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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/49126-0.txt b/49126-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..23708cb --- /dev/null +++ b/49126-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6052 @@ +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: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE +UNDER DIVINE VISITATIONS*** + + +Transcribed from the 1832 J. G. & F. Rivington edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + THE + DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE + UNDER + DIVINE VISITATIONS. + + + * * * * * + + BY THE + REV. NEWTON SMART, M.A. + OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD. + + * * * * * + + “WHEN THY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, THE INHABITANTS OF THE + WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS.” + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, + ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD, AND WATERLOO-PLACE: + AND SOLD BY J. HATCHARD & SON, PICCADILLY; PARKER, & TALBOYS, + OXFORD; ANDREWS, DURHAM; CHARNLEY, NEWCASTLE; + RENNEY, SUNDERLAND; AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS. + + * * * * * + + 1832. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY GILBERT & RIVINGTON, + ST. JOHN’S SQUARE. + + * * * * * + + TO + THE REVERED MEMORY + OF + ONE OF THE KINDEST AND BEST OF MOTHERS, + WHO + RECEIVED HER CHILDREN AS A GIFT THAT COMETH OF THE LORD, + AND PRAYED AND LABOURED, + WITH EARNEST AND FAITHFUL DILIGENCE, + TO BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD, + THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED + WITH THE DEEPEST FEELINGS OF FILIAL LOVE, GRATITUDE, + AND VENERATION. + + “THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED.” + + + + +THE +DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE, +&c. + + + _Isaiah_ x. 3. + + “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?” + +THE 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.” {3a} 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.” {3b} 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 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. + +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: “THEREFORE, ALSO, NOW SAITH THE LORD, TURN YE EVEN TO ME, WITH ALL +YOUR HEART, AND WITH FASTING, AND WITH WEEPING, AND WITH MOURNING. AND +REND YOUR HEART, AND NOT YOUR GARMENTS, AND TURN UNTO THE LORD YOUR GOD: +FOR HE IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL, SLOW TO ANGER, AND OF GREAT KINDNESS, +AND REPENTETH HIM OF THE EVIL.” {5a} 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; “BLOW THE TRUMPET IN +ZION, SANCTIFY A FAST, CALL A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY, GATHER THE PEOPLE, +SANCTIFY THE CONGREGATION, ASSEMBLE THE ELDERS, GATHER THE CHILDREN. LET +THE PRIESTS, THE MINISTERS OF THE LORD, WEEP BETWEEN THE PORCH AND THE +ALTAR, AND LET THEM SAY, SPARE THY PEOPLE, O LORD.” {5b} + +As the Almighty, “with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning,” +{5c} is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;” {5d} as “whatsoever +things were written aforetime, were written for our learning; that we, +through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope:” {5e} +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;” {5f} but “Thou, Lord, +art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them who +call upon Thee!” {5g} Alas! because we see not the “outstretched arm” of +Omnipotence, which governeth the nations; because we hear not the “mighty +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:” {6a} we too often forget that it is “God that ruleth in +Jacob, and unto the ends of the world.” {6b} + +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?” {6c}—“WASH YE, MAKE YOU CLEAN, PUT AWAY THE EVIL OF +YOUR DOINGS BEFORE MINE EYES; CEASE TO DO EVIL, LEARN TO DO WELL, SEEK +JUDGMENT, RELIEVE THE OPPRESSED, JUDGE THE FATHERLESS, PLEAD FOR THE +WIDOW.” {6d} “BEHOLD, TO OBEY IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE, AND TO HEARKEN +THAN THE FAT OF RAMS.” {6e} + +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 fatherly correction, that the sense of +our weakness may add strength to our faith, and seriousness to our +repentance.” {7a} May God, of His great mercy, vouchsafe to the people +of this land, “to know the time of their visitation;” {7b} to humble +themselves before Him, who “in faithfulness has caused them to be +troubled;” {7c} to “seek the Lord while He may be found, and to call upon +Him while He is near;” {7d} and to “repent and turn themselves from all +their transgressions: so iniquity shall not be their ruin.” {7e} 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 +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! + +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,” {8a} is their defence, and +“the Holy One of Israel, their King:” {8b} may the rulers of the people +remember, that “except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in +vain.” {8c} + +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 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. {9a} 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. {9b} + +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, “IT IS +ENOUGH, NOW STAY THINE HAND.” {9c} 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, AGAINST WHOM I HAVE PRONOUNCED, TURN FROM THEIR EVIL, I +WILL REPENT OF THE EVIL THAT I THOUGHT TO DO UNTO THEM.” {9d} + +May, then, this nation receive grace, in this their day of trial, to +“TURN FROM THEIR EVIL,” before the Lord “allow His full displeasure to +arise.” May they learn and acknowledge, that their only hope 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!” {10a} 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. + +Thus far, the duty of a Christian people _collectively_, under Divine +judgments, has been shewn; it remains to consider their duty +_individually_; 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 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. + +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 PERSONAL REFORMATION, and, as far +as in them lies, a NATIONAL REFORMATION; which are proposed to be +considered, as follows, more at large. + +Let individuals “humble themselves under the mighty hand of God;” {11} +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. + +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; 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. + +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.” {12a} 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;” {12b} 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 thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins: return unto me, for I +have redeemed thee.” {13a} + + + +I. The Christian’s duty of personal reformation under Divine judgments. + + +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.” {13b} 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. + +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.” {14a} Let the enquiry +be made as to the course to be adopted in the words of a Prophet: “_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_?” {14b} Let the same +Prophet reply: “TRUST YE IN THE LORD FOR EVER, FOR IN THE LORD JEHOVAH IS +EVERLASTING STRENGTH.” {14c} + +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:” {14d} 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 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.” {15a} + +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 “_God chastens us for our profit_, _that we might be +partakers of His holiness_.” {15b} 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:” {15c} “_For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth_, _and +scourgeth every son whom he receiveth_.”