doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good
works.” {74b} In the “lively oracles of God,” therefore, they will find
instruction how to proceed in the difficult work of true repentance. Let
them not, however, be dismayed at the difficulty of the undertaking, for
“He who worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure,” is ever
ready to succour and omnipotent to save, “all who come unto Him” through
Christ, “who is the way, the truth, and the life.” Let them not fear the
power of the great adversary of man, whose galling yoke they long
willingly bore; “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down
imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ.” {75a} Still, at the same time, let them underrate
neither the difficulties nor the dangers which await them. Spiritual as
well as worldly prudence is shewn in rightly estimating difficulties,
that they may be the more certainly overcome; and real courage, whether
carnal or spiritual, in learning the extent of danger, that it may be, as
the case requires, carefully avoided, or manfully combated.
The prophet Jeremiah, to prove the difficulty of a late repentance, has
used a figure which places it in a strong light; “Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that
are accustomed to do evil.” {75b} The apostle Peter, to shew the extent
of danger to the Christian, employs a simile not less striking, “Your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may
devour.” {75c} And St. Paul accumulates the most forcible expressions to
convey an adequate idea of the dangerous nature of our spiritual warfare,
“for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.” {75d} It is most true, that when
the corruption of man’s nature has been increased in malignity by the
long indulgence of its sinful appetites and passions; when his habits
have become confirmed, inveterate, and almost second nature through time;
and when his severe master, the devil, seeing him planning rebellion
against his authority, and escape from his power, employs his subtle arts
to retain his dominion over him: we have a case in which unassisted human
nature must despair. Passion is not tameable at the will of man,
appetite is not mortified at his bidding, habit is not overcome at his
command, the devil is not vanquished by his power. On the contrary, they
all reign and rule in the heart of the unconverted, who have grown old in
sin: there passion is ungovernable, appetite irresistible, habit
invincible, the devil dominant and triumphant.
Well may every sinner start at this appalling picture of human weakness
and depravity, and well will it be for him, if, through grace, he be
thence led to exclaim—“Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death!” {76a} and if he be enabled to apply to his
own case the answer, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. “With
man it is impossible” to escape from the debasing and enslaving effects
of sin, “but with God all things are possible;” {76b} and “thanks be to
God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus.” {77a}
Through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, we shall prove more
than conquerors over the great enemies of our salvation. By the
transforming power of divine grace the will becomes renewed, the passions
subjugated, the appetites mortified, the habits changed; and the devil
vanquished by the great Captain of our salvation, loses his dominion over
the sanctified soul. Such is the mighty change wrought in fallen and
sinful man, when grace has done her perfect work; and “renewed in the
spirit of his mind,” he both “proves what is the good and perfect and
acceptable will of God,” and “presents his body a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable unto God.” {77b}
“REPENT YE, THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED
OUT, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord.” {77c} Repent ye, who have heretofore put conviction far from you,
and have refused to receive the Gospel as your standard of faith, your
sole rule of life. It may be, that to you, “behold now is the accepted
time, behold now is the day of salvation;” it may be, that if ye will not
hear His voice, but still harden your hearts, upon you may be passed the
terrible and irrevocable sentence—“it is a people that do err in their
hearts; for they have not known my ways; unto whom I sware in my wrath,
that they should not enter into my rest.” {78}
“GO THY WAY FOR THIS TIME, WHEN I HAVE A CONVENIENT SEASON I WILL CALL
FOR THEE;” was the language of Felix, when he “_trembled_,” as Paul
“reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.” And such
is the course adopted by thousands; they do not violently repress the
convictions of conscience; but endeavour to lull them by that “deceitful
opiate—good resolves.” NOT NOW, is still the cry, when conscience warns
them; not now, to-morrow, next year,—and thus repentance determined upon,
but still deferred, flits before them like the treacherous light which
often misleads unwary travellers, and lures them on with false hopes,
until they plunge into the black gulf of horrible anguish and despair.
