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diff --git a/49126-h/49126-h.htm b/49126-h/49126-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0025e26 --- /dev/null +++ b/49126-h/49126-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7521 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>The Duty of a Christian People under Divine Visitations, by Newton Smart</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .5em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Duty of a Christian People under Divine +Visitations, by Newton Smart + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: The Duty of a Christian People under Divine Visitations + + +Author: Newton Smart + + + +Release Date: June 3, 2015 [eBook #49126] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE +UNDER DIVINE VISITATIONS*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1832 J. G. & F. Rivington edition by +David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1><span class="GutSmall">THE</span><br /> +DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">UNDER</span><br /> +DIVINE VISITATIONS.</h1> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY +THE</span><br /> +REV. NEWTON SMART, M.A.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.</span></p> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">“WHEN THY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, THE +INHABITANTS OF THE</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WORLD WILL LEARN +RIGHTEOUSNESS.”</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD, AND +WATERLOO-PLACE:</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND SOLD BY J. HATCHARD & SON, +PICCADILLY; PARKER, & TALBOYS,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OXFORD; ANDREWS, DURHAM; CHARNLEY, +NEWCASTLE;</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">RENNEY, SUNDERLAND; AND OTHER +BOOKSELLERS.</span></p> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">1832.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pageii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. ii</span><span +class="GutSmall">LONDON:</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">PRINTED BY GILBERT & +RIVINGTON,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pageiii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. iii</span><span class="GutSmall">TO</span><br +/> +<span class="GutSmall">THE REVERED MEMORY</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OF</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ONE OF THE KINDEST AND BEST OF +MOTHERS,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WHO</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">RECEIVED HER CHILDREN AS A GIFT THAT +COMETH OF THE LORD,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND PRAYED AND LABOURED,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WITH EARNEST AND FAITHFUL +DILIGENCE,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">TO BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND +ADMONITION OF THE LORD,</span><br /> +THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WITH THE DEEPEST FEELINGS OF FILIAL LOVE, +GRATITUDE,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND VENERATION.</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">“THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS +BLESSED.”</p> +<h2><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span><span +class="GutSmall">THE</span><br /> +DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE,<br /> +&c.</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><i>Isaiah</i> x. 3.</p> +<p><span class="GutSmall">“WHAT WILL YE DO IN THE DAY OF +VISITATION AND IN THE DESOLATION WHICH SHALL COME FROM FAR? +TO WHOM WILL YE FLEE FOR HELP?”</span></p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> aspect of the times, upon a +careful survey, presents, to the thoughtful mind, cause of +anxiety for the safety and welfare of the empire; and, to the +religious mind, ground for apprehension, lest the Almighty should +be about to visit, for the sins of the nations, by “pouring +upon them the vials of His wrath.” <a +name="citation3a"></a><a href="#footnote3a" +class="citation">[3a]</a> In the emphatic language of our +Lord’s prediction of the latter days; there is, throughout +Europe, “distress of nations with perplexity; men’s +hearts failing them for fear; and for looking after those things +which are coming upon the earth.” <a +name="citation3b"></a><a href="#footnote3b" +class="citation">[3b]</a> In this country, to an alarming +state of popular excitement, there has supervened a new cause of +dread, so great, as almost to absorb, for the present, all +subjects of merely temporal interest. A fearful and most +fatal pestilence, which <a name="page4"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 4</span>had extended far and wide in Asia, has +been gradually spreading throughout Europe, and steadily +advancing towards our shores: there exists a difference of +opinion as to whether or not it has reached them; but thus much +is certain; an epidemic, similar in character, and hardly less +malignant and fatal, has broken out in one of the seaports of the +kingdom, and extended to some of the neighbouring towns and +villages; thus appearing to establish its identity with the +Continental disease.</p> +<p>Under circumstances so calculated to produce general +apprehension, and so full of danger to the community at large, it +becomes a matter of vital importance to enquire, What is the +course a Christian people should adopt? To such an enquiry, +the sincere Christian,—who is satisfied, that the safety of +nations and of individuals is, at all times, in the protection of +the Almighty; and who believes, that the sword, the famine, the +earthquake, the tempest, and the pestilence, are but instruments +in the hand of God to execute His sovereign and gracious +will,—may justly reply in the words of a prophet of old, +speaking in the name of the Most High: “<span +class="smcap">Therefore</span>, <span class="smcap">also</span>, +<span class="smcap">now saith the lord</span>, <span +class="smcap">turn ye even to me</span>, <span class="smcap">with +all your heart</span>, <span class="smcap">and with +fasting</span>, <span class="smcap">and with weeping</span>, +<span class="smcap">and with mourning</span>. <span +class="smcap">And rend your heart</span>, <span class="smcap">and +not your garments</span>, <span class="smcap">and turn unto the +lord your god</span>: <span class="smcap">for he is gracious and +merciful</span>, <span class="smcap">slow to anger</span>, <span +class="smcap">and of great kindness</span>, <span +class="smcap">and repenteth</span> <a name="page5"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 5</span><span class="smcap">him of the +evil</span>.” <a name="citation5a"></a><a +href="#footnote5a" class="citation">[5a]</a> And how is a +whole nation to be called upon to humble themselves before God in +the day of their visitation? Let the same Prophet return +the answer; “<span class="smcap">Blow the trumpet in +zion</span>, <span class="smcap">sanctify a fast</span>, <span +class="smcap">call a solemn assembly</span>, <span +class="smcap">gather the people</span>, <span +class="smcap">sanctify the congregation</span>, <span +class="smcap">assemble the elders</span>, <span +class="smcap">gather the children</span>. <span +class="smcap">Let the priests</span>, <span class="smcap">the +ministers of the lord</span>, <span class="smcap">weep between +the porch and the altar</span>, <span class="smcap">and let them +say</span>, <span class="smcap">spare thy people</span>, <span +class="smcap">o lord</span>.” <a name="citation5b"></a><a +href="#footnote5b" class="citation">[5b]</a></p> +<p>As the Almighty, “with whom is no variableness, nor +shadow of turning,” <a name="citation5c"></a><a +href="#footnote5c" class="citation">[5c]</a> is “the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever;” <a +name="citation5d"></a><a href="#footnote5d" +class="citation">[5d]</a> as “whatsoever things were +written aforetime, were written for our learning; that we, +through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have +hope:” <a name="citation5e"></a><a href="#footnote5e" +class="citation">[5e]</a> let the people of this kingdom, strong +in faith, raise, on an appointed day, their united voice in +prayer; and in the language of sorrow, humiliation, and +repentance, cry, O Lord, “we have sinned with our fathers, +we have done amiss and dealt wickedly;” <a +name="citation5f"></a><a href="#footnote5f" +class="citation">[5f]</a> but “Thou, Lord, art good, and +ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them who call +upon Thee!” <a name="citation5g"></a><a href="#footnote5g" +class="citation">[5g]</a> Alas! because we see not the +“outstretched arm” of Omnipotence, which governeth +the nations; because we hear not the “mighty <a +name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>voice” +which universal Nature obeys; we too often forget that “the +Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his +ear heavy that it cannot hear:” <a name="citation6a"></a><a +href="#footnote6a" class="citation">[6a]</a> we too often forget +that it is “God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of +the world.” <a name="citation6b"></a><a href="#footnote6b" +class="citation">[6b]</a></p> +<p>But is it sufficient to call upon a people, suffering under +the apprehension or infliction of Divine judgments, to assemble +in the courts of the Lord’s house, to acknowledge the +justice of their punishment, and to humble themselves before +their God? Let the volume of inspiration again reply, +“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto +me? saith the Lord?” <a name="citation6c"></a><a +href="#footnote6c" class="citation">[6c]</a>—“<span +class="smcap">Wash ye</span>, <span class="smcap">make you +clean</span>, <span class="smcap">put away the evil of your +doings before mine eyes</span>; <span class="smcap">cease to do +evil</span>, <span class="smcap">learn to do well</span>, <span +class="smcap">seek judgment</span>, <span class="smcap">relieve +the oppressed</span>, <span class="smcap">judge the +fatherless</span>, <span class="smcap">plead for the +widow</span>.” <a name="citation6d"></a><a +href="#footnote6d" class="citation">[6d]</a> “<span +class="smcap">Behold</span>, <span class="smcap">to obey is +better than sacrifice</span>, <span class="smcap">and to hearken +than the fat of rams</span>.” <a name="citation6e"></a><a +href="#footnote6e" class="citation">[6e]</a></p> +<p>Much has been effected when a nation has been brought to +prostrate itself before God, and, through a deep sense of its +guilt, weakness, and misery, to flee unto Him, who alone is +mighty to save; but incalculably more has been accomplished, when +to the prayer for mercy has been added one for grace; and it has +been truly, not less the language of the heart than of the lips, +“Sanctify to us this thy <a name="page7"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 7</span>fatherly correction, that the sense of +our weakness may add strength to our faith, and seriousness to +our repentance.” <a name="citation7a"></a><a +href="#footnote7a" class="citation">[7a]</a> May God, of +His great mercy, vouchsafe to the people of this land, “to +know the time of their visitation;” <a +name="citation7b"></a><a href="#footnote7b" +class="citation">[7b]</a> to humble themselves before Him, who +“in faithfulness has caused them to be troubled;” <a +name="citation7c"></a><a href="#footnote7c" +class="citation">[7c]</a> to “seek the Lord while He may be +found, and to call upon Him while He is near;” <a +name="citation7d"></a><a href="#footnote7d" +class="citation">[7d]</a> and to “repent and turn +themselves from all their transgressions: so iniquity shall not +be their ruin.” <a name="citation7e"></a><a +href="#footnote7e" class="citation">[7e]</a> Oh that the +practical infidelity, which exists to such a fearful extent in +the present day, may not withhold from a suffering people the +deliverance and blessing which God alone can bestow! A +neglect and distrust, if not a denial of God’s Providence, +in the preservation and government of nations and individuals, is +one of the most crying sins of the day. Because the natural +eye does not perceive the visible workings of a Divine economy in +the course of events, it practically ascribes all to human means, +and relies on human aid. But, as if “the finger of +God” was to be revealed as pointing in wrath to this great +truth of natural and revealed religion—a Divine +providence—one of the most remarkable and terrible features +of this fatal pestilence, through which so many millions of <a +name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>human beings +have been swept away, is, that whilst human prudence has been +completely baffled in its plans of prevention, human science has +failed in its attempts at cure. What a salutary lesson does +this teach, in a day when earthly is often elevated above +heavenly wisdom in the estimation of men, and when the arm of +flesh appears more confided in than the arm of Omnipotence, for +the accomplishment of events!</p> +<p>May the great Disposer of events, who, in the dispensations of +His Providence, is graciously pleased to educe real good from +seeming evil, make this awful visitation productive of religious +advantage to this and other nations. May earthly sovereigns +learn that the Lord, by whom “kings reign, and princes +decree justice,” <a name="citation8a"></a><a +href="#footnote8a" class="citation">[8a]</a> is their defence, +and “the Holy One of Israel, their King:” <a +name="citation8b"></a><a href="#footnote8b" +class="citation">[8b]</a> may the rulers of the people remember, +that “except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh +but in vain.” <a name="citation8c"></a><a +href="#footnote8c" class="citation">[8c]</a></p> +<p>For although God’s providence governs all things in +heaven and in earth, still the great Sovereign of the universe, +“the King of kings, and Lord of lords,” +“waiteth to be gracious,” nor suffers His truth to +fail. He shuts not up His loving-kindness in displeasure, +but listens to the prayers of the meanest of His servants; and in +answer to them, He <a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +9</span>often suspends, and sometimes averts his just +judgments. The guilty cities of the Plain would have been +spared for the sake of ten righteous, if that number of the +servants of the true God could have been found amongst the +inhabitants. <a name="citation9a"></a><a href="#footnote9a" +class="citation">[9a]</a> Nor is the prayer of humble and +contrite guilt disregarded. The judgments impending over +Nineveh were suspended, when that mighty capital, at the +preaching of a prophet, acknowledged its sin, and humbled itself +before the Lord. <a name="citation9b"></a><a href="#footnote9b" +class="citation">[9b]</a></p> +<p>Let, then, the prayer of repentance, faith, and submission, +arise to the throne of Divine grace, from the united people of +the land; and, soon as the merciful object of this visitation is +answered, we may humbly trust the command, as of old, will be +addressed to the destroying angel, “<span class="smcap">It +is enough</span>, <span class="smcap">now stay thine +hand</span>.” <a name="citation9c"></a><a +href="#footnote9c" class="citation">[9c]</a> For the +Almighty has himself declared, “At what instant I shall +speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, +and to pull down, and to destroy it: if that nation, <span +class="smcap">against whom i have pronounced</span>, <span +class="smcap">turn from their evil</span>, <span class="smcap">i +will repent of the evil that i thought to do unto +them</span>.” <a name="citation9d"></a><a +href="#footnote9d" class="citation">[9d]</a></p> +<p>May, then, this nation receive grace, in this their day of +trial, to “<span class="smcap">turn from their +evil</span>,” before the Lord “allow His full +displeasure to arise.” May they learn and +acknowledge, that their only hope <a name="page10"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 10</span>of safety is in the mercy and +long-suffering of God, who alone can preserve them from +“the pestilence which walketh in darkness, and from the +sickness which destroyeth in the noon-day.” May they +“offer faithfully,” and the Lord “receive +acceptably,” their prayer for deliverance: “Have +pity, O Lord, have pity upon Thy people, both here and abroad; +withdraw Thy heavy hand from those who are suffering under Thy +judgments; and remove from us that grievous calamity, against +which, our only security is in Thy compassion!” <a +name="citation10a"></a><a href="#footnote10a" +class="citation">[10a]</a> And may our gracious and +long-suffering Lord be pleased to arrest in its course the +pestilence, now confined to few places, and to permit it not to +spread dismay and death through the towns and villages of the +kingdom.</p> +<p>Thus far, the duty of a Christian people <i>collectively</i>, +under Divine judgments, has been shewn; it remains to consider +their duty <i>individually</i>; which involves the consideration +of what man owes to his God, his country, his neighbour, and +himself, under any general visitation of Divine Providence. +The Christian’s duty towards God, when His judgments are +abroad, is a recognition of, and submission to, His chastening +hand: to his country, unwearied exertion for the removal of the +evils which appear <a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +11</span>to have called down the Divine vengeance: to his +neighbour, friendly assistance, religious exhortation, and +spiritual consolation: and to himself, through Divine grace, +humiliation, repentance, amendment, and daily preparation for +death and judgment.</p> +<p>These several duties, being all dependent upon each other, and +intimately blended in their operation, may, perhaps, be not +unfitly considered, as embraced by the public and private +obligations of Christians under afflictive dispensations; which +may be briefly stated to be—earnest prayer and incessant +labour to effect a <span class="GutSmall">PERSONAL +REFORMATION</span>, and, as far as in them lies, a <span +class="GutSmall">NATIONAL REFORMATION</span>; which are proposed +to be considered, as follows, more at large.</p> +<p>Let individuals “humble themselves under the mighty hand +of God;” <a name="citation11"></a><a href="#footnote11" +class="citation">[11]</a> let them acknowledge the extent of +their sinfulness, and the justice of their punishment; let them +confide in God’s mercy, and commit themselves to His safe +keeping; let them seek for grace to reform, in their lives and +conversation, whatever is at variance with the Gospel; from +which, and not from the maxims of men, let them learn what is +required of Christians.</p> +<p>Let them publicly bear testimony at once to the justice and +mercy of God’s judgments, and strive earnestly to rouse the +nation to a sense of its guiltiness, which has exposed it to the +Divine displeasure; <a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +12</span>let them, in dependence on the blessing of Heaven, +labour to eradicate all infidel and heretical opinions; to +advance a reformation of public morals; and to promote a general +diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful +knowledge.</p> +<p>Too justly does the language of Isaiah, addressed to the +rebellious and guilty house of Judah, apply to our own times: +“Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of +evil-doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the +Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they +are gone backward.” <a name="citation12a"></a><a +href="#footnote12a" class="citation">[12a]</a> May He, +“who alone can order the unruly wills and affections of +sinful men,” and convert them from the evil of their ways, +“pour upon all flesh the spirit of grace and +supplication;” <a name="citation12b"></a><a +href="#footnote12b" class="citation">[12b]</a> that individual +may extend, until it become national repentance, and the whole +nation worship before Him. Then will the scourge of His +wrath prove the harbinger of His mercy, and we shall become a +chosen people, a holy nation unto the Lord. Then may our +gracious and long-suffering God allow us, without presumption, to +draw comfort from those words of favour and forgiveness, spoken +to His people when humbled and contrite: “Remember these, O +Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant; I have formed thee, +thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me: +I have blotted out as a thick cloud <a name="page13"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 13</span>thy transgressions, and as a cloud +thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.” <a +name="citation13a"></a><a href="#footnote13a" +class="citation">[13a]</a></p> +<h3>I. The Christian’s duty of personal reformation +under Divine judgments.</h3> +<p>It is from the volume of inspiration—whence he derives +all the light which he enjoys, as to the providence, beneficence, +and love of God; whence he draws all the knowledge he possesses +as to the nature of his own being, the object of his present +existence, and the place of his final destination;—man must +learn his duty under the Divine dispensations. The Holy +Scriptures are to the true Christian “a lamp unto his feet, +and a light unto his paths.” <a name="citation13b"></a><a +href="#footnote13b" class="citation">[13b]</a> When +pursuing his heavenward journey through this vale of tears, the +prospect often appears uninviting and gloomy, the sky dark and +troubled, and the way, always narrow, becomes sometimes a thorny +and tangled path. Dangers also, more or less near and +alarming, keep the pilgrim often under apprehension, and always +on his guard. Still, he pursues a straight-forward course, +from which he deviates little—for he possesses a guide more +unerring than the compass of the mariner, and that guide is the +infallible Word of God. When darkness obscures, +difficulties perplex, and dangers environ his road, in his +unfailing “lamp” he finds light, guidance, and +safety.</p> +<p><a name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>At this +moment, a dark cloud hangs over this country:—nay, more, +the storm of Divine displeasure has already commenced. +Lest, therefore, it should burst upon us in its full +“fury,” let all betake themselves to that blessed +light, which, amid the thickest darkness and most appalling +storm, can “guide our feet into the way of peace.” <a +name="citation14a"></a><a href="#footnote14a" +class="citation">[14a]</a> Let the enquiry be made as to +the course to be adopted in the words of a Prophet: +“<i>What will ye do in the day of visitation</i>, <i>and in +the desolation which shall come from far</i>? <i>To whom +will ye flee for help</i>?” <a name="citation14b"></a><a +href="#footnote14b" class="citation">[14b]</a> Let the same +Prophet reply: “<span class="smcap">Trust ye in the lord +for ever</span>, <span class="smcap">for in the lord jehovah is +everlasting strength</span>.” <a name="citation14c"></a><a +href="#footnote14c" class="citation">[14c]</a></p> +<p>Trust in God is the necessary fruit of faith, which is the +only basis on which religion can rest: “he that cometh to +God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them +that diligently seek Him:” <a name="citation14d"></a><a +href="#footnote14d" class="citation">[14d]</a> thus, except with +one philosophical school of antiquity, a belief in the being of a +God has, even amongst the Heathen, always been accompanied by a +trust in His Providence. In the Christian scheme, this +trust is a fixed, governing principle. “To take +notice of the hand of God in every thing that befalls us,” +says the learned and excellent Sherlock, “to attribute all +the evils we <a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +15</span>suffer, and all the good things, to His sovereign will +and appointment: this is the foundation of all the other duties +which we owe to Providence, and the general neglect of this makes +us defective in all the rest.” <a name="citation15a"></a><a +href="#footnote15a" class="citation">[15a]</a></p> +<p>This passage supplies a clear view of Christian duty under +afflictive dispensations. As faith recognises an Almighty +Father’s will in the appointment, and His hand in the +direction of events, the believer refers equally national and +individual prosperity and adversity, mercies and visitations, to +Him, “whose power ruleth over all.” And as he +refers all events to the will and appointment of the great +Governor of the Universe, he endeavours to receive whatever +befalls him, as coming from His hand, with patient submission and +humble thankfulness: for he knows how immeasurably his punishment +falls short of his deserts; and he is assured, that “<i>God +chastens us for our profit</i>, <i>that we might be partakers of +His holiness</i>.” <a name="citation15b"></a><a +href="#footnote15b" class="citation">[15b]</a> At the same +time, therefore, that he relies with firm dependence on the +tender mercies, the blessed guidance, and sure protection of his +Heavenly Father; he seeks for grace to improve to the spiritual +advancement of himself and others, the divine +chastisements,—“chastisements which originate in +love, and are tempered with mercy:” <a +name="citation15c"></a><a href="#footnote15c" +class="citation">[15c]</a> <a name="page16"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 16</span>“<i>For whom the Lord loveth he +chasteneth</i>, <i>and scourgeth every son whom he +receiveth</i>.”<a name="citation16a"></a><a +href="#footnote16a" class="citation">[16a]</a> He enters, +therefore, anew upon a careful review of his past life, and again +summons before the bar of conscience, “the sins of his +youth, and the offences of his riper age;” he recalls to +mind the warnings he has had, the privileges he has enjoyed, and +the mercies he has received; and he institutes a rigid scrutiny +into his present life, which he tries by the unerring test of +God’s holy word. And if he be sincere and honest, and +not a dissembler with God, and a deceiver of himself, the +language will spontaneously burst from his lips; “It is +good for me that I have been in trouble, that I may learn Thy +statutes.” <a name="citation16b"></a><a href="#footnote16b" +class="citation">[16b]</a> “Oh, Lord, my strength and +my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction,” <a +name="citation16c"></a><a href="#footnote16c" +class="citation">[16c]</a>—“Turn Thee unto me, and +have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and in misery. The +sorrows of my heart are enlarged; oh, bring Thou me out of my +troubles; look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all +my sin.” <a name="citation16d"></a><a href="#footnote16d" +class="citation">[16d]</a></p> +<p>Not that probably his life has been stained with deeper or +more numerous offences than the generality of men: it may be that +he has been “brought up in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord,” and has never departed from serving his God; it +may be <a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +17</span>that he has long ranked amongst those who strive to be +“blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, +in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, amongst whom they +shine as lights in the world.” <a name="citation17a"></a><a +href="#footnote17a" class="citation">[17a]</a> But still +there lives not the man who has not much to repent of, and to +humble himself for, before the Lord. And when the sorrows +of life, the judgments of God, or the approach of death, loosen +the hold of earthly ties upon the affections, and the attention +becomes intently fixed on that invisible world of spirits, +whither all are hastening: then, even he, who has long sought to +serve his God with devout reverence and holy obedience, feels +with stronger force, and sees with clearer view, the fearful +extent of his omissions of duty and commissions of sin. +When he considers that one moment may suffice to usher him into +the presence of that Great Being, of infinite purity, in whose +sight the heavens are not clean; when he remembers the +condemnation passed on all sin by a righteous +law;—conscious guilt compels him to bow before the Lord +with the deep self-abasement of him who “smote upon his +breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner;” <a +name="citation17b"></a><a href="#footnote17b" +class="citation">[17b]</a> and conscious weakness makes him call +to the Saviour, with the imploring voice of him who cried, +“Lord, save me.” <a name="citation17c"></a><a +href="#footnote17c" class="citation">[17c]</a> <a +name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>For when the +conscience is fully enlightened, and the heart sanctified by +Divine grace, a clear perception of the holiness of God’s +law, and a deep sense of personal unworthiness, are produced in +the believer, which at once humble him to the dust, and lead him +to throw himself entirely on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus our +Lord. Then it is that he labours to devote himself more +entirely to his Master’s service, “and adorn the +doctrine of God our Saviour in all things:” <a +name="citation18a"></a><a href="#footnote18a" +class="citation">[18a]</a> then it is he “sets his +affections on things above:” <a name="citation18b"></a><a +href="#footnote18b" class="citation">[18b]</a> “looking for +that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and +our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might +redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar +people, zealous of good works.” <a +name="citation18c"></a><a href="#footnote18c" +class="citation">[18c]</a> And then it is that he takes for +his song in the house of his pilgrimage, “I know, O Lord, +that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou of very faithfulness +hast caused me to be afflicted.” <a +name="citation18d"></a><a href="#footnote18d" +class="citation">[18d]</a> “For which cause we faint +not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is +renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but +for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal +weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are +seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the <a +name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>things which +are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are +eternal.” <a name="citation19a"></a><a href="#footnote19a" +class="citation">[19a]</a></p> +<p>Such is the conduct of the true believer under the chastening +hand of the Lord; such the improvement which, through the Divine +blessing, he is enabled to make of those afflictive +dispensations, which are sent in mercy to remind him, that he is +only a “stranger and pilgrim upon earth,” and must +“desire a better country, that is an heavenly.” <a +name="citation19b"></a><a href="#footnote19b" +class="citation">[19b]</a> And when God’s judgments +are upon the land, when He has smitten the people with +pestilence, the servant of the Lord rests with firm faith on the +protection of Him, who has promised, as “thy days, so shall +thy strength be.” <a name="citation19c"></a><a +href="#footnote19c" class="citation">[19c]</a> He knows +that whatever happens to him is by the appointment of God, +without whom even “a sparrow shall not fall on the +ground;” <a name="citation19d"></a><a href="#footnote19d" +class="citation">[19d]</a> he has further, the blessed assurance, +that “all things work together for good, to them who love +God;” <a name="citation19e"></a><a href="#footnote19e" +class="citation">[19e]</a> therefore he has all “the joy +and peace in believing” of those, whose minds being +“stayed on God,” <a name="citation19f"></a><a +href="#footnote19f" class="citation">[19f]</a> abound in hope +through “the power of the Holy Ghost.” <a +name="citation19g"></a><a href="#footnote19g" +class="citation">[19g]</a> Not that he supposes he will +possess a necessary exemption from the power of the pestilence; +this would be to presume on God’s protection: not that +trusting to Divine <a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +20</span>Providence he neglects all human precautions, and +unnecessarily exposes himself to danger; this would be, in the +strong language of Scripture, to tempt God: not that he relies on +human precautions as supplying any ground of security; this would +be to distrust God. But believing that the pestilence can +have no power over him, except by the Divine appointment; and +being assured, that, if such be the Divine will, it will prove +for his final and eternal welfare; he uses, with entire +dependence on the Divine blessing, the precautions which prudence +dictates; and commending himself to the safe keeping of God, he +faithfully and diligently discharges the duties of his station +and office, whether of pastor, magistrate, citizen, physician, or +servant, or, as they may be included in one word, of +Christian. Not that the believer, whilst he “wears +this veil of flesh,” is elevated so far above human +infirmity, that, through the power of faith, he knows neither +weakness nor fear in the hour of danger, and in the discharge of +duty. St. Paul—in allusion to the marvellous change +wrought in the soul, “by the light of the knowledge of the +glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,”—says, +“but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the +excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We +are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, +but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but +not destroyed; always <a name="page21"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 21</span>bearing about in the body the dying +of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made +manifest in our flesh.” <a name="citation21a"></a><a +href="#footnote21a" class="citation">[21a]</a> Still, they +who have learnt, through grace, to confide, with the simplicity +of a child, on the power, care, and love of their heavenly +Father, will, amid difficulties and dangers, “prove more +than conquerors, through Him who loved us, and gave Himself for +us;” and will repose, with firm faith, pious hope, and holy +confidence, on His protection, <span class="smcap">in whose hands +are the issues of life and death</span>; and who has said, by the +mouth of his prophets, “<span class="smcap">Thou shalt not +be afraid for any terror by night</span>, <span class="smcap">nor +for the arrow that flieth by day</span>; <span class="smcap">for +the pestilence which walketh in darkness</span>, <span +class="smcap">nor for the sickness which destroyeth in the +noon-day</span>. A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten +thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh +thee.” <a name="citation21b"></a><a href="#footnote21b" +class="citation">[21b]</a></p> +<p>There are some sincere Christians, who, from natural timidity +of disposition, or from constitutional debility, are peculiarly +susceptible of fear; and distress themselves by considering such +fear a proof that they do not possess the favour of God. +Let them earnestly pray for that holy and firm faith, which +disarms apprehension under great and imminent peril; but if they +do not obtain it, let them not despond, but continue their +prayers; it may be <a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +22</span>a blessing which Heaven has still in store for +them. But if not, <i>having learnt submission to the Divine +will</i>, let them draw comfort from words which should be so +deeply engraved on the memory, as to be ever remembered, and +speak peace, in their moments of doubt and alarm, to their +troubled souls: “<span class="smcap">Fear thou not</span>; +<span class="smcap">for i am with thee</span>: <span +class="smcap">be not dismayed</span>, <span class="smcap">for i +am thy god</span>: <span class="smcap">i will strengthen +thee</span>; <span class="smcap">yea</span>, <span +class="smcap">i will help thee</span>; <span +class="smcap">yea</span>, <span class="smcap">i will uphold thee +with the right hand of my righteousness</span>.” <a +name="citation22a"></a><a href="#footnote22a" +class="citation">[22a]</a>—“The truth is, the greater +our fears and sorrows and aversions are, the greater is our +submission to God: it may be thought a great weakness of nature +to be so afraid of our sufferings; but it argues the greater +strength of faith, and is a more glorious victory over self, to +make our very fears and aversions submit to the Divine +will. Submission to God does not consist in courage and +fortitude of mind to bear sufferings, which many have, without +any sense of God, and which the profoundest reverence for God +will not always teach us; but he submits, who receives the bitter +cup and drinks it, though with a trembling heart and hand.” +<a name="citation22b"></a><a href="#footnote22b" +class="citation">[22b]</a></p> +<p>Thus much having been stated, that the timid mind or the +sickly frame; the tender plant of grace or “the bruised +reed;” may not sink under a weight of obligation, the +fulfilment of which is <a name="page23"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 23</span>above their present strength; and may +not despair, because they fear they can never attain to that +measure of faith, “which, whilst it kisses with filial +reverence the rod of correction,” can, in the strong +language of St. Paul, “<i>glory in tribulation</i> also; +knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, +experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, +because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy +Ghost which is given unto us.” <a name="citation23a"></a><a +href="#footnote23a" class="citation">[23a]</a> Let it be +remembered, at the same time, that though none should despond, +because they possess not a strength of faith bestowed only on the +most highly-advanced Christians; still, all must earnestly seek +grace to be enabled to “go on unto perfection;” <a +name="citation23b"></a><a href="#footnote23b" +class="citation">[23b]</a> by having implanted in their souls +that “perfect love, which casteth out fear.” <a +name="citation23c"></a><a href="#footnote23c" +class="citation">[23c]</a> And, as undoubting faith, +unrepining submission, and unwearied supplication, are amongst +the leading features of the true Christian character, they alone +can enjoy the consolations of the Gospel of peace, who are +“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing +instant in prayer.” <a name="citation23d"></a><a +href="#footnote23d" class="citation">[23d]</a></p> +<p>It is a painful, an awful consideration, how many, in this +Christian land, “care for none of these things.” <a +name="citation23e"></a><a href="#footnote23e" +class="citation">[23e]</a> I speak not merely of the +profane, the scoffer, the sceptic, and the infidel; of those who +<a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +24</span>“make a mock at sin,” and, disputing or +disbelieving the truth of Christianity, “live without God +in the world;”—I speak also of the gay, the +thoughtless, and the proud; of the worldly, the avaricious, and +the sensual; of the envious, the malicious, and the censorious; +and, with shame be it said, of unworthy and false professors and +teachers; of the unsound in faith and morals; of the lukewarm, +the self-righteous, and the hypocritical; in short, of all who, +declaring a belief in the Christian faith, either mistake its +doctrines, disregard its spirit, abuse its privileges, or live +unmindful of its strict and holy obligations. Against all +such the Gospel denounces condemnation and woe. How, then, +are they prepared to meet the awful dispensation of Divine +Providence, which has fallen upon the nation? Let the +prophet’s enquiry be addressed to them:—“What +will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which +shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help?” +Will ye dare to say, “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, +my refuge in the day of affliction?” What! can ye in +sickness apply to God for relief, who in health were +“lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?” <a +name="citation24"></a><a href="#footnote24" +class="citation">[24]</a> Can ye in affliction seek comfort +of God, who in joy have by your actions denied God? Can ye +in adversity flee to God, who in prosperity had not God in all <a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>your +thoughts? <a name="citation25"></a><a href="#footnote25" +class="citation">[25]</a> They who have never really +sought, and submitted to the guidance of the Gospel, cannot hope +to possess its support and consolations in the first hour of +need. How dark, therefore, to such, is the season of +sickness, of sorrow, and of adversity: they enjoy no light from +above, no comfort from within, no consolation from without, which +can brighten the gloomy mind, cheer the desponding heart, and +soothe the alarmed conscience. Faithful and busy memory +serves only to supply a painful retrospect of opportunities +neglected, and warnings despised: and conscience, which had long +slumbered in a deadly lethargy, often now inflicts her sharpest +stings upon the wretched sufferer. And should they be +arrested by the sudden stroke of a fatal malady, when living in +forgetfulness of God, and intently occupied with the pursuit of +pleasure, honour, or of gain; how terrible is the approach of +death! How often, as this life is fading from the darkening +eye, do the realities of the next burst upon the mind, with a +distinctness and force never felt before! How often, as the +soul is trembling on the fearful verge of eternity, is a vain +wish entertained for the return of a brief portion of that time +which has been spent in sin, folly, or the acquisition of what +will not profit in a dying hour! But is the prayer for +mercy, extorted <a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>by fear and suffering, never heard; is the tardy +repentance never accepted? On the contrary, we believe the +prayer of humble and contrite guilt to be never rejected: but, be +it remembered, at the same time, that repentance is the gift of +God, and that those who long trifle with their day of grace, and +by silencing the admonitions of conscience, resist the Spirit, +may be visited with the fearful punishment of judicial blindness +and final impenitence. “Because I have called, and ye +refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded: but +ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my +reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity, and will mock when +your fear cometh; <i>when your fear cometh as desolation</i>, +<i>and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind</i>, <i>when +distress and anguish cometh upon you</i>. <i>Then shall +they call upon me</i>, <i>but I will not answer</i>; <i>they +shall seek me early</i>, <i>but they shall not find me</i>: for +that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the +Lord; they would none of my counsel, they despised all my +reproof.” <a name="citation26"></a><a href="#footnote26" +class="citation">[26]</a></p> +<p>From this fearful denunciation of Divine wrath upon obstinate +and hardened disobedience, what an awful lesson may be learnt, +under the present circumstances of this country. How +descriptive are many of the terms employed of that fatal +pestilence <a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span>which has broken out in the land! in the suddenness of +the seizure, it resembles “<span class="smcap">the +whirlwind</span>;” by its destructiveness, it causes +“<span class="smcap">desolation</span>;” and from the +intensity of the sufferings which it produces, arise “<span +class="smcap">distress and anguish</span>.” God grant +that the threatened vengeance be not equally +verified;—“<span class="smcap">Then shall they call +upon me</span>, <span class="smcap">but i will not answer</span>; +<span class="smcap">they shall seek me early</span>, <span +class="smcap">but they shall not find me</span>.” Oh! +let not any individual risk incurring such a fearful doom by +delaying his repentance! The Lord now calls every one with +a voice that all must hear; He has “bared an arm,” +which all must see; let not any longer refuse, let not any longer +disregard, lest they should fill up the measure of their +iniquity, and be swept away by the blast of Divine +displeasure! Let not any trust to that, at all times +presumptuous, if not always fallacious, hope, a death-bed +repentance. That man, whose existence hangs upon a thread, +which a moment may suffice to snap, should defer his preparation +for death and judgment, is such an act of madness, that nothing +but a knowledge of its certainty could make a religious mind +credit the fact. What! risk an eternity of joy or misery on +the chances of a moment! for beyond the present moment, man +possesses no security of the continuance of life. And the +very presumption which leads him to calculate upon long years to +come may call forth that awful sentence,—“Thou fool, +<a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>this night +thy soul shall be required of thee.” But if the +postponement of turning and calling upon God be, under ordinary +circumstances, full of presumption and danger, what is it now in +times of pestilence? From the many instances of mortality +which encompass us on every side, “there comes a voice, +which solemn sounding bids the world prepare.” The +judgments of the Almighty,—to those who are living in +forgetfulness of Him, and disobedience to His commands, but have +not entirely thrown off His service,—speak the language +addressed to Jonah, “What meanest thou, O sleeper? +Arise, and call upon thy God.” <a name="citation28a"></a><a +href="#footnote28a" class="citation">[28a]</a> But to those +who refuse to turn, who “harden their necks against the +reproof, and will have none of the counsel of God;” they +resemble the characters of flame upon the walls of the palace of +Belshazzar, which announced the terrible +decree,—“<span class="smcap">Thou art weighed in the +balances</span>, <span class="smcap">and art found +wanting</span>.” <a name="citation28b"></a><a +href="#footnote28b" class="citation">[28b]</a></p> +<p>The Christian writer, judging from the experience of the past, +cannot close his eyes to the sad truth, that there are some whom +mercy softens not, whom threatening warns not, whom danger alarms +not. Who amidst manifestations of Divine wrath, display +hardened unconcern or desperate wickedness. What a striking +proof have we here of the effects of sin in hardening the heart, +and <a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +29</span>deadening the conscience. But let not any imagine +that such men will view the approach of the fatal malady without +alarm. The bodily anguish will probably supply no parallel +to the mental terror, when they find themselves clutched, as it +were, in the grasp of the mortal disease which is destroying +them. And in the ordinarily brief interval between seizure +and that death, which so often ensues, if conscience resume her +power, how terrible must be the remorse, how unutterable the +anguish of the affrighted soul, which sees death, death eternal +in view, and yet cannot pray: or if the cry for pardon and help +to their long-forgotten God, burst from the quivering lip, it is +the bitter cry of almost despairing terror. Sad as are many +of the scenes which human life presents in its passage from the +cradle to the tomb; and harrowing to the feelings of beholders as +is the sight of corporeal anguish; how immeasurably do other +scenes of human suffering fall short of the union of bodily and +mental agony, often witnessed on the death-bed of terrified +guilt! but still, to the religious mind, there are two death-beds +still more fearful, as being more hopeless; and they are, when +desperate wickedness, at its last hour, evinces hardened +indifference or blasphemous despair; when no prayer is offered, +or when curses are mingled with the prayer.</p> +<p>May the fear of such death-beds act, through the grace of God, +as a salutary warning to those <a name="page30"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 30</span>who are living in sin, and neglecting +to improve the call to repentance sent in mercy: and let their +thoughts extend beyond the present life, and draw further +instruction from the awful truth—that whilst death +terminates to impenitent guilt its present sufferings, it +commences others far more terrible.</p> +<p>Were it permitted to a living man to pass the portals of the +dark prison-house of disembodied spirits, and witness the +punishments of the condemned,—the unceasing gnawing of the +undying worm, the unremitting burning of the unquenched +fire;—what words could express the joy and thankfulness of +that man, on returning to the land of the living and the place of +hope! Would he lose a moment in fleeing to the cross of +Christ, for deliverance from sin, and refuge from the wrath to +come? Would he still defer seeking for “repentance +towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ?” <a +name="citation30"></a><a href="#footnote30" +class="citation">[30]</a> The terrible realities he had +witnessed of that state of untried being on which the soul enters +at death, would doubtless haunt his waking and his sleeping +hours, and he would find no rest till God, by his Spirit, had +spoken peace to his affrighted soul. And then, long as life +lasted, it would be his daily subject of grateful thanksgiving to +his gracious long-suffering Lord, that he had borne <a +name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 31</span>with his +iniquities, and had not cut him off in the midst of his sins: but +through the Divine mercy he was allowed on earth “to praise +the Lord with joyful lips,” instead of “in hell, +lifting up his eyes, being in torments.” <a +name="citation31"></a><a href="#footnote31" +class="citation">[31]</a></p> +<p>But such a visit to the place of condemned spirits is not +necessary to learn all that in our present state of being it +concerns us to know. The volume of inspiration has revealed +the awful truth, that an eternity of torments awaits the +condemned in a future world.</p> +<p>Will not, then, this suffice to rouse thoughtless and sinful +men to a sense of danger? The judgments of the Almighty now +upon the land; death approaching many under a fearful form; the +presumption and sinfulness of trusting to a late repentance; the +danger of the infliction of judicial blindness; the horrors of a +guilty death-bed; the torments of the damned, have all been urged +as so many calls to repentance, and may God accompany them with +his grace, that they may not be urged in vain; but all of these +equal not the awfulness and terribleness of <span +class="smcap">an eternity of torment</span>. There is +something overpowering in the idea of unmitigated unmitigable +woe; it is so terrific, that it astounds, it is so vast, that it +overwhelms the mind: for the finite faculties of man cannot grasp +eternity: they <a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +32</span>are lost in the maze of millions of years rolling on in +endless succession. But if there be any who have tost, for +one night, on a bed of suffering; any who have experienced, for +one hour, the racking torture of intolerable pain; let them ask +themselves how they would endure, in the immensity of endless +time, “the worm which dieth not, and the fire which is not +quenched.”