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RISE AND PROGRESS
RELIGION IN THE SOUL
ILLUSTRATED IN A COURSE OT
SERIOUS AND PRACTICAL ADDRESSES,
PERSONS OF EVERY CHARACTER AND CIRCUMSTANCE,
A DEVOUT MEDITATION, OR PRAYER,
SUBJOINED TO EACH CHAPTER
/
BY PHILIP DODD
UIFOR*'
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
lags*-
This volume is stereotyped and perpetuated, through the
liberality of Col. Henry Rutgers and Col. Richard Varick, of
New York ; Nicholas Brown, Esq., of Providence ; and Hon.
Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany.
I
CONTENTS,
PAGE
Preface, 7
CHAPTER I.
The introduction to the work, with some general account of
its design, 11
A prayer for the success of it, in promoting the rise and prog-
ress of religion, 23
CHAPTER II.
The careless sinner awakened, 27
The meditation of a sinner who was once thoughtless, but
begins to be awakened, 39
CHAPTER III.
The awakened sinner urged to immediate consideration, and
cautioned against delay, 43
A prayer for one who is tempted to delay applying to religion,
though under some conviction of its importance, . . 52
CHAPTER IV.
The sinner arraigned and convicted, 56
The confession of a sinner, convinced in general of his guilt, 69
CHAPTER V.
The sinner stripped of his vain pleas, 72
The meditation of a convinced sinner, giving up his vain pleas
before God, 84
CHAPTER VI.
The sinner sentenced, 87
The reflection of a sinner, struck with the terror of his sen-
tence, 97
CHAPTER VII.
The helpless state of the sinner under condemnation, . 100
The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition, 107
CHAPTER VIII.
News of salvation by Christ brought to the convinced and con-
demned sinner, 110
The sinner's reflection on this good news, 119
4 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
A more particular account of the way by \fhich this salvation
is to be obtained, 122
The sinner deliberating on the expediency of falling in with
this method of salvation, 133
CHAPTER X.
The sinner seriously urged and entreated to accept of salva-
tion in this way, 137
The sinner yielding to these entreaties, and declaring his ac-
ceptance of salvation by Christ, , . . 145
CHAPTER XI.
A solemn address to those who will not be persuaded to fall
in with the design of the Gospel, 148
A compassionate prayer in behalf of the impenitent shiner, 166
CHAPTER XII.
An address to a soul so overwhelmed with a sense of the great-
ness of its sins, that it dares not apply itself to Christ with
any hope of salvation, 170
Reflection on the encouragements he has to do it, ending in an
humble and earnest application to Christ for mercy, . 177
» CHAPTER XIII.
The doubting soul more particularly assisted in its inquiries as
to the sincerity of its faith and repentance, .... 181
The soul submitting to divine examination the sincerity of its
repentance and faith, 189
CHAPTER XIV.
A more particular view of the several branches of the Chris-
tian temper ; by which the reader may be further assisted
in judging what he is, and what he should endeavor to be, 192
A review of the several branches of this temper, in a scriptural
prayer, 211
CHAPTER XV.
The reader reminded how much he needs the assistance of the
Spirit of God to form him to this temper, and what encour-
agement he has to expect it, 217
An humble supplication for the influences of divine grace to
form and strengthen religion in the soul, 224
CONTENTS. 5
CHAPTER XVI.
The Christian convert warned of, and animated against those
discouragements which he must expect to meet when enter-
ing on a religious course, 228
The soul, alarmed by a sense of these difficulties, committing
itself to divine protection, 235
CHAPTER XVII.
The Christian urged to, and assisted in an express act of self-
dedication to the service of God, 238
An example of self- dedication, 242
Together with an abstract of it, to be used with proper and
requisite alterations, 250
CHAPTER XVIII.
On communion in the Lord's supper, 253
A prayer for one who desires to attend, yet has some remain-
ing doubts concerning his right to that solemn ordinance, 260
CHAPTER XIX.
Some more particular directions for maintaining continual
communion with God, or being in his fear all the day long ;
in a letter to a pious friend, 264
A serious view of death, proper to be taken as we lie down on
our beds, 285
CHAPTER XX.
A serious persuasive to such a method of spending our days, 288
A prayer suited to the state of a soul who longs to attain such
a life, 299
CHAPTER XXL
A caution against various temptations, by which the young
convert may be drawn aside from the course before recom-
mended, 304
The young convert's prayer for divine protection from the
danger of these snares, . 317
CHAPTER XXII.
The case of spiritual decay and languor in religion, . . 320
A prayer for one under spiritual decays, . , . . 331
6 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The sad case of a relapse into known and deliberate sin, after
solemn acts of dedication to God, and some progress made
in religion, . 336
A prayer for one who has fallen into gross sin, after religious
resolutions and engagements, 347
CHAPTER XXIV.
The case of the Christian under the hidings of God's face, 353
An humble supplication for one under the hidings of God's
face, 368
CHAPTER XXV.
The Christian struggling under great and heavy affliction, 373
An address to God under the pressure of heavy affliction, 379
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Christian assisted in examining into his growth in grace, 385
The Christian breathing earnestly after growth in grace, 398
CHAPTER XXVII.
The advanced Christian reminded of the mercies of God, and
exhorted to the exercise of habitual love to him, and joy in
him, 400
An example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in
God, 408
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The established Christian urged to exert himself for purposes
of usefulness, 415
The Christian breathing after more extensive usefulness, 430
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Christian rejoicing in the views of death and judgment, 433
The meditation and prayer of a Christian whose heart is
warmed with these prospects, 445
CHAPTER XXX.
The Christian honoring God by his dying behavior, . 449
A meditation and prayer suited to the case of a dying Chris-
tian, 461
Brief notice of the Life of Dr. Doddridge, 469
PREFACE.
THE several hints given in the first chapter of this
treatise, which contains a particular plan of the design,
render it unnecessary to introduce it with a long preface.
My much honored friend Dr. WATTS had laid the scheme,
especially of the former part. But as those indispositions
with which God has been pleased to exercise him, had
forbid his hopes of being able to add this to his many
labors of love to immortal souls, he was pleased, in a very
affectionate and importunate manner, to urge me to un-
dertake it. And I bless God with my whole heart, not
only that he hath carried me through this delightful task,
for such . indeed I have found it, but also that he hath
spared that worthy and amiable person to see it accom-
plished, and given him strength and spirit to review so
considerable a part of it His approbation, expressed in
stronger terms than modesty will permit me to repeat,
encourages me to hope that it is executed in such a man-
ner as may, by the divine blessing, render it of some
general service. And I the rather hope it will be so, as
it now comes abroad into the world, not only with my
own prayers and his, but also with those of many other
pious friends, which I have been particularly careful to
engage for its success.
Into whatever hands this work may come, I must de-
PREFACE.
sire that, before any pass their judgment upon it, they
would please to read it through, that they may discern
the connection between one part of it and another ; which
I the rather request, because I have long observed that
Christians of different parties have been eagerly laying
hold on particular parts of the system of divine truth,
and have been contending about them, as if each had
been all; or as if the separation of the members from
each other, and from the head, were the preservation of
the body, instead of its destruction. They have been
zealous to espouse the defence, and to maintain the honor
and usefulness of each apart; whereas the honor, as well
as the usefulness, seems to me to lie much in their con-
nection ; and suspicions have often arisen between the
respective defenders of each, which have appeared as
unreasonable and absurd, as if all the preparations for
securing one part of a ship in a storm, were to be cen-
Bured as a contrivance to sink the rest. I pray God to
give to all his ministers and people more and more of the
spirit of wisdom, and of love, and of a sound mind ; and
to remove far from us those mutual jealousies and ani-
mosities which hinder our acting with that unanimity
which is necessary in order to the successful carrying on
of our common warfare against the enemies of Chris-
tianity. We may be sure these enemies will never fail
to make their own advantage of our multiplied divisions
and severe contests with each other. But they must
aecessarily lose both their ground and their influence, in
proportion to the degree in which the energy of Christian
principles is felt to unite and transform the heart of those
by whom they are professed.
PREFACE, 9
I have studied in this treatise the greatest plainness
of speech, that the lowest of my readers may, if possible,
be able to understand every word ; and I hope persons of
a more elegant taste and refined education will pardon
what appeared to me so necessary a piece of charity.
Such a care in practical writings seems one important
instance of that honoring all men, which our amiable and
condescending religion teaches us; and I have been par-
ticularly obliged to my worthy patron for what he has
done to shorten some of the sentences, and to put my
meaning into plainer and more familiar words.
I must add one remark here, which I heartily wish I
had not omitted in the first edition, namely, That though
I do in this book consider my reader as successively in a
great variety of supposed circumstances, beginning with
those of a thoughtless sinner, and leading him through
several stages of conviction, terror, etc., as what may be
previous to his sincerely accepting the Gospel, and de-
voting himself to the service of God ; yet I would by no
means be thought to insinuate, thai every one who is brought
to that happy resolution, arrives at it through those particular
steps, or feels agitations of mind equal in degree to those 1
have described. Some sense of sin, and some serious and
humbling apprehensions of our danger and misery in con-
sequence of it, must indeed be necessary to dispose us to
receive the grace of the Gospel, and the Saviour who is
there exhibited to our faith. But God is pleased some-
times to begin the work of his grace in the heart almost
from the first dawning of reason, and to carry it on by
such gentle and insensible degrees, that very excellent
persons, who have made the most eminent attainments in
10 PREFACE.
the divine life, have been unable to recount any remark-
able history of their conversion. And so far as I can
learn, this is most frequently the case with those of them
who have enjoyed the benefit of a pious education, when
it has not been succeeded by a vicious and licentious
youth. God forbid, therefore, that any should be so in-
sensible of their own happiness as to fall into perplexity
with relation to their spiritual state, for want of being
able to trace such a rise of religion in their minds as it
was necessary on my plan for me to describe and exem-
plify here. I have spoken my sentiments on this head
BO fully in the eighth of my Sermons on Regeneration,
that I think none who has read and remembers the gen-
eral contents of it, can be in danger of mistaking my
meaning here. But as it is very possible that this book
may fall into the hands of many who have not read the
other, and have no opportunity of consulting it, I thought
it proper to insert this caution in the preface to this ; and
I am much obliged to that worthy and excellent person
who kindly reminded me of the expediency of doing it
PHILIP DODDRIDGE.
THE
RISE AND PROGRESS
OF
RELIGION IN THE SOUL,
CHAPTER I.
THE INTRODUCTION TO THE WORK, WITH SOME GENERAL
ACCOUNT OF ITS DESIGN.
1,2. That true religion is very rare, appears from comparing
the nature of it with the lives and characters of men around
us. — 3. The want of it matter of just lamentation. — 4. To
remedy this evil is the design of the ensuing treatise.—
5, 6. To which, therefore, the author earnestly bespeaks the
attention of the reader, as his own heart is deeply interested
in it. — 7 to 12. A general plan of the work ; of which the
first fifteen chapters relate chiefly to the rise of religion, and
the remaining chapters to its progress. — Prayer for the success
of the work.
