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Title: Way-Marks
or Directions to Persons Commencing a Religious Life
Author: G.T. Bedell
Release Date: June 14, 2018 [EBook #57328]
Language: English
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WAY-MARKS;
OR,
DIRECTIONS TO PERSONS COMMENCING
A RELIGIOUS LIFE.
SELECTED AND ARRANGED
BY G. T. BEDELL, D. D.
Rector of St. Andrew’s Church, Phil’a.
PHILADELPHIA:
HENRY PERKINS, 159 CHESTNUT-ST.
1839.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1832, by Key, Mielke, & Biddle, in the Clerk’s Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Stereotyped by L. Johnson.
The great variety of useful little books lately published, under such titles as Daily Food, Daily Crumbs, Devout Exercises, &c. and the favour with which these have been met, suggested to the compiler, the utility of attempting something of the same kind. He had accidentally met with a little work, called, “Directions,” &c. published by Maltbys, New Haven; and though there were some things in it which he did not like, he thought it, on the whole, a very valuable little manual of instruction. The compiler has made such alterations as seemed necessary to make it please himself, and added some few particulars from a valuable tract of the late President Edwards.—The Letter to a young Lady, &c. is one which the compiler has been in the habit of presenting to young persons under certain states of mind; and the “Memento,” by whomsoever prepared, is most admirably[4] done, and worthy to be read by all Christians.—The article on the question, “Am I a New Creature?” taken from the Spirit of the Pilgrims, is one highly useful and important in the present period of religious inquiry.
The sole object of the compiler is to do good; and this he trusts and prays may be accomplished.
Philadelphia, Feb. 1832.
1. Directions to Persons commencing a Religious Life—selected from an anonymous publication; with additions, from “Advice to young Converts,” by President Edwards.
2. Letter to a Young Lady, on the outset of a Religious Life. From the “London Christian Guardian.”
3. A Memento of Affection, written in the language of the Scriptures—selected from the anonymous publication above noticed.
4. Am I a New Creature? From “The Spirit of the Pilgrims.”
1. Remember that the commencement of the Christian life is to be like the “dawning light, which increaseth more and more to the perfect day.” Therefore when the hope of peace and pardon dawns in the heart, do not consider the great business of life as accomplished, but only as begun.
2. Keep up as great a strife and earnestness in religion, as if you knew yourself to be in a state of nature. When persons are under conviction of sin, they are advised to be earnest and violent for the kingdom of heaven. You ought not[8] to be less in earnest now, if you wish not to lose a sweet and lively sense of spiritual things.
3. Do not cease to strive and pray for the very same things which you sought before you had reason to hope you were converted. Those who have most light and most grace, have, nevertheless, need of more. There are very few requests that are proper for an impenitent sinner, that are not proper for one who professes godliness. At any rate, the mistake will do you no harm.
4. Evidence of piety is not so much to be sought in high emotions of any kind, as in real humility—self-distrust—hungering and thirsting after righteousness, sorrow for sin, and a continual effort, in every day life, to regulate our thoughts, feelings, and conduct by the word of God. It is the nature and not the degree of our affections, which is to be regarded in the[9] examination of our evidences. The best way to know our feelings is, to see how they influence the conduct. “By their fruit ye shall know them.” Always look upon those as the best comforts, which have most of these two effects—those that make you least and lowest and most like a child, and those that most determine you to deny yourself, and to spend and be spent in the service of your Master.
5. Do not expect to find in your own case, every thing you have heard or read of in the experience of others. For it may be that many things we hear and read of, are not correct feelings, and do not afford just grounds of confidence to any one; and if they are correct experience, it may be the experience of a mature Christian, and not to be expected in the beginning of a religious life. It must be remembered, that as no two countenances are formed alike, so no two hearts are fashioned alike,[10] or placed in exactly the same circumstances; and it would be as vain to seek all the varieties of Christian experience in one person, as to seek all varieties of human features in one face.
6. Do not expect that the evidence desired will all come immediately and at once. It will be most likely to come progressively, as the result of continued effort in obedience to the will of God.
7. Do not suppose that religion is a principle of such self-preserving energy, as that when once implanted in the soul it will continue to thrive and increase without effort. The plant of divine grace can no more thrive without care, and diligent and patient cultivation, than can those rare and valued plants, that demand the physical efforts and culture of man.
God will not sustain and bring to maturity the work of grace, without your own voluntary concurrence in the diligent[11] use of means. He will not do it any more than he would cause the harvest to whiten in the field of the sluggard. Indulge, therefore, no such ideas of inability and dependence on God, as shall impair a full sense of perfect obligation to do whatever can be done in working out your own salvation. God never promises to assist any but those who make efforts to aid and advance themselves.