</p> +<p>May this awful consideration have its due weight upon every +reader; may those who have not yet been “turned from +darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” +obtain grace to seek pardon and peace through the Saviour who +brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel; that, +through Him they may escape “the fire prepared for the +devil and his angels.” <a name="citation32a"></a><a +href="#footnote32a" class="citation">[32a]</a></p> +<p>“Knowing, therefore, the terrors of the Lord, we +persuade men,” <a name="citation32b"></a><a +href="#footnote32b" class="citation">[32b]</a> says St. Paul: who +afterwards adds, “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 unto God.” <a +name="citation32c"></a><a href="#footnote32c" +class="citation">[32c]</a> It is thus the Christian +minister declares the denunciations of Divine vengeance, and the +certainty and eternity of Divine punishments, that he may prepare +the way for a joyful acceptance of the offers of Divine +mercy. This two-fold duty of the ministerial office, is +beautifully described by Cowper:</p> +<blockquote><p><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +33</span>“There stands the messenger of truth, there +stands<br /> +The legate of the skies! His theme divine,<br /> +His office sacred, his credentials clear.<br /> +By him the violated Law speaks out<br /> +Its thunders: and by him, in strains as sweet<br /> +As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.” <a +name="citation33a"></a><a href="#footnote33a" +class="citation">[33a]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>The dispensations of the Almighty are at once the inflictions +of his displeasure, the warnings of his love, and the invitations +of his mercy: to every sinner they address the enquiry, +“Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and +forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of +God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and +impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day +of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God?” +<a name="citation33b"></a><a href="#footnote33b" +class="citation">[33b]</a> May the Almighty give his +blessing upon the afflictive visitation He has sent upon this +land, that sinners may be roused to a sense of their danger, and +brought to embrace thankfully the offers of pardon and salvation, +made through Christ Jesus our Lord!</p> +<p>The Holy Scriptures present at once the most earnest calls to +repentance and the most gracious offers of forgiveness. +“As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the +death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and +live: turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for why will <a +name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>ye die, O +house of Israel?” <a name="citation34a"></a><a +href="#footnote34a" class="citation">[34a]</a> “O +house of Israel, are not my ways equal, and are not your ways +unequal? saith the Lord. Therefore I will judge you, O +house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord +God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your +transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast +away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have +transgressed, and make you a new heart, and a new spirit; for why +will ye die, O house of Israel? for I have no pleasure in the +death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, +turn yourselves, and live ye.” <a name="citation34b"></a><a +href="#footnote34b" class="citation">[34b]</a> “Come +now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins +be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red +like crimson, they shall be as wool.” <a +name="citation34c"></a><a href="#footnote34c" +class="citation">[34c]</a></p> +<p>Such are some of the invitations of the Holy Scriptures to +turning and calling upon God. Let us, then, suppose the +case of one who is alarmed by the Divine threatenings; who, +conscious of his guilt, sees as it were the gulf of perdition +yawning beneath his feet; but is deterred, by a sense of the +heinousness of his sins, from seeking the pardon which he +despairs of obtaining. How is he to be addressed? The +love and mercy of God, as shewn towards a guilty and perishing +world, in the mysterious, but most gracious, plan of redemption, +<a name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>through +the Saviour, must be pointed out, and largely dwelt upon. +Under the severer dispensation of the Law, amid the awful +splendours of its promulgation, the Lord was proclaimed to be +“the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, +long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for +thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that +will by no means clear the guilty.” <a +name="citation35a"></a><a href="#footnote35a" +class="citation">[35a]</a> Under the Gospel dispensation, +it is emphatically said, “<span class="smcap">God is +love</span>:” <a name="citation35b"></a><a +href="#footnote35b" class="citation">[35b]</a> that “God so +loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that +whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have +everlasting life.” <a name="citation35c"></a><a +href="#footnote35c" class="citation">[35c]</a> Let not, +therefore, the heinousness of past sins, and the sense of present +unworthiness, deter any from coming to the Saviour: for +“God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, +but that the world through Him might be saved.” <a +name="citation35d"></a><a href="#footnote35d" +class="citation">[35d]</a> And that gracious Saviour has +authoritatively declared, what is the sole condition of +acceptance, through His infinite merits: “Verily, Verily, I +say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting +life:” <a name="citation35e"></a><a href="#footnote35e" +class="citation">[35e]</a> and has tenderly invited all to flee +unto Him who labour under the yoke of sin, or the burden of +sorrow; “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are +heavy-laden, and I will give you rest: take my yoke upon you, and +learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in <a +name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>heart; and ye +shall find rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my +burden is light.” <a name="citation36a"></a><a +href="#footnote36a" class="citation">[36a]</a> Before the +nativity of our blessed Lord, the command was conveyed by an +angel, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save +His people from their sins.” <a name="citation36b"></a><a +href="#footnote36b" class="citation">[36b]</a> Agreeably to +which, He Himself says, “I am not come to call the +righteous, but sinners to repentance.” <a +name="citation36c"></a><a href="#footnote36c" +class="citation">[36c]</a> And St. Paul prefaces his +delivery of the great truth he was commissioned to teach, in a +manner befitting its importance: “This is a true saying, +and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into +the world to save sinners.” <a name="citation36d"></a><a +href="#footnote36d" class="citation">[36d]</a> If the +Gospel did not contain a free pardon for sin, little would it be +in accordance either with its name, <i>good news</i>, or with the +proclamation of the heavenly host, which heralded the birth of +the Messiah: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great +joy, which shall be <i>to all people</i>, for unto you is born +this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the +Lord.” <a name="citation36e"></a><a href="#footnote36e" +class="citation">[36e]</a> To every penitent the promise is +addressed—“Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise +cast out.” <a name="citation36f"></a><a href="#footnote36f" +class="citation">[36f]</a> The Divine mercy towards +repentant sinners knows no restrictions; the cleansing power of +the Saviour’s blood, no limitations.</p> +<p>If there be any self-convicted and self-condemned sinner, +still hesitating to throw himself <a name="page37"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 37</span>upon the mercy of God in Christ, let +him hear the Psalmist, who has represented under the most +striking and affecting images, the love of God towards man: +“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy; long-suffering +and of great goodness. He will not always be chiding, +neither keepeth He his anger for ever. He hath not dealt +with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our +wickednesses. For look how high the heaven is in comparison +of the earth, so great is His mercy also toward them that fear +Him. Look how wide also the east is from the west, so far +hath He set our sins from Him. <i>Yea</i>, <i>like as a +father pitieth his own children</i>, <i>even so is the Lord +merciful unto them who fear Him</i>. For He knoweth whereof +we are made, He remembereth that we are but dust.” <a +name="citation37a"></a><a href="#footnote37a" +class="citation">[37a]</a> Let him hear St. John, who has +stated the full extent of Christ’s atoning and mediatorial +power: “If <i>any man sin</i>, 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.” <a name="citation37b"></a><a +href="#footnote37b" class="citation">[37b]</a> Let him hear +St. Paul, who has supplied a sure ground of unfailing trust in +God: “<i>He that spared not His own Son</i>, but delivered +Him up for us all, how <i>shall He not with Him also freely give +us all things</i>?” <a name="citation37c"></a><a +href="#footnote37c" class="citation">[37c]</a> Should any +one still hesitate <a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +38</span>to come unto Christ as their Saviour, let him hear His +merciful expostulation, “<i>Ye will not come to me that ye +might have life</i>.” <a name="citation38a"></a><a +href="#footnote38a" class="citation">[38a]</a> Let him +listen to His gracious enquiry, “<i>Wilt thou be made +whole</i>?” And if he still cannot persuade himself, +that there is mercy in store for such a sinner as himself, let +him at last draw comfort from the assurance, that “the +<i>Son of Man is come to save that which is lost</i>,” <a +name="citation38b"></a><a href="#footnote38b" +class="citation">[38b]</a> and seeks after perishing sinners, as +the faithful shepherd after the sheep which have wandered from +the fold. Nor is this all: not only does our gracious Lord +<i>seek after guilty and lost sinners</i>, but “<i>likewise +there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over</i> <span +class="smcap">one sinner</span> <i>that repenteth</i>.” <a +name="citation38c"></a><a href="#footnote38c" +class="citation">[38c]</a> What a proof have we here of the +value of the soul in the sight of God! His incarnate Son +dying to redeem it from eternal misery; when restored to His +Father’s right hand, watching over it with constant care; +and seeking, with tender gentleness, to bring back the wanderers +from the fold of grace: and when the slave of sin breaks his +fetters, and through grace given unto him, falls repentant and +humbled at the foot of the cross, then joy is felt in the court +of heaven, and the seraphic choir give praise, and honour, and +glory, to “Him who sitteth on the throne, and the +Lamb;” <a name="citation38d"></a><a href="#footnote38d" +class="citation">[38d]</a> because a poor sinner has been turned, +by the marvellous <a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +39</span>grace of the Gospel, “from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God; that he may receive forgiveness +of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith +that is in Christ Jesus.” <a name="citation39a"></a><a +href="#footnote39a" class="citation">[39a]</a></p> +<p>The gracious and unmerited invitations of Divine mercy are +addressed to all sinners by “God our Saviour, who will have +all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the +truth.” <a name="citation39b"></a><a href="#footnote39b" +class="citation">[39b]</a> Let not therefore any one say, +my sins are too great to be forgiven; this is to limit the +atoning efficacy of Christ’s blood, which is illimitable: +let not any one say, I am not yet fit to come unto Christ; this +is to mistake the nature of the Gospel, which is designed to +remedy man’s natural unfitness: but let all betake +themselves to Christ for pardon of past sins, through His blood; +and for strength against future temptations, through His +grace. Nor let it be thought that these observations apply +only to gross sinners. One description of man’s +natural condition, and only one, applies to the whole human +race;—“All have sinned and come short of the glory of +God:” and one means of restoration to the lost favour of +God, and only one, is offered to the whole human race;—the +“being justified freely by His grace, through the +redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God has set forth to be +a propitiation, <a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +40</span>through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness +for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance +of God.” <a name="citation40a"></a><a href="#footnote40a" +class="citation">[40a]</a> Those who refuse to come unto +Christ as sinners, stand self-excluded from all benefit of His +atonement. To such the Saviour addresses the +words,—“Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased +with goods, and have need of nothing; and <i>knowest not that +thou art wretched</i>, <i>and miserable</i>, <i>and poor</i>, +<i>and blind</i>, <i>and naked</i>. <i>I counsel thee to +buy of</i> <span class="smcap">me</span> gold tried in the fire, +that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment that thou mayest be +clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and +anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see.” <a +name="citation40b"></a><a href="#footnote40b" +class="citation">[40b]</a> Man’s natural weakness and +sinfulness is the fundamental truth on which the Christian plan +of redemption is built; for if he had possessed inherent power to +overcome his natural depravity, and keep the commandments of God, +the sacrifice of Christ would not have been necessary for the +atonement of his sins, and for his escape from eternal +condemnation. Did we not know that pride, based upon a poor +and defective system of morality, generally shows the most +decided hostility to the humbling doctrines of the Gospel, it +would hardly be believed that any would refuse to come to Christ +as sinners. How much at variance are such self-righteous +feelings with the <a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +41</span>spirit of the confession of our Church, in which, under +the appropriate and affecting figure of sheep wandered from the +fold, we are accustomed to entreat the pity, protection, and +guidance, of the great “Shepherd of our souls.” +There are two considerations, however, which may, with the Divine +blessing, if duly weighed, bring such persons to the foot of the +cross with deep self-abasement and acknowledgment of sin: one is, +that in the Gospel the motive determines the value of an action; +and the Christian’s motive is, to do all to the glory of +God: the other is, that man is accountable, not only for his +actions, but for his omissions; not only for every idle word, but +for every sinful wish; nay, more, for every impure thought +indulged and cherished. Let those who think their failings +few and venial, their merits great, and deserving of reward, +apply to their lives these two great tests of Christian +holiness—praying, at the same time, to “the Father of +lights,” for grace and knowledge: and if they be not +brought to admit, that “in many things we offend +all;” <a name="citation41"></a><a href="#footnote41" +class="citation">[41]</a> if it be not the language of their +hearts, “We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and +wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have +committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine +Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation <a +name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>against +us;”—they are ignorant of the spirit of the Gospel, +and far from the kingdom of God. For, like the Jews of old, +“they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge: +for they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going +about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted +themselves unto the righteousness of God. <i>For Christ is +the end of the law for righteousness to every one that +believeth</i>.” <a name="citation42a"></a><a +href="#footnote42a" class="citation">[42a]</a> “That +no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in +Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and +righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that, +according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in +the Lord.” <a name="citation42b"></a><a href="#footnote42b" +class="citation">[42b]</a></p> +<p>To true believers, “<span class="smcap">Christ is all in +all</span>:” <a name="citation42c"></a><a +href="#footnote42c" class="citation">[42c]</a> on His atonement +they rest for pardon before God; on His grace they rely for +strength; and to His merits they trust for salvation. Their +truly Christian hope is built upon a lively faith; they believe +“that man is very far gone from original righteousness, and +is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth +always contrary to the spirit, and therefore in every person born +into this world, it deserveth God’s wrath and +damnation.” <a name="citation42d"></a><a +href="#footnote42d" class="citation">[42d]</a> That +“the condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, +that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by <a +name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>his own +natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; +wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and +acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing +us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we +have that good will.” <a name="citation43a"></a><a +href="#footnote43a" class="citation">[43a]</a> “That +we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our +Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works +and deservings: wherefore that we are justified by faith only, is +a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” <a +name="citation43b"></a><a href="#footnote43b" +class="citation">[43b]</a> And “albeit that good +works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after +justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity +of God’s judgments; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to +God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively +faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently +known as a tree discerned by the fruit.” <a +name="citation43c"></a><a href="#footnote43c" +class="citation">[43c]</a></p> +<p>Such are the four Articles of the Church of England which +declare man’s natural corruption; his just exposure to +Divine condemnation; his means of restoration to God’s +favour; the meritorious cause of his salvation; and the +inseparable union of faith and good works. From which may +be drawn these two fundamental principles of the Christian +faith—salvation, alone through the all-sufficient <a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>merits of +Christ; and sanctification, alone through the renewing power of +the Holy Ghost. Man is, in every respect, a dependent +being: the same Almighty Power which formed his body from the +dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of +life; can alone enlighten, renew, and sanctify his soul. +Thus faith—which is the rock on which the Church of Christ +is built, and without which we shall never believe the promises, +accept the offers, or attain the salvation of the Gospel—is +the gift of God, and wrought in our souls by the Holy +Spirit. United with faith is true repentance, which is no +less the work of grace; for unless God enlighten the +understanding, there will be no just sense of sin; unless He +soften the heart, there will be no contrition: and from a true +repentance there always springs holy obedience, which is also +produced by the Spirit: for the same blessed Power which +enlightens the darkness of the understanding and softens the +hardness of the heart, also rectifies the perversion of the will, +and sanctifies the corruption of the affections, that the +believer may know, choose, obey, and love, the way of +godliness. And thus we arrive at that blessed change in the +life of a penitent, when he becomes “a new creature in +Christ Jesus,” when “old things have passed away, and +behold all things have become new;” when he has “put +on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and +true holiness.”</p> +<p><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>The +renewal and sanctification of the soul is the only sure ground on +which the Christian can build his unfailing hope of +salvation. Not that any may presume to limit the extent of +the Divine mercy, or state a definite time for the operations of +the Holy Spirit. The first is as boundless as it is +unsearchable; the second may be as instantaneous as it is +incomprehensible. Thus much we know with certainty, that +when that most encouraging call to repentance was addressed to +the Jewish people,—“Let the wicked forsake his way, +and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the +Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He +will abundantly pardon;”—there was added, “For +my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, +saith the Lord: for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so +are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your +thoughts.” <a name="citation45"></a><a href="#footnote45" +class="citation">[45]</a> Still, all who have time and +opportunity must prove the sincerity of their repentance, and the +soundness of their faith by the holiness of their practice. +Nor can it be too earnestly insisted upon, that it is only by the +gift of a new and holier nature, man can rise above the pleasures +of sense and things of time, and set his affections on the joys +of immortality; and that the new and holier nature is implanted, +when the gracious promise is fulfilled—“I will give +them one <a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +46</span>heart, and <i>I will put a new spirit within you</i>; +<i>and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh</i>, and +will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my +statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall +be my people, and I will be their God.” <a +name="citation46a"></a><a href="#footnote46a" +class="citation">[46a]</a> It is to the use of palliatives +much of the insincere repentance and imperfect reformation of men +is to be ascribed. When their fears are alarmed, they set +about correcting some flagrant sins, and it may be, become +outwardly moral, and even attentive to religious duties; but the +renewal of the heart, through grace, and the dedication of its +affections to God, are never thought of; and yet they are +satisfied with this condition. Such persons are only to be +roused by preaching conversion or condemnation. They must +be taught to pray, with repentant David, “<i>Make me a +clean heart</i>, <i>O God</i>, <i>and renew a right spirit within +me</i>. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not +thy Holy Spirit from me. O give me the comfort of thy help +again, and stablish me with thy free Spirit.” <a +name="citation46b"></a><a href="#footnote46b" +class="citation">[46b]</a></p> +<p>The great work of the renewal and sanctification of the soul +is ordinarily accomplished by a progressive growth in grace; +during which, the believer is gradually enabled to obtain the +mastery over the corrupt affections of his nature, to acquire the +graces and perform the duties of the Christian character, and +“to set his affections on things <a name="page47"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 47</span>above,” ever “pressing +toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in +Christ Jesus,” <a name="citation47a"></a><a +href="#footnote47a" class="citation">[47a]</a> and endeavouring +to “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of +the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the +stature of the fulness of Christ.” <a +name="citation47b"></a><a href="#footnote47b" +class="citation">[47b]</a> In the life of some of those who +have been “brought up in the nurture and admonition of the +Lord,” <a name="citation47c"></a><a href="#footnote47c" +class="citation">[47c]</a> and have never departed from serving +their God, there may be no clearly defined transitions, no +strongly-marked shades, in the harmoniously-blended colours, in +which has been traced the even tenor of their way. But such +cases are probably rare—for those who attain to a very high +degree of spiritual-mindedness, can generally fix upon some +definite period in their religious life, when they obtained +clearer views of their personal unworthiness, and of the holiness +of God’s law; of the insufficiency of the things of earth +to minister to the wants of an immortal soul; and of the +inestimable value of the “treasure in heaven,” than +they ever possessed before; and when they learnt to rely on their +Lord more confidently, to love Him more devotedly, to advance His +cause more zealously, and to obey Him more steadily and +implicitly. In the case of those, who have either deserted +the God of their youth for a “world lying in +wickedness,” but, like the prodigal, upon abandoning its +vices and follies, have been received and pardoned by a merciful +Father; or <a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +48</span>who have been brought up in ignorance of religion, but +have been plucked like a brand from the burning, by one of those +afflictive dispensations which God often sends in mercy to awaken +sinners; the time and circumstances of their conversion <a +name="citation48a"></a><a href="#footnote48a" +class="citation">[48a]</a> will be clearly marked and ever +remembered: “it is too momentous an event,” observes +Paley, in writing of such conversions, “to be forgot: a man +might as easily forget his escape from a shipwreck.” <a +name="citation48b"></a><a href="#footnote48b" +class="citation">[48b]</a></p> +<p>The knowledge of the time, however, when conversion takes +place, is principally of importance, as far as it goes to +establish the fact, the certainty of which must always be +determined by the effects produced; for it is easy in this, as in +every other particular of religious experience, to be +deceived. But there can be no deception when the believer +is at once conscious of a change in his heart, and exhibits a +reformation in his life; for then he may say, this I know, that +whereas I was dead, now am I alive in the Lord: he possesses an +internal witness to his being born of God;—“Whosoever +believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God;” +“He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the <a +name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +49</span>witness—in himself;” and His life affords +external proof of his sonship;—“Whosoever is born of +God, sinneth not.” <a name="citation49a"></a><a +href="#footnote49a" class="citation">[49a]</a> He rejoices, +therefore, in the glorious privileges of the Gospel, through +which “there is, therefore, now no condemnation to them +which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after +the Spirit;” through which, “as many as are led by +the Spirit of God, are the sons of God;” <a +name="citation49b"></a><a href="#footnote49b" +class="citation">[49b]</a> and through which, “the Spirit +itself beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children +of God; and if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with +Christ Jesus.”</p> +<p>Let, then, the reformed examine strictly into their lives, as +to whether they exhibit decisive proofs of a genuine conversion; +of conversion, not used in its limited sense, as implying a +sudden or even violent change, but in the more extended sense, of +a recovery from sin, and of a full development of the Christian +character:—a conversion which, in its completion, is +equivalent to the renewal of the soul in righteousness; the +progress of which may be, in some, so gradual, as almost to be +imperceptible, but must be, in all, so certain, as to be +unquestionable. Let those, who, through the grace of God, +have endeavoured to live ever mindful of their baptismal +engagements, and duly sensible of the blessed privileges of the +Christian <a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +50</span>covenant, institute a no less rigid examination into +their lives, as to how far they manifest a continued growth in +grace; an increasing in every good word and work; a growing +conformity to the example of Christ; a visible ripening for +heaven; and a gradual restoration of the lost image of God in the +soul. And what is to be said to those who have either never +learnt, or have wilfully violated, their baptismal engagements; +and during a long course of sin, have neglected, disobeyed, and +forgotten God, whose calls to repentance they still +disregard? The same language must be addressed to the +habitual, as was applied to the externally reformed +sinner;—whose heart was still the seat of vain or impure +desires, of base or malignant passions;—<span +class="smcap">conversion</span> or <span +class="smcap">condemnation</span>. “Of the persons in +our congregations,” says Paley, “to whom we not only +may, but must, preach the doctrine of conversion, plainly and +directly, are those, who with the name indeed of Christians, have +hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion +whatever; who have not at all thought upon the subject; who, a +few easy and customary forms excepted (and which with them are +mere forms), cannot truly say of themselves, that they have done +one action, which they would not have done equally, if there had +been no such thing as a God in the world; or that they have ever +sacrificed any passion, any present enjoyment, <a +name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>or even any +inclination of their minds to the restraints and prohibitions of +religion; with whom, indeed, religious motives have not weighed a +feather in the scale against interest or pleasure. To these +it is utterly necessary that we preach conversion.” <a +name="citation51a"></a><a href="#footnote51a" +class="citation">[51a]</a> “The next description of +persons to whom we must preach conversion, properly so called, +are those who allow themselves in the course and habit of some +particular sin, with more or less regularity in other articles of +behaviour; there is some particular sin, which they practise +constantly and habitually, and allow themselves in that +practice. Other sins they strive against, but in this they +allow themselves. Now no man can go on in this course +consistently with the hope of salvation; therefore, it must be +broken off. The essential and precise difference between a +child of God and another is, that the true child of God <i>allows +himself</i> in no sin whatever; cost what it may, he contends +against, he combats all sin; which he certainly cannot be said to +do, who is still in the course and habit of some particular sin; +for as to that sin, he reserves it, he compromises it. Here +then we must preach conversion.” <a +name="citation51b"></a><a href="#footnote51b" +class="citation">[51b]</a> “In these two cases, +therefore, men must be converted and live, or remain unconverted +and die.” <a name="citation51c"></a><a href="#footnote51c" +class="citation">[51c]</a></p> +<p>Let then all those who are living in ignorance of <a +name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>the spirit, +and consequently in neglect of the obligations of the Gospel, lay +this to heart; and let them not imagine that it is only intended +to alarm their fears. The scoffer, the profane, the +sceptic, and the infidel, can hope for nothing through a Gospel +which they ridicule, despise, or reject. But the gay, the +thoughtless, and the proud—the worldly, the avaricious, and +the sensual—the malicious, the censorious, and the +envious—all profess to believe the Gospel; and the +lukewarm, the self-righteous, and hypocritical, pretend to make +it their rule of life. “To the law, and to the +testimony,” to see whether these must all be converted or +condemned. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, +Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth +the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say +unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy +name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done +many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I +never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” <a +name="citation52a"></a><a href="#footnote52a" +class="citation">[52a]</a> It appears, therefore, possible +to exercise some of the highest functions of Christianity, and +yet to be cast away. “Not the hearers of the law are +just before God, but the doers of the law shall be +justified.” <a name="citation52b"></a><a +href="#footnote52b" class="citation">[52b]</a> “Be ye +doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own +selves.” <a name="citation52c"></a><a href="#footnote52c" +class="citation">[52c]</a> Hence, then, <a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>we learn the +worthlessness of a mere profession of the Gospel. +“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the +world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not +in him.” <a name="citation53a"></a><a href="#footnote53a" +class="citation">[53a]</a> Here we are taught the +incompatibility of the love of the world with the love of +God. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which +are these;—adultery, fornication, uncleanness, +lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, +emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, +murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I +tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they +which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” +<a name="citation53b"></a><a href="#footnote53b" +class="citation">[53b]</a> This fearful catalogue of +offences, which exclude from heaven, passes sentence of +condemnation upon all who live in the indulgence of any known +sin. From these, and many other passages of Scripture, as +well as from its general tenor, we arrive at the conclusion, that +the various classes of men which have been described, are all +exposed to the righteous judgment of God, ready to be revealed at +the last day. They bear the Christian name, it is true, but +that is all they possess of a blessed dispensation, which was +ushered in by the preaching of repentance:—“The time +is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, <i>repent ye and +believe the Gospel</i>;” <a name="citation53c"></a><a +href="#footnote53c" class="citation">[53c]</a> and which has +always imposed upon its converts personal holiness, <a +name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 54</span>as a +universal obligation, and inseparable from its promises and +rewards; “<i>Wherefore follow holiness</i>, <i>without +which no man shall see the Lord</i>.” <a +name="citation54a"></a><a href="#footnote54a" +class="citation">[54a]</a> “For the grace of God that +bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that +denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, +righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that +blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our +Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might +redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar +people, zealous of good works.” <a +name="citation54b"></a><a href="#footnote54b" +class="citation">[54b]</a> As being destitute, therefore, +of the essentials of the Christian faith, the powerful writer, +who has already been quoted at such great length, says, +“these persons are really in as unconverted a state as any +Jew or Gentile could be in our Saviour’s time. They +are no more Christians, as to any actual benefit of Christianity +to their souls, than the most hardened Jew, or the most +profligate Gentile, was in the age of the Gospel. As to any +difference in the two cases, the difference is all against +them. These must be converted before they can be +saved. The course of their thoughts must be changed: the +very principles upon which they act must be changed. +Considerations which never, or hardly ever, entered into their +minds, <a name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +55</span>must deeply and perpetually engage them. Views and +motives, which did not influence them at all, either as checks +from doing evil, or as inducements to do good, must become the +views and motives which they regularly consult, and by which they +are guided;—that is to say, there must be a revolution of +principle: the visible conduct will follow the change, but there +must be a revolution within.”</p> +<p>These observations are made by Paley, with reference to those +persons “who have hitherto passed their lives without any +internal religion whatever;” with whom, in short, religion +has not been the rule of life. Oh! that the countless +multitudes within this kingdom, to whom this description applies, +and who are living regardless, if not ignorant, of the eternal +condemnation impending over their unconverted souls, “would +be wise and consider their latter end.” Oh that they +would be persuaded to learn from the word of God, what the holy +name which they bear requires of them; and consider what the vows +made in baptism bind them to, if they wish to be partakers of the +precious benefits purchased for his faithful servants by Christ, +at the costly price of his blood. “Ye do err, not +knowing the Scriptures,” is a reproof which applies to them +all. For, unfortunately, the generality of men are content +to receive from others all they know of religion: they do not +enquire for themselves; but willingly acquiesce in the most +indulgent views of <a name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +56</span>human duty. And if they do sometimes read the +Bible, yet they do not study it, and pray over it, with an +anxious desire to be brought to a knowledge of the truth; with a +firm determination to receive the truth, however unpleasant, +however opposed to their present opinions; and with a resolution, +not suddenly taken, but after mature and anxious deliberation, +and not formed in dependence upon themselves, but upon Divine +grace, to build their faith and practice on its holy doctrines +and precepts. To all such, however, we would say, +“This do, and ye shall live:” let the time past of +your lives suffice to have past in ignorance or neglect of +God’s gracious revelation to man; now delay not longer: +“The night is far spent, the day is at hand;” may the +day-spring from on high visit you, and the day-star arise in your +hearts to give light to you, who, whilst the beams of the Sun of +Righteousness are shining around you, are still lying in darkness +and the shadow of death. “Search the +Scriptures,” and learn from them, and not from the opinions +and conduct of men, what is the hope of the Christian calling; +search the Scriptures, and from them learn, that ye must repent +or die eternally.</p> +<p>May the profane, the scoffer, and the sceptic, have the veil +of darkness removed from their understandings, by which +“the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which +believe not, lest <a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span>the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the +image of God, should shine unto them.” <a +name="citation57a"></a><a href="#footnote57a" +class="citation">[57a]</a> May they not be left in wilful +blindness, until that terrible day, when the enemies of the Lord +shall find, to their everlasting confusion, that “the wrath +of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and +unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; +because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God +hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him +from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being +understood by the things that are made, <i>even His eternal power +and Godhead</i>: so that they are without excuse: because that, +when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were +thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their +foolish heart was darkened: professing themselves to be wise, +they became fools.” May</p> +<blockquote><p>—“The gay, licentious, proud,<br /> +Whom pleasure, power, and affluence surround,”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>learn “how hardly shall they who have riches enter into +the kingdom of God!” <a name="citation57b"></a><a +href="#footnote57b" class="citation">[57b]</a> For they too +often forget they are God’s stewards, and accountable for +all they possess. The day will come when to all of them +will be addressed the command, “Give an <a +name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 58</span>account of +thy stewardship;” and how terrible will be their lot, +should they, “having been unfaithful in the unrighteous +mammon,” lose “the true riches,”—treasure +in heaven. Our Lord himself has said, “No servant can +serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the +other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the +other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” <a +name="citation58a"></a><a href="#footnote58a" +class="citation">[58a]</a> They, therefore, who in their +day of trial have forgotten that their rank or affluence are so +many talents, for which they are to give account to their Master +in heaven, must expect fearful retribution, unless, while the day +of grace remaineth, they obtain pardon and peace through their +long-neglected Lord. Let them now learn that the friendship +of the world—whose smile they have courted, whose honours +they have coveted, whose pleasures they have +enjoyed—“is enmity with God.” “For +all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of +the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of +the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust +thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for +ever.” <a name="citation58b"></a><a href="#footnote58b" +class="citation">[58b]</a> May the avaricious and the +sensual, whose grovelling, sordid, and impure minds, have not a +thought, a wish, beyond this earth, where they would willingly +live for ever; see their sin and folly before it be too +late. Let them <a name="page59"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 59</span>hear the awful denunciations of +Scripture; and may that Scripture, through God’s grace, +bring conviction to their minds and repentance to their +hearts. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for +your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are +corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and +silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness +against you; and shall eat your flesh as it were fire: ye have +heaped treasure together for the last day.” <a +name="citation59a"></a><a href="#footnote59a" +class="citation">[59a]</a> “They that will be rich +fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and +hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and +perdition.” <a name="citation59b"></a><a +href="#footnote59b" class="citation">[59b]</a> +“Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, +abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” <a +name="citation59c"></a><a href="#footnote59c" +class="citation">[59c]</a> “For the time past of our +life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, +when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, +revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” <a +name="citation59d"></a><a href="#footnote59d" +class="citation">[59d]</a> “Let no man deceive you +with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of +God upon the children of disobedience.” <a +name="citation59e"></a><a href="#footnote59e" +class="citation">[59e]</a> May those who now rise up early, +and late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness, that they +may increase their worldly store, receive grace “to lay up +treasure in heaven,” not “trusting in uncertain +riches, but in the living <a name="page60"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 60</span>God, who giveth us richly all things +to enjoy:” <a name="citation60a"></a><a href="#footnote60a" +class="citation">[60a]</a> and may those who, placing few or no +restraints upon the appetites and passions of their animal +nature, ardently pursue impure, debasing, and guilty pleasures, +have their souls so sanctified, through the power of the Holy +Ghost, that, “cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and +spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” <a +name="citation60b"></a><a href="#footnote60b" +class="citation">[60b]</a> they may desire only “the joys +unspeakable, and full of glory, which are at God’s right +hand for evermore.” And may the envious, the +censorious, and the malicious, who cherish in their hearts +hostility and malignity towards their fellows, acquire the spirit +of Christian charity! For “charity <i>suffereth long +and is kind</i>; <i>charity envieth not</i>; charity vaunteth not +itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly; +seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, <i>thinketh no +evil</i>; <i>rejoiceth not in iniquity</i>, <i>but rejoiceth in +the truth</i>.” There exist no passions in the human +breast, which in every age have excited so much scorn and +reprobation amongst generous and noble spirits as envy and +malice: there is a meanness in them which renders them +contemptible; there is a malignity which makes them detestable: +the virtuous heathen, therefore, viewed them with contemptuous +indignation; but the Christian must mourn over such bitter fruits +of an unchristian temper; he must <a name="page61"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 61</span>admonish those who foster them, that +these sins of the heart, as more difficult to be repented of, are +more likely to exclude from heaven than the failings which they +gloat upon with secret pleasure, and publish with malicious +satisfaction. The sins of uncharitableness cannot but be +peculiarly odious in the sight of Him, whose religion inculcates +the purest and kindest spirit of brotherly love, and who has made +our forgiving our brother his trespasses, the ground of our +asking the forgiveness of our own. We are, therefore, +strongly and repeatedly warned in Scripture against anger, envy, +hatred, revenge, and malice; whilst the opposite virtues are +urged upon us with equal force of exhortation and tenderness of +entreaty. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, +beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are +called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, +forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of +the Spirit in the bond of peace.” “Let all +bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, +be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to +another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for +Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you.” <a +name="citation61"></a><a href="#footnote61" +class="citation">[61]</a> Let such, therefore, remembering +that their only hope of forgiveness consists in their obtaining +grace to overcome their uncharitable <a name="page62"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 62</span>temper and habits, hear also and obey +the similar admonition of another apostle: “Wherefore, +laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and +envies, and all evil-speaking; as newborn babes, desire the +sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” <a +name="citation62"></a><a href="#footnote62" +class="citation">[62]</a></p> +<p>May all those who make a decided profession of religion, but +whose heart is not right before the Lord; the lukewarm, the +self-righteous, and the hypocritical; learn that God will never +accept of a divided heart; that He will never approve of a +self-righteous spirit, and will never receive the incense of +feigned lips. Hypocrisy must be peculiarly offensive, as it +is peculiarly insulting, to the Majesty of an omniscient and +omnipresent God. That one of his creatures should dare to +make His name or service a cloak to cover his selfish and worldly +views; should profess a great reverence for Him, only to secure +the applause, or procure the assistance of men, is at once such a +bold and impious fraud, as must excite the displeasure, and call +down the vengeance of an insulted and offended Deity. What! +shall the weak and miserable creature who has been graciously +allowed to approach his great Creator, and “tell out his +wants and unburden his sorrows to Him in +prayer,”—shall he pervert to his base ends this high +and holy privilege, and “make <a name="page63"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 63</span>long prayers, that he may be seen of +men!” Such a fearful profanation resembles that of +Belshazzar, when he used, at his unholy banquet, the sacred +vessels taken from the Temple at Jerusalem, and with them gave +honour to his false gods. <a name="citation63"></a><a +href="#footnote63" class="citation">[63]</a> For the +hypocrite, who worships in the sanctuary to advance his worldly +interest, is employing the holy ordinances of the Lord in the +service of Belial, who is his god.