{16a} 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.” {16b} “Oh, Lord, my strength and my fortress, +my refuge in the day of affliction,” {16c}—“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.” {16d} + +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 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.” {17a} 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;” {17b} and conscious +weakness makes him call to the Saviour, with the imploring voice of him +who cried, “Lord, save me.” {17c} 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:” {18a} then it is he “sets his affections on things above:” {18b} +“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.” {18c} 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.” {18d} “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 things +which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are +eternal.” {19a} + +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.” {19b} 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.” {19c} He knows that whatever happens to him is by the appointment +of God, without whom even “a sparrow shall not fall on the ground;” {19d} +he has further, the blessed assurance, that “all things work together for +good, to them who love God;” {19e} therefore he has all “the joy and +peace in believing” of those, whose minds being “stayed on God,” {19f} +abound in hope through “the power of the Holy Ghost.” {19g} 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 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 +bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also +of Jesus might be made manifest in our flesh.” {21a} 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, IN WHOSE HANDS ARE +THE ISSUES OF LIFE AND DEATH; and who has said, by the mouth of his +prophets, “THOU SHALT NOT BE AFRAID FOR ANY TERROR BY NIGHT, NOR FOR THE +ARROW THAT FLIETH BY DAY; FOR THE PESTILENCE WHICH WALKETH IN DARKNESS, +NOR FOR THE SICKNESS WHICH DESTROYETH IN THE NOON-DAY. A thousand shall +fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not +come nigh thee.” {21b} + +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 blessing which Heaven has still in store for +them. But if not, _having learnt submission to the Divine will_, 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: “FEAR THOU NOT; FOR I AM WITH +THEE: BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM THY GOD: I WILL STRENGTHEN THEE; YEA, I +WILL HELP THEE; YEA, I WILL UPHOLD THEE WITH THE RIGHT HAND OF MY +RIGHTEOUSNESS.” {22a}—“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.” {22b} + +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 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, “_glory in +tribulation_ 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.” {23a} 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;” {23b} +by having implanted in their souls that “perfect love, which casteth out +fear.” {23c} 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.” {23d} + +It is a painful, an awful consideration, how many, in this Christian +land, “care for none of these things.” {23e} I speak not merely of the +profane, the scoffer, the sceptic, and the infidel; of those who “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?” {24} 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 your thoughts? {25} 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 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; _when your fear cometh as +desolation_, _and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind_, _when distress +and anguish cometh upon you_. _Then shall they call upon me_, _but I +will not answer_; _they shall seek me early_, _but they shall not find +me_: 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.” {26} + +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 which has broken out in the land! +in the suddenness of the seizure, it resembles “THE WHIRLWIND;” by its +destructiveness, it causes “DESOLATION;” and from the intensity of the +sufferings which it produces, arise “DISTRESS AND ANGUISH.” God grant +that the threatened vengeance be not equally verified;—“THEN SHALL THEY +CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY +SHALL NOT FIND ME.” 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, 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.” {28a} 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,—“THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES, AND ART FOUND WANTING.” {28b} + +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 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. + +May the fear of such death-beds act, through the grace of God, as a +salutary warning to those 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. + +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?” {30} 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 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.” {31} + +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. + +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 AN ETERNITY OF TORMENT. +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 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.” + +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.” {32a} + +“Knowing, therefore, the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men,” {32b} +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.” {32c} 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: + + “There stands the messenger of truth, there stands + The legate of the skies! His theme divine, + His office sacred, his credentials clear. + By him the violated Law speaks out + Its thunders: and by him, in strains as sweet + As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.” {33a} + +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?” {33b} 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! + +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 ye die, O house of Israel?” {34a} “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.” {34b} “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.” {34c} + +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, 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.” {35a} Under the Gospel dispensation, it is +emphatically said, “GOD IS LOVE:” {35b} 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.” {35c} 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.” {35d} 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:” {35e} 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 heart; and ye shall +find rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” +{36a} 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.” {36b} Agreeably to which, He Himself says, “I +am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” {36c} 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.” {36d} If the Gospel did not contain a free pardon for +sin, little would it be in accordance either with its name, _good news_, +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 _to all people_, for unto you is born this day in the city of +David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” {36e} To every penitent the +promise is addressed—“Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” +{36f} The Divine mercy towards repentant sinners knows no restrictions; +the cleansing power of the Saviour’s blood, no limitations. + +If there be any self-convicted and self-condemned sinner, still +hesitating to throw himself 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. _Yea_, _like as a +father pitieth his own children_, _even so is the Lord merciful unto them +who fear Him_. For He knoweth whereof we are made, He remembereth that +we are but dust.” {37a} Let him hear St. John, who has stated the full +extent of Christ’s atoning and mediatorial power: “If _any man sin_, we +have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is +the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the +sins of the whole world.” {37b} Let him hear St. Paul, who has supplied +a sure ground of unfailing trust in God: “_He that spared not His own +Son_, but delivered Him up for us all, how _shall He not with Him also +freely give us all things_?” {37c} Should any one still hesitate to come +unto Christ as their Saviour, let him hear His merciful expostulation, +“_Ye will not come to me that ye might have life_.” {38a} Let him listen +to His gracious enquiry, “_Wilt thou be made whole_?” 