1. WHEN we look around us with an attentive
eye, and consider the characters and pursuits of men,
we plainly see, that though, in the original constitu-
tion of their natures, they only, of all the creatures
that dwell on the face of the earth, are capable of
religion, yet many of them shamefully neglect it
12 RISE AND PROGRESS.
And whatever different notions people may entertain
of what they call religion, all must agree in owning
that it is very far from being a universal thing.
2. Religion, in its most general view, is such a
sense of God in the soul, and such a conviction of
our obligations to him, and of our dependence upon
him, as shall engage us to make it our great care to
conduct ourselves in a manner which we have rea-
son to believe will be pleasing to him. Now, when
we have given this plain account of religion, it is by
no means necessary that we should search among
the savages of distant Pagan nations to find instances
of those who are strangers to it. "When we view
the conduct of the generality of people at home, in a
Christian and Protestant nation, in a nation whose
obligations to God have been singular, almost beyond
those of any other people under heaven, will any one
presume to say that religion has a universal reign
among us? Will any one suppose that it prevails
in every life ; that it reigns in every heart ? Alas,
the avowed infidelity, the profanation of the name
and day of God, the drunkenness, the lewdness, the
injustice, the falsehood, the pride, the prodigality, the
base selfishness, and stupid insensibility about the
spiritual and eternal interests of themselves and
others, which so generally appear among us, loudly
proclaim the contrary. So that one would imagine,
'upon this view, that thousands and tens of thousands
RELIGION NOT UNIVERSAL. 13
thought the neglect, and even the contempt of re-
ligion, were a glory, rather than a reproach. And
where is the neighborhood, where is the society, where
is the happy family, consisting of any considerable
number, in which, on a more exact examination, we
find reason to say, " religion fills even this little cir-
cle?" There is, perhaps, a freedom from any gross
and scandalous immoralities, and external decency
of behavior, an attendance on the outward forms oi
worship in public, and, here and there, in the family ;
yet amidst all this, there is nothing which looks like
the genuine actings of the spiritual and divine life.
There is no appearance of love to God, no reverence
of his presence, no desire of his favor as the highest
good : there is no cordial belief of the Gospel of sal-
vation ; no eager solicitude to escape that condemna-
tion which we have incurred by sin ; no hearty con-
cern to secure that eternal life which Christ has
purchased and secured for his people, and which he
freely promises to all who will receive him. Alas,
whatever the love of a friend, or even a parent can
do ; whatever inclination there may be to hope all
things, and believe all things the most favorable, evi-
dence to the contrary will force itself upon the mind,
and extort the unwilling conclusion, that, whatever
else may be amiable in this dear friend — in that fa-
vorite child — " religion dwells not in his breast."
3. To a heart that firmly believes the Gospel, and
14 RISE AND PROGRESS.
views persons and things in the light of eternity, this
is one of the most mournful considerations in the
world. And indeed, to such a one, all other calam-
ities and evils of human nature appear trifles, when
compared with this — the absence of real religion ,
and that contrariety to it which reigns in so many
thousands of mankind. Let this be cured, and all
the other evils will easily be borne ; nay, good will
be ' extracted out of them. But if this continue, it
"bringeth forth fruit unto death," Rom. 7:5; and
in consequence of it, multitudes, who share the en-
tertainments of an indulgent Providence with us,
and are at least allied to us by the bond of the same
common nature, must, in a few years, be swept away
into utter destruction, and be plunged, beyond re-
demption, into everlasting burnings.
4. I doubt not but there are many, under the va-
rious forms of religious profession, who are not only
lamenting this in public, if their office in life calls
them to an opportunity of doing it, but are likewise
mourning before God in secret, under a sense of this
sad state of things ; and who can appeal to Him that
searches all hearts, as to the sincerity of their desires
to revive the languishing cause of vital Christianity
and substantial piety. And among the rest, the au-
thor of this treatise may with confidence say, it is this
which animates him to the present attempt, in the
midst of so many other cares and labors. For this he
THE AUTHOR'S DESIGN. 15
9
is willing to lay aside many of those curious amuse-
ments in science which might suit his own private
taste, and perhaps open a way for some reputation
in the learned world. For this he is willing to waive
the labored ornaments of speech, that he may, if pos-
sible, descend to the capacity of the lowest part of
mankind. For this he would endeavor to convince
the judgment, and to reach the heart of every reader ;
and, in a word, for this, without any dread of the
name of an enthusiast, whoever may at random throw
it out upon the occasion, he would, as it were, enter
with you into your closet, from day to day ; and with
all plainness and freedom, as well as seriousness,
would discourse to you of the great things which he
has learned from the Christian revelation, and on
which he assuredly knows your everlasting happiness
to depend ; that, if you hitherto have lived without
religion, you may be now awakened to the considera-
tion of it, and may be instructed in its nature and im-
portance ; or that, if you are already, through divine
grace, experimentally acquainted with it, you may
be assisted to make a farther progress.
5. But he earnestly entreats this favor of you, that,
as it is plainly a serious business we are entering up-
on, you would be pleased to give him a serious and
an active hearing. He entreats that these addresses,
and these meditations, may be perused at leisure, and
be thought over in retirement ; and that you would
16 RlriE AND PROGRESS.
do him and yourself the justice to believe the repre-
sentations which are here made, and the warnings
which are here given, to proceed from sincerity and
love, from a heart that would not designedly give one
moment's unnecessary pain to the meanest creature
on the face of the earth, and much less to any human
mind. If he be importunate, it is because he at least
imagines that there is just reason for it, and fears,
lest, amidst the multitudes who are undone by the
utter neglect of religion, and among those who are
greatly damaged for want of a more resolute and
constant attendance to it, this may be the case of
some into whose hands this treatise may fall.
6. He is a barbarian, and deserves not to be called
a man, who can look upon the sorrows of his fellow-
creatures without drawing out his soul unto them,
and wishing, at least, that it were in the power of
his hand to help them. Surely earth would be a
heaven to that man who could go about from place
to place scattering happiness wheresoever he came,
though it were only the body that he were capable of
relieving, and though he could impart nothing better
than the happiness of a mortal life. But the happi-
ness rises in proportion to the nature and degree of
the good which he imparts. Happy, are we ready
to say, were those honored servants of Christ, who,
hi the early days of his church, were the benevolent
and sympathizing instruments of conveying miracu-
TLAN OF THE WORK. 17
ulous healing to those whose cases seemed desperate ;
who poured in upon the blind and the deaf the pleas-
ures of light and sound, and called up the dead to
the powers of action and enjoyment. But this is an
honor and happiness which it is not fit for God com-
monly to bestow on mortal men. Yet there have
been, in every age, and blessed be his name, there
Btill are those whom he has condescended to make
his instruments in conveying nobler and more last-
ing blessings than these to their fellow-creatures.
Death has long since veiled the eyes and stopped the
ears of those who were the subjects of miraculous
healing, and recovered its empire over those who
were once recalled from the grave. But the souls
who are prevailed upon to receive the Gospel, live
for ever. God has owned the labors of his faithful
ministers in every age to produce these blessed effects ;
and somo of them "being dead, yet speak," Heb.
11 : 4, with power and success in this important
cause. Wonder not, then, if, living and dying, I be
ambitious of this honor ; and if my mouth be freely
opened, where I can truly say, "my heart is enlarg-
ed." 2 Cor. 6:11.
7. In forming my general plan, I have been so-
licitous that this little treatise might, if possible, be
useful to all its readers, and contain something suit-
able to each. I will therefore take the man and the
Christian in a great variety of circumstances. 1
itise and Prog, o
18 RISE AND PROGRESS.
will first suppose myself addressing one of the vast
number of thoughtless creatures who have hitherto
been utterly unconcerned about religion, and will try
what can be done, by all plainness and earnestness
of address, to awaken him from this fatal lethargy, to
a care, (chap. 2,) an affectionate and an immediate
care about it, (chap. 3.) I will labor to fix a deep
and awful conviction of guilt upon his conscience,
(chap. 4,) and to strip him of his vain excuses and
his flattering hopes, (chap. 5.) I will read to him,
0 that I could fix on his heart that sentence, that
dreadful sentence, which a righteous and an Al-
mighty God hath denounced against him as a sinner,
(chap. 6,) and endeavor to show him in how helpless
a state he lies under this condemnation, as to any
capacity he has of delivering himself, (chap. 7.) But
1 do not mean to leave any in so terrible a situation :
I will joyfully proclaim the glad tidings of pardon and
salvation by Christ Jesus our Lord, which is all the
support and confidence of my own soul, (chap. 8.)
And then I will give some general view of the way
by which this salvation is to be obtained, (chap. 9;)
urging the sinner to accept of it as affectionately as I
can, (chap. 10;) though nothing can be sufficiently-
pathetic, where, as in this matter, the life of an im-
mortal soul is in question.
8. Too probable it is that some will, after all this,
remain insensible ; and therefore, that their sad case
PLAN OF THE WORK. 19
may not encumber the following articles, I shall here
take a solemn leave of them, (chap. 11 ;) and then
shall turn and address myself, as compassionately as
I can, to a most contrary character — I mean, to a
soul overwhelmed with a sense of the greatness oi
its sins, and trembling under the burden, as if there
were no more hope for him in God, (chap. 12.) And
that nothing may be omitted which may give solid
peace to the troubled spirit, I shall endeavor to guide
its inquiries as to the evidences of sincere repentance
and faith, (chap. 13 ;) which will be farther illustra-
ted by a more particular view of the several branches
of the Christian temper, such as may serve at once
to assist the reader in judging what he is, and to
show him what he should labor to be, (chap. 14.)
This will naturally lead to a view of the need we
have of the influences of the blessed Spirit to assist
us in the important and difficult work of the true
Christian, and of the encouragement we have to hope
for such divine assistance, (chap. 15.) In an humble
dependence on which, I shall then enter on the con-
sideration of several cases which often occur in the
Christian life, in which particular addresses to the
conscience may be requisite and useful.
9. As some peculiar difficulties and discourage-
ments attend the first entrance on a religious course,
it will here be our first care to animate the young
convert against them, (chap. 16.) And that it may
v^0 RISE AND PROGRESS.
be done more effectually, I shall urge a solemn dedi-
cation of himself to God, (chap. 17,) to be confirmed
by entering into a communion of the church, and an
approach to the sacred table, (chap. 18.) That these
engagements may be more happily fulfilled, we shall
endeavor to draw a more particular plan of that de-
vout, regular, and accurate course, which ought daily
to be attended to, (chap. 19.) And because the idea
will probably rise so much higher than what is the
general practice, even of good men, we shall en-
deavor to persuade the reader to make the attempt,
hard as it may seem, (chap. 20 ;) and shall caution
him against various temptations, which might other-
wise draw him aside to negligence and sin, (chap.
