EXTRACTS FROM MY DIARY.
I heard T. Batty yesterday. His text was, "Come unto Me all ye that
labor, and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." He urged people
to come to Christ, but he never told them what it was to come to Him. We
cannot come to Him literally now, as people did when He was on earth;
but we can leave all other teachers and guides, and renounce the
dominion of our appetites and passions, and put ourselves under His
teaching and government. In other words, we can become Christians; we
can learn Christ's doctrine and obey it, and, thus obeying, trust in Him
for salvation. But Mr. Batty said not a word about this. He talked as if
all that people had to do, was to roll themselves on Christ, or cast
themselves on Him just as they were. He made all the passages about
bringing forth fruits meet for repentance,--hearing Christ's words and
doing them,--denying ourselves and taking up our cross,--using our
talents, working in His cause, &c., of no effect. He said, "Come just as
you are. If you tarry till you are better, you will never come at all;"
which seems to me, neither Scripture nor common sense. To come to
Christ, in the proper sense of the words, is to become better;--it is to
cease to live to ourselves and sin, and to live to God. Hence Christ, in
connection with Mr. Batty's text says, "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." The meaning of this is, give up the service of self and
sin, and serve me. Take me for your pattern, and be as I am, and live as
I live. But he never noticed the latter part of the passage.
--What a blessed thing it is to have so many good books! They are a
world of comfort to me, as well as a means of ever-increasing spiritual
good. And they are evermore startling and delighting me with striking
oracles of Christian truth. Here is one from Baxter. "Every truth of God
is appointed to be His instrument, to do some holy work upon your
heart! _Charity_ is the end of _truth_." Here is another: "The Gospel is
a seal, on which is engraven the portrait, the likeness of Christ. Our
hearts are the wax, on which the seal should be impressed, and to which
the likeness should be transferred. The duty of ministers and of all
religious teachers is to apply the seal to men's hearts, that all may be
brought to bear the image, the likeness of Christ."
--I always placed the moral element of religion above the doctrinal;
charity above faith; good living above any kind of opinions.
--This afternoon Mr. Burrows preached on Mary's choice, but he left the
matter in a mist. He talked about sitting at Christ's feet, but did not
say what it meant. We cannot do that literally now; but we can do what
amounts to the same thing. We can _read_ Christ's words in the
_Gospels_, as Mary _heard_ them from His _lips_; and we can do as He
bids us, and look to Him for all we need. And this, in truth, is the
"one thing needful." But he did not put the matter in this light. He
probably did not see it in this light. He would have been afraid perhaps
to receive or to give so simple an explanation of the matter.
I had a talk with Mr. Woodhouse last night, about man's natural state.
He preached on the subject on Tuesday night, and said things which, to
me, seemed unwarranted. He said men can do nothing good, till they are
regenerated.
Is that your idea? said I.
Of course. Are they not _dead_? And what can dead men do?
I suppose they can do as God bids them, "Arise from the dead." You spoke
of the result of Adam's sin, but you said nothing of the effect of the
second Adam's doings. Now I believe that we are put in as good a
position by Christ, for serving God and obtaining heaven, as we should
have been if Adam had not sinned. I believe men have good thoughts, good
feelings, and do good things, before they are regenerated; and that they
are regenerated in consequence of their good thoughts, good purposes,
and good deeds. "They consider their ways," and turn to God. They cease
to do evil, and learn to do well, and so get washed. They purify their
hearts in obeying the truth. They cleanse their hands and purify their
hearts. They come out from the ungodly, and leave their ungodly ways,
and then God receives them. They hear God's word or read it; and faith
comes by hearing and reading; and faith works by love, and makes them
new creatures.
Besides, you know we could not help what Adam did, and you talked as if
Adam's sin made it impossible for us to do anything else but sin, thus
throwing the blame of the sins of all the unregenerate on Adam; and that
is neither Scriptural nor wise. There are two tendencies in unregenerate
people, one to good, and one to evil, and it is their duty to resist the
one and obey the other, and thus to seek for regeneration. That is as I
understand the Bible. And I always try to make people believe and feel,
that if they do not get regenerated, and keep God's commandments, it is
their own fault, and neither Adam's nor God's.
