pain, he has afforded me the sweet consola- 
tions of his Spirit, and brought me willingly to resign my 
soul into his arms, and wait the event of his providence, 
whether life or death. 

'' Oh that this sickness might be for my eternal good ! 
may it be made the means of weaning me from all terres- 
trial enjoyments, and of fixing my hope and my trust in the 
merits of Jesus. Then should I have cause to bless God 
for his chastening rod, and, through eternity, count all these 
afflictive dispensations as great mercies. 

"Feb. 18. How easily can God disconcert the plans 
formed by short-sighted mortals ! I had fondly flattered 
myself, that before this I should have met with the assem- 
bly of the saints, and sat under the droppings of the sanc- 
tuary ; that I should have joined my Christian friends in 
their social conference, and heard the truths of the Gospel 
explained by our dear pastor. But Jehovah determined 
otherwise. He has again laid his chastening rod upon me, 
by afilicting me with sickness and pain. But ' I will bear 
the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against 
him.' I have a renewed opportunity of examining my sub- 
mission to God ; and do now, as in his presence, renewedly 
resolve to devote myself a living sacrifice to him. I think 
I can say, that afflictions are good for me. In times of the 
greatest distress, I have been brought to cry within myself, 
' It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth to him good.' I 
think I am willing to bear whatever God sees fit to lay upon 



10 MEMOIK or HxVKUlET iNEWELL. 

me. Let my dear heavenly Father inflict the keenest an- 
guish, I will submit ; for he is infinitely excellent, and can 
do nothing wrong. 

"Feb. 25. With the light of this holy morning, I de- 
sire to offer to the kind Shepherd of Israel, Avho never slum- 
bers nor sleeps, a morning tribute of thanksgiving and 
praise. Oh that my whole soul might be drawn out in love 
to God ; and may all my faculties unite with the inhabitants 
of the New Jerusalem in praising the immortal King for 
what he has done and still is doing for rebellious man. But 
I fall infinitely short of the honor due to his glorious name. 
When shall I arrive at the destined port of rest, and with 
the blood- washed millions praise the Lamb of God for 
redeeming love ? Hasten, blessed Immanuel, that glorious 
period, when all thy exiled children shall arrive at their 
eternal home. Oh for a tongue to sound aloud the honors 
of the blessed Jesus ! 

" Oct. 10. This day I entered upon my eighteenth year. 
Seventeen years have rolled almost insensibly away. I 
still remain a pilgrim in this barren land. Merciful Jesus, 
on the commencement of this year, may thy supporting 
hand be underneath me ; and if my life is prolonged, may 
it be more faithfully devoted to thee, and to thy blessed 
cause. 

"Oct. 20. My friend, N. H.,* called upon us this 
morning. She informed me of her determination to quit 
her native land, to endure the sufferings of a Christian 
amongst heathen nations — to spend her days in India's 
sultry clime. How did this news affect my heart ! Is 
she willing to do all this for God, and shall I refuse to 
lend my little aid, in a land Avhere Divine Revelation has 

* Mrs. Judson, wife of Rev. Dr. Judson, missionary in the Bur- 
man empire. 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. H 

shed its clearest rays ? I have felt more for the salvation 
of the heathen this day, than I recollect to have felt through 
my whole past life. 

" How dreadful is their situation ! What heart but 
would bleed at the idea of the sufferings they endure, to 
obtain the joys of Paradise ! What can I do, that the light 
of the Gospel may shine upon them ? They are perishing 
for lack of knowledge, while I enjoy the glorious privileges 
of a Christian land ! Great God, direct me ! Oh, make me 
in some way beneficial to their immortal souls. 

*' Oct. 23. Mr. M. introduced Mr. N * to our fam- 
ily. He appears to be an engaged Christian. Expects to 
spend his life in preaching the Saviour to the benighted 
pagans. 

" Oct. 31. Mr. N. called on us this morning. He gave 
me some account of the dealings of God with his soul. 
If such a man, who has devoted himself to the service of 
the Gospel, has determined to labor in the most difficult 
part of the vineyard, and is willing to renounce his earthly 
happiness for the interest of religion — if lie doubts his pos- 
sessing love to God, what shall I say of myself? 

" CuARLESTOWN, April IV, 1811. How shall I record the 
events of this day ! How can I tranquillize my disturbed 
mind enough to engage in the once delightful employment 
of writing ? Returned from Boston in the evening, after 
spending three days very agreeably with my friends C. and 

N. M handed me a letter with an appearance which 

indicated that something unusual was contained in it. I 
broke the seal, and what were my emotions when I read 

* Mr. Newell was one of the five young men who, at the Gen- 
eral Association of Massachusetts, convened in Bradford, June 
27, 1810, publicly consecrated their future years to the preaching 
of Christ among pagan nations. The others were Messrs. Hal], 
Judson. Mills, and Nott. 



12 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

the name of . The contents were not such as I might 

answer at a distant period ; they required an immediate 
answer. And now what shall I say ? How shall I decide 
this imijortant, this interesting question ? Shall I consent 
to leave for ever the parent of my youth, and/r/e?2c?5 of my 
life ; the dear scenes of my childhood, and my native coun- 
try, and go to a land of strangers, ' not knowing the things 
that shall befall me there ?' Oh for direction from Heaven ! 
Oh for that ' wisdom ' w^hich ' is profitable to direct !' I 
will go to God, and, with an unprejudiced mind, seek his 
guidance. I will cast this heavy burden on him, humbly 
trusting that he will sustain me, and direct me in the path 
of duty. 

"April 19. The important decision is not yet made. 
I am still wavering. I long to see and converse Avith my 
dear mother. So delicate is my situation, that I dare not 
imbosom my heart to a single person. What shall I do ? 
Could tears direct me in the path of duty, surely I should 
be directed. My heart aches ; I know not ivhat to do ! 
* Guide me, thou great Jehovah !' 

''April 21. Have now retired to my chamber, once 
more to vent, in silence, my unavailing sighs, and, with an 
almost bursting heart, implore divine relief and direction." 

She returned the ensuing week to her mother, and short- 
ly after addressed the following letter to Mr. Newell : 

" Were I to consult the natural inclinations of 



my heart, my love of worldly ease and temporal enjoy- 
ment, my dread of ridicule from the world — I should 
decidedly answer in the negative. But these are not the 
only difficulties. If I reflect upon my youth, the little 
knowledge I have of the world, the want of natural abilities, 
a better education, and a stronger assurance of mv interest 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 1^. 

in the covenant of grace, I tremble at the idea. I wish to 
follow the guidance of Heaven. The subject is too solemn 
to be trifled with, and too important to be hastily decided. 
" Wishing to converse personally with my dear mother, 
I have returned to H. It afforded me much consolation to 
find her calm and submissive. Gladly would I leave with 
her, the dear guardian of my youth, this point, and wait 
her kind decision. But no. Although she Avill not refuse 
her consent, nor oppose any determination I may come to, 
yet she will not advise. Who then shall guide and direct 
me? Should I apply for advice to other Christians, their 
opinions would vary like the wind. Should I wait for an 
answer to prayer, I might be guided by my own imagina- 
tion, and instead of following the Saviour, might follow my 
selfish interests. Oh for the direction of Jehovah ! I trem- 
ble lest I should dishonor God by an improper decision. 
Will Mr. N. remember Harriet at the mercy- seat ? Will 
he implore for her the guidance of that covenant Redeemer 
whom she has professed to love ? It will be a source of 
consolation to be assured of a remembrance in the prayers 
of Christians." 

June 29. In a letter to a friend at Boston, she writes, 
''The all-important question is at length decided. Many 
were the conflicts within my breast. But at length, from 
a firm persuasion of duty, and a willingness to comply, 
after much examination and prayer, I answered in the 
affirmative." 

November 21. She Avrote to Mr. Newell as follows: 
" The contemplated mission occupies my sleeping and my 
waking thoughts. Oh, who would not sacrifice all that is 
dear in life, to carry the glad tidings of salvation to heathen 
lands ! When, O when will the day dawn, and the day- 
star arise on distant India ? When will private Christians 
VOL. V. 28 



14 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

be more importunate in prayer for the universal spread of 
the Gospel ? Oh, when will the heralds of the cross rejoice 
to be counted worthy to suffer for Jesus, and obey his last 
command, ' Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel 
to every creature ?' " 



On the 6th of February, 1812, the first American For- 
eign Missionaries, Messrs. Newell, Hall, Nott, Judson, and 
Rice, were ordained at Salem, Mass. February 18, Mr. 
and Mrs. N., with their missionary associates, Mr. and Mrs. 
Judson, embarked for the eastern world. While detained 
in the harbor, Mrs. N. addressed the following letter to her 
mother : 



" Here am I, my dear mother, on board the brig Cara- 
van, in a neat httle cabin, with brother and sister J., Mr. 
P., and Capt. I., (who will spend the night with us,) and 
another dear friend, whose beloved society enlivens my 
spirits, and renders my situation pleasant. I have at length 
taken leave of the land of my forefathers, and entered the 
vessel, which will be the place of my residence till I reach 
the desired haven. Think not, my dear mother, that we 
are now sitting in silent sorrow, strangers to peace. no ; 
though the idea that I have left you, to see you no more, 
is painful indeed, yet I tliink I can say, that I have found 
the grace of my Redeemer sufficient for me ; his strength 
has been made perfect in my weakness. We have been 
enofatred in sinmno- this evenino;, and can you believe me, 
when I tell you, that I never engaged in this delightful 
part of worship with greater pleasure? I feel a sweet 
satisfaction in reflecting upon the undertaking in which I 
have engaged. It is not to acquire the riches and honors 
of this fadino' world ; but to assist one of Christ's dear 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 15 

ministers in carrying the glad tidings of salvation to the 
perishing heathen of Asia. 

" I never shall repay you, my dear mother, for all the 
kindness and love you have shown me thus far in life. 
Accept my sincere thanks for every favor, and Oh forgive 
me for so often causing you pain and anxiety. May the 
Almighty reward you a hundred fold for your kindness to 
me. And now, my dear mother, what more shall I say, 
but ask you to pray for me, and engage other Christians to 
do the same. 

' There is a calm for those who weep, 
A rest for weary pilgrims — .' 

Parting sounds will not be heard in heaven. May we meet 
there, after lives filled with usefulness and duty." 

At the expiration of the year, Mrs. A. was again re- 
freshed with a most interesting communication from her 
beloved child, narrating the diversity of scenes through 
which, in this new era of life, she had been led, exulting in 
the condescension of that Infinite Love, which had landed 
her safe on pagan shores, and seemed pointing to pagan 
hearts as her future field of labor. The limits of a Tract 
admit of no extracts from this diary, except that part which 
states a few facts important to the continuation of Mrs. N.'s 
history. 

''June 12. Rejoice with us, my dear mother, in the 
goodness of our covenant God. After seeing nothing but 
sky and water for one hundred and fourteen days, we this 
morning heard the joyful exclamation of ' Land, land !' 

''June 16. Arrived at Calcutta. 

"June 20. Serampore. Came here last evening by 
water. The dear Baptist missionaries received iis with the 
same cordiality as they would if we had been own brothers 



1 6 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

and sisters. This is the most dehghtful phace I ever saw. 
Here the missionaries enjoy the comforts of hfe, and are 
actively engaged in the Redeemer's service. 

"July 16. We are ordered by government to leave the 
British territories, and return to America immediately. 
Capt. H. Avill be ready to sail in three -weeks. He has 
requested a clearance, but it has been absolutely refused 
him, unless we eno-aoje to leave India with him. Thus is our 
wa}^ hedged up ; thus are all our prospects blasted. We 
cannot feel that we are called in Providence to go to Bur- 
mah. Every account Ave have from that savage, barbarous 
nation, confirms us in our opinion that the way is not pre- 
pared for the spread of the Gospel there. The viceroy 
would not hesitate to take away our lives for the smallest 
offence. The situation of a female is peculiarly hazardous. 
But where else can we go ? Must we leave these heathen 
shores ? Must we be the instruments of discouraging all 
the attempts of American Christians to give these nations 
the word of life ? My spirit faints within me. 

''July 29. Early this morning brother J. called at our 
room, unexpectedly, from Calcutta. Captain C. has agreed 
to carry two of us in his vessel to the Isle of France. I 
will go, leaning on the Lord, and depending on him for 
direction, support, and happiness. We shall leave the dear 
mission family at Serampore when another rising sun dispels 
the darkness of the night. 

"Aug. 4. Though sick enough to keep my bed, I have 
this day come to the ship, which will probably be my home 
for some time to come. 

"Aug. 19. Our situation on board the Gillespie has 
become more pleasant. AYe resolved to be very strict in 
our hours of devotion, social and private ; to avoid all 
trivial conversation, and not to countenance profaneness by 
a look of complacency ; and to improve every opportunity 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 17 

of introducing religious convei-sation at table. This kind of 
life, tliougli at first it excited ridicule, has nevertheless pro- 
cured us respect. When we are present, swearing and 
indecent talk are laid aside, and we have not so much rea- 
son, as formerly, to say, with a saint of old, " Woe is me, 
that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar." 

"Aug. 20. Oh how do I long for the society of dear 
Christians ! Oh, my dear mother, prize your devout ac- 
quaintance ; value the society of the dear children of God. 

"Aug. 23. Another sacred day has come. My heart 
welcomes its approach. But I shall not be joyful with the 
dear saints in God's house of prayer. Well — let me conse- 
crate, in my retirement, these sacred hours to him, and the 
glad morning will shortly dawn, when I shall engage in the 
sweet work of praise, with all the blood- washed throng, in 
my heavenly Father's kingdom." 

In consequence of a leak in the ship they put into Co- 
ringa. The following is an extract from a letter to Mrs. 
Judson, then at Calcutta, dated Coringa, Sept. 14, 1812. 

" Since I left you, my mind has been variously exercised. 
I have had many distressing conflicts and doubts. But at 
some blessed seasons, I think I have enjoyed the light of 
Immanuel's countenance, and have known joys too great to 
be expressed. I have never, since I began the Christian 
life, found so much satisfaction in attending on the duties of 
religion as lately. The return of those seasons consecrated 
to the worship of Jesus in private, has been attended with 
delight to my soul. Shall we not see some or all of you at 
the Isle of France ? that Providence may so order events, 
that we may be united in laboring among the heathen. I 
hope you are enjoying much of God. This alone will pre- 
pare you for future trials. Hope to see you soon. Farewell." 
VOL. V. 28* 



18 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL, 

The following letter from Mr. Newell was received by 
Mrs. Atwood, Aug. 1813, dated Port Louis, Isle of France, 
December 10, 1812. 

" When I sit down to address you, my dear mother. 



from this distant land, to me a land of strangers and a place 
of exile, a thousand tender thoughts arise in my mind, and 
naturally suggest such inquiries as these. How is it now 
with that dear woman to whom I am indebted for my great- 
est earthly blessing — the mother of my dear Harriet ? Andf 
mine too — for I must claim the privilege of considering you 
as my own dear mother. Does the candle of the Lord still 
shine on her tabernacle, and is the voice of joy and praise 
yet heard in her dwelling ? Or, what is not improbable in 
this world of disappointment, has some new affliction, the 
death perhaps of a dear child, or some other beloved friend, 
caused her heart again to bleed, and her tears to flow? 
Ah ! my mother, though we may live many years, and see 
good in them all, yet let us remember the days of darkness, 
for they too will be many. It is decreed by Infinite Wis- 
dom, that through much tribulation we must enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. You, my dear mother, have had your 
share of adversity — and I too have had mine. But we will 
not complain. Sanctified afflictions are the choicest favors 
of heaven. They cure us of our vain and foolish expecta- 
tions from the world, and teach our thoughts and affections 
to ascend and fix on joys that never die. I never longed 
so much to see you, as I have these several da3^s past. 
AVhat would I now give to sit one hour by that dear fire- 
side, where I have tasted the most unalloyed pleasure that 
earth affords, and recount to you, and the dear children, the 
perils, the toils, and the sufferings, through which I have 
passed since I left my native land. In this happy circle I 
should for a moment forofet . 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET .NEWELL. 19 

" Yes, my dear friends, I would tell you liow God lias 
disappointed our favorite schemes, and blasted our hopes 
of preaching Christ in India, and has sent us all away from 
that extensive field of usefulness, with an intimation that 
he has nothing for us to do there. I Avould tell you how 
lie has visited us all with sickness, and how he has afflict- 
ed me, in particular, by taking away the dear little babe 
which he gave us, the child of our prayers, of our hopes, 
of our tears. I would tell you — but O, shall I tell it, or 
forbear ? 

" Have courage, my mother, God will support you under 
this trial ; though it may for a time cause your very heart 
to bleed. Come, then, let us mingle our griefs and weep 
together, for she was dear to us both ; and she too is gone. 
Yes ; Harriet, your lovely daughter, is gone, and you will 
see her face no more ! My own dear Harriet, the wife of 
my youth, and the desire of my eyes, has bid me a last 
farewell, and left me to mourn and weep. Yes, she is gone. 
I wiped the cold sweat of death from her pale, emaciated 
face, while we travelled together, down to the entrance of 
the dark valley. There she took her upward flight, and 
ascended to the mansions of the blessed. 

" But I must hasten to give you a more particular 
account of the repeated afflictions with which God has 
visited me. 

"Harriet enjoyed good health from the time we left 
you, until we embarked on our voyage from Calcutta to 
the Isle of France. The fatigue of riding in a palanquin, 
in that unhealthy place, threw her into a fever, which com- 
menced the day after we were on board. She was confined 
about a week to her couch, but afterwards recovered, and 
enjoyed pretty good health. We left Calcutta on the 4th 
of August ; but, on account of contrary winds and bad 
weather, we were driven about in the Bay of Bengal, with- 



20 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

out making much progress during the whole of that month. 
On or about the 27 th, it was discovered that the vessel had 
sprung a leak; and on the 30th the leak had increased to 
such an alarming degree, as to render our situation ex- 
tremely perilous. A consultation of the officers was called, 
and it was determined to put about immediately, and make 
the nearest port, which was Coringa, a small town on the 
Coromandel coast, about sixty miles south of Yizigapatam. 
We got safe into port on Saturday, September 5th." 

[On the 19th of September they reembarked, and Mrs. 
X. enjoyed comfortable health, till nearly three Aveeks after 
leaving Coringa, and about three weeks before reaching the 
Isle of France, when she became the joyful mother of a 
daughter. Four days after, in consequence of a severe 
storm of wind and rain, the child took cold, and died on 
the evening of the next day.] 

"About a week after Mrs. N.'s confinement," says Mr. 
N., " I first perceived the symptoms of that disorder, which 
terminated in her death. She immediately recognized the 
disease of which her father, and several other of her family 
connections died, and was confident she should never recov- 
er. I endeavored to raise her hopes, and encouraged her 
to expect much from a change of situation. But she wished 
me to dismiss all expectations of her recovery, and to pre- 
pare my mind, and help her to prepare her own, for the 
solemn event. She told me she had some doubts respect- 
ing her state. Yet she was by no means alarmed at the 
idea of death, but was calm, patient, and resigned. During 
the last week of our passage she read through the book 
of Job, and, as she afterwards told me, 'found sweet relief 
from every fear in submitting to a sovereign God ;' and 
could not refrain from tears of joy, that God should give 
her so comfortable views of death and eternity. Her health 
continued uniformly in a declining state, and the symptoms 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 21 

of a settled consumption grew every day more and more 
apparent." 

[Though Mr. N. feared the worst, he did not consider 
her case as fatal, till the last fortnight of her life, Avhich 
commenced about ten days after their arrival at the Isle of 
France. Mr. N., immediately on their arrival, called in 
the aid of Dr. B. the chief surgeon of the British army in 
that Island, and of Dr. W., a Danish physician, a friend 
with whom they had become acquainted at Serampore. 
There was but little alteration in Mrs. N.'s health — ex- 
cepting that she gradually lost strength — till about a fort- 
night before her death, when she declined more rapidly, 
and all hope of her recovery was extinguished. About 
4 o'clock P.M., on Monday, Nov. 30, 1812, her eyesight 
failed her ; soon after which, she calmly, and with apparent 
case, expired — seven weeks and four days after her confine- 
ment. These events, with all the attending circumstances, 
are related by Mr. N. with great tenderness and particu- 
larity. He then proceeds as follows :] 

" There, my dear mother, I have finished the story of 
Harriet's suflferings. Let us turn from the tale of woe to a 
brighter scene ; one that will gladden your heart, as I am 
sure it does mine. During this long series of sufferings, 
she meekly yielded to the will of her heavenly Father, 
without one murmuring word. 'My wicked heart,' she 
writes, ' is inclined to think it hard, that I should sufl^ev 
such fatigue and hardship. I sinfully envy those Avhose 
lot it is to live in tranquillity on land. Happy people ! Ye 
know not the toils and trials of voyages across the rough 
and stormy deep. 0, for a little Indian hut on land. But 
hush, my warring passions ; it is for Jesus, who sacrificed 
the joys of his Father's kingdom, and expired on a cross 
to redeem a fallen world, that thus I wander from place 
to place, and feel nowhere at home. How reviving the 



22 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

thoiiglit ! How great the consolation it yields to my sink- 
ing heart ! I -svill clierish it, and yet be happy.' 

" In the first part of the sickness which succeeded the 
birth of our babe, she had some doubts Avhich occasionally 
interrupted her spiritual comfort ; but they were soon re- 
moved, and her mind was filled with that peace of God 
which passeth all understanding. 

" I finally became convinced that she was far gone in a 
consumption, and told her I feared she would find a grave 
in the Isle of France. She seemed to be reheved of a 
heavy burden, when I gave her this intelligence. From 
this time we conversed constantly, and with the greatest 
freedom and plainness, respecting her death, which we now 
considered as certain, and near at hand. When she per- 
ceived me sorrowful, she would, with a smiling countenance 
and cheerful voice, endeavor to animate me with the pros- 
pect of a speedy reunion in a world Avhere we should part 
no more. 

" When I asked her, a few days before she died, if she 
had any remaining doubts respecting her spiritual state, 
she answered with emphasis that she had none. During 
the whole of her sickness, she talked in the most familiar 
manner, and with great delight, of death, and the glory 
that was to follow. When Dr. B. one day told her those 
were gloomy thoughts, she had better get rid of them, 
she replied, that, on the contrary, they were to her cheer- 
ing and joyful, beyond Avhat she could express. When 
I attempted to persuade her that she would recover — 
which I fondly hoped — it seemed to strike her like a dis- 
appointment. She would say, ' You ought rather to pray 
that I may depart, that I may be perfectly free from sin, 
and be where God is.' 

" Her mind was from day to day filled with the most 
comforting and delightful views of the character of God 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 23 

and Christ. She often requested me to talk to her on 
these interesting subjects. She told me that her thoughts 
were so much confused, and her mind so much weakened, 
by the distress of body she had suffered, that she found it 
difficult steadily to pursue a train of thought on divine 
things, but that she continually looked to God, and pas- 
sively rested on him. She often spoke of meeting her 
friends in heaven. ' Perhaps,' said she, ' my dear mother 
has gone before me to heaven, and as soon as I leave this 
body, I shall find myself with her.' At another time she 
said, * We often talk of meeting our friends in heaven ; but 
what would heaven be with all our friends, if God were 
not there ?' 

" She longed exceedingly for the brethren to arrive from 
India, that we might form ourselves into a church, and 
celebrate the dying love of Jesus once more before she 
died. Her desires to enjoy the benefit of this ordinance 
were so strong, and our situation so peculiar, that I thought 
a deviation from the usage of our churches in this instance 
would be justifiable, and accordingly, on the last Sabbath 
in November, the day before she died, I gave her the sym- 
bols of the body and blood of our Lord ; and I trust it was 
a comfortable season to us both. 

" A few days before she died, after one of those dis- 
tressing turns of coughing and raising phlegm, which so 
rapidly wasted her strength, she called me to come and sit 
on her bed beside her, and receive her dying message to 
her friends. She observed, that her strength was quite 
exhausted, and she could say only a few words ; but feared 
she should not have another opportunity. ' Tell my dear 
mother,' said she, 'how much Harriet loved her. Tell her 
to look to God, and keep near to him, and He will support 
and comfort her in all her trials. I shall meet her in heav- 
en, for surely she is one of the dear children of God.' She 



•24 MEMOIR OF HAREIET NEWELL. 

then turned to lier brothers and sisters : ' Tell them,' said 
she, ' from the lips of their dying sister, that there is nothing 
but relio'ion worth livino- for. exhort them to attend 
immediately to the care of their precious, immortal souls. 
Tell them not to delay repentance. The eldest of them will 
be anxious to know how I now feel with respect to missions. 
Tell them, and also my dear mother, that I have never re- 
gretted leaving my native land for the cause of Christ. Let 
my dear brothers and sisters know I love them to the last. 
I hope to meet them in heaven ; but 0, if I should not ' — 
here tears burst from her eyes, and her sobs of grief at the 
thought of an eternal separation, expressed feelings that 
were too big for utterance. After she liad recovered a 
little from the shock which these strong emotions had given 
to her whole frame, she attempted to speak of several other 
friends ; but was obliged to sum up all she had to sa}- in 
* Love and an affectionate farewell to them all.' Within 
a day or two of her death, such conversations as the fol- 
lowing passed between us : 

" Should you not be willing to recover, and live a while 
longer here ? 

" ' On some accounts it would be desirable. I wish to 
do something for God before I die. But the experience 
I have had of the deceitfulness of my heart leads me to 
expect, that if I should recover, my future life would be 
much the same as my past has been, and I long to be per- 
fectly free from sin. God has called me away before we 
have entered upon the work of the mission, but the case of 
David affords me comfort. I have had it in my heart to do 
what I can for the heathen, and I hope God will accept 
me.' 

"But what shall I do, when you are gone ? How can 
I bear the separation ? 

** ' Jesus will be your best friend, and oui* separation 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 25 

will be short. We shall soon, very soon, meet in a better 
world ; if I thought we should not, it would be painful 
indeed to part with you.' 

" How does your past life appear to you now ? 

"■ ' Bad enough ; but that only makes the grace of Christ 
appear the more glorious. 

< Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 
My beauty are, my heavenly dress ; 
Midst flaming worlds, in tliese arrayed, 
With joy shall I lift up my head.' 

*' As I stood by her bedside, about nine in the evening 
previous to her decease, perceiving that she was failing 
very fast, I told her I wished to take my leave of her, 
before her speech and recollection left her. She raised 
her eyes to look at me once more, gave me her hand, 
already chilled with death, and with a feeble voice, said, 
* Farewell — we shall soon meet again — Jesus will be your 
friend.' 

" When I told her that she could not live through the 
next day, she replied, ' joyful news ; I long to depart.' 
Some time after, I said to her, 'How does death appear 
to you now ?' She replied, ' Glorious ; truly welcome.' 
During Sabbath night she seemed to be a little wandering; 
but the next morning she had her recollection perfectly. 
As I stood by her, I asked if she knew me. At first she 
made no answer. I said to her again, ' My dear Harriet, do 
you know who I am ?' * My dear Mr. Newell, my husband,' 
was her reply ; but in broken accents, and a voice faltering 
in death. 

" The last words which I remember, and which I think 
were the last she uttered, relative to her departure, were 
these : ' The pains, the groans, the dying strife ' — * How 
long, Lord, how long ?' 

" But I must stop ; for I have already exceeded the 
VOL. V. 29 



26 MEMOIR OF HARRIET XEWELL, 

bounds of a letter, though I have come far short of doing 
justice to the dying deportment of this dear friend. O 
may my last end be like hers. I would now proceed to 
discharge the duty, which Harriet's dying request imposed 
on me, of administering consolation to you, and of beseech- 
ing the dear children to make a right improvement of this 
afflicting dispensation ; but I hope the God of all consola- 
tion will himself wipe away your tears, and fill your heart 
with comfort, and that Harriet's dying entreaties, and tears, 
and sighs, may be carried by the Spirit of truth to the hearts 
of the children, and of her other young friends, and may 
fasten comdction on their minds, and engage them to follow 
her so far as she followed Christ. With these hopes, I 
must bid them all an affectionate farewell. 

" S. NEWELL." 

Mr. N. enclosed a fragment — from which the following 
sentences are taken — in Mrs. X.'s own hand. It is the 
commencement of a letter which she began to write to her 
mother, but which she was never able to resume. 

" Port Loos, Isle of France, Nov. 3, 1812. 

" My ever dear Mother — Since I wrote you last, I 
have been called by God to rejoice and weep ; for afflictions 
and mercies have both alternately fallen to my lot. I ad- 
dress you now from a bed of great weakness — perhaps for 
the last time. Yes, my dear mamma, I feel this mud- 
walled cottage shake, and expect ere long to become an 
inhabitant of the world of spirits. Eternity I feel is just at 
hand. But let me give you some account of God's dealings 
with me, which I shall do at intervals, as strength will 
admit." 

The following extract completes the affecting history of 
Mrs. Newell. 



MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 27 

"Her remains were conveyed, on the 1st of December, 
to the burying-ground in Port Louis, followed only by 
myself and another gentleman, and interred in a retired 
spot beneath the shade of an evergreen. 

Till Christ shall come to rouse the slumbering dead, 

Farewell, pale, lifeless clay, a long farewell I 

SAveet be thy sleep beneath that green tree's shade, 

Where I have laid thee in thy lowly cell. 

Adieu, dear Harriet ; thou shalt sigh no more ; 

Thy conflict's ended, and thy toils are past ; 

Thy weary pilgrimage on earth is o'er. 

And thou hast reached thy wished for home at last. 

Loosed from thy prison earth, I saw thee rise 

To realms of light beyond these lower skies ; 

There I behold thee in thy blest abode. 

Mid kindred spirits, near thy Father God. 

' But me not destined yet thy bliss to share, 

My prime of life in wand'ring spent, and care, 

My duty calls to traverse realms alone, 

And find no spot of all the world my own.' 

' Yet when this varying scene of life is o'er, 

O may I meet thee on that blissful shore. 

Where friends shall never part, farewells be heard no more.'" 

The homeless, sorrowing, lone writer of the above, soon 
after the interment of his beloved Harriet, left the Isle of 
France for Ceylon. After a residence of ten months in this 
island, he departed to join his American brethren in Bom- 
bay, and united with them in laboring for the salvation of 
the surrounding heathen. Here, after seven short years, 
his compassionate Saviour drew near, and called him to his 
rest in heaven, where we trust he enjoys a happy reunion 
with her, Avhose Christian walk and godlike converse, while 
on earth, did much to ripen him for heavenly bhss. 

« Short toils, short woes, loved friends, were thine ; 
Now, joys eternal and divine." 



28 MEMOIR OF HARRIET NEWELL. 

Inscription by Rev. Dr. Worcester, late Secretary of the Ameri- 
can Board for Foreign Missions, on the monument erected 
over the grave of Mrs. Newell, in the Isle of France. 

Sacrelr to tlje ittemorji 

OF 

MlESo MABBIET ATWOOB, 

WIFE OF 

REV. SAMUEL NEWELL, 

MISSIONARY AT BOMBAY. 
B CRN, 

HAVERHILL, MASS., U. S. A., OCTOBER 10, 1793; 

DIED, 

AFTER A DISTRESSING VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO THIS PLACE, 

NOVEMBER 30, 1812. 

EARLY DEVOTED TO CHRIST, HER HEART BURNED FOR THE HEATHEN— FOR 

THEM SHE LEFT HER KINDRED AND HER NATIVE LAND, AND 

WELCOMED DANGER AND SUFFERINGS. 

OF EXCELLENT UNDERSTANDING, RICH IN ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND VIRTUES, 

SHE WAS THE DELIGHT OF HER FRIENDS, A CROWN TO HER 

HUSBAND, AND AN ORNASIENT TO THE 

MISSIONARY CAUSE. 

EER SHORT LIFE AVAS BRIGHT, HER DEATH FULL OF GLORY. 

HER NAlvIE LIVES, 

AND IN ALL CHRISTIAN LANDS IS PLEADING WITH IRRESISTIBLE ELOQUENCE 

FOR THE HEATHEN. 

THIS HUMBLE MONUMENT TO HER MEMORY 
IS ERECTED BY THE 

AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 

FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. 



No. 170. 

SIMPLICITY IN DRESS 



The humble followers of the Lord Jesus have often ob- 
served with painful solicitude, the love of splendid personal 
decorations which appears in many of his professed friends. 
This is a temptation to which almost all are exposed ; but I 
would now invite to it the particular attention of Christian 
females, ivho indulge a hope in Christ. 

When God condescended to enter into covenant with us, 
and seal us, as we hope, by his Holy Spirit, and we gave 
ourselves away to him, did we make any reserve ? Was any 
idol retained in our hearts, which we did not sincerely wish 
to be cast out ? Was not our adorable Redeemer exalted 
supreme Lord of our aifections ? Was not the language of 
our souls, " Lord, I surrender myself unto thee, take thou 
the purchase of thine own blood; henceforth I consider 
nothing as my own, but consecrate my body, soul, and 
spirit to be thine for ever?" 

And have our obligations become less than when we 
first "tasted that the Lord is gracious?" We have, per- 
haps, for years experienced the immutability of his gracious 
covenant. When we have " broken his statutes, and kept 
not his commandments," then he has, in mercy, "visited 
our transgressions with the rod, and our iniquities with 
stripes ; nevertheless, his loving kindness has he not utter- 
ly taken away, nor suffered his faithfulness to fail." 

But is it consistent with our character as " strangers and 

pilgrims on the earth,'^ whose affections are placed not on 

things below, but on "things above," to be pleased with 

toys and trifles ? Can a mind enslaved by the fashions and 

VOL. V. 29* 



2 SIMPLICITY IN DRESS. 

extravagances of this world, daily hold exalted intercourse 
with heaven ? Can we prostrate ourselves before the Maj- 
esty of the universe, and pray, " God, create in me a 
clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me ; deliver me 
from the allurements of this world ; make me a meek and 
humble follower of the meek and lowly Jesus ; help me to 
evince to the world the transforming efficacy of the Spirit of 
grace, in raising my affections to thee, and in leading me to 
universal obedience and love of thy commands" — can such 
be the lano-uao-e of our hearts in our retirement, when we 
go from the closet to the dressing table, and from the dress- 
ing table to the closet ? If we would enjoy the smiles of 
our Saviour, if we would hold communion with the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we must " avoid even the 
appearance of evil." We must take the word of God as the 
sufficient and only rule of our faith and practice. But St. 
Paul says, in his instructions to Timothy, he would "that 
women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shame- 
facedness and sobriety ; not with broidered hair, or gold, or 
pearls, or costly array; but," which becometh women pro- 
fessing godliness, " with good works." Equally explicit is 
St. Peter. When declaring the duty of wives, he says, 
" Whose adorninof, let it not be that outward adornino- of 
plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, or of putting on of 
apparel ; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that 
which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and 
quiet spirit, Avhich is in the sight of God of great price." 

When exhibited in her native purity, " bringing forth 
fruits meet for repentance," how preeminently lovely does 
religion appear ! Would you behold her in her most at- 
tractive mien : picture to yourself a young and pious female 
— her bosom glowing with love to God and man. A noble 
simplicity characterizes her whole appearance, and bespeaks 
the elevation of a soul which drinks deeply of the spirit of 
*' just men made perfect," in heaven. Her brow, imruffled. 



SIMPLICITY IN DRESS. 3 

is meekly expressive of that peace and tranquillity wliich 
come from holy communion with God. In her daily walk, 
mark the cheerful alacrity with which she fulfils the various 
domestic duties of her station : see her frequenting the 
abodes of wretchedness and want, clothing the naked with 
garments which her own hands have made, pouring the 
balm of consolation into the bosom of the afflicted, or kneel- 
ing by the bed of disease and death, invoking mercy for the 
guilty, or pointing the expiring penitent to the mansions of 
peace. 

But there is still another and a powerful incitement to 
obey the instructions of Scripture. By retrenching super- 
fluous expenses, we shall be able to do much, in obedience 
to the last, the great command of our Saviour, to send his 
Gosi^el to every creature. That glorious time, so long pre- 
dicted by prophets and righteous men, begins to dawn. The 
slumber of ages is broken. The church is about to arise. 
The world never before witnessed such measures for the ex- 
tension of the Redeemer's kingdom. In this glorious cause, 
wealth, rank, and talents are enlisted. In this glorious 
cause, all holy beings are interested. Great things have 
been attempted, and great things will be accomplished ; 
but they Avill not be accomplished without the strenuous 
and self-denying excrti«is of God's people. And have you 
conscientiously practised all that self-denial which supreme 
love to your adorable Saviour demands ? Calculate the 
amount of good which might have been effected by the 
price of expensive apparel, had it been expended in sup- 
porting some missionary in pagan lands, in the gratuitous 
distribution of Bibles or Tracts, or in aiding any of those 
numerous benevolent institutions which are the harbingers 
of a bright, a glorious day. 