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 +_Son of Man is come to save that which is lost_,” {38b} 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 +_seek after guilty and lost sinners_, but “_likewise there is joy in the +presence of the angels of God over_ ONE SINNER _that repenteth_.” {38c} +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;” {38d} because a poor sinner has been turned, by the +marvellous 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.” {39a} + +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.” {39b} 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, through faith in His blood, to +declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, +through the forbearance of God.” {40a} 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 _knowest not that +thou art wretched_, _and miserable_, _and poor_, _and blind_, _and +naked_. _I counsel thee to buy of_ ME 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.” {40b} 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 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;” +{41} 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 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. _For Christ is +the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth_.” {42a} +“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.” {42b} + +To true believers, “CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL:” {42c} 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.” {42d} That “the condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is +such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by 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.” {43a} “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.” {43b} 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.” {43c} + +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 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.” + +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.” {45} +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 heart, and _I will +put a new spirit within you_; _and I will take the stony heart out of +their flesh_, 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.” {46a} 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, “_Make me a clean heart_, _O God_, _and +renew a right spirit within me_. 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.” {46b} + +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 above,” +ever “pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God +in Christ Jesus,” {47a} 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.” {47b} In the life +of some of those who have been “brought up in the nurture and admonition +of the Lord,” {47c} 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 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 {48a} 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.” {48b} + +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 witness—in himself;” +and His life affords external proof of his sonship;—“Whosoever is born of +God, sinneth not.” {49a} 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;” {49b} 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.” + +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 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;—CONVERSION +or CONDEMNATION. “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, 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.” {51a} “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 _allows himself_ 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.” {51b} “In these +two cases, therefore, men must be converted and live, or remain +unconverted and die.” {51c} + +Let then all those who are living in ignorance of 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.” {52a} 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.” {52b} “Be +ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” +{52c} Hence, then, 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.” +{53a} 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.” {53b} +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, _repent ye and +believe the Gospel_;” {53c} and which has always imposed upon its +converts personal holiness, as a universal obligation, and inseparable +from its promises and rewards; “_Wherefore follow holiness_, _without +which no man shall see the Lord_.” {54a} “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.” {54b} 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, 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.” + +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 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. + +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 the light of the +glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto +them.” {57a} 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, _even His eternal power and Godhead_: 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 + + —“The gay, licentious, proud, + Whom pleasure, power, and affluence surround,” + +learn “how hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of +God!” {57b} 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 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.” {58a} 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.” {58b} 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 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.” {59a} “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.” {59b} “Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as +strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the +soul.” {59c} “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.” {59d} “Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because +of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of +disobedience.” {59e} 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 God, who giveth us +richly all things to enjoy:” {60a} 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,” {60b} 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 _suffereth long and is kind_; _charity envieth +not_; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave +itself unseemly; seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, _thinketh +no evil_; _rejoiceth not in iniquity_, _but rejoiceth in the truth_.” +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 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.” {61} Let such, +therefore, remembering that their only hope of forgiveness consists in +their obtaining grace to overcome their uncharitable 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.” {62} + +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 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. {63} +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. + +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 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; 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.” + +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 spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the +heart of the contrite ones.” {66a} 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?” {66b} 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.” {66c} 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 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.” + +“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.” {67} 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. + +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?” 