We talked nearly an hour, but I fancy Mr. W. did not seem to understand
either me or the Bible. It is strange that people can't take God's word
as it stands, and content themselves with speaking as the oracles of God
speak. If we can't do anything but sin till we are regenerated, who is
to blame for our sin, but He who neglects to regenerate us? What
horrible notions are mistaken by some for Gospel? "Send out, O God, thy
light and truth; let them lead me and guide me."
--Poor Mr. Woodhouse is full of trouble. He thinks me wrong, but does
not see how to put me right.
--What a curious creature Mr. Batty is. How in the world did he come to
be a preacher? A stranger, sillier talker I think I never heard. I
cannot say he is childish exactly. Children talk nonsense plenty
sometimes, but no child could talk the kind of nonsense Mr. Batty talks.
Last night his text was, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and
with fire." But he forgot the Holy Ghost, and talked only about fire.
His object seemed to be to prove that fire would _burn_. He mentioned
several fires spoken of in the Bible that _did_ burn, such as the fire
that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah; the fire that formed one of the
plagues of Egypt; &c., but he came at length on the fire in the bush
that Moses saw, and, poor man, he was obliged to acknowledge that that
would not burn. The bush was unconsumed. He got away from that fire as
soon as he could, and found a number of other fires that _did_ burn. By
and by however he came upon the burning fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar.
This would burn _some_ that were thrown into it, but it would not burn
others. Then he talked about the fire of Moscow, and said, that _that_
fire gave as much light to the moon, as the moon gives to the earth, and
he added, that the flames of the burning city made such a blaze, that we
might have seen it in England, if it had not been for the hills. And
this is the talk that sensible people are expected to go and hear.
--Mr. W. preached one of Mr. Melville's sermons last night. It was a
good one though, and I had rather a man preached another man's good
sense, than his own nonsense. And I had rather hear a good sermon read,
than a bad one spoken. Let us have good sound sense, real Christian
doctrine, and fervent Christian love, in the first place, and then as
many other good things as we can get. But do let the children of God
have good wholesome bread, the bread of heaven, and pure living water
from the wells of salvation. Don't try to feed men's souls with chaff or
chopped straw, and don't give them mud or muddy water to drink.
--Heard Mr. Hulme last night on "The Cross of Christ." The sermon was an
attempt at fine preaching. It was not to my taste. The preacher did not
seem to understand his subject. What he said had nothing to do with the
conscience or the heart. It was talk,--tumid talk--high-swelling words,
nothing more.
--Heard Mr. Allen preach on the Flood. He talked a deal about
granite--labored hard to prove something; but whether he succeeded or
not, I cannot exactly tell. It was a "_great_ sermon" and had little
effect. I did not feel much interest in it.
--Heard him preach another great sermon on Isaiah's vision. It amounted
to nothing. I prefer a simpler and more practical kind of preaching.
--Heard him preach another sermon on death by Adam. It was not so great
nor so foolish as the others. The logic was wearisome, but the
application was tolerable.
--Heard Dr. Newton, on preaching Christ. His views on the subject are
very different from Wesley's, and as different from mine. I have heard
many silly sermons on the subject, but not one wise one. Many seem to be
afraid of being sensible on religious subjects. They are wise enough on
smaller matters; it is only on the greatest that their understandings
are at fault. But the silliest preachers repeat good words in their
sermons, such as Christ, God, love and heaven, and these words no doubt
call up good thoughts, and revive good feelings in the minds of people,
so that the most pitiful preachers may be of some use. But how much more
useful would good, sound, sensible and truly Christian preachers be, who
always talked plain Christian truth, and pressed it home in a loving,
Christ-like spirit.
--Heard Mr. Curtis last night. His text and introduction were good; but
the sermon was good for nothing.
--Heard Mr. Pea this afternoon. The chief use of many preachers is to
visit the members, and stand at the head of the societies as centres of
union. They do not do much good by preaching.
--God save me from error and sin. Lead me in the way of truth and
righteousness. I feel a dreadful contempt for some men's preaching. Save
me from going too far. But really, to hear how careful some are to warn
people against thinking too highly of good works, one might suppose that
the world and the Church were going to be sent to perdition for too much
piety and charity; for doing too much good, and making too many
sacrifices for God and the salvation of the world. O fools and blind,
not to see, that selfishness, idleness, luxury, pride, worldliness,
slavery to fashion, neglect of the Bible, ignorance and lukewarmness are
the things which disgrace and weaken the Church, and hinder the
salvation of mankind.