21.)
10. Happy will it be for the reader, if these ex-
hortations and cautions be attended to with becoming
regard ; but as it is, alas, too probable that, notwith-
standing all, the infirmities of nature will sometimes
prevail, we shall consider the case of deadness and
languor in religion, which often steals upon us by
insensible degrees, (chap. 22;) from which there
is too easy a passage to that terrible one of a return
into known and deliberate sin, (chap. 23.) And as
the one or the other of these tends in a proportionable
degree to provoke the blessed God to hide his face,
and his injured Spirit to withdraw, that melancholy
condition will be taken into particular survey, (chap.
PLAN OF THE WORK. * 21
24.) I shall then take notice also of the case of great
and heavy afflictions in life, (chap. 25,) a discipline
which the best of men have reason to expect, espe-
cially when they backslide from Grod and yield to
their spiritual enemies.
1 1 . Instances of this kind will, I fear, be too fre-
quent ; yet, I trust, there will be many others, whose
path, like the dawning light, will "shine more and
more unto the perfect day." Prov. 4:18. And there-
fore we shall endeavor, in the best manner we can,
to assist the Christian in passing a true judgment on
the growth of grace in his heart, (chap. 26,) as we
had done before in judging of its sincerity. And as
nothing conduces more to the advancement of grace
than the lively exercise of love to God, and a holy
joy in him, we shall here remind the real Christian
of those mercies which tend to excite that love and
joy, (chap. 27 ;) and in the view of them, to animate
him to those vigorous efforts of usefulness in life
which so well become his character, and will have so
happy an efficacy in brightening his crown, (chap.
28.) Supposing him to act accordingly, we shall
then labor to illustrate and assist the delight with
which he may look forward to the awful solemnities
of death and judgment, (chap. 29.) And shall close
the scene by accompanying him, as it were, to the
nearest confines of that dark valley through which
he is to pass to glory ; giving him such directions as
22 * RISE AND PROGRESS.
may seem most subservient to his honoring God and
adorning religion by his dying behavior, (chap. 30.)
Nor am I without a pleasing hope, that through the
divine blessing and grace, I may be, hi some in-
stances, so successful as to leave those triumphing in
the views of judgment and eternity, and glorifying
God by a truly Christian life and death, whom I found
trembling in the apprehensions of future misery ; or,
perhaps, in a much more dangerous and miserable
condition than that — I mean, entirely forgetting the
prospect, and sunk in the most stupid insensibility of
those things, for an attendance to which the human
mind was formed, and in comparison of which, all
the pursuits of this transitory life are emptier than
wind and lighter than a feather.
12. Such a variety of heads must, to be sure, be
handled but briefly, as we intend to bring them with-
in the bulk of a moderate volume. I shall not, there-
fore, discuss them as a preacher might properly do
in sermons, in which the truths of religion are pro-
fessedly to be explained and taught, defended and
improved, in a wide variety, and long detail of prop-
ositions, arguments, objections, replies, and inferen-
ces, marshalled and numbered under their distinct
generals. I shall here speak in a looser and freer man-
ner, as a friend to a friend ; just as I would do if I
were to be in person admitted to a private audience
by one whom I tenderly loved, and whose circum-
PRAYER FOR SUCCESS. 23
stances and character I knew to be like that which
the title of one chapter or another of this treatise
describes. And when I have discoursed with him a
little while, which will seldom be so long as half an
hour, shall, as it were, step aside, and leave him to
meditate on what he has heard, or endeavor to assist
him in such fervent addresses to God as it may be
proper to mingle with those meditations. In the mean-
time, I will here take the liberty to pray over my
reader and my work, and to commend it solemnly
to the divine blessing, in token of my deep convic-
tion of an entire dependence upon it. And I am well
persuaded that sentiments like these are common, in
the general, to every faithful minister, to every real
Christian.
A PRAYER FOR THE SUCCESS OF THIS WORK, IN PRO-
MOTING THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF RELIGION.
" 0 thou great eternal Original, and Author of all
created being and happiness ! I adore thee, who hast
made man a creature capable of religion, and hast
bestowed this dignity and felicity upon our nature,
that it may be taught to say, Where is God our ma-
ker ? Job 35 : 10. I lament that degeneracy spread
over the whole human race, which has ' turned our
glory into shame,' Hos. 4 : 7, and has rendered the
forgetfulness of God, unnatural as it is, so common
and so universal a disease. Holy Father, we know
it is thy presence, and thy teaching alone, that can
24 RISE AND PROGRESS.
reclaim thy wandering children, can impress a sense
of divine things on the heart, and render that sense
lasting and effectual. From thee proceed all good
purposes and desires; and this desire, above all, of
diffusing wisdom, piety, and happiness in this world,
which, though sunk in such deep apostasy, thine in-
finite mercy has not utterly forsaken.
" Thou 'knowest, 0 Lord, the hearts of the chil-
dren of men,' 2 Chron. 6 : 30 ; and an upright soul,
in the midst of all the censures and suspicions it may
meet with, rejoices in thine intimate knowledge of
its most secret sentiments and principles of action.
Thou knowest the sincerity and fervency with which
thine unworthy servant desires to spread the know-
ledge of thy name, and the savor of thy Gospel,
among all to whom this work may reach. Thou
knowest that, hadst thou given him an abundance
of this world, it would have been, in his esteem, the
noblest pleasure that abundance could have afforded,
to have been thine almoner in distributing thy boun-
ties to the indigent and necessitous, and so causing
the sorrowful heart to rejoice in thy goodness, dis-
pensed through his hands. Thou knowest, that, hadst
thou given him, either by ordinary or extraordinary
methods, the gift of healing, it would have been his
daily delight to relieve the pains, the maladies, and
the infirmities of men's bodies ; to have seen the
languishing countenance brightened by returning
PRAYER FOR SUCCESS. 25
health and cheerfulness; and much more to have
beheld the roving, distracted mind reduced to calm-
ness and serenity in the exercise of its rational fac-
ulties. Yet happier, far happier will he think him-
self, in those humble circumstances in which thy
providence hath placed him, if thou vouchsafe to
honor these his feeble endeavors as the means of re-
lieving and enriching men's minds ; of recovering
them from the madness of a sinful state, and bring-
ing back thy reasonable creatures to the knowledge,
the service, and the enjoyment of their God ; or of
improving those who are already reduced.
"0 may it have that blessed influence on the per-
son, whosoever he be, that is now reading these lines,
and all who may read or hear them. Let not my
Lord be angry if I presume to ask, that, howevei
weak and contemptible this work may seem in the
eyes of the children of this world, and however im-
perfect it really be, as well as the author of it un-
worthy, it may nevertheless live before thee ; and,
through a divine power, be mighty to produce the
rise and progress of religion in the minds of multi-
tudes in distant places, and in generations yet to
come. Impute it not, 0 God, as a culpable ambition,
if I desire that, whatever becomes of my name, about
which I would not lose one thought before thee, this
work, to which I am now applying myself in thy
strength; may be completed and propagated far
26 RISE AND PROGRESS.
abroad ; that it may reach, to those that are yet un-
born, and teach them thy name and thy praise, when
the author has long dwelt in the dust ; that so, when
he shall appear before thee in the great day of final
account, his joy may be increased, and his crown
brightened, by numbers before unknown to each
other, and to him. But if this petition bo too great
to be granted to one who pretends no claim but thy
sovereign grace to hope for being favored with the
least, give him to be, in thine Almighty hand, the
blessed instrument of converting and saving one
soul ; and if it be but one, and that the weakest and
meanest of those who are capable of receiving this
address, it shall be most thankfully accepted as a
rich recompense for all the thought and labor it may
cost; and though it should be amidst a thousand
disappointments with respect to others, yet it shall
be the subject of immortal songs of praise to thee, 0
blessed God, for and by every soul whom, through
the blood of Jesus and the grace of thy Spirit, thou
hast saved ; and everlasting honors shall be ascribed
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
by the innumerable company of angels, and by the
general assembly and church of the first-born in
heaven. Amen."
CARELESS SINNER AWAKENED. 27
CHAPTER II.
THE CARELESS SINNER AWAKENED.
1,2. It is too supposable a case that this treatise may come
into such hands. — 3, 4. Since many, not grossly vicious, fall
under that character. — 5, 6. A more particular illustration of
this case, with an appeal to the reader, whether it be not his
own. — 7 to 9. Expostulation with such. — 10 to 12. More par-
ticularly, from acknowledged principles relating to the nature
of God, his universal presence, agency, and perfection. — 13.
From a view of personal obligations to him. — 14. From the
danger of this neglect, when considered in its aspect on a fu-
ture state. — 15. An appeal to the conscience as already con-
vinced.— 16. Transition to the subject of the next chapter. —
The meditation of a sinner, who, having been long thoughtless,
begins to be awakened.
1 . SHAMEFULLY and fatally as religion is neglected
in the world, yet, blessed be God, it has some sincere
disciples, children of wisdom, by whom, even in this
foolish and degenerate age, it "is justified," Matt.
11 : 19; who having, by divine grace, been brought
to the knowledge of God in Christ, have faithfully
devoted their hearts to him, and by a natural conse-
quence, are devoting their lives to his service. Could
I be sure this treatise would fall into no hands but
theirs, my work would be shorter, easier, and more
pleasant.
28 RISE AND PROGRESS.
2. But among the thousands that neglect religion,
it is more than probable that some of my readers
may be included ; and I am so deeply affected with
their unhappy case, that the temper of my heart, as
well as the proper method of my subject, leads me,
in the first place, to address myself to such ; to apply
to every one of them, and therefore to you, 0 reader,
whoever you are, who may come under the denomi-
nation of a careless sinner.
3. Be not, I beseech you, angry at the name. The
physicians of souls must speak plainly, or they may
murder those whom they should cure. I would
make no harsh and unreasonable supposition. I
would charge you with nothing more than is abso-
lutely necessary to convince you that you are the
person to whom I speak. I will not, therefore, im-
agine you to be a profane and abandoned profligate.
I will not suppose that you allow yourself to blas-
pheme God, to dishonor his name by customary
swearing, or grossly to violate his Sabbath, or com-
monly to neglect the solemnities of his public wor-
ship. I will not imagine that you have injured your
neighbors in their lives, their chastity, or their pos-
sessions, either by violence or by fraud ; or that yon
have scandalously debased the rational nature of
man, by that vile intemperance which transforms us
into the worst kind of brutes, or something beneath
them.