8. Entertain no such ideas of the sovereignty of God in the bestowment of his grace, as would awaken any doubt of his affording needful aid, where he sees sincere endeavours to grow in grace. If some christians are more eminent than others, it is simply because they make more efforts to be so, and God aids these efforts. So that all worldly minded and indifferent christians continue in this state, because they do not choose to make efforts to get out of it. Any person can be an eminent[12] christian that chooses to be so. Christians are too apt to feel as if eminence in piety was a distinction made by the sovereignty of God, and to suppose that high attainments are not within the reach of all, and that languid and inefficient piety is the result of divine sovereignty rather than negligence and sloth. A more false or more pernicious opinion cannot easily be adopted by Christians. The truth is, that the road to eminence in gifts and graces, and the means of obtaining them, are open to all who seek them, and if any do not attain them; it is owing to their own sloth and inefficiency, and not to any deficiency on the part of God in blessing diligent efforts. It always pleases him to crown with success the hand of the diligent instead of the hand of the slothful, not only in temporal but in spiritual things. This thought cannot be too strongly impressed upon the minds of those who are[13] just commencing the christian life. To them peculiarly, are such promises as these directed; “Ask, and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. Every one that asketh receiveth,” &c.
Do not be afraid of indulging in feelings which may seem to be right, from the fear of deception. On the contrary, cherish such feelings and try to recall them often. Go forward and do your duty, and God will save you from deception while thus employed.
10. There is one caution which is peculiarly needful to those who have been greatly interested in the subject of religion, and that is, to take particular care of the health.
There is such a mysterious and intimate connection between the mind and body, that one cannot be wearied or suffer, without affecting the other. When the[14] mind is fatigued and exhausted, it affects the body, and this again reacts on the mind.
Every person ought to be aware, that the more anxiously and intensely the mind is interested on any subject, the greater is the need of exercise, sleep and frequent relaxation. Attention to religion, does not demand that all lawful business be suspended, and forbids the neglect of all needful rest and exercise; but be very cautious here, lest you mistake negligence in religion, for a necessary attention to the health.
11. Do not expect to be made very happy by religion, unless you become eminent christians. A half way christian can neither enjoy the pleasures of the world nor the pleasures of religion; for his conscience will not let him seek the one, and he is too indolent to obtain the other. The christian may be the happiest[15] man on earth, but he must be a faithful, active, and devoted christian. None are disappointed in finding religion a source of unfailing peace and joy, but those who refuse to drink deep of the wells of salvation; unless we except those who, from some derangement of the nervous system, or failure of health, do not enjoy the clear and undisturbed exercise of their faculties. A healthy mind in a healthy body, may always be made happy by religion.
12. Do not look at the practice and example of other christians, in forming the standard of piety at which you aim. The allowance of this thing, has probably had a more disastrous influence on the church and on the world, than all other causes that could be named. Generally, when persons commence a christian life, their consciences are susceptible and tender. They are strict and watchful in the performance of duty, and are pained even by[16] a slight neglect. They have been wont to feel, that becoming religious implies a great change; that “old things must pass away and all things become new.” But when they begin to look around among their christian friends, and turn to them for aid, and those who have had experience and have made advances in christian life, they find that they seem to look upon duties and deficiencies in a very different manner. They seem to neglect many things which the young christian has felt to be very important; and to practice many things which he had supposed inconsistent with religion. Then commences the disastrous effect. The young christian begins to feel that he need not be more particular than those to whom he has ever looked up with deference and respect. He begins to imagine that he has been rather too strict and particular. He begins to take a retrograde[17] course, and though his conscience and the bible often check and reprove, yet after a few inefficient struggles, he lowers his standard and walks as others do.
Look into your bible and see how christians ought to live. See how the bible says those who are christians must live, and then if you find your christian friends living in a different way, instead of having cause for feeling that you may do so too, you have only cause to fear that they are deceiving themselves with the belief that they are christians, when they are not. Remember that the farther your christian friends depart from the standard of christian character laid down in the bible, the less reason have you to hope that they are christians. And do not hesitate on this subject because you find many professed christians, who are indifferent and lax in their practice and example. Remember that Christ has said,[18] “Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord,” thus claiming to be his disciples, to whom he will say, “I never knew you.” Do not let professed christians tempt you to fall into the society of such unhappy castaways.
13. Do not be periodical christians. There are some who profess religion, who never seem to feel any interest on the subject, except when every one else does. It is true, there are special seasons of revived religion in the hearts of all christians, but if it is only at such times that progress is made in divine life, and interest is manifested in the salvation of souls, there is great reason to fear that what is called religion is nothing but sympathy with the feelings of others.
14. Do not let the adversaries of the cross have occasion to reproach religion on your account. How holily should the children of God, the redeemed and the[19] beloved of the Son of God, behave themselves. Therefore, “walk as children of the light, and of the day,” and “adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour;” and especially, abound in what are called the Christian virtues, and make you like the Lamb of God: be meek and lowly of heart, and full of pure, heavenly, and humble love to all; abound in deeds of love to others, and self-denial for others; and let there be in you a disposition to account others better than yourself.
15. Be sure that there exists a marked difference between your appearance and conduct, and that of those who are not christians. Remember that Christ has required this of you, and that even the world expects it.
16. Do not suppose you can recommend religion, by appearing interested in every thing that interests those who have no better portion than this world.—Remember[20] that your deportment, your conversation; your interest in dress, in company and amusements; the manner in which you perform your religious duties, are all carefully noted and weighed by those around you, who do not love religion; and if they do not see a marked difference between you and themselves, they either conclude there is nothing in religion, or else that you are a hypocrite. Worldlings expect that you will be very different from them, and despise you in their hearts if you are not. If you wish to recommend religion, let the world see it acted out according to the beautiful pattern laid down in the bible, and do not suppose that you can improve this pattern by any addition or subtraction of your own. On one subject there are some who need instruction. There is a class of christians who appear taciturn, unsocial, and even sad. This appearance is altogether inconsistent[21] with the spirit of religion. Christians ought to appear cheerful and happy; to appear to receive with pleasure and gratitude all the lawful enjoyments bestowed by their Heavenly Father. Such a gloomy deportment as has been described, does not do honour to religion, and causes those whom we wish to win to the ways of pleasantness and peace, to feel that religion is a melancholy, unsocial, and forbidding subject.