--Mr. Stoner preached powerfully last night. He said all true Christians
would "sigh and cry on account of the abominations that are done in the
land,--that they would accompany their sighing and crying with ceaseless
labors for the removal of those abominations,--that they would try to
bring the world into the Church, and lift up the Church to the standard
exhibited in the life and character of Christ,--that they would pray,
teach, live and give, and if needful, suffer for this great end." I
have not heard such a practical,--such a truly Christian Gospel sermon
for a long time.
--I notice, that in some men's mouths, evangelical sermons mean
theological sermons,--wood, hay, and stubble sermons,--sermons without
any Gospel in them; and that sermons which are evangelical indeed, they
talk of as legal, moral, dry.
--Mr. Lynn preached on the fall of Jericho yesterday. It was quite a
dramatic sermon, and it was plainly interesting to the congregation. I
expect it was useful too. There was not much Christian truth in it, but
it stirred the people's better feelings. It made them feel like doing
something for God. The nonsensical theology introduced would not be
understood I hope.
--Heard Mr. T. Parsons preach a beautiful Christian sermon on "Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a
one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be
tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ." It was full of useful instruction and needful caution, and it
was uttered in a truly Christian spirit. It did me good.
--Heard Mr. Scott on justification. He ventured to "speak as the oracles
of God." It was a thoroughly Gospel and Wesleyan sermon. He was plainer
than he is in his pamphlets on that subject. I can't say he _made_ the
subject plain, for it was plain already in the Bible--but he _left_ it
plain, and that is saying a great deal. He said that the simple way for
a man who believes in Christ, to obtain pardon and eternal life is, to
do God's will. I distinguish between faith and trust; faith is _belief_;
trust or hope is one of its fruits. People _believe_ in Christ, and turn
to God; then they _trust_ in Christ and find peace. He did not state
this point with sufficient clearness; and that was the only defect I saw
in the discourse. How rich and how apt he is in Scriptural quotations
and illustrations! I had rather hear one of his discourses, than ten of
Mr. Allin's. And I had rather hear ten of his, than one of Mr. Allin's.
I had rather hear one of Mr. Allin's, than ten; and I had rather hear
ten of Mr. Scott's than one. I could listen to Mr. Scott the whole year
round.
--I have just been reading a big book, nearly five hundred pages, on the
way of salvation. The Scriptures explain the way of salvation in less
than a thousandth part the space. "Repent and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out;" that's the first thing: "Be ye steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord:" that's the second.
These two include the whole way of salvation. "Blessed is everyone that
hears the word of God and keeps it." This is both in one. Mystery makers
would be a proper name for some theologians. "In the multitude of words
there wanteth not sin;" and there's a fearful multitude of words,--idle
words, and mischievous ones too,--in that Book. "When will vain words
have an end?"
--Mr. Hatman preached on instantaneous sanctification last night. He was
very confused, and, as I think, inconsistent in his remarks; and his
arguing about the instantaneousness of sanctification seemed weak.
Sanctification, in Scripture language, means, 1. Separation of things
and persons from common uses, and consecration to sacred uses. 2.
Purification. A man is sanctified in the first sense when he ceases to
do evil, and begins to do well; and he is sanctified in the second sense
in proportion as he is freed from inward defilement, from bad passions,
bad tempers, bad dispositions, bad tendencies, and filled with love to
God, to Christ, to God's people, to mankind at large, and to all things
true and good. There is no mystery about sanctification. People are
sanctified by God's truth. Christ's doctrine enters the mind, and is the
means of changing both the disposition and the life. Men are sanctified
by the Spirit, using the truth as its instrument. They are sanctified by
afflictions, used by God as means to bring them to think on the truth,
and see its meaning, and feel its power. They are sanctified by faith,
which is a belief in the Truth. They are sanctified by their own
efforts, "Cleansing themselves from all filthiness, both of the flesh
and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." "For every
one that hath this hope,--the Christian hope of heaven,--in him,
purifieth himself even as God is pure." All this is perfectly plain. But
where does the Scripture say anything about people being wholly
sanctified, or perfected in goodness, instantaneously, by some
particular act of faith? "But God can do it in an instant," said Mr.