MANY NOT GROSSLY VICIOUS. 29
4. In opposition to all this, I will suppose that
you believe the existence and providence of God,
and the truth of Christianity as a revelation from
him ; of which, if you have any doubt, I must desire
that you would immediately seek your satisfaction
elsewhere.^ I say, immediately, because not to be-
lieve it, is in effect to disbelieve it, and will make
your ruin equally certain, though perhaps it may
leave it less aggravated than if contempt and oppo-
sition had been added to suspicion and neglect. But
supposing you to be a nominal Christian, and not a
Deist or a sceptic, I will also suppose your conduct
among men to be not only blameless, but amiable ;
and that they who know you most intimately, must
acknowledge that you are just and sober, humane
and courteous, compassionate and liberal ; yet, with
all this, you may " lack that one thing," Mark 10:21,
on which your eternal happiness depends.
5. I beseech you, reader, whoever you are, that
you would now look seriously into your own heart,
and ask it this one plain question : Am I truly relig-
ious ? Is the love of God the governing principle of
my life ? Do I walk under the sense of his presence ?
* In such a case, I beg leave to refer the reader to my three
sermons on the Evidence of Christianity, and the last of the
ten on the Power and Grace of Christ ; in which he may see
the hitherto unshaken foundations of my own faith, in a short,
and I hope, a clear view.
30 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Do I" con verse with him from day to day, in the ex-
ercise of prayer and praise ? And am I, on the whole,
making his service my business and my delight, re-
garding him as my Master and my Father ?
6. It is my present business only to address my-
self to the person whose conscience answers in the
negative. And I would appeal, with equal plainness
and equal freedom, to high and low, to rich and poor ;
to you who, as the Scripture with a dreadful pro-
priety expresses it, "live without God in the world,"
Eph. 2:12, and while in words and forms you " own
God, deny him in your actions," Tit. 1:16, and be-
have yourselves in the main, a few external ceremo-
nies only excepted, just as you would do if you be-
lieved and were sure there is no God. Unhappy
creature, whoever you are, your own heart condemns
you immediately ; and how much more that " God
who is greater than your heart, and knoweth al]
things." 1 John, 3 :20. He is in "secret," Matt.
6:6, as well as in public ; and words cannot express
the delight with which his children converse with
him alone ; but in secret you acknowledge him not ;
you neither pray to him nor praise him in your re-
tirements. Accounts, correspondences, studies, may
often bring you into your closet ; but if nothing but
devotion were to be transacted there, it would be to
you quite an unfrequented place. And thus you go
on from day to day in a continual forgetfulness of
APPEAL TO THE READER 31
God, and are as thoughtless about religion as if you
had long since demonstrated to yourself that it was
a mere dream. If, indeed, you are sick, you will
perhaps cry to God for health ; in any extreme dan-
ger, you will lift up your eyes and voice for deliver-
ance ; but as for the pardon of sin, and the other
blessings of the Gospel, you are not at all inwardly
solicitous about them ; though you profess to believe
that the Gospel is divine, and the blessings of it eter-
nal. All your thoughts, and all your hours are di-
vided between the business and the Amusements of
life ; and if now and then an awful providence, or a
serious sermon or book awakens you, it is but a few
days, or it may be a few hours, and you are the
same careless creature you ever were before. On
the whole, you act as if you were resolved to put it
to the venture, and at your own expense to make
the experiment, whether the consequences of neglect-
ing religion be indeed as terrible as its ministers and
friends have represented. Their remonstrances do
indeed sometimes force themselves upon you, as, con-
sidering the age and country in which you live, it is
hardly possible entirely to avoid them ; but you have,
it may be, found out the art of Isaiah's people,
" hearing to hear, and not understand ; and seeing
to see, and not perceive : your heart is waxed gross,
your eyes are closed, and your ears heavy." Isaiah
6:9, 10, Under the very ordinances of worship,
32 RISE AND PROGRESS.
your thoughts " are at the ends of the earth." Prov
17 : 24. Every amusement of the imagination is
welcome, if it may but lead away your mind from
Bo insipid and so disagreeable a subject as religion.
And probably the very last time you were in a wor-
shipping assembly, you managed just as you would
have done if you had thought God knew nothing of
your behavior, or as if you did not think it worth
one single care whether he were pleased or displeased
with it.
7. Alas, is it then come to this, with all your be-
lief of God, and providence, and Scripture, that relig-
ion is not worth a thought ? That it is not worth
one hour's serious consideration and reflection, " what
God and Christ are, and what you yourselves are,
and what you must hereafter be ?" Where, then,
are your rational faculties ? How are they employed ?
or rather, how are they stupefied and benumbed.
8. The certainty and importance of the things of
which I speak are so evident, from the principles
which you yourselves grant, that one might almost
Bet a child or an idiot to reason upon them. And
yet they are neglected by those who are grown up
to understanding, and perhaps some of them to such
refinement of understanding that they would think
themselves greatly injured if they were not to be
reckoned among the politer and more learned part
of mankind.
APPEAL TO THE READER. 33
9. But it is not your neglect, sirs, that can destroy
the being or importance of such things as these. It
may indeed destroy you, but it cannot in the least
affect them. Permit me, therefore, having been my-
self awakened, to come to each of you, and say, as
the mariners did to Jonah while asleep in the midst
of a much less dangerous storm, " What meanest
thou, 0 sleeper? Arise, and call upon thy God.'*
Jonah 1:6. Do you doubt as to the reasonableness
or necessity of doing it ? "I will demand, and an-
swer me," Job 38 : 3 ; answer me to your own con-
science, as one that must ere long render another
kind of account.
10. You own that there is a God, and well you
may, for you cannot open your eyes but you must
see the evident proofs of his being, his presence, and
his agency. You behold him around you in every
object. You feel him within you, if I may so speak,
in every vein and in every nerve. You see and you
feel not only that he hath formed you with an ex-
quisite wisdom which no mortal man could ever fully
explain or comprehend, but that he is continually
near you, wherever you are, and however you are
employed, by day or by night ; " in him you live,
and move, and have your being." Acts 17 : 28.
Common-sense will tell you, that it is not your own
wisdom, and power, and attention, that causes your
heart to beat, and your blood to circulate ; that draws
Rise and Frog. g
34 RISE AND PROGRESS,
in and sends out that breath of life, that precarious
breath of a most uncertain life, " that is in your nos-
trils." Isaiah 2 : 22. These things are done when
you sleep, as well as in those waking moments when
you think not of the circulation of the blood, or of
the necessity of breathing, or so much as recollect
that you have a heart or lungs. Now, what is this
but the hand of God, perpetually supporting and act-
uating those curious machines that he has made ?
1 1 . Nor is this his care limited to you ; but if you
look all around you, far as your view can reach, you
see it extending itself on every side ; and 0, how
much farther than you can trace it. Reflect on the
light and heat which the sun everywhere dispenses ;
on the air which surrounds all our globe ; on the
right temperature on which the life of the whole hu-
man race depends, and that of all the inferior crea-
tures which dwell on the earth. Think of the suit-
able and plentiful provisions made for man and
beast ; the grass, the grain, the variety of fruits, and
herbs, and flowers; every thing that nourishes us,
every thing that delights us, and say whether it does
not speak plainly and loudly that our Almighty
Maker is near, and that he is careful of us, and kind
to us. And while all these things proclaim his good-
ness, do not they also proclaim his power ? For what
power has any thing comparable to that which fur-
nishes out those gifts of royal bounty ; and which,
PERSONAL OBLIGATIONS TO GOD. 35
unwearied and unchanged, produces continually, from
day to day, and from age to age, such astonishing
and magnificent effects over the face of the whole
earth, and through all the regions of heaven ?
12. It is then evident that God is present, present
with you at this moment ; even God your creatoi
and preserver, God the creator and preserver of the
whole visible and invisible world. And is he not
present as a most observant and attentive being?
"He that formed the eye, shall not he see ? He that
planted the ear, shall not he hear ? He that teaches
man knowledge," that gives him his rational facul-
ties, and pours in upon his opening mind all the light
it receives by them, "shall not he know?" Psalm
94 : 9, 10. He who sees all the necessities of his
creatures so seasonably to provide for them, shall he
not see their actions too ; and seeing, shall he not
judge them ? Has he given us a sense and discrimi-
nation of what is good and evil, of what is true and
false, of what is fair and deformed in temper and
conduct ; and has he himself no discernment of these
things ? Trifle not with your conscience, which tells
you at once that he judges of it, and approves or con-
demns as it is decent or indecent, reasonable or un-
reasonable ; and that the judgment which he passes
is of infinite importance to all his creatures.
13. And now to apply all this to your own case,
let me seriously ask you, is it a decent and reason-
36 RISE AND PROGRESS.
able thing, that this great and glorious Benefactor
should be neglected by his rational creatures — by
those that are capable of attaining to some know-
ledge of him, and presenting to him some homage ?
Is it decent and reasonable, that he should be for-
gotten and neglected by you ? Are you alone, of all
the works of his hands, forgotten or neglected by
him ? 0 sinner, thoughtless as you are, you cannot
dare to say that, or even to think it. You need not
go back to the helpless days of your infancy and
childhood to convince you of the contrary. You
need not, in order to this, recollect the remarkable
deliverances which perhaps were wrought out for
you many years ago. The repose of the last night,
the refreshment and comfort you have received this
day, yea, the mercies you are receiving this very
moment bear witness to him ; and yet you regard
him not. Ungrateful creature that you are ! Could
you have treated any human benefactor thus ?
Could you have borne to neglect a kind parent, or
any generous friend, that had but for a few months
acted the part of a parent to ,you ; to have taken no
notice of him while in his presence ; to have return-
ed him no thanks ; to have had no contrivances to
make some little acknowledgment for all his good-
ness ? Human nature, bad as it is, is not fallen so
low. Nay, the brutal nature is not so low as this.
Surely every domestic animal around you must shame
VIEW OF A FUTURE STATE. 37
Buch ingratitude. If you do but for a few days take
a little kind notice of a dog, and feed him with the
refuse of your table, he will wait upon you, and love
to be near you ; he will be eager to follow you from
place to place, and when, after a little absence, you
return home, will try, by a thousand fond, trans-
ported motions, to tell you how much he rejoices to
see you again. Nay, brutes far less sagacious and
apprehensive have some sense of our kindness, and
express it after their way ; as the blessed God con-
descends to observe, in this very view in which I
mention it, " The " dull " ox knows his owner, and
the" stupid "ass his master's crib." Isa. 1 : 3.
What lamentable degeneracy, therefore, is it, that
you do not know — that you, who have been num-
bered among God's professed people, do not and will
not consider your numberless obligations to him.