All professors of religion should endeavour to have such views of God, his love, his providence, his care; and should so live, as to be cheerful and happy, and to appear so.
On the contrary, there is a class of professed christians, who indulge in frequent trifling and levity. This is quite as inconsistent and injurious as the former, and if any thing it is more so. Let the christian at least, learn to make a distinction[22] between cheerfulness and levity. Remember we are commanded to avoid foolish talking and jesting, and that it is possible to be happy, cheerful, affable, and kind without any trifling or levity.
17. Remember that your evidence of possessing religion ceases when any thing else has the first place in your thoughts and interests.
Religion should not lessen our love for our friends, or our real enjoyments; but the desire to please God in all our ways should be the prevailing feeling of the mind. Our Saviour says, we cannot have two masters; God and his service must be first in our thoughts and affections, or else the world and its pleasures are first. If then we would find whose servants we are, we must find who has the first place in our thoughts and affections.
18. Never for one day omit to read the bible with prayer. This is a most important[23] direction. It is of the utmost importance that you should never for once break over this habit. Prayer and the bible are your anchor and your shield, which will hold you firmly in the path of duty, and protect you from temptation. You had better give up one meal every day, if it is necessary, in order to secure time for this duty. You had better give up any thing else. Nothing is a duty, if the performance of it will interfere with this duty. Remember this is the bread of your life, and the water of your salvation; and that you cannot live in health a single day, without their strengthening and invigorating influence.
19. Be regulated by a principle of duty in little things. This is the way that common christians are to cause their light to shine. Few christians can expect to do any great things to show their love for the Saviour, but all can “deny themselves,[24] and thus daily take the cross and follow him.” Religion should govern the temper and the tongue; should save us from indolence, from vanity, from pride, from foolishness, from levity, from moroseness, from selfishness, and all the little every day foibles to which we are exposed. Religion should exemplify its gentleness in your kind and affable manners; its purity and propriety in your conversation; its benevolence in your conduct, and its consistency and heavenly tendency, in all your ways.
20. It is a most excellent method to go to some sincere and candid friend, and inquire what are your own defects in temper, character, and every day deportment, and when you have discovered these, make it the object of your prayers and efforts to correct them.
21. One thing ought to be strictly regulated by principle, and that is the employment[25] of time. Always feel that you are doing wrong when your time is passing unprofitably. Have some regularity of method on this subject. Endeavour to ascertain how much time should be devoted to your friends and to relaxation, and to let the remainder be all of it employed in the most useful manner you can devise. Never be satisfied with the manner in which you are spending your time, if you can think of any possible way in which it might be more usefully employed.
Remember that time is the precious talent for which you must account to God; and if you find yourselves indulging in listless inactivity, or tempted to engage in employments of no practical use, remember your account to God. Be in a habit of inquiring when you commence any employment, “Is there any thing I can do, more useful than this?” And do not be satisfied till you have settled the question,[26] that you are doing all the good you can.
22. Attempt by your efforts and example, to raise the standard of piety and activity. If all who are now commencing the Christian life, should make this an object, and not fall into the temptation which professed christians so often set before the lambs of the flock, the church would indeed soon rise before the world, “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.”
Resolve to be an example to those who ought to be an example to you, and take the bible, and the bible only, for your guide in forming christian character.
23. Be active in promoting all benevolent objects. Make it an object to prepare to lead with propriety in all social devotional duties. At this period, when prayer and effort must unite in hastening the great day of the Lord, let every young[27] christian learn to guide the devotions of others, as well as to lift up his own private supplication. There is nothing which so much promotes the “brotherly love,” required in the bible, and nothing which so much promotes union of effort and interest, as social prayer: and every one who commences religious life, should aim to be prepared to perform such duties with propriety; and should stimulate others to engage in them.
24. Do not hesitate in the performance of all the external duties of a christian, because you do not find satisfactory evidence that your feelings are right.
Religious duty consists of two parts—feeling and action,—and because we find great deficiency in one respect, we surely ought not to neglect the whole. It is as unreasonable, as it would be, not to attempt to feel right till every external duty was perfectly performed.[28] If we are dissatisfied with our evidence, let us go on and do every thing that a christian should do, as the most hopeful way to produce right feelings. We surely cannot hope to bring our hearts right by neglecting our outward duties.
Go forward then, and take a stand as an active christian, and if your hearts are not right with God, you may be sure you are in less danger in taking this course than in neglecting it.
25. Under special difficulties, or when in great need of, or great longings after, any particular mercy, for yourself or others, set apart a day for secret prayer and fasting by yourself alone; and let the day be spent, not only in petitions for the mercies you desire, but in searching your heart, and in looking over your past life, and confessing your sins before God, not as is wont to be done in public prayer, but by a very particular rehearsal, before[29] God, of the sins of your past life, from your childhood hitherto, before and after conversion, with the circumstances and aggravations attending them, spreading all the abominations of your heart, very particularly, and fully as possible, before him.