</p> +<p>It may be hoped that hypocrisy of this impious nature is rare; +but neither its criminality nor its extent are sufficiently +regarded by men in general. For what, in reality, are all +who make merely an outward profession of religion? they are all +hypocrites: they do not attend religious worship to offer their +sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to their Preserver and +Benefactor; but they pretend to do so; and perhaps might consider +themselves unjustly stigmatised, if the real cause of their being +in the courts of the Lord’s house was stated to be, either +regard for reputation, to set an example, general custom, or the +force of habit. But if men go not to the house of prayer +for worship—and those who make merely an outward profession +of religion cannot be sincere in offering up any prayers—it +remains that some other motive must have drawn them there; and +whatever that may be, as the real <a name="page64"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 64</span>but not ostensible motive, it stamps +them as hypocrites. There also are, it may be feared, other +hypocrites, of a very different description, who lay claim to +more religion than they possess; and, in the cause of the Lord of +Hosts, profess more zeal for His honour than they feel. All +such—more especially if they assume a character of which +they know themselves to be totally unworthy, seeking to gratify +their pride or advance their interests; for then they are +hypocrites of the worst description;—expose themselves to +the righteous displeasure of the Lord. May men, therefore, +learn, that the profession of religion, without regard to its +principles, will, sooner or later, bring down upon them swift and +sudden destruction; for “the prayer of the wicked is an +abomination unto the Lord,” when “they take the law +of God into their mouths, but hate to be reformed in their +hearts.” And whilst their principles must always +correspond with their profession, their practice must be in +accordance with both. The repentance of the hypocrite is +extremely difficult: he has profaned, to his own ungodly +purposes, all the means of grace; and sometimes, so perfect +becomes the delusion of lengthened deception, he almost believes +himself really to be the character he has falsely assumed. +Nothing but Divine grace can rescue him from his alarming state; +for he resembles one who has himself poisoned the wholesome +aliment intended for his sustenance; <a name="page65"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 65</span>still the Great Physician of souls is +a sure refuge. May he, through Him, obtain mercy and +pardon, and escape having “his portion with the hypocrites, +where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”</p> +<p>Amongst the Pharisees it appears, from the severe reproofs our +blessed Lord directed against them, that both an hypocritical and +self-righteous spirit prevailed to a great extent. Such +will ever be the case where the forms are substituted for the +spirit of religion. It will then quickly degenerate into a +number of lifeless observances, and the shadow of the religion +will remain whilst the substance will be lost. +Self-righteousness, in this day, rests nearly upon the same +foundation as in the time of our Saviour. Amongst ourselves +it is often built upon the groundwork of regularity and +strictness in religious observances, and of belonging to a +particular sect or party. It is often characterised by an +appearance of much self-complacency and spiritual pride; still it +is at the same time distinguished generally by a correct standard +of morals, a due regard for decorum, and a strict attention to +religious duties. Alas! every one must lament that the +spirit is wanting which will give acceptability to these services +in the sight of God: for “thus saith the high and lofty +One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the +high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and +humble <a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +66</span>spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to +revive the heart of the contrite ones.” <a +name="citation66a"></a><a href="#footnote66a" +class="citation">[66a]</a> There exists not in the heart of +man a feeling more perfectly irreconcileable with his corrupt and +fallen nature, than spiritual pride. In the first place, +“who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou +that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, +why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” <a +name="citation66b"></a><a href="#footnote66b" +class="citation">[66b]</a> And in the second, “Who +can tell how oft he offendeth? O cleanse thou me from my +secret faults! Keep thy servant also from presumptuous +sins, lest they get the dominion over me: so shall I be +undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.” <a +name="citation66c"></a><a href="#footnote66c" +class="citation">[66c]</a> One of the first Christian +virtues is humility; and he must be equally ignorant of his own +heart and of the spirit of the Gospel, who prides himself upon +his excellences, instead of lamenting his deficiencies. A +deep consciousness of personal unworthiness; a fearful sense of +his little progress in holiness, in comparison with the +advantages which have been afforded to him; a humble thankfulness +that God has enabled him to advance some way in his Christian +calling; and an entire dependence on his Saviour for grace, for +strength, and guidance, for the time to come, generally +characterize those most favoured servants of the Lord who have +reached the highest attainments in piety, and best served <a +name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 67</span>their +generation. May the self-righteous receive grace “to +learn of Him” who was “meek and lowly of +heart,” and then they will find present and eternal +“rest unto their souls.”</p> +<p>“How long halt ye between two opinions?” was the +indignant enquiry addressed to the Israelites by the Prophet +Elijah: “If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, then +follow him.” <a name="citation67"></a><a href="#footnote67" +class="citation">[67]</a> In every age there have been too +many lukewarm in religion, to whom the same enquiry might be +addressed, for there has ever been the same disposition to make a +compromise between God and Mammon. They are unwilling to +forfeit all hope of the fair “inheritance of the saints in +light;” they are afraid to encounter the awful terrors of +the blackness of darkness for ever; still the world, with its +seductive pleasured and engrossing cares, takes a strong hold +upon the heart, and is like a withering blight upon the blossoms +and fruit of genuine piety.</p> +<p>There is no vitality of religious principle, and no +consistency of religious conduct. They profess the Gospel, +it is true; but they are desirous to accommodate it to their own +views and wishes, that it may not interfere with their worldly +advantage, not interrupt their present enjoyments. But such +a cold and calculating spirit, which appears ever to ask, +“How little can I do, and yet get to heaven?” <a +name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>has nothing +in it of the Gospel of Christ. Our blessed Lord employs, in +the Revelations, terms expressive of the most contemptuous +rejection of the works of the Church of Laodicea, because it was +“lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot.” <a +name="citation68a"></a><a href="#footnote68a" +class="citation">[68a]</a> The whole tenor of Scripture +inculcates the duty of obedience to “the first and great +commandment”—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God +with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy +mind.” <a name="citation68b"></a><a href="#footnote68b" +class="citation">[68b]</a> And they can know little of the +glorious and blessed privileges of the children of God by +adoption and grace, who do not habitually look up to Him as +“a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus our Lord;” who +do not cry with humble but firm and confiding faith, “Abba, +Father;” and who do not obey, with willing and joyful +readiness, the command, “My Son, give me thine heart, and +let thine eyes observe my ways.” There is a necessary +union between adoption and grace, between grace and holiness, +between holiness and love: “as many as are led by the +Spirit of God, they are the sons of God:” “Ye are not +in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God +dwell in you:” “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, +peace.” They, therefore, who do not manifest in their +hearts and lives those blessed proofs of the indwelling of the +Spirit, renewed minds, sanctified affections, and holy obedience, +<a name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 69</span>cannot be +said to “walk after the Spirit.” “Now if +any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:” +he is “carnally minded;” and “to be carnally +minded is death;” “because the carnal mind is enmity +against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither +indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot +please God.”</p> +<p>Oh, how does the faithful servant of the Lord mourn over the +lukewarm in religion, a class which may sometimes embrace those +dearest to him on earth—united to him by the closest ties +of blood—by the sweetest bonds of affection. He feels +for them, for he remembers the time when he had “set his +affections on things of earth:” He estimates fully the +difficulties they have to surmount, for he knows how hard it is +to “set the affections on things above.” For +this world invites us, through the medium of the senses, with +objects present, visible, and palpable; but it is only by the +power of abstraction, and through the medium of faith, we can +even contemplate the future invisible and unpalpable realities of +a spiritual world, whose rewards and joys are covered with a veil +which revelation has only raised so far as to show, that whilst +their nature transcends the power of human conception, their +extent exceeds the limits of human comprehension. He fears, +therefore, lest, bewildered by the false glare of earthly +attractions, they may never be able to fix the steady eye of +faith <a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>upon +what human “eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the +heart of men to conceive;” he fears lest, still impelled +forward in the broad way of destruction by semblances of +happiness, as alluring but as illusive as the mirage of the +desert, they may never enter upon the narrow and often thorny +path of life, which leads to the Zion of our God.</p> +<p>How earnestly, therefore, does he entreat them not longer to +linger in the outward courts, but to enter at once into the +temple of our faith; not longer to starve themselves with +“the beggarly elements of the Law,” to which they +secretly cling, but to refresh and invigorate their souls with +the “rich mercies” of the Gospel dispensation, which +supplies every want, and satisfies every desire, when fully +understood, firmly believed, thankfully received, and implicitly +obeyed. For it is not generally that they seek to escape +the obligations to personal holiness, for they are moral men: it +is not that they wish to avoid the observances of religion, for +they are regular in their attendance on divine ordinances; but +they will not submit themselves to the sole guidance of that Holy +Spirit which can alone consecrate their prayers and sanctify +their obedience. Their case is stated by St. Paul in a few +words: they have “the form without the power of +godliness;” and being destitute of its power, they enjoy +not its present consolations,—they will possess not its +future rewards, unless, by <a name="page71"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 71</span>the transforming influence of divine +grace, they are enabled to give their, at present, divided hearts +to God. A merely formal profession of the Gospel never yet +supplied comfort in the hour of affliction—never cheered +the sufferings of the bed of pain—never took away the fear +of death. It may be, that when the understanding is +blinded, or the heart hardened, exhausted nature sometimes +willingly seeks relief from present suffering in death; but such +is an awful sign of spiritual insensibility. When the +conscience is fully awake, and the mind, in full possession of +its powers, is conscious of the rapid approach of death; the +Gospel of Christ alone has power to divest the destroyer of his +terrors by robbing him of his sting, and the grave of its +victory. Still it is only a heartfelt profession of the +Gospel, in which the approval of the understanding, and the +desire of the heart, accompany the utterance of the lips, from +which issue no lifeless words, but the earnest prayer for mercy +and forgiveness for faith and hope, for sanctification and +submission; which, proving that grace is employed in its blessed +and holy work of the soul’s renewal, supports and comforts +in that awful hour, when the soul is preparing to meet its God +and Saviour. Oh that this consideration may have its due +weight to rouse the lukewarm from their state of apathy! +Can they imagine that their languid and lifeless services will be +acceptable in the sight of that God, <a name="page72"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 72</span>who is Himself love, and whose +motive, in offering them eternal life, is love? Can they +suppose their weak faith in the Saviour, their cold reception of +His inestimable blessings, will satisfy Him, who referred the +ignominious and painful death He endured to the greatness of His +love,—“greater love hath no man than this, that a man +lay down his life for his friends.” <a +name="citation72"></a><a href="#footnote72" +class="citation">[72]</a> If, in the various relations of +social life, the little services of affection are valued +infinitely higher than the more costly benefits which spring only +from a cold sense of duty:—if the willing obedience, the +watchful attention, and the tender offices of love are prized, +beyond all comparison, above the forced submission, the reluctant +compliance, and the unwilling attendance of fear:—can we +think for a moment that He, who has admitted us to all the +privileges of sonship, and has allowed us to approach Him in the +endearing character of children, and cry, Abba, Father, will +regard favourably the services which spring from slavish fear, +and not from filial love? It might be thought that the +consideration of the infinite love of God towards man, and of the +precious benefits conferred upon us by the Saviour, would fill +every soul with gratitude and love: to think that weak, sinful, +and guilty man, should be elevated to so exalted a relation to +God <a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>as +that of son; to remember that his title to his high dignity was +purchased, by no less a sacrifice than the atonement made by Him, +who is the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the +express image of His person,—present to the mind such an +astounding, and yet transporting view, of “the length and +breadth, and depth and height,” of “the love of God, +which passeth knowledge,” that we are constrained to +exclaim, “Such things are too wonderful for me; I cannot +attain unto them.” And yet, they affect not, they +influence not, that large class of men, the lukewarm in +religion! God now calls them by “His judgments, which +are in the earth,” to “turn unto Him with all their +heart.” May they all receive grace, to obey the call, +and seek forgiveness at his hands; for there is impending over +them a most terrible curse—a curse which repentance only +can avert. “If any love not the Lord Jesus Christ, +let him be Anathema Maranatha.” <a name="citation73"></a><a +href="#footnote73" class="citation">[73]</a></p> +<p>Let, then, all the several classes of men, who, as +constituting the leading divisions of those who believe not, or +practise not, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus our +Lord—have been exhorted and warned “to flee from the +wrath to come,” be now earnestly intreated to imitate the +example of the Bereans of old, who “were more noble than +those in Thessalonica, <a name="page74"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 74</span><i>in that they received the Word +with all readiness of mind</i>, <i>and searched the Scriptures +daily</i>, <i>whether those things were so</i>.” <a +name="citation74a"></a><a href="#footnote74a" +class="citation">[74a]</a></p> +<p>And may God accompany with his grace and blessing such study +of the Scriptures, that they who have heretofore neglected, +perverted, disobeyed, or rejected the Gospel, may, through +“its marvellous light become wise unto +salvation!”</p> +<p>“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is +profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for +instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, +thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” <a +name="citation74b"></a><a href="#footnote74b" +class="citation">[74b]</a> In the “lively oracles of +God,” therefore, they will find instruction how to proceed +in the difficult work of true repentance. Let them not, +however, be dismayed at the difficulty of the undertaking, for +“He who worketh in them to will and to do of His good +pleasure,” is ever ready to succour and omnipotent to save, +“all who come unto Him” through Christ, “who is +the way, the truth, and the life.” Let them not fear +the power of the great adversary of man, whose galling yoke they +long willingly bore; “for the weapons of our warfare are +not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong +holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that +exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and <a +name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>bringing into +captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” <a +name="citation75a"></a><a href="#footnote75a" +class="citation">[75a]</a> Still, at the same time, let +them underrate neither the difficulties nor the dangers which +await them. Spiritual as well as worldly prudence is shewn +in rightly estimating difficulties, that they may be the more +certainly overcome; and real courage, whether carnal or +spiritual, in learning the extent of danger, that it may be, as +the case requires, carefully avoided, or manfully combated.</p> +<p>The prophet Jeremiah, to prove the difficulty of a late +repentance, has used a figure which places it in a strong light; +“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his +spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do +evil.” <a name="citation75b"></a><a href="#footnote75b" +class="citation">[75b]</a> The apostle Peter, to shew the +extent of danger to the Christian, employs a simile not less +striking, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, +walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” <a +name="citation75c"></a><a href="#footnote75c" +class="citation">[75c]</a> And St. Paul accumulates the +most forcible expressions to convey an adequate idea of the +dangerous nature of our spiritual warfare, “for we wrestle +not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against +powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against +spiritual wickedness in high places.” <a +name="citation75d"></a><a href="#footnote75d" +class="citation">[75d]</a> It is most true, that when the +corruption of man’s nature <a name="page76"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 76</span>has been increased in malignity by +the long indulgence of its sinful appetites and passions; when +his habits have become confirmed, inveterate, and almost second +nature through time; and when his severe master, the devil, +seeing him planning rebellion against his authority, and escape +from his power, employs his subtle arts to retain his dominion +over him: we have a case in which unassisted human nature must +despair. Passion is not tameable at the will of man, +appetite is not mortified at his bidding, habit is not overcome +at his command, the devil is not vanquished by his power. +On the contrary, they all reign and rule in the heart of the +unconverted, who have grown old in sin: there passion is +ungovernable, appetite irresistible, habit invincible, the devil +dominant and triumphant.</p> +<p>Well may every sinner start at this appalling picture of human +weakness and depravity, and well will it be for him, if, through +grace, he be thence led to exclaim—“Oh wretched man +that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this +death!” <a name="citation76a"></a><a href="#footnote76a" +class="citation">[76a]</a> and if he be enabled to apply to his +own case the answer, I thank God through Jesus Christ our +Lord. “With man it is impossible” to escape +from the debasing and enslaving effects of sin, “but with +God all things are possible;” <a name="citation76b"></a><a +href="#footnote76b" class="citation">[76b]</a> and “thanks +be <a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 77</span>to God +who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus.” <a +name="citation77a"></a><a href="#footnote77a" +class="citation">[77a]</a></p> +<p>Through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, we shall +prove more than conquerors over the great enemies of our +salvation. By the transforming power of divine grace the +will becomes renewed, the passions subjugated, the appetites +mortified, the habits changed; and the devil vanquished by the +great Captain of our salvation, loses his dominion over the +sanctified soul. Such is the mighty change wrought in +fallen and sinful man, when grace has done her perfect work; and +“renewed in the spirit of his mind,” he both +“proves what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of +God,” and “presents his body a living sacrifice, holy +and acceptable unto God.” <a name="citation77b"></a><a +href="#footnote77b" class="citation">[77b]</a></p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Repent ye</span>, <span +class="smcap">therefore</span>, <span class="smcap">and be +converted</span>, <span class="smcap">that your sins may be +blotted out</span>, when the times of refreshing shall come from +the presence of the Lord.” <a name="citation77c"></a><a +href="#footnote77c" class="citation">[77c]</a> Repent ye, +who have heretofore put conviction far from you, and have refused +to receive the Gospel as your standard of faith, your sole rule +of life. It may be, that to you, “behold now is the +accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation;” it may +be, that if ye will not hear His voice, but still harden your +hearts, upon you may be passed the terrible and irrevocable +sentence—“it <a name="page78"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 78</span>is a people that do err in their +hearts; for they have not known my ways; unto whom I sware in my +wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.” <a +name="citation78"></a><a href="#footnote78" +class="citation">[78]</a></p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Go thy way for this time</span>, +<span class="smcap">when I have a convenient season I will call +for thee</span>;” was the language of Felix, when he +“<i>trembled</i>,” as Paul “reasoned of +righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.” And +such is the course adopted by thousands; they do not violently +repress the convictions of conscience; but endeavour to lull them +by that “deceitful opiate—good resolves.” +<span class="smcap">Not now</span>, is still the cry, when +conscience warns them; not now, to-morrow, next year,—and +thus repentance determined upon, but still deferred, flits before +them like the treacherous light which often misleads unwary +travellers, and lures them on with false hopes, until they plunge +into the black gulf of horrible anguish and despair.</p> +<p>This insane procrastination, which is so common and so fatal, +that it has been said, “hell’s road is paved with +good resolutions,” arises principally from man’s +natural wickedness, indolence, sinfulness, and love of sin; but +it is much promoted by mistaken ideas as to the nature of +repentance, which, by some, is considered at all times in their +own power. This fatal error—the grand cause of which +is ignorance of Scripture—is much favoured by the various +<a name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 79</span>senses in +which the term repentance is employed: it is used to express +simply sorrow, sorrow and amendment, change of heart and +life. Now this latter sense exactly corresponds with +conversion, and the evil might, in some degree, be remedied, if +there were adopted, in the case of habitual sinners, the +definition of repentance given by Hammond: “A change of +mind, or a conversion from sin to God; not some one bare act of +change, but a lasting, durable state of new life.” +For men would have a difficulty in resting satisfied with +indefinitely postponing repentance, if they knew that repentance +to consist not merely in sorrow for sin, not merely in external +amendment, but in a change of the heart, in a renewal of the +mind, wrought by the Holy Ghost, and which man possesses no +inherent power to effect, but which is the gift of God through +Christ.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Repent ye</span>, <span +class="smcap">therefore</span>, <span class="smcap">and be +converted</span>, <span class="smcap">that your sins may be +blotted out</span>: all who have heretofore drawn your motives +and rules of actions from the world, and not from the Book of +Life—and as you value your immortal souls, consider no +proofs of conversion to be depended upon, except faith in the +Saviour, and reliance on His merits alone for salvation; love of +God as a reconciled father in Christ Jesus our Lord, shed abroad +in the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost; constant study of +the Scriptures as the rule of life; indulgence of no known <a +name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 80</span>sin; and +dependence on divine grace for spiritual guidance, strength, and +consolation. Such an entire conversion of the whole man to +God is generally not only a progressive, but a slow operation: +during which partial relapses into old habits, which conscience +soon compels them to abandon;—unscriptural views of +reconciliation with God, in which the soul cannot rest +satisfied;—and artful stratagems of the great enemy of man +to win them back to wear publicly their badge of servitude, or +retain them in the camp of the faithful, as in reality, though +unknowingly, his deluded and secret followers;—all impede, +perplex, and endanger their course.</p> +<p>As the heart only knows its own bitterness, so each believer +only knows the mode of God’s dealing with him in bringing +him to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. <a +name="citation80"></a><a href="#footnote80" +class="citation">[80]</a> But the following sketch may be +received as presenting the outlines of a sincere conversion; and +may the future experience of those who are now earnestly and +affectionately entreated to “turn unto God with all their +hearts,” fill up the details. The conscience is first +troubled through the grace of God accompanying some strong +appeal; fear is excited; an examination is made into the state of +life, and the awful truth flashes upon the mind, that he is in +“the broad way which leadeth to destruction,” and +“what is a <a name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +81</span>man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose +his own soul.” <a name="citation81a"></a><a +href="#footnote81a" class="citation">[81a]</a> He now, +perhaps, attempts to appease his conscience by a compromise, by +reforming, in part, his life, but retaining his darling sins; +this unholy alliance between Christ and Belial may not be, and he +is ill at ease. He examines, therefore, more carefully the +word of life, and feels satisfied he merits only eternal +condemnation at the hand of a righteous God. His alarm +becomes terror, and he sets to work in good earnest to effect an +entire reformation of life, but too much in dependence on his own +strength. He fails, and again and again is betrayed into +his old sins, through the weakness of his nature, the power of +temptation, and the want of spiritual strength. The +repeated failures at length convince him of his own weakness and +utter helplessness, and he begins to distrust himself, and trust +more and more in his Saviour. The dark prospect now begins +to brighten by the dawning of a better day, and slowly the sun of +righteousness rising upon his soul, dispels the mists of error, +prejudice, and passion, and reveals the Saviour as “<span +class="smcap">the way</span>, <span class="smcap">the +truth</span>, <span class="smcap">and the life</span>.” <a +name="citation81b"></a><a href="#footnote81b" +class="citation">[81b]</a> He sees his road more clearly, +he better understands how God “made Him to be sin for us, +who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God +in Him,” <a name="citation81c"></a><a href="#footnote81c" +class="citation">[81c]</a> and joyfully accepts the free, +unmerited, <a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +82</span>and most gracious offers of salvation made in Christ +Jesus our Lord, through whom, “being justified by faith, we +have peace with God.” <a name="citation82a"></a><a +href="#footnote82a" class="citation">[82a]</a> He increases +in faith, he rejoices in his privileges, he grows in grace, but +he is still watchful and sober-minded: whilst he throws himself +entirely on the mercy of God in Christ in whom we are +“complete;” and relies on Him for His “grace, +which is sufficient for us, for it is made perfect in +weakness;” <a name="citation82b"></a><a href="#footnote82b" +class="citation">[82b]</a> he remits not his vigilance, he +relaxes not his endeavours, but “forgetting those things +which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, +he presses toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of +God in Christ Jesus.” <a name="citation82c"></a><a +href="#footnote82c" class="citation">[82c]</a> He earnestly +prays and labours to be enabled to adorn the doctrine of God our +Saviour in all things; to perfect holiness in his faith and fear, +and to have his conversation in heaven, from whence also we look +for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: “who shall change +our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious +body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue +all things unto Himself.” <a name="citation82d"></a><a +href="#footnote82d" class="citation">[82d]</a></p> +<p>The combat which awaits the young convert is severe, but not +alarming, if he take the whole armour of God; “Wherefore +take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to +withstand <a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +83</span>in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. +Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and +having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod +with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all, taking +the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the +fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of +salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: +praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, +and watching thereunto with all perseverance.”</p> +<p>Clad in the full panoply of the Gospel, the Christian warrior +has nothing to dread: for his armour is of heavenly temper; the +arm of Omnipotence sustains him; and the glorious shield of the +Saviour “will cover his head in the day of +battle.” But if the danger appear slight, let him not +presume; if appalling, let him not despair; excessive confidence +often risks, and despondence often loses, the battle won by +undaunted, but cool and cautious courage: and of such a nature is +Christian faith, by which the soldier of the cross is enabled to +fulfil his baptismal vow, “not to be ashamed to confess the +faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His +banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue +Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s +end.” <a name="citation83"></a><a href="#footnote83" +class="citation">[83]</a></p> +<p><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 84</span>Let +not, therefore, the penitent suppose the dangers and difficulties +which await him to be so great as almost to be insuperable; nor +yet that they are so small as to be easily overcome: it is +sufficient for him to know, that that Master whom he serves, and +who appoints his lot, will, if he commit himself to Him as a +faithful Creator, supply him with strength equal to his trials, +and make those trials help him forward on his heaven-ward +journey. Upon setting out, however, let him be admonished, +that there are three things which he ought to bear in mind.</p> +<p>First: let him not mistake transient feelings for settled +principles, nor partial amendment for complete reformation: the +sanguine sometimes, through natural temperament, are unduly +elated; the desponding, through the same cause, unduly depressed; +and thus both form false estimates as to the degree of their +advancement in spiritual life. Whilst it also sometimes +unfortunately happens, that after the first terrors of awakened +conscience pass away, the fervours of devotional feeling subside, +and there ensue listlessness, negligence, and a return to former +evil courses: “he that received the seed into stony places, +the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth +it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a +while.” <a name="citation84"></a><a href="#footnote84" +class="citation">[84]</a> Let him, in the second place, be +especially <a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +85</span>on his guard against partial or perverted views of the +doctrines and duties of our holy faith: some, because we are +saved through faith in the merits of the Saviour, have abused the +grace of God, by an unholy profession, or have under-rated the +value of Christian graces and virtues; and others, because of the +obligations to personal holiness, and of the rewards held out to +faithful servants, in the Gospel, have depreciated the value of +faith, and have reduced the great scheme of salvation to little +more than a moral obedience. And lastly, let him take care, +that when, through divine grace, he has surmounted the +difficulties which attend his first entrance upon the +“narrow way which leadeth unto life;” and his ardent +and confident spirit is full of eager anticipation of the eternal +rest and peace which await him on his arrival at the “city +of the Living God,” <a name="citation85"></a><a +href="#footnote85" class="citation">[85]</a> whose fair bulwarks +the eye of faith may already have descried at an immense +distance; let him “be not high-minded, but fear:” +enemies, though invisible, still surround him; dangers, though +hidden, still lurk in his path. Should, on the other hand, +the journey prove toilsome, and his spirit be often perplexed +with doubts, and alarmed with fears; should no distant prospect +of the mansions of eternal rest break upon his enraptured view, +solace his weary soul, and brighten his cheerless path: let <a +name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>him not be +dismayed, but hope: a “friend that sticketh closer than a +brother,” <a name="citation86a"></a><a href="#footnote86a" +class="citation">[86a]</a> though unseen, is near; the city of +refuge, though undiscoverable by his anxious eye, is nigh at +hand. If, in the first case, he “persevere unto the +end;” if, in the second, “he faint not;” he +will reap an “eternal and exceeding weight of glory;” +<a name="citation86b"></a><a href="#footnote86b" +class="citation">[86b]</a> for, on his approach, the bright +portals of the new Jerusalem shall be thrown open, and he will be +welcomed by the Celestial King, with the transporting words, +“Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into +the joy of thy Lord.” <a name="citation86c"></a><a +href="#footnote86c" class="citation">[86c]</a></p> +<h3>II. The Christian’s duty of labouring to advance, +as far as in him lies, a national reformation, under Divine +visitations.</h3> +<p>The duty <i>of personal reformation</i> under Divine +visitations, has been dwelt upon at considerable length; at once +from its private and public importance: for it is thus only a +national reformation can be effected. The good Christian +will ever discharge equally faithfully all the duties and +obligations which attach to him as an individual and as a member +of society. Little is he acquainted with the Catholic +spirit and scope of Christianity, who supposes the believer to be +occupied solely in securing his own salvation. Such conduct +would defeat its own purpose, as being incompatible with <a +name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>the very +nature of Christian duty; which is not limited to the individual, +his family, his friends, his neighbourhood, nor yet to his +country, but extends to the whole household of faith; to the +great family of Christ; to the whole world for which the Saviour +died, and in which all should labour to promote the advancement +of true religion. Whilst, therefore, the Christian is +striving in secret, by means known only to God and to himself, to +“enter in at the strait gate,” “to make his +calling and election sure;” he considers it an imperative +obligation, the neglect of which would involve certain +condemnation, to “labour to advance the glory of God, and +the present and future welfare of mankind.” If, then, +the command, “let your light so shine before men, that they +may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in +heaven,” <a name="citation87a"></a><a href="#footnote87a" +class="citation">[87a]</a> is to be obeyed under ordinary +circumstances; when “<span class="smcap">God’s +judgments are in the earth</span>,” extraordinary exertions +must be made in the hope that, through the Divine blessing, +“<span class="smcap">the inhabitants of the world will +learn righteousness</span>.” <a name="citation87b"></a><a +href="#footnote87b" class="citation">[87b]</a> Oh! what +extensive and blessed effects would arise if this holy principle +of our faith were more generally acted upon amongst Christians; +and all, at the same time, “walked worthy of the vocation +wherewith they are called, with all lowliness and meekness, <a +name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 88</span>with +long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to +keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” <a +name="citation88a"></a><a href="#footnote88a" +class="citation">[88a]</a> God grant that in times which +require such perfect union and co-operation amongst Christians, +they may receive grace to lay aside their rivalries, their +divisions, their jealousies; and as there is “one Lord, one +faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, +and through all, and in all;” <a name="citation88b"></a><a +href="#footnote88b" class="citation">[88b]</a> so they may seek +but one object, the extension of the Messiah’s kingdom; +they may employ but one means; the diffusion of the light of the +Gospel; and they may know but one spirit, the spirit of charity +and brotherly love.</p> +<p>Let then all Christians be now very zealous for the honour of +the Lord of Hosts, and direct their combined efforts against the +prevailing sins of the day. True believers “are the +salt of the earth;” and the more abundantly they are +sprinkled over the land, the more effectually the corrupting +effects of sin will be counteracted: they are the +“leaven” of the Gospel; and the more thoroughly they +are diffused through the whole mass of society, the more +certainly a national reformation will be produced.</p> +<p>How great is the improvement which an active and pious +individual sometimes effects in a neighbourhood!—an +improvement which, commencing <a name="page89"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 89</span>in one place, often spreads far +around. How extensive then might be the blessed effects of +the true servants of God acting in full and unanimous +co-operation!—General alarm has caused much good to be +done, in cleansing the towns and villages of the kingdom from +physical pollutions; let there be shown the same zeal and energy +in the removal of moral pollutions, so much more pernicious and +fatal, as being destructive of both body and soul. And then +this visitation “shall turn” out—as does every +visitation, when duly improved—“to the profit, and +help forward in the right way that leadeth unto everlasting +life,” <a name="citation89a"></a><a href="#footnote89a" +class="citation">[89a]</a> thousands who might long have +continued in a thoughtless and guilty neglect of God. For +how beneficial has the furnace of affliction been often found! it +is a certain assayer of religious principles; it detects the base +coinage of the world, which bears indeed the Divine +superscription, but is neither formed of the pure ore of the +Gospel, nor stamped with the seal of the Spirit; and proves the +intrinsic value of the unadulterated metal of the heavenly +treasury which “cometh forth as gold.” <a +name="citation89b"></a><a href="#footnote89b" +class="citation">[89b]</a></p> +<p>The leading heads of the duty of believers, as members of +society, under circumstances like the present, have already been +thus generally stated: let them publicly bear testimony at once +to the <a name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +90</span>justice and mercy of God’s dispensations; and +strive earnestly to rouse the nation to a sense of its +guiltiness, which has exposed it to the divine displeasure: let +them, in dependence on the blessing of Heaven, labour to +eradicate all infidel and heretical opinions; to advance a +reformation of public morals, and to promote a general diffusion +of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge. +Upon these several heads it is proposed now to offer some brief +observations: And may <span class="smcap">He</span>, who blesses +the feeblest efforts made in dependence on His gracious aid, and +for the honour of His great name, bless this humble endeavour to +rouse some to a more active and faithful discharge of the duties +of their stations; and to excite in others a spirit of enquiry, +and draw forth from them a declaration of opinion, as to the +course which this Christian people should adopt under the present +Divine visitation. England has been long highly favoured +and greatly blessed; she has been placed as an ensign amongst the +nations, and as a city set on a hill; she has been a depositary +of genuine Christianity, and has been instrumental, in the hands +of Providence, in conveying the light of the Gospel to nations +“lying in darkness and the shadow of death.” To +her may our blessed Lord’s pathetic lamentation over +Jerusalem never apply: “And when he was come near, he +beheld the city, and wept over it, saying; if thou hadst known, +<a name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 91</span>even thou, +at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! +but now they are hid from thine eyes:” <a +name="citation91a"></a><a href="#footnote91a" +class="citation">[91a]</a> rather, in this our day, may +“the Father of Lights,” <a name="citation91b"></a><a +href="#footnote91b" class="citation">[91b]</a> from whom +“every good gift, and every perfect gift cometh,” +impart to all that are in authority, “the spirit of wisdom +and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” <a +name="citation91c"></a><a href="#footnote91c" +class="citation">[91c]</a> Rather, may He enable all +persons to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, +redeeming the time, because the days are evil;—to be not +unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord +is;—giving thanks always for all things unto God and the +Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting +themselves one to another in the fear of God.” <a +name="citation91d"></a><a href="#footnote91d" +class="citation">[91d]</a> Then may the storm now +gathering, prove at once a punishment and a blessing from the +hand of God. Seasons of danger and suffering to churches +and nations have often resembled the storms of the natural world, +which, however alarming and destructive at the time, are +productive of subsequent good, by freeing the atmosphere from the +impurities accumulated during a long season of calm and +sunshine.</p> +<p>“What will ye do in the day of visitation and in the +desolation which shall come from far, to whom will ye flee for +help?” Such is the enquiry which <a +name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span>has been +already addressed to the nation at large; to real, and to nominal +Christians; let the faithful servants of the Lord throughout the +land cause it to be sounded in the ears of a sinful nation; and +let each use the utmost extent of his individual influence, in +co-operation with others, to endeavour to rouse, through the +Divine blessing and guidance, a people sunk into religious +indifference and apathy. They are “visited,” +and that not “after the visitation of all men;” for a +pestilence as new in character, as fatal in its effects, has +overtaken them; and their visitation has indeed come from far, +for it has travelled from the remote bounds of their colonial +empire. Still we have too much cause to apprehend that +there are thousands who have never considered the awful character +of the visitation, nor asked themselves the question, to whom +shall we flee for help?</p> +<p>An irreligious age is little inclined to recognise the hand of +God in the course of events, which are generally ascribed to +natural causes and human means. But philosophy as well as +Revelation will satisfy the mind of every impartial and deep +enquirer, that nature must work under the control and direction +of the great Author of nature. It would be to practically +deny that God was the great governor of the universe, to suppose +that nature or chance was allowed, unchecked and unguided, to +produce the mighty results often referred <a +name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>to its sole +agency. Sherlock has stated this with great force and +clearness. “The same wisdom and power which made the +world must govern it too: it is only a creating power that can +preserve: that which owes its very being to power must depend +upon the power that made it, for it can have no principle of +self-subsistence independent of its cause: it is only creating +wisdom that perfectly understands the nature of all things, that +sees all the springs of motion, that can correct the errors of +nature, that can suspend or direct the influence of natural +causes, that can govern hearts, change men’s purposes, +inspire wisdom and counsel, restrain or let loose their +passions. It is only an Infinite Mind that can take care of +all the world; that can allot every creature its portion; that +can adjust the interests of states and kingdoms; that can bring +good out of evil, and order out of confusion.” <a +name="citation93"></a><a href="#footnote93" +class="citation">[93]</a> It would, therefore, be not less +unphilosophical than unchristian to ascribe to any spontaneous +operations of nature, a new and terrible pestilence, which has +swept away more than twenty millions of human beings from the +face of the earth. Nor may it be accounted for by an +extraordinary combination of accidental circumstances; for +“the most unexpected events, how casual soever they appear +to us, are foreseen and ordered by God.” “For +can we think otherwise, when we see <a name="page94"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 94</span>as many visible marks of wisdom, and +goodness, and justice, in what we call chance, as in any other +acts of Providence? Nay, when the wisdom of Providence is +principally seen in the government of fortuitous events? +When we see a world wisely made, though we did not see it made, +yet we conclude, that it was not made by chance, but by a Wise +Being; and by the same reason, when we see accidental events, +nay, a long incoherent series of accidents concur to the +producing the most admirable effects, we ought to conclude, that +there is a wise invisible hand which governs chance, which of +itself can do nothing wisely. When the lives and fortunes +of men, the fate of kingdoms and empires, the successes of war, +the changes of government are so often determined and brought +about by the most visible accidents; when chance defeats the +wisest counsels and greatest power; when good men are rewarded, +and the Church of God preserved by appearing chances; when bad +men are punished by chance, and the very chance whereby they are +punished, carries the marks of their sins upon it, for which they +are punished; I say, can any man in such cases think that all +this is mere chance? When, how accidental soever the means +are or appear to be, whereby such things are done, there is no +appearance of chance at all in the event; but the changes and +revolutions, the rewards and punishments, are <a +name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 95</span>all as wisely +done, as if there had been nothing of chance and accident in +it. This is the great security of our lives amidst all the +uncertainties of fortune, that chance itself cannot hurt us +without a Divine commission. This is a sure foundation of +faith, and hope, and trust in God; how calamitous and desperate +soever our external condition seems to be, that God never wants +means to help; that He has a thousand unseen ways, a whole army +of accidents and unexpected events at command to disappoint such +designs, which no visible art or power can disappoint, and to +save those whom no visible power can save.” <a +name="citation95"></a><a href="#footnote95" +class="citation">[95]</a> Nor may we suppose that this +fearful pestilence is merely permitted, and not appointed and +directed by God. “God’s government of events +consists in ordering and appointing whatever good or evil shall +befall men; for according to the Scripture we must attribute such +a government to God, as makes all these events <i>His will and +doing</i>; and nothing can be His will and doing, but what He +wills and orders. Some men think it enough to say, that God +permits every thing that is done, but will by no means allow that +God wills, and orders, and appoints it, which, they are afraid, +will charge the divine Providence with all the evil that is done +in the world; and truly so it would, did God order and appoint +the evil to be <a name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +96</span>done; but though God orders and appoints what evils +every man shall suffer, He orders and appoints no man to do the +evil; He only permits some men to do mischief, and appoints who +shall suffer by it, which is the short resolution of the +case. To attribute the evils which some men suffer, merely +to God’s permission, is to destroy the government of +Providence; for bare permission is not government.” <a +name="citation96"></a><a href="#footnote96" +class="citation">[96]</a> We arrive, therefore, at the +conclusion, that this malady, which has traversed nearly the +whole of two continents, is by the will and appointment of +God. And none need inquire wherefore it has been +sent. The dispensations of the Almighty are to reward or +punish, warn and amend nations and individuals. The fearful +character of the pestilence proves that it is to punish and warn +the offending nations, and may it also amend and lead them, +through the grace of God, to humble themselves under His mighty +hand, and bow with submission to His just judgments on a guilty +world!</p> +<p>It is, therefore, the bounden duty of the servants of the +Lord, every where, privately and publicly, to bear testimony to +God’s government of nations and individuals. It is +not sufficient that they believe, act upon, and inculcate in +their families, a trust in Divine Providence. The great +truth, that “<span class="smcap">the most high ruleth in +the kingdom of</span> <a name="page97"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 97</span><span +class="smcap">men</span>,” <a name="citation97a"></a><a +href="#footnote97a" class="citation">[97a]</a> should be bound +“for a sign on their heads, and as frontlets between their +eyes.” <a name="citation97b"></a><a href="#footnote97b" +class="citation">[97b]</a> They should proclaim every +where, that upon this great fundamental principle, rest the +prayer and worship addressed to God.—“This much is +certain,” observes Sherlock, “that without this +belief, that God takes a particular care of all his creatures, in +the government of all events that can happen to them, there is no +reason nor pretence for most of the particular duties of public +worship. For most of the acts of worship consider God not +merely as an Universal Cause, (could we form any notion of a +general providence, without any care of particular creatures, or +particular events), but as our particular Patron, Protector, and +Preserver.