14. Surely, if you have any ingenuousness of tem-
per, you must be ashamed and grieved in the re-
view ; but if you have not, give me leave farther to
expostulate with you on this head, by setting it in
something of a different light. Can you think your-
self safe, while you are acting a part like this ? Do
you not in your conscience believe there will be a
future judgment ? Do you not believe there is an
invisible and eternal world ? As professed Chris-
tians, we all believe it ; for it is no controverted point,
but displayed in Scripture with so clear an evidence,
88 RISE AND PROGRESS.
that, subtle and ingenious as men are in error, they
have not yet found out a way to evade it. And be-
lieving this, do you not see, that while you are thus
wandering from God, " destruction and misery are in
your way." Rom. 3 : 16. Will this indolence and
negligence of temper be any security to you ? Will
it guard you from death? Will it excuse you from
judgment ? You might much more reasonably ex-
pect that shutting your eyes would be a defence
against the rage of a devouring lion ; or that looking
another way should secure your body from being
pierced by a bullet or a sword. When God speaks
of the extravagant folly of some thoughtless crea-
tures who would hearken to no admonition now, he
adds, in a very awful manner, " In the latter day
they shall consider it perfectly." Jer 23 : 20. And
is not this applicable to you ? Must you not sooner
or later be brought to think of these things, whether
you will or not ? And in the meantime do you not
certainly know, that timely and serious reflection upon
them is, through divine grace, the only way to pre-
vent your ruin ?
15. Yes, sinner, I need not multiply words on a
subject like this. Your conscience is already in-
wardly convinced, though your pride may be unwill-
ing to own it. And to prove it, let me ask you one
question more : Would you, upon any terms and con-
siderations whatever, come to a resolution absolutely
ME1JITAT10N OF A SINNER. 39
to dismiss all farther thought of religion, and all
care about it, from this day and hour, an4 to abide
the consequences of that neglect ? I believe^ hardly
any man living would be bold enough to determine
upon this. I believe most of my readers would be
ready to tremble at the thought of it.
16. But if it be necessary to take these things into
consideration at all, it is necessary to do it quickly ;
for life itself is not so very long, nor so certain, that
a wise man should risk much upon its continuance.
And I hope to convince you when I have another
hearing, that it is necessary to do it immediately,
and that next to the madness of resolving you will
not think of religion at all, is that of saying you
will think of it hereafter. In the meantime, pause
on the hints which have been already given, and
they will prepare you to receive what is to be added
on that head.
THE MEDITATION OF A SINNER WHO WAS ONCE
THOUGHTLESS, BUT BEGINS TO BE AWAKENED.
" Awake, 0 my forgetful soul, awake from these
wandering dreams. Turn thee from this chase of
vanity, and for a little while be persuaded, by all
these considerations, to look forward, and to look
upward, at least for a few moments. Sufficient are
the hours and days given to the labors and amuse-
ments of life. Grudge not a short allotment of min-
40 RISE AND PROGRESS.
utes, to view thyself and thine own more immediate
concerns ; to reflect who and what thou art, how it
comes to pass that thou art here, and what thou
must quickly be.
" It is indeed as thou hast seen it now represented.
0 my soul, thou art the creature of God, formed
and furnished by him, and lodged in a body which
he provided, and which he supports ; a body in which
he intends thee only a transitory abode. 0 think
how soon this 'tabernacle' must be 'dissolved,' 2
Cor. 5:1, and thou must * return to God.' Eccles.
12 : 7. And shall He, the One, Infinite, Eternal,
Ever-blessed, and Ever-glorious Being, shall he be
least of all regarded by thee ? "Wilt thou live and
die with this character, saying, by every action of
every day, unto God, ' Depart from me, for I desire
not the knowledge of thy ways ?' Job 21 : 14. The
morning, the day, the evening, the night, every pe-
riod of time has its excuses for this neglect. But 0,
my soul, what will these excuses appear when ex-
amined by his penetrating eye ? They may delude
me, but they cannot impose upon him.
" 0 thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor,
when I think but for a moment or two of all thy
greatness and of all thy goodness, I am astonished
at this insensibility which has prevailed in my heart,
and even still prevails ; I ' blush and am confounded
to lift up my face before thee.' Ezra 9 : 6. On the
MEDITATION OF A SINNER. 41
most transient review, I ' see that I have played the
foo],' that ' I have erred exceedingly.' 1 Sam. 26 : 21.
And yet this stupid heart of mine would make its
having neglected thee so long a reason for going on
to neglect thee. I own it might justly be expected,
that, with regard to thee, every one of thy rationa]
creatures should be all duty and love ; that each
heart should be full of a sense of thy presence ; and
that a care to please thee should swallow up every
other care. Yet thou ' hast not been in all my
thoughts,' Psalms 10 : 4 ; and religion, the end and
glory of my nature, has been so strangely overlooked,
that I have hardly ever seriously asked my own heart
what it is. I know, if matters rest here, I perish ;
yet I feel in my perverse nature a secret indisposition
to pursue these thoughts ; a proneness, if not entirely
to dismiss them, yet to lay them aside for the pres-
ent. My mind is perplexed and divided ; but I am
sure, thou, who madest me, knowest what is best for
me. I therefore beseech thee that thou wilt, ' for
thy name's sake, lead me and guide me.' Psalms
31:3. Let me not delay till it is for ever too late.
' Pluck me as a brand out of the burning.' Amos
4:11. 0 break this fatal enchantment that holds
down my affection to objects which my judgment
comparatively despises ; and let me, at length, come
into so happy a state of mind that I may not be
afraid to think of thee and of myself, and may not
42 RISE AND PROGRESS.
be tempted to wish that thou hadst not made me,
or that thou couldst for ever forget me ; that it may
not be my best hope, to perish like the brutes.
" If what I shall farther read here be agreeable
to truth and reason, if it be calculated to promote my
happiness, and is to be regarded as an intimation of
thy will and pleasure to me, 0 God, let me hear and
obey. Let the words of thy servant, when pleading
thy cause, be like goads to pierce into my mind ;
and let me rather feel, and smart, than die. Let
them be ' as nails fastened in a sure place,' Eccl.
12:11; that whatever mysteries as yet unknown, or
whatever difficulties there be in religion, if it be
necessary, I may not finally neglect it ; and that, if it
be expedient to attend immediately to it, I may no
longer delay that attendance. And 0, let thy grace
teach me the lesson I am so slow to learn, and con-
quer that strong opposition which I feel in my heart
against the very thought of it. Hear these broken
cries, for the sake of thy Son, who has taught and
saved many & creature as untractable as I, and can
'out of stones raise up children unto Abraham.'
Matt. 3 : 9. Amen."
REGARD TO RELIGION URGED. 43
CHAPTER III.
t
THE AWAKENED SINNER URGED TO IMMEDIATE CONSID-
ERATION, AND CAUTIONED AGAINST DELAY.
1. Sinners, when awakened, inclined to dismiss convictions
for the present. — 2. An immediate regard to religion urged. —
3. From the excellence and pleasure of the thing itself. — 4.
From the uncertainty of that future time on which sinners pre-
sume, compared with the sad consequences of being cut off in
ein. — 5. From the immutability of God's present demands. — 6.
From the tendency which delay has to make a compliance
with these demands more difficult than it is at present. — 7.
From the danger of God's withdrawing his Spirit, compared
with the dreadful case of a sinner given up by it. — 8. Which
probably is now the case of many. — 9. Since, therefore, on the
whole, whatever the event be, delays may prove matter of
lamentation. — 10. The chapter concludes with an exhortation
against yielding to them, and a prayer against temptations of
that kind.
1. I HOPE my last address so far awakened the
convictions of my reader, as to bring him to this pur-
pose— "that some time or other he would attend to
religious considerations." But give me leave to ask,
earnestly and pointedly, "When shall that be ? "Go
thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient
season, I will call for thee," Acts 24 : 25, was the
language and ruin of unhappy Felix, when he trem-
bled under the reasonings and expostulations of the
44 RISE AND PROGRESS.
apostle. The tempter presumed not to urge that he
should give up all thoughts of repentance and refor-
mation ; but only that, considering the present hurry
of his affairs, as no doubt they were many, he should
defer it to another day. The artifice succeeded, and
Felix was undone.
2. Will you, reader, dismiss me thus ? For your
own sake, and out of tender compassion to your per-
ishing, immortal soul, I would not willingly take up
with such a dismission and excuse — no, not though
you shall fix a time ; though you shall determine on
the next year, or month, or week, or day. I would
turn upon you, with all the eagerness and tenderness
of friendly importunity, and entreat you to bring the
matter to an issue even now. For if you say, " I
will think on these things to-morrow," I shall have
little hope ; and shall conclude that all that I have
hitherto urged, and all that you have read, has been
offered and viewed in vain.
3. When I invite you to the care and practice of
religion, it may seem strange that it should be neces-
sary for me affectionately to plead the cause with
you, in order to your immediate regard and compli-
ance. What I am inviting you to is so noble and
excellent in itself, so well worthy of the dignity of
our rational nature, so suitable to it, so manly and
so wise, that one would imagine you should take
fire, as it were, at the first hearing of it ; yea, that
UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. 45
so delightful a view should presently possess your
whole soul with a kind of indignation against your-
eelf that you pursued it no sooner. " May I lift up
my eyes and my soul to God ; may I devote myself
to him ; may I even now commence a friendship
with him — a friendship which shall last for ever, the
security, the delight, the glory of this immortal na-
ture of mine — and shall I draw back, and say,
Nevertheless, let me not commence this friendship
too soon : let me live at least a few weeks, or a few
days longer without God in the world ?" Surely, it
would be much more reasonable to turn inward, and
say, " 0, my soul, on what vile husks hast thou been
feeding, while thy heavenly Father has been forsaken
and injured ! Shall I desire to multiply the days of
my poverty, my scandal, and my misery ?" On this
principle, surely an immediate return to God should
in all reason be chosen, rather than to play the fool
any longer, and go on a little more to displease God,
and thereby starve and wound your own soul, even
though your continuance in life were ever so certain,
and your capacity to return to God and your duty
ever so entirely in your power, now, and in every
future moment, through scores of years yet to come.
4. But who and what are you, that you should
lay your account for years or for months to come ?
" What is your life ? Is it not even as a vapor, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away ?"
46 RISE AND PROGRESS.
James 4 : 14. And what is your security, or what
is your peculiar warrant, that you should thus depend
upon the certainty of its continuance, and that so
absolutely as to venture, as it were, to pawn your
soul upon it ? " "Why," you will perhaps say, " I am
young, and in all my bloom and vigor ; I see hun-
dreds about me who are more than double my age,
and not a few of them who seem to think it too soon
to attend to religion yet."