Though but one soul were rescued from the thraldom of 
Satan, washed in a Saviour's blood, how infinitely would it 
transcend the value of this material universe ! The time is 



4 SIMPLICITY IN DRESS. 

coming, -when to have been the humble instrument of turn- 
ing one soul from the error of his ways, Avill yield a pure 
delight, which the enlarged capacities of glorified spirits 
only can sustain. Little will it avail you, when standing 
before the dread tribunal of God, that the habiliments of 
your mortal state were rich and splendid ! Are you content 
to be saved as by fire ? Would you not rather that an 
abundant entrance should be ministered unto you, into the 
everlasting kingdom of your God and Saviour ? Then learn 
to follow Christ in the regeneration. Learn to take up your 
cross daily. Contemplate the height, and depth, and length, 
and breadth of that love which drew the Son of God from 
the bosom of his Father, and offered him a voluntary sacri- 
fice for sin. Behold him living, dying, rising, ascending, 
that he may disarm death of his sting, that he may " pro- 
claim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison 
to them that are bound." Yea, contemplate this " mystery 
of godliness," this matchless, this unparalleled love. And 
will you then, when the full tide of grateful affection rushes 
upon your heart, go and expend the bounties of an indulgent 
Providence in the gratification of sinful and ignoble passions ? 
Will you then virtually continue to say to the heathen, 
** Remain in your present state of degradation and death ; 
I cannot spare one ornament from my apparel, or one hour 
which I have devoted to pleasure ; still give that worship 
which is due to God only, to your shameless idols, till 
another generation arise who shall feel the force of the 
Saviour's command, and deny themselves the pleasures of 
this life, that they may spread his Gospel ?" Nay, rather 
listen to the heavenly voice, " Take my yoke upon you and 
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall 
find rest unto your soul. For my yoke is easy, and my 
burden is h.fjht." 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



IVo. 171. 



PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 



The relation between parents and children involves all 
the relations of human society. By the institution of mar- 
riage, mankind are divided into little societies, on which 
depend the character and condition of larger communities. 
These family associations are closely connected by natural 
affection, and have peculiar advantages and strong induce- 
ments to discharge with fidelity every duty which they owe 
to each other. From the tendency of first impressions on 
children, to stamp their future opinions and character, God 
has ordained that truth and piety should, in great measure, 
be continued on earth by means of parental faithfulness. 
" For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a 
law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they 
should make them known to their children ; that the gene- 
ration to come might know them, even the children which 
should be born, who should arise and declare them to their 
children ; that they might set their hope in God, and not 
forget the works of God, but keep his commandments." 
Psalm 78 : 5-7. This divine establishment has been more 
or less recognized in every age of the Church; and we may 
now contemplate it among the principal means of reforming 
the world, and introducing the day of millennial glory. 

How pleasing is the work assigned to parents — how 
momentous the trust committed to their hands ! These 
dear children God hath given them, to be trained up for 
him — for heaven. Whatever is done to them, is done for 
him, or against him, as it may be good or bad, as it tends 



2 PARE^'TAL FAITHFULNESS. 

to save or destroy tlie soul for ever. How should those, 
who are entrusted with this immortal charge, give the ut- 
most heed, lest they be found guilty of ruining for ever the 
dearest objects of their affection. In doing this, parents 
should, 

1. Lead their children by a holy example. A child will 
much sooner observe and imitate the actions of others, than 
receive instruction from their lips. The first thing, there- 
fore, which can be done for children is, to set them a good 
example. This is the first and almost the only means of a 
child's improvement, in the state of infancy ; and by it the 
character and life are, in a great measure, formed. How 
soon will a child catch the expression, and imitate the mo- 
tions of a fond mother ! And how will its growing years 
exhibit, either in playful mood, or in a settled course of 
conduct, fruits of the impressions it received under parental 
care. How aptly will it copy after others ; and justify its 
conduct by its corresponding Avith theirs. Parents should 
be extremely cautious what they say and do before their 
children. They should uniformly exercise that kindness, 
forbearance, patience, contentment, and good will, which 
they would rejoice to see in their beloved offspring-. They 
should always conduct towards each other, and towards 
their children, as they would desire to see them conduct- 
ing in years of maturity. But how can this be done, unless 
parents are truly pious ? How can they lead others in a 
way which they themselves know not ; and in which they 
do not walk? How can they consistently recommend, 
or even inculcate, the religious duties which they do not 
perform? And what a ready excuse will their children 
have for neo-lectino^ these duties. Will not actions, rather 
than words, be accounted the language of the heart, and 
the rule to be observed ? What manner of persons, then, 
parents, should you be, in all holy conversation and godli- 
ness ! How should you die unto sin and live unto right- 
eousness, by faith on the Son of God. Avoiding every 



PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 3 

tiling sinful in temper and practice, how should you walk 
in all Gad's commandments and ordinances, as heirs of the 
grace of life. And how much greater concern should you 
manifest for the spiritual, than for the temporal interests of 
your children. 

2. Parental faithfulness also implies the due government 
of children. This most essentially consists in restraint and 
correction. Children early manifest a selfish, proud, and 
stubborn disposition. They are unwilling, in many instan- 
ces, to obey and submit to the authority of their parents. 
But they will relinquish one object for another, according 
as they realize or fear the painful consequences of one, and 
enjoy or expect the benefit of the other. This seems to be 
the general process of human action, in all the departments 
of life — even in the different stages of religious concern 
and conviction for sin, it is observable, till the soul gives 
up all for Christ. Then it is delivered, by the Holy Spirit, 
from supreme selfishness, and renewed to genuine benevo- 
lence. But, previously to this change in his affections, the 
child will not forsake the wrong, and do the right, without 
being made deeply sensible of the conseqmnces. Here, then, 
is a fixed principle, on which to proceed in governing chil- 
dren. On the one hand, they must be deterred from dis- 
obedience, and, on the other hand, allured to obedience, 
by the effects which will follow. 

The importance of duly restraining children appears, 
from its being much easier to prevent evil habits, than it is 
afterwards to eradicate them. Let the prevailing propen- 
sity of a child be discovered, and be subdued, or regulated 
by a proper control, and the government of subordinate 
passions will be comparatively easy. Restraining means 
are generally used to guard children against theft and 
murder ; and by frequently presenting the evil and danger 
of these crimes, multitudes are deterred. But all sins are 
equally against God, and expose the soul to his wrath. 
Many sins are likewise injurious to society ; and every trans- 



4 PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 

gression should be prevented, as much as possible, by suit- 
able restraints. Wishes must often be denied, and inclina- 
tions crossed, for the child's good. But the reason of this 
should be clearly shown, that the child may act from 
proper motives, and be trained to self-government. Selfish- 
ness, revenge, covetousness, pride, and other evil passions, 
should be very early checked, by presenting suitable con- 
siderations to the mind. To allow a child to seek revenge, 
or to retaliate an injury, is to cherish in his bosom a cruel, 
malicious disposition, to make him a duellist — a murderer. 
Let the child be rather excited to show a noble forbear- 
ance, and to overcome evil with good— to suffer wrong, 
rather than do wrong. This is the noblest conquest which 
he can gain. "He that is slow to anger, is better than the 
mio-hty ; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh 
a city." 

Children should be prohibited from frequenting haunts 
of vice, and from freely associating with vicious characters, 
from reading pernicious books, and from profaning the Sab- 
bath and the name of God. Eli was sorely chastised, be- 
cause he knew his sons made themselves vile, and he re- 
strained them not. Every propensity to " foolish talking 
and jesting," to irreverence and disrespect of God and 
divine things, should be discountenanced. Nor should the 
natural inclinations of children be indulged, to the loss, or 
even injury of their souls. What is the indulgence of 
their inclinations, compared with their everlasting salvation ? 
Who would gratify the inordinate desire of his child, by 
giving him poison, rather than wholesome food ? In such 
cases, the child knows not his danger, and should submit 
entirely to his parents, as the appointed guardians of his 
best, his eternal interests. He that loveth his son, will 
restrain him from evil. 

Correction of children is also for their good. This con- 
sists in the punishment of their faults. Restraint is sometimes 
disreo-arded ; and then more effectual measures become 



PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 5 

necessary. " The rod and reproof give wisdom. He that 
spareth the rod hateth his son ; but he that loveth him 
chasteneth him betimes." Pro v. 13 : 24. The child should 
evidently respect his parents, and submit to their authorit}'-. 
If the parent does not govern his child, his child will govern 
him. But the cheerful submission of the child is greatly to 
his benefit, as well as to the parent's comfort. Let this be 
effected, and a steady, regular, and determined course will 
generally secure the object of parental government, without 
severer measures. A few rules, well observed, will answer 
a better purpose than many that are neglected. To threat- 
en, but not inflict a punishment, when manifestly deserved, 
or to promise, but not bestow a reward, when merited, is 
dealing falsely with children, and teaching them to deal 
falsely one with another. It also destroys the parent's au- 
thority, and the child's confidence in his word. Nor should 
children ever be terrified into submission and obedience, by 
false and frightful representations. The truth, and even 
the rod, is vastly better. Nor should parents ever show 
the child their own weakness, by appeahng to each other, 
or by threatening to call in the aid of their minister, or 
schoolmaster, or some neighbor, who has more authority 
than they. For the child Avill readily discover that they 
need assistance, even in their own view ; and seeing their 
weakness, he will triumph in the prospect of victory. There 
are undoubtedly cases of stubbornness, which require cor- 
poral punishment. " Chasten thy son while there is hope, 
and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Correct thy son, 
and he shall give thee rest." The rod is one means of giv- 
ing wisdom. 

Another thing worthy of notice in the government of 
children, is a ivise discrimination between faults of different 
kinds. If no difference be made between those which arise 
from playful feelings and heedlessness, and those proceed- 
ing from a mischievous and stubborn disposition, the child 
will be discouraged in his endeavors to please. He will see 
VOL. V. 30 



Q PARENTAL TAITHFULNESS. 

the unreasonableness of sucli indiscriminate blame and cor- 
rection. He T\ill be irritated, and his mind be soured, and 
callous to reproof. " Fathers, provoke not your children to 
anger, lest they be discouraged. Provoke not your chil- 
dren to wrath." Never administer correction in a passion, 
lest a want of consideration and tenderness should destroy 
its influence. But to render it effectual, let it be adminis- 
tered with unyielding firmness, as well as genuine affection. 

The Rev. Thomas Scott was decided in his opinion of 
the propriety and necessity of correction, as the appoint- 
ment of God. At the same time, he thought it need by no 
means be frequent, if it were properly administered. He 
would not have it applied for small faults — for what result- 
ed from childish levity and inconsideration — but for what 
was wilful, rebellious, or immoral. A child should not be 
punished for being a child, but for being a ivicTced child. 
He said that, to establish his authority, it generally cost him 
a sharp contest; sometimes more than one; but when it. 
was once settled that he, and not the child, was master, the 
path was ever comparatively smooth and easy. And it was 
ever a rule with him, that from the time children became 
capable of making their wants known in any other way, they 
were to obtain nothing by crying for it, or by any other 
misconduct. To indulge them in this way he considered as 
bribing them to behave ill. 

That family government may become easy, salutary, and 
effectual, the parents must harmonize in the administration, 
or they will embarrass and hinder each other, and the child 
will receive no benefit. United, they stand ; divided, they 
fall. 

3. The religious instruction of children is an essential 
part of parental faithfulness. " Bring them up in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord." ''And these words 
which I command thee, shall be in thine heart ; and thou 
shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk 
of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou 



PARENTAL FAn^HFULNESS. 7 

walkest by the way, and when thou hest down, and when 
thou risest up. Set your heart unto all the words which I 
testify among you this day, which ye shall command your 
children to observe, to do all the words of this law." Hoav 
incumbent is the duty on parents to be diligent in explain- 
ing to their children the truths, precepts, ordinances, and 
history of Scripture ; in helping them to derive instruction 
from the occurrences of Providence ; and in encouraging 
their inquiries by giving them plain, familiar, and full an- 
SAvers : endeavoring by every means to show them the 
nature, reasonableness, and advantages of true religion ; 
and confirming the whole by their own example, united with 
an affectionate exercise of their authority, and fervent pray- 
ers for and with them. On this general view of parental 
instruction in religion, it may be observed, 

1. That parents should early and perseveringly teach 
their children the doctrines and duties of our holy religion. 
At an early age, children are capable of understanding some 
important things revealed in the Scriptures. They may be 
taught the being, perfections, and government of God ; the 
perfect requisitions of his law ; the fallen and guilty state 
of all men by nature ; the only way of recovery and eternal 
life through Jesus Christ ; the necessity of a change of heart 
by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and also of repentance 
towards God, and faith in Christ, Avhich shall be followed 
by universal obedience to divine commands. These things 
should be taught them in a plain, easy, and affectionate man- 
ner, for the purpose of making them sensible that they are 
sinners, and exposed to the wrath of a just and holy God 
for their sins ; that they need his abounding mercy and 
grace, through the mediation and atoning sacrifice of his 
only-begotten Son ; and that they must seek the Lord while 
he may be found. The immediate necessity and duty of 
repentance and a life of faith on the Son of God, should be 
tenderly and soberly urged on children, by a consideration 
of the shortness of time, the certainty of death, the happi- 



8 PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 

ness of saints, and the misery of the finally impenitent, to all 
eternity. By these things, parents should very affectionately 
persuade their children to forsake the ways of sin and end- 
less ruin, and enter on the way of holiness and everlasting 
life. But their whole dependence must be on the Spirit of 
God. It is only by his special grace, that their endeavors 
Avill be happily succeeded. This should be constantly felt 
both by parents and children. In proportion as it is felt, 
will be their encouragement. " Let thy mercy, Lord, be 
upon us, according as we hope in thee." "He will bless 
them that fear the Lord, both small and great." 

There are very important reasons for teaching children 
the leading truths of divine revelation. Let their minds be 
preoccupied with truth, and they will be secured against 
error. The neo-lected o-arden will soon be filled with nox- 

o o 

ious weeds. But let it be sown with good seed, and kept 
with care, and the Aveeds are excluded. And must not the 
seeds of piety be early and diligently sown in the youthful 
mind, and watched with much tender solicitude, that plants 
of righteousness may spring up, by the grace of God, to the 
glory of his name ? How else can you expect the intrusion 
and immoral tendency of error to be prevented ? It is by 
seasonably storing the minds of children with divine truth, 
that they will learn their several duties to God, to their 
parents, to one another, and to all with whom they are con- 
nected. They will also become sensible of their obligations, 
and of the consequences of their conduct : that happiness 
will be the effect of obedience, and misery the effect of dis- 
obedience. In this way, the truth may be made, by the 
Spirit of God, to bear deeply on their minds, convincing 
them of sin, and of the endless punishment which awaits 
them in the eternal Avorld ; and powerfully urging them to 
forsake all their evil ways, and to return to the Lord, that 
they may be holy and happy for ever. But how can they 
be born again through the truth, and sanctified through the 
truth, except they are taught it ? The law of the Lord is 



PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 9 

perfect, converting the soul, by God's writing it in the heart. 
But who can look for this effect in the neolect of relio^ious 
instruction ? Who can expect a blessing on his neglect of 
duty! 

2. The 2^rovidences of God should be impressed on the 
minds of children. God speaks by them, as well as by his 
word. '' His judgments are a light, that goeth forth. Verily 
there is a reward for the righteous : verily he is a God that 
judgeth in the earth." We should beware of interpreting 
the severe and afflictive dispensations of Providence as 
indicating that the greatest sufferers here are always the 
greatest sinners ; but still we may teach our children, that 
pain, and sickness, and the multitude of other evils which 
fall under their observation, are the tokens of God's hatred 
of sin ; and we may adduce many examples, from Scripture 
and other history, to show that the ways of wisdom are the 
ways of peace and durable prosperity, and that the " way 
of transgressors is hard." Children should be instructed 
how to regard the providences of God in the hght of his 
word. By the various evils, natural and moral, which they 
see, they should be more impressively taught the evil of sin, 
the danger of impenitence, and the necessity of repentance ; 
and be excited to love, and fear, and praise the Lord, who 
is so merciful as well as righteous. Instances of death 
should be wisely improved. The vanity of riches and all 
earthly distinctions should be inculcated ; and all feelings 
of pride on account of them should be suppressed. They 
should never think themselves more deserving of blessings 
than others ; but be taught to receive all their good things 
as expressions of God's mercy, and to feel their increased 
obligations to live to his praise, to serve and glorify him 
according to the talents which are given them. Nor should 
they be alloAved to envy the rich and gay, or to repine at the 
prosperity of others ; but be taught to be humble, content- 
ed, and thankful, in the situation where God has placed 
them. They should be accustomed to acknowledge the 
VOL. V. 30*- 



10 PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. 

hand of God in all events ; constantly remembering that he 
doeth according to his Avill in heaven and among the inhabi- 
tants of our world ; that he numbers the hairs of our head ; 
and that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 

3. Children should be taught that they are always in 
the 2^^'csence of God, and that he perfectly knows all their 
thoughts, and desires, and intentions, and words, and actions. 
Are children cautious how they behave in the presence of 
their parents ? Let them remember that One infinitely greater 
is always with them. From him they can conceal nothing ; 
and he abhors every thing that is evil. How should they 
fear to offend him ; and how solicitous should they be to 
do that which is pleasing in his sight. He will bring every 
work into judgment, with every secret thing ; and punish 
the wicked with everlastinir destruction, while the rio-ht- 
eous shall inherit, throuo-h Jesus Christ, eternal life. 

4. Children should be instructed in reference to the 
ministry of reconciliation and the institutions of the Gosi^el. 
They will soon be removed from the care and control of 
their parents, and will need other means of moral culture. 
And indeed these will be very useful to them while under 
parental discipline. The Gospel ministry is designed to 
aid parents in training them up in the way in which they 
should go. This aid will be cheerfully given by ministers 
who love Christ and feel a tender solicitude for the risine^ 
generation. And parents who are wise and faithful to their 
children, will teach them to esteem the ministers of Christ 
very highly in love, for their works' sake ; and to regard 
them as their friends, who love them and seek their best 
interests. This will prepare children to attend with profit 
on the public and private instructions of ministers, to re- 
member the Sabbath, to esteem the house of God, to rev- 
erence his name and ordinances, and to seek heavenly Avis- 
dom. Early habits of this kind Avill, by the grace of God, 
be of immense benefit to children through life, and even for 
ever. But how can parents expect their children to be 



PARENTAL FAITHFULNESS. H 

profited by the ministers of Christ, or even by his Gospel, 
if they treat them with disrespect, or speak evil of them and 
their ministrations before their children? What would 
more tend to counteract the influence of the Gospel, and to 
destroy their souls ? Nor should they ever make use of 
their minister's name and authority to overawe or terrify a 
child into submission. This is teaching children not ta think 
of their minister Avith affection and respect, but with aver- 
sion and dread. And how could they then attend with 
delight to his counsel ? Parents should also cooperate with 
their faithful minister in laboring to impress on their chil- 
dren's minds the truths and duties which he inculcates. 

Private instructors and teachers of schools should be 
selected with great care. Their principles and habits will 
have a mighty influence in forming the sentiments and 
character of their pupils. How momentous are the conse- 
quences of what they daily instil into the young and tender 
mind ! Will it not, in the day of judgment, appear infi- 
nitely important, that children should have had the instruc- 
tion, example, and prayers of teachers who were truly pious, 
besides being well qualified in other respects ? 

The principles and conduct of children will also be 
greatly affected by the books they read, and the compan- 
ions they choose. Here will be much occasion for parental 
advice and direction. No faithful parent can overlook these 
things. 

5. The instruction of children should be attended with 
humhle, fervent prayer. In faith and hope, parents should 
pray often and earnestly for the blessing of God to attend 
their feeble endeavors, and succeed the means of his own 
appointment. Children should be taught, in like manner, 
to wait on God for his blessing. That this prayer may be 
acceptable to God, and effectual in procuring his blessing, 
it should be offered in the name of Christ, and by the Holy 
Ghost. It should also correspond with the exceedingly 
rich and gracious promises which God has given. '* Ask, 



12 PARENTAL FAITHFULT^ESS. 

and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find. If ye, being 
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how 
much more shall your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit 
to them that ask him ?" 

What parent must not feel the importance of the duties 
which he owes to his children ? How must a sense of the 
value of their souls, and of the evils to which they are ex- 
posed, inspire him with feelings not easily described. How 
can he meet them at the bar of God, if he is unfaithful, and 
they perish through his neglect ? How can he bear their 
accusations ? How can he dwell with them in everlasting 
burninofs ? How must the sio-ht of them increase his end- 

o o 

less misery ! 

Let every parent be entreated, by the relation he sus- 
tains to his children, by the affection he feels towards them, 
by his obligations to train them up for God and the account 
he must render to his Judge, by the influence he may have 
in saving or ruining them for ever, by their honor and hap- 
piness on the one hand, and by their disgrace and wretch- 
edness on the other, and by all the solemnities of the future 
judgment and the endless state of reward and punishment, 
to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. Be faithful ; and the grace of God will be Avith you. 
For he hath said, " Oh that there were such a heart in them, 
that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments 
always, that it might be well with them and with their 
children for ever." 



A TIME TO DAICE. 



A BALL having occurred in the parish of a worthy min- 
ister, at a season of peculiar seriousness among the youth 
of his pastoral charge, and many of them, from conscientious 
motives, having declined to attend, their absence was attrib- 
iited, erroneously, to the influence and interference- of 
their pastor, who, in consequence, received the following 
anonymous note : 

"Sir — Obey the voice of holy Scripture. Take the 
following for your text, and contradict it. Show in what 
consists the evil of that innocent amusement of dancing. 
Eccles. 3:4: 'A time to weep, and a time to laugh : a 
time to mourn, and a time to dance.' 

" A TRUE CHRISTLAX, BUT XO HYPOCRITE." 

The minister immediately wrote the following reply, 
which, as the note was anonj^mous and without address, 
remained in his own possession for some time, when he 
communicated it to the public, thinking it might meet the 
eye and correct the opinions of the writer of the note and 
others : 

My dear Sir — Your request that I would preach from 
Eccles. 3 : 4, I cannot comply with at present, since there 
are some Christian duties more important than dancing, 
which a part of my people seem disposed to neglect. When- 
ever I perceive, however, that the duty of dancing is too 
much neo'lected, I shall not fail to raise a warninor voice 
against so dangerous an omission. In the mean time, there 
are certain difliculties in the text which you commend to 
my notice, the solution of which I should receive with grat- 
itude from " a true Christian." 

My first difficulty respects the time for dancing ; for, 
although the text declares that there is a time to dance, yet 
when that time is, it does not determine. Now this point 
I wish to ascertain exactly, before I preach upon the sub- 
ject ; for it would be as criminal, I conclude, to dance at 
the wrong time, as to neglect to dance at the right time. I 



2 A TIME TO DA.N'CE. 

have been able to satisfy myself, in some particulars, when 
it is not "a time to dance." We shall agree, I presume, 
that on the Sabbath-day, or at a funeral, or during the 
prevalence of a pestilence, or the rocking of an earthquake, 
or the roaring of a thunder-storm, it would be no time to 
dance. If we were condemned to die, and were waiting in 
prison the day of execution, this Avould be no time for danc- 
ing ; and if our feet stood on a slippery place beside a pre- 
cipice, we should not dare to dance. 

But suppose the very day to be ascertained ; is the whole 
day, or only a part, to be devoted to this amusement ? And 
if a part of the day only, then which part is "the time to 
dance ?" From the notoriously pernicious effects of " night 
meetings'' in all ages, both upon morals and health, no one 
will pretend that the evening is the " time to dance ;" and 
perhaps it may not be immaterial which portion of the day- 
light is devoted to that innocent amusement. But allowing 
the time to be ascertained, there is still an obscurity in the 
text. Is it a command to dance, or only ?i i^ermission ? Or 
is it merely a declaration of the fact, that, as men are con- 
stituted, there is a time Avhen all the events alluded to in 
the text do, in the providence of God, come to pass ? If 
the text be a command, is it of universal obligation ; and 
must "old men and maidens, young men and children," 
dance obedience ? If a permission, does it imply a permis- 
sion also to refrain from dancing, if any are disposed ? Or, 
if the text be merely a declaration that there is a time when 
men do dance, as there is a time when they die, then I might 
as well be requested to take the first eight verses of the 
chapter, and show in what consists the evil of those inno- 
cent practices of hating, and making war, and killing men, 
for which, it seems from the text, there is " a time," as well 
as for dancing. 

There is still another difficulty in the text, which just 
now occurs to me. What Tcind of dancing does the text 
intend ? for it is certainly a matter of no small consequence 
to "a true Christian," to dance in a scriptural manner, as 
w^ell as at the scriptural time. 

Kow, to avoid mistakes on a point of such importance, 
I have consulted every passage in the Bible which speaks 
of dancing ; the most important of which permit me to sub- 
jnit to your inspection. 



A TIME TO DANCE. 3 

Exod. 1 5 : 20. " And Miriam the prophetess, tlie sister of 
Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand ; and all the women went out 
after her, with timbrels and with dances." This was on account 
of the overthrow of the Eg-yptians in the Red Sea. 

Judges 11 : 34. The daughter of Jephthah " came out to meet 
him with timbrels and with dances." This was also on account 
of a victory over the enemies of Israel. 

Judges 21 : 21. The yearly feast in Shiloh was a feast unto 
the Lord, in which the daughters of Shiloh went forth in dances. 
This was done as an act of relig-ious worship. 

2 Sam. 6 : 14 and 20. " And David danced before the Lord 
with all liis might." But the irreligious Michal " came out to 
meet David, and said, How glorious was tlie king of Israel to-day, 
who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his 
servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth him- 
self 1" Dancing, it seems, was a sacred rite, and was usually per- 
formed by women. At that day, it Avas perverted from its sacred 
use by none but " vain fellows," destitute of shame. David vin- 
dicates himself from her irony, by saying, " It was before tlie 
Lord ;" admitting, that had this not been the case, her rebuke 
would have been merited. 

1 -Sam. 18 : 6. On account of the victory of Saul and David 
over the Philistines, " the women came out of all the cities of 
Israel singing and dancing." 

Psalm 149 : 3. " Let them praise his name in the dance." 
Psalm 30 : 11. " Thou hast turned for me my mourning into 
dancing." The deliverance here spoken of was a recovery from 
sickness, and the dancing an expression of religious gratitude and 

joy- 

Exod. 32 : 19. "As soon as he came nigh unto the camp, he 
saw the calf and the dancing." From this it appears that dancing 
was a part also of idol worship. 

Jer. 31 : 4. " Oh virgin of Israel, thou shalt again be adorned 
with thy tabrets, and go forth in the dances of them that make 
meny." This passage predicts the return from captivity, and the 
restoration of the Divine favor, witli the consequent expression of 
religious joy. 

Matt. 11 : 17. "We have piped unto you, and ye have not 
danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented." 
That is, neither the judgments nor the mercies of God produced 
any effect upon this incorrigible generation. They neither mourn 
when called to mourning by his providence, nor rejoice Avith the 
usual tokens of religious joy, when his mercies demand their grat- 
itude. 

Luke 1 5 : 25. " Now his elder son was in the field ; and as he 
came, and drew nigh unto the house, he heard music and danc- 
ing." The return of the prodigal was a joyful event, for which 
the grateful father, according to the usages of the Jewish church 



4 A TIME TO DANCE. 

and the exhortation of the Psahiiist, " praised the Lord in the 
dance." 

Eccles. 3:4. "A time to mourn, and a time to dance." Since 
the Jewish church knew nothing of dancing, except as a religious 
ceremony, or as an expression of gratitude and praise, the text is 
a declaration, tliat the providence of God sometimes demands 
mourning, and sometimes gladness and gratitude. 

IMatt. 14 : 6. " But Avhen Herod's birth-day was kept, the 
daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod." 
In this case dancing was perverted from its original object, to 
purposes of vanity and ostentation. 

Job 21 : 7. " Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, 
are mighty in power ?" Verse 11, J 3-1 5. " They send forth their 
little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They spend 
their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not 
the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we 
should serve him : and what profit shall we have, if we pray unto 
him ?" Their wealth and dancing are assigned as the reason of 
their saying unto God, " Depart from us," and of their not desir- 
ing the knowledge of his ways, and not delighting to serve him, 
or pray to him. 

From the preceding quotations, it will sufficiently appear, 

1. That dancing was a religious act, both of the true and 
also of idol worship. 

2. That it was practised exclusively on joyful occasions, 
such as national festivals or great victories. 

3. That it was performed by maidens only. 

4. That it was performed usually in the daytime, in the 
open air, in highways, fields, or groves. 

5. That men who perverted dancing from a sacred use 
to purposes of amusement, were deemed infamous. 

6. That no instances of dancing are found upon record 
in the Bible, in Avhicli the two sexes united in the exercise, 
either as an act of worship or amusement. 

7. That there is no instance upon record of social danc- 
ing for amusement, except that of the "vain fello"svs," de- 
void of shame ; of the irreligious families described by Job, 
which produced increased impiety, and ended in destruction ; 
and of Herodias, which terminated in the rash vow of Herod, 
and the murder of John the Baptist. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



IVo. 173. 

THE 



CROSS OE CHRIST 



The refined system of religion which is at this day- 
adopted by many, is imsuitable to the case of anxious, 
guilty criminals. It is insufficient to give substantial peace 
to a wounded conscience ; insufficient to furnish a proper 
reply to that most important of all inquiries, ** What must 
I do to be saved ?" 

But the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is richly 
adapted to answer these important purposes. It directs 
us to the death of the Divine Saviour, in our stead, as the 
sovereign remedy for all the evils which sin has introduced. 
The Cross of Christ is the grand source of rehef which it 
proposes to our consideration. It is this which distinguishes 
the religion of Jesus from every other religion professed in 
the world. 

It may be needful just to observe, before we proceed, 
that the Redeemer of men suffered death on a sort of gib- 
bet, called a cross. With the Greeks, the Romans, and some 
other nations, this was a punishment infficted on the vilest 
slaves, who had been guilty of notorious offences. It was 
shameful, painful, and lingering. The criminal Avas first 
scourged with cords. These cords had frequently sharp 
pointed bones fixed to their ends. The sufferer then bore 
his cross to the place of execution. There, his clothes 
being stripped off, his body was stretched upon the timber 



VOL. V. 



31 



2 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

his hands nailed to the cross-beam, and his feet to the lower 
part. The cross was then raised, and fixed in the ground ; 
the nails, driven through the most sensitive parts of the 
body, and sustaining its weight, rendered the pain exquisite 
beyond expression. Yet it was sometimes two or three 
days before the persons expired. The legs of the tw^o 
thieves crucified with our Redeemer were broken, to hasten 
their end, for a reason assigned by the Jew^s. When they 
came to Jesus, they found that he Avas dead already, and 
they marvelled at it. This was probably owdng to the over- 
w^helming sorrows of his holy soul, the weight of human 
guilt, and the insupportable strokes of avenging justice. 
He was oppressed and afflicted in a manner that cannot be 
described. Hence his piercing cry, Mij God, my God, ivliy 
hast thou forsaken me? 

The cross of Christ denotes not merely the timber to 
which he w'as nailed, and on w^hich he expired, but his 
crucifixion upon it; the death which he died for sinners, 
and the way of salvation which he opened for them through 
his blood. The publication of this is called the lyreaching 
of the cross. 1 Cor. 1:18. To suffer persecution for main- 
taining this doctrine, is to suffer persecution for the cross 
of Christ ; and to glory in salvation by Jesus, is to glory 
in his cross. Gal. 6 : 12, 14. 

This, then, is the subject w^e are to consider — a subject 
too wonderful, and too copious, for our feeble powers. All 
we can say, and especially in so narrow a compass, wall fall 
far beneath the dignity and sublimity of it. We shall only 
remind you, with simplicity and plainness, that the cross 
of Christ is, to those w^ho believe, the fulfilment of divine 
purposes and predictions — the sum of the Gospel — the 
salvation of sinners — the conquest of all enemies — the foun- 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 3 

dation of hope — the ground of triumph — the display of the 
divine perfections — and the grand incentive to hohness. 

1. The cross of Christ is i\ie, fulfilment of divine 2^uy- 
poses, prophecies, and promises. The thoughts and counsels 
of the God of all grace were, from everlasting, employed 
on the grand design which was accomplished by the Re- 
deemer's death. He is styled " the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world." The purposes of the Father in 
Christ Jesus our Lord, are said to be eternal. When he 
was delivered up to be crucified, it was according to the 
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. 

What a series of prophecies, of visions, of types, and 
of promises, was accomplished in the cross of Christ ! In 
this great centre they all met. From Moses to Malachi, 
the Spirit of God, in all the prophets, testified beforehand 
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 
The oracles of heaven, through succeeding generations, 
referred to the cross of Christ. 

In this the Mosaic rites and ordinances, types and sym- 
bols, had their accomplishment. If we consider them not 
in this light, what are they all but pompous and unmean- 
ing institutions, utterly unworthy the wisdom of their great 
Author ? What significancy could there be in the shedding 
of so much blood, the slaughtering of so many innocent 
victims, the consuming of so much flesh, if the whole were 
not to teach us, that without the shedding of Jesus' blood 
there could be no remission of sins for us ? The constant 
sacrificing of so many inoff'ensive animals pointed to the 
one great sacrifice which Jesus was to offer up without 
spot to God. Considered in this light, every institution of 
this kind had its significancy. We are therefore taught, in 
the New Testament, to understand them as shadows of 



4 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

good things to come, of which the body is Christ. The 
darkness of types vanished in his cross, when he appeared 
once in the end of the world, to put away sin by the sacri- 
fice of himself. 

Many of the most remarkable events, and many of the 
most distinguished personages mentioned in the Old Testa- 
ment, were typical of the cross of Christ. We cannot be 
mistaken in this interpretation of them, since the inspired 
Avriters of the Xew Testament teach us so to understand 
them. The priesthood of Melchisedec, and that of Aaron 
and his sons, prefigured the everlasting priesthood of the 
Son of God. The astonishing transaction of Isaac's being- 
bound and laid on the altar by the hands of his father, is 
explained by the cross of Christ. It pleased the Lord to 
bruise him : he hath put him to grief : he made his soul an 
offering for sin. 

The lifting up of the brazen serpent in the wilderness, 
for the healing of the expiring Israelites, was realized in 
the elevation of Jesus on the cross. So was the Son of 
man lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting hfe. Bread from heaven sus- 
tained the lives of the travellers from Egypt to Canaan : 
Jesus came down from heaven, and gave himself to be the 
life of the world. The rock was smitten, to give drink to 
the thirsty tribes of the Lord : that rock Avas Christ, smitten 
for us by the rod of justice, that we might be furnished 
from him with the waters of life and salvation. Joshua 
led the people of Israel into Canaan : Jesus brings us into 
the promised land of rest and felicity. 

The prophets of God, raiot into future times, ioreiol^ the' 
transactions of the Redeemer's life, the sorrows of his soul, 
the agonies of his death, and the glorious effects which 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 5 

were to ensue. In the early ages of the world, the faith of 
God's people was supported by the mysterious prediction, 
that the " Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's 
head." The patriarchs were assured that in the promised 
Seed all nations of the world should be blessed. Job knew 
that his Redeemer lived. Jacob, in a divine ecstasy, be- 
fore his death, delivered that wonderful oracle, that the 
sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from 
between his feet, until Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, should 
make his appearance ; to whom the gathering of the people 
should be. To the beloved Daniel the time was revealed 
more expressly, when Messiah should be cut off, to finish 
transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation 
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to 
seal up the vision and prophecy. 

The circumstances attending the crucifixion of Jesus are 
foretold by the Psalmist, as if he had actually seen them. 
The agonies he should feel, are described ; the cry he should 
utter on the cross, is expressed ; the casting of lots for his 
garments, the piercing of his hands and his feet, and the 
vinegar and the gall given him to drink, are distinctly men- 
tioned. Psalm 22. 

Sometimes the prophets represent Jesus as a sufferer, 

and sometimes as a conqueror. IS'ow they speak of his 

humiliation, then of his exaltation. They point him out 

as the Star that was to come out of Jacob, and as the 

Branch that was to spring out of the stem of Jesse. They 

describe him as the Angel of the covenant ; and as the 

Desire of all nations, who should suddenly come into his 

temple. They hold him forth as a King who should reign 

in righteousness, extending his sway from shore to shore ; 

whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of whose 
VOL. V. 31* 



6 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

dominion there shall be no end. "To us," they cry, in a 
divine transport, "to us a Child is born, to us a Son is 
given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." 
Yet, mysterious as it is, this is he of whom they speak, in 
other places, as calling himself " a worm, and no man, a 
reproach of men, and despised by the people ;" as being 
"hated without a cause;" as being "despised and rejected 
of men ; led like a lamb to the slauo^hter ; a man of sor- 
rows, and acquainted with grief; and cut off out of the land 
of the living." The cross of Christ explains, elucidates, 
and confirms all these predictions. 

2. The cross of Christ is the sum of the Gospel. What 
is the Gospel but a message from heaven, of mercy, of 
peace, and of salvation, through the sufferings and death 
of the Son of God ? Of Gospel history, what is the sum ? 
Christ crucified. What do the four evangehsts relate ? 
They all, for substance, tell the same story ; and that story 
is rightly termed the Gospel. It is the history of the cross. 
In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is estab- 
lished. God has graciously given us four, all inspired by 
his Holy Spirit, to relate the birtli, the life, the labors, the 
preaching, the miracles, the sufferings, and the death of 
Jesus. They tell us what he said, Avhat he did, and Avhat 
he endured from the powers of darkness, from the hands 
of men, and from the sword of justice. They inform us 
how he was at last condemned, and nailed to the tree, for 
the testimony which he bore to the truth, that he was the 
only- begotten Son of God, and that the same divine honors 
were due to him as to the Father. 