26. Remember that the principal duty of a christian, as it respects others, is to excite them to the immediate performance of their religious duty.
Our Lord Jesus Christ appears to have intended that through the instrumentality of Christians, the perishing may be saved. There is no christian but can find some one mind at least, over which he can have some influence; and if we can do any thing to save others from eternal death, nothing should for a moment prevent our attempting it.
But to perform our duty faithfully in this respect, requires both discretion, and[30] some knowledge derived from the experience of others. The following hints, therefore, are added as the result of long experience and observation, and as a sort of guide to those who may be anxious to save a soul from death.
Let your first object be to persuade your friend to give an earnest and immediate attention to the subject. Serious remarks upon religion, do not produce much effect, unless some direct object is had in view.
Urge the immediate duty of giving the affections of the heart to God. Show them that if they will only love God, they will then feel their guilt in refusing to obey him, and will greatly desire to live for his glory. If they will only love their God and Saviour, they will feel that they can trust in the merits of his atoning blood. Do not, for a moment, allow them to feel that performing the outward duties[31] of religion, is doing any thing to recommend them to God, but is only a means of making them feel more deeply their immediate obligation to give the affections of their hearts to him, and of realizing the reasonableness of his holy law which requires it. Speak to them as if you really felt that there was no need of any delay, but that they could immediately perform what God requires; and in order to do this, endeavour to have a deep and realizing sense of this truth yourself. If they complain of their inability, or of the difficulty they find in performing their duty, show them that it is because they have so long forgotten and neglected God, that though it has really become difficult, it is a difficulty they have made for themselves, and which is an addition to their guilt. Show them that whatever the difficulty is, they can overcome it; for God never requires of his creatures, what they[32] cannot perform, and his standing unalterable law is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” Remember always that the more clearly, constantly, and forcibly the truth is presented to any mind that will attend to it, the more hope there is that it will be obeyed.
One caution however, needs to be added, and that is, that when it becomes apparent that the mind will not be brought to attend to the subject; when you find that the efforts become wearisome and unpleasant, always cease for a while, and wait for another time, or else you will do more harm than good. Persevering after this will only affect their minds with disgust and aversion towards a subject to which they have resolved they will not attend.
Another caution is also important. Always speak kindly and affectionately to friends upon this subject; and if you[33] find all your efforts vain, though you cease to urge neglected duty, still continue to express the same kindness and interest for them. Do not give them occasion to feel that, because they will not take your advice, you have cast them off as reprobates, and no longer desire their society. We may still continue to love the amiable natural traits of our friends, even though we find that they refuse to have them crowned and beautified by religion. Let all your efforts for the good of others be accompanied by earnest and constant prayer.
Lastly, do not be discouraged because you find that you are very deficient in any of the particulars specified.
Remember, that Christian life is a warfare, and that it is only at the end that we are to come off conquerors and more than conquerors. Remember, that He whom you are striving to serve and please,[34] is not a hard master. Though you have been inexcusable in fostering habits of neglect, and all the difficulties you find are of your own making, yet he can be “touched with the feeling of your infirmities.” When he sees that you really are afflicted because you are so constantly tempted to forget him, he pities you “as a father pitieth his children;” and so long as you see the means he has appointed to keep you from sin, and wait upon him for strength and guidance, he will never leave nor forsake you. When you feel your own strength and resolution failing, go to him who hath said, “my grace is sufficient for thee, and my strength shall be made perfect in weakness.” Call upon him, “and he will be very gracious unto the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye therein, when ye[35] turn to the right and when ye turn to the left.” Remember also, that the conflict is short; the race will speedily be accomplished—soon your deficiencies and guilt shall pain you no more—soon you shall “see him as he is,” and “awake in his likeness and be satisfied therewith.”
My dear young Friend,—As your mind becomes more enlightened in the knowledge of divine things, I am sure you will ever find fresh cause to wonder at the goodness of God. The contemplation of his character is a theme of never-ending delight; and in proportion as we discover our own worthlessness and guilt, we shall likewise have the brighter manifestations of his unspeakable excellence. And it is most profitable to cultivate such inquiries; for, the more we are impressed with the infinite holiness and purity of God, our hatred to sin will[37] increase. This, again, directly leads to the promotion of genuine humility, and lively gratitude, and unfeigned piety. We are humbled to the dust when we think of “the rock from whence we are hewn;” that we are the apostate children of apostate parents: still more so when we feel the awful aggravation of our guilt, in having wilfully forsaken and estranged ourselves from a God, whose peculiar characteristic is love; a God, who, in spite of all our rebellions against his authority, and all our violations of his law, and all our contempt of his gracious warnings, is yet ready to extend his merciful forgiveness, and to restore his lost favour to every penitent and returning sinner. I have often considered the following passages from the prophecies of Isaiah, as a most engaging and encouraging delineation of Divine goodness; “Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious[38] unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you.” The most hardened and abandoned criminal is often melted into tenderness by the compassionate sympathy of the person whom he has offended. He not only humbly confesses his guilt, but is overwhelmed with grateful, joyful surprise. So it frequently happens, when the sinner, convinced of his guilt, first discovers that the great God against whom he has been offending all his life long, is actually waiting that he may be gracious; and is exalted on a throne of mercy, as it were, for the very purpose of dispensing the blessings of forgiveness. “The goodness of God leads him to repentance:” and then, with the most affectionate humility, at once he leaves off his rebellion, enlists himself into the service of so kind a Master, and, with the newly converted Paul, exclaims, “Lord what wouldest thou[39] have me to do?” This devoted attachment kindles into acts of open and decided piety. He feels his unspeakable obligations to redeeming love; and these obligations are ever acquiring fresh strength, as he grows in a more thorough knowledge of the “desperate wickedness” of his own heart: he loves much, because much has been forgiven.