</p> +<p>“To fear God, and to stand in awe of His justice; to +trust and depend on Him in all conditions; to submit patiently to +His will, under all afflictions; to pray to Him for the supply of +all our wants, for the relief of our sufferings, for protection +and defence; to love and praise Him for the blessings we enjoy, +for peace, and plenty, and health, for friends and benefactors, +and all prosperous successes: I say, these are not the acts of +reasonable men, unless they believe that God has the supreme +disposal of all events, and takes a particular care of us. +For if any good or evil can befall us without God’s <a +name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>particular +order and appointment, we have no reason to trust in God, who +does not always take care of us; we have no reason to bear our +sufferings patiently at God’s hand, and in submission to +His will; for we know not whether our sufferings be God’s +will or not; we have no reason to love and praise God for every +blessing and deliverance we receive, because we know not whether +it come from God; and it is to no purpose to pray to God for +particular blessings, if He does not concern Himself in +particular events; but if we believe that God takes a particular +care of us all, and that no good or evil happens to us but as He +pleases; all these acts of religious worship are both reasonable, +necessary, and just.” <a name="citation98"></a><a +href="#footnote98" class="citation">[98]</a></p> +<p>The great duty of believers every where to declare and +maintain, that “<span class="smcap">God governeth all +things both in heaven and earth</span>,” is dwelt upon more +at large, because a neglect,—if not a disbelief,—of a +particular Providence, which constitutes practical, and often +tends to avowed infidelity, has been already stated to be one of +the most crying sins,—I may almost say the most crying +sin—of the day. Some openly disclaim all belief in +God’s government of the world; others admit it, but are not +influenced by it; and others acknowledge a general, but deny a +particular Providence. These <a name="page99"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 99</span>latter appear not to be aware of the +manifest contradiction which their belief involves. +“To talk of a general Providence without God’s care +and government of every particular creature is manifestly +unreasonable and absurd; for, whatever reasons oblige us to own a +Providence, oblige us to own a particular Providence. If +creation be a reason, why God should preserve and take care of +what He has made; this is a reason why He should take care of +every creature, because there is no creature, but what He made; +and if the whole world consist of particulars, it must be taken +care of in the care of particulars; for if all particulars +perish, as they may do, if no care be taken to preserve them, the +whole must perish. And there is the same reason for the +government of mankind; for the whole is governed in the +government of parts; and mankind cannot be well governed without +the wise government of every particular man.” <a +name="citation99"></a><a href="#footnote99" +class="citation">[99]</a></p> +<p>We may hope that secret disbelief, or open denial, of a Divine +Providence, does not exist to a great extent; but of this every +observer must be satisfied, that a practical disregard of +God’s providential care and government is gaining ground in +this country. Nor are its effects to be seen only in the +conduct of individuals, they may be observed in the proceedings +of public bodies. Nothing can <a name="page100"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 100</span>bespeak this more strongly, than the +altered language of the day as regards society, business, and +public transactions.</p> +<p>The time was when it was carefully framed in accordance with +the apostolic injunction, “for that ye ought to say <span +class="smcap">if the Lord will</span>, we shall live and do this +or that.” <a name="citation100"></a><a href="#footnote100" +class="citation">[100]</a> Now it is evidently dictated by +that bold spirit of self-confidence, which “having not God +in all its thoughts,” says “to-day or to-morrow <i>we +will go</i> into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy +and sell and get gain.” Nor do the actions of men in +their public and private capacities contradict their +language. The time was, when this nation, sensible how +highly it had been blessed by Providence, and deeply grateful to +the Giver of all good, made it a rule to recognise the hand of +God in all things. When His chastisements were upon the +land, there was a fast; when deliverance was vouchsafed, there +was a thanksgiving; every visitation was received as a just +infliction; every escape as an unmerited blessing. Such was +the conduct of the people and government, during their late +struggle of unexampled difficulty, through which the Providence +of the Almighty carried them in safety, and during which the soil +of England alone was untrodden by the foot of the invader, +unstained by the blood of her sons.</p> +<p><a name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 101</span>Let, +then, all the faithful servants of God, who believe in the +government and confide in the protection of His Providence, +“be instant in season and out of season,” to +counteract this evil principle which corrupts, paralyzes, and +nullifies faith; which produces pride, self-confidence, and +self-complacency; and exposes to the severe displeasure and heavy +judgments of Him whom it “robbeth of the honour due unto +His name.” History, viewed by the aid of that light +which revelation has shed upon it, proves this incontestably, by +supplying both individual and national examples, with the latter +of which we are, at present, alone concerned.</p> +<p>All nations are under the government of the King of kings and +Lord of lords. “His kingdom ruleth over all;” +all are instruments in His hand to accomplish the secret purpose +of His will. They may be rebellious and disobedient, but +they cannot harden themselves against God and prosper. He +exhorts and warns, He threatens and visits; but if they go on +still in their wickedness, they soon fill up the measure of their +iniquity; the messenger of justice speeds forth, the sentence is +delivered, and they cease to be a nation. It is thus great +empires in succession have passed away; human reason discovers in +their rise, their progress, their decay, and their destruction, +nothing more than the ordinary operation of natural causes; +revelation raises the veil which envelopes the records of remote +antiquity, <a name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +102</span>and discovers the workings of a Divine agency, by which +Providence overrules the selfish and short-sighted policy of man, +to the development of the mighty and mysterious plans which +embrace the government of the world. And that blind and +presumptuous man may have no ground to suppose, that the fate of +empires is dependent solely upon human causes, the overthrow of +the guilty nations of antiquity, by the Divine command, was +foretold, and exactly fulfilled. Hence we may learn the +sudden and swift destruction, which neglect of Providence, +disregard of the authority, and disobedience to the commands of +Him, who has said, “I am the Lord, I change not,” <a +name="citation102"></a><a href="#footnote102" +class="citation">[102]</a> will, at last, bring upon any +Christian nation, which long continues to refuse the overtures of +pardon and reconciliation, made by a gracious, a merciful, and +long-suffering God. Predicted destruction overtook the +Assyrian and Babylonian empires; and the final desolation of +their capitals was foretold. The book of the prophet Nahum +opens with “the burden of Nineveh,” which abounds +with the most powerful descriptions of the terrible overthrow of +the Assyrian empire, and the utter desolation of its vast and +splendid capital. Zephaniah looks still further into +futurity, and presents a sad but faithful picture of its final +doom. “<span class="smcap">The Lord will be terrible +unto them</span>:”—“<i>And he will stretch out +his hand </i><a name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +103</span><i>against the north</i>, <i>and destroy Assyria</i>; +<i>and will make Nineveh a desolation</i>, <i>and dry like the +wilderness</i>. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of +her, all the beasts of the nations; both the cormorant and the +bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it: their voice shall +sing in the windows, desolation shall be in the thresholds; for +He shall uncover the cedar-work. This is the rejoicing city +that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, <i>I am</i>, +<i>and there is none beside me</i>: how is she become a +desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in; every one that +passeth by her shall hiss and wag his head.” <a +name="citation103a"></a><a href="#footnote103a" +class="citation">[103a]</a> So literally have these +striking images of entire and lonely desolation been fulfilled, +that in the second century, the very site of the once proud and +famous capital of the Assyrian empire was matter of +dispute. And as the ruin of Babylon was equally complete, +so the language of prophecy is equally clear and descriptive of +its entire destruction, “O thou that dwellest upon many +waters, abundant in treasures, thy end is come and the measure of +thy covetousness. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, +and though she should fortify the height of her strength, <i>yet +from</i> <span class="smcap">me</span> <i>shall spoilers come +unto her</i>, <i>saith the Lord</i>. Oh Lord, thou hast +spoken against this place to cut it off, that none shall remain +in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for +ever.” <a name="citation103b"></a><a href="#footnote103b" +class="citation">[103b]</a></p> +<p><a name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 104</span>Nor +was the fate of these empires and cities alone foretold: the long +degradation of Egypt, which has been so exactly fulfilled, was +predicted: “it shall be the basest of the kingdoms, neither +shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: <span +class="smcap">for I will diminish them</span>, <span +class="smcap">that they shall no more rule over the +nations</span>.” <a name="citation104a"></a><a +href="#footnote104a" class="citation">[104a]</a> The evils +impending over rich and proud Tyre, whilst still in the plenitude +of her power and greatness were announced by Isaiah in terms very +applicable to that great emporium of commerce: “Is this +your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own +feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Who hath taken +this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are +princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? +<span class="smcap">The Lord of Hosts hath purposed it</span>, to +stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the +honourable of the earth. <span class="smcap">He</span> +<i>stretched out His hand over the sea</i>; <span +class="smcap">He</span> <i>shook the kingdoms</i>: <i>the</i> +<span class="smcap">Lord</span> <i>hath given a commandment +against the merchant city</i>, <i>to destroy the strong holds +thereof</i>.” <a name="citation104b"></a><a +href="#footnote104b" class="citation">[104b]</a> But it was +reserved for Ezekiel to foretell the full extent of the fearful +ruin which was to overtake this renowned city: and he has done +so, in terms so brief, and yet so minutely descriptive of its +present state, as to have excited the observation of all modern +travellers: “<i>it shall </i><a name="page105"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 105</span><i>be a place for the spreading of +nets in the midst of the sea</i>, <span class="smcap">for I have +spoken it</span>, <span class="smcap">saith the Lord God</span>: +and it shall become a spoil to the nations.” <a +name="citation105a"></a><a href="#footnote105a" +class="citation">[105a]</a> “I <span +class="smcap">will make</span> <i>thee like the top of a +rock</i>: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon, thou shalt +be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord +God.” <a name="citation105b"></a><a href="#footnote105b" +class="citation">[105b]</a> Thus, when Maundrell visited +the ruins of Tyre, he found “its present inhabitants to be +a few wretches, subsisting chiefly by fishing, who seem to be +preserved in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible +argument how God has fulfilled His word concerning +Tyre.”</p> +<p>Nor were the predictive denunciations of Divine vengeance upon +sinful nations, confined to times of a very remote +antiquity:—the prophet’s eye glancing through the +long vista of coming years, foresaw, and his voice foretold, the +empire which the Ruler of the destiny of nations had decreed to +Greece and Rome. But there is a people which remain unto +this day, at once a living testimony to the truth of Divine +revelation, and a living monument of the certainty of Divine +punishment. From the Jews this country may draw a very +instructive lesson; for there are some striking points of +agreement in their earlier history, and would that there the +parallel might stop! The Jews were the peculiar people of +God.—“Thou art a holy people <a +name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 106</span>unto the +Lord thy God: <i>the Lord thy God hath chosen thee</i> to be a +special people unto Himself, above all people that are on the +face of the earth:” this kingdom has also long enjoyed an +extraordinary degree of favour, protection, and blessing, at the +hand of God. “The Lord did not set his love upon you, +nor choose you, <i>because ye were more in number than any +people</i>, <i>for</i> ye were the fewest of all people: in like +manner the population of this country was small in comparison +with that of many of the surrounding nations. The Jews were +selected that unto them might be “committed the oracles of +God:” so also this country appears to have been appointed, +by Providence, to preserve the holy Scriptures from +misinterpretation or perversion. The Jews were employed to +convey to the Gentiles some knowledge of the one true God: in +like manner this country appears to have been raised up to +diffuse amongst distant nations the light of the Gospel. +When grateful for Divine blessings, mindful of the Divine +government, and obedient to the Divine laws, the Jews were +abundantly blessed, and their wealth and greatness were far more +than commensurate with the extent of their territory; and the +resources of the kingdom: in like manner God has elevated this +country to a rank amongst the nations to which her native +dominions did not justify her aspiring. He has enriched her +with the treasures of the world, and has invested her with <a +name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 107</span>an empire +upon which the sun never sets. So far the points of +agreement are striking on the bright side of the picture of +Jewish history; but there is also a dark side; let that also be +examined, to see if there can be discovered any shades of +resemblance. The Jews were thus exhorted and +warned:—“When thou hast eaten and art full, <i>then +thou shalt bless</i> <span class="smcap">the Lord thy God</span>, +for the good land which <span class="smcap">He has given +thee</span>. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, +in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His +statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast +eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt +therein: and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply; and thy +silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is +multiplied: <i>then thine heart be lifted up</i>, <i>and thou +forget the</i> <span class="smcap">Lord thy +God</span>,—<i>and thou say in thine heart</i>, <i>my power +and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth</i>. +<i>But thou shalt remember the</i> <span class="smcap">Lord thy +God</span>, <i>for it is</i> <span class="smcap">He that giveth +thee power</span> <i>to get wealth</i>. And it shall be if +thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other +gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you +this day that <i>ye shall surely perish</i>.” <a +name="citation107"></a><a href="#footnote107" +class="citation">[107]</a> Nor were they left in ignorance +as to what would be the ministers of Divine vengeance; unfruitful +seasons; and deadly pestilence; <a name="page108"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 108</span>and foreign invasion, with its +fearful attendants, the slaughter of the inhabitants, and the +devastation of their land, were all declared to be instruments, +in God’s hand, to punish His ungrateful and rebellious +people. Nor did the fearful enumeration of judicial +inflictions stop there; they were forewarned of lengthened +sieges, of the most frightful extremity of famine, of long and +weary captivity in distant lands. Still there was reserved +for them,—if they would not know their day of +visitation,—a heavier, a more lasting and more terrible +punishment. “<span class="smcap">The Lord</span> +<i>shall scatter thee among all people</i>, from the one end of +the earth even unto the other.” “<i>And thou +shalt become an astonishment</i>, <i>a proverb</i>, <i>and a +by-word among all nations</i>, <i>whither the Lord shall lead +thee</i>.” <a name="citation108"></a><a href="#footnote108" +class="citation">[108]</a></p> +<p>The literal fulfilment of this prediction is matter of +history;—nay, more, the accomplishment of the last and most +terrible threat is matter of present experience; we have, unto +this day, the Jews scattered amongst all people, distinct in +religion, polity, and customs; unmingled with the population, +unincorporated in the institutions of the nations amongst whom +they sojourn: we see them a byword, a proverb, and an +astonishment, in every land: and can it be that we do not +discover in them a living memorial of the Divine government <a +name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 109</span>of the +world, and of the Divine justice, which sooner or later overtakes +every nation, which does not recognise God’s authority in +all things, and study to obey His laws. The condition of +the Jew speaks to the Christian the language of warning and +admonition: “you possess privileges I once enjoyed: I +forfeited them by trusting to my own right arm, by forsaking God, +by not knowing the day of my visitation: take heed lest ye come +into the same state of condemnation; for it is God who ruleth in +Jacob, and unto the end of the world.”</p> +<p>Let not the warning be addressed in vain: there are fearful +points of resemblance between this country and the Jews in the +darker side of their national character, when the chosen people +of the Lord. We are too much disposed “to say in our +hearts, my power, and the might of my hand, hath gotten me this +wealth:” and there is a love of the world, which falls +little short of idolatry;—there is a trusting to fortune, +and an ascribing events to chance and natural causes, which +almost amount to deifying fortune and nature. Let, then, +all the true servants of God, by their prayers, and their +labours, seek, in dependence on God’s blessing, a remedy of +these great and growing evils. Let them appeal to the +experience of the past; let them prove from sacred history that +nations, which exalted themselves, have always been abased, which +humbled themselves, have always been exalted: let <a +name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 110</span>them shew +from our own history how we have been blessed and preserved, and +how we have prospered and flourished, when our trust has been in +God, who alone “<span class="smcap">is he that giveth +strength and power unto his people</span>: <span +class="smcap">blessed be God</span>!” <a +name="citation110a"></a><a href="#footnote110a" +class="citation">[110a]</a> Let them bear public testimony +at once to the justice and mercy of His visitations; for whilst +the pestilence speaks the language of wrath: “<span +class="smcap">Woe to the rebellious children</span>, <span +class="smcap">saith the lord</span>, <span class="smcap">that +take counsel</span>, <span class="smcap">but not of me</span>, +and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they +may add sin to sin:” <a name="citation110b"></a><a +href="#footnote110b" class="citation">[110b]</a> it speaks also +the language of merciful warning and gracious exhortation: +“As <span class="smcap">many as i love</span>, <span +class="smcap">i rebuke and chasten</span>: <span class="smcap">be +zealous</span>, <span class="smcap">therefore</span>, <span +class="smcap">and repent</span>.” <a +name="citation110c"></a><a href="#footnote110c" +class="citation">[110c]</a></p> +<p>It has been stated, also, to be the duty of believers, to +employ every means in their power to eradicate all heretical and +infidel opinions; to advance a reformation of public morals; and +to promote the diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and +useful knowledge: which are all so dependent one upon another, +that they may be viewed in connexion, when considering the course +the faithful servants of the Lord are called upon to adopt, under +circumstances of almost unexampled difficulty, in this +country. Once more, let them be admonished, that their lot +is cast upon times which <a name="page111"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 111</span>require the highest degree of +energy, activity, zeal, and fidelity, in their Master’s +service. Let no one imagine his station in life so low, +that he possesses no influence, nor consider his talents so small +that he can be of no use: much would be gained if the friends of +religion would all openly range themselves on the side of the +Lord; for such a demonstration of strength would overawe the +enemies of the faith. But how great would be the triumph if +all, whose hope is in the Lord’s Christ, raised throughout +the land, their voice and hands in his most holy cause! The +fact cannot be mistaken—and to disguise it would be +culpable—that up to this time that decided movement has not +been made by the servants of the Lord, which the awful crisis at +which we have arrived so imperatively demands. Some appear +to look on, whilst a furious assault is made upon the Sion of our +God, with the heartless selfishness which says, “it will +last my time;” others gaze with a strange apathy; others, +bewildered with fear, know not how to act; and others seek only +to defend and preserve their own party and property, forgetful +that, if the common cause fail, they will be involved in the +common destruction. But the Church of Christ is built upon +a rock, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against +it.” <a name="citation111"></a><a href="#footnote111" +class="citation">[111]</a> If the alarm were only sounded +generally through the kingdom, the cause of the <a +name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 112</span>Lord would +not want defenders, both numerous and powerful, and the +discomfited emissaries of Satan would be driven from the +field.</p> +<p>Mankind are always disposed to close their eyes against +unpleasant objects,—to shut their ears against unwelcome +truths. Thus we are willing to be deceived: if we see evils +increasing, we still hope they are only partial and temporary; if +alarming reports reach us, we persuade ourselves that they must +be false or exaggerated. And if the danger become so near +as to menace our personal safety, such is the indolence, +weakness, and timidity of many, we often try to escape rather +than to combat, to avert rather than to overcome, even when we +know our only reasonable prospect of success is not in flight but +in resistance, not in making terms with, but in vanquishing the +enemy. The announcements, therefore, which have from time +to time been made of the increasing activity of the emissaries of +infidelity, and of the extensive circulation of sceptical, +profane, and blasphemous publications, appear to have been met by +the public at large either with indifference or incredulity; but +the prospect is now so alarming, the peril so imminent, that all +must rouse themselves, and acquit themselves like men, or they +may too late have to mourn the folly of incredulity, and the +sinfulness of indifference, when warned and appealed to in behalf +of religion.</p> +<p><a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 113</span>Let +not these observations be considered otherwise than as offered in +the spirit of a faithful discharge of duty: there is far from any +wish to create unnecessary alarm; there is a strong feeling that +to give uncalled-for admonition, would be presumptuous, and to +pass unmerited censure, would be criminal; but he who undertakes +to state the duty of a Christian people under a Divine +visitation, whilst he entreats and exhorts with all meekness, and +love, and reverence, must fearlessly pursue an impartial and +unprejudiced course; for terrible would be his condemnation if he +intentionally extenuated the evil or compromised the truth: he +would resemble the false teachers of old, who “healed also +the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, <span +class="smcap">peace</span>, <span class="smcap">peace</span>, +<span class="smcap">when there is no peace</span>.” <a +name="citation113"></a><a href="#footnote113" +class="citation">[113]</a></p> +<p>To prove, however, that these are neither the unauthorized +representations of mistaken views, nor the groundless creations +of false alarm, let the opinions of writers, as to the dangers +which threaten the cause of religion in this country, be +heard,—of writers, whose station and reputation entitle +them to respect. “The signs of the times,” +observes the Bishop of London, in his Charge of last year, +addressed to the clergy of his diocese,—“the signs of +the times are surely such as to indicate to him who <a +name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>attentively +observes the movements of God’s providence, the approach, +if not the arrival of a period pregnant with important +consequences to the cause of religion. The spirit of +infidelity, which at the close of the last century unhinged the +frame of society, and overturned the altars of God in a +neighbouring country, but was repressed, and shamed, and put to +silence, by the Christian energies of this country, is again +rearing its head; and the truths of the Gospel are denied, and +its doctrines derided, and its blessed Author is reviled and +blasphemed by men whom the force of human laws has been found +unable to restrain. And if it be said that these are few in +number, and insignificant in point of talent and learning, there +is a more numerous class amongst us, who look upon religion +merely as a necessary part of every system of government; who +would introduce the principles of a miserable political economy +into its institutions and ministry; and who take no personal +interest in its consolations or its ordinances. And there +is also a powerful and active body of men who are attempting to +lay other foundations of the social virtues and duties than those +which are everlastingly laid in the Gospel, and to propose other +sanctions, and other rules of conduct, and other rewards, than +those which are proposed in the Word of Revelation.” <a +name="citation114"></a><a href="#footnote114" +class="citation">[114]</a></p> +<p><a name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 115</span>The +Bishop of Durham, in his Charge, delivered during the autumn of +the present year, thus addresses his clergy:—“Yet +while we would thus fain bury the past in oblivion, can we shut +our eyes to the existing dangers which beset us, from whatever +cause they may have arisen? Can we look around and see +Infidelity and Atheism on one side, Fanaticism on another; Popery +advancing in this direction, Socinianism in that; dissent, +lukewarmness, apathy, each with multitudes in its train, without +perceiving such an accession of strength to our adversaries, as +none of the present generation have ever before witnessed? +To exaggerate these evils, or to oppress the friends of religion +and social order with excessive apprehensions of danger, can +never be the policy of considerate men. But neither are we +justified in saying ‘peace, peace,’ when there is no +peace; or in holding out illusory representations which every +discerning observer must perceive to be unfounded.” <a +name="citation115"></a><a href="#footnote115" +class="citation">[115]</a></p> +<p>And after stating the “duties to which we are now +indispensably called,” the Bishop +continues:—“that, in a Christian country like this, +and in so advanced a stage of mental cultivation, as is the boast +of the present day, it should be needful to press these +admonitions, is indeed grievous. And if we enquire how it +has become needful, the answer <a name="page116"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 116</span>is but too obvious. The main +root of the evil lies in a want of sound, sober, and practical +<i>religious</i> feeling; operating steadily throughout the +community, and influencing the conduct in all the various +departments of social life. The want of this is discernible +in attempts to carry on the work of <i>popular education</i>, +without teaching <i>religion</i> for its basis; in the systematic +and avowed separation of civil and political from +<i>Christian</i> obligations; in the disposition to consider all +truths, on whatever <i>sacred authority</i> they may rest, as +matters of mere <i>human opinion</i>; and in a persuasion that +the whole concern of government, of legislation, and of social +order, may be conducted as if there were no <span +class="smcap">moral ruler of the universe</span> controlling the +destinies of men or of nations: no other responsibilities than +those which subsist between man and man, unamenable to a higher +tribunal. So long as these pernicious sentiments obtain +currency amongst us, (and who will say that they do not fearfully +prevail in every rank and every station?) it is impossible for +any believer in a righteous Providence not to look on such a +state of things with unwonted misgivings.” <a +name="citation116"></a><a href="#footnote116" +class="citation">[116]</a></p> +<p>The statements as to the number, power, and malignity of the +enemies of religion, made by these two Prelates, supply the +powerfully sketched out <a name="page117"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 117</span>line of a terrible picture, which +becomes still more terrific when filled up with the details which +may be derived from other sources. “There is another +subject,” says an able writer, in the British Critic, +“which gives us, we confess, more uneasiness, and becomes +every day more difficult and painful, and that is the renewed and +increasing efforts made by scoffers and infidels, not only in our +country, but others, to profit by the disturbed state of the +public mind, and to disseminate as widely as possible their +infernal poison amongst the needy, the ignorant, and the +profligate; at once goading them to cruel disorders and excess, +and robbing them of all hope of an hereafter. It cannot be +known, excepting to those who make it their business to enquire, +what pains, and patience, and ingenuity, are now bestowed upon +this accursed work. Infidel books, and infidel teachers, we +have always had; but certainly there never was a moment when the +art of corrupting the minds of the people was carried to so high +a pitch, or exercised with so much effrontery; nor ever were the +fruits of it so frightfully conspicuous. It is revolting to +think of them, and it were a task to make the heart sick to +detail them; but it may suffice to state, that besides the public +discourses which are delivered almost daily by the great masters +of the school in the Rotunda, and in other places amongst the +crowded outskirts of the metropolis, <i>for the avowed specific +purpose of advocating </i><a name="page118"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 118</span><i>the cause of infidelity</i>, it +is a well known fact, that blasphemous and profane lectures are +delivered three times a week, in the City itself, to large +audiences of labourers and artizans, after their daily task is +done, from each of whom a penny a piece is collected, under the +head of infidel rent.</p> +<p>“Nor is the press behind-hand with them in their course: +for whilst numerous hawkers and other emissaries scatter +unsparingly in lanes and alleys their pennyworths of profanation, +the great emporium blazons forth its more elaborate blasphemies +with fresh spirit, in characters which those who run may +read—a standing monument of its interminable hostility to +the Gospel, and of the utter hopelessness of all legal measures +to restrain it.”</p> +<p>Such was the account laid before the public in the beginning +of this year, of a scheme, skilfully planned, and actively +conducted, for corrupting the religious principles of the working +population of the country, and thus paving the way for the ruin +of social order, and the subversion of civil society. Since +then the strong arm of the law has seized upon the arch infidel, +but his murky den still remains: the Rotunda is said to be made +the scene of more horrible impieties than ever; and the great +work of teaching and disseminating infidelity, though more +covertly, is equally extensively carried on.</p> +<p>We possess, then, certain information, supplied by these and +various other distinguished writers, as <a +name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 119</span>to the two +facts—the progress of a secret undermining of the influence +of Christianity now going forward in the middle and higher +classes of society; and in the lower, of an organized system of +open and violent aggression, not merely upon the principles of +religion, but the decencies of life. Surely this should +fill with alarm and rouse to exertion all who fear God and love +their country; for the preservation of the national faith is +essential to the continuance of national and individual happiness +and prosperity. Before, however, examining further into +these frightful evils, and offering some suggestions as to the +course believers should adopt, let an enquiry be made as to their +probable influence upon the moral state of the great bulk of the +people.</p> +<p>Degeneracy of public morals must always necessarily follow +corruption of public principles. As soon might you expect +to draw pure water from a polluted fountain, as virtuous actions +from unsound principles. Remove the restraint of +conscience, and what does man become? a fickle and wicked being, +of wild passions, selfish feelings, and ungovernable appetites: +he has lost the ruling principle which regulated and directed his +actions; and thus resembles a boat without rudder or oars, tost +upon a stormy sea, which, impelled in different directions as the +winds, tides, or currents happen to prevail, possesses neither +certainty of direction nor steadiness of course.</p> +<p><a name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 120</span>It is +true, when the law of God ceases to be the rule of right, men +profess to substitute for it the law of honour and the law of the +land. But to ascertain the value of the law of honour as +the guide of life, let some of the cases of daily occurrence be +observed, in which the rights of hospitality have been abused +with shameless unconcern, the confidence of friendship repaid +with base ingratitude, and the dearest ties of life broken with +base and heartless exultation, by men of honour. Words +cannot express the load of deep, of agonizing woe, which the +partial substitution of the law of honour for the law of God has +inflicted upon this Christian land. Families, through it, +have had to suffer privations from the extravagance, and poverty +from the gambling of parents; to weep for the untimely death of a +father by the hand of the duellist; to mourn and blush for the +indelible stain of a mother’s shame.</p> +<p>Such are some of the terrible effects of the law of honour, as +the guide of life, which, if it sanction not, tolerates the +betrayal of innocence, the ruin of a family, and the murder of a +fellow-creature.</p> +<p>Let an inquiry be now made into the value of the law of the +land as a rule of right. Here the records of our courts of +justice might suffice to shew, that severe laws do not deter from +the commission of crime. This is as might be fairly +calculated upon; because the fear of uncertain or distant +punishment, will never operate as an effectual restraint <a +name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 121</span>upon an +unprincipled mind: it is not, that the law is without its terrors +to offenders, but it is, that under the influence of some +powerful inducement, the salutary effect of those terrors is +lost, from their being viewed at a distance, from the hope of +escaping detection, and from the power of present +temptation. These observations regard principally more +heinous offences; but if the effect of the criminal code be found +to be, that it operates more for the punishment than the +prevention of crime, what would be the state of society, if the +civil law was our great guide in transactions between man and +man.</p> +<p>If careful only to keep within its enactments, we made +inclination or interest our guide, where would be all the kind +offices of Christian charity, where the interchange of friendly +services, where the joys of Christian sympathy. Sad, +indeed, would be the change, if, making the law of the land his +sole rule of right, man, naturally weak, selfish, and sensual, +gave the reins to his desires, and sought only his personal +gratifications. There might, indeed, be some exceptions, +but the general rule would be, “let us eat and drink, for +to-morrow we die.” In illustration of this view of +the probable effects of such a system upon society, let the case +of a litigious man be supposed: what annoyance, what ill-will, +what animosities, does his vexatious enforcement of the law, in +the most minute particulars, <a name="page122"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 122</span>often excite in a neighbourhood: but +if, in addition to his being litigious, he be also +irreligious,—if he be without a belief in a future state, a +judgment to come, and final rewards or punishments—what a +fearful aggravation of the evils at once takes place: suppose, +however, further, that it is not the spirit, but the letter of +the law he regards; nay, more, that it is only its punishments he +fears; and that he breaks the law, whenever secrecy affords hope +of escape, or the weakness of the party injured, chance of +impunity: what a pest to society would he be!—And yet, +however odious and disgusting the picture, such would the great +bulk of mankind become, if they could be once brought to consider +conscience a bug-bear, and Christianity an imposture.</p> +<p>What is it restrains appetites, the indulgence of which +produces so much misery?—Christianity. What is it +subdues the desire of revenge, which thirsts for +blood?—Christianity. What is it arrests the course of +secret crime?—Christianity. What is it expands the +contracted views and wishes of selfishness, and unlocks the +sympathies of cold uncharitableness?—Christianity. +Have the law of honour, or the law of the land, power to produce +such mighty effects? They even lay not claim to such a +power. But the benefits of Christianity stop not +here. It is true, its transforming power, when its +hallowing influence is fully felt, is the grandest phenomenon of +<a name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 123</span>the +moral world:—“the wicked are like the troubled sea, +when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt:” +<a name="citation123"></a><a href="#footnote123" +class="citation">[123]</a> but above the storm, a voice is +heard—the command is uttered,—“Peace, be +still!” the winds of passion are hushed, the waves of +appetite subside, and a holy calm reigns in the mind and +heart. Still, the power of Christianity, heaven’s +best gift to man, produces other benefits. It heals all the +wounds which physical and moral evils cause to poor human +nature. It soothes the pain of sickness, it lightens the +pressure of privation, it cheers the sorrows of affliction; and, +at that awful hour, when human aid is unavailing, and when the +soul, trembling on the brink of eternity, can repose only on the +firm stay of eternal truth, it administers solid comfort, +supplies pious confidence, and whispers holy peace.—A dying +hour is a severe test of principles; and it is at that hour, +which unmasks hypocrisy, and proves the weakness of philosophy, +the power of genuine Christianity is clearly seen:—it is at +that hour, when all the world seeks for as happiness, is found to +be vanity, all it calls glory, fades into insignificance, its +value is fully felt; it is at that hour, when a recollection of +past sins, long forsaken and repented of, is present to the +humble and contrite, and a consciousness of extreme unworthiness +afflicts the soul which still confides in Jesus, its victory is +complete.</p> +<p><a name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 124</span>Well +might Bishop Watson ask Gibbon, “Suppose the mighty work +accomplished, the cross trampled upon, Christianity every where +proscribed, and the religion of nature once more become the +religion of Europe; what advantage will you have derived to your +country or to yourselves from the exchange?—I will tell you +from what you will have freed the world; you will have freed it +from its abhorrence of vice, and from every powerful incentive to +virtue; you will, with the religion, have brought back the +depraved morality of Paganism: you will have robbed mankind of +their firm assurance of another life; and thereby you will have +despoiled them of their patience, of their humility, of their +charity, of their chastity, of all those mild and silent virtues +which, (however despicable they may appear in your eyes) are the +only ones which meliorate and sublime our nature; which Paganism +never knew, which spring from Christianity alone.” <a +name="citation124"></a><a href="#footnote124" +class="citation">[124]</a> Nor does this able writer, in +his Letters to Paine, state less clearly and forcibly the evils +which the infidel school inflict upon society. “In +accomplishing your purpose you will have unsettled the faith of +thousands; rooted from the minds of the unhappy virtuous all +their comfortable assurance of a future recompense; have +annihilated, in the minds of the flagitious, all their fears of +future <a name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +125</span>punishment; you will have given the reins to the +domination of every passion; and have thereby contributed to the +introduction of the public insecurity, and the private +unhappiness usually, and almost necessarily, accompanying a state +of corrupted morals.” <a name="citation125"></a><a +href="#footnote125" class="citation">[125]</a></p> +<p>Would that the anti-christian school of this day could be +induced to forego their unwearied exertions to make proselytes, +by considering the poor substitute they have to offer for an holy +faith, which is the hope of the prosperous, the consolation of +the afflicted, the comfort of the sick, and the support of the +dying! To man, who feels his want of some holy light to +guide his erring steps, some blessed solace to cheer an aching +heart, in a world of perplexity and woe, the infidel has nothing +to offer but the laws, for the guidance of his public conduct, +and for his internal monitor and comforter,—a poor +philosophy. But what to teach him how to die? +Nothing: for he has nothing to offer but the trite aphorisms of +heathen philosophers. What to take away the fear of +something after death? Nothing: for he who believes nothing +which Christianity has revealed can know nothing of a state of +future existence, uncognizable by unassisted reason.</p> +<p>Miserable men! the Christian mourns over the wilful blindness +which, in the full blaze of the meridian <a +name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>sun, +continues in darkness, a state which is but a faint emblem of +“the blackness of darkness for ever.” Most +guilty men! the Christian burns with holy indignation against +their perverted and wicked zeal for proselytism, of whom it may +be said, “Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, +and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell +than yourselves.” <a name="citation126"></a><a +href="#footnote126" class="citation">[126]</a> If the +infidel reflects, what must be his state of mind, when he +remembers, how often, whilst feeling the utter wretchedness of +his dark and cheerless creed, he has sought with artful sophistry +to bewilder the understandings of the ignorant, and, with cold +heartlessness, to blast the hopes of the virtuous! He who +openly stabs or secretly poisons an associate, incurs a less load +of moral guilt than he who inflicts a wound or instils a poison, +which, rankling, causes misery in this life, and in the next, +anguish unutterable and interminable.</p> +<p>Fatal, however, as such a creed must be to the best interests +of society, wherever its influence prevails, it assumes a still +more alarming aspect as inculcated by those infidel teachers, +who, disseminating their pestilent doctrines amongst our working +population, not only seek to destroy all the hopes and fears of +an hereafter, but to stimulate their evil passions, and to +produce a contempt not <a name="page127"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 127</span>less for human than Divine +laws. If once principles so subversive of the civil and +religious obligations of man, as a member of a Christian +community, were allowed gradually to leaven the great mass of the +population; not only would the cause of religion and morals be +deeply injured, but eventually the altars of God would be +overthrown, the bonds of civil society broken, and anarchy, +spoliation, and bloodshed, reign through the land. With the +great bulk of mankind, the sense of responsibility, present and +future, is the great restraint upon their evil +inclinations. Philosophers may talk of the eternal fitness +of things, the beauty of virtue, the value of the distinctions of +rank, of unequal divisions of property, and the necessity of +order, subordination, and industry, for the well-being of +society: but once remove from the minds of the lower classes +their fear of punishment,—by destroying all belief in a +future state of retribution, and all dread of the laws of the +land, the execution of which they overawe, defeat, or defy, by +their numbers,—and there will be confusion, aggression, +outrage, and a general attack upon property. Constituted as +man is by nature, and constituted as society is by law and +custom, in a Christian country, as soon as Revelation is rejected +by the great bulk of the people, the work of disorder and +disorganization must be rapidly carried on, until the whole +frame-work of society be broken up.</p> +<p><a name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 128</span>The +grand principle by which society is held together, in a free +country, is religious and moral influence controlling and +directing physical force to the good of the whole +community. Emancipate physical force from the salutary +restraints and guidance by which its violence and turbulence are +checked, and its mighty energies beneficially directed and +employed, and the same results will ensue, as would occur, were +that mighty engine,—the proudest boast of modern +science,—the steam-engine, deprived of the nice adjustments +and counterbalances which have rendered its formidable powers of +easy, safe, and useful application. The frightful +destruction which attends the explosion of a steam-engine, would +be more than paralleled by the sudden rending asunder of the +bands of society, when physical force, released from the +government of religious and moral influence, bursts forth with +the full sweep of its tremendous powers. Abstract +principles, and philosophical theories, weigh not a feather with +the great bulk of mankind, who are far more under the direction +of their passions than their judgment. Suppose the case of +one man rich,—and it may be, possessing more than he +appears to require,—surrounded by many who are poor and +needy. What prevents the many from plundering the one? not +abstract principles of natural justice, not a philosophical +respect for the rights of property, but regard for Divine and +human <a name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +129</span>laws: remove the restraints of conscience, and the fear +of punishment, and the many poor will rush upon the rich few, +like a pack of hungry wolves upon, scattered and defenceless +sheep.</p> +<p>This admits of easy proof: it is an undeniable axiom in +morals, that vice brings with it its own punishment; how then +does it come to pass that it abounds to such a fearful extent in +society? It needs not any very extensive acquaintance with +life to return the answer, which appears to be the true +one,—that where there is not religious principle the truths +of morality are less powerful than the impulses of passion, and +present gratification is willingly purchased, even at the expense +of much after suffering. Suppose, then, both religion and +morals discarded; and man left, not merely to the unrestrained +indulgence of his evil passions, but those passions excited by +intoxicating and maddening stimulants, what then would be the +consequences? The heart sickens whilst the mind pictures to +itself some of the frightful excesses, the horrible enormities, +of which one man may be capable under such circumstances. +Suppose, further, not one man only, but a large proportion of the +labouring population of a country exposed to the artful and +wicked devices of infidel and seditious demagogues, corrupting +the principles, by profane and blasphemous writings; exciting +angry and vindictive feelings by exaggerated or false tales <a +name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 130</span>of +injustice and wrong; fostering hatred and malignity towards the +rich, by representing them as the oppressors and robbers of the +poor, by whose labour they live; and stimulating their natural +cupidity and sensuality by hopes of plunder, of ease, and of +enjoyment; what, then, would be the consequences? Let the +history of France return the answer, for it is written in +characters of blood, in her annals, when, through the influence +of a party, at first small, and apparently contemptible, she +became revolutionised, demoralised, unchristianised. Birth, +rank, and wealth, were alone sufficient to expose their +possessors to democratic violence and fury; when all laws, human +and Divine, broken,—all institutions, civil and religious, +overturned, regicide and apostate France subverted the throne, +and trampled upon the cross; and the demons of disorder, +spoliation, and butchery, stalked through her land, deluged with +the best blood of her children.</p> +<p>The conclusion, then, at which the impartial and dispassionate +enquirer will arrive,—a conclusion which has received the +terrible sanction of experience,—is, that the most horrible +consequences will result to society when physical force is +released from the salutary restraints of religious and moral +influence.</p> +<p>When unchristianised, man becomes a sort of demon: he riots in +the licentiousness of his assumed <a name="page131"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 131</span>freedom from obligations Divine and +human; and if leagued in a diabolical conspiracy against +religion, laws, and property,—against all that is virtuous, +noble, and praiseworthy,—he is involved as he advances, +deeper and deeper in danger and guilt; as the crisis approaches, +he is impelled forward in his headlong career, with a rapidity +which allows no time for reflection, with a force which defies +resistance, until at last he is swallowed up in the wide ruin of +universal tumult and disorder: like one who commits himself to +the guidance of a stream, ignorant or regardless of the distant +cataract, towards which it is flowing: borne along by its +powerful current, he is, at first, delighted with his swift and +unchecked progress, but as he proceeds, the rapidity and force of +the stream fearfully increase, until at last, drawn within the +full influence of the fall, he is swept along with tremendous +violence towards the verge of precipitation, whence he shoots +into the boiling gulf below—a gulf which is no unfit emblem +of society, heaving, foaming, and roaring, under the domination +of physical force.</p> +<p>Let not, however, the useful and awful lesson which the French +revolution teaches be thus hastily dismissed: human nature is +always the same, and similar causes will produce similar results, +however modified by circumstances. A length of time was +required in that country to sow the seeds of infidelity, but as +soon as they had taken deep root in <a name="page132"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 132</span>the public mind, their effects were +apparent; their growth was as rapid as it was luxuriant, and they +bore such a deadly crop as fills the mind with disgust and +horror. Nor was the field of operation of the antichristian +conspiracy confined to France, the great object of which was, +every where to accomplish the defamation and discredit of the +Christian religion, where it could not effect its entire +overthrow.