You view the living, and you talk thus. But I
beseech you, think of the dead. Return, in your
thoughts, to those graves in which you have left
some of your young companions and your friends
You saw them a while ago gay and active, warm
with life, and hopes, and schemes. And some of
them would have thought a friend strangely impor-
tunate that should have interrupted them in their
business and their pleasures, with a solemn lecture
on death and eternity. Yet they were then on the
very borders of both. You have since seen their
corpses, or at least their coffins, and probably carried
about with you the badges of mourning which you
received at their funerals. Those once vigorous, and
perhaps beautiful bodies of theirs, now lie moulder-
ing in the dust, as senseless and helpless as the most
decrepid pieces of human nature which fourscore
years ever brought down to it. And, what is infi-
nitely more to be regarded, their souls, whether pre-
DYING UNPREPARED. 47
pared for this great change, or thoughtless of it, have
made their appearance before God, and are at this
moment fixed, either in heaven or in hell. Now let
me seriously ask you, would it 'be miraculous, or
would it be strange, if such an event should befall
you ? How are you sure that some fatal disease
will not this day begin to work in your veins ? How
are you sure that you shall ever be capable of read-
ing or thinking any more, if you do not attend to
what you now read, and pursue the thought which
is now offering itself to your mind ? This sudden
alteration may at least possibly happen ; and if it
does, it will be to you a terrible one indeed. To be
thus surprised into the presence of a forgotten God ;
to be torn away, at once, from a world to which
your whole heart and soul has been riveted — a world
which has engrossed all your thoughts and cares, all
your desires and pursuits ; and be fixed in a state
which you never could be so far persuaded to think
of, as to spend so much as one hour in serious prepa-
ration for it : how must you even shudder at the ap-
prehension of it, and with what horror must it filJ
you ! It seems matter of wonder, that in such cir-
cumstances you are not almost distracted with the
thoughts of the uncertainty of life, and are not even
ready to die for fear of death. To trifle with God
any longer, after so solemn an admonition as this,
would be a circumstance of additional provocation,
48 RISE AND PROGRESS.
which, after all the rest, might be fatal ; nor is there
any thing you can expect in such a case, but that
he should cut you off immediately, and teach other
thoughtless creatures, by your ruin, what a hazard-
ous experiment they make when they act as you are
acting.
5. And will you, after all, run this desperate risk?
For what imaginable purpose can you do it ? Do
you think the business of religion will become less
necessary or more easy by your delay ? You know
that it will not. You know, that whatever the
blessed God demands now, he will also demand
twenty or thirty years hence, if you should live to
see the time. God has fixed his method, in which
he will pardon and accept sinners, in his Gospel.
And will he ever alter that method ? Or, if he will
not, can men alter it ? You like not to think of re-
penting, and humbling yourself before God, to receive
righteousness and life from his free grace in Christ ;
and you, above all, dislike the thought of returning
to God in the ways of holy obedience. But will he
ever dispense with any of these, and publish a new
Gospel, with promises of life and salvation to impen-
itent, unbelieving sinners, if they will but call them-
Btlves Christians, and submit to a few external rites?
How long do you think you might wait for such a
change in the constitution of things ? You know
death will come upon you, and you cannot but know,
WORK DIFFICULT BY DELAY. 49
in your own conscience, that a general dissolution
will come upon the world long before God can thus
deny himself, and contradict all his perfections and
all his declarations.
6. Or, if his demands continue the same, as they
assuredly will, do you think any thing which is now
disagreeable to you in them, will be less disagreeable
hereafter than it is at present ? Shall you love to
sin less, when it becomes more habitual to you, and
when your conscience is yet more enfeebled and de-
bauched ? If you are running with the footmen and
fainting, shall you be able "to contend with the
horsemen?" Jer. 12 : 5. Surely you cannot imag-
ine it. You would not say, in any disease which
threatened your life, "I will stay till I grow a little
worse, and then I will apply to a physician ; I will
let my disease get a little more rooting in my vitals,
and then I will try what can be done to remove it.'
No, it is only where the life of the soul is concerned
that men think thus wildly ; the life and health of
the body appear too precious to be thus trifled away.
7. If, after such desperate experiments, you are
ever recovered, it must be by an operation of divine
grace on your soul, yet more powerful and more won-
derful in proportion to the increasing inveteracy of
your spiritual maladies. And can you expect that
the Holy Spirit should be more ready to assist you,
in consequence of your having so shamefully .trifled
Rise and Prog. A
50 RISE AND PROGRESS.
with him, and affronted him ? He is now, in some
measure, moving on your heart. If you feel any se-
cret relentings in it upon what you read, it is a sign
that you are not yet utterly forsaken. But who can
tell whether these are not the last touches he will
ever give to a heart so long hardened against him"?
Who can tell, but God may this day " swear, in his
wrath, that you shall not enter into his rest ?" Heb.
3 : 18. I have been telling you that you may im-
mediately die. You own it is possible you "may:
And can you think of any thing more terrible ? Yes,
sinner, I will tell you of one thing more dreadful
than immediate death and immediate damnation.
The blessed God may say, " As for that wretched
creature, who has so long trifled with me and pro-
voked me, let him still live ; let him live in the
midst of prosperity and plenty ; let him live under
the purest and the most powerful ordinances of the.
Gospel, too, that he may abuse them to aggravate
his condemnation, and die under sevenfold guilt, and
a sevenfold curse. I will not give him the grace to
think of his ways for one serious moment more ; but
he shall go on from bad to worse, filling up the
measure of his iniquities, till death and destruction
seize him in an unexpected hour, and ' wrath come
upon him to the uttermost.' " 1 Thess. 2 : 16.
8. You think this is an uncommon case ; but I
fear it is much otherwise. J fear there are few con-
WORK DIFFICULT BY DELAY. 51
gregations where the word of God has been faithfully
preached, and where it has long been despised, espe-
cially by those whom it had once awakened, in which
the eye of God does not see a number of such
wretched souls ; though it is ^impossible for us, in
this mortal state, to pronounce upon the case who
they are.
9. I pretend not to say how he will deal with you,
0. reader ; whether he will immediately cut you off,
-or seal you up under final hardness and impenitency
of heart, or whether his grace may at length awaken
you to consider your ways, and return to him, even
when your heart is grown yet more obdurate than it
is at present. For to his almighty grace nothing is
hard, not even to transform a rock of marble into a
man or a saint. But this I will confidently say, that
if you delay any longer, the time will come when
you will bitterly repent of that delay, and either la-
ment it before God in the anguish of your heart here,
or curse your own folly and madness in hell ; yea,
when you will wish, that, dreadful as hell is, you had
rather fallen into it sooner, than have lived in the
midst of so many abused mercies, to render the de-
gree of your punishment more insupportable, and your
sense of it more exquisitely tormenting.
10. I do therefore earnestly exhort you, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the worth,
and, if I may so speak, by the blood of your immor-
52 RISE AND PROGRESS.
tal and perishing soul, that you delay not a day or
an hour longer. Far from "giving sleep to your
eyes, or slumber to your eyelids," Prov. 6 : 4, in the
continued neglect of this important concern, take with
you, even now, "words, and turn unto the Lord,"
Hos. 14 : 2; and before you quit the place where you
now are, fall upon your knees in his sacred presence,
and pour out your heart in such language, or at least
to some such purpose as this :
A PRAYER FOR ONE WHO IS TEMPTED TO DELAY APPLY-
ING TO RELIGION, THOUGH UNDER SOME CONVICTION
OF ITS IMPORTANCE.
"0 thou righteous and holy Sovereign of heaven
and earth ; thou God, ' in whose hand my breath is,
and whose are all my ways!' Dan. 5 : 23. I con-
fess I have been far from glorifying thee, or con-
ducting myself according to the intimations or the
declarations of thy will. I have therefore reason to
adore thy forbearance and goodness, that thou hast
not long since stopped my breath, and cut me ofl
from the land of the living. I adore thy patience,
that I have not, months and years ago, been an in-
habitant of hell, where ten thousand delaying sin-
ners are now lamenting their folly, and will be la-
menting it for ever. But, 0 God, how possible is it
that this trifling heart of mine may at length betray
me into the same ruin ; and then, alas, into a ruin
PRAYER UNDER CONVICTION. 53
aggravated by all this patience and forbearance of
thine ! I am convinced that, sooner or later, religion
must be my serious care, or I am undone. And yet
my foolish heart draws back from the yoke ; yet I
stretch myself upon the bed of sloth, and cry out for
a little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more
folding of the hands to sleep. Prov. 6 : 10. Thus
does my corrupt heart plead for its own indulgence
against the conviction of my better judgment. What
shall I say ? 0 Lord, save me from myself. Save
me from the artifices and deceitfulness of sin. Save
me from the treachery of this perverse and degene-
rate nature of mine, and fix upon my mind what I
have now been reading.
" 0 Lord, I am not now instructed in truths which
were before quite unknown. Often have I been
warned of the uncertainty of life, and the great un-
certainty of the day of salvation. And I have formed
some light purposes, and have begun to take a few
irresolute steps in my way towards a return to thee.
But, alas, I have been only, as it were, fluttering
about religion, and have never fixed upon it. All my
resolutions have been scattered like smoke, or dis-
persed like a cloudy vapor before the wind. 0 that
thou wouldst now bring these things home to my
heart, with a more powerful conviction than it hath
ever yet- felt. 0 that thou wouldst pursue me with
them, even when I flee from them. If I should even
54 RISE AND PROGRESS.
grow mad enough to endeavor to escape them any
more, may thy Spirit address me in the language of
effectual terror, and add all the most powerful meth-
ods which thou knowest to be necessary to awaken
me from this lethargy, which must otherwise be
mortal. May the sound of these things be in mine
ears ' when I go out, and when I come in, when I
lie down, and when I rise up.' Deut. 6:7. And il
the repose of the night and the business of the day
be for a while interrupted by the impression, be it
BO, 0 God; if I may but thereby carry on my busi-
ness with thee to better purpose, and at length secure
a repose in thee, instead of all that terror which I
now find when ' I think upon God, and am troubled.'
Psalms 77: 3.
"0 Lord, 'my flesh tremble th for fear of thee, and
I am afraid of thy judgments.' Psa. 1 19 : 120. I am
afraid lest, even now that I have begun to think »of
religion, thou shouldst cut me off in this critical and
important moment, before my thoughts grow to any
ripeness, and blast in eternal death th*e first buddings
and openings of it in my mind. But 0, spare me, I
earnestly entreat thee : for thy mercies' sake, spare
me a little longer. It may be, through thy grace I
shall return. It may be, if thou continuest thy pa-
tience towards me a while longer, there may be ' some
better fruit produced by this cumberer of the ground.'
Luke 13:7, 8. And may the remembrance of that
PRAYER UNDER CONVICTION. 55
long forbearance which thou hast already exercised
towards me, prevent my continuing to trifle with thee,
and with my own soul. From this day, 0 Lord,
from this hour, from this moment, may I be able to
date more lasting impressions of religion than have
ever yet been made upon my heart by all that I have
ever read, or all that I have heard. Amen."
56 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER IV.
THE SINNER ARRAIGNED AND CONVICTED.