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.” +{68a} 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.” {68b} 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, 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.” + +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 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. + +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 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, 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.” +{72} 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 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.” {73} + +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, _in that they received the Word with all readiness of +mind_, _and searched the Scriptures daily_, _whether those things were +so_.” {74a} + +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!” + +“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.” {74b} 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 bringing into captivity every thought to the +obedience of Christ.” {75a} 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. + +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.” {75b} 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.” {75c} 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.” {75d} It is most true, that when +the corruption of man’s nature 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. + +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!” {76a} 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;” {76b} and “thanks be to +God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus.” {77a} + +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.” {77b} + +“REPENT YE, THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED +OUT, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the +Lord.” {77c} 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 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.” {78} + +“GO THY WAY FOR THIS TIME, WHEN I HAVE A CONVENIENT SEASON I WILL CALL +FOR THEE;” was the language of Felix, when he “_trembled_,” 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.” NOT NOW, 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. + +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 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. + +REPENT YE, THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED +OUT: 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 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. + +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. {80} 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 man profited, if he +shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” {81a} 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 “THE WAY, THE TRUTH, +AND THE LIFE.” {81b} 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,” {81c} and joyfully +accepts the free, unmerited, and most gracious offers of salvation made +in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom, “being justified by faith, we +have peace with God.” {82a} 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;” {82b} 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.” {82c} 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.” {82d} + +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 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.” + +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.” {83} + +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. + +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.” {84} Let him, in the second +place, be especially 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,” {85} 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 him not be dismayed, but hope: +a “friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” {86a} 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;” {86b} 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.” {86c} + + + +II. The Christian’s duty of labouring to advance, as far as in him lies, +a national reformation, under Divine visitations. + + +The duty _of personal reformation_ 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 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,” {87a} +is to be obeyed under ordinary circumstances; when “GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE +IN THE EARTH,” extraordinary exertions must be made in the hope that, +through the Divine blessing, “THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN +RIGHTEOUSNESS.” {87b} 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, with +long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the +unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” {88a} 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;” +{88b} 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. + +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. + +How great is the improvement which an active and pious individual +sometimes effects in a neighbourhood!—an improvement which, commencing 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,” {89a} 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.” {89b} + +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 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 HE, 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, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto +thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes:” {91a} rather, in this +our day, may “the Father of Lights,” {91b} 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.” {91c} 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.” {91d} 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. + +“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 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? + +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 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.” {93} 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 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 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.” {95} 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 _His will +and doing_; 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 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.” {96} 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! + +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 “THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN,” {97a} +should be bound “for a sign on their heads, and as frontlets between +their eyes.” {97b} 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. + +“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 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.” {98} + +The great duty of believers every where to declare and maintain, that +“GOD GOVERNETH ALL THINGS BOTH IN HEAVEN AND EARTH,” 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 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.” {99} + +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 bespeak this more strongly, +than the altered language of the day as regards society, business, and +public transactions. + +The time was when it was carefully framed in accordance with the +apostolic injunction, “for that ye ought to say IF THE LORD WILL, we +shall live and do this or that.” {100} 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 _we will go_ 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. + +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. + +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, 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,” {102} 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. “THE LORD WILL BE TERRIBLE UNTO +THEM:”—“_And he will stretch out his hand __against the north_, _and +destroy Assyria_; _and will make Nineveh a desolation_, _and dry like the +wilderness_. 