The doctrine of the Gospel is the doctrine of the cross. 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 7 

"We preach Christ crucified." "I determined," says one 
of the first of his messengers, inspired to bear his name 
before Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel, *'I 
determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified." The death of Christ, for our sins, is 
the life of the Gospel. All the lines of evangelical truth 
meet in this one point. You cannot mention one individual 
branch of the sacred system which stands unconnected with 
it. Our beinof chosen to eternal life, our re {generation, our 
calling, our justification, our adoption into the family of God, 
our sanctification, our perseverance in faith and holiness to 
eternal felicity — all have an immediate relation to the atone- 
ment of Christ. Take that foundation away, and the whole 
superstructure falls to the ground. 

3. The cross of Christ is the salvation of sinners. The 
Gospel is a system which glorifies God by doing good to 
men ; a system, in its aspect benign, and in its agency 
infinitely beneficial. It is not like a meteor, to dazzle us 
with a vain glitter ; not like a comet, to terrify us with a 
formidable blaze, without affording us any solid advantage. 
It is richly stored with benefits of the most important and 
the most exalted kind ; like the glorious sun in the heavens, 
diffusing beams of hght, and life, and ineffable joy, all 
around. By it all that believe are eventually brought to 
enjoy a much nobler and more exalted state of existence 
than that from which Adam fell, and which they lost in him. 

The grand object held forth in the Gospel, is the salva- 
tion of man. The distinguishing character of him who 
effects this great Avork is that of a Saviour, an almighty 
Saviour, who came to deliver us from the wrath to come, 
to recover us from the abyss of sin and misery into which 
we are fallen, and to exalt us to the regions of endless feli- 



8 THE CROSS OF CHRTST. 

city. This he effected, not barely by the heavenly doctrine 
which he taught, and the bright example which he set before 
us, but by the death which he died for our sins. 

Mankind are represented in the Scriptures of truth as 
being in a lost and ruined condition. But Jesus came to 
save the lost, by bearing their sins in his own body on 
the tree ; by being wounded for their transgressions, and 
bruised for their iniquities ; by suflfering, the just for the 
unjust, that they might have healing by his stripes, and life 
by his death. 

This enables us to account for all that is said in the 
Scripture concerning the dignity of the Redeemer's person. 
He was found in fashion as a man, but he thought it no 
robbery — thought it no more than what he might justly 
claim — to be equal with God. Though he was really and 
truly man, that he might be capable of suffering, and of 
dying, yet all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in 
him. He and the Father are one in nature and perfections. 
If the Redeemer's death were not a proper atonement for 
sin, why was it necessary that God should be manifested in 
the flesh ? Why was it necessary that he who redeems us 
should be Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature ? An 
angel from heaven might have taught us the will of our 
Maker, and given us a good example. Nay, a man like our- 
selves might have done both. The deity of Christ, and his 
atonement for sin, must stand or fall towther. It is the 
dignity of the Redeemer's person that gives efficacy and 
validity to his sacrifice. 

Misery is the natural consequence of guilt. Death is 
the wages of sin ; its proper and just reward. What, then, 
is it that saves us from impending ruin? No effort, no 
expedient of our own ; but the remedy which God himself 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 9 

has provided. What is it that dehvers us from going down 
to destruction, but the ransom found ? Our blessed Lord 
told Nicodemus that the end of his being lifted up upon 
the cross was this, that whosoever belie veth in him should 
not perish. Is it not, then, the cross of Christ that saves 
us from destruction ? Is it not a crucified Jesus who saves 
us from eternal misery ? Who that seriously thinks of this 
can forbear to admire the wonderful expedient ? 

The cross of Christ reconciles us to God. It procures 
our peace with him. It appeases the Avrath of our incensed 
Jude'e, as it is a full satisfaction for our crimes. ThrouQ-h 
this ample compensation, awful justice smiles, as well- 
pleased with every one who believes in Jesus. He is em- 
phatically styled "our peace," having made peace by the 
blood of his cross. This is the import of that divine dec- 
laration, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to 
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Through 
his cross Ave enjoy the favor of God, which is better than 
life. His love is manifested to us through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 

The cross of Christ procures our spiritual hfe. We are 
raised from a death in trespasses and sins, in consequence 
of the Redeemer's death for us. The end of his dying for 
us, we are assured, was, that we mioht live unto God ; that 
divine life might be imparted to us from the living Head. 
To this purport is his own testimony : "I am come that 
they might have life." Thus a sweet singer in our Israel 
expresses the delightful truth : 

" Her noblest life my spirit draws 
From his dear wounds and bleeding side." 

In consequence of his dying for us, the life-giving Spirit 
is bestowed, to impart to us heavenly knowledge, evangeli- 



10 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

cal repentance, living faith, holy love, and spiritual joy. 
Whatever we are as Christians, we are that of God in Christ 
Jesus, and as the fruit of his death. He is made of God 
unto us, not only wisdom and righteousness, but sanctifica- 
tion. If we are quickened, it is together with Christ ; if 
we are healed, it is by his stripes. 

The cross of Christ procures our pardon and justifica- 
tion. There is no remission of sins but through the shed- 
ding of his blood. We are chargeable with crimes, almost 
without number, from the least of w^hich nothing can free 
us but the cross of Christ. This removes our transgressions 
from us, as far as the east is from the west. The blood of 
Jesus cleanseth from all sin. Whosoever believeth in him 
shall receive the blessino^ of a free and full remission. Sin 
shall never rise up in judgment against him ; it is done 
away, as though it had never been ; nay, we are assured it 
shall not even be remembered any more for ever. 

The curse of that holy law which we had broken, is 
removed from us by the cross of Christ. If we have faith 
in the Son of God, the law proclaims no words of terror 
against us : its awful penalty has been borne, its tremen- 
dous malediction has been endured by him who espoused 
our cause and undertook our recovery. What else can be 
the meaning of that most delightful declaration, " Christ 
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made 
a curse for us ?" There is, therefore, now no condemna- 
tion to them that are in Christ Jesus ; they are justified 
freely by his blood ; so justified, that nothing is laid to 
their charge; so justified, as to stand complete in Christ; 
so justified, as to be beheld without spot by the eyes of 
infinite purity. The righteousness of Jesus covers them ; 
liides Lheir nakedness, and all their deformity ; and renders 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 1 1 

them righteous, even as he is righteous. Glorious privilege ! 
What tongue can express, what heart conceive its value ! 

The cross of Christ opens the gates of paradise for our 
reception. As there is no escaping eternal destruction, so 
there is no enjoying the felicity of the heavenly state, but 
through the Saviour's cross. Contemplate, dear brethren, 
the bliss of the celestial inheritance ; think how great, how 
permanent, how satisfying it will be ; and remember that it 
is the gift of God to you, through Jesus Christ. If Israel 
is saved with an everlasting salvation, he is saved in the 
Lord. The saints who are now in glory, overcame by the 
blood of the Lamb ; they washed their robes and made them 
white in that cleansing fountain ; therefore are they before 
the throne of God. Hence, they say, with one voice, 
*' Worthy art thou to receive riches, and honor, and glory, 
and power ; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to 
God by thy blood." 

But the blessings Avhich hang clustering on the Saviour's 
cross are so great, that they can never be told. Whatever 
is included in our salvation, comes to us in this way. And 
therefore we add, 

4. The cross of Christ is the conquest of our enemies. 
Captivity itself is led captive. The powers of darkness are 
overcome. Jesus has spoiled principalities and powers, 
triumphing over them on the cross. They may yet be per- 
mitted to distress us for a while, but the God of peace shall 
bruise Satan and all his legions under our feet shortly. 

Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of 
sin might be destroyed. The decree has gone forth, which 
shall never be reversed : " Sin shall not have dominion over 
you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace." After 
the apostle Paul had been uttering that pathetic exclama- 



12 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

tion, " wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death ?" he immediately adds, " I 
thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord !" A glorious 
prospect of complete victory opened to his view, which 
turned his mourning into joy. 

The cross of Christ delivers us from this present wicked 
world, with all its snares and vexations. The divine Re- 
deemer died to accomplish this among all his other achieve- 
ments. In this view, the cross of Christ was endeared to 
the blessed apostle Paul, as that by which the world was 
crucified to him, and he unto the world. 

Death, the last foe of man, and the gloomy grave, the 
terror of all living, are overcome by the cross of Christ. 
Death's formidable appearance remains, but his sting is 
gone ; for when guilt was expiated, death was disarmed. 
The pardoned sinner, therefore, may boldly say, " death, 
where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks 
be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ!" The king of terrors is, by the cross of 
Christ, converted into a messenger of peace. Now it is 
gain to die. The grave is become a quiet resting-place for 
our mouldering bones, till the great rising- day. 

5. The cross of Christ is the foundation of our hope. 
Some speak of a hope built on the review of a well- spent 
life — a certain indication of a want of self-knowledge. What 
hope can the enlightened, the anxious, trembling sinner 
have on this ground ? A thousand miscarriages arise to 
his view. \Yere there no ground of hope but that of the 
deeds of the law, such a one must sink into despair. Noth- 
ing can be a sure ground of hope, but that which removes 
sin, that which takes away the curse, that which satisfies 
justice, that which procures peace with God, and constitutes 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 13 

a sure title to heaven. The cross of Christ, v*^e have seen, 
answers all these purposes ; answers them effectually. And 
hence it becomes the one, the only foundation of hope. 
The hope which is built upon it is sure and steadfast, like 
an anchor of the soul. Jesus Christ is the believing sinner's 
hope. Other foundation, for this salutary purpose, can no 
man lay. The disquieted conscience finds no relief but in 
the Saviour's complete atonement. The enlightened mind 
can derive no supporting confidence but from this source. 
**We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ we shall be saved." 

6. The cross of Christ is the ground of our triionjyh. 
How should it be otherwise ? It answers every salutary 
purpose. It removes every evil, and insures every good. 
The Christian has not only hope towards God, but joy and 
consolation ; joy which arises, at times, to a holy triumph. 
But on what is it founded ? The apostle furnishes us with 
an answer : " We joy in God, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord, by whom we have now received the atonement." He 
exemplifies this in his own happy experience. " God for- 
bid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." As if he had said, "This to me is the ground of 
the sublimest consolation, of the highest triumph, even of 
glorying. The atoning sacrifice of a crucified Saviour is all 
my boast. It is not only my constant support : it fills me 
with ineffable joy." 

1. The cross of Christ gives us the brightest dis])lay of 
the divine perfections. It not only brings the most solid 
comforts to man, but the highest glory to God. We see, 
on this ground, that a just and holy God, though deter- 
mined to display his mercy and unbounded grace, would do 
it only in such a way as might eternally vindicate the honor 
VOL. V. 32 



14 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

of his law ; might demonstrate the pmity of his nature, and 
dechire the inviolable faithfulness of his threatening word. 

We conceive that the Most High is infinitely wise. His 
wisdom shines in all his works. But nowhere have Ave so 
striking a display of it as in the cross of Christ. How 
wonderful Avas the contrivance which could harmonize, in 
the salvation of man, the seemingly opposite claims of mercy 
and of justice ; that could satisfy, exalt, and magnify both ; 
causing mercy and truth to meet together, righteousness 
and peace to embrace each other ! Had punishment been 
inflicted on the sinner in all its severity, the glory of mercy 
had not been seen. And on the other hand, had the sinner 
been pardoned, without any penalties sustained by himself 
or his substitute, justice had been set aside, and, speaking 
after the manner of men, one essential attribute of Deity 
would have been arrayed against another. 

A God all mercy, is a God unjust. But in the cross 
of Christ, mercy and justice are equally glorified. In this 
divine expedient, therefore, God hath displayed infinite 
wisdom ; or, to use the language of inspiration, " He hath 
abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence." 

The apostle Paul tells us, that God set forth the blessed 
Jesus for a propitiation, through faith in his blood, with this 
express design, that he might declare his righteousness ; 
might demonstrate his justice, whose essential character 
and principal office is to punish sin. Thus a holy God 
shows himself to be strictly and inviolably righteous, in the 
administration of his government, even while he is the justi- 
fier of the sinner that believeth in Jesus, In this method 
of dispensing grace, he secures the utmost reverence to his 
divine law, he declares his infinite abhorrence of sin, he 
strikes the deepest terror on every persevering sinner, at 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 15 

the same time that he lays a solid foundation for the highest 
hope in every penitent transgressor. The torments inflicted 
on condemned souls, in the infernal regions, are not so awful 
a monument of the justice and holiness of a sin-hating God, 
as he has given us in the crucifixion of his beloved Son. 
For, if the Lord spared him not, when iniquity was not 
found in him, but only laid upon him, how much less shall he 
spare the stubborn offender himself, who obstinately per- 
sists in his rebellion ? Nothing sets forth the horrid aggra- 
vations of sin, its execrable vileness and loathsomeness in 
the sight of God — nothing speaks such terror to the work- 
ers of iniquity, did they but lay it to heart, as the shameful, 
the bitter, the accursed death of the Prince of Life, for our 
offences. 

The love, the grace, and mercy of God, are most illus- 
triously displayed in the cross of Christ. Pardon, life, and 
endless felicity, granted to condemned criminals on any 
terms,. must be wonderful, and give an astonishing display 
of divine mercy ; but when the Father grants these through 
the wounds, the agonies, the death of his dear, his only- 
begotten, his equal Son, he not only manifests his love, but 
commends it ; he displays it in such a way as may justly 
inflame us with gratitude, and transport us with everlasting 
admiration. He shows it in its hig-hest perfection. The 
blessings of salvation, invaluable in themselves, are unspeak- 
ably enhanced by the manner in which they are conferred. 
" God so loved the world," loved it in such a waj^ and to 
such a degree, as can only be expressed, only conceived by 
himself; he so loved it, "that he gave his only-begotten 
Son " to tortures and to death, even the death of the cross, 
*' that whosoever belie veth on him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." Sin hath reigned unto death : but 



16 THE CROSS OF CHRIST, 

God's free and unbounded grace, like a glorious and supe- 
rior sovereign, in all its fulness, riches, and splendor, reigns 
through the righteousness of Jesus to eternal life. A thou- 
sand worlds conferred on us, would have been as nothing 
in comparison with the grace which is displayed in the death 
of the Son of God for us. Herein is love indeed. 

In a word, would we see the tremendous name of Jeho- 
vah written in the fairest lines ; would we see all his adora- 
ble perfections shine forth with the greatest splendor ; we 
must fix our attention on the Redeemer's cross. 

Finally : The cross of Christ is the grand incentive to 
holiness. The doctrine of complete salvation by the Re- 
deemer's death, is far from being unfriendly to the interests 
of morality. That morality Avhich is recommended in the 
sacred Scriptures, is engrafted on evangelical principles, and 
produced by the constraining love of a dying Redeemer. 
If we wish you to be animated to the practice of every 
good work, we are persuaded that the love of Christ, in his 
dying for you, will be the most powerful incitement. A 
lively sense of this will produce the gratitude of heart, 
which will be more operative than the most cogent philo- 
sophical reasonings to stir you up to activity in the way of 
holiness, or the most awful threatenings to deter you from 
the contrary. 

We do not mean, that exhortations to duty are super- 
seded by the doctrine for which we plead ; or that it is 
unnecessary to instruct, to caution, to warn, and admonish 
the followers of Christ with respect to their conduct : what 
we mean is, that the love and grace of the Redeemer, man- 
ifested in his dying for us, are the most powerful induce- 
ments to practical holiness. " The grace of God, which 
bringeth salvation, teacheth us, that, denying ungodliness 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 17 

and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
godly, in this present world." Would we be excited to 
unfeigned and active love to the Author of our salvation ? 
We love him because he first loved us. Would we be ex- 
cited to ingenuous sorrow for sin ? While we look to him 
whom we have pierced, we mourn after a godly sort. 
Nothing is so likely to break the stony heart, and to melt 
the ice within us to evangelical repentance, as a view of 
a suffering Saviour, wounded for our transgressions and 
bruised for our iniquities. Would we be induced to a thor- 
ough renunciation of every false way? No motive is so 
effectual to divorce our affections from the abominations to 
which Ave have formerly cleaved, and turn our feet from 
every evil way, as the powerful persuasion that Christ died 
for us, that we, being dead unto sin, should live unto right- 
eousness. Would we be induced to practise all that is com- 
prehended in the duties of benevolence, kindness, charity, 
and brotherly love ? No persuasive is so endearing as the 
kindness and love of God our Saviour : " Walk in love, as 
Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for us." When 
we are exhorted to relative duties, it is in the same style. 
"As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their 
own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, 
as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it." When 
we are urged to an entire devotedness to God, we are told 
that " we are not our own, but bought with a price," and 
therefore should "glorify God in our bodies and spirits, 
which are his ;" that we should " live not to ourselves, but 
to him that died for us, and rose again." 

« Talk they of morals ? O thou Bleeding Love, 
Thou maker of new morals to mankind, 
The grand morality is love of thee ! 
VOL. V. 32^ 



18 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

Here strongest motives sting, 

Here sacred violence assaults his soul, 

And nothing but compulsion is forborne." 

The cross of Christ is, then, the spring of true holiness ; 
the incentive to every virtue. Jesus died, to redeem us from 
all iniquity, to purify us to himself, and make us zealous of 
good works. What are naked instructions, what are ab- 
stract reasonings, in comparison with the astonishing love 
of our dvino; Lord ? It invites us, it uro'es us, it constrains 
US to all holiness, that we may adorn the doctrine of God 
our Saviour in all things. May his love be ever warmly 
impressed on our hearts. May we live by that faith in the 
Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for us, which 
is an ever active principle of cheerful and grateful obedience. 

It becomes me now to reflect on what I have read. 

Christ is become a sacrifice to divine justice, in the room 
and stead of men. And he is also our great High Priest ; 
for he offered himself up to the strokes of justice and the 
penal demands of the law of God, and thereby he hath 
shown himself to be a priest of reconcihation. How adora- 
ble is this contrivance ! How amazing is this love ! How 
should sinners be surprised with a sense of this abounding 
grace ! Here I behold the Son of God stooping from the 
height of his glory, to become a mortal man, surrounded 
Avith flesh and sorrows. I behold the first Favorite of 
Heaven, the only-beloved Son, leaving the bosom of his 
Father, and the fulness of celestial joys, that he might unite 
himself to our feeble nature, and taste the anguish and the 
smart that our rebellions had deserved. I behold him for- 
saken of his Father, and lying under the weight and terrors 
of some unknown discoveries and impressions of that divine 



THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 19 

indignation that was due to sinners ; unknown impression 
indeed, that struck the Son of God with amazement, and 
made his soul exceeding sorrowful, even to death. 

And was all this for my sins, O my Saviour ! Didst 
thou sustain these heavy sufferings from the hand of God 
that such a rebel as I might be reconciled ? Yes, all this 
for my sins, if I am found a sincere believer on the Son of 
God. 

Inquire now, my soul, dost thou believe in Christ ? 
Hast thou seen thy heavy guilt, and thy danger of eternal 
death ? Hast thou been weary and heavy laden with a 
sense of thy past iniquities ? Hast thou been pained at 
heart under the present power of indwelling sin ? And 
hast thou fled for refuge to the hope set before thee in the 
Gospel ? Hast thou joyfully received Jesus the Saviour by 
faith in his blood, by a living and active faith ? Hast thou 
committed thyself to him, to be delivered from the reign of 
sin, as well as from the condemnation of it ? Then mayest 
thou join with the blessed apostle, and speak in the language 
of faith, He loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2 : 20. 

Let me meditate again on the sorrows and agonies of 
my dear, my adored Redeemer; infinite agonies and sor- 
rows, beyond all the powers of language. Is my heart 
made of stone, that it can hear such a history, and not melt 
within me ? Have I no tender part within me, to bleed at 
the rehearsal of such anguish and such love? Blessed 
Jesus, smite the rock of my heart, aiid let it pour out new 
streams of repentance and affectionate gratitude. I was 
dead, and the Son of God gave himself up to death, in order 
to raise me to life again. I was a traitor and an enemy, 
and he hath'sustained the arrows of the Almighty, to recon- 
cile me to his Father, and turn away his infinite wrath and 



20 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

indignation. My great High Priest has offered up himself 
a bloody sacrifice for me, that my guilt might be forgiven 
and cancelled for ever. 

Think, my soul, study, contrive, speak, what wilt thou 
render to the Lord for such astonishing condescension and 
unexampled grace ? How wilt thou show thy inestimable 
value of his atonement? What does he require of thee, 
but to keep those garments clean which he has washed in 
so rich a foimtain as his own blood ! And shall I ever wil- 
fully indulge the practice of sin again, and return to my old 
defilements ? Shall I ever consent to break the law of my 
God ? Have I not seen the dreadful nature and dismal 
effects of it, in the agonies and death of my dearest Lord ? 
What shall I do, that I may never sin more ? Lord, I can- 
not preserve myself from the fatal infection, while I dwell 
m a world where sin reigns all around me ; in a world that 
lies in wickedness ; and while I am so nearly allied to flesh 
and blood, where folly, and vice, and sin, run through every 
vein to my heart. Jesus, I commit myself afresh to thy 
care ; thou wilt save the soul that thou hast purchased at so 
dear a rate ; thou wilt accept and save a returning penitent. 
Here, I devote my hfe, myself, my flesh and spirit, and all 
my powers, to thy obedience and the purposes of thy glory, 
for ever and ever. My soul looks up to thee with an eye 
of humble confidence, and my faith and hope rest on thy 
everlastinor love. Amen. 



Wo. 174. 

QTJEICH lOT THE SPIRIT. 



"My children," said the old man, "the words of your 
d3dng father will be few. I wish them to sink deep into 
)-our hearts." Then raising himself a little in his bed, with 
a degree of strength which he had not been able to com- 
mand for several of the last weeks of his sickness, he pro- 
ceeded : 

"When yomig, I enjoyed religions privileges, and was 
the subject of occasional serious reflection. When just 
entering my sixteenth year, religious impressions were made 
on my mind with unusual force. I seemed to hear a voice 
continually saying to me, Seeh religion noio. I was unhap- 
py: my former amusements lost their relish. Still I was 
not willing wholly to relinquish them, and obey the voice 
which urged me to seek religion immediately. One day, 
after much reflection, I deliberately promised to God, that, 
as soon as the season of youthful amusement was past, I 
would give myself to religious pursuits. My anxieties 
immediately left me ; I returned to my amusement, and the 
whole subject Avas soon forgotten. 

"When at twenty-five, the monitory voice returned, 
reminded me of my promise, and again pressed upon me 
the importance of eternal things. Though I had not 
thought of my promise for years, I acknowledged its obli- 
gations, but an immediate fulfilment seemed more impracti- 
cable than it did nine years before. I vowed with increased 
solemnity, that, when the cares of a rising family should 
subside,! would certainly attend to the concerns of religion. 
" Again I applied myself to worldly avocations, and 
soon buried all thoughts of the admonition I had received. 
At fifty, when you, my children, were diminishing instead 
of increasing my cares, this heavenly monitor returned. 
' Fulfil your promise, seek religion now' was continually 
pressing upon my mind. I knew that I had made sucli a 
promise, but I felt dissatisfied that its fulfilment should be 
claimed so soon. I regretted that I had not attended to 
the subject before, when I could have done it with less 
difficulty ; but such was the extent and pressure of my 



2 QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. 

business, that to do it then seemed impossible. The sub- 
ject made me unhappy, and, after much dehberation, I 
sought rehef to my troubled feelings by most solemnly re- 
newing my promise to God. I said, When the pressure of 
my business is past, I will devote my whole attention to a 
preparation for eternity. 

"No sooner had I fixed my mind on this course, than 
my anxieties left me — the strivings of the Spirit ceased in 
my bosom, and ceased for ever ! When sickness warned 
me of approaching death, I sought to fix my feelings on 
this subject, but it was in vain. There was a gloom and 
terror drawn around religion, at which my soul shuddered. 
I felt that I was forsaken of God, but it did not move me 
I had no love to God, no repentance for sin, nor wish to 
forsake it. I felt nothing but the sullen gloom of despair. 
I knew I was in the hands of a justly offended God, from 
whom I expected no mercy, and could ask none. With 
these feelings I am now about to enter the eternal world. 
To you, my children, I can only say. Profit by my example : 
quench not the Spirit — seek religion now, if you would avoid 
a miserable eternity — put not oil' the concerns of your soul 

till " . The sentence died upon his lips ; his strength, 

which had been all summoned to make this last effort, sud- 
denly failed ; he fell back upon his bed, and with a groan 
that seemed to speak the pains of another world, the im- 
mortal spirit took its flight from that body which it had in- 
habited nearly fourscore years, to receive according to that 
it had done. 

This little narrative I had from a grandson of the old 
man, who stood by his dying bed. He was a minister of 
the Gospel, and dated his first permanent conviction of his 
sin, and exposure to eternal ruin, from the solemnities of 
that awful scene. The descendants of the old man were 
numerous, many of whom became hopefully pious ; several 
were first awakened by his dying charge. 

Three years before his death, there was a revival of 
religion in the place where he resided, and the son with 
whom he lived was a subject of its influence. He made 
the most violent opposition to his son's religious feelings, 
and never, whilst able to move about the house, did he re- 
main in the room during family prayers ; nor, till his dying 
hour, was a prayer offered in his hearing, at his request. 



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. 3 

Some important reflections are suggested by the history 
of this unhappy man. 

1. Youth is the best time to seek the Lord, This is 
evident from reason. Every year that we spend in sinful 
habits, increases their power over our souls, builds higher 
the walls of separation between us and heaven, and renders 
it less probable that we shall ever enter the gates of the 
New Jerusalem. 

This is evident from the Holy Scrij^tures. There are 
particular commands and promises to the young : " Remem- 
ber now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the 
evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou 
shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." " They that seek 
me early, shall find me." 

It is also evident from ohservation. The writer of this 
has frequently been permitted to witness the effusions of 
God's Spirit in revivals of religion ; and the uniform result 
of his observation is, that a majority of those who are the 
subjects of renewing grace are youth. Nor is it barely a 
majority. A minister who had long been a successful la- 
borer in the vineyard of the Lord, remarked to the writer 
a few years since, that within his observation, not more than 
one in seven of those who gave evidence of being born 
again were past the period of youth. Youth, then, is the 
best time to seek the Lord. 

2. There is such a thing as quenching the Spirit of God. 
Yes, reader, there is such a thing as being given over to 
hardness of heart, and left only to fill up the measure of 
our iniquities. 

I attempt not to say lioiu far one may go in resisting 
the influences of the Spirit, and yet be saved. I only say, 
there is a point beyond which, if you go, no voice of mercy, 
no strivings of the Holy Spirit, shall ever follow you : a 
line, which if you pass, there remaineth no more sacrifice 
for your sins, no hope of heaven for you. 

And suffer me, dear reader, if yet in your sins, to sug- 
gest, that this hne may be nearer than you suppose. There 
is, perhaps, never an extensive revival of religion, in which 
there are not individuals who give awful reason to fear that 
they have passed it ; individuals who, after being for a time 
deeply anxious, resist the Holy Ghost, and settle down in 
a tenfold stupidity. Few, perhaps, become so fully con- 



4 QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. 

vinced, this side the eternal world, that they have destroyed 
their souls, as did the aged man I have mentioned ; yet He 
only, who searcheth the heart, knoweth how many there 
are, in this land of gospel light, who so far resist the striv- 
ings of the Spirit, that God says of them, " They shall 
call iipon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me, 
but they shall not find me." 

Could you have seen the man on whom the storms 
of fourscore winters had beaten, convulsed Avith despair 
Avhilst the stern messenger of death was forcing away the 
reluctant spirit to meet its righteous doom, you would have 
felt that there is awful weight in the divine declaration, 
"Woe also to them Avhen I depart from them." 

Dear j^outh, Avhose eyes may glance over this brief nar- 
rative, did you ever feel any anxiety about eternity ? any 
of the strivings of God's Spirit ? If you did, I pray you 
suffer a word of entreaty from one who desires your ever- 
lasting peace. Quench not the S'jyirit. Say not to the 
heavenly messenger, When I am old, I will hear ; lest in 
old age you lie down in sorrow and despair ; lest God 
should say of you, " He is joined to his idols, let him alone." 

Should this little Tract meet the eye of any aged sinner, 
let me, I entreat you, aged friend, say a word for your soul 
before you venture upon the untried realities of eternity. 
You remember the days when you, too, enjoyed the influ- 
ence of the Holy Spirit ; when you were anxious about the 
way of life, and disposed to seek salvation. And are these 
gone ? Standing upon the brink of eternity, with the frosts 
of time already on your head, are you unconcerned for your 
soul ? Is this a time to sleep ? The best time to seek the 
Lord is gone — gone for ever. The only time, if not yet 
gone, will tarry but a few days with you. Tliis torpor 
which is creeping over your soul, if it be not already the 
palsy of spiritual death, is fast becoming so. Have you 
the great work of salvation yet to accomplish, with all your 
energies enfeebled, and your lamp of life burning more and 
more dimly ? ! be about it. Seek the Lord earnestly, 
if yet he may be found, lest your gray hairs go down in 
despair to the grave, and the pains of the second death 
seize upon your soul. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



No. 175, 



TO 



MOTHERS. 




" When they left me for the week-day school, I followed their in- 
fant footsteps with prayer." — Page 2. 

In the vicinity of P there was a pious mother, wlio 

had the happiness of seeing her children, in very early life, 
brought to the knowledge of the truth, walking in the fear 
of the Lord, and ornaments in the Christian Church. A cler- 
g;y-man, who was travelling, heard this circumstance respect- 
ing this mother, and wished very much to see her, thinking 
that there might be something peculiar in her mode of giving 
religious instruction, which rendered it so effectual. He ac- 
cordingly visited her, and inquired respecting the manner in 
which she discharged the duties of a mother, in educating 

her children. 

VOL. V. 33 



2 TO MOTHERS. 

The woman replied, that she did not know as she had 
been more faithful than any Christian mother would be, in 
the religious instruction of her children. After a little con- 
versation, however, she said, 

" While my children were infants on my lap, as I washed 
them, I raised my heart to God, that he would wash them 
in that blood which cleanseth from sin. As I clothed tliem 
in the morning, I asked my heavenly Father to clothe them 
with the robe of Christ's righteousness. As I provided 
them food, I prayed that God would feed their souls with 
the bread of heaven, and give them to drink the water of 
life. When I have prepared them for the house of God, I 
have plead that their bodies might be fit temples for the 
Holy Ghost to dwell in. When they left me for the week- 
day school, I followed their infant footsteps with a prayer, 
that their path through life might be like that of the just, 
which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And 
as I committed them to the rest of the night, the silent 
breathing of my soul has been, that their heavenly Father 
would take them to his embrace, and fold them in his 
paternal arms." 

Here is the influence of the silent, unseen exertions of a 
mother : an influence which Avill be felt, when those exter- 
nal accomplishments, and fleeting enjoyments, which many 
labor to give their children, shall be forgotten, or remem- 
bered only as the means of facilitating a rapid descent to 
the world of sorrow. In this little story, two things strike 
our attention : these efforts were made early, and with a 
reliance on the divine blessing. This mother felt that she 
received her children from God, and was accountable to 
him for the manner in which she trained them up. She 
knew that her labors would be vain, unless God should in 
mercy grant her the aid of his Spirit to sanctify and save 
the soul ; therefore, through all the duties of the day, and 
all the interesting periods of childhood, she looked up to a 
God who is ever near to those who will call upon him, and 
who will listen to their cries. How happy must be that 
household whose God is the Lord ; what heavenly joy beams 



TO MOTHERS. 3 

from every countenance, and with what glorious hopes do 
they look beyond the grave to that mansion provided for 
them in their Father's house ; and thrice happy must be 
that mother, who, in the fear of God, and in reference to 
eternity, has thus performed her duty. 

There are feelings in a mother 8 bosom, which are known 
only by a mother : the tie which binds her to her children, 
is one compared with which all other ties are feeble. It is 
to these feelings that the fact just stated will speak a lan- 
guage which must be understood ; and it must strike a note 
on this chord that will vibrate through every fibre of the 
soul. While appeals are often made to him who has lived 
long in sin, that fall like the sound of the empty wind upon 
his ear ; and the voice of warning thunders in its truths to 
hearts of adamant ; the appeal now made, is to an ear which 
is not deaf, to a heart which can feel. 

The noise and tumult of the active world often drown 
the "still small voice" of the Gospel, which sounds in the 
ears of the man of business ; and worldly wisdom and strict 
calculation sometimes lead men to neglect the question, 
" What will it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and 
lose his soul ?" But this Tract is designed for a different 
situation in life ; for those who do not mingle in the bustle 
and hurry of the world, who are retired to a more quiet, 
though not to an unimportant sphere. In some hour of 
silent meditation this may fall into the hands of a mother ; 
and the duties it recommends can be performed even while 
engaged in the common business of the family. 

It is no fiction of poetry that, 

" Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." 

When the mind begins to open, and the attention is 
first arrested by the objects that surround us, much de- 
pends upon her, who, in that tender period, shall make the 
Jirst impressions upon that mind, and first direct its atten- 
tion. 

It is the)i that the mother has an access and an influence 
which cannot be attained at any other period. The first 



4 TO MOTHERS. 

inquiries of the infant must be answered by her who gave 
it birth. As he gazes upon those twinkling stars that ght- 
ter in the evening sky, and asks, " Who made those shining 
things ?" it is a mother's duty to tell the little prattler of 
that o-reat and o-ood Beino- who dwells in the heavens, and 
who is the Father of all our mercies. 

And as the mind enlarges, the mother tells the httle list- 
ener of that Jesus who lay in a manger, and died on the 
cross. And w^hen she softens its pillow for its nightly 
slumbers, and watches its closing eyes, it is her privilege to 
hear it lisp, " Our Father,'" and direct it to love that Father 
w^hose name it so early speaks. Let this golden opportu- 
nity pass, these days of childhood roll away, and the mind 
be filled only with fabled stories, or sportive songs, and the 
precious immortal is trained for some other state than the 
paradise above. 

Do you say that you are ignorant, and are not capable 
of giving instruction ? As your child clings to your bosom 
and directs his inquiring countenance to you for some inter- 
esting story, you know enough to tell him of some hero or 
king ; and can you not tell him of the King of Zion, the 
Prince of Peace ? And what more could the learned phi- 
losopher tell this infant mind ? 

You are unknoivn and obscure, did you say ? But you 
are known to your child, and your influence with your 
child is greater than that of a legislator or general. " Say 
not, I, who am obscure, may act without restraint, espe- 
cially when secluded from the world, in the retirement of 
my family. Obscure ! You are immortal. You must go 
to the judgment ; and every whisper of your life will be 
exhibited before an assembled universe ! Secluded ! What 
if the eye of the world does not follow you into the domes- 
tic circle? Is it not restraint enough that your child is 
there ? That child has a soul, worth more than a million 
globes of gold. That child, too, may become a legislator, 
or a judge, or a pastor in a church. Take care, you who 
are a mother ! You act under a dreadful responsibility. 
You cannot stir without touching some string that will 



TO MOTHERS. 5 

\abrate after your head is laid in the dust. One word of 
pious counsel, or one word of sinful levity or passion, ut- 
tered in the hearing of your child, may produce an effect 
on your children's children. Nay, its influence may be felt 
on the other side of the globe, and may extend into eter- 
nity." Your words are received with confidence, and "My 
mother told me so/' is an argument of sufficient weight to 
convince the child of the most important truths. 

Here you have an influence which no other creature can 
have, and can exert it in circumstances the most favorable. 
It is not to open to a son the stores of science, that may 
qualify him to rank among the learned and the wise of the 
world ; it is not to adorn a daughter with those accomplish- 
ments which shall attract the attention of those who crowd 
the hall of pleasure, or move in the circle of refinement and 
fashion. 

But the object is far more 7ioble, more worthy the undi- 
vided attention of those who live for immortality. That 
child who now prattles on your knee, or sports around 
your dwelling, may yet tell some perishing heathen of Jesus 
of Nazareth ; may yet be an able soldier in the army of 
Immanuel, and may plant the standard of the cross on the 
shores of Greenland, or under the burninsf sun of Africa. 
Look at facts. What first led the pious and eminently use- 
ful John Newton to the knowledge of the truth ? The in- 
structions of his mother, given at the early period of four 
years, fastened upon his conscience, and led him to a Sav- 
iour. 

Can you estimate the eff"ect of his labors ? Not till you 
can compute the usefulness of Buchanan and Scott, who 
were converted by his instrumentality — till you can see 
the full blaze of that light which the former carried into 
the heart of heathen India ; and witness the domestic com- 
fort and brightening hopes occasioned by the labors of the 
latter. Who taught young Timothy, an early laborer in 
the vineyard of Jesus Christ, the first lessons of religious 
truth ? Who led Samuel, a prophet and a judge in Israel, 
while he was vet young, to the house of the Lord, and ded- 
voL. V. ' 33* 



6 TO MOTHERS. 

icated him to the service of the God of heaven ? A j^ray- 
inff mother. 