1. Conviction of guilt necessary. — 2. A charge of rebellion
against God advanced., — 3. Where it is shown, that all men
are born under God's law.- — 4. That no man hath perfectly
kept it. — 5. An appeal to the reader's conscience oji this head,
that he hath not. — 6. That to have broken it, is an evil inex-
pressibly great. — 7. Illustrated by a more particular view of
the aggravations of this guilt, arising, from knowledge. — 8.
From divine favors received. — 9.. From convictions of con-
science overborne. — 10. From the strivings of God's Spirit
resisted. — 11. From vows and resolutions broken. — 12. The
charges summed up/ and left upon the sinner's conscience.—
The sinner's confession under a general conviction of guilt .
1 . As I am attempting to lead you to true religion,
and not merely to some superficial form of it, I am
sensible I can do it no otherwise than in the way oi.
deep humiliation. And therefore, supposing you are
persuaded, through the divine blessing on what you.
have before read, to take it into consideration, I would
now endeavor, in the first place, with all the serious-
ness I can, to make you heartily sensible of your guilt
before God. For I well know, that, unless you are
convinced of this, and affected with the conviction,
all the provisions of gospel grace will be slighted,
and your soul infallibly destroyed, in the midst of the
THE SINNER CONVICTED. 57
noblest means appointed for its recovery. I am fully
persuaded that thousands live and die in a course of
sin, without feeling upon their hearts any sense that
they are sinners, though they cannot, for shame, but
own it in words. And therefore let me deal faith-
fully with you, though I may seem to deal roughly ;
for complaisance is not to give law to addresses in
which the life of your soul is concerned.
•2. Permit me therefore, 0 sinner, to consider my-
self at this time as an advocate for God, as one em-
ployed in his name to plead against thee, and to
charge thee with nothing less than being a rebel and
a traitor against the Sovereign Majesty of heaven
and earth. However thou mayest be dignified or
distinguished among men ; if the noblest blood run
in thy veins ; if thy seat were among princes, and
thine arm were " the terror of the mighty in the land
of the living," Ezek. 32 : 27, it would .be necessary
thou .shouldst be told, and told plainly, thou hast
broken the laws of the King of kings, and by the
breach of them art become obnoxious to his righteous
condemnation.
3. Your conscience tells you that you were born
the natural subject of God, bom under the indispen-
sable obligations of his law. For it is most apparent
that the constitution of your rational nature, which
makes you capable of receiving law from God, binds
you to obey it. And it is eoually evident and cer-
58 RISE AND PROGRESS.
tain, that you have not exactly obeyed this law, nay,
that you have violated it in many aggravated in-
stances.
4. "Will you dare to deny this ? Will you dare to
assert your innocence ? Remember, it must be a
complete innocence ; yes, and a perfect righteousness
too, or it can stand you in no stead, farther than to
prove, that though a condemned sinner, you are not
quite so criminal as some others, and will not have
quite so hot a place in hell as they. And when this
is considered, will you plead not guilty to the charge ?
Search the records of your own conscience, for God
searcheth them: ask it seriously, "Have you never
in your life sinned against God?" Solomon declar-
ed, that in his days "there was not a just man upon
earth, who did good, and sinned not," Eccles. 7 : 20 ;
and the apostle Paul, "that all had sinned, and come
short of the glory of God," Rom. 3 : 23, "that both
Jews and Gentiles," which, you know, comprehend
the whole human race, "were all under sin." Rom.
3:9. And can you pretend any imaginable reason
to believe the world is grown so much better since
their days,, that any should now plead their own
case as an exception? Or will you, however, pre-
sume to arise in the face of the omniscient Majesty
of heaven, and say, I am the man ?
5. Supposing, as before, you have been free from
those gross acts of immorality which are so pernicious
THE SINNER CONVICTED. 59
to society that they have generally been punishable
by human laws ; can you pretend that you have not,
in smaller instances, violated the rules of piety, of
temperance, and charity ? Is there any. one person,
who has intimately 'known you, that would not be
able to testify you had said or done something amiss ?
Or if others could not convict you, would not your
own heart do it? Does it not prove you guilty of
pride, of passion, of sensuality, of an excessive fond-
ness of the world and its enjoyments ; of murmuring,
or at least, of secretly repining against God, under
the strokes of an afflictive providence ; of misspend-
ing a great deal of your time ; abusing the gifts of
God's bounty to vain, if not, in some instances, to
pernicious purposes ; of mocking him when you have
pretended to engage in his worship, " drawing near
to him with your mouth and your lips, while your
heart has been far from him ?" Isa. 29 : 13. Does
not conscience condemn you of some one breach of
the law at least ? And by one breach of it you are,
in a sense, a scriptural sense, " become guilty of all,"
Jam. 2 : 10, and are as incapable of being justified .
before God, by any obedience of your own, as if you
had committed ten thousand offences. But, in real-
ity, there are ten thousand and more chargeable to
your account. When you come to reflect on all your
sins of negligence, as well as on thpse of commission ;
on all the instances in which you have "-failed to
60 RISE AND PROGRESS.
do good when it was in the power of your hand to
do it," Prov. 3 : 27 ; on all the instances in which
acts of devotion have been omitted, especially in
secret ; and on all those cases in which you have
shown a stupid disregard .to the honor of God, and
to the temporal and eternal happiness of your fellow-
creatures: when all these, I say, are reviewed, the
number will swell beyond all possibility of account,
and force you to cry out, "Mine iniquities are more
than the hairs of my head." Psa. 40 : 12. They
will appear in such a light before you, that your own
heart will charge you writh countless multitudes ; and
how much more, then that God, who is greater
than your heart, and knoweth all things. 1 John,
3 : 20.
6. And say, sinner, is it a little thing that you
have presumed to set light by the authority of the
God of heaven, and to violate his law, if it had been
by mere carelessness ancl inattention ? How much
more heinous, therefore, is the guilt, when • in so
many instances you have done it knowingly and
wilfully. Give me leave seriously to ask you, and
let me entreat you to ask your own- soul, " Against
whom hast thou magnified thyself? against whorq
hast thou exalted thy voice," 2 Kings, 19': 22, 01
" lifted Up thy rebellious hand ?" On whose law, 0
sinner, hast thou presumed to trample ; . and whose
friendship, and whose enmity, hast thou thereby
EVIL OF OFFENDING GOD. 61
dared to affront ? Is it a man like thyself that thou
hast insulted ? Is it only a temporal monarch — only
one " who can kill thy hody, and then hath no more
that he can do ?" Luke 12 : 4.
Nay, sinner, thou wouldst not have dared to treat
a temporal prince as thou hast treated the " King
Eternal, Immortal," and " Invisible." 1 Tim. 1 : 17.
No price could have hired thee to deal by the maj-
esty of an earthly sovereign, as thou hast dealt by
that God before whom the cherubim and seraphim
are continually bowing. Not one opposing or com-
plaining, disputing or murmuring word is heard
among all the celestial legions, when the intimations
of his will are published to them. And who art
thou, 0 wretched man, who art thou, that thou
shouldst oppose him? That thou shouldst oppose
and provoke a God of infinite power and terror, who
needs but exert one single act of his sovereign will,
and thou art in a moment stripped of every posses-
sion ; cut off from every hope ; destroyed and rooted
up from existence, if that were his pleasure ; or,
what- is inconceivably worse, consigned over to the
severest and most lasting agonies ? Yet this is the
God whom thou hast offended, whom thou lj.ast af-
fronted to his face, presuming to violate his express
laws in his very presence. This is the God before
whom thou standest as a convicted criminal ; con-
victed not of one or two .particular offences, but of
62 RISE AND PROGRESS.
thousands and ten thousands ; of a course and series
of rebellion and provocations, in which thou hast
persisted more or less ever since thou wast Lorn,
and the particulars of which have been attended
with almost every conceivable circumstance of ag-
gravation. Reflect on particulars, and deny the
charge if you can.
7. If knowledge be an aggravation of guilt, thy
guilt, 0 sinner, is greatly aggravated. For thou wast
born in Emmanuel's land, and God hath " written
to thee the great things of his law," yet " thou hast
accounted them as a strange thing." Hos. 8 : 12.
Thou hast " known to do good, and hast not done
it," James 4 : 17 ;• and therefore to thee the omis-
sion of it has been sin indeed. "Hast thou not
known? Hast thou not heard?" Isa. 40 : 28.
Wast thou not early taught the will of God ? Hast
thou not since received repeated lessons, by which it
has been inculcated again and again, in public and
in private, by preaching and reading the word of
God? Nay, hath not thy duty been in some in-
stances so plain, that, even without any instruction
at all, thine own reason might easily have inferred
it ? And hast thou not also been warned of the con-
sequences of disobedience ? Hast thou not " known
the righteous judgment of God, that they who com-
mit such things are worthy of death?" Yet thou
hast, perhaps, " not only done the same, but hast had
HEINOUSNESS OF SIN. 63
pleasure in those that do them," Rom. 1 : 32 ; hast
chosen them for thy most intimate friends and com-
panions; so as hereby to strengthen, by the force of
example and converse, the hands of each other in
your iniquities.
8. Nay more, if divine love and mercy be any
aggravation of the sins committed against it, thy
crimes, 0 sinner, are heinously aggravated. Must
thou not acknowledge it, 0 foolish creature and un-
wise ? Hast thou not been " nourished and brought
up by him as his child, and yet hast rebelled against
him?" Isa. 1 : 2. Did not God "take you out -of
the womb ?" Psalms 22 : 9. Did he not watch
over you in your infant days, and guard you from a
multitude of dangers which the most careful parent
or nurse could not have observed or warded off?
Has he not given you your rational powers ; and is
it not by him you have been favored with every
opportunity of improving them ? Has he not every
day supplied your wants with an unwearied liberal-
ity, and added, with respect to many who will read
this, the delicacies of life to its necessary supports ?
Has he not " heard you cry when trouble came upon
you ?" Job 27 : 9 ; and frequently appeared for youi
deliverance, when in the distress of nature you have '
called upon him for help ? Has he not rescued you
from ruin, when it seemed just ready to swallow you
up ; and healed your diseases, when it seemed to al]
64 RISE AND PROGRESS.
about you, that the residue of your days was " cut
.off in the midst ?" Psalms 102 : 24. Or, if it has
not been so, is not this long-continued and uninter-
rupted health, which you have enjoyed for so many
years, to be acknowledged as an equivalent obliga-
tion ? Look around upon all your possessions, and
say, what one thing have you in the world which his
goodness did not give you, and which he hath not
thus far preserved to you ? Add to all this, the kind
notice of his will which he hath sent you ; the tender
expostulations which he hath used with you, to bring
you to a wiser and better temper ; and the discover-
ies and gracious invitations of his Gospel which you
have heard, and which you hare despised ; and then
say, whether your rebellion has not been aggravated
by the vilest ingratitude, and whether that aggra-
vation can be accounted small ?