</p> +<p>Let the portrait, therefore, be examined which Bishop Horsley +has supplied us with of those times, which must be still fresh in +the recollection of some; it is drawn with the power and effect +of a master in his art; would it were only interesting as a vivid +sketch by a contemporary, of dangers passed away! it speaks even +now with a warning voice to this country.</p> +<p>“The whole of Europe, with the exception of France only, +and those miserable countries which France has fraternized, is +yet nominally Christian: but for the last thirty years or more, +we have seen in every part of it but little correspondence +between the lives of men and their professions; a general +indifference about the doctrines of Christianity; a general +neglect of its duties; no reverent observance of its rites. +The centre from which the mischief has spread is France. In +that kingdom the mystery of iniquity began to work somewhat +earlier than the middle of the century which is just passed <a +name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 133</span>away. +Its machinations at first were secret, unperceived, +disguised. Its instruments were persons in no conspicuous +stations. But by the persevering zeal of an individual, +who, by an affectation of a depth of universal learning which he +never possessed—by audacity in the circulation of what he +knew to be falsified history—by a counterfeit zeal for +toleration; but above all, by a certain brilliancy of +unprincipled wit, contrived to acquire a celebrity for his name, +and a deference to his opinions, far beyond the proportion of +what might be justly due either to his talents or attainments, +though neither the one nor the other were +inconsiderable;—by the persevering zeal, I say, of this +miscreant, throughout a long, though an infirm and sickly life of +bold active impiety, a conspiracy was formed of all the wit, the +science, the philosophy, and the politics, not of France only, +but of many other countries, for the extirpation of the Christian +name. The art, the industry, the disguise, the deep-laid +policy with which the nefarious plot was carried on; the numbers +of all ranks and descriptions which were drawn in to take part in +it—men of letters first, then magistrates, nobles, +ministers of state, sovereign princes: last of all, the inferior +ranks, merchants, attornies, bankers’ clerks, tradesmen, +mechanics, peasants; the eagerness with which, under the +direction of their chief, all these contributed their power, +their influence, their ingenuity, their <a +name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 134</span>industry, +their labour, in their respective situations and occupations in +life, to the advancement of the one great object of the +confederacy, are facts that are indeed astonishing.” <a +name="citation134a"></a><a href="#footnote134a" +class="citation">[134a]</a></p> +<p>“The success of this vast enterprise of impiety was +beyond any thing that could have been expected by any but the +first projector, from the littleness of its beginnings.” <a +name="citation134b"></a><a href="#footnote134b" +class="citation">[134b]</a> “The apostacy of the +French nation, and the subversion of the Gallican Church, however +unexpected at the time in Europe, was not a sudden event: it was +not one of those spontaneous revolutions in public opinion which +are to be traced to no definite beginning, to no certain cause: +it was not the effect of any real grievance of the people, +proceeding as hath been falsely pretended, from the rapacity and +the ambition of their clergy: it was the catastrophe and +accomplishment of a premeditated plot—a plot conceived in +mere malice, carried on with steady, unrelenting malignity, for +half a century.” <a name="citation134c"></a><a +href="#footnote134c" class="citation">[134c]</a></p> +<p>Such is the account which one of the ablest writers England +ever produced has left behind him, of the origin and progress of +a conspiracy against Christianity, the effects of which he also +witnessed in this country, but by the blessing of God on the +labours of himself and others, lived to see happily +counteracted. There is much, it is true, which <a +name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 135</span>does not +correspond with the aspect of the present times; with which, +however, a very superficial acquaintance will satisfy every +enquiring mind that there is also much which applies to them too +well. It is not likely that the operations of infidelity +will be precisely the same at different periods, though the +object remains unaltered: still even in their plans and +machinery, there will often be found great resemblance. The +infidel scheme in France was commenced by men of letters; in this +country at present, its most open and fierce advocates are +amongst the low and half-educated classes: still we have seen +that in the middle and higher classes there is gaining ground not +“a direct attack on the evidences of Christianity or on the +value of its doctrines;” but “the distinctive +character of modern unbelief is the attempt to supersede +Christianity, and to make men moral without its guiding and +restraining influence.” <a name="citation135"></a><a +href="#footnote135" class="citation">[135]</a> There is +here a much greater resemblance than might be at first supposed, +between the two plans of operation, now and at the close of the +last century. The attack was then made with the most +masterly skill: care was taken that the prejudices of education, +as they were considered, should at first be treated with +tenderness; and the way gradually prepared for the reception of +opinions, which, if at once presented to the <a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>uncorrupted +mind, would have been rejected with horror. To use an +illustration in perfect accordance with their views, the light of +impiety was to be gradually let in upon an eye, which had long +been clouded by the cataract of superstition, lest it should +prefer the darkness of error to the full blaze of truth. We +find, therefore, no premature development of immoral and impious +doctrines: superstition, bigotry, intolerance, were strongly +condemned; clerical abuses and exactions fiercely inveighed +against; but pure religion and morality were commended. +“In this country,” writes Horseley, “I believe +they know very well that bold undisguised atheism, proceeding +directly and openly to its horrid purpose, will never be +successful. They must have recourse, therefore, to cautious +stratagem; they must pretend that their object is not to +demolish, but reform: and it was with a view of giving colour to +this pretence, that the impudent lie—for such I have proved +it to be—has been propagated in this country of their +reverence for pure Christianity, and for the +Reformation.” But there was one invariable feature of +all their proceedings, never lost sight of, a rancorous and +malignant hostility to the established Church; and unwearied +exertions “to alienate the minds of the people from the +established clergy, by representing them as sordid worldlings, +without any concern about the souls of men, indifferent to the +religion <a name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +137</span>which they ought to teach, to which the laity are +attached, and destitute of the Spirit of God.” <a +name="citation137a"></a><a href="#footnote137a" +class="citation">[137a]</a> Here, then, we have a direct +parallel between those times and the present, in which, indeed, +the balance of evil is against us, for, “the Church of +England,” observes a living prelate, <a +name="citation137b"></a><a href="#footnote137b" +class="citation">[137b]</a> “never, perhaps, hitherto has +had to contend with so great a number of open and avowed enemies; +who, in their reiterated and persevering attacks, stop short of +no misrepresentations, however flagrant, which tend to hold it up +to public scorn and indignation.”</p> +<p>After making every allowance, indeed, for the popular +excitement, which may be of only temporary duration; for the +resentful feelings, which may pass away with the occasion which +has excited them; still there remains sufficient to justify the +worst apprehensions, and to demand the most strenuous exertions +at counteraction of the friends of order and religion. It +is not merely that there is a want of veneration, love and value +for the Church; but a rancorous hatred, spurred on by eager +desire of spoliation, is manifested, wherever infidel teachers +have made proselytes to their wicked creed. Respect, also, +for constituted authorities, is destroyed, by their inculcating +the audacious falsehood, that civil government has been framed, +to enable the few to rule <a name="page138"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 138</span>the many. Value for the laws +has been lessened, by their declaring, there is one law for the +rich, and another for the poor. And the bonds of affection +and kind offices, which united the pastor and the parishioner, +the landlord and the tenant, have been almost every where +weakened, and in some places broken, by more than the base +insinuation, by the assertion, that the forbearance and kindness +shown, originate not in friendly regard and Christian charity, +but in the ignoble wish of buying golden opinions,—in the +pusillanimous desire of propitiating men roused to a sense of +their injuries,—of disarming of their angry passions men +panting for retaliation and revenge. Thus the force of the +public and social obligations of life has been impaired, and +those kind ties and sympathies, which bind man to man in their +several relations, are converted by the poison of infidel +principles, into food for malignant feelings, which inwardly +rankle in the heart, and which outwardly evince themselves by +discontent, distrust, and dislike; and when the opportunity +presents itself, by violence, aggression, and outrage. The +effects of such a state of things, if not counteracted, cannot be +contemplated, without the most painful apprehension, for, as it +has been powerfully expressed, “fatal must be the +consequences, if the monstrous fiends of blasphemy and +disorganization now going about seeking whom they may devour, and +stalking <a name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +139</span>openly through the land, with menace and defiance, be +suffered to take undisturbed possession of our peasants and +artificers, or of those on whom they immediately depend for their +support.”</p> +<p>We have already seen the system of extensive combinations +carried on in defiance of the laws;—organized bands and +tumultuous assemblages of peasantry, extorting money, and +enforcing their demands with threats of violence;—wanton +destruction of property, in the breaking of machinery, in attacks +upon private houses, and in the far more horrible crime of the +nocturnal incendiary;—violence and excesses in many +towns;—and riot, pillage, and arson, defying for some days, +in a great city, municipal authorities and military force.</p> +<p>Now when all these fearful evils are viewed in connection with +the general increase of crime, more particularly of juvenile +delinquency; with the abuse and profanation of the sabbath, and +neglect of the public ordinances of religion, and with the +unsound views in faith and morals which extensively +prevail—the shades of the gloomy picture gradually +darken. But it is capable of receiving some further tints, +and then the moral state of the kingdom, which has been +studiously kept as far as possible distinct from the political, +will stand forth, it is believed, under such an appalling aspect +as to satisfy men, of all parties, of the necessity of prompt and +vigorous exertion, of strong and efficient remedies. <a +name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 140</span>Amongst the +great body of the people have sprung up contempt for antiquity, +disregard for established usages, disrespect for rank, love of +innovation, clamorous discontent, and fierce desire of change, +which impel them forward with blind and presumptuous confidence +in their own wisdom, and with reckless indifference as to what +may be the consequences of their precipitation and +rashness. The public press, which exercises a fearful +despotism—and political leaders, whose authority is +scarcely less absolute—urge forward an already over-excited +people, instead of attempting to allay the rising storm which +threatens to involve all in the common ruin of social order, +public property, and national credit.</p> +<p>The urgent importance of the question, What is to be done? +cannot but force itself upon the attention of the most +supine—of the most indifferent to their country’s +safety and welfare; and surely only one answer can be +returned—repair any injuries which time may have caused to +the goodly edifice of the Church, or to the fair fabric of the +Constitution, striving, at the same time, by a general diffusion +of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge, to secure +the eradication of heretical and infidel opinions, and the +reformation of public morals; and by the blessing of God, the +storm will pass away, and leave the Church and Constitution +unscathed. True Christian wisdom <a +name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 141</span>revolts +from any concession of principle, but not less so from any +defence of error; it yields not to popular clamour and threats in +matters of duty, but it thankfully receives the admonition given +in the spirit of kindness, and profits even by the warning of an +enemy, to remove any slight blemishes, which, affecting not the +foundation of the Church built on a rock, appear externally, and +tempt the rash and rude hand of bold and unhallowed +reparation.</p> +<p>It is the height of political wisdom to know when to refuse, +and when to concede popular claims. To refuse just claims +is equally wicked and unwise; it is not only an act of injustice, +as debarring the people from their rights, but it destroys +confidence and respect—it produces fierce discontent, +exasperation, and vindictiveness towards their rulers; and, in +the end, if the claimants be powerful, that is extorted as a +right which was first asked as a boon. To concede unfounded +claims is equally weak and unwise; it stimulates the eager and +grasping spirit of demand, it rarely conciliates for the time, +but never satisfies; it causes that unsettled expecting and +excited state of the public mind so unfavourable to national +contentment, happiness, and prosperity; and if the system be long +continued—and every new concession, by weakening the +strength of the yielding party, will make it more difficult to +change the system—security after security, privilege <a +name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 142</span>after +privilege having been surrendered, the petitioners will become +the framers of the laws—the claimants, the dispensers of +privileges—the governed, the governing power in the +kingdom. At the awful crisis at which we have arrived it is +the bounden duty of all men to forget party distinctions, to +divest themselves of party spirit, to have no object in view but +the honour of God and the general good. Let, therefore, the +claims of the people be dispassionately and impartially weighed; +not, however, abstractedly, but with relation to the general +good; and let these claims be conceded so far as they may be +granted consistently with the rights of property, the integrity +of the constitution, the interests of religion, and the welfare +of the empire. And having made every concession which +justice demands, and which the real interests not only of the +claimants, but of society at large, sanction, let the whole +energies of government and the nation be directed to crushing the +seditious and blasphemous associations which are actively +employed in exciting discontent and insubordination, and in +corrupting the principles of our agricultural and manufacturing +population; and let every means be employed to calm the agitation +of the public mind—to restore it to that peaceful, +healthful, and contented state, which once so much distinguished +the people of England.</p> +<p>To effect, however, this great object, the co-operation <a +name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 143</span>of that +mighty engine of good or evil—the public press, is +essential. When the information, the talent, the eloquence, +which are so conspicuous in many of our leading journals are +considered, we cease to wonder at the immense influence they +possess over the public mind; for partly through indolence, +partly through ignorance, a large proportion of men are disposed +to adopt, without examination, opinions which come recommended by +the authority of a name they have been accustomed to respect and +value. How beneficial, then, would be the consequences to +society, if the public press would use more moderation; if +instead of swelling the storm which is raging through the land, +it would pour oil upon the heaving and troubled waters; if, +instead of advocating the interests of a party, the public good +was made of paramount importance. It is melancholy to +observe the pernicious influence of party spirit upon the public +press of this country: it is not only that it excites rancour and +bitterness of feeling, but even truth, viewed through the medium +of its jaundiced eye, appears like falsehood—beauty, like +deformity—virtue, like vice. Of this we have at +present a too complete proof in the misrepresentations, the +misstatements, the calumnies, which have been directed against +the Established Church. The writers cannot be so ignorant +as not to know the charges are substantially false,—they +cannot be so dishonest as <a name="page144"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 144</span>to give circulation to what they +know to be untrue, and therefore, as they publish the most false +and calumnious allegations against the Clergy, it can only be, +that the mists of party distort objects,—the prejudices of +party misconstrue motives,—the spirit of party perverts +facts. Let it not be said that the liberty of the press has +degenerated into such licentiousness, that many public journals +have willingly and premeditatedly been guilty of the monstrous +wickedness of traducing and vilifying, and holding up to public +scorn and reprobation, the Clergy of the Established Church, but +rather that, under the delirium of a political fever, they have +unconsciously loaded with unmerited opprobrium, and most unjustly +held up to public odium, the Clergy, who, as a body, are +distinguished for their talents, their learning, their piety, and +their zeal in their Great Master’s holy cause.</p> +<p>A deep debt of justice remains due to the Established Church; +and to the sense of right, and to the good feelings of those who +have joined in the cry against it, this appeal is made. +There is not any disposition on the part of the Clergy to ask for +undue favour or commendation:—no wish, that abuses, if they +exist, should be spared,—that delinquency, if any case +occur, should escape punishment. But they protest against +the manifest injustice with which they have been treated. +The most extravagant over-statements of a few valuable <a +name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +145</span>appointments have been industriously circulated, as a +proof of excessive and overgrown wealth, whilst the poverty of +some high dignities, and a large proportion of benefices, has +been studiously kept back; the failings and offences of a few +individuals, under every form of exaggeration and perversion, +have been dwelt and enlarged upon with evident satisfaction, +whilst no just meed of praise has been bestowed upon the body, to +which rather the censure, due only to some few members, has +ingeniously, but wickedly, been made to attach. All which +misrepresentations apparently have in view one object,—that +the charges of excessive wealth and extreme worthlessness may +stimulate and justify spoliation and subversion. And yet no +angry recriminations, scarcely any indignant remonstrances, have +issued from the injured party: when they have spoken, it has been +in the calm language of conscious rectitude; and the great body +have forborn to reply to insult and invective, relying on the +goodness of their cause, to which they feel assured the people of +England will, sooner or later, do full justice. If aught +could soften the harsh severity, could shame the cruel injustice +with which the Clergy have been censured, vilified, and +persecuted, surely it should be the Christian meekness and +patience with which they have borne the heavy load of wrong that +has been cast upon them. Full many there are who, unmoved +by clamour, <a name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +146</span>unprovoked by injuries, and unappalled by dangers, are +pursuing the even tenor of their way, in the diligent and +faithful discharge of their sacred duties. But silence +under grievous charges is often interpreted into an admission of +their truth, and meekness under heavy reproaches a proof of their +justice. There are times, therefore, when the Clergy should +raise their voice in self-vindication; not merely for their own +sakes, but that of their flocks; for if they allow their office +to be degraded, and their characters aspersed, without +maintaining the one and defending the other, their influence will +be seriously weakened, and their usefulness, in the same degree, +diminished. Hence it has ever been the artful policy of the +infidel school to attack religion through her ministers; and such +is the course which is adopted now, and those ministers will aid +and abet the cause of the enemies of their faith, if they repel +not the darts which are meant to reach, through their bodies, the +altars of their God. And would that that portion of the +press, which has long assailed the Clergy with much unmerited +severity and abuse, could be persuaded to make a tardy reparation +for the wrong they have done,—for the injury they have +inflicted on society! The public journals now reach the +remotest corners of the island; and in many distant parishes, in +which the incumbent alone spends the income drawn from the soil, +alone dispenses his charity, <a name="page147"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 147</span>visits the sick, instructs the +ignorant,—even there the blighting influence of calumny +extends, and the work of Christian benevolence and charity is +neutralized by the splenetic effusions, or foul and false charges +of the public press. Oh! that the awful circumstances of +the present times would teach forbearance, if not +justice,—would induce silence, if not commendation. +If they love not religion for its own sake,—if they respect +not its ministers for their own sake,—let the value of both +be admitted in stemming that fearful tide of sedition and +infidelity which threatens to overturn the civil as well as +religious institutions of the country. And there is another +consideration not to be forgotten: in times of pestilence, the +ministers of God have ever proved faithful to their trust, and a +blessing to the sick and dying: that scourge of the Almighty is +now upon the land; let the press then seek to heal the breach +they have made between the pastor and his flock, lest by the +baleful suspicions and hatred they have caused in the minds of +the latter, they may be the means of intercepting the stream of +Divine mercy,—of darkening the light of Divine truth.</p> +<p>Vain will be all the efforts of the friends of religion and +order to counteract the present evils, which endanger the best +interests of society, and to introduce a better order of things, +if a large proportion of the public journals continue not only to +excite the public mind, but to prejudice it against <a +name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>the Clergy, +by imputing to them unworthy motives, and by bringing against +them heavy and unsubstantiated charges. In many places at +present, the plans of the Clergyman for the benefit of his parish +are entirely frustrated; a large proportion of his parishioners +being like men labouring under a fever caused by injudicious +treatment,—the wholesome aliment, which would give +nourishment and strength in a healthy state, injures rather than +benefits; and even the medicines which should cure the disease +are rejected, through distrust of the physician who prescribes +them. But let those who have injured the patient, by +supplying stimulants when they should have administered +sedatives, by exciting suspicion when they should have inspired +confidence, endeavour to repair the evil they have produced, and +then the ministers of the Great Physician of souls will recover +their proper influence, and will be able beneficially to exercise +their important functions.</p> +<p>It is impossible to estimate the advantage of the ministerial +office to society, until the aggregate of the services of men, +who have all their allotted field of action throughout the +kingdom, be well weighed. Let any one examine minutely into +the benefit which one parish receives from a resident incumbent, +who faithfully discharges the duties of his office; and if all do +not so, it is the fault of the individual, and not of the +system:—let him <a name="page149"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 149</span>observe, not merely the general +advantage derived by all from the residence amongst them of a +well informed and well conducted man,—at once the scholar, +the gentleman, and the Christian,—but of one who is the +authorized medium through which abuses are to be checked and +corrected, vice discountenanced and reproved, virtue encouraged +and rewarded, relief administered to distress, instruction to +ignorance, comfort to sorrow, and the light of the Gospel +diffused amongst all,—its offers addressed to all, its +consolation imparted to all. Then let him attempt to +calculate the amount of instruction conveyed through “the +alacrity, the zeal, the warm-heartedness which the Established +Clergy have manifested for the education of the poor;” <a +name="citation149"></a><a href="#footnote149" +class="citation">[149]</a> of comfort derived by suffering in its +hour of need and sorrow, from its faithful pastor; and of benefit +imparted to all, either directly or indirectly, either temporally +or spiritually, by the appointed and responsible teachers of the +Gospel, throughout the parishes in the kingdom. And then +let him form a judgment as to what degree of confidence is to be +placed in the wisdom, what sense of obligation is to be +entertained for the services,—<i>not of those</i> who are +labouring with <i>earnest</i> diligence to “feed the flock +over which the Holy Ghost has <a name="page150"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 150</span>made them +overseers,”—<i>of those</i> who by impoverishing the +Clergy would deprive them of the means of affording temporal +assistance to the poor and needy; and by calumniating the Clergy +would impede the discharge and frustrate the efficacy of their +spiritual ministrations. Alas! it is because the full value +of the quiet and unobtrusive labours of all ranks in the Church +is so little known by those who are actively engaged in public +life, that plans are devised, which, possessing some +plausibility, and coming recommended with much eloquence, are +eagerly embraced by many, who would indignantly reject them were +they aware that, if adopted, they would injure the present and +endanger the eternal welfare of millions. As men, as +statesmen, and as Christians, let all who have inconsiderately +joined in the cry against the Church forbear, until they have +ascertained for themselves, by minute and impartial +investigation, whether it is as wealthy and proud, as grasping +and worldly, as bigoted and intolerant, as intermeddling and +domineering, as inefficient and corrupt, as its enemies have +represented it to be. Could it be proved to be such, every +sincere Christian, whether cleric or laic, would at once say, +free it from the abuses which disgrace its character and impair +its efficiency. But of the charges brought against it, the +large proportion originate in the hostility, hatred, and +malignity of its enemies; there may be some defects, but <a +name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>they are +incidental, not inherent, and are at present occupying the deep +and anxious attention of the heads of the establishment, who are +most desirous to correct whatever may limit the influence or +lessen the usefulness of that pure and reformed branch of the +Church of Christ established in this kingdom.</p> +<p>If the enemies of the Church, who profess to be the friends of +mankind, are sincere, as we are bound to consider them, in the +expression of their wish to benefit their fellow-men, they must +not impede the operation of an establishment which every where +diffuses a knowledge of that Gospel, the salutary influence of +which extends through society, as the only cure of the ills to +which flesh is heir. They may closely watch and severely +scrutinize the proceedings of the Church; but, as men and +Christians, they are bound to do it justice, and give it their +support as a powerful agent, in lightening the load of misery +which too often exists in this commercial country to a frightful +extent. “Compare,” says the present Bishop of +Chester, “compare the ignorant and unreflecting peasant, +who moves in the same dull, and too often sinful track, with no +ideas beyond the ground he treads upon, the sensual indulgences +which he gratifies, and the day that is passing over his +head;—compare him with his enlightened neighbour, nay, with +himself, if happily he becomes enlightened, when he follows <a +name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 152</span>the same +path of active industry, but makes it a path towards his heavenly +Father’s kingdom;—and then perceive, by a visible +example, what the grace of God effects through the agency of man; +or take a case, too common, alas! too familiarly known to many +who hear me. Take the case of those who see their +occupation sinking from under them; their means of support +annually decreasing, and little prospect of its +melioration. Suppose that the views of these, and such as +these, are bounded by this present world, what can they be but +unhappy, restless, discontented; defying God, and murmuring at +man; distressing the philanthropist, because he sees no comfort +left to them; distressing the statesman, because he can devise no +remedy for their relief; above all, distressing the Christian, +who sees the future prospect far darker than the present +gloom? Suppose the case of one thus circumstanced, having +no hope beyond this world; and then contemplate the change which +would be produced, if any of the means by which grace is +communicated to the heart should inspire the same person with the +principles and the faith of the Gospel; converting him from +whatever is evil in his ways, and thus removing all the +accumulation which sin adds to poverty: reconciling him to +hardships and privations as the intended trial of his faith, the +lot of many of God’s most approved servants; and lighting +up the darkness of <a name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +153</span>this world by the rays which precede that which is to +come, the earnest of a brighter dawn.”</p> +<p>May those who have been so far misled as to become either +hostile or indifferent to their Church now do tardy justice to +her, which, through good report and evil report, is still true to +her righteous and holy cause, and dispenses through the land the +light and blessing of the Gospel of peace: may those who love, +cherish, and venerate the religion of their fathers—the +Church of their God—approve themselves zealous and faithful +sons; our Zion requires active, stanch, vigilant, and experienced +defenders: her enemies are numerous, persevering, powerful, +malignant, implacable; their attacks are sometimes open, +sometimes insidious, but always skilfully planned, and ably +conducted; still, whilst the Church continues true to God and His +Christ, she has nothing to fear, for “greater is He who is +for her than he who is against her.” “The Lord +is her shield and buckler,” and Christ has promised to be +always, even unto the end of the world, with his Church, which is +founded on the rock of faith, and against which “the gates +of hell shall not prevail:” in humble, but firm reliance, +therefore, upon Him, of whose mystical body she forms a portion, +the Church of England, amid the strifes of political changes, +amid the distractions of civil contentions, amid the storms <a +name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>of popular +clamour and fury, remains stedfast through faith, and joyful +through hope:</p> +<blockquote><p>“As some tall cliff that lifts its awful +form,<br /> +Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,<br /> +Tho’ round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,<br /> +Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Whilst, however, we rely with firm and holy confidence upon +the Great Author and Finisher of our Faith, for the protection +and preservation of His Church; zeal, energy, and discretion, in +defence of religion, are not the less requisite in believers, who +labour under their Heavenly Master for the furtherance of His +Gospel. As the Almighty is pleased to employ human agents +for the accomplishment of His gracious designs towards His +creatures; His faithful servants hoping to prove instruments, in +His hands, of good to their fellow men, must use every means in +their power to frustrate the evil designs of the enemies of the +Lord; and to induce a sinful nation, suffering under a Divine +visitation, to put away from them “the evil of their +ways,” which has called down the Divine displeasure; and +humbling themselves before God to implore His mercy, “that +the plague may be stayed from the people.” <a +name="citation154"></a><a href="#footnote154" +class="citation">[154]</a> Let, then, all the servants of +the Lord, <a name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +155</span>at this alarming and awful crisis, “be very +jealous for the Lord God of Hosts;” <a +name="citation155"></a><a href="#footnote155" +class="citation">[155]</a> and pray and labour incessantly for +the defeat of the devices of unbelief; which, whether under the +form of an irreligious spirit seeking to do without Christianity, +or under the bolder aspect of open infidelity, striving to +subvert Christianity, is the main cause of the evils which now +endanger the safety of the civil and religious institutions of +the kingdom. We have seen that, in the case of the lower +classes of society, the tide of profaneness has been setting in +with a force and fury which threaten to overturn all the defences +of religion, morals, and laws, which have long withstood their +fierce assaults—their destructive ravages. Can it be +that the emissaries of Satan shall be found more zealous and +indefatigable in disseminating the poison which is to destroy +both body and soul, than the servants of God are vigilant, +active, and unwearied, to prevent the bane or supply the +antidote? Can it be that the slaves of sin and darkness, +under the galling yoke of him who is a hard master, will manifest +a more willing and prompt obedience, than the servants of God, in +the cause of their blessed Lord, whose “burden is +light,”—“whose service is perfect +freedom?” We have seen, also, that in the middle and +higher <a name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +156</span>classes of society there appears to be an equally +effective, though less conspicuous, agent at work—a deep +and silent current, which is gradually, though secretly, +undermining that great foundation of Christianity, that the law +of God is to be the rule of life. This great engine of +evil, as more insidious, is, in reality, more dangerous than the +noisy turbulence of infidel assemblies, or the open circulation +of blasphemous publications; the power of the spirit of darkness, +when, “as a roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom he +may devour,” is less to be dreaded, than when he employs +the noiseless gliding of “the serpent,” which +discovers itself only by the sting of death. Can it be that +any of the friends of religion will shut their ears against these +representations of great and alarming danger—delude +themselves with the groundless anticipations of unjustifiable +hope—deceive themselves with the distant plans of culpable +procrastination—or shroud themselves beneath the covering +of indolent supineness and heartless indifference? Too long +palliatives have been employed instead of remedies, expediency +has been substituted for principle, and worldly wisdom has +encroached upon the province of Divine Revelation. As a +Christian nation our laws and institutions should be all +essentially Christian; the foreign and domestic policy of the +State, and the public and private conduct <a +name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 157</span>of +individuals, should be all animated by a Christian spirit, and +guided by Christian rules and precedents.</p> +<p>Let us, therefore, enquire by what means is the predominance +of Christianity to be restored, when it is threatened with still +further depression; when it has great and powerful enemies all +plotting its destruction in this country?</p> +<p>There is one mean—to which reference has been already +made, as being the great object the believer should have in +view—which would, with the blessing of God, upon whom alone +dependence must rest for success against His enemies, be +effectual in accomplishing this great end, and that is the +zealous and unanimous co-operation of all Christians for the +general diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful +knowledge. A very brief examination into the cause which +has contributed largely to the present state of things, so +unfavourable to the interests of genuine Christianity, may +suffice to place this in a clear point of view.</p> +<p>Religious error generally receives its distinguishing features +from the literary character of the age: and an age which abounds +with sciolists is very fertile in sceptics. For it has been +always found that the effect of superficial knowledge is rather +to unsettle, of profound knowledge to confirm, belief in +Revelation; as was well observed by that mighty master in +philosophy, Bacon, who says, “a little <a +name="page158"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 158</span>philosophy +inclines us to atheism, and a great deal of philosophy carries us +back to religion.” And the reason of this is obvious; +there are certain difficulties of every subject which lie upon, +or nearly at, the surface; slight labour and research, therefore, +put the enquirer in possession of little more than those +difficulties; whilst if the spirit of patient and accurate +investigation had carried him further, he would have found them +gradually disappear before the light of truth breaking by degrees +upon his mind, and leading him to just and certain conclusions, +drawn from a long series of proofs. Now the present age +appears to be characterized by a wide diffusion of elementary +knowledge amongst all classes of society; by a preference of an +extensive, though necessarily superficial, acquaintance with +general literature and the elements of modern science, to an +accurate and profound knowledge of a few leading branches of +study; and by a tendency to elevate the pursuit of physical above +that of moral and religious truth. From the proposition +laid down, of the ordinary effects of superficial knowledge upon +the mind in the investigation of religious truth, we should +conclude, that such a system of popular instruction is calculated +to indispose towards the full reception of a Divine Revelation; +that the mind, either bewildered by a variety of pursuits, or +dissatisfied by diversity of opinions, will consider all +knowledge uncertain, and <a name="page159"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 159</span>all theories unsatisfactory; or +influenced by that intellectual pride and presumption which are +amongst the most bitter fruits of defective knowledge, deem +itself competent to decide summarily upon whatever passes under +its observation. For if it has been found—as it has +been too often found—that minds, otherwise highly gifted, +but destitute of religious principles, when long accustomed to +demonstration, are apt to underrate the value of moral proof; and +when long familiar with natural causes, sometimes forget the +great Architect, who formed and put in motion our globe; +sometimes forget the great First Cause, which gave nature her +powers and properties, and now preserves and directs them to a +beneficial end: what must we expect when far inferior minds, +without mental discipline and profound knowledge, those happy +results of laborious and patient study; but with vanity flattered +by appeals made to its judgment, and with pride fostered by the +acquisition of a poor modicum of science, deem themselves +competent not merely to decide upon the most difficult questions +of government and legislation, but upon the most profound truths +of natural and revealed religion? The result may be easily +anticipated; if this empty vanity, this presumptuous pride of +intellect, reject not Christianity at once, it ordinarily takes +an heretical direction, and assuming the specious guise of love +of investigation, <a name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +160</span>and value for the powers of reason, it makes the deep +and awful mysteries of our holy faith the subject of crude +theories and daring speculations; and with powers confessedly +unequal to the explanation of some of the lowest wonders of the +material world, seeks to penetrate within the veil drawn around +the Godhead, and reduce to the level of human comprehension the +very nature of the Divine essence. Should it, however, take +one step further, and that an easy step, it rejects the truths it +had long distorted, it resigns the shadow of which it had never +known the substance, and declaring Christianity to be “a +cunningly devised fable,” it becomes the advocate of +heartless, hopeless infidelity.</p> +<p>This is no imaginary picture, but one, of the reality and +fidelity of which the present state of society affords too +abundant proof. Not that superficial acquaintance with +science is a thing of new occurrence; not that pride of +intellect—ever a luxuriant weed in rich but ill-cultivated +soils,—is a growth peculiar to our times; not that heresy +and infidelity, its bitterest fruits, never till now spread their +poison through our land; but never before was the field so large, +the weeds more rank, and the crop so abundant. Formerly, +science flowed in a few deep and noble rivers, of whose copious +waters the nation at large sparingly drank; we still have many +rich streams which fertilize the <a name="page161"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 161</span>land, but in addition to them there +is an infinity of small rivulets, some of which, like mountain +torrents, after a thunder-storm, are brawling and turbulent, +covered with much foam, mixed with much impurity, often rising +over their banks, and spreading havoc and barrenness, where all +was fertility and beauty. Such streams may serve to +illustrate the effects, upon society, of the violence and +turbulence of those, whose imperfect acquaintance with science +has first shaken their own belief, and has then been made +instrumental to the spread of infidel doctrines, amongst those +who had lived in happy ignorance of “science, falsely so +called.” But would any one, therefore, be so unwise +as to endeavour to keep these turbulent brooks pent up? The +destruction would be only wider and heavier when they at last +burst over the mounds that restrained them: but it is at once the +course of wisdom and of humanity to confine them within their +banks, and give them a due direction, and then, as they descend +towards the plain, gradually the brawling ceases, the froth +disappears, the mud subsides, and you have a pure and quiet +stream diffusing the riches, refreshment, and beauty of science +over the land. No calumny has, perhaps, been more +frequently repeated in the present day than that those who expose +the perversion, are the enemies of science. But in spite of +interested clamour and unjust censure, the Christian is bound <a +name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 162</span>to +maintain, that knowledge is valuable in the degree in which it +makes men not merely wiser but better: and that however he may +approve of literary and scientific pursuits, however ready he may +be to extol their value, for great indeed is their value, still +their highest value is in proving subsidiary to the acquisition +of Christian knowledge. Whilst, therefore, he recommends +their attainment, because they are calculated to enlighten and +invigorate the mind, correct and refine the taste, exalt and +dignify the character, to supply a rational and unfailing source +of relaxation and enjoyment, he must ever maintain, that unless +hallowed with some portion of that “wisdom which is from +above,” they will be useless to their possessor, and may, +by a mischievous perversion, not only be fatal to his present and +future happiness, but injurious to the best interests of a +community.</p> +<p>That the extension of education has contributed to the +production of such evils is true, but it is not less true, that +education is not fairly chargeable with accidental and separable +consequences. The fault has been, that the provision for +the religious instruction of the age, notwithstanding the zeal +and activity shewn to accomplish this great object, has not +increased in the same ratio with that for its advancement in +literature and science. The supply of the mental wants of +the middle and lower classes of society, which have received this +powerful impulsion <a name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +163</span>towards knowledge, has been too much in the hands of +those who avowedly exclude religion from their system of popular +education. Thus, a much neglected soil has been broken up, +and prepared for cultivation, but “whilst men slept, the +enemy came and sowed tares in the field;” the Lord’s +labourers, however, are not therefore to desert the field, but to +employ, for the future, more watchful vigilance, more earnest +zeal, and more assiduous labour. There is no benefit nor +blessing which is not capable of perversion and abuse; but it +would be a strange act of folly to refuse a manifest advantage, +through fear of contingent evil, both the prevention and +correction of which are in our own power. “The almost +universal diffusion of elementary knowledge furnishes the enemies +of revealed religion with abundant materials to work upon: but +then it also furnishes the friends of truth with the obvious +means of counteracting the influence of erroneous doctrines, and +of instilling sounder principles into the bulk of the +community. Any attempt to suppress, or even to check, the +spirit of inquiry, which is abroad in the world, would not only +be a vain and fruitless attempt, but a violation of the +indefeasible liberty of the human mind, and an interference with +its natural constitution. To impart to that spirit a right +direction, to sanctify it with holy motives, to temper it to +righteous purposes, to shape it to ends which lie beyond <a +name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 164</span>the limits +of this beginning of our existence, will be the endeavour of +those who desire to make the cultivation of intellect conducive +to moral improvement, and to establish the kingdom of Christ at +once in the understanding and affections of mankind.” <a +name="citation164"></a><a href="#footnote164" +class="citation">[164]</a></p> +<p>Let, then, all the friends of religion employ some portion of +their time, their influence, and their wealth, in zealously +labouring to promote a general diffusion of true religion, sound +learning, and useful knowledge. Let them be assured that +the mental cultivation of the population of a country, when +properly conducted, will, by elevating the moral character, +always have a beneficial influence upon society; that it can only +be properly conducted when religion forms the basis of the system +of instruction; and that the present ardent thirst for knowledge +will be productive of lasting evil or good to the best interests +of England, accordingly as it is, or is not, directed as to an +object of paramount importance, to that fountain of “living +water” which floweth for our salvation.</p> +<p>When religion has been made the basis of education, and the +principles of revelation have been clearly understood, and +cordially embraced, a slight acquaintance with science not only +ceases to have any injurious effect upon the mind, but benefits +it, <a name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 165</span>as +the acquisition of useful knowledge must always do: in the +humility, faith, stability, and knowledge of true religion, there +is a safe-guard against the evils usually attendant upon a +superficial acquaintance with natural philosophy in minds +ill-disciplined and ill-informed. Nor is it only that +physical science benefits minds early imbued with religious +principles; a knowledge of many of its departments opens a new +and unfailing source of high and pure enjoyment; it supplies, as +it were, a new sense: before, Creation presented a beautiful and +varied picture, delighting the eye, and filling the heart with +gladness. But it was in a degree like the picture of a +great master, to one unacquainted with painting; the general +beauty, and happiness of effect, were discoverable, but there was +not the full satisfaction which the connoisseur derives from his +knowledge of the art; upon the former, the general effect +principally makes an impression; with the latter, not only the +general effect, but all the variety of details, all the happy +combinations, which have united to produce that effect, are seen, +understood, and appreciated; and there results the high +gratification felt by a cultivated mind, when the eye is pleased, +the understanding exercised, and the judgment satisfied. +However inadequate every illustration, drawn from art, must be to +convey any just conception of the impression which the works of +nature are calculated to make <a name="page166"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 166</span>upon the enlightened mind; still +this may afford a faint parallel of the advantage which +scientific men possess over those who have never studied the book +of nature. For physical science improves the perception of +the beauties, whilst it unfolds the wonders, of creation: not +only do the great results of nature’s works become, through +it, better understood; but the causes and modes of operation, by +which those results are accomplished, are discovered: and the +student becomes more full of delight and admiration, the further +his researches extend; he traces the nice connexion, which every +where exists between causes and effects; and surveys, with wonder +and praise, the beautiful contrivances, the admirable +adaptations, the perfect harmony, which reign throughout the +creation of God. His mind thus becomes deeply and +powerfully impressed with the uniform perfection visible in the +works of the Deity: if he observe with his telescope a +planet,—one of those bright bodies which gem the canopy of +heaven,—or examine with his microscope an insect,—one +of the minutest beings which sport in the summer’s +sunshine,—he still sees the same perfection; “those +rolling fires on high” perform their appointed revolutions, +in their several orbits, directed by unvarying laws; and the tiny +insect, equally complete in its organization, exercises, with an +instinct as unerring, its allotted functions.