Hatman. But it is not all God's work. It is partly ours; and it is
partly the truth's. Can _man_ purify himself as God is pure, in an
instant? God could make a babe into a man in an instant, for anything I
know; but that is not His way. He allows it to grow gradually, first by
the use of milk and exercise, and then by the use of stronger meat, and
greater labors. And according to Scripture, this is His plan of bringing
up spiritual babes to spiritual manhood. God could make seed produce a
crop instantaneously, if He would, I suppose; but His plan is to let the
grain grow and ripen gradually. And it is His plan, according to
Scripture, to let the spiritual grain grow up and the spiritual harvest
ripen gradually. And it is better it should be so. Gradual growth in
knowledge and goodness is most conducive, I believe, to the happiness of
man. I would not make a child into a man all at once if I could. I would
let him have the pleasure and the privilege of passing, in the ordinary
way, through all the intermediate stages. Nor would I alter the
arrangement with regard to spiritual growth. It is best to learn a
lesson at a time. You might raise the dough quicker by gunpowder than by
leaven or yeast; but I prefer to see it raised in the ordinary way. I am
content to grow in grace and knowledge, as people grow in strength and
stature. It is God's plan, and I like it. If anybody can pass from the
gates of hell to the gates of heaven, from the bottom of the horrible
pit to the top of the delectable mountains at a jump, let him; I prefer
to trudge with ordinary pilgrims, and enjoy the pleasures of the
journey, and the beautiful scenery of the road, at my leisure. "The ways
are ways of pleasantness; the paths are paths of peace;" and I enjoy
them. And I would not for the world, make the impression on people's
minds, that they are in danger of perdition, if they cannot skip across
the universe from hell to heaven in no time. God likes spiritual
children as well as spiritual men, though He would not have them to
continue children. Why should preachers make things hard that God makes
easy, and require impossible tasks where God asks only a reasonable
service? Some folks have little minds, and some have crooked ones.
That's my view of the matter. I am charged with rejecting God's truth.
The fact however is, God's truth is the joy and rejoicing of my heart.
It is my pleasant food. But I do not like some people's manglement of
that truth, and I sometimes think the manglers belong to the class
of whom Christ said, "It were good for those men if they had never
been born." They lay stumbling-blocks in men's ways, and cause them
to fall into doubt, perplexity, and misery. I am a believer in
sanctification,--full sanctification,--but I won't go beyond the Bible
in what I say, either on this or any other point. I will go as far as
the Bible, but no farther.
--Christianity is love; and love prompts to diligence in all good works.
To be a Christian is to have the mind of Christ; but the mind of Christ
was a self-sacrificing mind. "He pleased not Himself," but lived and
labored, suffered and died, for the welfare of mankind.
How seldom one hears a sermon on living for the good of others,--on
loving our neighbors as ourselves,--on going about doing good. I have
read sermons on those subjects; but I have not heard one for years. I
have heard _charity_ sermons as they are called, and missionary sermons,
into which a remark or two on doing good were thrown; but a _sermon_ on
the subject I have not heard. Certain preachers talk about preaching
Christ, but they preach any thing rather than Christ.
--I have just been reading a labored and foolish attempt to prove that
Abel was accepted because he offered animals to God, and that Cain was
rejected because he offered the fruits of the ground. There is no end to
the nonsense that can be talked and written on religious subjects. Here
is a man from whom one expected instruction and guidance, wasting his
great powers in worse than idleness. It is a foolish and a dangerous
thing to hang the doctrine of reconciliation or redemption on a slender
hook, when there are strong ones plenty to hang it on. But it is not the
_Christian_ doctrine of redemption for which Mr. W. labors so zealously,
but a theory, a crotchet, an invention of the elders. The doctrine
itself requires no labored proof, no doubtful criticisms, no learned or
unlearned inquiry into Greek and Hebrew etymologies. It lies on the
surface of the sacred page. "The Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." "He died
the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." "He died for all, that
they who live should henceforth live not unto themselves, but unto Him
who died for them and rose again." These theorists make Christianity
disgusting by their metaphysical vanities, and their outlandish jargon.
The idea that it is necessary for me to believe that Abel understood the
Christian doctrine of redemption, is monstrous. There is no proof that
Abel know anything about it. The probabilities lean all the other way.
It is a pity those self-satisfied theorizers have not something else to
do, than to encumber religion and perplex good people by their miserable
speculations.
--There's another book, one thousand two hundred and fifty pages, by a
man that had real talent, and that could preach well when he took in
hand practical subjects, and who had the appearance of a good man, and
nine-tenths of this work of his is mischievous trifling. The clown at a
theatre, the mountebank on the stage, are not so badly employed as
theological triflers, who darken counsel by words without knowledge. It
is not in prayer only, but in preaching and writing, that men should be
in God's fear, and let their words be few.