Though the seed thus sown in childhood may not spring 
up and bring forth fruit while under the maternal eye, yet 
we must not conclude that it is lost. A clergyman recently 
met a seaman in the street of a neighboring city, and pressed 
upon him the duty of attending to the concerns of his soul. 
The hardy mariner burst into tears, and exclaimed, " Stoj), 
stop, don't talk to me so ; it is just as my mother talked to 
me when I was a boy." A mother's counsel had followed 
him through all his wanderings, and still the words of her 
who prayed for him retained their hold on his conscience. 
The time has come Avhen it is esteemed a greater honor to 
be the mother of a Brainerd or a Martyn, than of a Caesar 
or Napoleon. And suppose the mothers of these men, 
whose characters, though so widely different, are so uni- 
versally known, should, from their unchanging state, look 
upon those sons whom they have nourished ; what would 
be the view presented to them ? Who would not choose 
to have mven birth to the Christian heroes ? It is not for 
this short state of existence only that you are to train your 
children. The little group that now cluster around you 
are destined for immortality. When the world on which 
they stand shall have passed away, and its pleasures and 
its honors shall be forgotten, then they whom you have 
introduced to this state of being Avill but begin to live. 
Their characters are now forming for eternity, and you are 
aiding to form them. 

Though you may not design it, though you may quiet 
yourself, that if you can do them no good, you will not do 
them injury ; yet you exert an influence which is felt, and 
will be felt when your head is laid in the dust. Let, then, 
this appeal to a mother's feelings be heard, let it come to 
your own bosom, and ponder it in your heart. 

Do you know the way to a throne of mercy ; and can 
you kneel before it, and forget the children of your love ? 
Can you watch their closing eyes, and not commit them to 
your God ? Can you labor that they may enjoy the good 



TO MOTHERS. 7 

things of this fleeting world, and not -pray that God woiihl 
prepare them for that upon which they will soon enter ? 
You see them growing up around you without hope and 
without God in the world : though you may be unable to 
do more, can you refuse to jiray, that he who in a peculiar 
manner extends the arms of mercy to those in the morning 
of life, would take them to his embrace, and prepare them 
for his kingdom ? 

You have seen the hand of disease fasten upon them, 
and have passed days of anxious toil and nights of sleep- 
less solicitude to arrest their malady ; and have cried from 
a bursting heart, " Oh, spare my child !" You have seen 
the object of your tenderest affection sinking in the arms of 
death, and with a heart rent with anguish have said with the 
nobleman, " Come down, ere my child die." And when the 
last duties of parental affection Avere performed, and the 
grave had closed over the child of your bosom, you have 
perhaps looked back to the time when it was under your 
care, and mourned that you thought no more of its immor- 
tal part, that you prayed no more for its precious soul. 

If you have passed through scenes like these, if you 
have thus felt, then remember those now in life and health, 
and improve the opportunity now given you. 

The time for your exertion is very sliort. Soon yom* 
children will arrive at that period of life Avhen a mother's 
influence will be very feebly felt, unless it has been early 
exerted. Would you find in them a rich source of conso- 
lation when your head shall become white with years, and 
your body be bending to the grave; then you will noio 
commit them to him who can sanctify and save the soul. 
Should you go down to the grave and leave these objects 
of your love in a cold, unfeeling world, what better can you 
do for them than to secure the friendship of One who stick- 
eth closer than a brother, and whose love is stronger than 
death ? 

The tender tie which now binds you to them will soon 
be dissolved ; you cannot resist the stroke which shall tear 
them from your bosom. You may have felt the pang — 



8 TO MOTHERS. 

your heart may have been filled with sorrow. then, if 
you ever pray, if your soul ever went out to ^jour Father 
and your God, in humble petitions, tell him of your chil- 
dren who know him not : Avhen you know what it is to 
wrestle in secret with the God of Jacob, give him back in 
faith your children. Then you may hope, through grace, 
to say, in that other world to which you are going, " Lord, 
here am I, and the children thou hast given me." 

Should this paper fall into the hands of a mother who 
never jprayed even for herself, she must, she cannot hut 
pray for those to whom she has given life. Prayerless 
mother! spare, O sjyare your child; stop where you now 
are, on the threshold of eternity, and remember, as you 
gaze on that countenance which smiles in your bosom, that 
you have never 2:)rayed for its soul, which will live for ever. 
Have you a mother's feelings, and can you still neglect it ? 

Oh, give me poverty, give me pain ; leave me friendless 
and forsaken by the world ; but leave me not to the em- 
brace of a prayerless mother — leave not my soul to the care 
of one who never raised her weeping eyes to heaven, to 
implore its blessings on my head. 

Are you a mother, and can you close your eyes upon the 
scenes of earth, and remember that you never raised, even 
in your silent breathings, the desires of your heart to heaven 
for a child, perhaps your only darling ? 

In some lonely hour, when the labors of the day are 
ended, and you have performed the last act of kindness for 
your sleeping babes, kneel, if you never have before, kneel 
before Him who seeth your heart in that silent hour, and 
utter one short prayer, one broken petition of penitence, 
faith, and love to the Saviour of sinners, for your dear 
children. 

Note. — A donation of forty dollars was received, in 1826, 
from the Connecticut branch of the American Tract Society, for 
perpetuating this Tract. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



No. 17^, 



THE 



WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. 







Mr. B , a respectable farmer in Massacliusetts, came, 

a mimber of years ago, into the possession of a farm of about six 
hundred acres. On this farm he employed eight or ten men. 
These men were in the habit, and had been for years, of taking 
each a portion of ardent spirit, when they labored, every day. 
They had grown up in the practice of taking it, and the idea 
was fixed in their minds that they could not do without. It 
was the common opinion in the place, that, for laboring men, 
who had to work hard, some ardent spirit was necessary. Mr. 
B for a time followed the common practice, and furnish- 
ed his men with a portion of spirit daihj. But, after much at- 
tentive observation, and mature reflection, he became deeply 
impressed with the conviction that the practice was not only 
ageless, but hurtful. He became convinced that it tends 



2 THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. 

to lead men to intemperance ; to undermine their constitu- 
tions ; and to sow the seeds of death, temporal and eternal. 
And he felt that he could not be justified in continuing to 
cultivate his farm by means of a practice which was ruin- 
ing the bodies and souls of his fellow-men. He therefore 
called his men together, and told them, in a kind and faith- 
ful manner, what were his convictions. He told them that 
he Avas perfectly satisfied that the practice of taking ardent 
spirits was not only needless, but hurtful — that it tended 
to weaken and destroy both the body and mind ; and that 
he could not, consistently with his duty, be instrumental in 
continuing a practice which he had no doubt tended to 
destroy them both for this world and the world to come. 
He therefore, from that time, should furnish them with no 
ardent spirits. 

One of them said that he could not work without it ; 
and if he did not furnish them with it, he would not stay 

with him. ''Very well," said Mr. B ; "hand me your 

bill, and be off." The man replied, that he presumed all 

the others would leave him. " Very well," said Mr. B ; 

" tell them, any of them Avho choose to leave — all of them, 
if they choose to go — to hand in their bills, and they shall 
have their money to-night. If they stay, however, they 
shall have nourishing food and drink, at any time, and in 
any abundance which they wish ; and at the close of the 
year each one shall have twelve dollars, that is, one dollar 
a month, in addition to his wages. But I shall furnish no 
spirits of any kind, neither shall I have it taken by men 
in my employment. I had rather my farm would grow up 
to weeds, than be cultivated by means of so pernicious a 
practice as that of taking ardent spirits." However, none 
of the men left, except that one. And when he saw that 
all the others concluded to stay, he came back, and said, 
that as the others had concluded to stay, and do without 
rum, he believed that he could, and he should be glad to 

stay, too, if Mr. B had no objection. But he told him, 

No, he did not wish him to stay ; he would make of him an 



THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. 3 

example, and he must go. So he departed. The rest went 
to work, and he furnished them with no spirits from that 
time through the season. Yet his work, he said, was done 
" with less trouble, in a better manner, and in better season, 
than ever before." Some of his men, however, he found, 
when they went abroad, did take ardent spirits. They some- 
times procured it at the tavern, or a store ; and in some 
instances took it secretly, while on his farm. The evil, 
therefore, although greatly lessened, was not entirely done 
away. 

When he came to hire men again, he let it be known 
that he did not wish to hire any man who was not willing 
to abstain entirely, and at all times, from the use of ardent 
spirits. His neighbors told him that he could not hire 
men on those conditions ; that men could not be found 
who would do without rum, especially in haying and har- 
vesting. Well, he said, then he would not hire them at 
all. His farm should grow up to weeds. As to cultivating 
it by the help of rum, he would not. By allowing men in 
his employment, and for whose conduct he was in a meas- 
ure responsible, to take ardent spirits, he should be lend- 
ing his influence to continue a practice, or he should at 
least be conniving at a practice, which was " destroying 
more lives, making more mothers widows, and children 
orphans, than famine, pestilence, and sword : a practice 
which was destroying by thousands, and tens of thousands, 
not only the bodies, but the souls of men, rendering them, 
and their children after them, wretched for this world, and 
the world to come. " No," said he, " I will clear my hand& 
of this enormous guilt. I will not by practice encourage, 
or by silence, or having men in my employment who take 
ardent spirits, connive at this deadly evil." However, he 
found no difficulty in hiring men, and of the best kind. 
And when his neighbors saw, that by giving one dollar a 
month more than others, he could hire as many men as he 
pleased, they gave up that objection. But they said, it 
was bad policy ; for the men would not do so much work, 



4 THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. 

and lie would, in the end, be a loser. But he told them 
that, although they might not at first do quite so much, he 
presumed that they would in the end do more. But if 
they should not, only let them do, said he, what they easily 
can, and I shall be satisfied. My Maker does not require 
of me any more than I can do Avithout rum, (for he used 
no ardent spirits himself) and I shall require no more of 
them. His men went to work. And his business prosper- 
ed exceedingly. His men were remarkably uniform in their 
temper and deportment ; still, and peaceable. 

He found them every day alike, and he could ahvays 
safely trust them. What he expected to have done, he 
found loas done, in good season, and in the best manner. 
His men never made so few mistakes, had so few disputes 
among themselves; they never injured and destroyed so 
feAV tools, found so httle fault with their manner of living, 
or were, on the whole, so pleasant to one another, and to 
their employer. The men appeared, more than ever be- 
fore, like brethren of the same family, satisfied with their 
business, contented, and happy. 

At the close of the year, one of them came to Mr. 

B , and, with tears in his eyes, said, " Sir, I thought 

that you were very hard, in keeping us from drinking rum. 
I had always been accustomed to it, and I thought that I 
could not do without it. And for the first three months," 
said he, " it was hard, very hard. I had such a caving in 
here" — putting his hands up to his side — "I had such a 
desiderate caving in here, that I thought I should die. But, 
as you gave us good wages, and good pay, and the rest 
resolved to stand it without rum, I thought I would. 

"And now," said he, "I am well and happy. I work 
with ease, sleep sweetly, and when I get iip in the morn- 
ing, instead of having, as I used to, my mouth and throat" 
• — to use his own words — " so full of cobwebs, as to be sjnt- 
ting cotton ivool all the time, my mouth and throat are 
clear as a whistle. I feel active, have a good appetite, and 
can eat any thing. 



THE WELL-COX DUCTED FAllM. 5 

" Formerly, -when I worked hard, I was at night th'ed, 
and could not sleep. When I got up in the morning I was 
so sore and stiff, so filled up in my throat, and my appetite 
was so gone, that I could do nothing till I had taken a glass 
of rum and molasses. I then stood it till breakfast. But 
my breakfast did not relish, and Avhat I took did not seem 
to nourish me. Soon after I got to work I was so hollow 
and so tired, that I felt desperate ugly till 11 o'clock. Then 
I took a neiv vamper. And by the strength of that I got 
on till dinner. Then I must have a little more to give me 
an appetite. At three o'clock in the afternoon I must have 
recourse " — these were his words — " to the hair of the same 
dog, to keep up my sinking spirits. And thus I got along 
till night. Then I must have a little to sharpen appetite 
for supper. And after supper I could not sleep, till I had 
taken another nightcap. 

"Thus I continued," said he, "year after year, under- 
mining a constitution which was naturally very robust ; and 
orrowinof worse and worse, until I came under your wise and 
excellent reo^ulations. And now," said he, " I am cured. I 
arn cured. I can now do more labor than when I took 
spirits, without half the fatigue, and take nothing stronger 
than pure cold water. If a man would give me the same 
wages that you do, and a dollar a day in addition, to return 
to the practice of drinking rum, I would laugh at him." 
All this was the free, spontaneous effusion of his own mind, 
in view of the great change wrought in his feelings by leav- 
ing off entirely the use of ardent spirits. 

Another of the workmen came to Mr. B and said, 

that he had found it very hard to do without rum at first ; 
but he could now .freely say, that he never enjoyed so good 
health, or felt so well, as he did then. He said that in cold 
weather in the winter, and after chopping all day in the 
woods, especially if exposed to rains, or if his feet were wet, 
he had for a long time been accustomed to a very bad rheu- 
matism, and at night to a dreadful headache. He took 
spirits temperately, and he supposed it was necessary to 

VOL. V. 34 



Q THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM, 

guard him against these evils. Still he suffered them ; and 
he found nothing that would prevent them. But since he 
had left off entirely the use of spirits, he had had no rheuma- 
tism, and been entirely free from the headache. 

Another of the workmen said he thought at first that he 
could do very well without spirits three quarters of the 
year ; but that, in haying and harvesting, he should want a 
little. But he had found that a dish of bread and milk, or 
some other nourishing food, at 11 o'clock, answered his 
purpose at all times just as Avell as grog, and he thought a 
little better. And as he Avas now entirely free from the habit 
of taking spirits, he would not on any account be placed 
in a situation where he should be tempted to renew it. 

Such were the feelings of men who had always been 
accustomed to the practice of taking spirits, till they came 

into Mr. B 's employment, and who afterwards had not 

taken a drop. They had tried both sides, and had found, 
by expeiience, that the practice of taking ardent spirits is 
utterly useless ; nay, that it is positively hurtful. It was 
their united testimony, that they enjoyed better health, 
were more happy, could do more work, and with less fa- 
tigue, than when they took spirits. 

They said, to be sure, that they found it hard to do 
without it at first. And so would a man who had been in 
the habit of taking laudanum, or any poison, that Avas not 
fatal, but AA^as stimulating and pleasant to the taste, however 
destructive it might be in the end to his constitution. But 
after they had freed themselves from the habit of taking 
spirits, they found no inconvenience ; but were in all respects 
better than they were before. And they acknowledged that 
they were exceedingly indebted to him, who, by his Avise 
regulations, had been the means of improving their condition. 
The followino^ Avere some of the advantaoes to them. 

1. They had a better appetite, partook of their food 
with a keener relish, and it was more nourishing to them 
than before. 



THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. 7 

2. They possessed mucli greater vigor and activity, both 
of body and mind. 

3. They performed the same labor with much greater 
ease ; and were in a great measure free from that lassitude 
and fatigue to which they were before accustomed. 

4. They had greater wages, and they laid up a much 
greater portion of what they had. Before, numbers used 
to spend a great portion of their wages in scenes of amuse- 
ment and dissipation. Now, they have no inclination to 
frequent such scenes. The consequence is, they lay up 
more money. They are, also, more serious in their deport- 
ment, spend more of their leisure time in useful reading, 
much oftener peruse the Scriptures, and attend public wor- 
ship ; and they are more attentive to all the means of grace. 
In a word, they are more likely to become useful and happy 
in this life, and to be prepared for lasting blessedness in the 
life to come. 

5. Their example will be more likely to be useful to 
those around them ; and that for both worlds. 

The following are some of the advantages to tlieir em- 
ployer. 

1. The men, he says, in the course of the year, do more 
work, in a better manner, and at a much less expense of 
tools. 

2. He can now with much greater ease have a place for 
every thing, and every thing in its place. 

3. When a stone has fallen from the wall it is now laid 
up, as the men are passing by, without his mentioning it. 
The gates are locked, and the bars put up ; so that the 
cattle do not, as before, get in and destroy the crops. 

4. His summer work is done in such season, that earth, 
loam, etc., is carted into the yard in the fall, instead of 
being carted in in the spring, as before. The consequence 
is, w^hen carried out it is richer, and renders the farm more 
productive. 

6. His barns, in winter, are kept clean, and less fodder 



8 THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. 

is wasted. The cattle and horses are daily curried, and 
appear in better order. 

6. When his men go into the forests, instead, as before, 
of cutting down the nearest, thriftiest, and largest trees, 
they cut those that are decayed, crooked, and not likely to 
grow any better ; pick up those that are blown down, and 
thus leave the forests in a better state. 

7. The men are more uniform, still, and peaceable ; are 
less trouble in the house, and more contented with their 
manner of living. 

8. At jnorning and evening prayer, they are more ready 
than before to attend, and in season ; appearing to esteem 
it not only a duty, but a privilege and a pleasure to be 
present, and unite with the family in the daily worship of 
God. 

9. On the Sabbath, instead of wishing, as before, to stay 
at home, or to spend the day in roving about the fields, 
rivers, and forests, they choose statedly and punctually to 
attend public worship. In a word, their whole deportment, 
both at home and abread, is improved, and to a greater 
extent than any, without witnessing it, can well imagine. 

All these and many more advantages resulted from their 
abstaining entirely, and at all times, from the use of ardent 
spirits. 

Nor were the benefits confined to them and their em- 
ployer. Some of his neighbors, witnessing the complete 
success of his system, have themselves adopted it. When 

Mr. B went into that part of the country, many of the 

farmers in his neighborhood were in debt. Their farms 
were mortgaged, some for $300, some for $500, and some 
for $1000, or more. They complained much of hard times, 
especially for farmers. 

Mr. B told them that so long as they continued to 

drink rum, they must expect hard times ; for it was no 
profit, but a great expense, and in more ways than they 
imagined. They came to him to borrow money to save 



THE WELL-COXDUCTED FARM. Q 

their farms frora attachment. But he told them, Ko. It 
will do men who continue to drink rum no ofood to have 
money. Nay, it will be to them an evil. The sooner their 
property is gone, and they have nothing with which to buy 
rum, the better. For then they will do less mischief than 
if they have money, and continue to drink rum. But, said 
he, if you will leave off the use of spirits, and not take a 
drop for three months, I will lend you money, and you may 
keep it, by paying the interest, as long as you continue to 
take no ardent spirits. But when I learn that you begin to 
take it, I shall call for the money. Some went away in 

disgust. Others said. As Mr. B can do without rum, 

why cannot we ? and if we can, it will be a great saving of 
expense. They made the experiment, and found that they 
could, without the least inconvenience, do without it. After 

a few months, they made known to Mr. B the result ; 

and he helped them to as much money as they needed. 
They continued to do without spirits, and they had none 
used by men in their employment. Their business began 
to prosper, and their prospects to brighten. Their debts 
are now paid, and their farms free from all incumbrance. 
The times with them have altered, and they are now thriving, 
respectable, and useful members of the community. 

Others, who a few years ago were in no worse a con- 
dition than they, but Avho continued the practice of drink- 
ing spirits, have lost their farms ; lost their reputation ; 
lost their health, and eventually their lives ; and there is 
reason to fear, their souls. By the temperate but habitual 
use of spirits, they formed an intempei^ate appetite. This at 
first was occasionally, and then habitually indulged ; and 
they were ruined for both worlds. The evil may extend to 
their children, and children's children. 

But those who have entirely relinquished the use of 
spirits, until the desire for it is removed, have experienced 
a wonderful transformation in their feelings, their conduct, 
and their prospects. And the change is visible not only in 
them, but their families, and all their concernf,. Their 
VOL. v. 34* 



10 THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARxM. 

windows are not broken out as before ; nor their gates and 
garden-fences falling down. The kitchen does not smoke 
as it used to do, because they keep it more clean, have drier 
and better wood, and lay it on the fire in a better manner. 
The wife does not scold as she once did, because she is well 
provided for, is treated kindly, and has encouragement to 
labor. The children are not now in rags, but are comfort- 
ably and decently clad ; they are obedient, respectful, and 
mannerly ; and appear to be growing up in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord. In short, they appear almost like 
a new race of beings. And if they should never again adopt 
the practice of taking ardent spirits, there is vastly more 
reason than before, to hope that they will be led by the 
word and Spirit of God to such a course of conduct as will 
greatly increase their happiness and usefulness on earth, 
and be the means of preparing them, through grace, for the 
everlasting joys of heaven. 

Should each individual in our country adopt the same 
course, the following are some of the advantao-es which 
would result from it. 

1. They would enjoy better health, be able to perform 
more labor, and would live to a greater age. 

2. The evils of intemperance would soon be done away : 
for all who are now intemperate, and continue so, will soon 
be dead, and no others will be found to succeed them. 

3. There will be a saving every year of more than 
thirty mUUons of dollars, which are now expended for 
ardent spirits. There will be a saving of more than two- 
thirds of all the expense of supporting the poor, which, in 
Massachusetts alone, would amount to more than $600,000 
annually. And there would be a saving of all that idle- 
ness and dissipation which intemperance occasions, and 
of the expense of more than two-thirds of all the criminal 
prosecutions in the land. In one of our large cities, in 
which there were one thousand prosecutions for crimes, 
more than eight hundred of them were found to have sprung 
from the use of ardent spirits. 



THE WELL-CONDUCTED FARM. H 

4. There would be a saving of a vast portion of sick- 
ness ; and of the hves^ probably of thirty thousand persons 
every year. 

Let these four considerations be added together, and 
traced in their various bearings and consequences upon the 
temporal and eternal welfare of men ; and then let each 
individual say, whether, in view of all the evils connected 
with the practice of taking ardent spirits, he can, in the 
sight of God, be justified in continuing the practice. That 
it is not necessary, has been fully proved, ^o one thinks it 
to be necessary, except those who use it. And theij would 
not think so, if they were not in the habit of using it. Let 
any man leave off entirely the use of ardent spirits for only 
one year, and he will find by his own experience that it is 
not necessary or useful. The fathers of New England did 
not use it, nor did their children. They were never, as a 
body, in the practice of taking it. And yet they enjoyed 
better health, attained to a larger stature, and, with fewer 
comforts of life, performed more labor, endured more 
fatigue, and lived, upon an average, to a greater age than 
any generation of their descendants who have been in the 
practice of taking spirits. As it was not necessary for the 
fathers of New England, it is certain that it is not necessary 
for their descendants, or for any portion of our inhabitants. 
Hundreds of healthy, active, respectable, and useful men, 
who noiv do not use it, can testify that it is not necessary. 
And this will be the testimony of every one who will only 
relinquish entirely the use of it. 

It is by the temperate and habitual use of ardent spirits, 
that intemperate appetites are formed. And the temperate 
use of it cannot be continued, without, in many cases, form- 
ing intemperate appetites ; and after they are formed, mul- 
titudes will be destroyed by their gratification. 

Natural appetites, such as are implanted in our consti- 
tution by the Author of nature, do not by their gratification 
increase in their demands. What satisfied them years ago, 
will satisfy them now. But artificial appetites, which are 



12 THE WELL-COXDUCTED FARM. 

formed by the wicked practices of men, are constantly in- 
creasing in their demands. What satisfied them once, will 
not satisfy them now. And what satisfies them now, will 
not satisfy them in future. They are constantly crying, 
" Give, give.'^ And there is not a man, who is in the habit- 
ual use of ardent spirits, who is not in danger of dying a 
drunkard. Before he is aware, an intemperate appetite 
may be formed, the gratification of which may prove his 
temporal and eternal ruin. And if the practice should not 
come to this result with regard to himself, it may with 
regard to his children, and children's children. It may 
with regard to his neighbors, and their children. It may 
extend its baleful influences far and wide; and transmit 
them, with all their innumerable evils, from generation to 
generation. 

Can, then, temperate, sober men he clear from guilt, in 
continuing a practice which is costing annually more than 
$30,000,000 ; increasing more than threefold the poor- 
rates, and the crimes of the country ; undermining the 
health and constitution of its inhabitants ; and cutting off 
annually thirty thousand lives ! 

There is tremendous guilt somewhere. And it is a truth 
which ought to press with overwhelming force upon the 
mind of every sober man, that a portion of this guilt rests 
upon every one who, with a knowledge of facts, continues 
the totally unnecessary and awfully 'p^^nicious practice of 
taking ardent sptirits. Each individual ought, without delay, 
in view of eternity, to clear himself, and neither by precept 
nor example, ever again encourage or even connive at this 
deadly qy\\. 



Wo. irr. 



INSTITUTION AND OBSERVANCE 



THE SABBATH 



"REMEMBER THE SABBATH-DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY." Exod. 20 : 8. 

The laws of God are not arbitrary. They are reasona- 
ble ; each having regard to the well-being of man as truly 
as to the honor and glory of God. Their tendency in every 
instance is evidently beneficial ; and he who breaks them, 
not only *' sins against God, but wrongs his own soul." 
They enjoin nothing but what is conducive to man's happi- 
ness, and prohibit nothing that would not ultimately injure 
him ; so that the observance of every commandment of God, 
is as much our interest as our duty. 

Among the richest blessings of heaven bestowed upon 
man, is the institution of the Sabbath. It was made for 
him, and fitted to his condition ; to give him rest from labor 
and anxiety, afford him time to acquire the knowledge of 
his Author and destination, and remind him of the rest that 
remains for him in heaven. But when the judgment is 
darkened, and the affections perverted, our greatest bless- 
ings are often viewed as restraints upon our enjoyments. 
Hence, there ever has been a disposition in man to dis- 
regard this day : some rashly reject its observance, and 
the word upon which its authority is founded ; others, who 
avow their belief in the Scriptures, profess to doubt the 



2 OBSERVAXCE OF THE SABBATH. 

moral obligation of the Sabbath, and contend that, although 
it was obligatory under the Jewish dispensation, this obli- 
gation has been done away by the introduction of Chris- 
tianity. 

It is wise frequently to review our opinions, and con- 
sider the evidence upon which they stand ; and the writer 
invites the reader to accompany him to the word of God, 
to examine what is written in reference to this day. We 
w^ill first notice the institution of the Sahhath, and secondly, 
the manner in ivMch it should be observed. 

I. The INSTITUTION of the Sabbath. By the Sabbath, 
we understand a day rendered sacred by divine appoint- 
ment, dedicated to rest and religious purposes, and com- 
prising successively one-seventh part of our time. We shall 
consider, 

1. Its origin. The institution of the Sabbath is not 
only divine, but coeval with the creation; it was enjoined 
upon man previous to the fall, when in a state of paradisi- 
acal purity. When all was holiness and excellency, before 
sin had marred the works of God ; when every place might 
be a temple, and every moment a suitable time to worship ; 
even then did God set apart one-seventh of the time for 
his more especial service. It was at this time, " God blessed 
the seventh day and sanctified it," Gen. 2 : 3 ; made it a 
day of peculiar blessing and manifestation ; sanctified, set it 
apart from a common to a sacred use, and gave a sanction 
to his institution by his own example in resting on that day. 
This is the origin of the Sabbath. 

Had this sacred day never been given mitil the enact- 
ment of the Mosaic ritual, there might have been some 
conjecture, that it formed a part of those shadows which 
were to pass away with the Jewish polity. But God gave 
the Sabbath to Adam, when all nations were seminally in 
him, and he stood the father and representative of them all. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 3 

Therefore, this injunction could not have been designed, 
exclusively, for one nation, dispensation, or portion of time. 
Had Adam remained innocent, this first law of his Maker 
would have been obligatory, not only on him, but on his 
posterity through their successive generations. And the 
introduction of sin cannot have abrogated this law, or ren- 
dered it unnecessary. If it were necessary before the fall, 
it surely is much more so after it. 

We might, with the same propriety, set aside the insti- 
tution of marriage. The Sabbath and marriage were en- 
joined at the same time, and are the only institutions given 
before man became a fallen creature. None will pretend 
to affirm that the latter was annulled by the apostasy of 
man. It existed before and after the introduction of sin, 
under the law, and under the Gospel. Though the relation 
of man towards his Maker is changed, yet the institution 
of marriage is not changed ; it is now as at the beginning. 
So, through every dispensation, it has been the unalterable 
law of God, that one-seventh portion of time should be 
dedicated to his especial service. 

2. Its 'perpetuity . Having stated the origin of the Sab- 
bath, we shall now examine what evidence we have that 
it was known and observed prior to the promulgation of the 
law. From the time of the first family to that of the del- 
uge, we have strong intimations that a sacred day was 
known and at least partially observed. Cain and Abel 
brought their oflferings, as the common reading has it, "■ in 
process of time," Gen. 4:3; but literally, and as it is in 
the margin, "at the end of days." Of what da3's ? But 
one division of days had been yet mentioned, and that was 
of the days of the week, the Sabbath being the last, or 
seventh day. Nothing is more reasonable than to suppose, 
that the end of the days of the week is here intended ; espe- 
cially when it is recollected that this period of days had 



4 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

been already fixed, and the passage refers to an act of 
religious worship which was to be performed. 

It is also evident, that days were reckoned by portions 
of seven in the time of Noah. The Lord said unto him, 
"Yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the 
earth." Gen. 7 : 4. Again, at the return of the dove, *'he 
stayed seven other days before he sent her forth the third 
time." Returning with an olive-leaf, " he stayed yet other 
seven days," and then dismissed her from the ark. From 
these circumstances it is highly probable that the Sabbath 
was transmitted by tradition from Adam to this period. 
What other reason can be assio-ned for Noah's observino' 
these revolutions of seven days while in the ark ? 

Moreover, every scholar knows that seven was used by 
the Greek and Roman classics as a number of fulness or 
perfection ; and that the nations of the east, in all ages, 
have had a term of days, consisting of a cycle of seven. 
How can it be accounted for, that so many nations, in dif- 
ferent ages and countries, should agree upon this peculiar 
division of their time, if it be not through a tradition con- 
cerning the space of time employed in creation, or the 
institution of a weekly Sabbath to commemorate that event ? 

During the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, 
we are not informed that the Sabbath was observed ; but 
it does not appear to have been forgotten. For, about forty 
days after their departure from bondage, when the Lord 
first gave them the manna, it is spoken of in such a manner 
as to intimate that it had been previously known among 
them. "And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they 
gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man. 
And Moses said, This is that which the Lord hath said, To- 
•morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Six 
days shall ye gather" it ; but on the seventh day, which is 
the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 5 

there went out some of the people on the seventh day for 
to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto 
Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and 
my laws?" Exod. 16 : 22-28. In this passage the Sab- 
bath is referred to as something already known, and the 
people are blamed for not keeping it. Now it must be ob- 
served, that this event occurred in the wilderness of Sin, 
before the children of Israel had reached Mount Sinai, on 
the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure 
from Egypt, at least fifteen days before the giving of the 
law, which took place some time in the third month. Exod. 
19 : 1. But had it never been given until this time, how 
could it be said, '' How long refuse ye to keep my com- 
mandments ?" Does it not appear more probable that it 
had been known among them during their bondage, though 
little attended to ; and that now, being delivered, and called 
to be God's chosen people, they were required to pay a 
more particular attention to it ? 

I have been thus particular in discussing tliis part of the 
subject, to shoAV that the original institution of the Sabbath 
had no connection whatever with Jewish ceremonies, it haA'- 
ino: been instituted, ackno\vledo-ed, and observed, before 
they were ever given. And hence, the arguments so often 
used in relation to the ceremonial origin and nature of the 
Sabbath, are altogether founded in ignorance of the word 
of God, and the history of these times. 

The manner in which the fourth commandment vras 
announced at the giving of the law, is another proof of 
what has been already stated. Of the other command- 
ments it is said, " Thou shalt,'" but of this, "Remember,'" 
which seems to indicate the renewal of an old .command- 
ment, and not the enactment of a new one. For if the 
Sabbath had not been previously known to the children of 
Israel, how could they be called upon to remember that of 

VOL. V. 35 



6 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

which they had never heard ? The truth is, as this was 
the most ancient institution, God now called upon his peo- 
ple, the depositories of his truth, to keep it in mind ; and 
being about to make known to them a summary of his will, 
renewed its sanction, and made it one of the ten words of 
perpetual obligation. 

That the law of the Sabbath makes no part of the cer- 
emonial code, which was delivered some time afterwards, 
is very evident from the following considerations : 

1. This commandment was spoken by God on Mount 
Sinai, in hearing of all the people, and attended by the 
most awful sanctions of glory and terror ; whereas the law 
of ceremonies was simply given to Moses, to give to the 
people. Exod. 19 : 16-25 ; 21:1. 

2. It makes one of the commands of the decalogue, and 
was twice written by the finger of God on tables of stone, 
indicative of its lasting obligation. Exod. 34 : 1. But 
this was not the case with the ceremonial law, which was 
verbally delivered to Moses, and written by him. 

3. It was laid up in the ark of the covenant, among the 
most sacred deposits of the nation, as a sign of its excel- 
lency and perpetuity ; but the ceremonial ordinance was 
placed in a book on the outside of the ark. Exod, 25 : 16 ; 
Heb. 9:4. From this renewal of its sanction to the advent 
of Jesiis Christ, it was sacredly observed as the statute law 
of the Jews through their various changes. 

But because the fourth commandment has not been 
particularly mentioned in the Xew Testament as a moral 
precept, binding upon Christians, some have objected that, 
under this dispensation, there is no law in relation to it. 
Every such objector should weigh the following consider- 
ations : 

1. The Sabbath was given to Adam, the representa- 
tive of all nations, in a state of innocency, before any cere- 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 7 

mony of religion or type of Jesus Christ had ever been in- 
stituted. 

2. As at the estabhshment of the law of ceremonies, one 
day was found distinguished above all the rest for religious 
service ; so the abrogation of these ordinances could not 
annul that which existed before it, and was in nowise con- 
nected with it. 

3. As the law of the Sabbath had never been repealed 
nor limited in its duration, it was altogether unnecessary to 
repeat or enjoin it again, when it had already received the 
most tremendous sanctions from Sinai. Nor was there any 
necessity, in the time of our Saviour, to call up its authority 
or observance ; for every one to whom he addressed himself 
acknowledged its obligation, and observed it with a most 
scrupulous exactness. But Jesus Christ has given us the 
fullest assurance, that the fourth commandment has not 
been abrogated under the Gospel, by giving us his constant 
example in observing that day. " When Jesus came to 
JSFazareth, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on 
the Sabhath-dayy Luke 4:16. From this passage, we 
learn that there was a Sabbath in the time of our Saviour, 
thalf religious assembhes met on that day, and that it was 
his custom, or usual 2)ractice, to meet with them. When 
the Jews charged the disciples with a breach of their su- 
perstitious observance of the Sabbath, had our Saviour de- 
siofned the abrosfation of the fourth commandment, it would 
have been full in point to have stated it at this time ; but 
he did not — ?ie vindicated them on the ground that they had 
not broken it. 

3. Its change. Without entering into the merits of the 
hypothesis which supposes that the true Sabbath of the 
creation was lost in the time of Joshua or Hezekiah, by 
the unusual prolongation of some days, we shall adduce 
arguments more within the observation of general readers. 



8 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

And here it should be remembered, that the keeping of the 
precise seventh day of the week may be considered apart 
from the design of the institution itself, which was, that 
one-seventh jyortion of our time should be dedicated to rest 
and religious purposes. But it may be asked, " Upon what 
authority has the day been changed ?" In reply to this, 
we answer. Upon the same authority by which it was first 
instituted. The Saviour of the world declared himself to 
be " the Lord of the Sabbath ;" having the same authority 
to change it as to institute it. 

After the resurrection, he was forty days with his dis- 
ciples, ''giving them commandments, and speaking of things 
pertaining to the kingdom of God." Acts 1:2, 3. What 
these commandments were, we are not informed in the gos- 
pels ; but is it not reasonable to suppose that this important 
change in the Sabbath was among them, since, from that 
period, the first day of the week was observed by the unani- 
mous practice of all the apostles ? The lawfulness, how- 
ever, of observing the first day of the week for the true 
Sabbath, may be proved, 

1. From the sanction of Jestis Christ. On the first day 
of the week, the Christian Sabbath, he arose, having fiaish- 
ed the work of redemption, and triumphed over death and 
hell. Whether the disciples kept the first day of the week 
in honor of the resurrection, or did it by express command 
given by Christ during the forty days he continued with 
them, it is very evident that he sanctioned their meeting on 
this day, and has himself conferred peculiar honor upon it. 
On the first day of the week he met two of his disciples 
going to Emmaus, and opened their hearts to understand 
the Scriptures ; on the evening of the same day he met the 
eleven, when Thomas was absent, and gave them his bless- 
ing. John 20 : 19. Again, eight days after, being the next 
first day of the week, when the disciples were assembled. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 9 

and Thomas with them, Jesus chose this day again to meet 
with them. Verse 26. Although Christ met frequently 
with his disciples, no mention is made of any other day but 
the first day of the week, and this always in connection 
with the assembling of the disciples for religious purposes. 
Now, it does not appear that this meeting wuth the disciples 
was accidental, but designed ; and having chosen the first 
above the rest, and mentioned it by name, our Saviour has 
authorized the observance of it by his own example and 
practice, which ought, with us, to have the force of law. 