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 am_, _and there is none beside me_: 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.” {103a} 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, _yet from_ ME _shall spoilers +come unto her_, _saith the Lord_. 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.” {103b} + +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: FOR I WILL DIMINISH THEM, THAT THEY SHALL NO +MORE RULE OVER THE NATIONS.” {104a} 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? THE LORD OF HOSTS +HATH PURPOSED IT, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into +contempt all the honourable of the earth. HE _stretched out His hand +over the sea_; HE _shook the kingdoms_: _the_ LORD _hath given a +commandment against the merchant city_, _to destroy the strong holds +thereof_.” {104b} 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: “_it shall __be a place for the spreading of nets in the +midst of the sea_, FOR I HAVE SPOKEN IT, SAITH THE LORD GOD: and it shall +become a spoil to the nations.” {105a} “I WILL MAKE _thee like the top +of a rock_: 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.” {105b} +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.” + +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 unto the Lord thy God: _the Lord thy God +hath chosen thee_ 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, _because +ye were more in number than any people_, _for_ 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 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, _then thou shalt bless_ THE LORD THY GOD, +for the good land which HE HAS GIVEN THEE. 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: _then thine heart be +lifted up_, _and thou forget the_ LORD THY GOD,—_and thou say in thine +heart_, _my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth_. +_But thou shalt remember the_ LORD THY GOD, _for it is_ HE THAT GIVETH +THEE POWER _to get wealth_. 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 _ye shall surely perish_.” +{107} Nor were they left in ignorance as to what would be the ministers +of Divine vengeance; unfruitful seasons; and deadly pestilence; 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. “THE +LORD _shall scatter thee among all people_, from the one end of the earth +even unto the other.” “_And thou shalt become an astonishment_, _a +proverb_, _and a by-word among all nations_, _whither the Lord shall lead +thee_.” {108} + +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 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.” + +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 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 “IS HE THAT GIVETH +STRENGTH AND POWER UNTO HIS PEOPLE: BLESSED BE GOD!” {110a} Let them +bear public testimony at once to the justice and mercy of His +visitations; for whilst the pestilence speaks the language of wrath: “WOE +TO THE REBELLIOUS CHILDREN, SAITH THE LORD, THAT TAKE COUNSEL, BUT NOT OF +ME, and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may +add sin to sin:” {110b} it speaks also the language of merciful warning +and gracious exhortation: “As MANY AS I LOVE, I REBUKE AND CHASTEN: BE +ZEALOUS, THEREFORE, AND REPENT.” {110c} + +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 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.” {111} If the alarm were only sounded +generally through the kingdom, the cause of the Lord would not want +defenders, both numerous and powerful, and the discomfited emissaries of +Satan would be driven from the field. + +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. + +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, PEACE, PEACE, WHEN +THERE IS NO PEACE.” {113} + +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 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.” {114} + +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.” {115} + +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 is but too +obvious. The main root of the evil lies in a want of sound, sober, and +practical _religious_ 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 _popular education_, without teaching _religion_ for its basis; +in the systematic and avowed separation of civil and political from +_Christian_ obligations; in the disposition to consider all truths, on +whatever _sacred authority_ they may rest, as matters of mere _human +opinion_; and in a persuasion that the whole concern of government, of +legislation, and of social order, may be conducted as if there were no +MORAL RULER OF THE UNIVERSE 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.” {116} + +The statements as to the number, power, and malignity of the enemies of +religion, made by these two Prelates, supply the powerfully sketched out +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, _for the avowed specific purpose of advocating __the +cause of infidelity_, 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. + +“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.” + +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. + +We possess, then, certain information, supplied by these and various +other distinguished writers, as 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + +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 the moral world:—“the wicked are like the +troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt:” +{123} 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. + +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.” {124} 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 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.” {125} + +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. + +Miserable men! the Christian mourns over the wilful blindness which, in +the full blaze of the meridian 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.” {126} 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +When unchristianised, man becomes a sort of demon: he riots in the +licentiousness of his assumed 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +“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 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 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.” {134a} + +“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.” {134b} “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.” {134c} + +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 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.” +{135} 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 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 which they ought to teach, to which the laity are attached, +and destitute of the Spirit of God.” {137a} 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, {137b} “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.” + +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 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 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.” + +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. + +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. 