</p> +<p>The whole material universe supplies the student <a +name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>of nature +with a rich field, at once, of investigation and enjoyment: the +mineral, the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms, all disclose +their treasures to his inquiring mind; which is not, however, +limited by the narrow bounds of our terraqueous globe, but ranges +through the fields of ether, far as the eye can penetrate into +the distant regions of illimitable space. Throughout he is +delighted to trace the hand of the Creator; to observe every +where design and arrangement; nothing superfluous, nothing in +vain, but the mighty machinery of a stupendous system; in the +great principles of which there is sublime simplicity, in their +operations unvarying accuracy and matchless contrivance, in their +details endless variety and infinite combinations, and in their +effects utility, beauty, grandeur, and magnificence. The +works of the Almighty far exceed the full comprehension of finite +intelligence, but much further do they transcend adequate +description in uninspired language: man feels all his feebleness +of intellect and of expression, when he attempts to penetrate +deeply into, or to describe accurately, the mighty works of God; +he is then constrained to confess, “such knowledge is too +wonderful and excellent for me; I cannot attain unto it.” +<a name="citation167"></a><a href="#footnote167" +class="citation">[167]</a> “Oh Lord, how manifold are +Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full +of Thy <a name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +168</span>riches; so is the great and wide sea also.” <a +name="citation168a"></a><a href="#footnote168a" +class="citation">[168a]</a> “The heavens declare the +glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work.” <a +name="citation168b"></a><a href="#footnote168b" +class="citation">[168b]</a> “By the word of the Lord +were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of +His mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together, as +it were upon an heap, and layeth up the deep, as in a +treasure-house. Let the earth fear the Lord: stand in awe +of Him, all ye that dwell in the world. For He spake, and +it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” <a +name="citation168c"></a><a href="#footnote168c" +class="citation">[168c]</a> And he breaks forth in the +devout hymn of the Psalmist; “Praise the Lord, oh my soul: +oh Lord my God, Thou art become exceeding glorious: Thou art +clothed with majesty and honour. Thou deckest Thyself with +light, as it were with a garment: and spreadest out the heavens +like a curtain. Who layeth the beams of His chambers in the +waters, and maketh the clouds His chariot, and walketh upon the +wings of the wind.”</p> +<p>When philosophy is thus sanctified by Christianity, the volume +of nature presents, after the volume of inspiration, the most +instructive and delightful study of man; in both he can read, as +if written by a sun-beam, the power, the wisdom, and the goodness +of the Most High. Would, then, any wish to debar others +from the high intellectual feast which nature bountifully spreads +before all, <a name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +169</span>and of which she pressingly invites all to +partake? Such would be to limit or to divert the streams of +Divine bounty, whilst flowing in their proper channels: such +would be to make a monopoly of one of heaven’s best and +freest gifts to man, whilst a pilgrim in this world of +woe,—the admonitions which nature addressing to the +enlightened and thoughtful mind,</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“Leads it upward +to a brighter day.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Would any say, Gaze as long as you like upon the beauties and +wonders of nature, but attempt not to explore its hidden +secrets—to examine the latent springs of its vast and +complicated machinery? Such would be, as if a man +possessing a curious and exquisite piece of mechanism were to +direct the observers to remark the beauty of the material, the +regularity of the movements, and the certainty of the results, +and yet to forbid them to examine into the principle of +construction and the mode of operation, on which those movements +and that certainty depend. For the proportion, in which he +who has studied the structure of the globe, the wonderful +mechanism of the universe, as far as Revelation and reason have +enabled men to go, derives from its contemplation greater +enjoyment and instruction than he who treads the earth, traverses +the seas, and gazes upon the heavens, ignorant of all philosophy +can teach, is the same <a name="page170"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 170</span>as that in which he who understands +mechanics receives greater pleasure and information, than he who +understands them not, from examining the process of a masterly +application of the powers of that science.</p> +<p>Let, therefore, the knowledge of physical science be widely +diffused, but let the basis of Christian principles be first +laid; for thus not only may the evil of scepticism be provided +against, but the field of moral and intellectual enjoyment and +improvement will be enlarged to the student; for never does the +study of the material universe more elevate the mind, and expand +the heart, than when we are accustomed to refer every thing to a +great and gracious Creator,—to look habitually</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“Through nature +up to nature’s God.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“We know that there is a superficial philosophy, which +casts the glare of a most seducing brilliancy around it; and +spurns the Bible, with all the doctrine and all the piety of the +Bible, away from it; and has infused the spirit of Antichrist +into many of the literary establishments of the age: but it is +not the solid, the profound, the cautious spirit of that +philosophy, which has done so much to ennoble the modern period +of our world; for the more that this spirit is cultivated and +understood, the more will it be found in alliance with that +Spirit, in virtue of which all that exalteth itself against the +knowledge <a name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +171</span>of God is humbled, and all lofty imaginations are cast +down, and every thought of the heart is brought into the +captivity of the obedience of Christ.” <a +name="citation171"></a><a href="#footnote171" +class="citation">[171]</a></p> +<p>The first great principle, therefore, which all must steadily +keep in view and strenuously advocate, is that <i>the Bible +should form the basis of education</i>. It is not +sufficient to say, that education is to be conducted on religious +principles, for on the subject of religion there exists, in this +day, a most unfortunate and mischievous variety of opinions, +which would be much diminished if the Holy Scriptures were made +the real, as they are the professed, groundwork of every system +of Christian instruction. Two other great principles, which +the true servants of God should strongly recommend and enforce, +as being intimately and necessarily connected with the +first—that the Bible is to be the basis of +education,—are, that <i>the Bible is to be the rule of +faith</i>, <i>and the guide of public and private life</i>. +From a neglect of these three great principles of Christian +conduct, it is hardly too much to say, that almost all the evils +which afflict society have arisen: for they all reciprocate, and +mutually contribute to their common perpetuation. The man +of the world educates his son in the way best calculated to +promote his temporal advancement: and that son, in his turn, <a +name="page172"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 172</span>when he +becomes a father, is regardless of the eternal interests of his +child, which he has never been taught to value. For the +system begun in childhood is continued through all the stages of +life; and “the spirit returns unto God who gave it,” +having been occupied almost to the last moment of human existence +with the pursuit of worldly advantage and enjoyment. Here +we have, consequently, only the name of Christianity; for neither +do its motives influence, nor its rules guide the conduct: there +may be the external form, but there is not the power of +godliness; there may be the cold and lifeless statue, there is +not the living Christian, possessed of intelligence, volition, +and motion, and animated by faith and hope,—the origin, +exercise, and direction of which belong to the Spirit of +God. This is a necessary consequence of that neglect of the +Bible, which has been already noticed as being such a prolific +source of error. There is very general in the world a +standard of faith and morals, which Scripture does not recognize, +and a reliance upon Divine mercy, which Scripture does not +sanction. Thus the world calls vices venial, which +Scripture says shall exclude from heaven; and the world speaks +peace, where Scripture pronounces woe. Take, however, the +life of a large body of men, trace it from the cradle to the +grave; observe in childhood its toys, in boyhood its sports, in +youth its pleasures, in manhood its <a name="page173"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 173</span>occupations and enjoyments, and in +age its employments; all in succession deemed of supreme +importance, and the excessive indulgence of which has never been +considered criminal: then take the Bible, and compare the survey +you have made with what it reveals of the nature and object of +man’s probation; and the conclusion will force itself +irresistibly and painfully upon you, that as life is to be a +state of moral discipline to fit the heir of immortality for his +bright inheritance, the life, which has been depicted, is not +that which will lead to the blessed mansions of heaven.</p> +<p>Against this spurious Christianity, let the friends of true +religion every where raise their voice, for like a currency of +base coin, it is not only without value in itself, but deludes +its possessor with the false idea of possessing wealth. Let +them point out the folly and the danger of receiving religious +opinions from the world, instead of from God’s book; for as +the light of the sun is coloured by the stained glass through +which it passes, so the rays of Divine truth, being tinged by the +perverted medium through which they are received, may deceive +those who imagine they are enjoying the bright beams of the Sun +of Righteousness. And let them warn all against walking by +another’s light,—though he may appear “a +shining and a burning light”—instead of searching for +themselves the lively oracles of Scripture; it may be, as in the +case of a party in a dark <a name="page174"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 174</span>and dangerous cavern, where few only +possess lamps, that the whole may proceed in safety; but surely +the security is not so great as if each possessed his own lamp; +and great would be the folly of him, who warned of the danger, +and assured of the necessity of having a lamp of his own, +rejected the friendly offer of assistance, which would guide him +in safety, and trusted to the uncertain light of another, which, +falling on broken and uneven ground, deceived the eye, and risked +his precipitation into some deep abyss, from which extrication +was impossible.</p> +<p>Let them every where teach and impress, as a duty of paramount +importance, that not only the education of all classes, from the +prince to the peasant, should be conducted on the principles of +the Bible; but that all should acquire that knowledge of the +evidences as well as doctrines and duties of Christianity, which +may fit them in their several stations to overcome, through the +grace of God, the temptations to unbelief or immorality, which +are likely to assail them. It is a painful reflection, how +many youths of bright prospects, great talents, and amiable +dispositions, have made shipwreck of their present and eternal +hopes, from a want of early religious instruction. How many +are less ashamed of being found ignorant of the Bible than any +other book, and whilst they would blush not to be acquainted with +some new, though unimportant, <a name="page175"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 175</span>discovery in science, feel no shame +in never having learnt the important discoveries made by +Revelation to man. And how many, in an evil age, want +courage to admit a knowledge of the Bible, with the great truths +of which they have been made imperfectly acquainted, but have +neither learnt their value nor imbibed their spirit.</p> +<p>Let, therefore, the true servants of the Lord labour +diligently to counteract the rationalizing spirit in theology, +the neglect of Divine Providence, the ascription of every thing +to natural causes, the endeavour, in short, to do without +Christianity in the affairs of life, which so extensively +prevail. And let them discountenance and repress, and, when +fitted by previous education and study, refute the objections +which scepticism and infidelity now advance in society, not only +unblushingly avowing their unbelief, but attempting to spread its +poison in private families. It would not be for the +advantage of religion to commit to inexperienced hands the +weapons of controversy, for the great strength of infidelity lies +in perplexing subtilities and ingenious sophisms, which are +calculated to puzzle an ill-read and illogical disputant. +But every Christian should “know the certainty of those +things wherein he has been instructed.” <a +name="citation175"></a><a href="#footnote175" +class="citation">[175]</a> “And be ready always to +give an answer to every man that asketh a reason <a +name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>of the hope +that is in him, with meekness and fear.” <a +name="citation176"></a><a href="#footnote176" +class="citation">[176]</a> The neglect of instruction in +the evidences, in the general system of religious education, is +at once most unwise, and most calculated fearfully to promote the +spread of unbelief: in the first place, it is like attempting to +build a house without laying a good foundation: the winds and +floods of infidelity assail it, and it falls, because built on +sand: in the second place, the fall of one house generally more +or less injures those adjoining: thus the cause of unbelief is +advanced, not only by the accession of every new convert, but by +the shock which his fall occasions to the faith of his friends +and acquaintance. Let, therefore, the friends of religion +at once secure to the evidences their proper place in every +system of education, and also take care that their own principles +be fortified by that sound “knowledge which maketh not +ashamed.” Let them never suffer the cause of God to +be blasphemed, or the truth of religion denied in society, +without entering, at least, their protest; and let them never +suffer the questions and doubts of scepticism to be propounded in +their families, without at once silencing the dangerous inmate, +who seeks to spread his secret poison, by inviting enquiry and +provoking discussion. It is true many of the objections +urged in society are of a nature which little learning, in <a +name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 177</span>addition to +good common sense, may suffice to answer. As, for instance, +the existence of mysteries in Christianity; whilst, in truth, the +absence of mysteries in a Revelation would be a strong argument +against its Divine origin: the terms employed in creeds and +articles, the form of worship and the discipline of the Church; +for all of which Christianity is not strictly liable, as, though +in perfect conformity with, some of them have been engrafted +upon, Revelation: and the sins into which believers, who disgrace +their profession, are betrayed; for which Christianity cannot be +to blame, as it would be most manifest injustice to visit upon a +Revelation, the offences of unworthy members, of which their own +sinfulness is the sole cause. But such is the mode of +warfare of the light troops of the infidel host, who dare not +attack directly the evidences, doctrines, and precepts of the +Gospel; and yet from their numbers, activity, and malignity, have +deeply injured the cause of religion, by insinuating doubts, and +instilling suspicions into ill-informed and inexperienced +minds.</p> +<p>If those who bear the Christian name and believe the Christian +faith would unite against this legion of evil spirits, and employ +their rank, influence, talents, and learning, in bringing them +into subjection to Him, whose easy yoke they have thrown off, for +the service of Satan, the cause of religion would be immensely +benefited. Not only because many unbelievers would probably +be converted, but because <a name="page178"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 178</span>the work of proselytism would be +checked: at present, from the culpable supineness and +indifference of many Christians, even in private families, +infidelity is sometimes heard, unblushingly, to avow its +detestable principles; but if the ban of proscription was placed +upon its creed, the ears of believers would not be shocked, and +the principles of the inexperienced endangered by direct or +indirect attacks upon the great truths of our most Holy +Faith.</p> +<p>To effect a general co-operation of the great body of +Christians, in the cause of religion, would be, necessarily, a +work of immense difficulty and labour. Much, however, might +be accomplished, if more of those, whom God has blessed with +power and influence, set an example of labouring zealously to +promote His glory and the advancement of His kingdom. How +often, amongst the higher and middle classes of society, has the +influence of a single individual, of talents and learning, but of +still more eminent piety, been employed with the most beneficial +effects. “A word spoken in due season, how good is +it,” <a name="citation178"></a><a href="#footnote178" +class="citation">[178]</a> has been fully proved, in the case of +many, who, vibrating, as it were, in such perfect equipoise +between good and evil, that a feather would almost suffice to +incline the balance, have been led to “choose that good +part, which shall <a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +179</span>not be taken away from them;” <a +name="citation179a"></a><a href="#footnote179a" +class="citation">[179a]</a> by having books recommended or +supplied, by receiving friendly advice and encouragement, or by +that most eloquent and attractive of the modes of conveying +instruction—the winning grace and beauty of Christian +example. If, therefore, even a few individuals or families, +in any place, resolved that, by Divine grace, “as for me +and my house, we will serve the Lord;” <a +name="citation179b"></a><a href="#footnote179b" +class="citation">[179b]</a> I will not be “unequally +yoked with unbelievers;” <a name="citation179c"></a><a +href="#footnote179c" class="citation">[179c]</a> as far as in me +lieth, no one shall blaspheme the Holy Name by which I am called, +nor malign the holy cause which in baptism I have sworn to +defend; infidelity would be much put to shame and silence. +And it is the duty of all sincere Christians to adopt this +course, for they are bound to use every means in their power, to +discourage infidelity; they must not admit it into the intimacy +and confidence of domestic life; the sacrifice may sometime be +painful, but it must be made; there may not be any compromise of +Christian obligations, which forbid every unholy alliance: +“for what fellowship hath righteousness with +unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and +what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that +believeth, with an infidel?” <a name="citation179d"></a><a +href="#footnote179d" class="citation">[179d]</a> Believers +must warn, exhort, entreat, and, if in their power, <a +name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 180</span>instruct +the unbeliever; but, if in vain, then the divine command applies, +“come out from among them, and be ye separate:” if +both parties be sincere, the contrariety of habits, feelings, +sentiments, and even of enjoyments, which exists between them, +must render familiar intercourse little agreeable or profitable +to the servant of God; who, if he be a weak or wavering disciple, +may receive much injury, where he cannot benefit; and, if he be a +firm and established disciple, when he finds his efforts to +convince the gainsayer fruitless, however ready he may still +continue to be to lend assistance, to admonish, and to observe +all the courtesies of life; yet he cannot assign a place in his +heart, or receive as a chosen and favoured associate, one who is +not united with him in the sweet bonds of Christian fellowship: +there exists a bar, for the present, insuperable, why such may +not be addressed in the affectionate language of the Psalmist, +“thou, my companion, my guide, and mine own familiar +friend;” and that bar is, they cannot “take sweet +counsel together, and walk in the house of God as friends.” +<a name="citation180"></a><a href="#footnote180" +class="citation">[180]</a></p> +<p>To defeat, however, the devices and to frustrate the labours +of the emissaries of infidelity amongst the labouring population +of the country, religious associations should be formed: for an +evil of such magnitude will never be remedied, until there are +the <a name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 181</span>more +extensive and effective results of well concerted and combined +operations, in the place of the desultory movements of partial or +individual zeal. This it may be said is already done by +societies, amongst which the venerable Society for Promoting +Christian Knowledge has stood forward with the most praiseworthy +zeal and activity to stem the tide of infidelity, which has been, +during the last year, spreading poison and death. But +increased efficiency would be given even to the labours of this +valuable Society, by associations of the nature proposed; the +object of which would be, not only the present remedy, but the +prevention of evils so dangerous to the best interests of +society. And how great might be the blessed effects, in +checking the secret and open enemies of the Gospel, if its true +friends stood forward, and united heart and hand with their +appointed pastors—giving them all the aid of their rank and +influence, and acting, under their superintendence and direction, +in the discharge of duties, which may with propriety be delegated +to laymen!</p> +<p>A writer, who has been already quoted at considerable length, +to shew the deep devices, the bold effrontery, the unwearied +zeal, and the alarming success of infidel teachers in the +metropolis, asks the important question, “what is to be +done in a state of things like this? Shall we look calmly +on, and say, let them alone; the authors and propagators <a +name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 182</span>of the +mischief are profligate and worthless men, whom nobody will +trust; and, therefore, too contemptible to be noticed. +Alas! we should only deceive ourselves, and be led to neglect +others, by taking this flattering unction to our souls.—It +is clear, therefore, that some active and present remedy must be +brought to meet the evil; and there is none which presents itself +so readily and so naturally, as that which may be derived from +the arguments, and the testimony, and the advice of the true +friends of Christianity, particularly of the +ministers.” But the whole labour must not devolve +upon the clergy: not from any wish to spare them, whose duty it +is ever to be found in the van, in every attack upon the enemies +of the Lord,—and ever to bear the brunt of the battle; but +because the active co-operation of the laity is essential to the +success of the undertaking. It has been the artful policy +of the infidel teachers to endeavour to persuade their ignorant +auditors that our holy religion is a system of priestcraft; in +the preservation of which its ministers will always, necessarily, +be actively engaged, because they are deeply interested. +The deluded followers, therefore, of this satanic school, may +look with more than a suspicious eye upon the anxious labours of +their pastor to undeceive them; they may read in it a direct +confirmation of what they have heard, and ascribe solely to +self-interest what emanates <a name="page183"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 183</span>from the pious zeal and sense of +duty of him who “watches over them as one that is to give +account.” But when they see associated with the +minister, in the work of Christian charity and instruction, +laymen, whom they know to have no inducement to support a system +of fraud, and whom they may believe to be too honest and +honourable to promote the cause of error, they are more likely to +banish the suspicion of unworthy motives, which, in the present +distempered state of their minds, opposes an insuperable bar to +the reception of religious truth.</p> +<p>We have had in all our towns, and even in many large villages, +boards of health formed to visit and enquire into the state of +the poor; let similar religious boards be established under the +direction of the parochial clergy, to promote their spiritual +health. Numerous and great are the evils which have arisen +from the population of many parishes having increased beyond the +means of accommodation in the parish churches and almost beyond +the personal visitation and superintendence of the parochial +clergy. It has given rise to much almost compulsory +secession from the Church, has weakened the influence of the +Clergy, and has been productive of the still greater evils of +immorality, irreligion, and impiety. Plans, therefore, have +been drawn up and acted upon with the most happy effect in some +places, for the formation of visiting societies. These <a +name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 184</span>have +already received the sanction of two prelates, who preside over +populous dioceses, the Bishops of London and Chester, who have +both recommended them in their Charges to their Clergy. +“The vastness of the field,” observes the Bishop of +London, “which demands their exertions, and their own +insufficiency to meet that demand according to the promptings of +their conscience, and the impulse of a truly Christian charity, +are matters which lie heavily upon the mind of many faithful +zealous clergymen. In the discharge of those duties which, +in a populous parish, far exceed the physical abilities of the +strongest and most devoted minister, great assistance may be +derived from parochial visiting associations, acting in +subordination to the Clergy. By kind, yet not intrusive +enquiry into the wants, both temporal and spiritual, of the poor; +by well-timed aid, by encouragement, and counsel; by exhortations +to the duty of reading the Scriptures, of public worship, of +sanctifying the Lord’s Day, of regulating the behaviour of +their children; by directing them, in cases of sickness, or of +ignorance, or of troubled conscience, to their appointed pastor, +such an association may work incalculable good, and become +powerfully, though indirectly, instrumental in preaching the +Gospel to the poor. But it is incumbent on me to caution +the parochial Clergy against relinquishing the superintendence +and direction of these auxiliary labourers; and <a +name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>against +delegating to them their own peculiar functions and duties, as +the commissioned interpreters of Scripture, as the Lord’s +remembrancers for his people, and as the appointed guides of +their devotion. There is a special promise of blessing +annexed to ministerial service; and the sense of that specialty +ought not to be effaced from the minds of our flocks, by the +permitted intrusion of laymen, however pious and zealous, into +that which belongs to our own peculiar office. If this be +not attended to, you must expect that tares will spring up in the +wheat, and that your visiting societies will become so many +nurseries of schism.” <a name="citation185"></a><a +href="#footnote185" class="citation">[185]</a></p> +<p>The Bishop of Chester, after giving a striking description of +the transforming power of Divine grace, thus +continues—“And can these things be? ‘O +Lord God thou knowest.’ Earnestness, +disinterestedness, simplicity, godly sincerity, patience in +teaching, watchfulness in seizing the favourable moment for +counsel, are known to overcome even that which seems most +hopeless; the effects of natural corruption, inflamed by evil +example, and strengthened by habits of wilful disobedience.</p> +<p>“It will be asked, however, ‘Who is +sufficient,’ physically ‘sufficient for these +things? Certainly in our larger parishes it is not possible +for the strength or activity of the Clergy alone to provide <a +name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 186</span>for such +individual instruction. But, there is a resource at hand: +when the population is moderate, nothing is wanting but +resolution and contrivance; and in the case of a denser +population, the bane and the antidote, the evil and the remedy +are found together. The same population, which presses so +heavily, affords also that variety of ranks and degree of +superior education, that many fellow-workers may assist the +minister, and diminish his labours. In this manner the +Apostles were enabled to execute the manifold concerns which lay +upon them.”—“They have left us an +example. Let the minister of a populous district, using +careful discrimination of character, select such as ‘are +worthy,’ and of ‘good report,’ and assign them +their several employments under his direction: they may lessen +his own labour by visiting and examining the schools, by reading +and praying with the infirm and aged, by consoling the fatherless +and widows in their affliction, and pursuing the many nameless +ways by which it is in the power of one Christian to benefit and +relieve another. Such charity, even more than any other +charity, is useful to the giver as well as to the receiver: it +occupies minds, which, for want of engagement, might otherwise +prey upon themselves: and it occupies them in a way which better +fits them for eternity: in religion, as in worldly matters, we +often learn our best lessons by teaching. What image more +exemplifying the reality of pastoral <a name="page187"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 187</span>care, what more truly Christian +picture can be presented to our contemplation, than that of a +minister uniting with himself the best disposed and the most +competent portion of his parishioners, and superintending +counsels, and directing plans which have God for their object, +and the eternal welfare of his people for their end; seizing +every opportunity of general and individual good, correcting +mischiefs at their first rising, providing for the spiritual +wants of every different age and class, and thus striving, as far +as may be allowed, to ‘present every man perfect in Christ +Jesus?’”—“Nor is this any visionary +notion; pleasing in idea, but impracticable in reality. +Numerous parishes, of different degrees of population, have been +brought under such discipline with more or less success. +And I feel convinced that whoever is anxious to promote the glory +of God, to assist the most important interests of his +fellow-creatures, to confirm the security of his country, or +maintain the stability of his Church, can ensure none of those +great objects more effectively than by means like these. +Without them, in some of our crowded districts of dense and +extended population, the Church is lost sight of, parochial +distinctions are obliterated, and the reciprocal charities and +duties of the pastor and the flock are forgotten by the people, +because it is physically impossible that they should be +satisfactorily discharged.”</p> +<p><a name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 188</span>The +awful visitation which has fallen upon the country renders such +societies at this time of increased value and importance. +They are calculated powerfully to assist the labours of the +Clergy in endeavouring to improve, to the religious advantage of +their flocks, the apprehension which is so general. Seasons +of alarm and affliction are often peculiarly favourable for the +reception of Christian instruction: “the fear of the Lord +is the beginning of wisdom;” and when men look around them +and see or hear of death under its most terrible forms, and +discover the insufficiency of human means to prevent or remedy +the evil they dread, they may “fear Him which is able to +destroy both soul and body in hell;” <a +name="citation188a"></a><a href="#footnote188a" +class="citation">[188a]</a> and thus be led to flee to Him who is +able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by +Him. <a name="citation188b"></a><a href="#footnote188b" +class="citation">[188b]</a> Immense might be the benefit, +which would, through the blessing of God on their labours, accrue +to the cause of religion, if parochial visiting associations were +established generally throughout the kingdom, under the direction +of the Clergy. They might form channels through which the +valuable tracts against vice and infidelity, which the Society +for Promoting Christian Knowledge is now circulating, might be +more widely distributed; through which short addresses, and +strong appeals to the conscience, and earnest calls to +repentance, in <a name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +189</span>direct reference to the pestilence, might be brought +home to every family. They might constitute a medium +through which the parochial Clergy might communicate with every +part of the most populous and extensive parishes regularly and +frequently; through which they might diffuse much bounty, +kindness, instruction, and exhortation to their poor and ignorant +parishioners. It is impossible not to see at once that such +associations might be so framed as to be productive of the most +extensive and beneficial results to the Church and people of +England; they are calculated to restore the influence of the +Clergy, and extend their sphere of usefulness amongst their +flocks. Notwithstanding all the arts of the enemies of our +Establishment, the people of England always have loved, and still +love their Church: wherever a contrary feeling subsists, it may +be always traced to a local or temporary cause; but still it must +be admitted, that the immense population of some parishes, under +existing circumstances, is likely to produce estrangement from +the appointed pastor; an evil, which the visiting societies are +admirably adapted to remedy. Some may object to such +associations as being likely to encroach upon the separate and +peculiar duties of the ministerial character: such would be an +evil of the most serious nature, for no one must presume to +intrude himself uncalled upon the priest’s office: but, +though it is true every good is capable <a +name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 190</span>of abuse, +this is an abuse which may be always especially guarded against +by the clergyman who selects and controls the visitors, receives +their reports, and superintends their operations: whilst as a +further security against the perversion of such associations to +party or sectarian views, it might be made a standing rule, that +no tract should be circulated in any parish, which had not +received the sanction of the incumbent or his curate. To +arrange the machinery and frame the laws of a general system of +parochial visiting societies, must be a work of time; but +experience has already proved that they may be so framed and +conducted as to be productive of great and unmixed +advantage. And never could such aid come more opportunely +than at the present time: we have already seen the number, +fierceness, and malignity of the enemies, who beleaguer our Zion, +“and cry, down with her, down with her, even to the +ground.” The assistance of the laity, who are +faithfully attached and devoted to the cause of true religion, +will, therefore, be invaluable, at such a time, in defeating the +designs of those who seek to alienate the minds of the flock from +their regular pastors, to corrupt their principles, and make them +ready instruments for the execution of their deep and wicked +schemes: nor will the co-operation of pious laymen, with the +clergy, in using every means to bring the great bulk of the +people to humble them <a name="page191"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 191</span>selves before God, in the day of +their visitation, be a less important service. The +Christian minister resembles a beacon on a dangerous coast, which +warns against sand-banks, sunken rocks, and precipitous shores: +in fair weather, its single bright and steady light, which, +shining through the darkness, guides in safety the passing +vessels, is alone sufficient; but when the tempest rages, when +fogs obscure its brightness, when some vessels, having struck on +sunken rocks, are foundering; when others have grounded on +sand-banks, and others are stranded amid—</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“The impervious +horrors of a lee-ward shore;”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>then other, and most prompt assistance, is required; signal +guns are to be fired, the life-boat launched, and the various +life-preserving apparatus prepared. God has seen fit to +cast our lot on troublesome times; the storms of passion howl +around our Church, and her light cannot penetrate the mists of +prejudice: the barks of thousands, therefore, committed to the +stormy ocean of life,—</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“Youth at the +helm, and Pleasure at the prow,”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>are in danger of striking on the sunken rocks of secret +doubts, or of being wrecked on the exposed and rugged shore of +dark despairing infidelity: gladly, therefore, will +“God’s watchman,” who looks <a +name="page192"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 192</span>with alarm +and distress from his watch-tower, on this scene of imminent +danger, avail himself of the friendly hand which offers to aid +him in affording rescue from the impending destruction. Oh! +to the ministers of the Gospel,—who feel how much the value +and responsibility of their sacred office is increased in times +like the present; who are almost overwhelmed by a sense of what +is required of them as “overseers over God’s +heritage,” as “watchmen in Israel,” as +“ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of +God,”—assistance from pious, zealous, and discreet +laymen, acting under their direction, must be peculiarly valuable +and acceptable. Oh! only those who “have always in +remembrance into how high a dignity and to how weighty an office +and charge they have been called, to teach and to premonish, to +feed and to provide for the Lord’s family; to seek for +Christ’s sheep that are dispersed abroad, and for his +children who are in the midst of this naughty world that they may +be saved through Christ for ever,” <a +name="citation192"></a><a href="#footnote192" +class="citation">[192]</a> can fully estimate the value of any +aid, however feeble, which comes to them at a time, when maligned +and vilified, they find the difficulty of a due discharge of +their sacred duties immensely increased by the impediments thrown +in their way by the enemies of the Gospel.</p> +<p><a name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +193</span>Perhaps there never was a time which more than the +present required zeal blended with discretion, firmness tempered +with meekness, and faithfulness softened by charity, in the +Christian minister: well does the admonition of our blessed Lord +to his disciples apply to those whom, in this day, he has called +to be pastors under Himself—“be ye wise as serpents +and harmless as doves.” There are two other passages +of Scripture which appear to present a striking view of an +important duty of the clerical office in times like the present, +and of the mode in which it is to be exercised: the command +addressed to Isaiah, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy +voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, +and the house of Jacob their sins.” <a +name="citation193a"></a><a href="#footnote193a" +class="citation">[193a]</a> And the instructions given by +St. Paul to Timothy, “The servant of the Lord must not +strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in +meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God, +peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of +the truth.” <a name="citation193b"></a><a +href="#footnote193b" class="citation">[193b]</a> It is the +duty of Christian ministers to exhort and console each other in +the difficult work they have to perform; “to put one +another always in remembrance;” to “bear one +another’s burdens;” to “admonish one another in +the spirit of meekness and brotherly love.” How high +is the dignity of the ministerial office! “Let <a +name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 194</span>a man so +account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the +mysteries of God.” <a name="citation194a"></a><a +href="#footnote194a" class="citation">[194a]</a> “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 unto +God.” <a name="citation194b"></a><a href="#footnote194b" +class="citation">[194b]</a> How awful its +responsibility! “Son of man, I have made thee a +watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, hear the word of my +mouth, and give them warning from me: when I say unto the wicked, +thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor +speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life; +the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will +I require at thine hand.” <a name="citation194c"></a><a +href="#footnote194c" class="citation">[194c]</a> +“Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the +flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed +the Church of God, which He hath purchased with his own +blood.” <a name="citation194d"></a><a href="#footnote194d" +class="citation">[194d]</a> How great the satisfaction, how +sweet the joys of a successful ministry! “For what is +our hope or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in +the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at his coming? For +ye are our glory and joy.” <a name="citation194e"></a><a +href="#footnote194e" class="citation">[194e]</a> +“Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our +affliction and distress by your faith: for now we live, if ye +stand fast in the Lord: for what thanks can we render to God +again for you, for all the joy, <a name="page195"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 195</span>wherewith we joy for your sakes +before our God?” <a name="citation195a"></a><a +href="#footnote195a" class="citation">[195a]</a> +“Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my +joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly +beloved.” <a name="citation195b"></a><a +href="#footnote195b" class="citation">[195b]</a> +“Holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the +day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in +vain.” <a name="citation195c"></a><a href="#footnote195c" +class="citation">[195c]</a> And how rich its reward! +“Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the +error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a +multitude of sins.” <a name="citation195d"></a><a +href="#footnote195d" class="citation">[195d]</a> “And +they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, +and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever +and ever.” <a name="citation195e"></a><a +href="#footnote195e" class="citation">[195e]</a> Many +distinguished bishops and pastors, who have shone as bright +lights in our church, have strongly recommended that every +clergyman should have his appointed seasons in which he +“communes with his own heart, and in his chamber, and is +still;” meditates deeply upon his important, responsible, +and sacred office; reads, studies, and prays over the ordination +service; and diligently, strictly, and impartially examines into +how far he has been, through Divine grace, enabled to keep his +ordination vows—to perform his ordination +obligations. Such a practice is of such manifest propriety +and use, that doubtless it prevails extensively: and high indeed, +is the standard <a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +196</span>of duty, and strict the requirements of service, which +our Church imposes upon every minister: “See that you never +cease your labour, your care, and diligence, until ye have done +all that lieth in you to bring all such as are committed to your +charge unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and +to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be +no place left for error in religion, or for viciousness of +life.” <a name="citation196a"></a><a href="#footnote196a" +class="citation">[196a]</a></p> +<p>The prophet Isaiah thus prays to the Lord: “Yea, in the +way of Thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee; the desire +of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee. +With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my +spirit within me, will I seek Thee early; <span class="smcap">for +when Thy judgments are in the earth</span>, <span +class="smcap">the inhabitants of the world will learn +righteousness</span>.” <a name="citation196b"></a><a +href="#footnote196b" class="citation">[196b]</a> How +“instant in season, and out of season,” must all the +ministers of the Gospel be, that through the blessing of God, +they may make the Divine visitation, which has fallen on the +land, conducive to the religious improvement of their several +flocks. The very fear of the consequences of intemperance, +as being considered to predispose the system towards this +dreadful disease, has, in many places, operated to the production +of a great external reformation of the habits of life; let then +<a name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 197</span>the +favourable moment be seized, and every means used, that the inner +man may be converted to God. It is not sufficient, that the +pestilence should be considered as a judgment, and thus made the +occasion of private and public exhortation; the press should teem +with tracts on this most important and engrossing subject; and +there should be diffused throughout the country, under every +form, and adapted to every rank in life, admonition and entreaty +for all to improve to their soul’s health the spread of a +pestilence, which so often destroys the body which it +attacks. Every clergyman has his own sphere of influence +within which, at least, his labours may be beneficially +exercised; and if, by publishing, he benefits only those who are +principally dependent on him for religious instruction, he should +consider himself well repaid:—but who know how far they may +be instruments in God’s hands for good to their fellow +men? The Almighty often selects feeble agents to accomplish +great results, that it may be seen, that “neither is he +that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth: but God that +giveth the increase.” <a name="citation197"></a><a +href="#footnote197" class="citation">[197]</a> And oh! what +a source of joy there is to the true believer in hoping he may be +an humble instrument in God’s hands of “winning souls +to Christ.” The excellent Doddridge, in the preface +to his “Rise and Progress of <a name="page198"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 198</span>Religion in the Soul,” says, +he should consider his labour far more than amply compensated, if +his work, through the Divine blessing, be made instrumental to +the conversion <i>of one sinner</i>. What a field is now +opened to the ministers of the Gospel, in which they may hope, +through God’s grace and blessing, “<i>to turn many to +righteousness</i>;” for in times of great national +apprehension and danger the cause of true religion often advances +and flourishes. And oh! how sweet in such seasons, how +doubly blessed—blessed both to those who minister, and to +those who are ministered unto—is the faithful and zealous +discharge of the duties of their high and holy calling, who are +commissioned to pour the balm of consolation on the wounded +spirit, to bind up the broken-hearted, to sooth the terrors of +affrighted conscience, and to lead the humble, and contrite, and +heavy-laden, to the Saviour, that they may take His yoke upon +them, and find rest unto their souls.</p> +<p>Archbishop Leighton, the bright ornament of Scottish +Episcopacy, has forcibly stated the nature and obligations of the +Christian ministry, in commenting upon that most instructive +passage in the First general Epistle of St. Peter, “Feed +the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight +thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, +but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s +heritage, but being ensamples to <a name="page199"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 199</span>the flock. And when the Chief +Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that +fadeth not away.” <a name="citation199"></a><a +href="#footnote199" class="citation">[199]</a> “The +duty enjoined,” writes the Archbishop, “is, <i>Feed +the flock of God</i>. Every step of the way of our +salvation hath on it the print of infinite majesty, wisdom, and +goodness; and this among the rest, that men, sinful, weak men, +are made subservient in that great work of bringing Christ and +souls to meet; that by the foolishness of preaching (or what +appears so to carnal wisdom), the chosen of God are called, and +come unto Jesus, and are made <i>wise unto salvation</i>; and +that the life which is conveyed to them by the <i>word of +life</i>, in the hands of poor men, is by the same means +preserved and advanced. And this is the standing work of +the ministry, and this the thing here bound upon them that are +employed in it, <i>to feed the flock of God that is among +them</i>. Jesus Christ descended to purchase a Church, and +ascended to provide and furnish it, to send down his Spirit: +<i>He ascended</i>, <i>and gave gifts</i>, particularly <i>for +the work of the ministry</i>, and the great use of them is, <i>to +feed the flock of God</i>.”