2. From the transfer of the peculiar blessings of the 
seventh to the first day of the iveeTc. On this day Christ not 
only manifested himself to his disciples, and opened their 
hearts to understand the Scriptures, but breathed on them, 
that they should receive the Holy Ghost. John 20 : 19-23. 
The ancient promise of the Holy Spirit, which kings and 
prophets desired to see, was fulfilled on the first day of the 
week. " When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they 
were all with one accord in one place ; and were filled with 
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with tongues." In 
Greek, PenteTconta signifies fifty ; and Pentekoste was a 
feast of the Jews, held in commemoration of the giving of 
the law, and always came fifty days after the passover, 
which this year fell on the Jewish Sabbath ; consequently, 
the feast of pentecost came on the first day of the week, 
the day of our Lord's resurrection, and the stated day for 
public worship among the disciples. Until this extraordi- 
nary effusion of the Holy Spirit, the Christian never fully 
superseded the Jewish dispensation. How remarkably, then, 
did God confirm the keeping of this day, by abolishing on 
it the latter dispensation, ushering in the former, and fitting- 
Ms disciples for the work of planting his church, and con- 
verting the world. The descent of this extraordinary bless- 
ing on the first day of the week, may be regarded as a 
VOL. V, 35* 



10 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

solemn approbation of the Christian Sabbath, and a seal to 
its institution from heaven. 

3. From the 'practice of the divinely inspired apostles 
and founders of the church. Nothing is more evident from 
the Acts of the Apostles, and the early history of the church, 
than that our Lord's first disciples, and their immediate fol- 
lowers, met for religious worship uniformly on " the first 
day of the week, which afterwards was called the Lord's 
day.'" Rev. 1 : 10. When Paul visited Troas, he waited 
some days, until the brethren should come together on the 
first day of the week, that he might preach to them, and 
administer the Lord's supper. ''And upon the, first day of 
the iveel', when the disciples came together to break bread, 
Paul preached unto them." Acts 20 : 7. Again, Paul 
recommends that the collection for the poor should be 
taken up on that day. " Now, concerning the collection 
for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of 
Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week 
let every one of you lay by him in store." 1 Cor. 16 : 2. 
Now, why on the first day of the week, and not on the 
seventh, or any other day? 1. Because this was the stated 
day for their public meeting, on which their charity could 
be presented with greater convenience. 2. Because it was 
now fully in place of the Jewish Sabbath, on which day, it 
is well known, they made collections in all their synagogues 
for the poor. 

It is unnecessary, however, to multiply proof. The 
whole current of ecclesiastical history shows that it has 
been the constant and uninterrupted practice of the church 
throughout the world, since the days of the apostles, to 
observe the first day of the week as the true Sabbath. The 
ancient fathers celebrated this day, and made the observ- 
ance of it a badge of their religion, as appears from the 
writings of Justin Martyr, Tertulhan, and Origen. Ignatius, 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. H 

■w'lio wrote in the first century, says, in his epistle on the 
Lord's day, " Omnis Christi amator Dominicura celebrat 
diem, reginam et principem ;" every lover of Christ cele- 
brates the Lord's day as the most excellent and chief of all 
days. 

We will close the consideration of this part of our sub- 
ject, by answering some of the most common objections to 
the moral obligations of the Sabbath. It may be asked, 
" Does not the apostle remove all distinctions between days, 
and intimate that the Sabbath is done aw^ay, in Romans 
14:5? * One man esteemeth one day above another ; an- 
other esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully 
persuaded in his own mind.' And again, in Colossians 
2 : 16 : 'Let no man judge you in meat and drink, or in 
respect of a holy-day, or of the new-moon, or of the sab- 
bath-days.' " 

In these verses there is evidently an allusion to a Jewish 
distinction betw^een clpan and unclean meats, and the ob- 
servance of certain days or festivals, such as the passover, 
pentecost, feast of tabernacles, and sabbatical weeks and 
years ; but no allusion whatever is made to the weekly 
Sabbath : it was not at all the subject of doubt or contro- 
versy at this time. The plain state of the case is this : 
There, was a dispute between the Jewish and Gentile con- 
verts, in relation to the observance of the above-mentioned 
festivals ; the former, holding these days sacred, judged 
them of moral obligation, and wished the converts from 
heathenism to keep them ; while the latter, having never 
been taught their importance, did not regard them, but 
rather despised the others for doing so. In the passage 
from Romans, the apostle enjoins mutual forbearance in 
things which were indifferent : if the Jewish convert still 
** regarded" the festival sincerely to the Lord, he was ac- 
cepted ; and if the Gentile " regarded it not, esteeming 



12 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

every day " of the six equally important, he did not sin. 
And in the quotation from Colossians, the apostle warns 
them against Judaizing teachers, who required them to ob- 
serve days, meats, and sabbaths ; that is, the above festi- 
vals, certain meats, and those weekly feasts which lasted 
seven days successively, held after the ingathering of corn. 
Deut. 16 : 11-15. Thus, by attending to the scope of the 
apostle's argument, all is plain, and every one must see that 
there is no reference to the weekly Sabbath. 

Again, it may be said, that " the Sabbath is not men- 
tioned in the decrees of the apostles. Acts 15, as obligatory 
upon Christians." Simply for this reason : it was not 
among those subjects of controversy which called for the 
consideration of the apostles at Jerusalem. 

But it may be further objected, ''that there is no ex- 
press command in the New Testament for keeping the Sab- 
bath." Because there was no necessity that a precept, so 
universally acknowledged, should be repeated : none, at this 
time, doubted its obligation; every Christian felt himself 
bound to keep the fourth commandment. And as to the 
particular day, the example of Christ, the sanction of the 
-Holy Spirit, and the practice of the apostles, who delivered 
nothing but what they received, 1 Cor. 11 : 23, were suffi- 
cient to sanction all the followers of Christ in the observ- 
ance of this day. 

Having proved the divine institution of the Sabbath, as 
well as the moral and perpetual obligation to keep it, we 
shall now show, 

II. The MANNER IN WHICH IT SHOULD BE OBSERVED. 

This is expressed in the command to ''keep it holy," which 
implies, 1. The total cessation from ordinary business. 2. 
The observance of religious duties. 

1. The extent of this holy rest is learned from the com- 



OBSERVAxN'CE OF THE SABBATH. 13 

mandment itself. " Six days shalt thou labor, and do all 
thy work ; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy 
God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, 
nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, 
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." 
Exod. 20 : 9, 10. This prohibition is very extensive ; but as 
the Sabbath was made for man, not to be a burden to him, 
but a blessing, the following works do not appear to fall 
under its restrictions : 

1. Works of j)iety. Such as the bodily labor necessary 
to the performance of religious worship ; as, under the 
Mosaic dispensation, the killing, washing, and preparing 
beasts for sacrifice, the calling of assemblies, and making 
short journies to wait on the Lord ; and, under the Gospel, 
the labor of preaching, prayer, walking to church, and so 
much of the service of our beasts as to take us to public 
w^orship, when, on account of the distance, or bodily indis- 
position, we could not otherwise attend. Also the attend- 
ance on Sabbath-schools, to give or receive so much instruc- 
tion as will enable the rising generation to read the holy 
Scriptures. 

2. Works of mercy and charity. Visiting the poor and 
sick, and carrying them food, clothing, or medicine. Water- 
ing and feeding cattle, and giving relief to man or beast in 
distress. 

3. Of necessity. Such as could not have been previous- 
ly provided for, and could not have been delayed: the 
preparing of necessary food, quenching fire, etc. 

The various ways in which this day may be inofanedy 
can be seen by a reference to Isaiah : " If thou turn away 
thy foot from the Sabbath — ^not doing thine own ways, nor 
finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, 
then thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord." 58 : 13, 14. 
From this passage, we learn that the Sabbath may be broken, 



14 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH, 

1. By doing our oion ways. By following our own 
labor, business, or any part of our daily avocation. " Six 
days slialt thou labor and do all thy work" — the Sabbath 
the Lord claims as his. Our oivn luays : such as buying or 
selling ; opening shops to sell fruit, beer, cakes, ardent 
spirits, or other merchandise, as is often profanely and im- 
piously practised in villages and large cities. This precept 
also condemns the custom of exposing fish in markets on 
the morning of the Lord's day. Cannot our citizens subsist 
one day out of seven, without feasting on newly- caught 
fish? The plea that they will spoil, is futile; fishermen 
ought, with others, to remember this day, and enjoy its 
blessings ; they should not take their fish so near this well- 
known season of rest. Read Nehemiah 13 : 16. 

Also the runnino- of mills, stao-es, steamboats, travellinof 
on business, and sailing vessels in rivers; and preparing 
meat, bread, and veo-etables, on the afternoon of the Sab- 
bath, for an early market on the next day. 

This commandment may be broken by proxy ; suffering 
children, servants, or those in our employment, to do busi- 
ness for us : also in our property ; by letting out horses, 
carriages, boats, or, in a word, permitting any of our effects 
under our control to be used on this day. 

2. By finding our own pleasure ; our own amusements 
and recreations ; hunting, fishing, rambling, playing at ball, 
visiting, or lounging about taverns and grogshops, those 
fruitful nurseries of every vice. What a fearful account 
Avill this miserable class of offenders have to give, as well 
as those mercenary creatures who open their houses to en- 
tertain them in their rebellion against God ! But there is 
another, a more genteel class of Sabbath-breakers, who, 
perhaps, would be ashamed to be found among either of 
these classes : such as allow themselves in visiting their 
friends, riding to take the air, recreating their health and 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 15 

Spirits by rambles into the country, jaunting for pleasure 
by stage, steamboat, or otherwise, giving or receiving in- 
vitations to dinners, and similar pastimes, on the Lord's 
day. 

But the common excuse is, '' They are so confined to 
labor and business, that they have no time for them on any 
other day ; and must they be deprived of them ?" Proper 
application to business, and a right distribution of time, 
would afford every one some time to recreate his body and 
relieve his mind, without breaking the Sabbath. Again, if 
they are so closely confined on the week, do they not re- 
quire their time on this day to learn the will of God, and 
seek his favor ? If the soul is worth more than the body, 
has it not the first demand on their time and attention ? 
But who ever served God for naught, or observed the Sab- 
bath to his injury ? 

3. By S2)eaking our own loords. Under this prohibition 
are included worldly conversation and study, in relation to 
business, pleasure, or secular intelligence ; such as convers- 
ing about our property or earthly prospects, striking bar- 
gains, or planning the transactions of the future week ; the 
reading of books or papers, for political or commercial in- 
formation ; writing letters on business, composing mere lit- 
erary works, or pursuing the usual course of secular study. 
It is said that a man's country may be known by his speech ; 
so, w4ien a person is heard conversing about worldly affairs 
on the Lord's day, it is quite a sure sign that he is from 
beneath ; that his earthly and grovelling soul does not be- 
long to the sublimer regions of spirituality and heaven. 

II. The dedication of the day to religious duties. Al- 
though the Sabbath is a day of rest, yet it is not to be 
spent in sleep and idleness. If we are released from the 
labor and concern of the week, it is only that we may en- 
gage in the acquisition of more substantial riches. That the 



16 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

performance of religious duties is necessary to the proper 
sanctification of the day, may be proved from the usage of 
the Jews, Lev. 23 : 2, 3 ; the conduct of our Saviour, 
Luke 4:16; and the practice of the apostles. Acts 20 : 7 ; 
1 Cor. 16:2. These duties may be divided into ]yuhUc, 
domestic, and i^rivate. 

1. The Sabbath being the Lord's day, on it he should 
be imhlichj worsliipind. Every one should join the assem- 
bly of his people in the great congregation, to hear his 
word, sing his praise, and offer up their petitions. If it is 
the duty of the ministers to preach, it is equally that of the 
people to hear : the duty of the one, and the obligation of 
the other, are reciprocal and equally obligatory. Nor is it 
a small thing, to neglect the public worship of God on this 
day ; it is for " your life." Deut. 32 : 47. Whatever many 
may think of the public preaching of the word, it is the great 
means which God has appointed for the conversion of the 
soul. Rom. 10 : 14-17. " How shall they call on him in 
whom they have not believed ? and how shall they believe 
in him of whom they have not heard ? And how shall they 
hear without a preacher?" In this passage, the hearing 
of the Gospel preached, which is the power of God unto 
salvation, is evidently accounted as the means of believing. 
Rom. 1:16. 

How many affect to be wise above what is written, 
endeavoring to persuade themselves and others, that they 
can as well serve God and seek his blessing on his own day, 
by abiding at home, reading his word or good books, as by 
waiting upon him in the great congregation. The one is 
God's instituted means, which he has promised to honor and 
bless ; the other is not. " By the foolishness of preaching, 
it pleaseth God to save them that believe." 1 Cor. 1 : 21. 
The attendance on public worship on the Sabbath is the 
bounden duty of all : '' Forget not the assembling of your- 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 17 

selves together''' Should the preaching of the word be dis- 
tant, let those who fear the Lord, though their number be 
but two or three, come together for mutual prayer. They 
cannot expect a blessing at liome ; for it is neglect of duty 
to remain in their own dwelling, if health and circumstances 
allow them to come together. 

2. The proper sanctification of the Sabbath includes 
also domestic duties ; such as family prayer, instruction of 
children, and a regard to the observance of the day by all 
within our gates. Family prayer is not mentioned as pecu- 
liar to the Sabbath, but as belonging to every day ; larger 
portions of the Scriptures, however, may be read, and more 
particular explanations given, on this day, than ordinary 
attention to business Avill allow on any other. That the 
omission of the above duties is a violation of the fourth com- 
mandment, is evident from the consideration, that "all 
within our gates must keep it holy," and that it cannot be 
so observed, unless God be socially worshipped within our 
gates. 

Children, who by nature are ignorant of their Maker, 
and inclined to sin, must be instructed in his will. For the 
discharge of this important duty, God has appropriated a 
part of his day, that every parent and guardian may have 
time to instruct them in the principles of religion, and to 
train them up in the performance of its duties. The rela- 
tion of the parent to the Creator, requires the discharge of 
this obligation : as the daughter of Pharaoh said to the 
mother of Moses, "Take this child and nurse him for me," 
so the Lord commits the souls of the children to the parents. 
They have been the cause of their existence, and also of 
imparting to them their original impurity ; the Gospel points 
out their only remedy, and the parents are criminal, if they 
_^withhold it from their offspring. 

Instruction of children may be considered a peculiar 
VOL. V. 36 



1 3 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

duty of the Sabbath, because thousands have not time to 
attend to it on any other day. This duty may be performed 
by putting into their hands some small compendium of 
Christian doctrine, such as is generally comprised in cate- 
chisms, hearing them recite small portions out of them every 
Sabbath, explaining familiarly their application to their con- 
duct, and taking them regularly to the church of God. The 
minds of children require food, as well as their bodies. 
For this intellectual nurture, the Christian press is teeming 
with publications, which, for their simplicity and perspicuity, 
are admirably adapted to impress upon the youthful mind 
the all-important doctrines of Christianity. Nor should 
parents ever think money misapplied, which u expended for 
these publications. 

In the southern and south-western states, there are thou- 
sands who possess slaves and their children, who are both 
ignorant and wicked. The master is careful to teach them 
how to work, and see that they do their work faithfully — 
should he not take some care to instruct them in the will 
and service of God ? They make a part of his household, 
they stand "within his gates," and he daily receives the 
labor of their hands. Standing in this relation to them, an 
imperious and awfully responsible duty devolves upon him, 
from which he cannot exonerate himself while he holds 
them. Do not say with Cain, " Am I my brother's keeper ?" 
By misfortune or choice you are become so literally, and 
you are so too in spiritual matters ; so that if those within 
your gates, through your neglect, perish in their sin and 
ignorance, their blood will be required at 3'our hands. 

In the performance of these duties, both to servants and 
children, many and great difficulties may present them- 
selves ; but let all those who wish to save their own souls, 
be careful that none grow up in their family ignorant of 
God and their duty, and that they permit none of their 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 19 

household to profane his day by work, amusements, idle- 
ness, or neglect of religious duties. For the discharge of 
this very difficult and imperious obligation, there Avill be 
great need of much grace and wisdom. Let none expect to 
perform it without supernatural help, and let this consider- 
ation lead them continually to God. 

3. Having dwelt so long on the importance of domestic 
duties, a few observations must suffice on those of a j^rivate 
nature. These may be comprehended in prayer, medita- 
tion, self-examination, and the reading of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. Without a proper attention to these, none can duly 
discharge their other obligations ; and as the Sabbath is a 
day of blessing, it affords time to enter more fully on all 
these duties ; but spend not the morning in sleep, and begin 
the day early with your Bible and prayer. 

Finally, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." 
Remember it, for the Lord has honored it with his name, 
and consecrated it to his service ; therefore do not profane 
it, by doing your own ways, finding your own pleasure, or 
speaking your own words. Remember it — it is a type of 
heaven — of the rest that remains for the people of God — 
the absence of every evil — the presence of all good. 

The Sabbath is the most salutary institution, designed 
to give rest to the body, and afford instruction to the mind. 
Continual labor would degrade the soul, blunt its sensibil- 
ity, and render it averse to the nobler acts of thought and 
reflection. If these stated intervals of rest were abolished, 
vice would predominate, religion cease, and man forget his 
origin and end. As a political institution, it is one of the 
best ever given; its influence on the moral and political 
state of society is so beneficial, that he who, by precept or 
example, would loosen its obligation, must either be want- 
ing in reflection, or in love to mankind and his country. 
Therefore remember it. But 0, above all, remember it. 



20 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

because God commands you to do it ; he commands you 
out of the thick cloud and darkness, attended with terror 
and majesty. He has written it on tables of stone, with his 
own almighty finger, and proclaimed it with his loud, long- 
sounding voice, that you may never, never forget it. Re- 
member it, because of the awful judgments inflicted on 
those individuals and nations who have violated it ; on his 
ancient people, who were driven seventy years into captiv- 
ity, because they gave not the land its rest; on infidel 
France, Avhich, a few years ago, mocked at the Sabbath, 
cast it into oblivion, and divided her year into decades, 
weeks of ten days, that the Sabbath might be blotted out. 
And O, remember the awful visitation of God for this pro- 
fanation ; how he thinned her families, wasted her treasures, 
and drenched her cities with blood ! Or think of what has 
come immediately within your own observation : the carriage 
accident — the boat disaster — and the faithless gun ; or of 
the gay party who went forth on the Lord's day to find 
their own pleasure, but who never returned ; or, if they 
returned, were perhaps mangled corpses, monuments of 
Divine displeasure ; of the many thousands who have expi- 
ated their crimes in banishment, in the prison, or on the 
gallows, who dated their first wanderings from the path of 
rectitude to the profaning of this day. O remember these, 
and a nameless list of similar judgments, and ever reverence 
God's holy day. 



Wo. 178. 

JOY m HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 



"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God," 
said our blessed Saviour, " over one sinner that repenteth." 
No person can hear this declaration, and heartily believe it, 
without feeling that the repentance of a sinner is an event 
of great importance. Angels do not rejoice without good 
reason ; nor without seeing the subject of their joy con- 
nected with momentous results to the kingdom of Jehovah. 
The fact that they rejoice over one that repenteth, and that 
this is revealed by the Son of God to our world, is perfect 
demonstration that it is an event of amazing importance. 

Even men, if wise, and acquainted with the subject, do 
not rejoice without good reason. Should an event occasion 
joy to the inhabitants only of a single city ; should you go 
through every street, and lane, and avenue, enter every 
house, and find every family rejoicing with exceeding great 
joy, you could not avoid the conviction, that something had 
occurred of great importance. They publish it. And joy 
spreads from city to city ; from country to country ; till 
every kingdom, and town, and family, and soul on the globe, 
partake in it ; there is joy wherever there is a heart to feel, 
or a tongue to utter it, and the whole earth breaks forth in 
one universal acclamation; and you cannot but feel that 
something has occurred of amazing importance. It seems 
to you that its importance transcends human conception. 

And as you stand and wonder, another event takes place. 
No visible messenger publishes it ; but heralds unseen carry 
the tidings upwards, and a flame kindles on the heavenly 
plains ; it spreads through the spirits of just men made per- 
fect, through the ranks of angels, of cherubim and seraphim, 
till multitudes that no man can number, in celestial strains, 
and with immortal tongues, pour forth their hallelujahs, and 
drown the expression of every earthly joy ; and you cannot 
but feel, with unutterable intensity, that the cause of their 

VOL. V. 36* 



2 JOY IX HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 

joy is inconceivably momentous. It must be graven in- 
delibly, and must tell on the annals of the universe for ever. 
And what is the cause of their joy? The repentance of a 
sinner. Yes, let it be told, for the Son of God has publish- 
ed it, let it reach every ear in creation, and touch every 
heart in the universe. There is joy in the presence of all 
the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. And 
this, too, not merely when that sinner is rich, and learned, 
and moral, and respectable, and useful among men ; but 
when he is poor, and ignorant, and immoral, and debased ; 
whose look is pollution, and whose influence is death. Let 
such a sinner repent, and angels rejoice even over him. 

Why then did they not rejoice over Judas ? He re- 
pentedy and went away, and hanged himself; and went to 
his own place. Angels had no joy over him. And it would 
have been better for Judas, if he never had been born. 
Ah, his repentance was not of the right kind. It had in it 
no holiness ; no hatred of sin ; no love to God. It was only 
conscious guilt, and fear of punishment. Sorrow he had ; 
but it was that of the world, which worketh death. Other 
sinners, in other generations, have repented like Judas ; and 
like him, have gone to their own place. Angels had no joy 
over them ; and it would have been better for them, if they 
never had been born. 

The repentance in which angels delight, is a turning from 
all known sin, Avith the sorrow of one who loves God, in view 
of his own rebellion against him. The person who thus re- 
pents, forsakes his sins, because they are offensive to God 
and ruinous to men. He engages heartily in the discharge 
of all known duty, for the purpose of glorifying God, and 
doing good. Let a sinner exercise this repentance, and 
angels will rejoice with exceeding great joy, though he be 
the most obscure individual that ever lived ; or, if you will, 
the most debased and the most abominable. 

In view of this truth, made known by the God of heav- 
en to our world, an important question arises, namely. Why 
is there joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one 
sinner that repenteth ? 



JOY IN HE A VEX OVER THE PENITENT. 3 

I will endeavor, in a plain and scriptural manner, to 
answer this question. In doing this, I observe, that angels 
may rejoice over him, because his repentance shows that he 
is born of God ; because he Avill be delivered from the 
second death ; because God will be his eternal portion ; 
and because his influence on the kingdom of Jehovah will 
be for ever changed. 

1. His repentance shows that he is horn of God. A 
change, called in the Bible being born of God, he has de- 
clared to be essential to the kingdom of heaven. Before, 
this sinner had never experienced it. He was born only of 
the flesh. His very mind was carnal, and enmity against 
God. He was an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, 
a stranger to the covenant of promise, without hope, and 
without God in the world. Thoua^h Jesus had entered the 
holy place with his blood, having obtained eternal redemp- 
tion ; and though whosoever Avould, might come unto him 
and have life, he would not come. He hated light, and 
loved darkness, because his deeds were evil. And he was 
preparing to plunge into blackness of darkness for ever. 
Angels knew, that, notwithstanding all that Christ had done 
to open the gate of heaven, or ever would do, he must be 
born again, or he could never enter there. Into that place 
entereth nothing that defileth. He was defiled ; and, with- 
out a renovation by the Spirit of God, must depart accursed 
into that fire, from which the smoke of his torment w^ould 
ascend up for ever and ever. Angels knew^ this. And they 
knew that he must experience a change in this life ; for in 
the grave there is no work, and after death no redemption. 
He that is holy, must be holy still ; and he that is filthy, be 
filthy still. They were therefore as anxious to see him born 
of God, as to have him an inhabitant of heaven ; and to see 
him born of God soon ; for the wicked, they knew, do not 
live out half their days. 

And when the voice of infinite kindness said, Go ye out 
into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring hither the 
poor, and the halt, and the maimed, and the blind ; compel 
them to come in, that my house may be filled ; for all things 



4 JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 

are ready : when the Spirit and the bride said, Come ; and 
he that heard said, Come ; not an angel dissented ; but. 
Come, Come, echoed through tlie courts of heaven. And 
when, tlirough marvellous grace, this sinner did come, 
weary and heavy laden, loathing his transgressions, and 
casting himself, guilty and ruined, at the feet of his Lord, 
with that godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto 
salvation, they knew that he was born of God, and had 
passed from death unto life. A burst of glory broke through 
heaven as they sung, He was dead, and is alive again ; he 
was lost, and is found. Nor are they mistaken. He is now 
meek and lowly, he is humble and contrite in heart. He 
walks softly before God, and trembles at his word. And 
the Most Hio'h, thouo^h the heavens and the heaven of 
heavens cannot contain him, comes down and dwells with 
the lowly, and takes up his abode with the contrite in heart. 
He forsakes every evil and false way, cleaves with full pur- 
pose of heart unto the Lord, and delights in keeping his 
commandments. He has experienced a resurrection with 
Christ, and he manifests it by seeking those things that are 
above, where Christ is ; and living not unto himself, but 
unto him that died for him and rose again. He begins 
already to shine in the glory of the divine image, and angels 
are not ashamed to own him. Though he was a child of 
the devil, he has become, through boundless grace, a child 
of the Lord Almighty. 

2. He will be delivered from the second death. What 
the second death is, none but God fully knows. About it 
we know nothing, except what we see and feel of the effects 
of sin, and what God has told us. Finite minds, in the 
course of finite duration, can know comparatively little about 
the second death. Yet we know enough, if we believe God, 
to make us feel, and that deeply, that it is something over- 
whelmingly dreadful. It is, he tells us, everlasting de- 
struction from the presence of the Lord : going away into 
devouring fire ; into everlasting burnings, where is weeping, 
and wailing, and gnashing of teeth ; where the worm dieth 
not, and the fire is not quenched. And who can dwell with 



JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 5 

devouring fire ; who can inherit everlasting burnings ? The 
bare prospect of it has made the hardened sinner, in this 
life, curse his existence, and cry out in agony, " Oh, the 
insuflferable pangs of hell and damnation. Could I, by 
lying a thousand years in that flame, escape ! But ah, mill- 
ions of milhons of years will bring me no nearer the end 
of my torment than one poor hour. Oh eternity ! eternity ! 
who can fathom the abyss of eternity, or paraphrase the 
words for ever and ever?" 

To this amazing suffering, that poor sinner, before he 
repented, Avas every moment exposed. His Avays were 
ways of death ; his steps took hold on hell. He walked, 
wherever he went, over the bottomless pit; and nothing 
but the brittle thread of life, which angels knew might be 
sundered in a moment, kept him from endless perdition. 
He hunof as on a sino-le thread, while the flames were flash- 
ing all around him. But, glory to God in the highest, he 
is snatched as a brand from the burning ; and saved, through 
grace, by repentance and faith, from the second death. All 
the misery that he Avould have endured, amounting, in the 
course of endless being, to more than all that has ever yet 
been endured by all creatures from the creation, is struck 
out of existence ; or rather is prevented from ever coming- 
in. No wonder there is joy in the presence of the angels. 
God himself rejoices. All holy beings rejoice, and will 
rejoice for ever ; for he is saved from the second death. 

3. Jehovah ivill he his eternal 'portion. Such is the na- 
ture of the human soul, that, to be happy, it must have a 
portion : something without itself to which it can look, and 
on which it can safely depend for enjoyment. This portion 
must be adapted to the nature of the soul, be able to satisfy 
its desires, and be lasting as its existence. Of course, it 
must be spiritual, boundless, and eternal. It cannot, there- 
fore, be found in creatures. Brutes may have a kind of 
happiness suited to their nature, from the gifts of God. 
But souls must have, for their portion, the Giver^ Gifts, 
simply, only increase their desires. They never satisfy 
them. As well may you satisfy fire by increasing fuel, as 



6 JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 

satisfy souls by increasing gifts, without the enjoyment of 
the Giver. Give what he can, without him they are poor. 
And their poverty will increase, till it be absolute and eter- 
nal. This God knows. And to the penitent soul he saith, 
I am tliy God. If father or mother forsake thee, the Lord 
will take thee up. Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he 
will sustain thee. All things shall work together for thy 
good ; and thou shalt not want any good thing. He will 
guide thee b}^ his counsel, and afterwards receive thee to 
glory. He will be thy shield, and thine exceeding great 
reward. What it is to have God for a portion, especially 
an eternal portion, none but God fully knows. It is a glory 
which eye hath not seen, which ear hath not heard, and of 
which no finite mind can fully conceive. 

Worldly men, w^ho seek their happiness in creatures, 
and have their good things in this life, know nothing of it. 
They have no conception of the blessedness of enjoying God, 
and having him for an eternal portion. They therefore see 
no cause of joy, and do not manifest it, when he becomes 
the portion of others. Should the sinner who repents 
receive a kingdom, or an empire, with all their riches and 
glory, and have the assurance of possessing them through 
life, they would think his portion immense. But should he 
receive every kingdom and empire on the globe, with all 
their riches and glory, and with the certainty of possessing 
them to the last moment of life, his portion would be as 
much less than it is now, as the thing made is less than 
God Avho made it. His portion is Jehovah. Before him 
kingdoms and empires are nothing. He taketh the ocean in 
the hollow of his hand, meteth out the heavens with a span, 
comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure, weigh- 
eth the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. All 
nations, before him, are as a drop of the bucket, and their 
glory as the dust of the balance. He taketh them up as a 
very little thing, and counteth them less than nothing, and 
vanity. 

I saw a great Avhite throne, and him that sat upon it, 
from whose face the heavens and the earth fled away. He 



JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 7 

is the penitent sinner's portion — his everlasting portion. 
Though the heavens be wrapped together, and pass away 
with a great noise, the elements melt with fervent heat, the 
earth, also, and all that is in it, be burnt up, Jehovah lives ; 
his portion is secure. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 
separate him from the love of God. He shall dwell in his 
presence, shine in the beauty of his image, and reflect the 
lustre of his glory, with greater and greater brightness, 
throughout the universe, for ever. the mighty contrast 
with what he would have been, had he not repented. Cast 
into hell, a brand in devouring fire, to show, by the intensi- 
ty and eternity of his anguish, the greatness of the guilt 
of rebelling against God. Now, he is a trophy of grace, to 
shine as the sun in his strength, and to grow brighter and 
brighter, in beauty and holiness, to everlasting ages. 

4. His infiuence on the_ kingdom of Jehovali will he for 
ever changed. No moral being can exist, and act under the 
government of God, without exerting a moral influence. 
This influence will be of the same kind Avith his character, 
and will have an eff"ect in forming and fixing the character 
of other moral beings. And it seems to be a characteristic 
of moral influence, after it is begun, to continue, and, in 
its consequences, to grow greater and greater. Hence, an 
amazing responsibility attaches to the holding of a moral 
existence. A person must exert an influence, let his or her 
character and condition be what it may ; and an influence 
that will be felt, after earth is dissolved ; and will tell on 
the eternal destinies of men. 

Even a single person, born in obscurity, brought up in 
retirement, and spending his days in private life, exerts an 
influence that may operate on thousands, ages after he is 
dead. The eff'ects of this influence will occupy the distinct 
attention of God, angels, and men, at the day of judgment ; 
and be told by ten thousand thousand, in strains of higher 
and higher glory, or in tones of deeper and deeper anguish. 
Then shall the universe beoin to see what God means, when 



8 JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 

he says, One sinner destroyeth much good. This is the case 
even with a single person, especially if he is openly vicious, 
and continues impenitent to the end of life. He is desti- 
tute of moral principle ; and for the gratifications of sin 
would sacrifice the glory of God, and all the happiness of 
his kingdom. The good which he actually destroys by his 
wickedness, none but God can fully understand. This 
would be true, did he destroy simply his own soul. But 
he may destroy multitudes of others. Nor will their de- 
struction be the only evil ; but they may be the means of 
corrupting and destroying others ; and they of destroying 
others ; and the evil extend and extend. And were the 
consequences to stop within the limits of time, it would be 
comparatively small. But they extend into eternity ; and 
onward, as the poor lost souls gnaw their tongues for pain, 
and curse their God and King, and look upward. 

But when one of these sinners repents, his influence on 
the world is changed. Xo longer will he be the means of 
leading other sinners to destruction, but will now be the 
means of preparing them for glory. Deeply has he felt 
the bitterness of sin, and most heartily does he loathe it. 
Something has he seen of the beauty of holiness, and some- 
thing has he felt of his obligations to the riches of distin- 
guishing grace. Is he a child ? he speaks to his compan- 
ions of the worth of the soul, the preciousness of Jesus 
Christ, and the blessedness of serving him. Is he a youth 
just ripening into manhood? he remembers his Creator, 
lays up his treasure in heaven, sets a holy example, and 
lives in earnest for God. This may be the means of the 
salvation of his associates. Is lie a parent? he views- his 
children as bound to the judgment, and to the eternity 
which is to follow. He feels that to them one thing is 
needful. He trains them up in the way that they should 
go ; in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And he 
seeks for them first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
ness, that they may not want any good thing. In all the 
various relations of life, he labors, by precept and example, 
to promote the salvation of men. 



JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 9 

Nor is the influence of a sinner, who has repented, con- 
fined to those with whom he is connected, to whom he mav 
have personal access, and through them to those that come 
after them. But he may exert an influence, kind, and all- 
pervading as the dew of heaven, upon multitudes of others. 
No sooner has he repented, than he becomes a person of 
l^raijer. He has an interest at the throne of grace, and an 
effectual Intercessor there. Ask, saith God, and it shall 
be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall 
be opened unto you. Would any of you, being a father, 
should a famishing child ask bread, give him a stone ; or 
should he ask a fish, would you give him a serpent ? If 
ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts imto your 
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give 
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ? And it is especially 
for the Holy Spirit that such a sinner prays. He has ex- 
perienced of the exceeding greatness of his power, accord- 
ing to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought 
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. And it is his 
heart's desire and prayer to God daily, that others may re- 
ceive the same infinite blessing. For this his intercessions 
ascend without ceasing, and are presented by Him who 
stands at the golden altar, to off'er with much incense the 
prayers of the saints. And how many blessings will, in 
answer, descend upon the world, no mortal can determine. 
But this we know, his prayers of faith will be answered. 
And they will be answered abundantly, not only while he 
lives, but after he is dead, and onward through all future 
ages, so long as there is a single petition which, on earth, 
he offered in faith unto God, that has not been followed 
with its appropriate blessings. Open your mouths wide, 
saith God, and I will fill them. And he will manifest his 
faithfulness. No sooner, in answer to the prayers of one 
sinner who has repented, is another sinner born of God, than 
that sinner begins to be the means of saving other sinners, 
and they of saving others. And the influence, starting from 
a single individual, may be carried forward, increasing as it 
goes, and extendinp- in its consequences to all eternity. Go, 
VOL. V. 37 



10 JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 

then, with that one individual who is born of God, who 
will be saved himself from the second death, and to whom 
Jehovah will be an eternal portion ; witness him, after 
twenty years' active service for God, and daily prayer for 
the salvation of souls, as he lies on the bed of death. Hear 
him, as he says to his heavenly Father, Though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; 
thy rod, and thy staff, they shall comfort me ; and begins 
to sing, death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy 
victory ? I shall behold thy face in righteousness, and shall 
be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. Go with him to 
the bar of God, and see the heavenly joy depicted on his 
countenance as he meets the smile of divine approbation, 
and enter with him, and all whose salvation has in any way 
been connected with his, upon celestial joys ; and, in the 
light of eternal ages, witness the consequences, in their va- 
rious bearinors and results, to the kino^dom of Jehovah ; and 
you will not wonder that there is joy in the presence of the 
angels of God over him that repenteth. He is prepared to 
be the means of increasing the number of their companions, 
and addinaf multitudes to the multitude that no man can 
number, w^io shout unto their God and ours, harmonious 
songs of salvation. 

And as the groans of never-dying anguish break on 
your ear, and the smoke of ever-rising torment meets your 
eye, and you see w4iat he would have been, and would 
have done, had he not repented ; and hear him now, min- 
gling sweetly with ten thousand thousand in loud hallelujahs 
to the Lamb that w^as slain, your heart will be full. And 
if you have a spark of their spirit, you will break forth in 
accents of glory to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. 

1. If there is joy in the presence of the angels of God 
over one sinner that repenteth, then that kind of preach- 
ino- whioli is best adapted to convince men of sin, and bring 
them to repentance, is the preaching which angels approve. 
While that kind of preaching which is not adapted to con- 



JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 1 1 

vince men of sin, and lead them to repentance, however 
popular it may be in any place on earth, gives no joy to 
heaven. 

2. If angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, then 
to be the means of bringing one sinner to repentance is a 
high and peculiar honor. It saves a soul from death. It 
hides a multitude of sins ; and fills with new joy the court 
of heaven. 

3. If angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, then 
those persons who labor to bring sinners to repentance, and 
who rejoice over them when they do repent, show that they 
are, in temper, like angels ; and are preparing to be ever- 
lasting partakers of their joy. While those persons who 
do not labor to bring sinners to repentanee, and who do not 
rejoice over them when they repent, show that they are 
like, not angels, but beings of an opposite spirit ; and that 
without a great change they can never see the kingdom of 
God. 

4. If angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, they 
are pleased with revivals of true religion, when sinners are 
awakened, and anxiously inquire. What shall we do to be 
saved ? when they forsake their sins, and turn with full 
purpose of heart unto the Lord. Men are sometimes dis- 
pleased with such revivals of religion. But angels rejoice 
in them with exceeding great joy. 

5. If angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, they 
are pleased with the translation of the Scriptures, and the 
spread of the Gospel among the heathen; because these 
are the means which God has appointed to bring sinners to 
repentance, and thus prepare them for the everlasting joys 
of heaven. May the time soon come, when the Bible shall 
be translated into every tongue, the Gospel be preached to 
every creature, and the whole earth filled with the glory of 
God, as the waters fill the seas. 