Mr. Jones preached last night on Christ in you, the hope of glory. I can
understand, 1. How Christ, in the sense of _Christianity_, or the
_doctrine_ of Christ, can be in us. We sometimes hear from people such
expressions as: "He is full of Plato, or full of Seneca, or full of
Shakespeare," when speaking of a man who has got his mind full of the
sentiments of those writers. And I can understand well enough how
Christianity, which brings life and immortality to light, should beget
in men's minds a hope of glory. 2. I can understand how Christ, in the
sense of Christ's _spirit_, _temper_, _disposition_, _mind_, can be in
us. We sometimes say of a person who exhibits much of his father's
disposition, He has got a deal of his father in him. And I can
understand how Christ in us in this sense should be, or should kindle,
the hope of glory. For the mind of Christ is man's fitness for glory.
The mind of Christ, and the life to which it prompts, are the things to
which eternal glory is promised. But I couldn't understand Mr. Jones.
Either he had no ideas on the subject, or he failed to convey them to
me.
--I see no mystery in John's doctrine that God dwells in those in whom
love dwells, for God is love. And I see no mystery in what Peter says
about Christians being partakers of the divine nature; for the Divine
nature is purity, wisdom and love. We share the common human nature and
the common animal nature; that is, we have certain qualities or
properties in common with men generally, and with the inferior orders of
living things. So we share the divine nature, when we have the same
dispositions, affections, qualities as the divine Being. And the
properties of the divine being are purity, knowledge, love.
--I have just been listening to another antinomian sermon. The preacher
contended that we are justified and saved solely on account of what
Christ has done and suffered for us, and that the only thing we have to
do, is to believe this, or trust in the merits of Christ, and be at rest
as to our eternal destiny. But if we are saved _solely_ on account of
what Christ has done and suffered, why talk as if our _believing_ this,
or _trusting in Christ's_ merits, was necessary to salvation? Why not go
a step further and say, that neither believing nor trusting has anything
to do with our salvation? But the whole theory is as anti-scriptural and
false as it is foolish and mischievous. The preacher said, "We are not
under the law,--Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law." Very
true; but we are under the Gospel; and the Gospel requires a more
perfect life than the law required. The law of Christ is much stricter
than the law of Moses. He said, "By the works of the law no flesh living
can be justified." But we may still be justified by the works of the
Gospel. "Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." "By thy words shalt thou be
justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned." "With what measure
ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." "Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy." "Because thou hast been faithful over a
few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord." "Repent and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out." "We have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He
was so are we in this world."
He said circumcision availeth nothing; and it is true that "the
circumcision which is outward in the flesh" avails nothing under the
Christian dispensation: but that which is inward, namely, the putting
away of all filthiness, and living a holy life, availeth much.
Then followed a lot of unscriptural and unwise talk about our own
righteousness and Christ's righteousness. But the truth is, when we love
God and keep His commandments,--when we love Christ and do as He bids
us, and believe, in consequence, that we are approved of God, and in a
fair way for heaven, we trust in _God's_ righteousness, or _Christ's_
righteousness, and not in a righteousness of our own. The righteousness
of God means the righteousness which God _requires_; the righteousness
of _Christ_ means obedience to His precepts, and conformity to His mind
and character. True, if I obey the Gospel, my obedience is my own, but
the _law_, or the righteousness _prescribed_, is Christ's. It is when
men make a law of their own,--when they set aside God's law, and put
some other law in its place, and expect God's blessing in consequence of
obeying that, that they trust in their _own_ righteousness. And in all
such cases men's own righteousness, in God's sight, is "as filthy rags."
But hearty, loving obedience to God's _own_ law is never regarded by Him
"as filthy rags," but as a rich adorning. Real Christian goodness is, in
the sight of God, "of great price."
"Than gold or pearls more precious far,
And brighter than the morning star."
Christian obedience is a sacrifice with which God is well pleased: "To
do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is
well pleased." He alone trusts in the righteousness of Christ who hears
Christ's words and does them,--who cultivates Christ's mind, and lives
as Christ lived, and who, in doing so, expects, according to Christ's
promise, God's blessing and eternal life. The idea that God looks on any
persons as having lived like Christ when they have not done so; or that
He supposes any persons to be righteous, or treats them as righteous,
when they are not so, is foolish and anti-scriptural in the extreme. And
it is unmethodistical too. Yet here is a Methodist preacher so-called,
dealing out this mischievous and miserable folly. And alas he is not
alone. And these are the men who abuse others as heretics.