</p> +<p>“Not to say any more of this usual resemblance of a +flock, importing the weakness and tenderness of the Church, the +continual need she stands in of inspection, and guidance, and +defence, and the <a name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +200</span>tender care of the Chief Shepherd for these things; the +phrase enforces the present duty of subordinate pastors; their +care and diligence in feeding of that flock. The due rule +of discipline not excluded, the main part of feeding is by +doctrine, leading them into the wholesome and <i>green +pastures</i> of saving truths, revealed in the Gospel, +accommodating the way of teaching to their condition and +capacity; to be, as much as may be, particularly acquainted with +it, and suit diligently and prudently their doctrine to it; to +<i>feed the sheep</i>, those more advanced; <i>to feed the +lambs</i>, the younger and weaker; to have special care of the +infirm; to learn of their Master the Great Shepherd, to <i>bind +up that which is broken</i>, <i>and strengthen that which is +sick</i>, <a name="citation200a"></a><a href="#footnote200a" +class="citation">[200a]</a> those that are broken in spirit, that +are exercised with temptations, <i>and gently to lead those that +are with young</i>, <a name="citation200b"></a><a +href="#footnote200b" class="citation">[200b]</a> in whom the +inward work of grace is as in the conception, and they heavy and +weak with the weight of it, and the many difficulties and +doubtings, which are frequent companions and symptoms of that +work. Oh! what dexterity and skilfulness, what diligence, +and above all, what affection, and bowels of compassion, are +needful for this task! <i>Who is sufficient for these +things</i>? <a name="citation200c"></a><a href="#footnote200c" +class="citation">[200c]</a> Who would not faint, and give +over in it, were not our Lord the <i>Chief Shepherd</i>; were not +all our sufficiency laid up <a name="page201"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 201</span>in His rich fulness, and all our +insufficiency covered in His gracious acceptance?” <a +name="citation201"></a><a href="#footnote201" +class="citation">[201]</a> Animated by a high sense of +duty, and enlightened, strengthened, and guided by an abundant +outpouring of Divine grace, may all the “pastors and +teachers,” who have been ordained, “For the +perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the +edifying of the body of Christ;” “Preach the word, be +instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, +with all long-suffering and doctrine;” “Till we all +come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son +of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of +the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children +tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, +by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in +wait to deceive: but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into +Him in all things which is the Head, even Christ: from whom the +whole body, fitly joined together, and compacted by that which +every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the +measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the +edifying of itself in love.” God grant that none of +His servants may faint or grow weary under the increased weight +of duty laid upon them by the circumstances of the times! +May they all labour, and “pray without <a +name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>ceasing for +the church and people of God,—remembering that the +effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth +much!” When faithful to their great Master, they have +high encouragements to excite, holy consolations to cheer, and +heavenly aid to direct and bless their unremitting exertions in +His service, whose weak and “unprofitable,” but still +faithful and attached “servants” they are. Let +not any such fear but that they will obtain a blessing on their +labours, an answer to their prayers, from that gracious Being +whose ministers they are, and the advancement of whose kingdom +they seek. Never did the Lord fail his servants; His +“exceeding great and precious promises” are all sure +and steadfast, are all “yea and in him, Amen.” +“For He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake +thee; so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I +will not fear what man shall do unto me:” <a +name="citation202a"></a><a href="#footnote202a" +class="citation">[202a]</a> He hath said, “Lo, I am +with you alway, even unto the end of the world, Amen.” <a +name="citation202b"></a><a href="#footnote202b" +class="citation">[202b]</a> May each individual pastor of +the Church of Christ have grace to receive and act upon, as +addressed to himself, the concluding admonition of St Paul to +Timothy: “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do +the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy +ministry:” then “The Lord shall be unto thee an +everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” <a +name="citation202c"></a><a href="#footnote202c" +class="citation">[202c]</a> And <a name="page203"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 203</span>when the time of his earthly +stewardship is on the eve of completion,—the period of his +allotted ministry about to expire, then he may hope that upon his +last hours will be poured some portion of the joyful testimony of +an approving conscience; some measure of that blessed assurance +of confirmed faith, which cheered and supported the dying Hooker; +“I plead not my righteousness, but the forgiveness of my +unrighteousness through His merits who died to purchase pardon +for penitent sinners. Let not mine, O Lord, but Thy will be +done! God hath heard my daily petitions; for I am at peace +with all men, and He is at peace with me. From such blessed +assurance, I feel that inward joy which this world can neither +give nor take from me. My conscience beareth me this +witness; and this witness makes the thoughts of death +joyful.” Then he may hope that the approach of the +dark shadows of death will be illumined by some beams of that +light from above, which, with the full blaze of triumphant faith, +shed a holy flood of radiance and glory over the close of the +ministry of the great Apostle of the Gentiles: “I am now +ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at +hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my +course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up +for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous +judge, <a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +204</span>shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to +all those who love his appearing.” <a +name="citation204a"></a><a href="#footnote204a" +class="citation">[204a]</a></p> +<p>Let the laity also be reminded of what they owe to God and +society at this eventful time. There are various modes by +which they can advance the cause of religion. The value of +their services in co-operation with the Clergy in forming +visiting societies, has been already stated. But as their +situation and engagements in life preclude many from taking an +active part in any work of Christian charity, it must be a high +satisfaction to them who are humble disciples of that blessed +Lord, “who went about doing good,” <a +name="citation204b"></a><a href="#footnote204b" +class="citation">[204b]</a> to have an opportunity of +endeavouring at once to follow His example, and obey His +commands, by means of public societies and institutions. +The best interests of man would be much promoted, if the noble, +and great, and affluent in the land, who fear God, would make a +more decided demonstration of their sentiments; and give the full +weight of their rank and influence, and contribute liberally, to +the support of societies, the object of which is the advancement +of true religion. In such times as the present, it is awful +to witness the apathy, supineness, and indifference in the cause +of the Lord, which prevail so extensively in the world, amongst +those who profess themselves to be His servants. <a +name="page205"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 205</span>But +disregard for the spiritual wants of others, at all times highly +sinful, is doubly so now; and unwillingness, through fear of +ridicule or misconstruction, to manifest a warm zeal for the +honour of the Lord and a decided devotion to His cause—at +all times a wretched weakness—must, when His enemies are +active and powerful, be peculiarly offensive to Him, who has +said, “Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of +my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also +shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of +his Father with the holy angels.” <a +name="citation205a"></a><a href="#footnote205a" +class="citation">[205a]</a> Let, therefore, all lukewarm +professors of religion be addressed in the words of Joshua, +“If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose this +day whom ye will serve:” <a name="citation205b"></a><a +href="#footnote205b" class="citation">[205b]</a> let them be +warned in the words of the Saviour, “He that is not with +me, is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth +abroad.” <a name="citation205c"></a><a href="#footnote205c" +class="citation">[205c]</a></p> +<p>It is the high and peculiar distinction of our country, that +we have not only charitable institutions for the prevention and +cure of many of the physical evils, and for the relief and solace +of many of the moral evils of life; but we have societies for the +supply of the religious wants of our home population, of our +colonies, and of the whole family of man, wherever British +commerce, and, with it, <a name="page206"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 206</span>British influence, extend. +This is not the place to enter upon the subject of all these +societies; their bare enumeration, with the most brief statement +of their several objects, would fill many pages; perhaps, +therefore, to particularize any, where all have merit, may be +deemed unjust towards others; but every consistent member of the +Church of England is bound strenuously to support, and every +clergyman zealously to advocate, societies, whose professed +object is the inculcation of doctrines which he firmly believes, +the use of a ritual which he fondly loves, the observance of +ordinances which he highly values and reverences. Of these +it may be right to make some brief notice, not only because some +of them have not received that encouragement and support to which +their importance entitles them, but because they are peculiarly +calculated to remedy the existence, and to prevent the +recurrence, of many of the evils which at present endanger our +civil and religious institutions. First in order stands the +National Society for promoting the education of the poor in the +principles of the Established Church. Then, ascending to a +higher grade in society, we have an institution, King’s +College and School, to supply the youth of the middle classes, in +the metropolis, with a liberal education, founded on the basis of +religious knowledge. This institution is only in its +infancy, but if properly supported, it might extend its +ramifications <a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +207</span>throughout the kingdom, diffusing every where the +beneficial fruit of true religion, sound learning, and useful +knowledge. It is much to be wished that similar colleges +and schools, in connexion with King’s College, were +established in all our great towns, in like manner as schools +every where throughout the kingdom have sprung from that prolific +parent, with which they are in union, the Central School in +Baldwin’s Gardens. Our National Schools are well +calculated early to train children in the path of godliness; to +accustom them to habits of cleanliness, neatness, and order; to +excite them to industry and application, to habituate them to +proper restraint and discipline, to supply them with the +knowledge suitable to their station in life; and, above all, to +impress deeply the mind with the great truths of the Gospel, and +to store it richly with passages of Scripture, which, once +thoroughly learnt, are rarely forgotten, but may, in after life, +prove in the hour of temptation a safeguard, and in seasons of +sickness or of sorrow, a sweet and never-failing solace. If +the minds of our manufacturing and agricultural population had +been fortified with the principles which are now instilled in +these schools, into the children of the poor, the success of the +teachers of infidelity and sedition would have been far different +from what it has unfortunately proved. The system of +instruction adopted in King’s College <a +name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 208</span>is +precisely the one which has been recommended as alone affording +any security that education will be rendered conducive to the +advancement of the best, the eternal interests of man. +Every facility is afforded for the acquisition of knowledge, but +the relative importance of its several departments is steadily +kept in view, and the balance of studies is carefully adjusted, +that, if possible, none may be pursued to the neglect of others, +but all receiving their due degree of attention, religion and +morals, literature and science, may occupy their proper place in +the plan of education. This institution, through the Divine +blessing, may be of great value in checking the progress of +unsettled and unsound opinions amongst a class of men which is +daily becoming more influential in society; whilst there will be +also a better safeguard for the future, in the foundation of +sound religious principles, which is designed to be laid; and +which should ever be a primary object, for not only is the +prevention easier than the cure, but the poison may spread where +the antidote is never, or fruitlessly, applied. If we view +then in connexion, our Infant, National, and Sunday Schools, in +full operation; King’s College adapted to branch into +similar institutions in our great towns; and our old-established +Grammar Schools and Universities continuing to flourish; we shall +see that these are calculated to form one vast chain, <a +name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span>which, in +its concatenation, would unite the great bulk of the population +of the country with the established Church.</p> +<p>Nor is the attention of the Church confined to the education +of the youth of her communion. She has a Society also to +afford the poor adequate accommodation when attending religious +worship, of which, in some places, the great proportion of them +were long deprived, from the increase of population, and want of +free seats, in the parish churches. Parliament, with proper +liberality, has at different timed placed certain sums at the +disposal of Commissioners; to assist in remedying this great +evil, which has inflicted the severest injury on the moral and +religious character of the lower classes in England. Much +has, therefore, been done, but still more remains to be done; and +though perhaps the least regarded, still the Society for building +and enlarging churches is of great importance to the interests of +religion, and therefore well deserving of the support of the +friends of the Establishment. The valuable and venerable +Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge completes the work of +Christian charity and instruction, by accompanying, as it were, +the poor man to his home, supplying, either gratuitously or at +very reduced prices, the Holy Scriptures, the book of common +prayer, and tracts and works designed to correct erroneous +opinions and immoral habits, and to promote soundness of faith <a +name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 210</span>and +holiness of life. Nor is this the utmost limit of the +Society’s labours among our home population: parochial +lending libraries have been also established by it; that in every +parish where the desire of knowledge has been called forth by the +national schools, works which combine amusement with +instruction—works which inform the head and improve the +heart—may be accessible, free of all cost to the poor man, +in his hour of leisure. It is thus these two most valuable +Societies, acting in co-operation, aid in the due and effective +discharge of their important duties the parochial clergy, who are +thereby enabled to diffuse amongst the indigent and ignorant of +their several parishes—to a degree far beyond what the +exertions of individuals, however pious and wealthy, are likely +to effect—the blessings of Christian education and +Christian knowledge. Great are the claims, therefore, of +these societies upon the members of the Church of England, for +their support, that all of her communion may be educated, +nourished, and preserved in those principles of saving faith and +holy obedience, which, drawn directly from Scripture, are summed +up in the articles, embodied in the liturgy, and explained in the +homilies of our pure and reformed branch of the church of +Christ.</p> +<p>The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge extends her +operations beyond our home population: in co-operation with the +Society for the Propagation <a name="page211"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 211</span>of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, it +has laboured most diligently and with very encouraging success, +in the wide and waste field of our numerous colonies. +Missionaries, catechists, and schoolmasters, are sent into every +land where we have possessions; and congregations have been +formed and churches built where the glad tidings of the Gospel +had never before been heard. But, however cheering what has +been done and is doing for the spread of Christianity may be, the +painful confession must be made that this country has never yet, +in any adequate degree, discharged the religious obligations she +owes her colonies. <a name="citation211"></a><a +href="#footnote211" class="citation">[211]</a> The sceptre +of Great Britain rules over one hundred millions who are said to +be ignorant of the Gospel. Great and splendid have been the +instances of individual liberality, but as a nation we have not +made those strenuous exertions, those sacrifices which duty +requires: we have been unmindful of the heavy debt of gratitude +and service which we owe to the Ruler of nations. Why are +we to suppose that Divine Providence has bestowed upon us such a +vast colonial empire? Not to swell the pomp and <a +name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 212</span>increase +the power and wealth of a little island, which has been proudly +styled,</p> +<p style="text-align: center">“The Island, Empress of the +Sea:”</p> +<p>but that we may be instruments in the hands of the Great and +Gracious Lord of the whole human race in benefiting +mankind. And how can we best accomplish this great +end? A Christian nation should make it an object of +paramount importance to diffuse the light of that Gospel, in +which it has itself for ages rejoiced as the best gift, the +holiest privilege, it enjoys at the hands of God. Has then +this Christian nation so acted? Alas! there is one +circumstance, which painfully occupies at this moment the +attention of the friends of Christianity, here and in India, +which may suffice to answer in the negative. Bishop after +bishop has been allowed to go forth, with the spirit of a martyr, +and to meet a martyr’s death in India, where the diocese is +admitted by all to be so extensive, that the strongest +constitution must, from the effects of the climate, sink under +even an imperfect discharge of the overwhelming load of +duty. And yet repeated applications for the appointment of +bishops to the several presidencies, by which the cause of +religion amongst the Christian, and the spread of the Gospel +amongst the Heathen population, would be very greatly advanced, +have been up to this time refused, it is much to be feared, from +an unwillingness to incur <a name="page213"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 213</span>the expense of further episcopal +appointments. May Bishop Turner be the last, who, humanly +speaking, is to be thus sacrificed! For it would inflict a +heavy load of sin upon a Christian people to be not only lavish +of life, of talents, and of piety, but to prefer to the cause of +God, who has so abundantly blessed us, an economy, which, however +wise and proper when rightly practised, becomes miserable and +wicked when allowed to operate to the hinderance of the +Gospel. An appeal is never made in vain to the good +feelings of the people of England, and the present is an +occasion, on which all who value not merely the cause of +religion, but of humanity, should make a declaration of their +opinions; and come forward liberally to the support of Societies +whose object is so important and praiseworthy, and whose means +are so inadequate to several claims upon them. The reports +of the Societies for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for the year 1831, +cannot be too strongly recommended to the attention of the +public. The comparatively small support which the latter +receives from annual subscription must be mainly ascribed to the +nature and extent of its labours being so little known; for it is +not the character of the English people to allow a valuable +Society to languish from want of funds. And yet, during the +past year, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in +Foreign Parts must have <a name="page214"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 214</span>suspended in some places the great +work it is carrying on, if it had not allowed its expenditure to +exceed greatly its receipts. Such is the sad truth we learn +from the report now before the public, which pleads the cause of +Christianity in distant lands, so powerfully, and yet so meekly, +that it cannot fail to awaken sympathy in every religious breast, +and call forth assistance from every liberal hand. +“According to its power, yea, and beyond its power,” +it has opened the hand of Christian bounty in answer to the +numerous and pressing calls that have been made upon it: and the +consequence has been that the means of meeting such calls have +become every year more insufficient. Even on the +supposition (a supposition, however, which benevolence will not +allow to be entertained for a moment), that all new applications +for its assistance are to be disregarded, the Society will +require an addition of at least 10,000<i>l.</i> to its yearly +income for the fulfilment of engagements into which it has +entered. Its deficiencies for many years have been supplied +by large reductions of its capital. The single fact that it +has been compelled to sell nearly 70,000<i>l.</i> stock must fill +its friends with serious uneasiness. For unless its funds +are very largely increased, it is manifest that they must soon be +exhausted. But, surely, so sad a result can never be +allowed! There is too much benevolence in the Christian +public of this favoured nation, to permit the abandonment of so +great a work as that by which the light of the <a +name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 215</span>Gospel, in +its purity, is communicated to the benighted nations of the +East. Who among us will be wanting, in most earnest +efforts, to save our brethren in the colonies from so sad an +injury as the loss of that religious instruction, and those means +of grace which are to be regarded as their birthright? Who +will allow the many excellent men who have left their native +country as missionaries, with the purest zeal, and the most +earnest desire to promote the spiritual welfare of their +fellow-creatures, through incessant toil in distant lands, to be +deprived of the moderate but necessary support, that has hitherto +been afforded by this Society? Who will allow the no less +valuable persons, who have been diligently trained in the +colonies, almost from their cradles, to carry forward the same +Christian designs, as missionaries, and catechists, and +school-masters, to be now cast upon the world, and exposed to all +the miseries of want?</p> +<p>“What shall be said, if it fail of attaining its full +measure of good, through the indifference of those whom God has +not only ‘blessed with all spiritual blessings in +Christ,’ but to whom He has also largely afforded the +temporal means of imparting those blessings to others? What +shall be said if they, who by the abundant mercy of God are +themselves supplied with the bread of life, suffer their +fellow-creatures, whose necessities are plainly pointed out to +them, to perish with hunger? Your committee will not +contemplate the possibility of <a name="page216"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 216</span>such a deplorable case as +this. Grateful for the support which the Society has +already received, and through which it has been enabled to effect +so much, they will not allow themselves to doubt, but that +Providence will now, and from time to time, raise it up friends +who will furnish it with more ample and effectual means for the +continuance and extension of its ‘labours of +love.’”</p> +<p>Every friend of religion must earnestly pray that a hope so +humbly and devoutly expressed may be fulfilled, and that the Lord +may bless and prosper these Societies, in sowing the good seed of +the word, in a field of immense extent, and, in many parts, of +the most unpromising barrenness. For they embrace—to +particularize only the most important missions—the widely +dispersed population of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the +Canadas; the numerous islands of the West Indies; the great +Peninsula of India; and the various settlements in +Australia. And it is gratifying and highly satisfactory to +be able to quote the impartial testimony of a distinguished +individual, the late Governor of Nova Scotia, to their efficiency +and value: “In countries in which I have resided, and which +I have visited—in remote and almost desert places, I have +witnessed the blessings and comforts of our holy religion, +dispensed, by your servants, to persons who otherwise might pass +from the cradle to the grave, without the blessings or benefits, +the comforts or the consolations of any appropriate holy office, +to <a name="page217"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +217</span>sanctify their entrance into life, to receive them into +the Christian family, to solemnize those connexions, on the +proper observance of which the moral constitution of society +essentially depends, and finally to perform the last sad offices +over departed humanity. In my own person—in my own +family—in visitations the most awful—in severe +domestic affliction, I have partaken of those blessings and +consolations, administered by your servants.” Let, +therefore, the parliament and people of the United Kingdom +contribute liberally, not merely towards the continuance, but the +extension, of the important labours of a Society, whose only +fault has been,—if it be a fault,—that it has so +shrunk from any appearance of obtruding its wants, that it has +not sufficiently made known its claims upon the friends of +religion; who must be at once desirous that our countrymen in our +distant dependencies should not be debarred from the exercise of +religious worship; and that the light of the Gospel may be shed +upon those, who, though living under the government of Great +Britain, are lying in darkness and the shadow of death. And +if there be any whose hearts expand not with that diffusive +spirit of Christian philanthropy, which ardently desires to +promote the spiritual welfare of the whole human race; let them +at least be sensible to the religious wants, and alive to the +religious improvement of their countrymen, who are established in +some of the numerous colonies of this vast empire. In this +great commercial <a name="page218"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +218</span>country, in which the spirit of enterprise or the calls +of duty lead so many forth often at an early age into distant +lands, there must be an immense number of influential persons, +who have a direct interest in this provision for the religious +instruction of the residents in our several dependencies. +And oh! how consolatory must it prove to the heart of a parent, +or even of a friend, who sends forth a youth to seek his fortune +far from friends, kindred, and home, to know that he will not be +deprived of the public exercise of those religious duties in +which he has been early trained. Oh! how immeasurably would +the pain of separation, which may be for life—which may be +for ever—be increased, if there was a melancholy certainty, +that at the most dangerous period of life, when the passions are +strong, the judgment weak, and the principles often unsettled; +and where the temptations to sensual indulgences abound, and the +restraints of parental authority are removed; there was no +religious monitor, no duly ordained pastor, to instruct in +health, to cheer in sorrow, to strengthen in sickness, and, it +may be, to support and console in death, those who are pursuing +an useful and honourable course far from their dearest earthly +ties, far from what is ever dear to the heart of all—their +native land—the land of their fathers.</p> +<p>In entering thus more at length on the subject of the Society +for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts than on any +other Society, an exception <a name="page219"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 219</span>has been made in its favour, because +it has never yet received that encouragement and support to which +its most important object and valuable labours so well entitle +it: but imperfect as the notice of other Societies has been, it +would be still more so if concluded without any mention of the +Church Missionary Society, and the British and Foreign Bible +Society. The first of these is formed with the design of +endeavouring to obey to the fullest extent the parting command of +our blessed Lord, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the +Gospel to every creature:” <a name="citation219"></a><a +href="#footnote219" class="citation">[219]</a> it is not confined +by any limits, but wherever the opening presents itself, thither +the indefatigable, zealous, and faithful missionary is sent: and +the Lord has greatly prospered their labours. The latter, +whether we regard its scope or its machinery, is a mighty and +wonderful engine, capable of producing immense benefit to the +whole human race: its scope is not merely the supply of the +inhabitants of the British dominions with the Scriptures, but +their translation into every language, their dissemination in +every land; and its vast and complicated machinery has been put +into operation in every quarter of the globe. It may +suffice to state, that the grand, the beneficent, and most +Christian end, which these two Societies have in view, is to +evangelize the world: the one sends its <a +name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 220</span>missionary +either instructed, or to be instructed, in the language of the +country where is to be his field in which he is to sow the good +seed of the word of life; and the other supplies the sower with +that seed of the word of life translated into the language of the +country. The difficulties they have to encounter are +immense; and the danger of the neglect of the legitimate object, +or of perversion of the power and means of these Societies, may +be considerable; but still the enterprise of Christian love is +not to be abandoned, because it is difficult; nor the means of +Christian usefulness sacrificed, because they are capable of +abuse: rather let those who rejoice in the light of the Gospel, +and thank God every day of their lives for having the high +privilege of reading His Book, labour to provide missionaries so +well fitted for their office, as to afford reasonable hope that +through Him, on whose assistance and blessing they alone depend, +they may surmount the many and arduous difficulties which impede +their progress: rather let them exercise increased vigilance, and +employ greater care and attention, that if any error exist, it +may be corrected, that if any abuse has crept in, it may be +reformed. Let these Societies be only faithful to their +trust—true to the one great object they are ever to keep in +view, and they may fully rely upon Him, whose kingdom they labour +to advance, whose word they seek to publish—to bless their +work and <a name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +221</span>ensure their success. But let them remember that +no unsound principles of expediency, no unworthy means to excite +popularity, or to gain support, must be had recourse to; such +would be to apply to their goodly edifices the “untempered +mortar,” which would end in their destruction: let them go +forth in the strength of the Lord, and in his strength only; let +them seek the extension of Christ’s kingdom, and of His +kingdom only; and then all who love the Lord’s Christ, +honour His name, and seek to promote His glory—if they can +do no more, will at least say, we “bid you God +speed.”</p> +<p>The increasing exertions which are making, in this country, +for the diffusion of vital religion amongst Christians, and for +the spread of the Gospel amongst the heathen, will form one of +the brightest pages in its history. And truly at this +moment it presents almost the only subject on which the +Christian’s anxious eye can rest with unmixed satisfaction +and with joyful hope. The prospect around is in many parts +dark and discouraging, but in one direction is illumined by a +bright and holy light—“the sun of righteousness +arising with healing in his wings,” upon the “nations +which sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” <a +name="citation221"></a><a href="#footnote221" +class="citation">[221]</a> England appears to be selected +by God for this great and glorious work. As the Roman <a +name="page222"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 222</span>Empire was +raised up and employed by the Great Governor of the Universe for +the first promulgation of the Gospel; and as the Greek language +was made the medium through which that Gospel was extensively +diffused: so we may hope that the British Empire, so greatly +increased, may be employed, and the English language, so widely +spread, be made a medium, for that final promulgation which is to +take place, and the result of which is to be thus +complete—“the earth shall be full of the knowledge of +the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” <a +name="citation222"></a><a href="#footnote222" +class="citation">[222]</a> But however this may +be—for ill does it become short-sighted man to speculate on +the unfulfilled prophecies of Holy Writ—our line of duty is +plain: we must make the most strenuous exertions, trusting to be +instruments in the hands of the Almighty in the conversion of the +heathen. The labour of love, which springs from gratitude +to God, which is directed by faith in His promises and animated +by hope of His blessing, will never be fruitless: if it please +not the Divine Providence to give it a prosperous issue to those +for whose benefit it was designed, it will return as a +blessing—“good measure, pressed down, and shaken +together, and running over”—into the bosoms of those, +who planned, supported, and conducted it, with a sole view to +God’s glory and the salvation of <a +name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 223</span>men. +This physical pestilence has travelled from India to England: +does it not in awful terms reproach us, for having, as a nation, +done so little to arrest and heal the moral pestilence which +rages throughout that great Peninsula? Oh! let every means +be used by the friends of religion to rouse a sinful people to a +due sense of what they owe to their home population, to their +colonies, and to the world at large. Whatever be the +channel in which an individual may wish the stream of his bounty +to flow, he will find Societies through which he will best +accomplish the good he has in view. Let, therefore, all be +active, liberal, and zealous, in the cause of religion: let all, +according to the ability which God supplieth, endeavour to +promote the present and eternal welfare of all mankind! +“Charge them,” says St. Paul, “who are rich in +this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain +riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to +enjoy: that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready +to distribute, willing to communicate: laying up in store for +themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they +may lay hold on eternal life.” <a name="citation223"></a><a +href="#footnote223" class="citation">[223]</a>—“But +this I say, he which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: +and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also +bountifully. Every man <a name="page224"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 224</span>according as he purposeth 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.” <a +name="citation224a"></a><a href="#footnote224a" +class="citation">[224a]</a> “Let every one that +nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity:” let all in +their several vocations endeavour to improve, to the spiritual +advantage of themselves and others, this Divine visitation; that +thus its great object being accomplished—for the language +of God’s chastisements, whether national or individual, is +“be zealous and repent,”—we may humbly hope +that our gracious Lord God will be pleased to withdraw His heavy +hand from His humbled and contrite people; the duty of each of +whom has been shown to be, to effect, through the Divine +blessing, a personal reformation; for the sins of each individual +form fractions of the immense integral of national guilt, which +has called down the Divine displeasure; to employ their rank, +influence, and a due proportion of their wealth, in labouring to +advance, by their personal exertions, and through the medium of +societies, a national reformation; and to diffuse throughout the +world the knowledge of the Saviour, that “the kingdoms of +this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His +Christ.” <a name="citation224b"></a><a href="#footnote224b" +class="citation">[224b]</a></p> +<p><a name="page225"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 225</span>And +how are they to be addressed who are the enemies of the Lord and +of His Christ—who trample under foot his cross, and, at +present, stand excluded from all benefit of the great atonement +by “counting the blood of the covenant an unholy +thing”—how are they to be addressed who deny the Lord +who bought them, and secretly maintain, or openly espouse, the +doctrines of infidelity? In the language of friendly +warning and exhortation. Sometimes the Christian advocate +has erred by employing a tone of conscious superiority, of cold +severity, or of keen satire: the first offends, the second +hardens, the third irritates the proud spirit of unbelief: the +voice of remonstrance is often listened to, when authority +commands in vain. Let, therefore, whatever has been said, +in these pages, be considered, not as intended in the least +degree to wound or insult the feelings of any one, but as written +in the honest and faithful discharge of Christian duty. And +in the spirit of meekness and charity let me entreat those, who +reject Christianity, to pause, reflect, and examine deeply into +the grounds on which they have come to a decision which involves +their eternal destiny. Let me ask them whether they have +ever duly considered, first, <i>the possibility of Revelation +being true</i>; and, secondly, <i>the consequences of Revelation +being true</i>. Surely a creed, which numbers amongst its +defenders laymen, who hold the highest place in England’s +proud <a name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +226</span>annals of science and philosophy, is not lightly to be +rejected by ordinary minds: surely where Bacon, Milton, Boyle, +Locke, and Newton, have been believers, there is room to admit +<i>the possibility</i> of the creed being true. When +intellects of the most powerful grasp, disciplined by the most +arduous studies, and stored with the richest fruits of human +knowledge, have received with humility, gratitude, reverence, and +faith, the Bible, as the inspired Word of God, some doubts may +flash across the mind of the infidel, as to whether he has +arrived at a just conclusion, in refusing to believe that +Bible. And oh! if there do arise a doubt, let him now be +entreated to re-examine this most important subject, on which the +interests of eternity depend; to reconsider the grounds on which +he denies a faith in which, during eighteen hundred years, +millions have lived and died.</p> +<p>There is, however, a second point of consideration, and that a +very important one, which ought not to be lost sight of, <i>the +consequences of Revelation being true</i>,—the unutterable +anguish of hopeless, endless despair and torment. Infidels +often speak with much levity, and sometimes with profaneness, of +the awful punishments of a future world, denounced in Scripture +against impenitent guilt; but, if they searched deeply into their +own hearts, they would find not only that they were less happy +than they were before they shook off their <a +name="page227"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 227</span>belief in +Revelation; but some might discover, almost, the commencement of +the gnawing of the undying worm. In health, this may be +scarcely perceived, but when the hour approaches, which generally +tears away the mask which has concealed internal feelings long +kept secret, the hideousness of infidelity is fully seen. +Some appear to have acted their part to the last; thus Hume was +said to have spent some of his latter hours in reading “the +Dialogues of the Dead,” of the Apostate Lucian; but what an +employment for one who professed to be a philosopher! At a +time, when the eyes are about to close for ever on all that the +heart has held dear in life, “drollery, in such +circumstances, is neither more nor less than</p> +<blockquote><p>Moody madness, laughing wild<br /> +Amidst severest woe.” <a name="citation227"></a><a +href="#footnote227" class="citation">[227]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>But such cases are, generally, of rare, occurrence: as the +sombre shades of the evening of life gathered around Gibbon, this +melancholy confession escaped him,—the past is gone, the +present is but for a moment, and the prospect of the future is +dark and doubtful. Paine, who had vauntingly proclaimed, +that, during an illness, expected by himself and those around him +to be fatal, he had rejoiced that he had published his Age of +Reason, when the hour of death really arrived, endured all the +agonies <a name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +228</span>of remorse, evincing a horrible combination of awakened +terror and blasphemous despair. And that renowned champion +of infidelity, Voltaire, who was smitten, in his hour of pride +and triumph, suffered in his last hours such intolerable anguish +and such overwhelming terror, that the alarmed physician +declared, that the furies of Orestes could not equal the horrors +of such a death-bed.</p> +<p>Should the consideration of the possibility and consequences +of the truth of Revelation, and of the certainty of the present +wretchedness of infidelity, awaken in some readers feelings of +apprehension,—lest, whilst in imagination they have been +releasing themselves from the trammels of superstition, they have +in reality been fastening round their own necks the heavy yoke of +that hard task-master, the great enemy of the human race; let +them be entreated to institute now a strict enquiry as to the +unanswerableness of the objections against Revelation, on the +strength of which they have withheld their belief; and as to the +certainty of those conclusions of unassisted reason, on which +they have been content to build their opinions as to an +hereafter, unmindful that,</p> +<blockquote><p>“Dim as the borrowed beams of moon and +stars<br /> +To lonely, weary, wandering travellers,<br /> +Is reason to the soul.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Alas! it is melancholy to think how many reject <a +name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +229</span>Christianity without due examination: but let the +infidel be assured that, whether he is involved in the mazy +labyrinth of metaphysical subtleties, perplexed with the false +conclusions of materialism, startled by the apparent extent of +physical and moral evil, or offended, with the multitude of +sceptics, at mysteries, creeds, and articles; he will find +answers to all his objections and difficulties in the various +treatises which have been written on the evidences of +Christianity. But let him not enter upon the subject with a +prejudiced mind, in the pride of human reason, or under the +influence of human passions. Is it likely that the Great +Author of light and life will vouchsafe to illuminate +understandings, which prejudice darkens, and pride renders +presumptuous; or convert and sanctify hearts, which sensuality +debases and pollutes? They who approach the Great Governor +of the Universe to be instructed, in what belongs to their +everlasting peace, must come with humility, reverence, and awe; +they must strive to divest themselves of prepossession, +prejudice, and passion; and pray to be guided unto all truth: and +if they persevere in patient and dispassionate examination of the +evidences of Christianity, and in an humble and careful study of +the Scriptures themselves, accompanied with sincere and earnest +prayers, in God’s good time, the light of Divine grace will +break upon their darkened understandings; they will see how <a +name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 230</span>wonderfully +the conflicting attributes of justice and mercy have been +reconciled in the Divine plan for the restoration of a guilty +world to the favour of its offended God; they will be filled with +devout admiration of that love of God, which passeth all +understanding, which has provided for the most heinous offenders +a means of escape from eternal condemnation; and they will +thankfully and joyfully embrace the offers of salvation through +the Saviour, published in the Gospel.</p> +<p>But if there be any who refuse to return to the God of their +youth; any who close their ears against every admonition to +examine, deeply, into those principles of infidelity, which they +have adopted,—principles too dear to man’s natural +pride, too favourable to his natural corruption, to be willingly +or easily resigned—let them at least be persuaded not to +attempt to make proselytes to their creed. The time may +come when they shall be convinced of the truth of Christianity; +and oh! how will the weight of guilt, which, in the sad and dark +hour of a late repentance, almost overwhelms the soul, be +increased, if they have been instrumental in destroying the +belief of others, which they have not the power to restore! +There is no crime of so deep a die as the ruin of an immortal +soul; none which subjects to the same dreadful remorse; none +which presents the same terrible impediment to our obtaining +pardon and peace: for what present <a name="page231"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 231</span>peace can there be to him, who sees +one soul exposed to eternal condemnation, through his +means? What to him who sees many? What to him, who +has the agonising conviction ever present to his mind, that he +has no longer the power to attempt to repair the evil he has +done, for they have been summoned to judgment, whom he had led +astray? There is also another consideration which may have +some weight with those who promulgate infidel doctrines, which +is, that they blast the present as well as eternal happiness of +their miserable converts. “Perhaps our modern +sceptics are ignorant, that without the belief of a God and the +hope of immortality, the miseries of human life would often be +insupportable. Yet this I must suppose, or I must believe +them to be the most cruel, the most perfidious, and the most +profligate of men.” It is most true, that if you rob +a man of his religious principles, you deprive him of what +“has both the promise of the life which now is, and of that +which is to come,” his peace of mind, his trust in +God’s protection, his faith in the Saviour, his hope of +glory, all that consoles, improves, elevates, and ennobles our +nature—all are gone, and in their place are substituted +lawless passions, disappointed hopes, and bitter regrets. +If, therefore, no other consideration will avail to induce the +infidel school to forego their plans of proselytism, let regard +for their philanthropy, of which they make <a +name="page232"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 232</span>such boast, +be urged to prevent their rendering men less happy than they are +at present, under the mild and benignant rule of +Christianity. May that blessed Lord, who “willeth not +the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and +live, have mercy upon all infidels and heretics, and so fetch +them home to His flock, that they may be made one fold under one +shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.”</p> +<p>The duty of a Christian people, under Divine visitations, +however feebly, has been faithfully stated, according to the +conscientious belief of the writer: may He, in dependence upon +whose blessing, and to promote whose kingdom it has been written, +make it instrumental to the production of a religious improvement +of the afflictive dispensation sent upon the land. The +nature of the disease has ceased to be doubtful, and the +pestilence which has been so long advancing towards us is +admitted now by all to have reached our shores. Once more, +then, let the question be asked, “What will ye do in the +day of visitation when your desolation shall come from far, to +whom will ye flee for help?” Oh that one simultaneous +cry would respond from the inhabitants of this +kingdom—“<span class="smcap">We will trust in the +lord for ever</span>, <span class="smcap">for in the lord jehovah +is everlasting strength</span>!” When Solomon, on the +dedication of the temple, prayed, “If there be in the land +famine, if there be pestilence, or whatsoever <a +name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 233</span>sickness +there be: then what prayer and supplication soever be made by any +man or by all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his +own sin, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in +this house; then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling-place, and +forgive, and render to every man according unto all his ways, +whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou only knowest the hearts of all +men.” <a name="citation233a"></a><a href="#footnote233a" +class="citation">[233a]</a> The Lord returned the gracious +answer: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this +place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up +heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to +devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people: if my +people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and +pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then +will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will +heal their land.” <a name="citation233b"></a><a +href="#footnote233b" class="citation">[233b]</a></p> +<p>Prayers, set forth by authority, are offered up to the throne +of grace, throughout the kingdom, and it has pleased the Almighty +to deal graciously with His people, in mitigating the virulence +of the pestilence: let a fast be proclaimed, that on an appointed +day the whole nation may “humble themselves, and pray, and +seek the Lord’s face:” let associations be formed to +assist the ministers of God’s Word and Sacraments, to +exhort and entreat the <a name="page234"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 234</span>people to “turn from their +wicked ways:” and if “the Lord’s people, which +are called by His name,” humbled and contrite turn unto +Him, with all their hearts, and with mourning and fasting, and +cry, “Spare us, O Lord, spare Thy people, whom Thou hast +redeemed with Thy most precious blood; turn us, O God of our +salvation, and cause Thine anger towards us to cease;” +“Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and just are Thy +judgments:” if they “cease to do evil, and learn to +do well,” then in God’s good time the gracious +promise will be fulfilled, for “the mouth of the Lord hath +spoken it,”—I <span class="smcap">will hear from +heaven</span>, <span class="smcap">and will forgive their +sin</span>, <span class="smcap">and will heal their +land</span>.