12 JOY IN HEAVEN OVER THE PENITENT. 

6. If angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, then 
the case of every sinner who has not repented is exceed- 
ingly dreadful. Except he repent, he must perish. 

Reader, hast thou repented ? Examine thy heart and 
thy life. Hast thou repented ? If thou hast not, thou 
must do it quickly, or for ever perish. And canst thou 
dwell with devouring fire, canst thou inherit everlasting 
burnings ? Thy heart cannot endure, thy hands cannot be 
strong. Pain is hard to be borne even here, for a single 
year, and, if intense, for a single day ; what, then, w^ill it 
be to bear eternal pain ? There is something dreadful in 
dying only the death of the body, for half an hour. That 
dismal groan which is heard from a death-bed, tells of some- 
thing that none but dying persons know. What must it be 
to die the death of the soul, and to continue to die for ever 
and for ever ? To this death, if thou hast not repented, 
thou art every moment exposed. Nothing but the brittle 
thread of life keeps thee from the world of woe. And what 
thou doest to escape this destruction, thou must do quickly. 
Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thy iniquities by 
turning unto the Lord, and there shall be joy in heaven 
even over thee. God will be thy portion, and thou shalt 
not want any good thing. He will guide thee by his coun- 
sel, and afterwards receive thee to glory. 



I¥o. 179. 



THE 



WAY TO BE SAVED 




He called for a light, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and 
said, What must I do to be saved 1 Acts, 16 : 29, 30. 

To be saved, is to be delivered from a course of eter- 
nal sinning, and eternal suffering. It is to be changed 
into the perfect image of God, and raised to a state of 
eternal holiness and bliss in heaven. 

To be saved, then, is a great thing, and to know the 
way to be saved is of great importance. The soul is 
immortal. It must exist somewhere, for ever. Were 
there only a possibility that it might exist for ever in 
hell, it would be important to know the way to be saved, 
and to take that way. No person can feel that he is to 
exist for ever, and yet view it as unimportant whether 
he is to exist in heaven or in hell. The contrast is too 
great, the interest involved too momentous, and the du- 
ration too long, to be viewed without deep emotion by 



VOL. v. 



37* 



2 THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 

any man who feels exposed to the one, or desires to ob- 
tain the other. Sin is that abominable thing which God 
hates. It thrust the angels out of heaven, and bound 
them in chains under darkness to the judgment of the 
great day. It shut the gates of paradise against the pa- 
rents of our race, and opened upon a world darkness 
and wo. What must it be to spend eternity in sinning 
and enduring all its consequences without mitigation 
and without end! 

Pain is hard to be borne, for a single year ; and if in- 
tense, for a single day. The stoutest heart will droop 
under it, and wither like the flower cut down by the 
mower. What must it be to bear eternal pain raised to 
the highest pitch of endurance, admitting of no allevia- 
tion, and no possibility or even hope of an end! You 
cannot conceive of the anguish of intense suffering here, 
unless you feel it. You stand and see the writhings of 
a sufTerer, or you hear his dismal groans, and imagine 
that you understand his anguish. But how amazing the 
difference when that anguish comes on you ! It has a 
reality, and it has an intensity^ which you before never 
thought of, and against w^hich you cannot stand. 

There is something dreadful in dying, even the death 
of the body, only for a single hour. That deep hollow 
groan which echoes from a death-bed, tells of pangs 
unutterable. What is it, then, to die the death of the 
soul — in anguish which mortal eye never witnessed, and 
in horrors which mortal heart never conceived ! Oh, 
that is " destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
the glory of his power." Add to this, eternity^ and the 
cup of wretchedness overflow's. 

To this eternity of unmingled wretchedness every im- 
penitent sinner is now exposed. Nothing but the brittle 
thread of life, which may be sundered at any moment, 
keeps J: 'm from the world of wo. 

" This,' says one, " is true. I have long, in some de- 
gree, felt it, and I have had no rest. I am a great sinner. 



THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 3 

I have sinned against great light and great love. I have 
sinned a long time. My heart is very hard, and I some- 
times think that for me there is no hope. 1 fear I have 
sinned away my day of grace. I deserve to perish ; and 
unless God have mercy, I must perish. I know that Jesus 
Christ died, the just for the unjust ; that ^ he was wound- 
ed for our transgressions,' and ' bruised for our iniqui 
ties j' that ' he bore our sins in his own body on the 
tree ;' and that * the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity 
of us all.' I know this, because God has declared it, and 
I believe what he says. I know also, because he has 
declared it, that the wicked will go away into eternal 
punishment. I feel that I am wicked, exceedingly wick- 
ed, and should 1 for ever perish, I know that it would be 
just. But I cannot dwell with devouring fire, I cannot 
inhabit everlasting burnings ! I wish to escape, and 1 
know that if I do, it must be quickly. What must I do 1 
When the jailer asked Paul this question, he said, ^ Be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ.' And Jesus Christ him- 
self said, ' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
life.' But what is it to believe ? Can you tell me V 

I can. It is to place such confidence in Christ as to feel 
that what he has said is true ; and to treat it as true. It 
is that confidence in him which will lead you to act as if 
what he has said is true. This confidence you ought to 
repose in him. He is altogether worthy of it. And you 
ought to do it without any delay. So long as you feel 
and act as if what he said is not true, you treat him as if 
he were a liar; and thus greatly aggravate your guilt. 

'^ I know this," you say. '^ I hope I do feel that what 
he says is true ; that not one jot or tittle of it will fail. 
I wish to treat it as true. And what shall I do 1 I wish 
you to tell me ; and to tell me all that I must do to in- 
herit eternal life." 

By the grace of God, I will. And may the Holy Spirit 
enable you to understand, and to do it, that your soul 
may live. 



THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 



It is plain, that, would you be saved, you must do all 
that is essential to salvation, except what you have al- 
ready done. I ask you, therefore, what have you done \ 
Have you broken off the practice of all known outward 
transgressions 1 Is there no such sin, in which you con- 
tinue to live % If there is, and you continue in it, you 
will certainly perish. God has opened no way in which 
any man who continues, knowingly, to indulge in out- 
ward transgressions, can ever be saved. You must break 
off all these, or you must perish. 

Do you say, " I have broken off the practice of all 
known outward sins V 

Have you broken off also the practice of secret sinsi 
Is there no transgression knowTi to you, and to God, in 
which you continue habitually to indulge % Are there 
no feelings that you habitually cherish, which you know 
to be offensive to God 1 If there are, and you continue 
in this course, you must perish. Do what you will, so 
long as you continue to " regard iniquity," even in your 
heart, God will not hear you. You will not advance to- 
ward heaven, but constantly toward hell , and will ripen 
to be an outcast from the presence of the Lord, and the 
glory of his power. 

Do you say, '^ So far as I understand my own heart, I 
have broken off the indulgence of whatever I know to 
be sin, both secret and open. It appears to me that I 
loathe it, and wish to be perfectly free from it 1" 

Have you also begun the practice of all known duties 1 
Is there no duty which you feel that you ought to per- 
form, which you continue knowingly and habitually to 
neglect 1 If there is, and you continue in such neglect, 
you will be lost. The neglect of known duty is sin. 
And should you keep the whole law, except in one thing, 
and yet continue knowingly, habitually and persevering- 
ly to neglect that, you would perish. 

Are you in the stated, habitual practice of secret pray- 
er % Do you daily withdraw from the world, and ask God, 



THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 5 

in spirit and in truth, for Christ's sake, to teach you 
what you must do to be saved] If not, how can you 
expect ever to know 1 You come to me, who am only 
an instrument in his hand, and ask me what you must 
do ; but if you do not go to God and ask him, you break 
his command ; you dishonor him ; and, continuing this 
course, have no reason to expect his blessing. 

Do you say, " I am in the habit of daily secret prayer ] 
I do go to God, and ask him, for the sake of Jesus Christ, 
to teach me what I must do ]" 

Do you also daily listen to his voice, that you may 
obtain his answer 1 Do you go to the Bible daily, feel- 
ing that it is the voice of God speaking to you j and for 
the purpose of learning his will, that you may do it 1 
And when you know what he declares, do you heartily 
believe it ; and because he declares it 1 And when you 
know what he commands, do you engage, without de- 
lay, in performing it, for the purpose of glorifying God 
and doing good 1 Is there no command of God, which 
you feel to be binding on you, or which you would feel 
to be binding on you, if you daily read the Bible and 
heartily believed it, which you are not attempting to 
obey % If there is, and you continue this course, not 
even attempting to do the known will of God, or to have 
respect to all his commandments, you will certainly 
perish. Faith you may have, but it is not that which 
overcomes the world. Hope you may have, but it is not 
that which purifies you as God is pure. And it will not, 
in the day of trial, be an anchor, sure or steadfast ; but 
it will be as a dream, when one awaketh. 

Do you say, " I see my error, and stand condemned : 
there are commands of God, which I know to be bind- 
ing on me, that I have not yet attempted to obey V 

No wonder, then, that you are in darkness, and the 
shadow of death. He that knoweth his master's will, 
and doeth it not, continuing his neglect, will be beaten 
with many stripes. The neglect of known duty is sin, 



6 THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 

as really as the commission of known crime. And if it 
be allowed, habitual and continued, will as certainly 
destroy the soul. 

" I see my difficulty," you say, '' though I daily pray, 
or attempt it, and daily read the Bible ; though I think 
I believe what I find there, and expect to see its fulfil- 
ment. I must acknowledge, and I know that the fault 
is all in me, there are some duties which I have not 
attempted to perform." 

Is there not another fault 1 In those that you have 
attempted, have you not regarded yourself, in doing 
them, more than God 1 

" I fear I have." 

And is there not also another 1 Have you not trusted 
for what you need in order to perform duty, and to be ac- 
cepted in it, rather to yourself than to Jesus Christ 1 

Do you say, " It may be so ;" and ask, " Is there in 
my case no hope 1" 

I answer. This will depend upon what you are willing 
to do. 

What, then, are you willing to do 1 Are you willing 
to surrender yourself, and all that you have, to Jesus 
Christ, trusting in him for whatever you need ; and com- 
mitting yourself and all that you have to his guidance 
and disposal 1 For the sake of glorifying God, promo- 
ting your own salvation, and the salvation of your fel- 
low-men, are you willing to make the service of the Lord 
Jesus Christ the great business of life ; and that to which 
n)\ other things, which come into competition, shall give 
way 1 Are you willing henceforward to be governed, in 
your feelings and actions, by the will of God ; daily to 
go to him, by humble and believing supplication, in the 
precious name of Christ, and ask him to teach you ; and 
daily, with a childlike, docile spirit, search the Scrip- 
tures, that you may ascertain his whole will? And when 
you know his will, are you willing henceforward to do 
it. For the sake of glorifying God, and doing good, are 



THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 7 

you willing, whatever it may cost you, and whatever 
may be the consequences, when you know his will, to 
do it 1 Are you willing to attempt it \ Do you say, can 
you say, in the presence of Jehovah, '^ So far as I know 
the feelings of my heart, I am willing V 

When, I ask, are you willing to begin 1 Fix your 
mind on this point. When are you willing to begin to 
make it your grand object to do the whole known will 
of God ] Are you willing to begin now ? If you are not 
willing to begin now, you are not willing to begin at all. 
If you think that you are, you are deceived by looking 
at things at a distance 5 just as a dishonest man is de- 
ceived, who thinks that he is willing to be honest at 
some future time, but is not willing to be honest now ; 
and just as an intemperate man is deceived, who thinks 
that he is willing to be temperate at some future time, 
but is not willing to be temperate now. You are not 
willing ever to begin to do the whole will of God, if you 
are not willino- to begin now. 

Are you then willing to begin now % Can you say, in 
spirit and in truth, " So far as I know my own heart, 1 
am willinor to beg-in now V 

How LONG ARE YOU WILLING TO CONTINUE 1 Can yOU 

say, " By the help of God, trusting in his grace in Jesus 
Christ to enable me, I am willing to continue even to 
the end V 

If so, there is, in your case, hope. You may be saved. 
I will tell you how. By manifesting this willingness in 
actions. 

Give, without delay, yourself and all that you have to 
Jesus Christ, resolving, in his strength, that, by the as- 
sistance of the Holy Spirit, you will " live not unto your- 
self, but unto him that died for you, and rose again." 
Break off, without delay, whatever you know to be sin, 
because it is offensive to God, and ruinous to you. En- 
gage in whatever you know to be duty, for the sake of 
glorifying God, and doing good. For the sake of be- 



8 THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 

coming like him, let it be henceforward your grand ob- 
ject to learn his whole will, and to do it ; trusting wholly 
in Jesus Christ for whatever you need, both to do this, 
and to be accepted in it. Continue this course to the 
end of life, and you shall be saved with an everlasting 
salvation. God will be your portion, and you shall not 
want any good thing. He will guide you by his coun- 
sel, and afterward receive you to glory. You shall see 
him as he is, and be like him, to everlasting ages. I will 
tell you why. 

This breaking off of all known sin, because it is offen 
sive to God, and ruinous to you, is repentance. This en- 
gaging heartily in what you know to be duty, for the 
sake of glorifying God, and doing good, is obedience. 
And surrendering yourself, and all that you have, to 
Jesus Christ, trusting alone in him for whatever you 
need, is faith; that faith which has subdued kingdoms, 
wrought righteousness, and obtained promises ; stopped 
the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, es- 
caped the edge of the sword, out of weakness been made 
strong, waxed valiant in fight, and will, wherever it is 
exercised, overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
and come off conqueror, and more than conqueror, 
through him that loved us, and gave himself for us. 

Trust then in Jesus Christ alone for whatever you need^ 
and go forward^ without delay a?id without ceasing, in 
the path of known duty, for the sake of glorifying God 
and doing good. And God himself declares that you 
shall not Avant any good thing. 

" But may I," you say, " May I, who am so polluted, 
and so guilty, trust in Christ j and for his sake receive 
freely whatever I need V 

I answer, you may. And it is your indispensable duty 
now to do it. And then, " though your sins be as scar- 
let, they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like 
crimson, they shall be as wool." Behold the Lamb of 
God that taketh away the sin of the world. " The blood 



THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 9 

of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." And ''he that 
cometh to Christ, however guilty, will in no wise be cast 
out." This is his own declaration, and you are bound by 
every thing dear in heaven, and every thing dreadful in 
hell, now to treat it as true. Cast then all upon the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and make it henceforward your grand ob- 
ject to learn the whole will of God, and to do it, for the 
purpose of glorifying him and doing good. Let nothing 
hinder you from beginning to-day, and continuing 
through every future day of your life. And when ab- 
sent from the body, you shall, through boundless grace, 
be present with the Lord; and shall mingle with ten 
thousand in that everlasting anthem. Unto him that 
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood, and 
hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Fa- 
ther, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. 
In view of the foregoing directions, which will lead 
to heaven all who follow them, I remark, 

1. That we see one reason why no more persons, 
under the light of the Gospel, feel their need of Jesus 
Christ. They do not make the business of serving him 
their grand concern. They do not daily go to God and 
ask him to teach them ; nor do they daily listen to his 
voice speaking to them in his word, that they may learn 
his will for the purpose of doing it. If they did, and 
would attempt, in spirit and in truth, to break off every 
known sin, and engage in every known duty, for the 
purpose of glorifying God and doing good, they would 
feel their need of Jesus Christ. In view of that law 
which justly requires them to be, at all times, holy as 
God is holy, and perfect as God is perfect, would they 
make it their highest object to obey it, they would feel 
their need of Christ ; that in his atoning blood, his per- 
fect righteousness, and his effectual intercession, must 
be all their hope. 

2. We see a reason why so many who, under the light 
of the Gospel, are convinced of sin, are not savingly 

VOL. V. 88 



10 THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 

converted ; but after being awakened, return again to 
stupidity, and die in impenitence. It is because they 
continue to indulge in what they know to be sin^ and to 
neglect what they Jznoic to be duty. They do not even 
make it their chief object in every thing to do the known 
will of God. They do not even attempt it for the pur- 
pose of glorifying him and doing good. But knowing 
liis will, they neglect it ; and they continue to neglect 
it. This hardens the heart, blinds the mind, grieves 
away the Holy Spirit, prevents their conversion, and 
fixes them in everlasting impenitence and unbelief. 
Hence we see, 

3. That when a person knows the will of God, not 
even the want of good motives is the least excuse for 
his continuing, a single day, in any thing to neglect it. 
Because his motives in neglecting, and thus disobeying 
the known will of God, are always bad. And as long as 
he continues to disobey, his motives will continue to be 
bad. And continuing to disobey a little longer, till death 
comes, he \y\\\ cut off the possibility of a change in his 
motives, and thus render their badness eternal. 

Suppose he who had continued idle till the eleventh 
hour, and was thus in an almost hopeless condition, 
when the Lord said. Go thou into the vineyard, had said, 
'' If I knew that my motives would be right in doing it, 
I would ;" and had remained idle, in opposition to the 
known direction of the Lord, until the day of working 
was past, would he not most justly have failed of re- 
ceiving the reward, and been punished as a wicked and 
^'lothful servant 1 

Suppose he to whom his Lord said. Thou oughtest to 
have put my money into the bank, and then at my com- 
ing I might have received mine own with interest, had 
said, " I could not do it ; or if I had done it, my mo- 
tives would have been wrong ;" and offered this as an 
excuse for his neglect ; would it at all have lessened the 



THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 11 

emphasis of that deserved and tremendous sentence, 
Take from him the pound ; and cast ye the unprofitable 
servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth 1 Why is he overwhelmed with this 
tremendous perdition 1 Because, when he knew his 
Lord's command, Occupy till I come, he did not do it. 
He sought for excuses, and disobeyed a known com- 
mand. He did not do what he ought to have done, for 
the purpose of honoring his Lord, and setting a good 
example before his fellow-servants. He did not even at- 
tempt it. And the guilt of this, instead of taking it en- 
tirely to himself, he attempted to cast on his Lord. But 
no part of it belonged there. It all belonged to himself; 
and he will have to bear it, and its consequences, for ever. 
When God commands any individual, that individual 
ought, without delay, to make it his grand object in all 
things habitually and perseveringly to obey, for the pur- 
pose of honoring him and doing good. No one has, or can 
have, the least excuse for continuing knowingly, habitu- 
ally, nnd perseveringly to disobey God. And if he does, 
he will cut off himself from all hope, and sink down un- 
der the accumulated guilt of an eternal self-destroyer. 
For, 

4. A way is opened, at a great expense, even of the 
precious blood of the Son of God. Salvation is procured 
and freely offered to all, without money and without 
price. All things are ready. Even the chief of sinners 
is invited, nay, commanded and urged to come and par- 
take. The Spirit and the bride say, Come ; he that hears, 
says, Come ; and whosoever will, may come and par- 
take of eternal life freely. But, 

5. In order for this, men have something to do. They 
muft have so much confidence in Christ as to feel that 
what he says is true, and as to lead them to treat it i»s 
true. They must break off what they know to be sin, 
though dear to them as a right hand, or precious as a 



12 THE WAY TO BE SAVED. 

right eye. They must engage, whatever it may cost them, 
and whatever may be the consequences, in doing what- 
ever they know to be duty, for the purpose of honoring 
God and doing good. And they must trust, for whatever 
they need to do this, and to be accepted in it, not in 
themselves, nor in any creature, but in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Let any person on earth undertake, without de- 
lay, habitually and perseveringly to do this, and he will 
find that he has enough to do, and enough to last him as 
long as he lives. It is a most reasonable service that each 
one should do this. And if any one, when pressed with 
the known commands of God, says that he has nothing 
to do, depend upon it he wishes to do nothing. And, 
continuing to the end of life to do nothing for God, what- 
ever may be the reason, when he knows what God com- 
mands, he will sink down to hell with the whole guilt 
of endless destruction upon his own head. 

And this destruction will be rendered unspeakably 
more dreadful, by his having, all his life, refused to walk 
in a way which, at an infinite expense, God had opened, 
which was plainly pointed out to him, and in which he 
was entreated and commanded to go ; and which, had 
he taken, and continued therein, would have led him to 
glory. As he looks upward, and sees what he might have 
been ; looks downward, and sees what he must be ; as 
he casts a last lingering look upon the brightness of ce- 
lestial glory, and the songs of the redeemed die away 
on his ear, as he sinks downward deeper and deeper 
into blackness of darkness, his cup of wretchedness 
will be full, and will overflow for ever. 

Spirit of all grace, cause the reader to feel the guilt 
and danger of continuing in any sin ; and, without de- 
lav, to turn unto God, through Jesus Christ, to whom 
be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 



No. 180. 

THE 

SWISS PEASANT.* 

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL OF REV. C^SAR MALAN, OF GENEVA. 



>fJ 




Ye who sincerely desire rest for 
your souls ; who would rejoice to 
have peace Avith God, and to he as- 
sured of his love towards you ; listen 
to a simple narrative of scenes which 
I have witnessed. 
* An account of the overwhelming calamity which visited 
the valley of Bagnes, in the canton of Valais, in Switzerland, 
is contained in the Paris " Moniteur,'"'' of the 28th June and 2d 
July, 1818. On the 16th June, in the space of half an hour. 40 
houses, 118 barns, 10 mills, 22 granaries, besides a great number 
of shepherds' huts, etc., were carried away. Many individuals 
also perished in this dreadful catastrophe. 
VOL. V. 38* 



2 THE SWISS PEASANT. 

Is it possible that a nation can dwell in wickedness, and 
not fear that Divine justice will overtake it ? The concerns 
of this life proceed in their accustomed course : the farmer 
pursues his labors, the tradesman is immersed in his traffic, 
and the man of pleasure follows the vanities in which his 
soul delights. All, outwardly, appears to go on as usual ; 
the same hopes, the same fears, the same frivolous and 
criminal pursuits, succeed each other in their accustomed 
course. Men are regardless of the darkness which covers 
their mind ; they perceive not the enmity of their hearts 
against God. Surrounded with the blessings of Providence, 
they deny Him who alone is the author and giver of all they 
enjoy. But God has seen them. ** Destruction shall come 
upon the workers of iniquity;" yet, "he is not willing that 
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 
2 Pet. 3:9. His chastisements are sent both to punish 
and to save. 

Thus it was with the fertile and romantic valley of 
Bagnes ; in that place man had forgotten his Maker, and 
was asleep in prosperity. Were the dwellers in this val- 
ley more wicked than the inhabitants of other valleys in 
Switzerland ? Were these men greater sinners than those 
who dwelt in other, and neighboring countries, and who 
survived to be witnesses of their sufferings ? " Think ye that 
they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?" 
said our Lord on a like occasion ; " I tell you, Nay ; but ex- 
cept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13 : 4, 5. 
He is the all-powerful God, and all things are subject to his 
control. At his word, immense masses of ice fell from the 
summit of a neighboring mountain ; they arrested the course 
of a rivulet which flowed through the valley, its stream 
soon swelled into a take, and an immense body of water 
was restrained only by a feeble barrier of ice. Its fall was 
certain and near ; devastation and ruin to the valley beneath 
inevitably must ensue. 

In an instant the flood bounded from the heights, and 



THE SWISS PEASANT. 8 

carrying away in its foaming waves all that opposed its 
course, traversed the valley as a swift messenger of de- 
struction. Forests were torn up by the roots ; fields were 
laid waste ; the houses, with their inhabitants, and their 
flocks and herds, were all confounded together in the tor- 
rent. Many immortal souls were, in an instant, either called 
to the mansions of eternal bliss, or reserved for the day of 
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Bagnes was deso- 
lated ; its villages and fields no longer exist. Its children 
are no more. Heavenly Father! have the few who sur- 
vived acknowledged thy hand in this event — have they re- 
turned to thee ? 

Occupied Avith these reflections, I wandered over the 
scene of desolation ; and as I paced slowly along, I looked 
around, and saw an aged woman sitting near : she endeavor- 
ed to rise J " Oh, bestow your charity," said she. 

" Do not rise, poor Avoman ; you appear unhappy." 
"Oh," said she, "I know not what will become of me." 
In fact, all the outward appearances of misery seemed, 
as it were, united and present before me. She was tall, 
and a threadbare garment scarcely covered her form ; her 
feet were bare, and one of them severely wounded ; her 
face was shrivelled by hunger ; her eyes hollow and dim ; 
a few white hairs strayed from the tattered cloth which 
covered her head ; and near her, upon the sand left by the 
torrent, was a bag containing a few scraps and morsels of 
bread. 

" Have you no family?" said I ; "are you quite alone, 
and without any help ?" 

" My last surviving son died twenty years ago, and I 
lived with my grandson near the village of Morgue ; but I 
have never seen my poor grandchild since the day when 
the wrath of heaven fell upon us : he never appeared again : 
he was carried away with his dwelling. His wife and chil- 
dren are now living nine miles from hence, among the moun- 
tains ; they could hardly find enough for themselves, so I 



4 THE SWISS PEASANT. 

staid in this place. I want but little, and have but a short 
time to remain here." 

*' But a short time !" said I to myself, " where will she 
go when called hence?" and turning to her, I added, "You 
then think 3-ou have not long to live ?" 

" Yes," said she, looking steadily at me, " the days of 
my pilgrimage are nearly ended, and I feel that soon, very 
soon, I must appear before God." She groaned deeply as 
she uttered these last words. 

" Well, poor woman, I hope your soul is prepared to 
meet your God." 

" No, sir, I fear it is not ; and this troubles me, and 
takes away all my comfort." 

" Do you desire to be saved ? Would you escape from 
the wrath to come ; from the just judgment of God ?" 

" yes," she replied, '' I do desire to be saved ; and 
covering her face Avith her hands, she exclaimed Avith 
earnestness, " that I might go to heaven ! but I know 
not how." 

''Have you long thought about these things?" 

" One evening, about two years ago, a stranger stopped 
at our cabin, and remained there all night. He spoke much 
of God and of heaven ; and read to us about the evil of 
sin, and our need of a Saviour, from a book Avhich he had 
with him ; and several times he spoke to me particularly. 
During the night, I heard him praying for all of us, and 
especially for the aged woman, who, he said, must soon ap- 
pear before God. He left us at break of day ; I think I 
still hear his parting Avords ; he took my hand, and said, 
* My poor friend, the hour of your death is near ; I shall 
not see you again in this world. Oh, do not forget the 
Saviour. Seek him, seek him earnestly, ivhile he may be 
found.' Since that day, I have had no rest ; his words are 
fixed deep in my heart. I feel that I am a sinner ; 1 have 
done all I could, but I am still under condemnation." 

"What sort of a life have you lived ?" 



THE SWISS PEASANT. 5 

" I have not been worse than my neio-hbors, but God is 
holy, and looks at the heart. I am too great a sinner to go 
to heaven, and I know not what to do." 

" Blessed are they that mourn," said our gracious 
Saviour, "for they shall be comforted." Matt. 5 : 4. This 
precious promise came strongly to my mind while the poor 
woman related her history. I seemed to hear the Saviour 
himself calling this poor wandering sheep, and drawing her 
to him ; and I fervently implored, that He who opened the 
heart of Lydia would open the heart of this poor woman ; 
then looking earnestly at her, I said, 

" I can tell you what you ought to do — how you may 
be delivered from the burden of your sins, and assured of 
admission to heaven." 

** Oh, sir," she exclaimed, stretching^ her trembling', 
withered hands towards me, " Oh, sir, pity me ! pity my 
gray hairs ; the grave is ready to receive me." 

"■ No, my poor friend, not before Jesus has spoken peace 
to your soul. Listen to me. Did not the stranger tell you 
that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, came down from heaven 
to save sinners ?" 

" Yes, he said many things about him, but I do not re- 
member them all ; I only recollect that he told us there 
was no Saviour except the Son of God, and that if a sinner 
did not find rest in Christ, there was no hope for him." 

" Well, my friend, do you believe this, or do you think 
that man is able to save himself, and to blot out his sins by 
his own good works ?" 

'' Once I thouo-ht so. Before I heard this strano^er, I 
thought I was good enough to please God, and that my 
good deeds would do away my offences. But now I see 
plainly that I am a great sinner, and that I cannot myself 
procure the pardon of my sins, or do away the evil I have 
committed." 

*' Are you sure of this ? Have you tried to deliver your- 
self from the guilt of sin?" 



6 THE SWISS PEASANT. 

** I have done all that any mortal can do. As soon as 
my eyes were opened to see my sinful state, and that I was 
imder the curse of God's holy law, I was terrified, and I 
determined to do what would please him. From that day 
I have given up my pleasures and my former pursuits. I 
have willingly undergone all sorts of privations and suffer- 
ings. I have been constant in attending public worship, 
and regular in my private devotions ; but all, all is useless. 
They tell me, indeed, that I am sure to go to heaven ; and 
they call me a saint ; but I have it here — I have upon my 
heart and conscience a burden intolerable — a horrible dread 
which overwhelms me. Oh, deliver me from this ; take it 
— take it away from me, if you are able." 

" Christ alone is able to deliver you ; he is able, and he 
is willing ; he came into the world to save sinners, 1 Tim. 
1 : 15; to give rest to all Avho are weary and heavy laden. 
Go to him, and you shall find rest for your soul." See 
Matt. 11 : 28-30. 

" But will he, can he receive such a vile creature as I 
am? Often would I have gone to the Saviour, but I felt 
I was too unworthy. Yesterday I recollected what the 
stranger told us of the prodigal son, and I wept while I 
thought on his happiness. Ah, said I, how happy must he 
have been in his father's arms !" 

" And do you think that the everlasting arms are less 
ready to receive you than the prodigal son?" 

" To receive me ! Ah, I am not worthy." 

" And was the prodigal Avorthy ? When a free pardon 
is offered, there is no question about what Ave deserve." 

The poor woman looked at me, anxious to understand 
my meaning, but she could not. 

It is, indeed, hard for the heart of man to think that it 
is possible to be loved of God ! Speak to the vilest of sin- 
ners of the necessity of obtaining pardon for his sins ; and 
if he is convinced of this, he Avill readily undergo the most 
severe sufferings, and make the greatest sacrifices. But 



THE SWISS PEASANT. 7 

tell him of free pardon ; tell him that his Creator, that God 
himself has become his Saviour, and is ready to bestow 
upon him life everlasting- ; he will not believe you — he is 
not willing- to accept pardon on these terms. He cannot 
receive the free mercy of God, or rather he rejects it, be- 
cause his proud heart would obtain salvation as a reward 
of his own works ; he would receive it as a recompense, not 
as a free gift. 

Here was the mistake of this poor woman. Apparently 
taught that man could work out his own salvation by his 
own strength, she had persisted in this fatal error, and had 
not the remotest idea that she was wrong. I saw the cloud 
which darkened her understanding, and endeavored to re- 
move it. 

"You have not, then," said I, "yet learned why our 
Lord Jesus Christ came upon earth." 

" To save sinners," said she. 

"But you do not perceive how he has done this ; you 
know not that he has died, 'the just for the unjust;' that 
he became a ransom for sinners. He saw them yet afar off, 
lost and helpless in their sins, when, moved by an all-power- 
ful love, which passeth man's understanding, he took upon 
himself their iniquity, and bore their sins in his own body 
on the tree. He has borne the burden from which he de- 
livered them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of 
the law, being made a curse for us." Gal. 3:13. 

" Happy are those Avhom he has redeemed!" 

" Yes, they are truly happy ; and I trust you will find 
this happiness. If you believe in Christ, you will share in 
his favor and his love." 

" What, is it possible that the Saviour can love me, and 
receive and pardon me?'^ 

"Why not you, when he says, 'Whosoever will, let him 
take of the water of life freely ?' When you have believed 
in him, you will find that he has loved you with an everlast- 
ing love. ' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 



8 THE SWISS PEASANT. 

lay down bis life for his friends.' John 15 : 13. And did 
not he lay down his life for you ; yes, even for you, when 
he died on the cross ? Do not you believe this ?" 

"Is it possible ? Did he die for me ? For my sins ; 
for mine ?" 

"Why was he smitten of God and afflicted, Isa. 53 : 4, 
if not for poor sinners such as you and I ? Who can need 
more than we do, that a Saviour should interpose between 
us and the justice of the Most High ? And since it is writ- 
ten, that Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost, 
Luke 19 : 10, since he died for the chief of sinners, 1 Tim. 
1:15, was it not for me, was it not for you, lost and ruined 
by nature and practice, that he laid down his life upon the 
cross?" 

blessed Gospel of Christ, the message of peace and 
life eternal, who can understand and declare thy power ! 
What words can describe the emotions which passed over 
the countenance of this poor sinner, weary and heavy laden 
with the burden of her sins, and beginning to hope for par- 
don and deliverance ! 

Language cannot express the joy which this poor soul 
felt, when touched by the power of God. The day of her 
salvation "was come. She thought of her sins, and was 
troubled ; but she mourned, and was in bitterness. She 
thought of her enmity to God ; but she could be his enemy 
no longer. She thought of the spirituality of his law ; but 
she delighted in the law of God after the inward man. She 
thought she could forsake all, and follow Christ, and sub- 
mit herself to his authority and grace. Her eyes were 
opened ; her heart, for the first time, tasted the love of 
Christ ; the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, now taught her to 
call Jesus the Lord. 

"Then may I believe that Christ died for me?" said 
she, still appearing fearful to think so. 

"Do you doubt this ? Do you desire to refuse the 
benefits of our Redeemer's sacrifice ?" 



THE SWISS PEASANT. 9 

" Oh no ; the happiness of believing in him is too great 
to be rejected." 

She was silent some minutes. Eng^ao^ed in reflection 
upon these truths, she appeared deeply moved. At length 
she clasped her hands, and bursting into tears, exclaimed, 
*' Then I am saved ! the Saviour died for my sins, though I 
knew it not. blessed news ! this indeed is consolation !" 

She then leaned forward, and rested her head upon her 
hands. Tears trickled down her arms, and fell upon her 
garments as she uttered the words, " Heavenly Father, 
Jesus, Saviour," mingled with her sobs. At length raising 
herself, she said, " Then Christ has become my ransom. 
my God," she added, raising her eyes towards heaven, 
" thou hast had compassion upon me, aged and wretched 
as I am. Thou hast not suffered me to go* down to the 
grave ignorant of thy love and pardoning mercy. what 
love, what exceeding love !" 

" His love is indeed great, ' in that while we were yet 
sinners, Christ died for us.' Rom. 5:8. Ought we not 
then to love him?" 

" Yes, I love him, and will strive to serve him. Ah, 
sir, if you could but see what passes within me ; I seem as 
just awakened from sleep, and as if I was delivered from a 
mountain which weighed down my soul. This, then, was 
what the stranger meant, when he told me I must be ' born 
again.' Let me go," added she, rising, "let me go and 
declare these things to my granddaughter and her children. 
Would that my poor son had known them before he died." 

"My mother," said I, "leave your son in the hands of 
the Most High, and haste and tell your grandchildren what 
a Saviour you have found. Go and declare it abroad during 
the short time you have to remain here, before you go hence 
to Him who has loved you with such exceeding love. De- 
clare that you were a sinner, that you sought to obtain 
salvation by your own strength ; but that your only depend- 
ence is now on your Saviour Christ; now you believe in 
VOL. V. 39 



10 THE SWISS PEASANT. 

him, and are persuaded, from his own words, that he was 
sacrificed for you ; and that his blood, shed for the sins of 
many, has washed away your stains. Go, my poor friend, 
and, during the short interval which yet separates you from 
your God, consecrate yourself to his service ; offer to him 
w^hat he has given to you, a new heart, a heart now filled 
with joy and consolation, even as he has imparted it to you 
this very day." 

" May it be so," said she ; " may God be pleased to 
direct me : I am but a poor peasant, ignorant of every 
thing ; biit he will instruct me." 

"And it is by this book he will teach you," replied I, 
giving her a New Testament ; " this is the book the stranger 
read ; it contains all that I have this day told you of Jesus, 
and his love for us. It contains the declaration of the eter- 
nal and unchangeable love of God. All that your soul can 
desire, or your heart can wish, are here. Yes, all know- 
ledge and understanding ; all truth, life, and peace ; and 
happiness both for this world and that which is to come ; 
all is declared in this blessed book ; and may God, whose 
eye now beholds us, himself teach you to imderstand it." 

She took the book, Avithout replying ; kissed it, and 
pressed it to her heart. I took her by the hand ; and after 
a few moments turned away, thinking I should see her no 
more in this world. 

She called after me, " Shall we not meet again in heav- 
en ?" " Yes," said I, " I trust both you and I are tending 
thitherward." 

She then shall be saved at the last day, thought I. 
heavenly Father, may thy holy name be glorified in these 
mountains ! Blessed Saviour, may thy all-powerful voice 
be heard calling thy children unto thee. Be pleased thyself 
to lead this solitary sheep. Thou hast revealed thyself to 
her ; be ever present with her, strengthening her soul. 
make her path straight, and cause her to walk steadily 
therein. 



THE SWISS PEASANT. 1 1 

She shall go therein, the Christian will say, in whose 
heart Christ is formed the hope of glory ; being satisfied 
that it is when we are united to him that we truly love and 
serve him. She is a child of his kingdom, and shall walk in 
the path of the just, which shineth more and more unto the 
perfect day. The righteousness of Christ, the precious 
blood he shed upon the cross, have made her free, and she 
is no longer under condemnation. Christ has suffered for 
her ; she has believed, and has this witness in herself. See 
1 John, 5:10. The burden which oppressed her is taken 
aAvay, and instead of sorrowfully crying, " Who shall deliver 
me from mine affliction ?" she has learned to ascribe praises 
to the Lamb of God, who has washed her from her sins in 
his own blood. See Rev. 1:5. 