--The good done where preachers preach theology is not done by the
preaching, I fancy, but by stray truth from the Gospels, and by the
Christian lives and Christian labors of simple-minded, Bible-loving,
non-theological members of the church. God bless them!
--Wesley has thirty definitions of religion, and they all mean, in
substance, loving God and loving man, and living to do good. Wesley was
always sensible in proportion as he got away from under the influence of
the prevailing Theology.
--Some talk as if a religious education can never be the means of a
child's conversion,--that, do for your children what you will, they will
still, like others, require a distinct and full conversion when they
come of age. I cannot see why a good Christian mother talking to her
child from her old arm-chair, and praying with it as it kneels by her
side, or the good example and godly training of a pious father, may not
be made as effectual to the gradual conversion of a child as the
preaching of a pastor from the pulpit. Nor can I see why a gradual
elevation of a child to the higher spiritual life should not be as
possible and as probable as the sudden elevation of a hardened and
inveterate sinner. 'You cannot give your children grace,' it is said:
but it is easy to answer, 'GOD can give children grace through
the medium of Christian parents, as well as through public preachers and
teachers.' I encourage people to bring up their children in Christian
knowledge and goodness, by telling them that God may be expected to
bless their labors to the sanctification and salvation of their children
from their early days. Baxter used to thank God that he was led by his
good parents to love God so early that he could not recollect a time
when he did not love Him.
--Churches exist in this world to remind us of the eternal laws which we
are bound to obey. So far as they do this, they answer their end, and
are honored in doing so. It would have been better for all of us--it
would be better for us now, could churches keep this their peculiar
function steadily and singly before them. Unfortunately, they have
preferred in later times the speculative side of things to the
practical.
--There is a tendency in men to corrupt religion; to change it from an
aid and incentive to a holy life, into a contrivance to enable men to
sin without fear of punishment. Obedience to God's law is dispensed
with, if men will diligently profess certain opinions, or practically
take part in certain rites. However scandalous the moral life, the
profession of a particular belief, or attention to certain forms, at the
moment of death, is held to clear the soul.
--It would be easy to give a hundred instances of doctrines to be heard
in sermons and found in religious books, which are nowhere taught in
Scripture. And some of them exert a mighty influence for evil on the
church and the world. They check the spread of Christianity. They
strengthen the cause of infidelity. They keep people away from Christ.
They make an all but impassable gulf between the church and the mass of
humanity.
--Some think they would not have enough to talk about if they were to
give up all the doctrines or notions for which I say there is no
scriptural authority. One preacher told me I had already spoiled some of
his best sermons. He said he had never been able to preach them with
comfort since he began to listen to my conversation. The truth is,
preachers will never know what great, good things there are to be talked
about, till they get rid of their foolish fancies. Nor will they know
the true pleasure of talking till they come to feel that their
utterances are the words of eternal truth. And so far will they be from
not having enough to talk about, that if they give themselves in a
Christian spirit, to study the truth as it is in Jesus, they will never
have time to utter a tenth of the blessed things that will present
themselves to their minds.
A hundred years would not afford me time enough to say all that I get
glimpses of on religious subjects as presented in nature and in the
Scriptures. Every subject I take in hand requires ten times more time to
do it justice than is generally allowed for a sermon. And the subjects
are numberless. We live in an infinite universe of truth.
"I rejoice," says one, "that I have been led, in the course of God's
providence, to do so much as I have done, towards purging revelation
from those doctrines and practices which were discordant with its
teachings, and prevented its reception with many."
Shall I ever be able to do anything in this way? God help me. If I could
make the Church and the ministry more Christ-like, and more powerful for
good, what a blessing it would be. What a world of work wants doing,
both in the church and in the world. Save me from an impatient,
pugnacious, disagreeable spirit. Perhaps I see the needs of others more
than I feel my own. Perhaps I am in danger of being more eager for
reform in others, than for a thoroughly Christian spirit and behavior in
myself.
How many words and phrases one hears in sermons and in prayers, and what
heaps of expressions one meets with in religious works, that are not
warranted by Scripture or common sense!