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +To effect, however, this great object, the co-operation 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 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. + +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 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, 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, +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. + +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 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. + +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 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;” {149} 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,—_not of those_ who are labouring with _earnest_ diligence to +“feed the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers,”—_of +those_ 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 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. + +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 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 +this world by the rays which precede that which is to come, the earnest +of a brighter dawn.” + +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 of popular clamour and fury, remains stedfast through +faith, and joyful through hope: + + “As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, + Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, + Tho’ round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, + Eternal sunshine settles on its head.” + +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.” {154} Let, then, all the servants of the +Lord, at this alarming and awful crisis, “be very jealous for the Lord +God of Hosts;” {155} 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 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 of individuals, should be all animated +by a Christian spirit, and guided by Christian rules and precedents. + +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? + +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. + +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 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 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, 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. + +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 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 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. + +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 +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 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.” {164} + +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. + +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, 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 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. + +The whole material universe supplies the student 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.” {167} “Oh Lord, how manifold are Thy +works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy +riches; so is the great and wide sea also.” {168a} “The heavens declare +the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work.” {168b} “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.” {168c} 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.” + +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, 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, + + “Leads it upward to a brighter day.” + +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 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. + +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 + + “Through nature up to nature’s God.” + +“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 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.” {171} + +The first great principle, therefore, which all must steadily keep in +view and strenuously advocate, is that _the Bible should form the basis +of education_. 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 _the Bible is to be the rule of +faith_, _and the guide of public and private life_. 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, 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 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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + +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.” {175} “And be ready always to +give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in +him, with meekness and fear.” {176} 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 +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. + +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 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. + +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,” {178} 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 +not be taken away from them;” {179a} 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;” {179b} I will not be +“unequally yoked with unbelievers;” {179c} 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?” {179d} Believers must warn, +exhort, entreat, and, if in their power, 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.” {180} + +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 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! + +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 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 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. + +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 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 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.” {185} + +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. + +“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 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 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.” + +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;” {188a} and thus be led to flee to Him who is able also to save +them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. {188b} 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 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 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 +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— + + “The impervious horrors of a lee-ward shore;” + +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,— + + “Youth at the helm, and Pleasure at the prow,” + +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 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,” {192} 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. + +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.” {193a} 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.” {193b} 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 man so account of us, as of the +ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” {194a} “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.” {194b} 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.” {194c} “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.” {194d} 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.” {194e} +“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, wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God?” {195a} “Therefore, +my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand +fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” {195b} “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.” {195c} 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.” {195d} +“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.” {195e} 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 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.” {196a} + +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; +FOR WHEN THY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD +WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS.” {196b} 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 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.” {197} +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 +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 _of one sinner_. What a field is now +opened to the ministers of the Gospel, in which they may hope, through +God’s grace and blessing, “_to turn many to righteousness_;” 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. + +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 