The love of God brought these things to pass, and in his 
love she will dwell, living unto him who hath redeemed her. 
Let the unbeliever or the scoffer of our day assert that it is 
dangerous thus to declare a free salvation to sinners. Let 
them say that it is buoying up with false hopes ; and that 
to announce pardon "without money and without price," 
telling them that faith alone can justify, is to invite to licen- 
tiousness, and will only wrap them up in carnal security. 
Mistaken indeed ! They are ignorant that the knowledge 
of Christ is life everlasting; that he will abide with the 
heart that openeth unto him. Rev. 3:20; and that the soul 
which has tasted that the Lord is gracious, which has con- 
templated Christ dying upon the cross, the just for the 
unjust, cannot live unto sin, seeing that sin crucified the 
Lord of glory. They know not that the desire of the be- 
liever is to live according to the will of Christ. 

Had they, like me, seen this poor woman brought to 
the knowledge of the Saviour and his love ; had they seen 
her countenance, worn with care and anxiety, at once en- 
lightened by that peace and hope which the Saviour alone 
can give ; had they heard the voice with which she bade 
me farewell as to this world ; they could not, if open to 



12 THE SWISS PEASANT. 

conviction, assert that these things are dangerous to the 
souls of men. 

As for myself, I trust that this poor woman was led by 
the teaching of the Holy Spirit to believe in him who justi- 
fies the ungodly. See Rom. 4:5. If she was enabled truly 
to believe in Christ crucified, she has been, by this faith, 
put into possession, through hope of the Avorld that is to 
come, of an eternal inheritance. 

And if you, my reader, sincerely desire to partake of 
this salvation, you have no cause to despair of pardon. 
This poor woman believed in Christ, and was delivered from 
her fears. Do you also give your heart to Jesus Christ ; 
repent of and forsake your sins ; submit yourself unto God ; 
and he will impart to you his righteousness, and that 

PEACE WHICH THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE. 



THE STORM HUSHED. 

'Tis past — the dreadful stormy night 

Is gone, with all its fears ! 
And now I see returning light. 

The Lord, my Sun, appears. 

Oh, wondrous change ! but just before, 

Despair beset me round ; 
I heard the lion's horrid roar. 

And trembled at the sound. 

Before corruption, guilt, and fear. 

My former comforts fell ; 
And I discover'd, standing near. 

The dreadful depths of hell. 

But Jesus pitied my distress, 

He heard my feeble cry, 
Reveal'd his blood and righteousness. 

And brought salvation nigh. 

Dear Lord, since thou hast broke my bands 

And set the captive free, 
I would devote my tongue, my hands, 

My heart, my all to thee. Newton. 



I\o. 181. 
DURATION 



FUTURE PUIISHMENT 



BY REV. TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D, 



" xVnd these," said our Lord, Matt. 25 : 46, " shall go 
away into everlasting punishment." Christians have very 
generally regarded this declaration of Christ as intending, 
in the strict sense, a punishment without end. But there 
have been multitudes of persons styling themselves Chris- 
tians, particularly in modern times, who have decided other- 
wise ; and insisted, either that there will be no punishment 
beyond the grave, or that it will be temporary. In support 
of this opinion, and in opposition to that which has been 
generally received, they have advanced various arguments 
and objections, which they professedly consider as having 
great weight, and to which apparently they yield their own 
assent. It is proper, therefore, to examine this subject, 
to meet such objections and arguments, and either to refute 
them, or acknowledge that they cannot be answered. 

As the abettors of this scheme blend their objections 

and their direct arguments together, 'and as they are too 

numerous to be examined, in every instance, separately in 

a single Tract, I shall not feel myself obliged to discriminate 

very solicitously in this respect ; but shall take the liberty 

to follow, in some measure, the path which my opposers 

have trodden. 

VOL. V. 39* 



2 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

Before I begin the investigation of this subject, I shall 
make a few observations, for the purpose of removing, or, 
if that cannot be done, of lessening a prejudice — the strong- 
est, perhaps, cherished by the human mind — against the 
doctrine in question. The subject is immeasurably awful, 
and beyond all others affecting. Few persons can behold 
it in near vision with a steady eye. The very preacher 
who teaches the doctrine to others, cannot but know, unless 
certainly assured of his o^vn salvation — a case undoubtedly 
very rare — that he may at that very time be alleging argu- 
ments w^hich are to affect himself, and to evince his own 
final destruction, as well as that of others. If his heart is 
not made of stone, he cannot contemplate the subject as it 
respects his fell oio- men, without overwhelming amazement. 
The destiny of one immortal mind is an object whose im- 
portance no finite thought can conceive, no numbers esti- 
mate. How vast must be this object, when the number of 
such minds becomes so great as to reach the lowest limit to • 
w^hich the most enlarged charity will be compelled to extend 
it ! How entirely overwhelmed must he be who contem- 
plates it, when he remembers, and beholds a melancholy 
experience verify, the declaration of our Saviour, that " wide 
is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, 
and many there be who go in thereat !" 

At the same time the subject is unquestionably perplex- 
ing, as well as distressing. There are, I know, persons who 
speak concerning it with an air of cool self-complacency, 
as being, in their view, easy of investigation, and free from 
embarrassment. I am inclined, perhaps uncharitably, to 
give them little credit for candor, clearness of intellect, 
or soundness of character, and greatly doubt whether the 
doctrine has been investigated by them, either to such an 



DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISH xMENT. 3 

extent, or with such a spirit, as might furnish them with 
just views of its nature. There are others who discourse 
of it in the desk, in the phraseology, the style, and the 
utterance belonging to vehement eloquence ; such as we 
often find attached to a strain of powerful invective, or 
vigorous controversy. Something may here be allowed 
for the strong impulses of ardent minds ; something to the 
influence, unhappy as it may be deemed, of controversial 
feelings ; and something to mistaken apprehensions of duty. 
In this manner we may in some measure excuse, but can- 
not justify this unfortunate conduct. Were such persons to 
remember that they may at this very time be pronouncing 
the final doom of their own parents, brothers, sisters, wives, 
children, and even of themselves, I cannot but believe that 
their mode of address would be essentially changed, would 
lose all its violence and exaggeration, and would become 
deeply humble, solemn, and affectionate. Every preacher 
ought to remember, that the latter of these modes of ad- 
dressing a congregation on this subject is incomparably 
better fitted to produce the best effects on those who hear 
him ; while the former will usually terminate in awakening 
mere horror concerning the subject, and mere disgust at 
the preacher. 

But painful and perplexing as this subject is, it is often 
exhibited in the word of God. Whatever doctrines he has 
declared concerning it are true, and unfold with absolute 
certainty a part of the future destiny of man. They cannot, 
therefore, fail of being supremely interesting to us. To 
know and to feel their proper import, may be the very 
means of turning our feet into the path of life. To dis- 
believe them, or to be ignorant of them, can, on the other 
hand, be of no possible use to us, and may easily prove 



4 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

fatally injurious. Were there no escape from this dreadful 
allotment published to us during our probation, we might, 
indeed, as well remain in ignorance of the evils to which 
we were advancing. But, as a knowledge of our danger 
may prove the most effectual means of our escape, the im- 
portance of gaining this knowledge cannot be measured. 

The punishment of the wicked is, as is well known to 
the reader, often asserted in the Scriptures to be " ever- 
lasting," to endure "for ever," and "for ever and ever." 
The objectors whom I have mentioned insist that all the 
words and phrases of this nature denote a limited duration, 
and are never used to signify an absolute eternity. The 
meaning of all language is to be learned only from those 
who use it. If the manner in which they understand it is 
clearly discoverable from their writings, we may by critical 
attention become possessed of its meaning ; if not, we are 
left without a remedy. Let us, therefore, in the present 
case, have recourse to the writers of the New Testament, 
the only persons from whom we can expect to derive ex- 
plicit views concerning the subject in hand, that we may, 
if possible, determine this point in a satisfactory manner. 
It is to be observed, then, 

1. That the words and 2^hrases which have been either 
mentioned or alluded to, appear to he used in the Scriptures 
to denote the longest period of which the subject mentioned in 
each case is capable. 

In one instance the word "for ever" seems to signify 
merely a long period. " One generation passeth away, 
and another cometh, but the earth abideth for ever." If 
the destruction of this world, mentioned in the Scriptures, 
denotes the annihilation of its atoms, as well as the ruin of 
its form and structure, then the earth can be said to abide 



DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 5 

for ever with a limited meaning only ; to wit, that it will 
endure for a long time, compared Avitli a period of a human 
generation. But if the elements are to survive this de- 
struction, and become the materials of "the new earth, 
wherein righteousness shall dwell," then the term is used 
in a literal sense, and denotes an endless duration. 

In such other cases as I have observed, this word is 
employed to denote the longest 2^enod of which the subject 
united with it is capable. Thus ''a servant forever," is 
a servant during the longest period in which he can be a 
servant; that is, during his life. "An ordinance for ever," 
is an ordinance continuing through the longest time in which 
it can be an ordinance ; that is, throughout the whole con- 
tinuance of the dispensation of which it is a part ; namely, 
the Mosaic dispensation. 

In the same manner, "the everlasting hills," and "the 
everlasting mountains," denote hills and mountains endur- 
ing throughout the longest possible period which is predica- 
ble of them ; to wit, while the earth endures. 

It will be observed, that I have here mentioned the 
English words and phrases, and not the corresponding ones 
of the oric^inal langruacres. The i-eason of this is, that, so 
far as I know, the original words are acknowledged on all 
hands to be correctly translated. 

But if these words, when applied to the continuance of 
things in the future world, are used in this manner, they 
unquestionably denote an absolute eternity. For, with re- 
spect to these things, such a duration will then evidently 
be possible. 

2. The phrase commonly rendered "for ever and ever,'' is 
used, if I mistake not, eighteen times in the New Testament ! 
In fifteen instances it is apphed to the continuance of the 



6 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

glory, perfections, government, and praise of God. In one. 
Rev. 22 : 5, it is said of the righteous, in the future world, 
that "they shall reign for ever and ever." In one of the 
remaining two, it is said of the impenitent, that is, of those 
among them who worship the beast and his image, that 
" the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and 
ever." In the remaining instance, it is said of the devil, 
who deceived the nations, of the beast, and of the false 
prophet, that " In the lake of fire and brimstone, they shall 
be tormented day and night for ever and ever." 

Now let me ask, whether a man, even of moderate un- 
derstanding, could be supposed to write with scrupulous 
integrity a system of theology, and employ this phrase 
sixteen times to denote an absolute eternity, and twice to 
denote that which was infinitely different;- while these 
were the only instances in which the phrase was applied 
to a given subject, and that of immeasurable importance 
to those for whom he wrote ? But if such a man cannot 
be supposed thus to use language, nor vindicate it when 
used in this manner, can such conduct be attributed safely 
to the Spirit of God ? 

3. In Matt. 25 : 46, " These shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal," 
the same Greek word is ajyj^liecl to the future hapjnness of 
the righteous, and to the future misery of the tvicked. 

On this application I have two remarks to make. 

The first is, that it is applied to hoth these subjects in 
exactly the same manner ; without any mark, or hint of a 
distinction in the use of the word. Plainly, therefore, we 
are not warranted to suppose any such distinction, unless 
we are taught it elsewhere in the Scriptures. 

It is to be remarked, farther, that the same word is 



DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 7 

generally, and, so far as I have observed, always, applied 
in tlie same manner, without any appearance of an inten- 
tional distinction. 

My second remark is this : that the word is employed in 
this passage to denote a duration which commences after what 
we commonly intend hy time is ended. If, then, a limitation 
is not found elsewhere, we shall be unwarranted, since it is 
used here in the absolute manner, to believe that the dura- 
tion which it expresses will have any limits. The longest 
duration which will then be possible, the longest which 
may be predicated of the enjoyments of the righteous and 
the sufferings of the wicked, will certainly be eternal. 

4. T7ie terms in ichich the sufferings of the imj^enitent 
are spoken of in other passages of Scrip>ture, leave, so far 
as I can discern, no hope of their termination. 

The following examples will sufficiently illustrate this 
observation. In the second epistle of St. Peter, it is said 
of the wicked, " that they will utterly perish in their own 
corruption." It cannot be denied that the destruction 
spoken of in this passage is declared to be absolute, and 
must be either annihilation or eternal woe. But annihila- 
tion cannot be that long- continued suffering to which the 
abettors of the doctrine here opposed acknowledge the 
wicked to be consigned in Matt. 25 : 46. 

In Mark 9 : 43, the immediate means of suffering to 
the impenitent are styled by our Saviour, " the fire that 
never shall be quenched." 

In several passages of the Scriptures, particularly in 
Matt. 25 : 46 ; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 3:12; Matt. 13 : 36, 
etc., the happiness of the righteous and the sufferings of 
the wicked are exhibited to us in what may be called a 
parallel manner ; and yet no intimation is given that the 



Q DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

duration of the one will not be equally extended with that 
of the other. 

In Mark 14 : 21, our Saviour says, "Woe to that man 
by whom the Son of man is betrayed. Good were it for 
that man if he had never been born." If Judas should 
be miserable through any limited duration, however long, 
and should afterwards be happy through the eternity which 
would lie beyond it, this position must, with mathematical 
e\'idence, be seen to be untrue. 

In Luke 16 : 25, the rich man is informed by Abraham 
that " in his lifetime he had received his good things ; as 
Lazarus had likewise received his evil things." Lazarus 
had received all his evil things. The rich man must clearly, 
I think, be considered as having received all his good things. 
Especially will this be evident, when we remember that the 
declaration is made as a conclusive reason why he could not 
receive a single drop of Avater, the only good thing for 
which he asked. 

In Psalm 50, which seems plainly to be an account of 
the last judgment, we have, in the 22d verse, subjoined to 
this account, the following awful monition: "iSTow consider 
this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and 
there be none to deliver." 

In Matt. 18 : 23, etc., we have the parable of the 
servant who owed ten thousand talents, and had nothing 
to pay. This servant his lord ultimately commanded to 
be thrown into prison, and there confined until he should 
pay the debt. How evident is it that this man could 
never pay the debt, and therefore must for ever remain in 
prison. 

In John 3 : 36, our Saviour says, "He that beheveth 
not the Son, shall not see life." I can conceive of no Ian- 



DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 9 

guage wliicli could more effectually cut off every hope of 
the impenitent than this. 

In Rev. 21 : 27, it is said, "There shall in no wise enter 
enter into it," that is, into the heavenly city, " any thing 
that defileth, or that worketh abomination, or that maketli 
a lie ; but they who are written in the Lamb's book of 
life." According to the declarations of Scripture, all im- 
penitent sinners are defilers. They all work that which 
is abominable in the sight of God ; and in this character, 
as they have not repented, nor believed in the Redeemer, 
nor ceased to sin, they will all appear before their Judge ; 
and therefore will " in no wise " be permitted to enter the 
heavenly city. 

To these passages might be added, as every one who 
reads his Bible knows, a multitude of others declaring the 
same doctrine in the same unambiguous manner. But if 
these do not produce conviction, it Avill, I am afraid, be 
vainly expected, not only from any which are found in the 
Scriptures, but from any which language can express. 

To all this, however, it is farther objected, that God 
cannot justly punish the sins of men, ivho are finite heinc/s, 
with an infinite, or endless punishment. To this it has been 
often replied, that, although men are finite beings, yet, as 
their obligation to obedience is great in proportion to the 
greatness and excellency of God, it is of course infinite. 
To violate infinite obligation is plainly an infinite evil ; and, 
therefore, a finite being may commit a crime infinitely hein- 
ous, and deserving infinite punishment. The same con- 
clusion is also draw^n, by much the same course of reason- 
ing, from the tendency of sin to oppose the designs and 
glory of God and the supreme good of his creation. I 

shall not, however, insist on these arguments, nor on the 
VOL. V. 40 



10 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

conclusion to which they conduct us ; but proceed to other 
considerations which he more within our reach. 

1. God raay justly 2^^inish siu so long as it exists ; and 
it may exist for ever. 

He who sins througli this hfe may evidently sin through 
another such period, and another, and another, without end. 
That while we continue to sin God may justly punish us, 
if he can justly punish us at all, is equally evident. Ko 
reason can be given why sin may not be punished at any 
future time with as much justice and propriety as at the 
present. That it may be justly punished at the present 
time, cannot be denied, any more than that it is in fact 
punished. 

2. The Scri23tu7'€S teach lis, that sinners who die in im- 
penitence 2vill not cease to sin throughout eternity. 

The supposition that their sufferings in the future world 
will be complete, involves in it as a consequence that they 
will continue to sin. If they were to become penitent and 
virtuous, they would of course possess many enjoyments, 
and those of a very important nature. Our Saviour, speak- 
ing to St. John concerning those who in the future world 
are excluded from heaven, says, Rev. 22 : 15, " Without 
are doo-s, and sorcerers, and whoremono-ers, and murderers, 
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." It 
will not be questioned that this is an account of sinners. 
It cannot be questioned that it is an account of their exist- 
ing character in the future world. 

*'Do, therefore," says Solomon, Eccl. 9 : 10, "what thy 
hand findeth to do with thy might : for there is no work, 
device, knowledge, nor wisdom, in the world of spirits, 
whither thou goest." "Wisdom," in the language of Solo- 
mon, denotes virtue, or the religion of the heart. " Work " 



DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. H 

here intends the work of salvation ; the work in which 
virtue is assumed and increased. There is, then, in that 
world, no work of salvation, no assumption of virtue. Of 
course, those who go into that world in the character of 
sinners, still continue to sin. They may therefore be pun- 
ished with the same justice as in the present world ; and 
the Scriptures declare, in Matt. 25 : 46, and many other 
passages, that they are punished. 

3. These things are all said and done after the close of 
the present dis2)ensation ; and after the commencement of 
that dispensation which in the Scriptures is rep)rescnted as 
eternal and unchangeable. 

There is no hint given us, either in the Old or New 
Testaments, that the dispensation which will commence 
after the judgment will ever change. On the contrary, so 
far as it is mentioned at all, it is always spoken of as en- 
during and immutable. In Heb. 12 : 26-28, St. Paul says, 
" Whose voice then shook the earth : but now he hath 
promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth 
only, but also heaven. And this Avord, Yet once more, 
sin^nifieth the removinor of those things that are shaken, as 
of things that are made, that those things which cannot be 
shaken may remain. Wherefore, Ave receiving a kingdom 
which cannot be moved, let us have grace, Avhereby Ave 
may serve God acceptably, Avith reA^erence and godly fear." 
From this passage it is evident that the things Avhich are 
not shaken Avill remain steadfast and immovable. But, 
Avere there nothing explicitly declared concerning this sub- 
ject, the A^ery silence of the Scriptures forbids a rational 
belief of any such alteration, since the beHef rests on noth- 
ing but a mere hypothesis, gratuitously adopted. 

It is farther objected, that the benevolence of God is ir- 



12 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

recmicilahle with the idea of endless punishment. "Were I to 
undertake to determine, j udging merely from the resources 
of my own mind, what conduct the benevolence of God 
would prompt him to pursue, I should probably say, that 
he would never permit either natural or moral evil to exist 
in the universe. Perfect benevolence, I should without 
a doubt conclude, w^ould produce nothing but virtue and 
enjoyment. Very remote, however, from this scheme is 
the actual state of the world which we inhabit. Sin has 
here reigned from the beginning ; and sorrow, the proper 
reAvard of sin, has been multiplied unceasingly throughout 
every habitable part of the earth. It is certain, therefore, 
that to permit the existence of sin, and to punish it with 
suffering, and that suffering often so excruciating as to 
terminate our present life, are things consistent wdth the 
benevolence of God. No reason can be given why he who 
does these things here, in a state of trial, may not do the 
same things to a much greater extent, in a state of retri- 
bution. When man undertakes to determine what it is 
proper or improper for his Maker to do in the government 
of the world, he ought to remember, that *'as the heavens 
are high above the earth, so are his ways above our ways, 
and his thouo-hts above our thousfhts." 

It is farther said, that the punishment of the future loorld 
is merely disciplinary. This opinion certainly cannot be 
founded upon Scriptural testimony. When the Gospel was 
written, the fallen angels had been suffering punishment at 
least four thousand years. Yet we find them no less hos- 
tile to their Creator, and actuated by no less malice against 
his intelligent creatures, than at the first. Men of all suc- 
ceeding ages are by Christ and his apostles warned against 
their falsehood and seduction, because in every age they 



DUKATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 13 

VTOuld be false and seductive. At the judgment-day, to 
which they are "reserved under chains and darkness," they 
will be consigned to the fire, which was prepared for them. 
Of course, their punishment will to that time have had no 
good effect upon their character. The punishment of the 
future world, therefore, is not exhibited in the Scriptures 
as disciplinary. 

Again, it is objected, that endless punishment is unneces- 
sary. This cannot be said with propriety, unless we know 
the Avhole state of the divine government, and all the neces- 
sities of those who are governed. The wants of the universe 
are such, as to be supplied by far other means than we 
should devise. It is impossible for ns to determine how 
great, how numerous, or how useful the consequences may 
be, which will flow from the punishment of the impenitent. 
God, speaki/ig by the prophet Isaiah, in a passage which 
our Saviour applies to the future state of the wicked, says, 
"They," that is, righteous beings, "shall go forth, and 
look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed 
against me; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." 
This abhorrence may, for aught that appears, have a power- 
ful, perhaps an indispensable efficacy to preserve virtuous 
beings throughout the universe in a course of endless obe- 
dience. The measures necessary in a moral government 
reaching through immensity and eternity, cannot be con- 
trived by such beings as we are. 

I know of but one objection more which appears to 
demand a particular answer. This is derived from the 
Gospel. Here, in various passages and forms, it is said, 
that "Christ died for all." The meaning of these declara- 
tions I have, on another occasion, explained, and, if I mis- 
take not, sufficiently, when considering the extent of the 
VOL. V. 40* 



24 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

atonement. I shall, therefore, only observe at present, that 
with the strictest propriety and truth Christ may be said 
to have " died for all," if he has made a sufficient atone- 
ment for all; although some should choose not to accept 
the proffer of an interest in it, and should therefore never 
enjoy the blessings which it provides. 

To these objections and arguments are customarily added 
several passages of Scripture, construed by the objectors 
in such a manner as they judge to be favorable to their 
owA scheme. These have been often shown to be vainly 
alleged for this purpose ; nor are they, so far as I per- 
ceive, articles on which the objectors very seriously rely. 
I shall, therefore, refer those of my readers who wish to 
see these texts particularly considered, to formal treatises 
written on the subject, and to respectable commentaries 
on the Scriptures, and shall conclude this treatise with the 
following 

REMARK: 

That the coxsiderations presented in this Tract 
strongly exhibit the folly of hazarding the soul upon 

THE DOCTRINES OF UnIVERSALISM. 

The peculiar evil of the doctrine which I have opposed 
in this Tract is this : those who embrace it are prone, 
almost of course, to feel that they are in some good degree 
safe, while continuing in a state of impenitence and un- 
behef. The heart relishes sin, and disrelishes reformation. 
Hence, it devises various modes of quieting its fears con- 
cerning the anger of God, and securing itself from future 
woe. To forsake its iniquities is, according to its own 
views, to strip itself of all real good ; and therefore does 



DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 15 

not enter into its plans, nor become any part of its con- 
duct. Still, it cannot bear the thought of being punished 
for its sins. In this situation it contrives various schemes, 
by which it hopes on the one hand to enjoy the pleasures 
of sin, and on the other to escape punishment. For this 
purpose some persons become atheists, and deny the very 
existence of God. Others become deists, and deny his 
word and character. Others, who acknoAvledge the reve- 
lation of the Scriptures, reject the atonement of Christ ; 
and others, the necessity and reality of regeneration by 
the Spirit of God ; merely that they may neither be obliged 
to confess nor to feel themselves so sinful as to need these 
things. Some determine that they shall be safe on account 
of the natural amiableness of their dispositions ; some on 
account of the abundance of their good works, their up- 
rightness towards men, their zealous attendance on the 
external duties of reliction, the fen'id state of their imao^- 
ination and their feelings with respect to religious subjects, 
or their correct and abundant conversation about religioas 
doctrines. Others still, adopt, for the same purpose, the 
scheme of Universalism ; to something very Hke which, in 
substance, all the other schemes which I have mentioned 
directly tend ; whether perceived by those who embrace 
them, or not perceived. Of those who embrace this scheme, 
some admit that the impenitent will be punished for a sea- 
son. Others deny that they will be punished at all. Some 
hold, that Christ has in the complete sense expiated the 
sins of all men ; w^hile others consider the impenitent as 
expiating their own sins by sufferings limited in their dura- 
tion. In all these different schemes, it is obvious that not a 
single contrivance is adopted to make men virtuous. This, 
evidently, is no part of their design. On the contrary, every 



16 DURATION OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

one is calculated only to foster the love of sinning, and 
provide safely for the sinner. 

But how suspicious is this design in its very nature ! 
Is there, to the eye of common sense, even a remote proba- 
bility that God will love sin, or prosper sinners ? Do 
the Scriptures furnish a single hint, which, in the remotest 
manner, even countenances such an opinion? Do they 
not, on the contrary, hold out the most terrible alarms to 
every impenitent transgressor ? Would it not break the 
heart of every such transgressor who reads this Tract, if 
God were audibly to declare to him, " Thou shalt go 
away into everlasting punishment ?" Trust not, then, your 
souls, your eternal safety, to the doctrines of Universalism. 
Launch not into the ocean of eternity upon this plank. 
Flee to Christ, the ark in which you will be secured 
from every danger. Waste not your probation in seeking 
*' refuges of lies," in ''making covenants with death, and 
agreements with hell." Remember that God hath said, 
*' Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your 
agreement with hell shall not stand." Remember, that 
Christ himself has told you, that "he who believeth on the 
Son, hath everlasting life ;" and that " he who believeth 
not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abid- 
eth on him." 



No. ISa. 

TO 

THE INHABITANTS 

OF 

NEW SETTLEMENTS 



Bl REV. ALEXANDER PROUDFIT, D.D. 

Brethrex, dearly beloved — "Mount Zion," by the 
believing Iraelites, Avas emphatically pronounced, " beautiful 
for situation, the joy of the Avhole earth." In the temple, 
which there stood, were contained " the ark of the cove- 
nant ; the mercy-seat;" the shekinah, or symbol of the 
divine presence ; and " the oracles of the living God." 
Thither the faithful among the Jews solemnly repaired at 
their appointed seasons, and deemed it equally their duty 
and glory to worship their King " in the gates of the daugh- 
ter of Zion," The royal Psalmist, when driven into the 
wilderness by the persecution of Saul, frequently cast a 
longing look towards the temple of his Father ; " his soul 
thirsted for God, for the living God, that he might see his 
power and glory, as he had seen him in the sanctuary." 
He appeared to en\y even ''the swallow and sparrow," 
which had access to " the courts of the, Lord of hosts," 
when he was excluded. 

But surely the Gospel church, although she may .appear 
externally more simple, is internally and spiritually more 
glorious. Here we have not the typical "mercy-seat, over- 
laid with gold," but we have the great antitype, Jesus the 
Divine Redeemer, through whose person and offices the 
Eternal God condescends to hold communion with his peo- 
ple, and they are emboldened to approach him with the 
confidence of children. We have not merely the books of 



2 TO THE INHABITANTS OF 

Moses, and the writings of the prophets — all that were en- 
joyed by the ancient Jews — but we have the whole canon 
of divine revelation completed : the New Testament, which 
sheds light and glory over the Old. We have not barely 
the paschal lamb, representing Messiah afterwards to ap- 
pear, and to be offered a sacrifice for sin, but Jesus, " the 
Lamb of God," as really incarnate, as already crucified, as 
having actually endured and accomplished all that was 
typified by Jewish sacrifices, or foretold by Jewish proph- 
ets ; confirming the covenant by the blood of his cross, and 
thus sealing over to his ransomed offspring the promises of 
his Gospel and the inheritance of glory. We have not 
merely the shekinah, or symbol of the divine presence, over- 
shadowing the mercy-seat, but we have the everlasting 
Father, spiritually present in the assemblies of his people. 
There he graciously dwells, enlightening their understand- 
ings, elevating their hearts, purifying their affections, and 
refreshino- them with assurances of his love. " He clothes 

o 

his priests with salvation," accompanying their administra- 
tions with the power of his Spirit ; and " causes his saints 
to shout aloud for joy." " On the mountains of Zion," the 
temple of his grace, he makes the dews of heavenly con- 
solation to descend, supporting the drooping spirits, and 
" commandeth the blessing, even life for ever more." 

This is an imperfect representation of the privileges 
which attend the ordinances of God, and of those blessings 
which are often experienced by his children in the sanctuary 
of his praise. 

What, beloved brethren, are your exercises, when you 
are now exiles from his temple, and deprived of those joys 
which are there to be expected ? Do you occasionally 
reflect, with sorrow of spirit, on opportunities formerly en- 
joyed, when you were permitted to attend "the house of 
God with the voice of joy and praise ;" when you sat down, 
from Sabbath to Sabbath, " under his shadow with great 
delight," to hear from his servants the message of life. 



NEW SETTLEMENTS. 8 

and to mingle with your brethren in adoring the conde- 
scension and grace of the infinitely precious Jesus ? Does 
it afford matter of humiliation and grief, that you are now 
doomed to spend tedious days and weeks afar off from 
the courts of your Father, destitute of that Gospel which 
might prove the power of God to your own comfort, and 
to the salvation of your beloved offspring? If such are 
the secret exercises of your hearts, permit me now affection- 
ately to ask, 

1. How did you esteem and improve the ordinances of 
religion, when they were actually enjoyed ? Was it your 
care to cultivate the " incorruptible seed " sown in your 
hearts by the dispensation of the word ? Were you often 
expostulating with the adorable Spirit to water it with his 
influences, and cause it to produce "the fruits of righteous- 
ness to the glory of God the Father?" Or were the tidings 
of great joy often heard with indifference, and attended 
merely as your own convenience might dictate ? Jehovah 
is awfully jealous of his institutions, and frequently writes 
the sin of formal, careless professors in their punishment. 
Sometimes, in his displeasure, he removes them from the 
ordinances of his grace, or he removes the ordinances from 
them, and thus teaches them the worth of their privileges 
by the want of them. Such judgments were frequently 
denounced against a spirit of slumber in the Old Testament 
worshippers, and these judgments are no less threatened 
against the indolent, unprofitable professor, in every suc- 
ceeding age. " What could have been done more to my 
vineyard, that I have not done in it?" saith God, enume- 
rating the advantages of the Jews ; " wherefore, when I 
looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth 
wild grapes ? I will take away the hedge thereof, and it 
shall be trodden down ; I will also command the clouds 
that they rain no rain upon it." A message no less alarm- 
ing was denounced by the Evangelist John against the 
church of Ephesus : " Remember, therefore, from whence 



TO THE INHABITANTS OF 



thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works ; or else 
I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candle- 
stick out of his place, except thou repent." 

2. Examine, with deep solicitude, hy what motives you 
were actuated in removing from a place where the institutions 
of the Gospel were enjoyed. If the love of this world had an 
undue influence in producing this change, you have reason 
to apprehend the displeasure of God, for thus preferring 
your temporal interests to the eternal welfare of your souls. 
Parents often become discontented with their outward con- 
dition ; they consult the worldly prosperity of themselves 
and their families, without reflecting on their immortal con- 
ceiTiS. Like Lot, as he looked over the plains of Sodom, 
they behold some other country, that it is fertile, and will 
probably aflord great worldly advantages ; they perhaps 
too lightly break off" their church connections, resign their 
church privileges, and go Avhere the sound of the Gospel 
is rarely heard, and the waters of the sanctuary rarely 
flow. 

But whether your removal from the privileges of the 
sanctuary was in any degree by your own fault, or not, let 
me remind Tou, that although you now enjoy not the oppor- 
tunity of worshipping God in the devotions of the temple, 
there are various private institutions, which it is equally your 
duty and interest to improve. 

1. Be attentive daily to peruse some p)ortions of the sacred 
Scriptures. Kext to the Gospel preached, the Gospel dili- 
gently and devoutly read, has been usually effectual, through 
the Holy Ghost, for sanctifying and comforting the heirs of 
promise. In these lively oracles a full revelation of the di- 
vine will and our duty is afforded ; we are taught what man 
was originally, as formed by his Creator, " upright," and 
perfect in every part, made " after the image of God, in 
knowledge, righteousness, and holiness ;" we have also a 
discovery of that misery into which our apostasy has plunged 
us, that ''all flesh have corrupted their ways," are alienated 



NEW SETTLEMENTS. 5 

from the life of God, and exposed to his wrath. While this 
inspired volume reveals our ruin by the first Adam, it also 
unfolds that mysterious, divinely gracious plan, which Jeho- 
vah in his love has devised for our recovery, through the 
sufterings of the "second Adam:" it exhibits the Son of 
God in his mediatorial character as adapted to all the wants 
and miseries of perishing man ; as " bearing our sins in his 
own body on the tree ;" as bringing in everlasting right- 
eousness, to secure our acceptance with the Father; as 
" able to save to the uttermost" even " the chief of sinners," 
who have recourse to his mercy. These lively oracles bring 
also to view the future condition of all men : that the " wick- 
ed," theywhoknownotGod, and obey not his Gospel, "shall 
go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous," 
all who are washed in the Saviour's blood, and sanctified by 
his Spirit, and devoted to his service, shall be awarded to 
"life eternal." Such are the infinitely important truths 
which the Bible discloses, and which render it " worthy of 
all acceptation," and of our most diligent perusal. " The 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; the testi- 
mony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple : more to 
be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold." 
Therefore, as you value your own souls, and the souls of 
your offspring, " let this word of Christ dwell in you richly." 
Be often reflecting upon it alone, and reading and repeating 
it in your families. 

2. Be careful to erect your altar to the Lord, and offer 
up your spiritual sacrifice morning and evening. No argu- 
ments are necessary to show that this is a reasonable service ; 
that it is a tribute of gratitude justly due to the God who 
formed and preserves you in a family capacity. It is in- 
cumbent on parents and masters, in whatever circumstances 
they are placed ; but, if a comparison may with propriety 
be made, it appears more indispensable in your present sit- 
uation. Being destitute of ministerial instruction, by visita- 
tion, or catechizing, or the stated preaching of the word, it 

VOL. V. 41 



Q TO THE INHABITANTS OF 

becomes you to aim at supplying this want by greater dili- 
gence in performing the private duties of religion. 

It is an ancient remark, that every parent should officiate 
as " a prophet, and priest, and king," in the circle of his 
own family. It becomes him, as a prophet, to instruct 
them ; to make them early acquainted with their guilt and 
pollution, with the necessity of " being born of the Spirit," 
and hving by faith in Jesus for pardon and glory. As a 
priest, he ought daily to intercede for his family, acknow- 
ledging their iniquities, and looking by prayer for the com- 
munication of every necessary blessing. It is incumbent on 
him, as a king, to rule them in the fear of Jehovah, to main- 
taui spiritual order, to correct whatever is irregular, and, 
like Abraham, " command his children after him to keep the 
ways of the Lord." Were all to whom the God of provi- 
dence has intrusted the management of a family thus faithful ; 
was it their chief solicitude to regulate the moral and re- 
ligious conduct of their children and, " bring them up in the 
admonition of the Lord," how happy beyond description 
would be the result ! We should less frequently witness a 
mournful ignorance in the rising generation ; we should be 
less alarmed with the progress of those errors, by which 
God is dishonored, the glory of Zion obscured, civil order 
subverted, and the souls of men eternally destroyed. 

Much may be done for the living God, and for the fu- 
ture interest of those young immortals who are intrusted to 
your care, by zeal and fidelity in your stations. But, if they 
are permitted to grow up without suitable instruction, and 
example, and discipline, what can be expected afterwards 
but irreligion, profligacy, and a wanton compliance with 
every prevailing opinion, however absurd and fatal ; and in 
the end, without the extraordinary interposition of divine 
mercy, eternal exclusion from the favor of God ? And tell 
me, ye parents who are neglecting the spiritual nurture of 
your children, is there nothing appalling, nothing melting in 
the apprehension of their never-ending destruction? Do 



NEW SETTLEMENTa 



not your hearts recoil at the thought, that a son or daughter, 
dear to you as hfe ; one whom you have tenderly nursed ; 
for whose interest you rise early, and resign many comforts, 
and encounter innumerable difficulties and dangers ; whose 
opening powers you often behold with delight, and to whom 
you look forward as your support in old age ; that such a 
child should finally perish ; and perhaps, as it is dropping 
into the gulf of perdition, should fasten its eyes upon you 
in the horrors of despair, and charge its damnation to your 
neglect? Read the following declarations, and tremble 
while you read them : " The curse of the Lord is on the 
house of the wicked." *' He will pour his fury upon the 
families which call not on his name." 