--Some of the words and phrases that are more frequently used by
Christians than any other, are unscriptural ones. Some of them express
unscriptural ideas. Some of them are names of things that have no
existence. Both the words and the ideas for which they stand are
anti-christian. Many of the things said from the pulpit are
unintelligible. The people strain their minds to get at a meaning, but
to no purpose. It is Latin or Greek to them. They listen, but do not
learn. They hear sounds, but catch no sense. They reverence, they
worship, but they do not understand. They believe, they feel, that there
are great spiritual realities, but they are not made clear to their
minds. The devouter portion of the people still pray, and on the whole,
live sober, righteous and godly lives; but multitudes are discouraged,
and take themselves away.
"The hungry sheep look up and are not fed."
They hear words, but get no ideas. Religion does not come to them from
the pulpit as a reality. It does not make itself felt as truth. Books
and lecturers on science treat of realities, and treat of them in words
that can be understood; but many books on religion, and many preachers,
seem to deal only in words. And the consequence is, many fancy religion
is a delusion, a fanaticism, a dream. Others believe there is something
in it, but they cannot conceive what it is. Yet teachers and preachers
appear not properly to understand why so many get weary of sermons and
religious books. Let them talk in plain good English, and say nothing
but what has some great Christian reality under it, and sermons and
religious books will be the most popular things on earth.
--I would never sacrifice Christian truth to conciliate the world; but I
would sacrifice everything at variance with Christian truth; and I would
present Christian truth itself in as intelligible and taking a form as
possible.
--The antinomian theology has had a terribly corrupting effect on many
members of churches. I meet proofs of it every day. God help me to do my
duty. Some of my hearers say to me, 'We come to church to be comforted,
and not to be continually told to do, do, do.' I do not wish people to
be comforted unless they will do their duty; and they will never _lack_
comfort if they _do_ do it. Comfort is for those who labor to comfort
and benefit others, and not for those who care only for themselves. I
try to make the easy-going, indolent and selfish professors miserable:
and in some cases I succeed. But I make others happy, thank God, by
inducing them to give themselves heartily to Christian work.
--Here are a few more good words from Baxter: 'Many proclaim the praise
of truth in general, but reject and persecute its various portions. The
_name_ of truth they honor, but the truth itself they despise.'
'Passion is a great seducer of the understanding, and strangely blindeth
and perverteth the judgment.'
'When passion hath done boiling and the heart is cooled, and leaveth the
judgment to do its work without clamor and disturbance, it is strange to
see how things will appear to you to be quite of another tendency than
in your frenzy you esteemed them.'
'Be more studious to hold and improve those common truths which all
profess, than to oppose the particular opinions of any, except so far as
those common truths require you to do so.'
'Be not borne down by the censoriousness of any, to outrun your own
understanding and the truth, and to comply with them in their errors and
extremes; but hold to the truth and keep your station. 'Let them return
unto thee, but return not thou unto them.' Jer. xv. 19.'
'Believe nothing that contradicteth the end of all religion. If its
tendency be against a holy life, it cannot be truth.'
'Plead not the darker texts of Scripture against those that are more
plain and clear, nor a few texts against many that are as plain. That
passage that is interpreted against the most plain and frequent
expressions of the Scriptures is certainly misinterpreted.'
I will carry out these principles to the best of my ability.
--I notice that Christ never tells people that they cannot repent and do
God's will without divine help. He did not think it necessary to supply
people with excuses for their neglect of duty. And He knew that divine
help is never withheld from any man. All _have_ the help needed to do
what God requires. There is no danger of any man trying to do anything
good before he receives power from God. God is always beforehand with
men.
--I have had a troubled night. I have not slept soundly for a week. I
have had odd hours of sleep, but never a quarter of a night's unbroken
rest. Parties will talk with me about religion, and I am foolish enough
to talk with them, yet we never quite agree. They insist on the
sacredness of every old notion and of every old word they have received
from their teachers, and I believe in the sacredness of nothing but
Scripture truth and common sense. They cannot understand me, and I
cannot accept their nonsense. And they have no idea of liberty or
toleration. They allow no excuse for not being sound in the faith, and
no one is sound in the faith according to their notions but those who
agree with them. They know nothing of the foundation on which the
Connexion was built. They know nothing of Wesley: nothing, at least, of
his liberal views. The fundamental principles of the Connexion justify
me in my freedom of investigation, and in the sentiments which I hold
and teach; but they do not know this. They know nothing but that every
one is to think as they think, and talk as they talk. Hence they keep me
on the rack.