I doubt not but the workings of your own experience have some correspondence with those I have described. You have now been happily led to flee from the wrath to come, and to embrace Christ crucified as all your salvation. But on the retrospect of former years, does it not strike you with amazement that God did not “cut you down as a cumberer of the ground?” that he did not inflict the awful curse which your unceasing provocations had so justly incurred? that he persevered so long in a course of tender forbearance?[40] and, above all, that at last he should fix upon you as a special object of his clemency, and “pluck you as a brand from the burning?” You must ascribe all the change in your condition—the condemnation from which you are rescued, and the blessings to which you are exalted—to the free, unsought, and unmerited love of God in Christ Jesus. O, my friend! let the range of your meditations often run in this direction. It will take eternity itself to unfold the manifold wisdom, and the matchless love of God, in the redemption of your soul; but, O! begin the work at present, and let the beginning and the ending of your reflections and your praise be, “Hear what the Lord hath done for me.” Delight yourself in the Lord. It is, indeed, an interesting employment to think on the glories of his person, the excellences of his character, and the wisdom of all his dispensations,[41] especially in reference to yourself. It will expand your mind with the most sacred delight. It will, unconsciously, cultivate a spirit of prayer and devotion; and in thus holding communion with God, you will experience that “fulness of joy,” which nothing earthly can bestow.
But, alas! methinks I can anticipate your lamentations. Are you not desirous of telling me, that through the deceitfulness of sin, you are often beguiled of your privileges, and robbed of those spiritual comforts for which your soul pants? It is your wish to love God from every consideration, but especially because he commended his love towards you, in that, while you were a sinner, Christ died for you. It is your wish to live in communion with your God, and to follow after that holiness without which no man shall see his face. But your imaginations are full of vanity, and your best endeavours[42] after heavenly meditation are interrupted and marred by the frequent intrusion of evil thoughts. All this may be true enough in your case; for I firmly believe it accords with the experience even of the most advanced Christians. But allow me to say, that while you thus groan under the burden of remaining corruption, and are grieved on account of your natural aversion to what is good, you have reason to bless God for making you feel your proneness to evil, and teaching you that your entire dependence must be on his promised grace. At the same time that you confess and mourn over your imperfections, are you not powerfully affected with a sense of the Divine long-suffering, in bearing with them, and in even sympathizing with you under them; and in the readiness with which our gracious God condescends to help the infirmities, and supply all the wants of his[43] people? In short, as you grow in grace, you will always find growing cause to humble yourself on account of your manifold short-comings, and to exalt the Saviour for the riches of his grace and love, so freely, so suitably, and so abundantly conferred. This is the tendency of the whole gospel dispensation. The sinner is nothing, and can do nothing. Christ Jesus is all in all. The blessings which he died to purchase, and now for ever lives to bestow, are inestimable in their nature, infinite in their extent, and eternal in their duration. O, amazing boon! And these blessings are offered without money and without price. They are a gift, a free gift; the gift of the great eternal God to the creatures of his own formation: the gift of the heavenly Father to children who are unconsciously upheld by his power, and fed by his bounty, and loaded with his benefits from[44] day to day. What condescension! what love! And yet, strange to tell, both the Giver and the gift are alike despised by blinded, degraded, ungrateful man! This is a most affecting and humiliating view of human nature. But is it not a just one? We cannot look around us without perceiving innumerable proofs of its truth. Nor can even the renewed mind of a Christian free itself from the sad accusation of undervaluing that great salvation, which nothing could accomplish but the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. How then shall those escape who despise the proffered mercy? Solemn consideration!
But study you, my dear young friend, to keep yourself in the love of God. Live habitually under the influence of your own unworthiness, and of his unspeakable goodness. God is love: it is your duty to love him in return, with all[45] your heart and soul. See that you never forget what he has done to save you from everlasting perdition, and to raise you to glory, and honour, and immortality. Remember the infinite obligations under which you are laid; and let it be your constant aim to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments; to serve him with a willing mind; to glorify him with your body and your spirit, which are his. Nor will you ever find that this is a hard service. On the contrary, the nearer you live to God, you will enjoy the larger measure of that “peace which passeth all understanding.”
To them who have obtained like precious faith with us, through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
We thank our God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of ours, making request for you with joy. Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is meet for us to think this of you all, because we have you in our[47] heart. For, ye remember our labour, how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged, every one of you, as a father does his children; and we were with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling; and our exhortation was not of deceit, nor in guile; neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know; nor of men sought we glory, neither of you. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children; so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but our own souls also, because ye were dear unto us.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God. For you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein, in times past, ye walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power[48] of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom we all had our conversation in times past, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For ye were as sheep going astray, but now are returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls.
Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk worthy of the vocation whereby ye are called. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of the light. If then ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where[49] Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 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 doth the will of God abideth for ever. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? And Jesus saith, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If a man love me, he will keep my commandments, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down[50] his life for his friends—Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. For every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. And by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And we have known and believed the love which God hath towards us.—God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God? And ye are not your own, but are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your bodies, and in your spirits, which are his.
Search the scriptures, for in them ye have eternal life. For the entrance of[51] that word giveth light, and giveth understanding to the simple. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes; more to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honey comb. Let the word of God, therefore, dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
Pray without ceasing; in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
But of the times and seasons, ye need[52] not that we write unto you, for ye know Him that hath said, “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it. And if thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, and from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shall honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord. Exhort one another daily while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is.
Be not conformed to the world, but be[53] ye transformed by the renewing of your minds. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.—Ye cannot serve God and mammon.—Hear now what the Lord saith; “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me; and whosoever doth not[54] bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God; for they are not all Israel, that are of Israel; for many walk, of whom we have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things. 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.—Ye shall know them by their fruits.
In all things show yourselves a pattern of good works, that they of a contrary part may have no evil thing to say of you. Be not wise in your own conceits, for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. For the wisdom that cometh from above is first pure, then[55] peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Be kindly affectionate one to another, in honour preferring one another. Be not desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only. Be content with such things as ye have, for godliness with contentment, is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out, and having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. Charge them that 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.
Let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ. Let no corrupt communications proceed out of your mouth; neither foolish talking nor jesting. Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Speak evil of no man, let your speech be always with grace, that ye may know how to answer every man. Bear ye one another’s burdens; have compassion one of another, be pitiful, be courteous. Your adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of wearing gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart; even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price. And whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things.
Wherefore, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience, the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For ye have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way, for in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are. Trust in him at all times; pour out your heart before him; and he will be very gracious at the voice of your cry: when he shall hear it, he will answer. And he will feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in[58] his arms, and carry them in his bosom. And forget not the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked of him.” For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. For our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
For ye are not come to the mount which might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and a tempest; but ye are come unto mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the[59] mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Having, therefore, these promises, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.
Therefore, dearly beloved, our joy and our crown, so stand fast in the Lord, our dearly beloved. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. And what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes, before our God. For what is our hope, and joy, and crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of the Lord? For the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God. Then we shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall be ever with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy; to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
“If any man be in Christ,” says the Apostle, “he is a new creature.” In the first part of this sentence it is more than intimated, that some men are not in Christ, are not true Christians. Such was the fact in the days of the Apostle; such it is now. There still are enemies to the cross of Christ. There still are open opposers, decent objectors, and multitudes thoroughly indifferent to Christ and heaven, the soul and eternity. We see them all around us. The world is full of them. In the straight and narrow path that leadeth heavenward, only infrequent prints of the feet of travellers are to be seen; while the broad road is thronged by an unnumbered multitude, regardless[62] whence they came, and whither they are going.
The few who have chosen to desert their companions in folly and sin, and become Christian pilgrims, in search of a heavenly city, are called by the Apostle “new creatures.” This, and other language of similar import, the sacred writers frequently employ, to describe a regenerate state, a transformation from the complete dominion of sin to the dominion of holiness. Every truly converted soul is turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. This is no eastern allegory, no oriental fiction, no dream of a disordered fancy, but the simple statement of a tremendously important fact—a fact, which, whether regarded or not, takes fast hold on the interests of the soul, and the destinies of eternity.
The new birth, the new creation in Christ Jesus, regeneration, &c. are words[63] of strange and unimaginable import to many minds. And well they may be. These persons know little about them, and what little they suppose they know, is often any thing but truth. They may talk but they do not understand. They may fancy, but fancy and fact are seldom at one.
Notwithstanding the mystery which, in the view of many, hangs over this subject, to the honest and humble mind it may be simplified and rendered intelligible; and this is what I shall now attempt.
The new creation produces no change in any of our bodily or mental faculties. The subject of it sees with the same eyes, hears with the same ears, and labours with the same hands, which he had before. Neither is the sight of his literal eye, nor the hearing of his ear, nor the vigour of his hand strengthened. The same also may be said as to any change of his mental[64] faculties. No person, by becoming spiritually a new creature, receives a new understanding, or a new imagination, or a new memory, conscience, or faculty of choice. His mental faculties may indeed be invigorated, through the influence of the Spirit, and by a proper use; still, they are not essentially changed.—In what, then, does the great change of which we are speaking consist? In what respects is the subject of it a new creature?
Man, in the full extent of his capacities and affections, possesses something more than mere organs by which to look abroad upon the earth, and hear the voice of his fellow man, and procure subsistence for his perishing body. He is something more than a mental being, who can recollect, and reason, and imagine. He can wish as well as see; desire as well as hear; love as well as recollect; hate as well as reason; choose and refuse as well[65] as imagine. The existence of powers and faculties, corporeal and mental, is comparatively a small matter. How are they employed—is the great question. How does a man feel? What are his affections? What are his principles? What is his practice? These are questions which go deep into the soul, and discover what a man is, in the sight of Him who looketh on the heart, and cannot be deceived.