3. Be particularly careful that the Sahhath of the Lord 
be sanctified in your chvellings. No divine ordinance is in- 
troduced with greater solemnity, nor enforced by weightier 
considerations. There is no religious institution to the ob- 
servation of which richer blessings are promised, nor against 
the violation of which heavier judgments are denounced. 
*' If thou call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, 
honorable, and honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor 
finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words ; 
then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause 
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee 
with the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the 
Lord hath spoken it. But if you will not hearken unto me 
to hallow the Sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, then 
I. will kindle a fire in your gates, and it shall devour your 
palaces, and it shall not be quenched." Remember, how- 
ever. Christian parents, it is not sufficient that you yourselves 
cease from secular pursuits, and occupy that day in the 
duties of religion. The Lord God has given commandment 
concerning your children and household : " Thou shalt not 
do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy 
man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, that is within thy gates." 
Great vigilance is therefore requisite, not only for keeping 



9 TO THE INHABITANTS OF 

your own hearts, but for directing the conduct of those who 
are under your charge. Besides, you are more exposed, 
while destitute of the pubhc ordinances, to waste that day 
in idleness, or amusements ; and therefore greater watch- 
fulness must be exercised. Those who have no sanctuary 
to attend, almost necessarily become fatigued with unvary- 
ing exercises at home ; and, without special vigilance, yield 
to a spirit of sloth, or amuse themselves by improper visits 
and recreations. Thus the holy Sabbath is profaned, the 
most high God provoked, and wrath is ultimately brought 
down on families and nations. 

In order to prevent the Lord's day from appearing a 
weariness, it may be proper occasionally to vary your ser- 
vices. Besides the time occupied by individuals in secret 
devotion, it may be expedient to call your families together 
for reading portions of the Scriptures, or some practical 
writings; for repeating psalms or hymns, and uniting in 
songs of praise. Were the hours of the Sabbath judiciously 
distributed in this manner, that sacred day, instead of ap- 
pearing a burden, would become your delight ; it Avould be 
rendered, through the divine blessing, an important means 
of your progress in holiness, and a pledge of that rest which 
all the redeemed shall hereafter enjoy in the heavenly 
world : your own souls would be comforted and edified ; 
your houses converted into little sanctuaries " for the Holy 
One of Israel ;" and your children trained up for useful- 
ness in this world, and salvation in the next. 

4. In all your devotions, ivhether secret or social, spread 
hefore a compassionate Saviour the desolate condition of your 
settlements. Be importunate with Him, "who is head over 
all things to the church," who "hath received gifts for 
men," that he would send you " pastors according to his 
own heart, who may feed you with knowledge and under- 
standing." Tell him, "that the harvest is plenteous, and 
the laborers" so "few," that thousands around you are 
" perishing through lack of knowledge ;" tell him of your 



NEW SETTLEMENTa. 9 

own necessities, of the necessities of your families, and 
others ; and " give him no rest, until he have mercy upon 
you," by sending you the stated administration of his word. 

Again ; after you have been thus importunate with a 
prayer-hearing God, communicate your desires to the min- 
isters of religion, and to our missionary societies. Let the 
cry from Macedonia, which reached the ears, and melted 
the heart of the apostle, be wafted with every breeze from 
your moral wilderness : " Come over, and help us." If 
there was a famine of bread or of water among you, could 
you securely slumber ? "Would not the alarm be instantly 
spread through every part of your settlement ? Would it 
not be the subject of painful sohcitude to individuals, and 
of conversation with each other, when you occasionally 
meet ? And is there nothing alarming in the famine which 
you already feel ; a " famine of the bread of life and the 
water of life ;" of those ordinances which are usually hon- 
ored for the salvation of men ? 

Be exhorted also to improve, with becoming diligence, 
the labors of those missionaries who occasionally visit you : 
receive them with all readiness, as " the messengers of our 
churches, and the glory of Christ ;" invite them to your 
houses ; cherish them with your conversation ; ask an inter- 
est in their prayers, and give them an interest in yours, 
that their hearts may be encouraged, and their " labors of 
love" crowned with success; especially, wait with respect 
and affection upon all their public administrations among 
you : let not a single sermon which they preach, nor a relig- 
ious conference or prayer-meeting which they appoint, be 
neglected, when it is in your power to attend. Consider 
the privations to which these servants of Jesus are neces- 
sarily subjected, the toils which they endure, and the ex- 
pense at which they are supported by the friends of Zion, 
from a solicitude for your welfare ; and will it not appear 
proper, that you continue ''instant in season and out of 
season," in attending to their instructions ? " How beauti- 
VOL. v. 41"^ 



10 TO THE INHABITANTS OF 

ful, upon the mountains, are tlie feet of him who bringeth 
good tidings ; who pubhsheth salvation " to perishing sin- 
ners ? 



This Tract is prepared as a remembrancer of truths in 
which you have probably been often instructed ; and it is 
designed as a memorial that, although absent in body, there 
are friends of Jesus with w^hom you were once acquainted, 
who, as it were, yet present with you in spirit, earnestly 
desire your consolation and peace ; and who, although the 
relation which formerly existed between you and them is 
dissolved by your removal, still affectionately regard your 
spiritual and eternal welfare. I cannot conclude without 
again reminding you, in their name, of the privileges which 
you enjoy even in your present situation, and seriously and 
affectionately urging you to improve them. Although de- 
nied the pleasure of statedly entering the " gates of Zion," 
or testifying, at the sacramental table, your devotion to 
Jesus, and affection to his dear followers, yet you have 
access to the Scriptures, which you may daily consult for 
direction and comfort. " This is the more sure word of 
prophecy, to which you do well to take heed." But, while 
the Bible in your houses is an unutterable privilege, recol- 
lect also, that it greatly increases your responsibility ; and, 
if neglected, must eternally aggravate your torment beyond 
what language can express. " Search the Scriptures," 
therefore, for in them "ye have eternal life ;" and in read- 
ing them, receive, as your only portion, that Saviour of 
whom they testify. Like Mary, sit, with all humility, at 
his feet, relying upon him for pardon and peace, for spirit- 
ual light, and life, and joy, until "you receive the end of 
your faith, even the salvation of your souls," 

Permit me also again to entreat you, while excluded 
from the house of God on the Sabbath, to maintain the 
"church in your respective houses," by the performance 
of family religion morning and evening. This duty, devoutly 
discharged, will supply in some degree the want of sane- 



NEW SETTLEMENTS. 1] 

tuary privileges ; it will have a tendency to impress the 
consciences of your children with a sense of their depend- 
ence on God, and prepare them for attending, with more 
profit, the public ordinances, Avhen you may hereafter enjoy 
them. But if you live without the form of godliness ; if 
you sit down to the bounties of Providence without acknow- 
ledging their author ; if you habitually retire to rest in the 
evening, and resume 3"our labors in the morning, in the neg- 
lect of family devotion ; I must regard all your pretended 
anxiety for the institutions of the temple as empty hypocrisy, 
as insult and mockery to a heart-searching Jehovah. He 
who is not constrained, from a principle of respect to the 
authority of God, to worship him in private, would not, 
from proper motives, worship him in public, was the oppor- 
tunity enjoyed. Besides, what answer can you render him 
who has " written- to you the great things of his law," and 
commanded you " to teach them diligently to your children ; 
to talk of them, when you are sitting in the house, and 
walking by the way ; when you are lying down, and rising 
up ?" 

And now, beloved brethren, let your consciences testify, 
whether those whom God once placed over you to watch 
for your souls, and on whose ministrations you were accus- 
tomed to attend, did not faithfully urge you " to seek first 
the kingdom of God ;" to aspire not after the profession 
merely, but the power of godliness, as your happiness, and 
honor, and interest ; whether they did not aim at persuad- 
ing you, that the gain of a world could not materially profit, 
with the loss of your souls, and of the great salvation. " My 
heart's desire and prayer is," that the admonitions of those 
men of God may not be forgotten, in your present separa- 
tion from them ; that their influence may not be destroyed 
''by the cares of this world," or the artifices of the great 
adversary of your peace. Many of you who once listened 
to the voice of the ministers of Christ, shall see their face 
no more in the flesh ; but all that was formerly spoken, and 



12 TO THE INHABITANTS OF NEW SETTLEMENTS. 

all that is now written in these pages, is transcribed in the 
records of heaven ; and if slighted, must appear as addi- 
tional evidence to justify the Judge in pronouncing your 
final condemnation. And, ah ! shall those who were once 
set over you in the Lord, see upon his left hand any one 
of you, to whom they have stood in the most tender and 
endearing relation of a pastor ? and whom they have often 
instructed "in the things which belong to your peace ;" or 
to whose hands they have given the bread and the wine, 
the consecrated symbols of his own body and blood ? Shall 
they hear any one of you, in the anguish of despair, '' call- 
ing upon the mountains and rocks to hide you from the face 
of him who sitteth upon the throne," whom they have so 
frequently exhibited to you as mighty and willing to save 
you? Must they lift up their voice, saying, AMEX, to 
that sentence which, louder than a thousand thunders, shall 
burst upon the Gospel despiser, DEPART FROM ME, YE 
CURSED. 

Thou Holy Spirit, Jehovah, who art by office the applier 
of the redemption of Jesus, bring to the recollection of the 
readers of these pages every truth which has been either 
spoken or written in conformity to thy will ; by thine 
almighty energies upon their hearts, cause hfe to accompa- 
ny these instructions, and render them effectual for alarm- 
ing, or reclaiming, or confirming ; and to thee, thou di\T[nely 
gracious Comforter, with the eternal Father, and the coe- 
qual Son our Saviour, shall be ascribed the undivided honor, 
both in time and through eternity. 



No. 183. 

ON REPENTANCE. 



BY REV. JOSEPH S. CHRISTMAS. 



While many truths of religion are difficult to be under- 
stood, and liable to be mistaken, the plan of salvation and 
the way of acceptance, the doctrines necessary to be be- 
lieved, and the duties requisite to be done, are clearly 
revealed. Who need be so ignorant as not to know that 
repentance is an immediate duty? It is the burden of 
every prophet's message ; it is the theme of every teacher's 
instruction ; it is the lesson taught by the threatenings of 
the law ; it is the duty enforced by the whole spirit of 
the Gospel. The voice of him who cried in the wilderness, 
said, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
When the blessed Redeemer began to preach, it was, " Re- 
pent ye, and believe the Gospel." The apostles, as soon 
as commissioned by our Lord, " went out and preached that 
men should repent." Peter's message to the Jews was, 
" Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted 
out ;" and Paul's testimony to the Gentiles was, that " God 
commandeth all men everywhere to repent." The calls of 
God's providence, and the influences of his Holy Spirit, 
whisper, " Repent ye ;" and this little Tract, reader, sent 
with God's commission to your heart, charges you, as you 
value your soul, to repent. 

Let me show you, that the duty is not so strongly in- 
sisted upon without the best reason. 

The NECESSITY of repentance appears from the fact, that 
all have sinned. There is not a human being who does not 
come under the implication of guilt. It matters not that 
you be sober, industrious, moral, amiable, and respected ; 
if you have ever for one moment loved the Lord your God 
with less than your whole heart, and soul, and mind, and 
strength, then you are a sinner in the sight of the great 
God. I take your guilt for granted, before proceeding one 
step further. The command to repent implies your guilt. 



2 ON REPENTANCE. 

An angel of light is never commanded to repent, because 
an angel of light has never committed sin. Now, so surely 
as you have sinned, so surely must you repent, or abide the 
consequences. That these consequences are just and reason- 
able, is the sentence of both our own consciences and our 
Judge. Our own consciences acquiesce in the condemna- 
tion of the impenitent sinner. The law is holy in its nature, 
just in its requisitions, and good in its tendencies. The 
sinner broke it freely, and inexcusably ; and if he will not 
repent, it is but right he should perish. The same sentence 
is pronounced by the mouth of our Judge : " Except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise perish." " Cursed is every 
one w^ho continueth not in all things written in the book of 
the law to do them." '' Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
Oh, '' consider this, you that forget God, lest he tear you 
in pieces, and there be none to deliver." 

Repentance is necessar}^, because inseimrably connected 
with a cordial acceptance of the GosjkI. 

The Gospel comes with the ofFei" of pardon to the guilty, 
and life to the dead in trespasses and sins ; but the uncon- 
vinced, unhumbled sinner, feeling no heinous guilt, wel- 
comes no pardon ; and, insensible of his spiritual death, 
desires no spiritual life. The offer of mercy seems to him 
like the officiousness of a physician who urges his medicines 
upon the w^ell; or like the insulting pittance of charity 
tendered to the rich. The Gospel is really no Gosjyel to 
him ; its report is not glad tidings : on the contrary, he is 
offended with its humbling proposals, and revolts at its 
holy requisitions. What ! shall he confess that he is poor, 
and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked, when 
he feels that he is rich, and increased in goods, and has 
need of nothing ? What ! as an undone sinner, shall he 
rely on the merits of a crucified Saviour, when he believes 
his heart is at bottom sound, his works in the main right- 
eous, his prayers on the whole acceptable, and God too 
merciful to damn so good a person as he ? Reader, if these 
are your views, the gate of salvation by faith in Christ is 
entirely too narrow for you. 

Repentance is necessary, because without it a sinner can 
never he fit for the kingdom of God, even supposing he 
gained admission there. He can never, with the multitude 



ON REPEXTANCE. 3 

which no man can number, ascribe salvation unto the Lamb. 
For, having never felt himself lost, he can never feel the 
grateful joy of a rescue. Having never cordially acknow- 
ledged his sin, or believed in Christ, he must still impute 
to God a want of wisdom in framing, a want of goodness 
in giving, and a want of faithfulness to himself, in not im- 
mediately executing his law. Claiming heaven as his rio-ht, 
he must think God unjust for casting down to hell innu- 
merable sinners no worse than he. The contradictions are 
endless, which the salvation of an impenitent man involves. 
The salvation of an impenitent man! No, it can never 
take place. It is forbidden by the sinner's own nature, 
the glory of God, the reason of the case, the terms of sal- 
vation, and the sentence of the Judofe of all. 

Supposing you convinced of the necessity of repentance, 
let me call your attention to the xature of the duty. 

Repentance is that abhorrence of sin, and that sorrow on 
its account, ivhich leads a man to forsake it. The Scrip- 
tures have nowhere laid down a standard by which the 
pungency of penitential sorrow must be measured. It dif- 
fers in individuals, and it varies in the same individual. My 
design is not to point out the degree, but the nature of re- 
pentance. It is sorrow for sin ; which is quite distinct from 
a sorrow for the consequences of sin. There are those who, 
alarmed by their exposure to punishment, express the 
deepest regret for sin, who are no sooner relieved from 
their fears, than they relapse into their former ungodliness. 
" When he slew them, then they sought him ; and they re- 
turned and inquired early after God. Nevertheless, they 
did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him 
with their tongues. For their heart Avas not right with 
him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant." Psalm 
VS : 34-37. Such spurious sorrow, it is to be feared, is 
exercised by most who repent upon their death- bed. 

We have an impressive specimen of the language of true 
repentance in the fifty- first- Psalm : "Against thee, thee 
only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight ; that thou 
mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when 
thou judgest." The penitent man will breathe out his soul 
in lowly confession of his iniquity ; in self-abasement, and 
acknowledgment of God's justice in his condemnation. And 



4 ON REPENTANCE. 

he will, at the same time, turn from his evil way. He will 
seek to repair the injuries he may have done his fellow-men. 
He who approaches God with the gains of dishonesty in his 
hands, may be assured that he is a hypocrite. He that, 
under the pretext of law, deprives his creditors of their 
due, and beholds them suffering by his former extravagance 
or fraud, and makes no restitution from his present abun- 
dance, has no evidence that he has repented of that extrav- 
agance or fraud. He that continues to overreach his neigh- 
bor in a bargain, or sells his goods for better than they are, 
or continues, knowingly, to deal in contraband or smuggled 
commodities, can have no just pretensions to sincerity in his 
religion. 

While the penitent deplores before God the pernicious 
principles he may have formerly held, he will be concerned 
to reclaini those who have been injured hy his influence ; 
though, to his regret, he will often find, that he has sown 
seeds which he can never eradicate, and done a mischief he 
can never repair. 

Repentance will lead to a firm determination to he holy 
in future. Reformation is, after all, the only test of genuine 
repentance. It matters not hoAv much men may feel, if this 
be wanting. There may be the terror of Cain, the sorrow 
and restitution of Judas, the fair promises of Pharaoh, the 
humiliation of Ahab, the readiness of Herod in hearing 
gladly and doing many things, the joy of the stony-ground 
hearers ; there may be the tongues of angels, the gift of 
prophecy, and the knoAvledge of all mysteries ; but if 
reformation be wanting, it is all in vain. The difference be- 
tween the sorrow of the world, which worketh death, and 
godly sorrow, is, that the one leaves a man to continue in 
known sin, Avhile the other leads him without delay to for- 
sake it. He that stole must steal no more ; he that was 
fraudulent, must not only make restitution, but must be 
thenceforth honest. The tongue that was dipped in the 
poison of asps, must be regulated by the law of kindness ; 
the profane must reverence the thrice-holy name of God ; 
the liar observe the strictest verity ; the Sabbath-breaker 
must hallow God's appropriated day ; the drunkard must 
forsake his cups, and the gambler abandon his cards, or 
there is no evidence, however pungent were his convictions, 
or deep his regret, that he is a genuine penitent. 



ON REPENTANCE. 5 

It is true, that he who has sincerely repented will be 
afterwards followed by his besetting sin ; but though it 
may perplex him, and sometimes overcome him, it Avill not 
reign in him, nor be indulged by him. 

It is proper to observe, that genuine repentance towards 
God is never separated from faith towards our Lord Jesus 
Christ. The convinced sinner can find no peace of con- 
science but in the cross of Christ ; and a sight of him whom 
he has pierced will increase his mourning for sin. Hence, 
a penitent unbeliever, or an impenitent believer, are char- 
acters nowhere to be found. 

The nature of repentance being explained, let me next 
mention some encouragements to this duty. 

And first observe, that God commands it. Were a king 
to send a message to some rebellious subjects, requiring 
them to repent, it would surely be regarded as a favorable 
indication ; for he who intends no mercy, requires no sub- 
mission. If no other intelligence had ever come from heaven 
to our guilt}^ race, but the command, " Repent ye," it should 
light up a beam of hope, and lead us to conclude that God 
had thoughts of peace and purposes of mercy towards the 
relenting. 

But we have many most precious prG7niscs made to the 
penitent. " Thus saith the high and lofty One, who in- 
habiteth eternity, whoee name is Holy : I dwell in the high 
and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and 
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to 
revive the heart of the contrite ones." "To this man will 
I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite heart, and 
that trembleth at my Avord." "He that covereth his sins 
shall not prosper ; but he that confesseth and forsaketh his 
sins, shall find mercy." Prov. 28: 13. "If we say that 
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 
in us ; but if we confess," that is, acknowledge and forsake, 
" our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John, 1 : 9. 
If, after promises so encouraging, the vilest should despair, 
let him consider the case of other returning sinners. Let 
him remember David, who, after the black crimes of adul- 
tery and murder, was pardoned. Let him think of Manas- 
ssch, who, having caused the streets of Jerusalem to run 
VOL. V. 42 



6 ON REPENTANCE. 

down with innocent blood, in his old age sought mercy, and 
found it ; of Peter, who denied his Lord thrice, even with 
cursing, and yet, when he repented, Avas forgiven ; of Saul 
of Tarsus, who made havoc of the church, and persecuted 
the saints unto death, with a desperate malice, yet upon 
repentance was forgiven, and became the chiefest of the 
apostles. Let him look upon our Saviour's striking deline- 
ation of every penitent, in the parable of the prodigal son. 
When he came to himself, like a poor sinner when he begins 
for the first time to reflect on his ways, he thought of his 
father's house and the plenty there. He resolved to go, 
and try whether, after much humiliation, he might be ad- 
mitted among the hired servants. He goes, with many a 
bitter reflection on his folly, Avith many an anxious and de- 
sponding fear about his reception. He draws nigh the home 
he had deserted, afraid to approach. His father sees him 
afar off". His heart is moved within him. He runs, he falls 
upon his neck, and kisses him. " Father," cries the weep- 
ing penitent, " I have sinned against heaven, and in thy 
sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." But 
the father said unto the servants, " Bring forth the best 
robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and 
shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it ; 
for this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, 
and is found." Oh, prodigal son ! impenitent sinner ! who- 
soever thou art, who hast wandered far from thy Father's 
house, and art starving in sin, you have only to go back, in 
humble acknowledgments, and you shall have a gracious 
reception. 

It remains to point out the proper time for repentance. 
Your duty is plain, and the direction short : " Behold, now 
is the accepted time ; behold, noiv is the day of salvation." 
*' To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart." 
But the main obstacle is yet to be overcome — your repug- 
nance to the duty. Nothing effectual will be accomplished, 
unless you can be persuaded to repent without delay. And 
yet no impenitent sinner will ever cast his eyes upon these 
pages, who has not been repeatedly exhorted to this duty. 
Why then should I hope that this friendly warning will not 
be treated like that of Lot, who seemed as one that mocked 
to his sons-in-law ? If it were by human might or power. 



ON REPENTANCE. 7 

the friends of Jesus might sit down in despair ; but it is by 
the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. 

Reader, while you are looking upon this page, God is 
looking upon your heart. Perhaps his Holy Spirit, whom 
you have so long resisted, is now for the last time striving 
to bring you to repentance. Should you stifle your present 
convictions, resolve upon a more convenient season, and 
venture your eternity upon the never-coming morrow, you 
may be given up to hardness of heart, and be henceforth 
deserted of the Spirit of God. Should this be the case, 
then it would have been better for you if you never had 
been born. 

Again, consider that delay only rivets the bondage of sin ^ 
and increases the difficulty of repentance. " Can the Ethi- 
opian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? Then may 
ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." 

Consider, also, that the terms of salvation will never he 
easier than they now are. Were you to live a thousand 
years, God would not lower the requisitions of his Gospel 
one jot or tittle. He will still require repentance. He will 
still demand faith. 

There are few unconverted men who do not intend at 
some time to repent. But when will you execute your 
intention? "When I become someAvhat older," says one; 
"I am too young to think of serious things." You, my 
young friend, are the very person who ought to think of 
them. As for the old, there is little hope of them ; but 
now, Avhile your hearts are tender, and your habits un- 
formed, it will be comparatively easy. They that seek God 
early, shall find him ; and they that find him, will never 
regret it. None who read this are too young to repent. 
If you are not too young to sin, and too young to die, you 
are not too )'^oung to repent. " I will repent," says another, 
"when I shall have acquired a competency, and become 
more abstracted from the necessary cares and business of 
the world." Reflect a moment, before you make so dan- 
gerous an experiment. Consider whether the world is not 
likely to have the same influence on you, that it has upon 
all others ; whether this whirlpool, growing more rapid the 
nearer you approach it, will not finally ingulf you beyond 
recovery. Consider, as you love your own soul, whether, 
even supposing you should be spared and prospered as 



8 ON REPENTANCE. 

ranch as you desire, 3^011 Avill be in a state of mind more 
favorable to repentance than now. No, you Avill not ; and 
I warn you against the hazard you dehberately run. 

The thoughts of the heart of another are, " If I repent 
now, I must renounce all pleasures, and live a life of relig- 
ious gloom, the very idea of Avhich I cannot bear. God 
will have mercy on me, if I repent at my last hour; and 
thus I shall escape the penance, and get the blessing too." 
Let me tell you, sinner, whosoever you be, that you are 
under the delusion of the devil. And is a life of piety, 
then, a life of irksome gloom ? Bear witness with me, all 
ye that have ever tasted that the Lord is gracious, if this 
is not an utter misapprehension. And so you intend, after 
you have spent the best of your life in the service of Satan, 
to give a miserable remnant to God ! And are you perfectly 
sure that you will repent at the last hour ? Do you not 
know that there is a time, when you may call, and God 
will not answer; when you may stretch forth your hands, 
and he will not regard ? What evidence will you then 
have that your repentance is sincere? Is it not plain, 
that the only additional motive which you can then have, 
will be the fear of punishment? And is it not clear, that 
such a repentance will be a mere forced submission ? Are 
you sure you Avill have an opportunity to repent at your 
dying hour ? Many lose their lives suddenly, Avithout any 
warning ; many become immediately delirious ; many are 
so racked with pain, and stupefied by medicine, that it is 
impossible for them to command tlieir thoughts, or make 
any preparation for eternity. Assuredly a dying hour is 
not the proper time for repentance. " Seek the Lord Avhile 
he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let 
the wicked " vow " forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, and 
he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will 
abundantly pardon." 



rUBLTSHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



THE 



No. 184 



CHIMNEY-SWEEPEK 




Mr. Thompson, a gentleman residing in the city of Lon- 
don, made it his frequent employment, when the labors of 
the day were concluded, to visit the cottages of the poor, that 
he might personally relieve the indigent, and comfort the af- 
flicted. His servants having informed him. that his chimneys 
required cleaning, he resolved to visit the chimney-sweeper 
himself, and to take with him his eldest son James, who was 
often favored to be his companion in his benevolent excur- 
sions. In the evening they walked towards the narrow lane 
and poor neighborhood where William Black the chimney- 
sweeper resided, in the cellar of a small house. 

As they were descending the staircase, James pulled his 
father by the coat, and whispering, desired him to listen to the 
voice of a person who was reading aloud. They proceeded 
silently nearer to the door, and then heard a lad reading from 
the Bible. The chimney-sweeper, with his wife and three 
VOL. V. 42* 



2 THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 

toys, were sitting around the fire, attending to the passage 
which one of the lads Avas reading, with much apparent seri- 
ousness. When he had finished the chapter, they all kneel- 
ed doAvn, and the man prayed to God with much fervency. 

Mr. Thompson was delighted at the simplicity and fer- 
vor with which this prayer was uttered, and opening the 
door, he entered, and seizing the astonished chimney-sweep- 
er by the hand, " Friend," said he, " I am rejoiced to find 
that you are a brother in Christ Jesus. I have listened to 
your prayers, and must acknowledge that true Christians, 
in the highest and lowest stations of life, are children of the 
same family ; they feel the same wants, they need the same 
mercy, and they are looking forward to the same home. 
God is our common father and friend ; he visits the cottage 
of the pious peasant or the cellar of the praying chimney- 
sweeper, as well as the mansions of the wealthy and the 
palaces of princes. Your gratitude and contentment have 
taught me a lesson, which I hope I shall never forget, when 
bowing at the throne of grace. I must stay a few minutes 
with you, to inquire by Avhat means you have been led to 
adopt these principles, and thus to live to the service of 
God."' Poor William at first could scarcely speak, and 
hung down his head ; but Mr. Thompson's kind address 
encouraged him, and dispelled his fears. He entreated Mr. 
Thompson and his son to take a seat, if they could sit down 
in his poor cellar. 

When they were seated, Mr. Thompson was surprised, 
on looking around, to see every thing so clean and neat, 
considering the place in which they were. A modest look- 
ing woman was sitting by the table, sewing, and the three 
boys around her had already got their books, to learn the 
lessons which were set them at their Sabbath-school. 

" I wonder how you keep every thing so clean, in your 
business?" said Mr. Thompson. 

"Why, it is a hard matter," replied William; "and 
Mary and I have much trouble sometimes to make things 



THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 3 

decent; but we manage to keep the house pretty clean. 
You knoAV, sir, there must be some people to sweep chim- 
nej^s as well as to do other things ; and a piece of bread 
honestly earned in this way, with the blessing of God, tastes 
as sweet to us as the greatest delicacies do to the rich." 

" True, William ; ' o-odliness, with contentment, is o-reat 
gain ;' true happiness depends more upon the mind than 
upon outward circumstances ; the grace of God, and the 
hopes of the Christian, will cheer and support the heart in 
every situation." Mr. Thompson then earnestly requested 
William to give him some account of his past history, to 
which, after much persuasion, he consented ; and gave the 
following narration : 

" I have never known, sir, nor do I suppose I ever shall 
find out who were my parents. The earhest circumstances 
of my life which I can remember are, that I was placed in 
the parish workhouse of a village about twenty miles from 
London, surrounded with a large number of persons, who, 
in general, were very profligate and wretched. No kind 
father taught me to read the word of God, corrected me 
for my faults, or conducted my youthful feet to the sanc- 
tuary. No mother taught me to lisp an infant prayer, or a 
simple hymn. I never received her caresses, or rejoiced at 
her smiles. I was friendless, uninstructed, and depraved. 
My earliest practices were evil ; I soon learned to lie, to 
curse, and to swear, and there was scarcely any sin, of 
which my age was capable, that I did not commit. 

"One morning, the master of the workhouse called me 
to his room, and informed me that he was going to appren- 
tice me to a Mr. B., a chimney-sweeper, of London. He 
then said, ' Before you leave this house, I will tell you all 
that I know of your history, for it may be useful to you at 
some period of your life. My wife Avas going out early one 
morning, and, as she tried to open the front door, she found 
that there was something against it ; she called to me, and 
on opening the door we saw a basket covered with linen. 



4 THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 

On opening it we discovered a little babe, who wept as we 
awoke him from his slumbers. We immediately supposed 
that this must have been a child of one of the gypsies, who 
had lately pitched their tents on our common, and who we 
found had decamped in the night. We took you in, and 
you have been ever since supported by this parish ; and we 
gave you the name of William Black, on account of your 
dark complexion. As you are now getting old enough to 
earn your bread, you must go out into the world. Mr. B. 
will come to-morrow morning to take you away ; and I wish 
you, my lad, good luck wherever you go.' 

"I rejoiced to hear that I was about to change my sit- 
uation ; and though the idea of becoming a chimney-sweeper 
may not appear very pleasing, yet I was glad, by any means, 
to leave the workhouse. In the morning Mr. B. came and 
took me away with him^ As we came near to town, I was 
exceedingly delighted to see the carts, and the gay coaches, 
and the splendid things and persons of London. But I soon 
found my hopes of happiness to be vain ; for my master was 
an ill-natured man, and very frequently chastised his ap- 
prentices severely. I being younger than most of them, 
was exposed also to their ill-treatment ; and I really think 
if I had not been naturally very hardy, from being bred up 
in a workhouse, that I should not have long survived. 

'* In this situation I became worse and worse, as I ad- 
vanced in years, so that even my -wicked companions and 
neighbors would sometimes cry out, ' Shame ! shame ! you 
are too bad ! too bad !' All the religious instruction which 
I received, was from being forced sometimes to go to church 
with my master's wife or children, though this I very much 
disliked ; and I often refrained from cleaning myself on the 
Sabbath, that I might not be compelled to go to church, and 
thus lose some hours of play or vicious pleasures. 

" One morning, when it was scarcely light, I was sweep- 
ing a gentleman's chimneys, and being at the top of the 
house, I resolved to amuse myself by going to the adjoining 



THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 5 

roof, and attempting to frighten the servants by shaking my 
brush at the garret window and groaning. As I was getting 
over the division which separated the two houses, to carry 
this frohc into execution, the bricks gave way, and I fell to 
the ground. If the house had been as high as most in Lon- 
don, I should certainly hare been killed on the spot. I was 
quite insensible for a long time ; but, on recovering, I found 
myself in the hospital ; my head was much hurt, and one of 
my arms broken. I lay upon my bed in very great pain 
of body and of mind. Oh ! if I had died, said I to myself, 
where should I have now been ? I have heard of a heaven, 
but I could never have hoped to arrive there : I have heard 
of hell, and there I must have been condemned for ever to 
remain. How dreadful the anger of God ; and how^ much 
have I deserved his severest punishments ! With such 
thoughts my mind was distressed all the long, long, sleep- 
less night. I sometimes thought of praying ; but then it 
struck me, that God, whose name I had so often blasphemed, 
would not hear such a wretch as I. HoAvever, one night the 
agony of my soul was so great, that I groaned out, ' God be 
merciful to me a sinner!' Then I withdrew my words, 
adding w^ith a flood of tears, * I am too great a sinner to be 
pardoned; I cannot dare to hope for mercy.' 'There is 
mercy Avith God,' exclaimed a poor shoemaker, who was in 
the next bed to mine, and overheard me ; ' Jesus Christ came 
into the world to save sinners Avho feel their sinfulness, and 
who cry to him for mercy. I was as great a sinner as you, 
but I hope I have found mercy ; and Jesus invites you : 
* Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 
I Avill give you rest.' * Though your sins be as scarlet, they 
shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, 
they shall be as wool.' 'Can this be so,' said I; 'this 
information is too good to be true ; is not God too holy to 
forgive me, and am not I too great a sinner for Jesus Christ 
to pardon ?' ' No,' rephed he ; ' the Avord of God, contained 
in the Bible, speaks pardon and peace to the guilty, Avhile 



6 THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 

the holiness, as well as the mercy of God, are shown forth 
in the atonement made by Jesus Christ. If you had not 
been injured by your fall, you would have had no occasion 
for the surgeon's aid ; so, if we had not been spiritually 
wounded and diseased, there would have been no necessity 
for a Saviour. The whole need not a physician, but those 
that are sick.' 

"As both of us became gradually better, I earnestly 
requested this poor man, whose name was Adams, to teach 
me to read the Bible, which spoke so much about Jesus 
Christ, and showed the way of salvation through him. He 
was willing to instruct me ; and though I was rather slow 
at first, not having had any advantages while young, yet 
as I was resolutely determined to learn, and was constantly 
employed at my book, I found difficulties vanish, and was 
soon able to make out a chapter in the Bible. How did I 
delight to sit reading and thinking over the sacred Scrip- 
tures ! I had never enjoyed true pleasure till this time ; 
for even the sorrows of penitence are more desirable than 
the enjoyments of sin, 

" When we were both recovered, we had a sorrowful 
parting ; particularly because I was about to be separated 
from the Bible ; however, I agreed to arise early every 
Sabbath morning, and go to his lodging, and there commit 
to memory a chapter, that I might repeat it to myself every 
day of the week. 

" The change which I had experienced was soon noticed 
by my former companions, who exceedingly wondered that 
I would not still go with them to the same excess of riot. 
They began to whisper among themselves that I had become 
religious ; and some of them shrewdly pretended to suspect 
that my brain had been turned by my fall. My neighbors, 
who once thouo-ht me 'too bad,' now agrreed that I was 
certainly righteous overmuch. They, with my master and 
fellow-apprentices, now began to ridicule and abuse me ; 
but when they saw that I bore their reproaches with pa- 



THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 7 

tience, and was willing to do them any acts of kindness 
which were in my power, they soon discontinued their in- 
sults, and I trust some of them have derived lasting good 
from the instructions I have been enabled to give them. 

" I went every Sabbath to my friend the shoemaker, who 
took me to the house of God, where I have spent many 
pleasant hours, in a little dark corner, which I was permit- 
ted to occupy. These means of grace, and the pious con- 
versation and example of my friend, were very useful. 
From the time I quitted the hospital, I very much regret- 
ted that I had no Bible of my own ; this was a treasure 
which I longed to have constantly near me. I resolved to 
save all the money which was given me, to buy the word 
of God. In about six months, I found that I had saved 
a sum that I thought might be sufficient for this purpose, 
with which I posted off to an old book- shop, where I bought 
a second-hand Bible ; and, as I carried it away, I thought 
myself one of the happiest individuals in the Avorld. All 
my spare time I employed in reading the sacred Scriptures ; 
and I have to bless God that they were made very useful 
to my master's daughter. 

" When the time of my apprenticeship had nearly ex- 
pired, my master died. This afforded an opening for me ; 
and as there v»'as a mutual attachment between his daugh- 
ter and myself, we were some time after married, and have 
lived here together ever since. God has blessed us with 
three children ; they go regularly to the Sabbath- school, 
and I trust will become wise and good in their early days. 
Thus you see, sir, that God has been with me thus far ; and 
he will be my God and my guide through life, my comfort 
in death, and my portion for ever beyond the grave." 

Mr. Thompson was exceedingly delighted with this ac- 
count ; and, as he vralked home with his son, said, " Here 
is a pleasing instance of the influence of divine grace in 
humble life, and with few advantages. Oh, then, how 
careful we should be to improve our greater privileges, the 



8 THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER. 

bounties of Providence, and the blessings of grace ; lest 
this poor chimney-sweeper should rise up in judgment 
against us at the last day : for, ' to whomsoever much is 
given, of him shall be much required.' '* 

This little story is calculated to excite our admiration 
of the mercy which is often mingled in the most afflictive 
events of life. The poor chimney-sweeper suffered not 
a little in body, in consequence of his rashness and impru- 
dence, but hoAV happy for him that he was thus brought to 
a sense of his lost condition, and made willing to receive 
spiritual counsel, to which, under more prosperous cir- 
cumstances, his heart might have been impenetrably closed. 
How merciful and kind that Providence which supplied him, 
in his need, with an enlightened, though humble instructor; 
and how salutary that advice, which, instead of pointing 
the convicted sinner to any inferior reliance, directed him 
at once to " the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of 
the world." 

Let it also be observed how effectual was the work of 
grace upon his heart ; what anxiety he manifested to become 
acquainted with the sacred Scriptures ; how happy the 
possession of this treasure made him ; how diligently he 
perused its invaluable pages ; what a gratification was afford- 
ed him in its being made, through his agency, a blessing to 
others ; with what assiduity he endeavored to fulfil the 
duties of a Christian parent; and with what holy confidence 
he relied upon God for his perseverance in well-doing, and 
its glorious rewards. 

Reader, thy life hangs by a slender thread. In a mo- 
ment thou mayest be called to thy dread account. Art 
thou prepared to meet thy God ? Has thy heart been 
humbled under a sense of sin ? Hast thou fled for refuge 
to the hope set before thee in the Gospel ? 



PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



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