the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall +appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” {199} +“The duty enjoined,” writes the Archbishop, “is, _Feed the flock of God_. +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 _wise unto salvation_; and that the life which is conveyed to +them by the _word of life_, 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, _to feed the flock of God that is among them_. Jesus Christ +descended to purchase a Church, and ascended to provide and furnish it, +to send down his Spirit: _He ascended_, _and gave gifts_, particularly +_for the work of the ministry_, and the great use of them is, _to feed +the flock of God_.” + +“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 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 _green pastures_ 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 _feed the sheep_, those more advanced; _to feed the lambs_, the +younger and weaker; to have special care of the infirm; to learn of their +Master the Great Shepherd, to _bind up that which is broken_, _and +strengthen that which is sick_, {200a} those that are broken in spirit, +that are exercised with temptations, _and gently to lead those that are +with young_, {200b} 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! +_Who is sufficient for these things_? {200c} Who would not faint, and +give over in it, were not our Lord the _Chief Shepherd_; were not all our +sufficiency laid up in His rich fulness, and all our insufficiency +covered in His gracious acceptance?” {201} 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 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:” {202a} He hath said, “Lo, I am with you alway, +even unto the end of the world, Amen.” {202b} 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.” {202c} And 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, +shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all those who love +his appearing.” {204a} + +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,” {204b} 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. 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.” {205a} 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:” {205b} 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.” {205c} + +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, 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 +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 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, which, in +its concatenation, would unite the great bulk of the population of the +country with the established Church. + +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 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. + +The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge extends her operations +beyond our home population: in co-operation with the Society for the +Propagation 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. {211} +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 +increase the power and wealth of a little island, which has been proudly +styled, + + “The Island, Empress of the Sea:” + +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 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 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_l._ 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_l._ 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 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? + +“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 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.’” + +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 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 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. + +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 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:” {219} 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 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 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.” + +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.” {221} +England appears to be selected by God for this great and glorious work. +As the Roman 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.” {222} 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 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.” {223}—“But this I say, he which +soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth +bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. Every man 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.” {224a} “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.” {224b} + +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, _the possibility of Revelation being true_; +and, secondly, _the consequences of Revelation being true_. Surely a +creed, which numbers amongst its defenders laymen, who hold the highest +place in England’s proud 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 _the +possibility_ 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. + +There is, however, a second point of consideration, and that a very +important one, which ought not to be lost sight of, _the consequences of +Revelation being true_,—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 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 + + Moody madness, laughing wild + Amidst severest woe.” {227} + +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 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. + +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, + + “Dim as the borrowed beams of moon and stars + To lonely, weary, wandering travellers, + Is reason to the soul.” + +Alas! it is melancholy to think how many reject 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 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. + +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 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 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.” + +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—“WE WILL TRUST IN THE +LORD FOR EVER, FOR IN THE LORD JEHOVAH IS EVERLASTING STRENGTH!” When +Solomon, on the dedication of the temple, prayed, “If there be in the +land famine, if there be pestilence, or whatsoever 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.” {233a} 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.” +{233b} + +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 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 WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND +WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND. + +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 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.” + +“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.” {235a} Truly in our case it +may be said, “the isles saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were +afraid.” {235b} 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 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;” +{236a} therefore, thou shalt “obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and +mourning shall flee away.” {236b} “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, HERE I AM.” {236c} + +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 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.” {237} + + + + +A PRAYER +IN TIMES OF +PESTILENCE OR GREAT SICKNESS. + + +O ALMIGHTY 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + + * * * * * + + _A Prayer_, _which may be used in Health or in Sickness_. + +O ALMIGHTY 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? 