I am tired. I feel sad. I could weep. I feel as if I could like to run
away, like Elijah, and hide myself in the wilds of some great mountain.
But no; I must stand my ground, and do my duty. Shall truth be timid,
and error bold? Shall folly rage and be confident, and wisdom be afraid
to whisper? Help me, O God, to do my duty as Thy servant, and as the
minister of Thy Gospel.
--There are some verses of hymns that are sung in almost all religious
assemblies that have nothing answering to them in Scripture. John Wesley
once said, that the hymns which were the greatest favorites among the
Methodists were the worst in the whole Hymn Book. It is the same still I
fear, to some extent. Let those who would like to know to what words and
hymns we refer, take themselves to task for a time, and demand
Scriptural authority for every word and expression they utter. We would
save them the trouble, were it not that we have learned that instruction
from others is of no use to people who do not endeavor to teach
themselves.
But take a sample or two. I cannot sing the following:
"Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God."
"The immortal God hath died for me," &c.
Jesus died, and God dwelt in Jesus, but God did not die. Great
allowances are made to poets; but they should not be encouraged to write
impossibilities.
"A heart that always feels Thy blood," &c.
I feel thankful for the love which led Jesus to die for me; but I cannot
say I feel the blood. I feel the happy effects of the death or
blood-shedding of Jesus; and perhaps that is what the poet means.
"When from the dust of death I rise,
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Even then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived and died for me."
This is not scriptural. The good servant in the parable of the talents
says: "Lord, Thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have
gained besides them five talents more." And so far was his Lord from
finding fault with his plea, that he answered, "Well done, good and
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." And
why may not other faithful servants use the same plea?
John makes perfect love, or likeness to Jesus, the ground of confidence
or boldness in the day of judgment. How strange that Christian writers
should be so ignorant of the Bible, or so regardless of its teachings.
Some of them seem to think they are saying very fine things when they
are talking their anti-Christian nonsense. Help me, O God, to speak and
act in accordance with Thy word.
Fine writing may be a fine thing, but true writing is a finer.
I suppose it is as hard for theologians to give up their anti-Christian
words and notions as it is for drunkards to give up their drink. But it
would be well for them to consider, that self-denial may be as necessary
to _their_ salvation, as it is to the salvation of infidels and
profligates.
I would sacrifice a little poetry to truth. I would not be very
particular, but do let us have substantial truth. Do not let us encumber
and disfigure religion by absurdities, impossibilities, and antinomian
abominations.
Some one has said, "The world is very jealous of those who assail its
religious ignorance. Its old mistakes are great idols. No man has ever
carried a people one march nearer the promised land without being in
danger of being stoned. No man has ever purified the life of an age,
without substantially laying down his own."
I am anxious only for truth and righteousness. Truth and righteousness I
respect in all sects, from the Quakers to the Catholics; and I hate
nonsense, and lies, and sin, in professing Christians, as much as in
Turks and pagans.
So end the extracts from my Diary.
I have just been reading an article in the _Christian Advocate_, and I
can't resist the temptation to give a short extract or two.
"Not only is there an emasculated theology, but there is not a little
emasculated preaching.
"Nothing is emptier or feebler than cant--ringing the changes on what
may be called the stock phrases of one's sect. John Wesley once said,
'Let but a pert, self-sufficient animal, that has neither sense nor
grace, bawl out something about 'Christ,' or 'His blood,' or
'justification by faith,' and there are not wanting those who will cry
out, 'What a fine Gospel sermon!' For myself, I prefer a sermon on
either good tempers or good works to such 'Gospel sermons.'
"Take away from certain preachers their 'heavenly tone,' as the old lady
called it--their sing-song cadences, and their favorite pulpit
phrases--and you take away the principal part of their stock in trade.
Out upon such 'words without knowledge'--sound without sense!
"Quite as destitute of Gospel power is that preaching which consists
largely in the presentation of old worn-out theories, musty scholastic
philosophies about religion, usually paraded under the pretentious title
of 'doctrine.'
"The devil, it is said, once inspired a dead priest to preach an
orthodox sermon. On being questioned by his imps why he ventured on such
a deliverance, he replied very significantly, that nothing made infidels
more effectually than orthodoxy preached by dead men's lips."