This insane procrastination, which is so common and so fatal, that it has
been said, “hell’s road is paved with good resolutions,” arises
principally from man’s natural wickedness, indolence, sinfulness, and
love of sin; but it is much promoted by mistaken ideas as to the nature
of repentance, which, by some, is considered at all times in their own
power. This fatal error—the grand cause of which is ignorance of
Scripture—is much favoured by the various senses in which the term
repentance is employed: it is used to express simply sorrow, sorrow and
amendment, change of heart and life. Now this latter sense exactly
corresponds with conversion, and the evil might, in some degree, be
remedied, if there were adopted, in the case of habitual sinners, the
definition of repentance given by Hammond: “A change of mind, or a
conversion from sin to God; not some one bare act of change, but a
lasting, durable state of new life.” For men would have a difficulty in
resting satisfied with indefinitely postponing repentance, if they knew
that repentance to consist not merely in sorrow for sin, not merely in
external amendment, but in a change of the heart, in a renewal of the
mind, wrought by the Holy Ghost, and which man possesses no inherent
power to effect, but which is the gift of God through Christ.
REPENT YE, THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED
OUT: all who have heretofore drawn your motives and rules of actions from
the world, and not from the Book of Life—and as you value your immortal
souls, consider no proofs of conversion to be depended upon, except faith
in the Saviour, and reliance on His merits alone for salvation; love of
God as a reconciled father in Christ Jesus our Lord, shed abroad in the
heart by the power of the Holy Ghost; constant study of the Scriptures as
the rule of life; indulgence of no known sin; and dependence on divine
grace for spiritual guidance, strength, and consolation. Such an entire
conversion of the whole man to God is generally not only a progressive,
but a slow operation: during which partial relapses into old habits,
which conscience soon compels them to abandon;—unscriptural views of
reconciliation with God, in which the soul cannot rest satisfied;—and
artful stratagems of the great enemy of man to win them back to wear
publicly their badge of servitude, or retain them in the camp of the
faithful, as in reality, though unknowingly, his deluded and secret
followers;—all impede, perplex, and endanger their course.
As the heart only knows its own bitterness, so each believer only knows
the mode of God’s dealing with him in bringing him to a knowledge of the
truth as it is in Jesus. {80} But the following sketch may be received
as presenting the outlines of a sincere conversion; and may the future
experience of those who are now earnestly and affectionately entreated to
“turn unto God with all their hearts,” fill up the details. The
conscience is first troubled through the grace of God accompanying some
strong appeal; fear is excited; an examination is made into the state of
life, and the awful truth flashes upon the mind, that he is in “the broad
way which leadeth to destruction,” and “what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” {81a} He now,
perhaps, attempts to appease his conscience by a compromise, by
reforming, in part, his life, but retaining his darling sins; this unholy
alliance between Christ and Belial may not be, and he is ill at ease. He
examines, therefore, more carefully the word of life, and feels satisfied
he merits only eternal condemnation at the hand of a righteous God. His
alarm becomes terror, and he sets to work in good earnest to effect an
entire reformation of life, but too much in dependence on his own
strength. He fails, and again and again is betrayed into his old sins,
through the weakness of his nature, the power of temptation, and the want
of spiritual strength. The repeated failures at length convince him of
his own weakness and utter helplessness, and he begins to distrust
himself, and trust more and more in his Saviour. The dark prospect now
begins to brighten by the dawning of a better day, and slowly the sun of
righteousness rising upon his soul, dispels the mists of error,
prejudice, and passion, and reveals the Saviour as “THE WAY, THE TRUTH,
AND THE LIFE.” {81b} He sees his road more clearly, he better
understands how God “made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” {81c} and joyfully
accepts the free, unmerited, and most gracious offers of salvation made
in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom, “being justified by faith, we
have peace with God.” {82a} He increases in faith, he rejoices in his
privileges, he grows in grace, but he is still watchful and sober-minded:
whilst he throws himself entirely on the mercy of God in Christ in whom
we are “complete;” and relies on Him for His “grace, which is sufficient
for us, for it is made perfect in weakness;” {82b} he remits not his
vigilance, he relaxes not his endeavours, but “forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, he
presses toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.” {82c} He earnestly prays and labours to be enabled to
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; to perfect holiness
in his faith and fear, and to have his conversation in heaven, from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: “who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious
body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all
things unto Himself.” {82d}
The combat which awaits the young convert is severe, but not alarming, if
he take the whole armour of God; “Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and
your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance.”