I say, then, with reference to the point before us, that the truly regenerate soul has a new object of supreme affection.
Formerly self was first and last with him. Morning, noon, and night,—in youth and manhood, and declining years,—at home, and abroad, in the church and in the field, seeking property or bestowing it on the destitute, in health and in sickness, in life and in death, the unregenerate heart pours forth its highest affections[66] upon self. If it looks upward to God and abroad to his kingdom, these are regarded as secondary objects. He cannot think complacently of God, as ruling for himself, for the display of his perfections, for the manifestation of his character, and as making the impenitent sinner illustrate that character throughout the universe and through eternity. Such thoughts, if they force themselves into his mind, are unwelcome intruders, and are banished, as you would drive from your house a suspected guest, who you feared would rob you of your treasures, and deprive you of life. Just so it is with self. Whatever it suspects as inimical to its little, paltry ends, it eyes with suspicion and fixed hostility, and opposes with all the vigour that sin and Satan can impart. God, his character, his government, his perfections, his will,—these are objects that cross the path and thwart the[67] purposes of self. Both cannot be first. ‘Ye will love the one and hate the other.’ This is the irreversible law of man’s moral nature.—The selfish person may for a time be ignorant of his selfishness, and may think himself actuated by noble, generous, disinterested views; but even when the wrappers are taken off, and his true character is revealed, still, he will continue to love himself. Still, he will dread and hate the holy character and government of Jehovah.
But he is a new creature. That Divine character, once so hateful, is now lovely; that government once so dreaded, is seen to be established in wisdom and goodness; while those perfections, once odious, break forth and beam out with a heavenly splendour, the source of joy and of unfailing confidence to all holy beings. ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth.’—Truly[68] this is a great and wonderful change. ‘Old things have passed away; all things have become new.’ The principle, which ran through and actuated the whole man—the entire mass of his moral nature, has been changed, renewed, supplanted. A new and hitherto unknown principle has entered the heart, from which the former occupant has fled abashed. The ground, formerly overgrown with the weeds and tares of selfishness, now brings forth, under divine culture, the fruits of holiness,—one of the first of which is supreme love to God, itself the seed, the germinant principle, the proof, the pledge, of all the rest.—It may be said then with perfect truth, that when a man becomes a Christian, he has a new God,—a new object of supreme regard, affection, and veneration. Self formerly occupied the throne; but self is now upon the footstool and in the dust that covers[69] it, while God, his Maker, Redeemer, and Judge, is enthroned in his rightful supremacy.
The regenerate man is a new creature, because he has a new rule of duty.
Formerly his own inclination, his own will, provided there was no outward impediment which prevented, directed his actions. Who does not wish to gratify his own desires? Who would not do it if he could?
But here is a new creature. The first question the new born soul puts forth, is that of Saul, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ The will of another being, a being invisible to human eye, impalpable to human touch, whose literal voice no man hears, is now the rule of duty to the new creature. The law of God takes the place of man’s desires, wishes, and propensities. He who formerly took council of his own selfish heart, now yields[70] to the revealed word; he who once sought to please himself, now seeks to obey his heavenly Master; he who followed his own headlong propensities, now holds them in check, while he consults the lively and life-giving oracles of truth. And these utter no uncertain, ambiguous responses, but plainly point out the path of duty, which, to the regenerate man, is the path of peace.
The unregenerate man, on becoming a true Christian, exhibits a marked novelty, a noticeable transformation of character, in the trait here specified. He puts aside his old rules of duty, whether they were his own will, or supposed advantage, or the maxims of the world; and, in place of them, adopts God’s law as the standard by which to estimate his character, mould his affections, and regulate his conduct. This is a great change, very great; greater far than most people imagine.—Reader,[71] Do you know what it implies? Are you ready to adopt the will of God as your rule of duty? You must do it, or you can never be a new creature. Heaven and hell turn on this pivot. Let God’s will govern; and holiness, heaven, peace in life, triumph in death, and joys, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, are yours. Follow your own will, in opposition to that of God, and you shut yourself out from Heaven, cut yourself off from all holy affections, and poison the fountains of life in your soul. You deprive yourself of all certain present peace, plant thorns in your dying pillow, and make the final Judge your eternal enemy, murder hope, and shut yourself up in the prison of despair.
What can be more proper than that a creature of yesterday and liable to err, should look up to his Creator, who is[72] from eternity to eternity, and who cannot err, for instruction and guidance? Would it be proper that children scarcely out of the cradle, should follow their short-sighted and perverse whims, rather than the kind and wise commands of their experienced parents? Your child has lived three years. You have lived thirty. Surely it is proper that the child of three should be directed by the parent of thirty years. And is there no propriety that the creature of thirty should be directed by the all wise and eternal Creator? The simple statement of the subject carries home conviction to every mind with irresistible force.
Another distinctive trait of the new creature is, new views of man’s native character.