</p> +<p>Oh may it not be, that the wickedness of the land shall avert +from it the mercy and blessing of the Most High! May it not +be, that the fearful words shall become applicable to us, +“Thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in +returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in +confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not!” +Oh! rather may “the spirit of grace and +supplications” be poured upon the people, for “Will +the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore +will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord +is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for +Him.” Then shall the Lord’s people derive joy +and peace from those transporting words of comfort: “For a +<a name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>small +moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather +thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a +moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, +saith the Lord Thy Redeemer.”</p> +<p>“God’s judgments are in the earth.” In +many places there has been a literal fulfilment of those terrible +predictions, the application of which is not to be considered +limited to any time or nation: “All joy is darkened, the +mirth of the land is gone: in the city is left desolation, and +the gate is smitten with destruction.” <a +name="citation235a"></a><a href="#footnote235a" +class="citation">[235a]</a> Truly in our case it may be +said, “the isles saw it and feared, the ends of the earth +were afraid.” <a name="citation235b"></a><a +href="#footnote235b" class="citation">[235b]</a> Oh! +without experiencing the extreme severity of the scourge, may +this nation learn the lesson it is meant to teach! +“They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the +majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. +Wherefore glorify ye the Lord; even the name of the Lord God of +Israel, in the isles of the sea.” “Trust in the +Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous +redemption.” Proclaim every where “God is our +hope and strength,” a “sure refuge in the day of +trouble.” “Then shall the inhabitants of the +world learn righteousness.” Then shall they know that +“the Lord is a very present help in trouble; blessed are <a +name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 236</span>the people +whose trust is in Him.” Then, God grant that it may +be said of this land, long favoured and blest of heaven, thou +“hast glorified God in the day of visitation;” <a +name="citation236a"></a><a href="#footnote236a" +class="citation">[236a]</a> therefore, thou shalt “obtain +gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” +<a name="citation236b"></a><a href="#footnote236b" +class="citation">[236b]</a> “Then shall thy light +break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth +speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory +of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward. Then shalt thou call, +and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, +<span class="smcap">here i am</span>.” <a +name="citation236c"></a><a href="#footnote236c" +class="citation">[236c]</a></p> +<p>May God, whose gracious and never-failing Providence orders +all things both in heaven and earth, of His infinite mercy, +accomplish this great end of all His visitations, that we may +become a “righteous nation unto the Lord.” May +those who are slumbering in the fatal lethargy of sin +“awake to righteousness and sin not:” alarmed by the +judgments impending over them, may habitual sinners seek for +grace, “to turn from the evil of their ways,” before +“the Lord be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire, taking +vengeance on the wicked, and those who know not God.” +May the lukewarm, who, even in the hour of danger, still +“halt between two opinions,” cleave to the Lord, lest +their souls should be required of them, whilst yet balancing the +claims of God and mammon. May the faithful <a +name="page237"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 237</span>trim their +lamps, “have their loins girded, and their lights burning, +and be like unto men that wait for their Lord: blessed are those +servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find +watching.” And may God pour His especial grace and +blessing upon the nation at large: that all may recognize His +hand, submit to His will, depend on His protection, profit by His +chastisements, and endeavour to promote His glory here and +abroad, now and for ever. “Now the God of peace that +brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd +of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make +you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you +that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, +to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” <a +name="citation237"></a><a href="#footnote237" +class="citation">[237]</a></p> +<h2><a name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>A +PRAYER<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">IN TIMES OF</span><br /> +PESTILENCE OR GREAT SICKNESS.</h2> +<p>O <span class="smcap">Almighty</span> and Everlasting God, +whose gracious and never-failing Providence orders all things, +both in heaven and earth; we, Thy unworthy servants, most humbly +beseech Thee, to look with an eye of pity upon thy afflicted +people. We have sinned, O Lord, and done wickedly; in the +days of our prosperity we have forgotten Thee, the bounteous +Giver of all good: but Thou dealest not with the sons of men +after their sins, nor rewardest them according to their +iniquities. Have mercy, therefore, upon us, O God, +according to Thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of +Thy tender mercies, blot out our transgressions. We know, O +Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou, in +faithfulness, hast afflicted us. But, O Lord, rebuke us not +in Thy wrath, neither chasten us in Thy hot displeasure. +Let mercy rejoice against judgment. And turn Thee unto us, +and have mercy upon us: for we are desolate and afflicted. +The troubles of our heart are enlarged: oh bring Thou us out of +our distresses. Look upon our affliction and our pain, and +forgive all our sins.</p> +<p>O Heavenly Father, our only dependence is upon Thy +compassion. Thou art merciful and gracious, slow to anger, +and plenteous in mercy. For Thou knowest our <a +name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 240</span>frame; Thou +rememberest that we are dust. We come before Thee, +therefore, trusting in the multitude of Thy mercies, and +encouraged by the abundance of Thy great and precious +promises. Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear the +supplications of Thy people. Turn us, O God of our +salvation, and cause Thine anger towards us to cease. Of +Thy only gift it cometh that Thy people can do unto Thee true and +acceptable service. Pour, therefore, we humbly beseech +Thee, upon this land, the spirit of grace and supplication, the +spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Lord, +that it may know, in this its day, the things which belong unto +its peace; and may flee to Thee for deliverance from the floods +of immorality, profaneness, and infidelity, which threaten to +overflow its borders. O Almighty God, who alone canst order +the unruly wills and affections of sinful men, shed abroad, in +the minds and hearts of this people, the enlightening, renewing, +and sanctifying influence of Thy grace, that, recognising Thy +judgments, submitting to Thy will, and profiting by Thy +chastisements, we may humble ourselves under Thy mighty hand; and +putting away from us the evil of our ways, may turn unto Thee +with all our heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with +mourning. And then, O merciful and long-suffering Lord, who +willest not the death of a sinner, but rather that all should +repent and live; spare us, good Lord, oh spare Thy people, whom +Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood; and hear from Heaven, +we implore Thee, and forgive our sin, and heal our land.</p> +<p>Furthermore, we earnestly address Thee, O gracious God, whose +kingdom ruleth over all, in behalf of the whole race of +mankind. Be pleased, of Thy great goodness, to grant, that +now, when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants <a +name="page241"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 241</span>of the +world may learn righteousness: and in every land they may receive +grace to glorify Thee in the day of visitation. Oh bless +and prosper, we pray Thee, the means employed for the spread of +the light of Thy Holy Gospel, here and abroad,—for the +promotion of Thy glory, and the extension of Thy kingdom. +That, in Thy good time, the kingdoms of this world may become the +kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.</p> +<p>Finally, we beseech Thee, of Thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort +and succour all them, who, in this transitory life, are in +trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other +adversity;—more especially those who are set in the midst +of so many and great dangers, by reason of the pestilence which +it hath pleased Thee to send upon the land. Oh be Thou unto +all Thy servants a refuge and strength, a very present help in +trouble. Be merciful unto us, O God, be merciful unto us, +for our souls trust in Thee; yea in the shadow of thy wings will +we make our refuge, until these calamities be overpast. +Thou art our hope and our stronghold, our God, in Thee will we +trust. O Lord, who art rich in mercy and goodness, suffer +not, we entreat Thee, any evil to happen to us, neither any +plague to come nigh our dwelling. And graciously produce in +us such firm trust in thy mighty aid, amid all the trials and +dangers of this mortal life, and such a blessed assurance, that, +under Thy divine control, all things shall work together for our +eternal good, that we may not be afraid for the terror by night, +nor the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that +walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at +noon-day. But that filled with joy and peace in believing, +we may rest with humble and firm dependence, Heavenly Father, +upon Thy sure protection, Thy blessed guidance, and Thy tender +mercies, now and <a name="page242"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +242</span>ever. So that when the hour of our departure +shall come, we may humbly trust, through Thy grace, to meet death +without fear or amazement; and stedfast through faith, and joyful +through hope, to commit our souls to Thy safekeeping, O blessed +Lord, as unto a faithful Creator and Redeemer, when Thou, in Thy +infinite wisdom and goodness, shall see it fitting to take us +unto Thyself. Vouchsafe, we earnestly implore Thee, O +Almighty and most merciful God, to receive favourably these our +humble petitions for ourselves and for all mankind, offered with +deep humility and self-abasement to Thy divine Majesty, in the +name and through the mediation of Thy Son, our most blessed Lord +and Saviour, to whom, with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed, +as is most due, all honour and glory, dominion and power, +thanksgiving and praise, and humble adoration, henceforth and for +evermore. Amen.</p> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>A Prayer</i>, <i>which may be +used in Health or in Sickness</i>.</p> +<p>O <span class="smcap">Almighty</span> and most merciful God, +who so loved the world, that Thou gavest Thy only-begotten Son, +that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have +everlasting life, grant unto us, Thy weak and sinful servants, we +most humbly beseech Thee, sincere repentance and lively faith; +that coming to our blessed Lord, as the Way, and the Truth, and +the Life, we may, through His infinite and most precious merits, +obtain pardon and peace. We are sensible, O Lord, of our +natural corruption and hardness of heart, of the number and +heinousness of our offences, and yet we are little acquainted +with the extent of that corruption and guilt; for who knoweth the +deceitfulness of his wicked heart, or who can tell how oft he +offendeth? <a name="page243"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +243</span>We deserve at Thy hand, O God, nothing but +condemnation; and should utterly despair, were it not for the +gracious assurance given in Thy Holy Scriptures, that Thou, O +Lord, waitest to be gracious, and that the blood of Jesus Christ, +Thy Son, cleanseth us from all sin.</p> +<p>We know that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any +thing as of ourselves, but that our sufficiency is of Thee, who +workest in us both to will and to do, of Thy good pleasure. +We beseech Thee, therefore, O God, to be graciously pleased, for +Christ’s sake, to enlighten, by Thy heavenly grace, the +natural darkness of our understandings, to rectify the perversion +of our wills, and to sanctify the unholiness of our +affections. We deplore, O Lord, our deadness to spiritual +things: oh! of Thy great goodness, strengthen, we pray Thee, our +faith, quicken our zeal, increase our love, and improve our +obedience. Oh! grant us, according to the riches of Thy +glory, to be strengthened with might by Thy Spirit in the inner +man; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; that we being +rooted and grounded in love, may be filled with the fruits of the +Spirit, may adorn in all things the doctrine of God our Saviour, +and may know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. +That, having received the adoption of sons, the Spirit may bear +witness with our spirit, that we are Thy children, O gracious +God, to whom looking as unto a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus, +we may cry, Abba, Father. And we may have our conversation +in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord +Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be +fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working, +whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.</p> +<p>O Lord Jesu Christ, the Lamb of God, that takest <a +name="page244"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 244</span>away the +sins of the world, have mercy upon us, and cleanse us by Thy +precious blood, from the defilement of our past offences: Oh! +enable us to come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may +obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. O +Almighty and merciful God, who art faithful, and who wilt not +suffer us to be tempted above that we are able; but wilt with the +temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear +it: we cast all our care on Thee, who carest for us: And oh! +mayest Thou, Heavenly Father, who hast, of Thy free and unmerited +mercy, begun a good work in us, perform it until the day of Jesus +Christ.</p> +<p>Of Thy tender mercy, we beseech Thee, shed abroad in our +hearts the consolations of Thy Gospel, and enrich us with +Christian graces, that we may be supported under whatever +afflictions Thou mayest be pleased to send, and receive them, and +seek for grace to benefit by them, as being sent, gracious Lord, +by Thee, in mercy and for our profit. That, under Thy most +mighty protection and blessing, we may fight the good fight of +faith, lay hold on eternal life, and finish our course with joy; +by Him and through Him, to whom has been given a name that is +above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should +bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under +the earth: and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus +Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen, +Amen.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">THE +END.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">GILBERT +& RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">St. John’s Square, +London.</span></p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES.</h2> +<p><a name="footnote3a"></a><a href="#citation3a" +class="footnote">[3a]</a> Rev. xvi. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote3b"></a><a href="#citation3b" +class="footnote">[3b]</a> Luke xxi. 25, 26.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5a"></a><a href="#citation5a" +class="footnote">[5a]</a> Joel ii. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5b"></a><a href="#citation5b" +class="footnote">[5b]</a> Joel ii. 15–17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5c"></a><a href="#citation5c" +class="footnote">[5c]</a> James i. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5d"></a><a href="#citation5d" +class="footnote">[5d]</a> Heb. xiii. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5e"></a><a href="#citation5e" +class="footnote">[5e]</a> Rom. xv. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5f"></a><a href="#citation5f" +class="footnote">[5f]</a> Psalm cvi. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5g"></a><a href="#citation5g" +class="footnote">[5g]</a> Psalm lxxxvi. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6a"></a><a href="#citation6a" +class="footnote">[6a]</a> Isa. lix. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6b"></a><a href="#citation6b" +class="footnote">[6b]</a> Psalm lix. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6c"></a><a href="#citation6c" +class="footnote">[6c]</a> Isa. i. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6d"></a><a href="#citation6d" +class="footnote">[6d]</a> Isa. i. 16, 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6e"></a><a href="#citation6e" +class="footnote">[6e]</a> 1 Sam. xv. 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7a"></a><a href="#citation7a" +class="footnote">[7a]</a> Service for the Sick.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7b"></a><a href="#citation7b" +class="footnote">[7b]</a> Luke xix. 44.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7c"></a><a href="#citation7c" +class="footnote">[7c]</a> Psalm cxix. 75.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7d"></a><a href="#citation7d" +class="footnote">[7d]</a> Isa. lv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7e"></a><a href="#citation7e" +class="footnote">[7e]</a> Jer. xviii. 30.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8a"></a><a href="#citation8a" +class="footnote">[8a]</a> Prov. viii. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8b"></a><a href="#citation8b" +class="footnote">[8b]</a> Psalm lxxxix. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8c"></a><a href="#citation8c" +class="footnote">[8c]</a> Psalm cxxvii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9a"></a><a href="#citation9a" +class="footnote">[9a]</a> Gen. xviii. 32.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9b"></a><a href="#citation9b" +class="footnote">[9b]</a> Jonah iii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9c"></a><a href="#citation9c" +class="footnote">[9c]</a> 2 Sam. xxiv. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9d"></a><a href="#citation9d" +class="footnote">[9d]</a> Jer. xviii. 7, 8. Psalm +xci. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote10a"></a><a href="#citation10a" +class="footnote">[10a]</a> It is much to be desired that +the prayers set forth by authority, or others of a similar +character, should be generally used in family worship.</p> +<p><a name="footnote11"></a><a href="#citation11" +class="footnote">[11]</a> 1 Pet. v. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote12a"></a><a href="#citation12a" +class="footnote">[12a]</a> Isa. i. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote12b"></a><a href="#citation12b" +class="footnote">[12b]</a> Zech. xii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote13a"></a><a href="#citation13a" +class="footnote">[13a]</a> Isa. xliv. 21, 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote13b"></a><a href="#citation13b" +class="footnote">[13b]</a> Psalm cxix. 73.</p> +<p><a name="footnote14a"></a><a href="#citation14a" +class="footnote">[14a]</a> Luke i. 79.</p> +<p><a name="footnote14b"></a><a href="#citation14b" +class="footnote">[14b]</a> Isaiah x. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote14c"></a><a href="#citation14c" +class="footnote">[14c]</a> Isaiah xxvi. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote14d"></a><a href="#citation14d" +class="footnote">[14d]</a> Heb. xi. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote15a"></a><a href="#citation15a" +class="footnote">[15a]</a> Sherlock on Providence.</p> +<p><a name="footnote15b"></a><a href="#citation15b" +class="footnote">[15b]</a> Heb. xii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote15c"></a><a href="#citation15c" +class="footnote">[15c]</a> Bowdler’s Remains.</p> +<p><a name="footnote16a"></a><a href="#citation16a" +class="footnote">[16a]</a> Heb. xii. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote16b"></a><a href="#citation16b" +class="footnote">[16b]</a> Psalm cxix. 71.</p> +<p><a name="footnote16c"></a><a href="#citation16c" +class="footnote">[16c]</a> Jer. xvi. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote16d"></a><a href="#citation16d" +class="footnote">[16d]</a> Psalm xxv.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17a"></a><a href="#citation17a" +class="footnote">[17a]</a> Phil. ii. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17b"></a><a href="#citation17b" +class="footnote">[17b]</a> Luke xviii. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17c"></a><a href="#citation17c" +class="footnote">[17c]</a> Matt. xiv. 30.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18a"></a><a href="#citation18a" +class="footnote">[18a]</a> Titus ii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18b"></a><a href="#citation18b" +class="footnote">[18b]</a> Col. iii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18c"></a><a href="#citation18c" +class="footnote">[18c]</a> Titus ii. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18d"></a><a href="#citation18d" +class="footnote">[18d]</a> Psalm cxix. 75.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19a"></a><a href="#citation19a" +class="footnote">[19a]</a> 2 Cor. iv.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19b"></a><a href="#citation19b" +class="footnote">[19b]</a> Heb. ii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19c"></a><a href="#citation19c" +class="footnote">[19c]</a> Deut. xxxiii. 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19d"></a><a href="#citation19d" +class="footnote">[19d]</a> Matt. x. 29.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19e"></a><a href="#citation19e" +class="footnote">[19e]</a> Rom. viii. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19f"></a><a href="#citation19f" +class="footnote">[19f]</a> Isaiah xxvi. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19g"></a><a href="#citation19g" +class="footnote">[19g]</a> Rom. xv. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote21a"></a><a href="#citation21a" +class="footnote">[21a]</a> 2 Cor. iv.</p> +<p><a name="footnote21b"></a><a href="#citation21b" +class="footnote">[21b]</a> Psalm xci.</p> +<p><a name="footnote22a"></a><a href="#citation22a" +class="footnote">[22a]</a> Isa. xli. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote22b"></a><a href="#citation22b" +class="footnote">[22b]</a> Sherlock on Providence.</p> +<p><a name="footnote23a"></a><a href="#citation23a" +class="footnote">[23a]</a> Rom v. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote23b"></a><a href="#citation23b" +class="footnote">[23b]</a> Heb. vi. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote23c"></a><a href="#citation23c" +class="footnote">[23c]</a> 1 John iv. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote23d"></a><a href="#citation23d" +class="footnote">[23d]</a> Heb. xii. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote23e"></a><a href="#citation23e" +class="footnote">[23e]</a> Acts xviii. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote24"></a><a href="#citation24" +class="footnote">[24]</a> 2 Tim. iii. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote25"></a><a href="#citation25" +class="footnote">[25]</a> Psalm x. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> Proverbs i.</p> +<p><a name="footnote28a"></a><a href="#citation28a" +class="footnote">[28a]</a> Jonah i. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote28b"></a><a href="#citation28b" +class="footnote">[28b]</a> Daniel v. 27.</p> +<p><a name="footnote30"></a><a href="#citation30" +class="footnote">[30]</a> Acts xx. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote31"></a><a href="#citation31" +class="footnote">[31]</a> Luke xvi. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote32a"></a><a href="#citation32a" +class="footnote">[32a]</a> Matt. xxv. 41.</p> +<p><a name="footnote32b"></a><a href="#citation32b" +class="footnote">[32b]</a> 2 Cor. v. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote32c"></a><a href="#citation32c" +class="footnote">[32c]</a> Ibid. v. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote33a"></a><a href="#citation33a" +class="footnote">[33a]</a> The Task.</p> +<p><a name="footnote33b"></a><a href="#citation33b" +class="footnote">[33b]</a> Rom. ii. 4, 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34a"></a><a href="#citation34a" +class="footnote">[34a]</a> Ezek. xxxiii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34b"></a><a href="#citation34b" +class="footnote">[34b]</a> Ezek. xviii. 29.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34c"></a><a href="#citation34c" +class="footnote">[34c]</a> Isa. i. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35a"></a><a href="#citation35a" +class="footnote">[35a]</a> Exod. xxxiv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35b"></a><a href="#citation35b" +class="footnote">[35b]</a> 1 John iv. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35c"></a><a href="#citation35c" +class="footnote">[35c]</a> John iii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35d"></a><a href="#citation35d" +class="footnote">[35d]</a> John iii. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35e"></a><a href="#citation35e" +class="footnote">[35e]</a> John vi. 47.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36a"></a><a href="#citation36a" +class="footnote">[36a]</a> Matt. xi. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36b"></a><a href="#citation36b" +class="footnote">[36b]</a> Matt. i. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36c"></a><a href="#citation36c" +class="footnote">[36c]</a> Matt. ix. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36d"></a><a href="#citation36d" +class="footnote">[36d]</a> 1 Tim. i. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36e"></a><a href="#citation36e" +class="footnote">[36e]</a> Luke ii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36f"></a><a href="#citation36f" +class="footnote">[36f]</a> John vi. 37.</p> +<p><a name="footnote37a"></a><a href="#citation37a" +class="footnote">[37a]</a> Psalm ciii. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote37b"></a><a href="#citation37b" +class="footnote">[37b]</a> 1 John ii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote37c"></a><a href="#citation37c" +class="footnote">[37c]</a> Rom. viii. 32.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38a"></a><a href="#citation38a" +class="footnote">[38a]</a> John v. 40.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38b"></a><a href="#citation38b" +class="footnote">[38b]</a> Matt. xviii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38c"></a><a href="#citation38c" +class="footnote">[38c]</a> Luke xv. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38d"></a><a href="#citation38d" +class="footnote">[38d]</a> Rev. v. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote39a"></a><a href="#citation39a" +class="footnote">[39a]</a> Acts xxvi. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote39b"></a><a href="#citation39b" +class="footnote">[39b]</a> 1 Tim. ii. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote40a"></a><a href="#citation40a" +class="footnote">[40a]</a> Rom. iii. 24, 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote40b"></a><a href="#citation40b" +class="footnote">[40b]</a> Rev. iii. 17, 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote41"></a><a href="#citation41" +class="footnote">[41]</a> James iii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote42a"></a><a href="#citation42a" +class="footnote">[42a]</a> Rom. x. 2, 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote42b"></a><a href="#citation42b" +class="footnote">[42b]</a> 1 Cor. i. 29.</p> +<p><a name="footnote42c"></a><a href="#citation42c" +class="footnote">[42c]</a> Col. iii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote42d"></a><a href="#citation42d" +class="footnote">[42d]</a> Article IX.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43a"></a><a href="#citation43a" +class="footnote">[43a]</a> Article X.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43b"></a><a href="#citation43b" +class="footnote">[43b]</a> Article XI.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43c"></a><a href="#citation43c" +class="footnote">[43c]</a> Article XII.</p> +<p><a name="footnote45"></a><a href="#citation45" +class="footnote">[45]</a> Isa. lv. 7, 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46a"></a><a href="#citation46a" +class="footnote">[46a]</a> Ezek. xi. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46b"></a><a href="#citation46b" +class="footnote">[46b]</a> Psalm li.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47a"></a><a href="#citation47a" +class="footnote">[47a]</a> Phil. iii. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47b"></a><a href="#citation47b" +class="footnote">[47b]</a> Ephes. iv. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47c"></a><a href="#citation47c" +class="footnote">[47c]</a> Ibid. vi. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote48a"></a><a href="#citation48a" +class="footnote">[48a]</a> The term conversion is here +employed to express that change of will, heart, and life, wrought +by divine grace in those, who, when living in ignorance or +neglect of God, are brought to believe, obey, and love the +Gospel, the spirit of which they had never before truly known, +the power of which they had never before really felt.</p> +<p><a name="footnote48b"></a><a href="#citation48b" +class="footnote">[48b]</a> Sermons, p. 125.</p> +<p><a name="footnote49a"></a><a href="#citation49a" +class="footnote">[49a]</a> 1 John v. 1. 10. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote49b"></a><a href="#citation49b" +class="footnote">[49b]</a> Rom. viii. 1. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote51a"></a><a href="#citation51a" +class="footnote">[51a]</a> p. 123.</p> +<p><a name="footnote51b"></a><a href="#citation51b" +class="footnote">[51b]</a> p. 126.</p> +<p><a name="footnote51c"></a><a href="#citation51c" +class="footnote">[51c]</a> p. 128.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52a"></a><a href="#citation52a" +class="footnote">[52a]</a> Matt. vii. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52b"></a><a href="#citation52b" +class="footnote">[52b]</a> Rom. ii. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52c"></a><a href="#citation52c" +class="footnote">[52c]</a> James i. 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote53a"></a><a href="#citation53a" +class="footnote">[53a]</a> 1 John ii. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote53b"></a><a href="#citation53b" +class="footnote">[53b]</a> Gal. v. 19–21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote53c"></a><a href="#citation53c" +class="footnote">[53c]</a> Mark i. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote54a"></a><a href="#citation54a" +class="footnote">[54a]</a> Heb. xii. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote54b"></a><a href="#citation54b" +class="footnote">[54b]</a> Titus ii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote57a"></a><a href="#citation57a" +class="footnote">[57a]</a> 2 Cor. iv. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote57b"></a><a href="#citation57b" +class="footnote">[57b]</a> Mark x. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote58a"></a><a href="#citation58a" +class="footnote">[58a]</a> Luke xvi.</p> +<p><a name="footnote58b"></a><a href="#citation58b" +class="footnote">[58b]</a> 1 John ii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59a"></a><a href="#citation59a" +class="footnote">[59a]</a> James v.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59b"></a><a href="#citation59b" +class="footnote">[59b]</a> 1 Tim. vi. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59c"></a><a href="#citation59c" +class="footnote">[59c]</a> 1 Pet. ii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59d"></a><a href="#citation59d" +class="footnote">[59d]</a> 1 Pet. iv. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59e"></a><a href="#citation59e" +class="footnote">[59e]</a> Ephes. v. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60a"></a><a href="#citation60a" +class="footnote">[60a]</a> 1 Tim. vi. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60b"></a><a href="#citation60b" +class="footnote">[60b]</a> 2 Cor. vii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote61"></a><a href="#citation61" +class="footnote">[61]</a> Ephes. iv.</p> +<p><a name="footnote62"></a><a href="#citation62" +class="footnote">[62]</a> 1 Pet. ii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote63"></a><a href="#citation63" +class="footnote">[63]</a> Dan. v.</p> +<p><a name="footnote66a"></a><a href="#citation66a" +class="footnote">[66a]</a> Isa. lvii. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote66b"></a><a href="#citation66b" +class="footnote">[66b]</a> 1 Cor. iv. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote66c"></a><a href="#citation66c" +class="footnote">[66c]</a> Psalm xix. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67"></a><a href="#citation67" +class="footnote">[67]</a> 1 Kings xviii. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote68a"></a><a href="#citation68a" +class="footnote">[68a]</a> Rev. iii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote68b"></a><a href="#citation68b" +class="footnote">[68b]</a> Matt. xxii. 57.</p> +<p><a name="footnote72"></a><a href="#citation72" +class="footnote">[72]</a> John xv. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote73"></a><a href="#citation73" +class="footnote">[73]</a> 1 Cor. xvi. 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote74a"></a><a href="#citation74a" +class="footnote">[74a]</a> Acts xvii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote74b"></a><a href="#citation74b" +class="footnote">[74b]</a> 2 Tim. iii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote75a"></a><a href="#citation75a" +class="footnote">[75a]</a> 2 Cor. x. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote75b"></a><a href="#citation75b" +class="footnote">[75b]</a> Jer. xiii. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote75c"></a><a href="#citation75c" +class="footnote">[75c]</a> 1 Pet. v. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote75d"></a><a href="#citation75d" +class="footnote">[75d]</a> Eph. vi. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote76a"></a><a href="#citation76a" +class="footnote">[76a]</a> Rom. vii. 24.</p> +<p><a name="footnote76b"></a><a href="#citation76b" +class="footnote">[76b]</a> Matt. xix. 26.</p> +<p><a name="footnote77a"></a><a href="#citation77a" +class="footnote">[77a]</a> 1 Cor. xv. 57.</p> +<p><a name="footnote77b"></a><a href="#citation77b" +class="footnote">[77b]</a> Rom. xii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote77c"></a><a href="#citation77c" +class="footnote">[77c]</a> Acts iii. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote78"></a><a href="#citation78" +class="footnote">[78]</a> Psalm xcv. 11. Acts xxiv. +25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote80"></a><a href="#citation80" +class="footnote">[80]</a> Ephes. iv. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote81a"></a><a href="#citation81a" +class="footnote">[81a]</a> Matt. xvi. 26.</p> +<p><a name="footnote81b"></a><a href="#citation81b" +class="footnote">[81b]</a> John xiv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote81c"></a><a href="#citation81c" +class="footnote">[81c]</a> 2 Cor. v. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82a"></a><a href="#citation82a" +class="footnote">[82a]</a> Rom. v. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82b"></a><a href="#citation82b" +class="footnote">[82b]</a> 2 Cor. xii. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82c"></a><a href="#citation82c" +class="footnote">[82c]</a> Phil. iii. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82d"></a><a href="#citation82d" +class="footnote">[82d]</a> Tit. ii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote83"></a><a href="#citation83" +class="footnote">[83]</a> Baptismal Service.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84"></a><a href="#citation84" +class="footnote">[84]</a> Matt. xiii. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote85"></a><a href="#citation85" +class="footnote">[85]</a> Heb. ii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote86a"></a><a href="#citation86a" +class="footnote">[86a]</a> Rev. xviii. 24.</p> +<p><a name="footnote86b"></a><a href="#citation86b" +class="footnote">[86b]</a> 2 Cor. iv. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote86c"></a><a href="#citation86c" +class="footnote">[86c]</a> Matt. xxv. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote87a"></a><a href="#citation87a" +class="footnote">[87a]</a> Matt. v. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote87b"></a><a href="#citation87b" +class="footnote">[87b]</a> Isaiah xxvi. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote88a"></a><a href="#citation88a" +class="footnote">[88a]</a> Ephes. iv. 2, 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote88b"></a><a href="#citation88b" +class="footnote">[88b]</a> Ephes. iv. 5, 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote89a"></a><a href="#citation89a" +class="footnote">[89a]</a> Service for the Sick.</p> +<p><a name="footnote89b"></a><a href="#citation89b" +class="footnote">[89b]</a> Job xxiii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote91a"></a><a href="#citation91a" +class="footnote">[91a]</a> Luke xix. 42.</p> +<p><a name="footnote91b"></a><a href="#citation91b" +class="footnote">[91b]</a> James i. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote91c"></a><a href="#citation91c" +class="footnote">[91c]</a> Ephes. i. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote91d"></a><a href="#citation91d" +class="footnote">[91d]</a> Ephes. v.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93"></a><a href="#citation93" +class="footnote">[93]</a> Page <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page4">4</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote95"></a><a href="#citation95" +class="footnote">[95]</a> Page <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page46">46</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote96"></a><a href="#citation96" +class="footnote">[96]</a> Page <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page61">61</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote97a"></a><a href="#citation97a" +class="footnote">[97a]</a> Dan. iv. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote97b"></a><a href="#citation97b" +class="footnote">[97b]</a> Deut. vi. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote98"></a><a href="#citation98" +class="footnote">[98]</a> Page <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote99"></a><a href="#citation99" +class="footnote">[99]</a> Page <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page69">69</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote100"></a><a href="#citation100" +class="footnote">[100]</a> James iv. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote102"></a><a href="#citation102" +class="footnote">[102]</a> Malachi iii. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote103a"></a><a href="#citation103a" +class="footnote">[103a]</a> Zeph. ii. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote103b"></a><a href="#citation103b" +class="footnote">[103b]</a> Jer. li. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote104a"></a><a href="#citation104a" +class="footnote">[104a]</a> Ezek. xxix. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote104b"></a><a href="#citation104b" +class="footnote">[104b]</a> Isaiah xxiii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote105a"></a><a href="#citation105a" +class="footnote">[105a]</a> Ezek. xxvi. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote105b"></a><a href="#citation105b" +class="footnote">[105b]</a> Ibid. xxvi. ver. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote107"></a><a href="#citation107" +class="footnote">[107]</a> Deut. viii.</p> +<p><a name="footnote108"></a><a href="#citation108" +class="footnote">[108]</a> Deut. xxviii. 37.</p> +<p><a name="footnote110a"></a><a href="#citation110a" +class="footnote">[110a]</a> Ps. lxviii. 35.</p> +<p><a name="footnote110b"></a><a href="#citation110b" +class="footnote">[110b]</a> Isa. xxx. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote110c"></a><a href="#citation110c" +class="footnote">[110c]</a> Rev. iii. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote111"></a><a href="#citation111" +class="footnote">[111]</a> Matt. xvi. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote113"></a><a href="#citation113" +class="footnote">[113]</a> Jer. vi. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote114"></a><a href="#citation114" +class="footnote">[114]</a> Page <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page8">8</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote115"></a><a href="#citation115" +class="footnote">[115]</a> Page <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page15">15</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote116"></a><a href="#citation116" +class="footnote">[116]</a> Page <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page44">44</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote123"></a><a href="#citation123" +class="footnote">[123]</a> Isaiah lvii. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote124"></a><a href="#citation124" +class="footnote">[124]</a> Apology for Christianity, p. +122.</p> +<p><a name="footnote125"></a><a href="#citation125" +class="footnote">[125]</a> Apology for the Bible, p. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote126"></a><a href="#citation126" +class="footnote">[126]</a> Matt. xxiii. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote134a"></a><a href="#citation134a" +class="footnote">[134a]</a> Charges, p. 117.</p> +<p><a name="footnote134b"></a><a href="#citation134b" +class="footnote">[134b]</a> Ibid. p. 128.</p> +<p><a name="footnote134c"></a><a href="#citation134c" +class="footnote">[134c]</a> Ibid. p. 134.</p> +<p><a name="footnote135"></a><a href="#citation135" +class="footnote">[135]</a> Rose’s Prevailing +Disposition towards Christianity, p. 77.</p> +<p><a name="footnote137a"></a><a href="#citation137a" +class="footnote">[137a]</a> Page <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page145">145</a></span></p> +<p><a name="footnote137b"></a><a href="#citation137b" +class="footnote">[137b]</a> Bishop of Durham.</p> +<p><a name="footnote149"></a><a href="#citation149" +class="footnote">[149]</a> Lord Brougham’s speech in +the Commons, on the Education of the Poor.</p> +<p><a name="footnote154"></a><a href="#citation154" +class="footnote">[154]</a> 2 Sam. xxiv. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote155"></a><a href="#citation155" +class="footnote">[155]</a> 1 Kings xix. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote164"></a><a href="#citation164" +class="footnote">[164]</a> Bishop of London’s +Charge.</p> +<p><a name="footnote167"></a><a href="#citation167" +class="footnote">[167]</a> Psalm cxxxix. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote168a"></a><a href="#citation168a" +class="footnote">[168a]</a> Psalm civ. 24.</p> +<p><a name="footnote168b"></a><a href="#citation168b" +class="footnote">[168b]</a> Ibid. xix. i.</p> +<p><a name="footnote168c"></a><a href="#citation168c" +class="footnote">[168c]</a> Ibid. xxxiii. 8, 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote171"></a><a href="#citation171" +class="footnote">[171]</a> Chalmers’ Revelation +viewed in connexion with Modern Astronomy.</p> +<p><a name="footnote175"></a><a href="#citation175" +class="footnote">[175]</a> Luke i. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote176"></a><a href="#citation176" +class="footnote">[176]</a> 1 Pet. iii. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote178"></a><a href="#citation178" +class="footnote">[178]</a> Prov. xv. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote179a"></a><a href="#citation179a" +class="footnote">[179a]</a> Luke x. 42.</p> +<p><a name="footnote179b"></a><a href="#citation179b" +class="footnote">[179b]</a> Joshua xxiv. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote179c"></a><a href="#citation179c" +class="footnote">[179c]</a> 2 Cor. vi. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote179d"></a><a href="#citation179d" +class="footnote">[179d]</a> 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote180"></a><a href="#citation180" +class="footnote">[180]</a> Psalm lv. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote185"></a><a href="#citation185" +class="footnote">[185]</a> Page <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page21">21</a></span>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote188a"></a><a href="#citation188a" +class="footnote">[188a]</a> Matt. x. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote188b"></a><a href="#citation188b" +class="footnote">[188b]</a> Heb. vii. 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote192"></a><a href="#citation192" +class="footnote">[192]</a> Ordination Service.</p> +<p><a name="footnote193a"></a><a href="#citation193a" +class="footnote">[193a]</a> Isaiah lviii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote193b"></a><a href="#citation193b" +class="footnote">[193b]</a> 2 Tim. ii. 24.</p> +<p><a name="footnote194a"></a><a href="#citation194a" +class="footnote">[194a]</a> 1 Cor. iv. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote194b"></a><a href="#citation194b" +class="footnote">[194b]</a> 2 Cor. v. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote194c"></a><a href="#citation194c" +class="footnote">[194c]</a> Ezek. iii. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote194d"></a><a href="#citation194d" +class="footnote">[194d]</a> Acts xx. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote194e"></a><a href="#citation194e" +class="footnote">[194e]</a> 1 Thess. ii. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195a"></a><a href="#citation195a" +class="footnote">[195a]</a> 1 Thess. iii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195b"></a><a href="#citation195b" +class="footnote">[195b]</a> Phil. iv. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195c"></a><a href="#citation195c" +class="footnote">[195c]</a> Ibid. iii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195d"></a><a href="#citation195d" +class="footnote">[195d]</a> James v. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195e"></a><a href="#citation195e" +class="footnote">[195e]</a> Dan. xii. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote196a"></a><a href="#citation196a" +class="footnote">[196a]</a> Ordination Service.</p> +<p><a name="footnote196b"></a><a href="#citation196b" +class="footnote">[196b]</a> Isaiah xxvi. 8, 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote197"></a><a href="#citation197" +class="footnote">[197]</a> Cor. iii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote199"></a><a href="#citation199" +class="footnote">[199]</a> Pet. v. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote200a"></a><a href="#citation200a" +class="footnote">[200a]</a> Ezek. xxxiv. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote200b"></a><a href="#citation200b" +class="footnote">[200b]</a> Isaiah xl. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote200c"></a><a href="#citation200c" +class="footnote">[200c]</a> 2 Cor. ii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote201"></a><a href="#citation201" +class="footnote">[201]</a> Commentary upon the 1st Epistle +of St. Peter, p. 280.</p> +<p><a name="footnote202a"></a><a href="#citation202a" +class="footnote">[202a]</a> Heb. xiii. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote202b"></a><a href="#citation202b" +class="footnote">[202b]</a> Matt. xxviii. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote202c"></a><a href="#citation202c" +class="footnote">[202c]</a> Isaiah lx. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote204a"></a><a href="#citation204a" +class="footnote">[204a]</a> 2 Tim. iv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote204b"></a><a href="#citation204b" +class="footnote">[204b]</a> Acts x. 38.</p> +<p><a name="footnote205a"></a><a href="#citation205a" +class="footnote">[205a]</a> Mark viii. 38.</p> +<p><a name="footnote205b"></a><a href="#citation205b" +class="footnote">[205b]</a> Josh. xxiv. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote205c"></a><a href="#citation205c" +class="footnote">[205c]</a> Matt. xii. 30.</p> +<p><a name="footnote211"></a><a href="#citation211" +class="footnote">[211]</a> Barbadoes has, at this time, +most urgent claims upon the British nation for assistance: it is +estimated that the injury sustained by churches, schools, and the +buildings of charitable institutions, during the late hurricane, +cannot be repaired under a less cost than 40,000<i>l.</i> A +subscription has been opened in London for rebuilding the +churches and school-houses.</p> +<p><a name="footnote219"></a><a href="#citation219" +class="footnote">[219]</a> Mark xvi. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote221"></a><a href="#citation221" +class="footnote">[221]</a> Mal. iv. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote222"></a><a href="#citation222" +class="footnote">[222]</a> Isaiah xi. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote223"></a><a href="#citation223" +class="footnote">[223]</a> 1 Tim. vi. 17–19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote224a"></a><a href="#citation224a" +class="footnote">[224a]</a> 2 Cor. ix. 6–8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote224b"></a><a href="#citation224b" +class="footnote">[224b]</a> Rev. xi. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote227"></a><a href="#citation227" +class="footnote">[227]</a> Bishop Horne’s Letter to +Adam Smith.</p> +<p><a name="footnote233a"></a><a href="#citation233a" +class="footnote">[233a]</a> 2 Chron. vi. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote233b"></a><a href="#citation233b" +class="footnote">[233b]</a> Ibid. vii. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote235a"></a><a href="#citation235a" +class="footnote">[235a]</a> Isaiah xxiv. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote235b"></a><a href="#citation235b" +class="footnote">[235b]</a> Ibid. xli. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote236a"></a><a href="#citation236a" +class="footnote">[236a]</a> 1 Pet. ii. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote236b"></a><a href="#citation236b" +class="footnote">[236b]</a> Isaiah li. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote236c"></a><a href="#citation236c" +class="footnote">[236c]</a> Ibid. lviii. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote237"></a><a href="#citation237" +class="footnote">[237]</a> Heb. xiii. 20.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE UNDER +DIVINE VISITATIONS***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 49126-h.htm or 49126-h.zip****** 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