Clad in the full panoply of the Gospel, the Christian warrior has nothing
to dread: for his armour is of heavenly temper; the arm of Omnipotence
sustains him; and the glorious shield of the Saviour “will cover his head
in the day of battle.” But if the danger appear slight, let him not
presume; if appalling, let him not despair; excessive confidence often
risks, and despondence often loses, the battle won by undaunted, but cool
and cautious courage: and of such a nature is Christian faith, by which
the soldier of the cross is enabled to fulfil his baptismal vow, “not to
be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to
fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and to
continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.” {83}
Let not, therefore, the penitent suppose the dangers and difficulties
which await him to be so great as almost to be insuperable; nor yet that
they are so small as to be easily overcome: it is sufficient for him to
know, that that Master whom he serves, and who appoints his lot, will, if
he commit himself to Him as a faithful Creator, supply him with strength
equal to his trials, and make those trials help him forward on his
heaven-ward journey. Upon setting out, however, let him be admonished,
that there are three things which he ought to bear in mind.
First: let him not mistake transient feelings for settled principles, nor
partial amendment for complete reformation: the sanguine sometimes,
through natural temperament, are unduly elated; the desponding, through
the same cause, unduly depressed; and thus both form false estimates as
to the degree of their advancement in spiritual life. Whilst it also
sometimes unfortunately happens, that after the first terrors of awakened
conscience pass away, the fervours of devotional feeling subside, and
there ensue listlessness, negligence, and a return to former evil
courses: “he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he
that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not
root in himself, but dureth for a while.” {84} Let him, in the second
place, be especially on his guard against partial or perverted views of
the doctrines and duties of our holy faith: some, because we are saved
through faith in the merits of the Saviour, have abused the grace of God,
by an unholy profession, or have under-rated the value of Christian
graces and virtues; and others, because of the obligations to personal
holiness, and of the rewards held out to faithful servants, in the
Gospel, have depreciated the value of faith, and have reduced the great
scheme of salvation to little more than a moral obedience. And lastly,
let him take care, that when, through divine grace, he has surmounted the
difficulties which attend his first entrance upon the “narrow way which
leadeth unto life;” and his ardent and confident spirit is full of eager
anticipation of the eternal rest and peace which await him on his arrival
at the “city of the Living God,” {85} whose fair bulwarks the eye of
faith may already have descried at an immense distance; let him “be not
high-minded, but fear:” enemies, though invisible, still surround him;
dangers, though hidden, still lurk in his path. Should, on the other
hand, the journey prove toilsome, and his spirit be often perplexed with
doubts, and alarmed with fears; should no distant prospect of the
mansions of eternal rest break upon his enraptured view, solace his weary
soul, and brighten his cheerless path: let him not be dismayed, but hope:
a “friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” {86a} though unseen, is
near; the city of refuge, though undiscoverable by his anxious eye, is
nigh at hand. If, in the first case, he “persevere unto the end;” if, in
the second, “he faint not;” he will reap an “eternal and exceeding weight
of glory;” {86b} for, on his approach, the bright portals of the new
Jerusalem shall be thrown open, and he will be welcomed by the Celestial
King, with the transporting words, “Well done, thou good and faithful
servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” {86c}
II. The Christian’s duty of labouring to advance, as far as in him lies,
a national reformation, under Divine visitations.
The duty _of personal reformation_ under Divine visitations, has been
dwelt upon at considerable length; at once from its private and public
importance: for it is thus only a national reformation can be effected.
The good Christian will ever discharge equally faithfully all the duties
and obligations which attach to him as an individual and as a member of
society. Little is he acquainted with the Catholic spirit and scope of
Christianity, who supposes the believer to be occupied solely in securing
his own salvation. Such conduct would defeat its own purpose, as being
incompatible with the very nature of Christian duty; which is not limited
to the individual, his family, his friends, his neighbourhood, nor yet to
his country, but extends to the whole household of faith; to the great
family of Christ; to the whole world for which the Saviour died, and in
which all should labour to promote the advancement of true religion.
Whilst, therefore, the Christian is striving in secret, by means known
only to God and to himself, to “enter in at the strait gate,” “to make
his calling and election sure;” he considers it an imperative obligation,
the neglect of which would involve certain condemnation, to “labour to
advance the glory of God, and the present and future welfare of mankind.”
If, then, the command, “let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,” {87a}
is to be obeyed under ordinary circumstances; when “GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE
IN THE EARTH,” extraordinary exertions must be made in the hope that,
through the Divine blessing, “THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN
RIGHTEOUSNESS.” {87b} Oh! what extensive and blessed effects would arise
if this holy principle of our faith were more generally acted upon
amongst Christians; and all, at the same time, “walked worthy of the
vocation wherewith they are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” {88a} God grant that in times
which require such perfect union and co-operation amongst Christians,
they may receive grace to lay aside their rivalries, their divisions,
their jealousies; and as there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all;”
{88b} so they may seek but one object, the extension of the Messiah’s
kingdom; they may employ but one means; the diffusion of the light of the
Gospel; and they may know but one spirit, the spirit of charity and
brotherly love.