The moral, reputable, but impenitent man, may, by reading, by observation and reflection, become convinced that something is wrong about man—very wrong.[73] He may see that unhesitating truth, and fearless honesty, and straight forward integrity are but seldom to be met with. He may know that pride, and vanity, and jealousy, and envy, and suspicion, and anger, weave a large portion of the web of human life. He may call falsehood contemptible, and intemperance beastly. He may acknowledge that laws are necessary to intimidate, that judges and courts are required to convict, and that prisons and penitentiaries are indispensable to confine the thief and the robber. All this presents to his mind a dark picture of human life and character. But then he contemplates another part of the picture, and finds some relief. He sees the kindlier sympathies of our nature discovering themselves in various forms. He sees conjugal, parental and filial affection warm and vigorous in many bosoms, and the sight is pleasing. But he[74] does not see that the father and mother and child may all be supremely selfish, while exhibiting the generous natural affections. He does not see, at least he is not apt to see, that all these and similar principles of human conduct come under that description of which the Saviour said, ‘Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.’ There is no holiness in them. They do not spring from holiness; they do not produce holiness. Who thinks when he sees the red-breast bearing in its bill food for its young, that the bird is holy? Yet has it not affection for its young? Is not the sight pleasant? Others must have different feelings from mine, if it be not so. Often have I watched the efforts and parental solicitude of the warblers of the woods, and admired the wisdom of the God of nature, who feedeth the young ravens when they cry. Is the fond mother, rocking her sleeping[75] infant, and smiling as it smiles, therefore holy? Is her love to her child necessarily connected with love to God, and with penitence for her sins? There are those that tell us that these natural and kindly affections, of which, (were we destitute,) we should be below the very brutes, are proof and exhibition of holiness! ‘Blind leaders of the blind!’
But here is a new creature. He sees, that the most amiable unrenewed men, in all their moral, accountable exercises, are sinful, only sinful, and sinful without any mixture of holiness. Once he did not believe this. It was a harsh and uncomfortable view of the human character and condition. Or if he did believe it, as a doctrine too plainly revealed to be doubted, still it was a bare intellectual assent to a repulsive dogma of revelation. But now it comes home to his bosom, as a truth of awful, personal import. ‘I have[76] heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Truly, here is a great change. He who exalted now abases; he who excused now convicts; he who justified now condemns, himself. He who rose in opposition to God’s laws, now rejoices to submit to them. He who raised objections, sought out difficulties, and uttered complaints of injustice and partiality, now ascribes righteousness to his Maker, and takes shame to himself. He sees, realizes, and feels through his whole soul, that the only difficulty was in an impenitent, selfish, unhumbled, unholy heart, that, knowing its Lord’s will, would not do it. The truly regenerate man knows, by an evidence of consciousness and personal feeling equal to demonstration, that the natural heart is enmity to God. He has felt this enmity in his own heart, and he[77] knows that, as in a glass face answereth to face, so does the heart of man to man.
The new creature has a new foundation for his hope of acceptance with God.
Formerly he was as good as his neighbours. He was no hypocrite. He did not make any great pretensions to religion, it is true, but he was honest in his dealings, kind to the poor, and ready to do what he could to relieve the suffering and deliver the oppressed. Or if his circumstances did not admit of his really doing this, he was disposed to do it. Had he possessed the means, he certainly should have done it; and he who looketh on the heart and requires only according to what a man hath, will readily take the will for the deed.—Some make a great merit of their sobriety. They are not intemperate, not dishonest, not profane, respect the Sabbath, read their Bibles, have read them for a long time, attend[78] meeting regularly:—surely, putting all this together, their characters must stand fair, and their hopes be good.
But here is a new creature. He no longer compares himself with his neighbour. He examines himself by the law of God, and he cries ‘Woe is me, for I am undone; I have broken God’s holy laws, and there is no health, no strength, no soundness in me. I am guilty. I am ruined.’ His honesty, integrity, and kindness, his attention to the means of grace, his attendance in the sanctuary, his reading of God’s word, all his feelings and actions are now seen to be defiled. He can no longer look to them for hope. He turns away from these refuges of lies, and flies to the hope set before him in the gospel. He no longer balances his good deeds against his defective ones. He no longer attempts to number his benevolent actions and weigh his holy desires. He[79] feels that he never did a good deed, not one; that he never performed a benevolent action, not one; that he never entertained a right feeling, not one. In the light which heaven pours down upon his book of debt and credit, which he has been keeping so long, astonished he perceives, that the sum total of his life stands against him in characters black with sin. He despairs of all hope from himself. His own fancied merit, the idol so long worshipped, now is a burden of sin that would sink him to perdition, were there not outstretched a divine arm to rescue him from impending ruin, and raise him to hope and peace. He turns, self-loathing, to the cross of Christ, and sees that thereon only can a sinner like him hang his hope of forgiveness and heaven. It is the blood of Christ, applied to his accusing conscience, that alone can calm his agitation, and speak peace to his troubled soul.
Here, then, is a great change. Every thing else is renounced as a ground of hope before God, but Christ and his cross. Truly, the regenerate man is a new creature. He has a new Saviour. Jesus, formerly a despised Nazarene, deserving none of his confidence or love, is now his Lord and his God. ‘Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’
Reader, is it so with you? Is self, or God, your object of supreme love? Is your own will, or the will of God, your rule of duty? Do you think yourself commendable or abominable in the sight of God? Do you trust to your own merit for salvation, or do you see and deeply feel, that it is only by repentance for sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that any can be saved?
THE END.
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