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. + +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. + +O Lord Jesu Christ, the Lamb of God, that takest 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. + +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. + + * * * * * + + THE END. + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, + St. John’s Square, London. + + + + +FOOTNOTES. + + +{3a} Rev. xvi. 1. + +{3b} Luke xxi. 25, 26. + +{5a} Joel ii. 12. + +{5b} Joel ii. 15–17. + +{5c} James i. 7. + +{5d} Heb. xiii. 8. + +{5e} Rom. xv. 4. + +{5f} Psalm cvi. 6. + +{5g} Psalm lxxxvi. 5. + +{6a} Isa. lix. 1. + +{6b} Psalm lix. 13. + +{6c} Isa. i. 11. + +{6d} Isa. i. 16, 17. + +{6e} 1 Sam. xv. 22. + +{7a} Service for the Sick. + +{7b} Luke xix. 44. + +{7c} Psalm cxix. 75. + +{7d} Isa. lv. 6. + +{7e} Jer. xviii. 30. + +{8a} Prov. viii. 15. + +{8b} Psalm lxxxix. 19. + +{8c} Psalm cxxvii. 2. + +{9a} Gen. xviii. 32. + +{9b} Jonah iii. 10. + +{9c} 2 Sam. xxiv. 16. + +{9d} Jer. xviii. 7, 8. Psalm xci. 6. + +{10a} 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. + +{11} 1 Pet. v. 6. + +{12a} Isa. i. 4. + +{12b} Zech. xii. 10. + +{13a} Isa. xliv. 21, 22. + +{13b} Psalm cxix. 73. + +{14a} Luke i. 79. + +{14b} Isaiah x. 3. + +{14c} Isaiah xxvi. 4. + +{14d} Heb. xi. 6. + +{15a} Sherlock on Providence. + +{15b} Heb. xii. 10. + +{15c} Bowdler’s Remains. + +{16a} Heb. xii. 6. + +{16b} Psalm cxix. 71. + +{16c} Jer. xvi. 19. + +{16d} Psalm xxv. + +{17a} Phil. ii. 15. + +{17b} Luke xviii. 18. + +{17c} Matt. xiv. 30. + +{18a} Titus ii. 10. + +{18b} Col. iii. 2. + +{18c} Titus ii. 13. + +{18d} Psalm cxix. 75. + +{19a} 2 Cor. iv. + +{19b} Heb. ii. 16. + +{19c} Deut. xxxiii. 25. + +{19d} Matt. x. 29. + +{19e} Rom. viii. 28. + +{19f} Isaiah xxvi. 3. + +{19g} Rom. xv. 13. + +{21a} 2 Cor. iv. + +{21b} Psalm xci. + +{22a} Isa. xli. 10. + +{22b} Sherlock on Providence. + +{23a} Rom v. 3. + +{23b} Heb. vi. 1. + +{23c} 1 John iv. 18. + +{23d} Heb. xii. 12. + +{23e} Acts xviii. 17. + +{24} 2 Tim. iii. 4. + +{25} Psalm x. 4. + +{26} Proverbs i. + +{28a} Jonah i. 6. + +{28b} Daniel v. 27. + +{30} Acts xx. 21. + +{31} Luke xvi. 23. + +{32a} Matt. xxv. 41. + +{32b} 2 Cor. v. 11. + +{32c} Ibid. v. 20. + +{33a} The Task. + +{33b} Rom. ii. 4, 5. + +{34a} Ezek. xxxiii. 11. + +{34b} Ezek. xviii. 29. + +{34c} Isa. i. 18. + +{35a} Exod. xxxiv. 6. + +{35b} 1 John iv. 8. + +{35c} John iii. 16. + +{35d} John iii. 17. + +{35e} John vi. 47. + +{36a} Matt. xi. 28. + +{36b} Matt. i. 21. + +{36c} Matt. ix. 13. + +{36d} 1 Tim. i. 15. + +{36e} Luke ii. 10. + +{36f} John vi. 37. + +{37a} Psalm ciii. 8. + +{37b} 1 John ii. 1. + +{37c} Rom. viii. 32. + +{38a} John v. 40. + +{38b} Matt. xviii. 11. + +{38c} Luke xv. 10. + +{38d} Rev. v. 13. + +{39a} Acts xxvi. 18. + +{39b} 1 Tim. ii. 4. + +{40a} Rom. iii. 24, 25. + +{40b} Rev. iii. 17, 18. + +{41} James iii. 2. + +{42a} Rom. x. 2, 3. + +{42b} 1 Cor. i. 29. + +{42c} Col. iii. 11. + +{42d} Article IX. + +{43a} Article X. + +{43b} Article XI. + +{43c} Article XII. + +{45} Isa. lv. 7, 8. + +{46a} Ezek. xi. 19. + +{46b} Psalm li. + +{47a} Phil. iii. 14. + +{47b} Ephes. iv. 13. + +{47c} Ibid. vi. 4. + +{48a} 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. + +{48b} Sermons, p. 125. + +{49a} 1 John v. 1. 10. 18. + +{49b} Rom. viii. 1. 14. + +{51a} p. 123. + +{51b} p. 126. + +{51c} p. 128. + +{52a} Matt. vii. 21. + +{52b} Rom. ii. 13. + +{52c} James i. 22. + +{53a} 1 John ii. 15. + +{53b} Gal. v. 19–21. + +{53c} Mark i. 15. + +{54a} Heb. xii. 14. + +{54b} Titus ii. 11. + +{57a} 2 Cor. iv. 4. + +{57b} Mark x. 23. + +{58a} Luke xvi. + +{58b} 1 John ii. 16. + +{59a} James v. + +{59b} 1 Tim. vi. 9. + +{59c} 1 Pet. ii. 11. + +{59d} 1 Pet. iv. 3. + +{59e} Ephes. v. 6. + +{60a} 1 Tim. vi. 17. + +{60b} 2 Cor. vii. 1. + +{61} Ephes. iv. + +{62} 1 Pet. ii. 1. + +{63} Dan. v. + +{66a} Isa. lvii. 15. + +{66b} 1 Cor. iv. 7. + +{66c} Psalm xix. 12. + +{67} 1 Kings xviii. 21. + +{68a} Rev. iii. 16. + +{68b} Matt. xxii. 57. + +{72} John xv. 13. + +{73} 1 Cor. xvi. 22. + +{74a} Acts xvii. 11. + +{74b} 2 Tim. iii. 16. + +{75a} 2 Cor. x. 4. + +{75b} Jer. xiii. 23. + +{75c} 1 Pet. v. 8. + +{75d} Eph. vi. 12. + +{76a} Rom. vii. 24. + +{76b} Matt. xix. 26. + +{77a} 1 Cor. xv. 57. + +{77b} Rom. xii. 2. + +{77c} Acts iii. 19. + +{78} Psalm xcv. 11. Acts xxiv. 25. + +{80} Ephes. iv. 21. + +{81a} Matt. xvi. 26. + +{81b} John xiv. 6. + +{81c} 2 Cor. v. 21. + +{82a} Rom. v. 1. + +{82b} 2 Cor. xii. 9. + +{82c} Phil. iii. 13. + +{82d} Tit. ii. 10. + +{83} Baptismal Service. + +{84} Matt. xiii. 20. + +{85} Heb. ii. 10. + +{86a} Rev. xviii. 24. + +{86b} 2 Cor. iv. 17. + +{86c} Matt. xxv. 21. + +{87a} Matt. v. 16. + +{87b} Isaiah xxvi. 9. + +{88a} Ephes. iv. 2, 3. + +{88b} Ephes. iv. 5, 6. + +{89a} Service for the Sick. + +{89b} Job xxiii. 10. + +{91a} Luke xix. 42. + +{91b} James i. 17. + +{91c} Ephes. i. 17. + +{91d} Ephes. v. + +{93} Page 4. + +{95} Page 46. + +{96} Page 61. + +{97a} Dan. iv. 17. + +{97b} Deut. vi. 8. + +{98} Page 71. + +{99} Page 69. + +{100} James iv. 15. + +{102} Malachi iii. 6. + +{103a} Zeph. ii. 13. + +{103b} Jer. li. 13. + +{104a} Ezek. xxix. 15. + +{104b} Isaiah xxiii. 7. + +{105a} Ezek. xxvi. 5. + +{105b} Ibid. xxvi. ver. 14. + +{107} Deut. viii. + +{108} Deut. xxviii. 37. + +{110a} Ps. lxviii. 35. + +{110b} Isa. xxx. 1. + +{110c} Rev. iii. 19. + +{111} Matt. xvi. 18. + +{113} Jer. vi. 14. + +{114} Page 8. + +{115} Page 15. + +{116} Page 44. + +{123} Isaiah lvii. 20. + +{124} Apology for Christianity, p. 122. + +{125} Apology for the Bible, p. 2. + +{126} Matt. xxiii. 15. + +{134a} Charges, p. 117. + +{134b} Ibid. p. 128. + +{134c} Ibid. p. 134. + +{135} Rose’s Prevailing Disposition towards Christianity, p. 77. + +{137a} Page 145 + +{137b} Bishop of Durham. + +{149} Lord Brougham’s speech in the Commons, on the Education of the +Poor. + +{154} 2 Sam. xxiv. 21. + +{155} 1 Kings xix. 10. + +{164} Bishop of London’s Charge. + +{167} Psalm cxxxix. 5. + +{168a} Psalm civ. 24. + +{168b} Ibid. xix. i. + +{168c} Ibid. xxxiii. 8, 9. + +{171} Chalmers’ Revelation viewed in connexion with Modern Astronomy. + +{175} Luke i. 4. + +{176} 1 Pet. iii. 15. + +{178} Prov. xv. 23. + +{179a} Luke x. 42. + +{179b} Joshua xxiv. 15. + +{179c} 2 Cor. vi. 14. + +{179d} 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. + +{180} Psalm lv. 14. + +{185} Page 21. + +{188a} Matt. x. 28. + +{188b} Heb. vii. 25. + +{192} Ordination Service. + +{193a} Isaiah lviii. 1. + +{193b} 2 Tim. ii. 24. + +{194a} 1 Cor. iv. 1. + +{194b} 2 Cor. v. 20. + +{194c} Ezek. iii. 17. + +{194d} Acts xx. 28. + +{194e} 1 Thess. ii. 19. + +{195a} 1 Thess. iii. 7. + +{195b} Phil. iv. 1. + +{195c} Ibid. iii. 1. + +{195d} James v. 20. + +{195e} Dan. xii. 3. + +{196a} Ordination Service. + +{196b} Isaiah xxvi. 8, 9. + +{197} Cor. iii. 7. + +{199} Pet. v. 2. + +{200a} Ezek. xxxiv. 16. + +{200b} Isaiah xl. 11. + +{200c} 2 Cor. ii. 16. + +{201} Commentary upon the 1st Epistle of St. Peter, p. 280. + +{202a} Heb. xiii. 5. + +{202b} Matt. xxviii. 20. + +{202c} Isaiah lx. 19. + +{204a} 2 Tim. iv. 6. + +{204b} Acts x. 38. + +{205a} Mark viii. 38. + +{205b} Josh. xxiv. 15. + +{205c} Matt. xii. 30. + +{211} 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_l._ +A subscription has been opened in London for rebuilding the churches and +school-houses. + +{219} Mark xvi. 15. + +{221} Mal. iv. 2. + +{222} Isaiah xi. 9. + +{223} 1 Tim. vi. 17–19. + +{224a} 2 Cor. ix. 6–8. + +{224b} Rev. xi. 15. + +{227} Bishop Horne’s Letter to Adam Smith. + +{233a} 2 Chron. vi. 28. + +{233b} Ibid. vii. 12. + +{235a} Isaiah xxiv. 11. + +{235b} Ibid. xli. 5. + +{236a} 1 Pet. ii. 12. + +{236b} Isaiah li. 11. + +{236c} Ibid. lviii. 8. + +{237} Heb. xiii. 20. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE UNDER +DIVINE VISITATIONS*** + + +******* This file should be named 49126-0.txt or 49126-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/9/1/2/49126 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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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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