Let then all Christians be now very zealous for the honour of the Lord of
Hosts, and direct their combined efforts against the prevailing sins of
the day. True believers “are the salt of the earth;” and the more
abundantly they are sprinkled over the land, the more effectually the
corrupting effects of sin will be counteracted: they are the “leaven” of
the Gospel; and the more thoroughly they are diffused through the whole
mass of society, the more certainly a national reformation will be
produced.
How great is the improvement which an active and pious individual
sometimes effects in a neighbourhood!—an improvement which, commencing in
one place, often spreads far around. How extensive then might be the
blessed effects of the true servants of God acting in full and unanimous
co-operation!—General alarm has caused much good to be done, in cleansing
the towns and villages of the kingdom from physical pollutions; let there
be shown the same zeal and energy in the removal of moral pollutions, so
much more pernicious and fatal, as being destructive of both body and
soul. And then this visitation “shall turn” out—as does every
visitation, when duly improved—“to the profit, and help forward in the
right way that leadeth unto everlasting life,” {89a} thousands who might
long have continued in a thoughtless and guilty neglect of God. For how
beneficial has the furnace of affliction been often found! it is a
certain assayer of religious principles; it detects the base coinage of
the world, which bears indeed the Divine superscription, but is neither
formed of the pure ore of the Gospel, nor stamped with the seal of the
Spirit; and proves the intrinsic value of the unadulterated metal of the
heavenly treasury which “cometh forth as gold.” {89b}
The leading heads of the duty of believers, as members of society, under
circumstances like the present, have already been thus generally stated:
let them publicly bear testimony at once to the justice and mercy of
God’s dispensations; and strive earnestly to rouse the nation to a sense
of its guiltiness, which has exposed it to the divine displeasure: let
them, in dependence on the blessing of Heaven, labour to eradicate all
infidel and heretical opinions; to advance a reformation of public
morals, and to promote a general diffusion of true religion, sound
learning, and useful knowledge. Upon these several heads it is proposed
now to offer some brief observations: And may HE, who blesses the
feeblest efforts made in dependence on His gracious aid, and for the
honour of His great name, bless this humble endeavour to rouse some to a
more active and faithful discharge of the duties of their stations; and
to excite in others a spirit of enquiry, and draw forth from them a
declaration of opinion, as to the course which this Christian people
should adopt under the present Divine visitation. England has been long
highly favoured and greatly blessed; she has been placed as an ensign
amongst the nations, and as a city set on a hill; she has been a
depositary of genuine Christianity, and has been instrumental, in the
hands of Providence, in conveying the light of the Gospel to nations
“lying in darkness and the shadow of death.” To her may our blessed
Lord’s pathetic lamentation over Jerusalem never apply: “And when he was
come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying; if thou hadst
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto
thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes:” {91a} rather, in this
our day, may “the Father of Lights,” {91b} from whom “every good gift,
and every perfect gift cometh,” impart to all that are in authority, “the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” {91c} Rather,
may He enable all persons to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as
wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil;—to be not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is;—giving thanks always for
all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
submitting themselves one to another in the fear of God.” {91d} Then may
the storm now gathering, prove at once a punishment and a blessing from
the hand of God. Seasons of danger and suffering to churches and nations
have often resembled the storms of the natural world, which, however
alarming and destructive at the time, are productive of subsequent good,
by freeing the atmosphere from the impurities accumulated during a long
season of calm and sunshine.
“What will ye do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which
shall come from far, to whom will ye flee for help?” Such is the enquiry
which has been already addressed to the nation at large; to real, and to
nominal Christians; let the faithful servants of the Lord throughout the
land cause it to be sounded in the ears of a sinful nation; and let each
use the utmost extent of his individual influence, in co-operation with
others, to endeavour to rouse, through the Divine blessing and guidance,
a people sunk into religious indifference and apathy. They are
“visited,” and that not “after the visitation of all men;” for a
pestilence as new in character, as fatal in its effects, has overtaken
them; and their visitation has indeed come from far, for it has travelled
from the remote bounds of their colonial empire. Still we have too much
cause to apprehend that there are thousands who have never considered the
awful character of the visitation, nor asked themselves the question, to
whom shall we flee for help?