9. Again, if it be any aggravation of sin to be
committed against conscience, thy crimes, 0 sinner,
have been so aggravated. Consult the records of it,
and then dispute the fact if you can. " There is a
spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth him understanding," Job 32 : 8 ; and that
understanding will act, and a secret conviction of
being accountable to its Maker and Preserver is in-
separable from the actings of it. It is easy to object
to human remonstrances, and to give things false-
colorings before him ; but the heart often condemns.
HE1NOUSNESS OF SIN. (35
while the tongue excuses. Have you not often found
it so ? Has not conscience remonstrated against your
past conduct, and have not these remonstrances been
very painful too ? I have been assured, by a gen-
tleman of undoubted credit, that, when he was in
the pursuit of all the gayest sensualities of life, and
was reckoned one of the happiest of mankind, he has
seen a dog come into the room where he was among
his merry companions, and has groaned inwardly
and said, "0, that I had been that dog !" And hast
thou, 0 sinner, felt nothing like this ? Has thy con-
science been so stupefied, so " seared with a hot
iron," 1 Tim. 4 : 2, that it has never cried out for
any of the violences which have been done it ? Has
it never warned thee of the fatal consequences of
what thou hast done in opposition to it ? These
warnings are, in effect, the voice of God ; they are
the admonitions which he gave thee by his vice-
gerent in thy breast. And when his sentence for
thy evil works is executed upon thee in everlasting
death, thou shalt hear that voice speaking to thee
again in a louder tone and a severer accent than be-
fore ; and thou shalt be tormented with its upbraid-
ing through eternity, because thou wouldst not, in
time, hearken to its admonitions.
10. Let me add farther, if it be any aggravation
that sin has been committed after God has been
moving by his Spirit on the mind, surely your sin
Rise tad Prog-, *j
66 RISE AND PROGRESS.
has been attended too with that aggravation. Under
the Mosaic dispensation, dark and imperfect as it
was, the Spirit strove with the Jews ; else Stephen
could not have charged it upon them, that through
all their generations " they had always resisted him."
Acts 7:51. Now, surely, we may much more rea-
sonably apprehend that he strives with sinners undei
the Gospel. And have you never experienced any
thing of this kind, even when there has been no ex-
ternal circumstance to awaken you, nor any pious
teacher near you ? Have you never perceived some
secret impulse upon your mind, leading you to think
of religion, urging you to an immediate consideration
of it, sweetly inviting you to make trial of it, and
warning you, that you would lament this stupid
neglect ? 0 sinner, why were not these happy mo-
tions attended to? Why did you not, as it were,
spread out all the sail of your soul to catch that
heavenly, that favorable breeze ? But you have
carelessly neglected it : you have overborne these
kind influences. How reasonably, then, might the
sentence have gone forth in righteous displeasure,
" My Spirit shall no more strive." Gen. 6 : 3. And
indeed who can say that it is not already gone forth ?
If you feel no secret agitation of mind, no remorse,
no awakening while you read such a remonstrance
as this, there will be room, great room to suspect it.
1 1 . There is indeed one aggravation more, which
CONSCIENCE STIFLED. 67
may not attend your guilt — I mean that of being
committed against solemn covenant engagements : a
circumstance which has lain heavy on the conscien-
ces of many, who perhaps in the main series of their
lives have served God with great integrity. But let
me call you to think to what this is owing. Is it
not that you have never personally made any solemn
profession of devoting yourself to God at all — have
never done any thing which has appeared to your
own apprehension an act by which you have made
a covenant with him, though you have heard so much
of his covenant, though you have been so solemnly
and so tenderly invited to it ? And in this view,
how monstrous must this circumstance appear, which
at first was mentioned as some alleviation of guilt.
Yet I must add, that you are not, perhaps, altogether
so free from guilt on this head as you may at first
imagine. Has your heart been, even from your
youth, hardened to so uncommon a degree that you
have never cried to God in any season of danger and
difficulty ? And did you never mingle vows with
those cries ? Did you never promise, that if God
would hear and help you in that hour of extremity,
you would forsake your sins, and serve him as long
as you lived ? He heard and helped you, or you had
not been reading these lines ; and, by such deliver-
ance, did as it were bind down your vows upon you ;
and therefore your guilt, in the violation of them,
68 RISE AND PROGRESS.
remains before him, though you are stupid enough to
forget them. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is over-
looked by him; and the day will come, when the
record shall be laid before you too.
12. And now, 0 sinner, think seriously with thy-
self what defence thou wilt make to all this. Pre-
pare thine apology ; call thy witnesses ; make thine
appeal from him whom thou hast thus offended, to
some superior judge, if such there be. Alas, those
apologies are so weak and vain, that one of thy fel-
low-worms may easily detect and confound them ;
as I will endeavor presently to show thee. But thy
foreboding conscience already knows the issue. Thou
art convicted, convicted of the most aggravated of-
fences. Thou " hast not humbled thine heart, but
lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven," Dan.
5 : 22, 23, and " thy sentence shall come forth from
his presence." Psalms 17:2. Thou hast violated
his known laws ; thou hast despised and abused his
numberless mercies ; thou hast affronted conscience,
his vicegerent in thy soul ; thou hast resisted and
grieved his Spirit ; thou hast trifled with him in all
thy pretended submissions; and, in one word, and
that his own, " thou hast done evil things as thou
couldst." Jer. 3 : 5. Thousands are no doubt
already in hell whose guilt never equalled thine ;
and it is astonishing that God hath spared thee to
read this representation of thy case, or to make any
CONVINCED SINNER'S CONFESSION. 69
pause upon it. 0 waste not so precious a moment,
but enter attentively, and as humbly as thou canst,
into those reflections which suit a case so lamentable
and so terrible as thine.
THE CONFESSION OF A SINNER CONVINCED IN GENERAL
OF HIS GUILT.
"0 God, thou injured Sovereign, thou all-pene-
trating and Almighty Judge, what shall I say to
this charge ? Shall I pretend I am wronged by it,
and stand on the defence in thy presence ? I dare not
do it; for 'thou knowest my foolishness, and none
of my sins are hid from thee.' Psa. 69 : 5. My con-
science tells me that a denial of my crimes would
only increase them, and add new fuel to the fire of
thy deserved wrath. ' If I justify myself, mine own
mouth will condemn me ; if I say I am perfect, it will
also prove me perverse,' Job 9 : 20 ; 'for innumerable
evils have compassed me about : mine iniquities have
taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look
up : they are,' as I have been told in thy name, 'more
than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fail-
eth me.' Psa. 40 : 12. I am more guilty than it is
possible for another to declare or represent. My
heart speaks more than any other accuser. And
thou, 0 Lord, art much greater than my heart, and
knowest all things. 1 John, 3 : 20.
" What has my life been but a course of rebellion
70 RISE AND PROGRESS.
against thee ? It is not this or that particular action
alone I have to lament. Nothing has been right in
its principles, and views, and ends. My whole soul
has been disordered. All my thoughts, my affections,
my desires, my pursuits have been wretchedly alien-
ated from thee. I have acted as if I had hated thee,
who art infinitely the loveliest of all beings ; as if I
had been contriving how I might tempt thee to the
uttermost, and weary out thy patience, marvelous as
it is. My actions have been evil, my words yet more
evil than they; and, 0 blessed God, my heart, how
much more corrupt than either. What an inex-
hausted fountain of sin has there been in it. A foun-
tain of original corruption, which mingled its bitter
streams with the days of early childhood ; and which,
alas, flows on even to this day, beyond what actions
or words could express. I see this to have been the
case with regard to what I can particularly survey.
But 0, how many months and years have I forgotten,
concerning which I only know this in the general,
that they are much like those I can remember ; ex-
cept it be, that I have been growing worse and worse,
and provoking thy patience more and more, though
every new exercise of it was more and more won-
derful.
"And how am I astonished that thy forbearance
Is still continued. It is because thou art 'God, and
not man.' Hos. 11 : 9. Had I, a sinful worm, been
CONVINCED SINNER'S CONFESSION. 71
thus injured, I could not have enflured it. Had I
been a prince, I had long since done justice on any
rebel whose crimes had borne but a distant resem-
blance to mine. Had I been a parent, I had long since
cast off the ungrateful child who had made me such
a return as I have all my life long been making to
thee, 0 thou Father of my spirit. The flame of nat-
ural affection would have been extinguished, and his
sight and his very name would have become hateful
to me. Why then, 0 Lord, am I not ' cast out from
thy presence?' Jer. 52 : 3. Why am I rTot sealed
up under an irreversible sentence of destruction ?
That I live, I owe to thine indulgence. But 0, if
there be yet any way of deliverance, if there be yet
any hope for so guilty a creature, may it be opened
upon me by thy Gospel and thy grace. And if any
farther alarm, humiliation; or terror be necessary to
my security and salvation, may I meet them and
bear them all. Wound my heart, 0 Lord, so that
thou wilt but afterwards 'heal it;' and break it in
pieces, if thou wilt but at length condescend to bind
it up." Hos. 6:1.
72 RISE AND PROGRESS.
•
CHAPTER V.
THE SINNER STRIPPED OF HIS VAIN PLEAS.
3, a. The vanity of those pleas which sinners may secretly
confide in is so apparent, that they will be ashamed at last to
mention them before God. — 3. Such as, that they descended
from pious parents. — 4. That they had attended to the specu-
lative part of religion. — 5. That they had entertained sound
notions, — 6, 7. That they had expressed a zealous regard to
religion, and attended the outward forms of worship with
those they*apprehended the purest churches. — 8. That they
had been free from gross immoralities. — 9. That they did not
think the consequences of neglecting religion would have been
so fatal. — 10. That they could not do otherwise than they
did. — 11. Conclusion. With the meditation of a convinced
sinner giving up his vain pleas before God.
1 . MY last discourse left the sinner in very alarm-
ing and very pitiable circumstances ; a criminal con-
victed at the bar of God, disarmed of all pretences to
perfect innocence and sinless obedience, and conse-
quently obnoxious to the sentence of a holy law,
which can make no allowance for any transgression,
no, not for the least ; but pronounces death and a
curse against every act of disobedience : how much
more then against those numberless and aggravated
acts of rebellion, of which, 0 sinner, thy conscience
hath condemned thee before God. I would hope
some of my readers will ingenuously fall under the
SINNER STRIPPED OF EXCUSES. 73
conviction, and not think of making any apology;
for sure I am, that, humbly to plead guilty at the
divine bar, is the most decent, and, all things con-
sidered, the most prudent thing that can be done in
such an unhappy state. Yet I know the treachery
and the self-flattery of a sinful and corrupted heart.
I know what excuses it makes, and how, when it is
driven from one refuge, it flies to another, to fortify
itself against conviction, and to persuade, not merely
another, but itself, "That if it has been in some in-
stances to blame, it is not quite so criminal as was
represented; that there are at least considerations
that plead in its favor, which, if they cannot justify,
will in some degree excuse." A secret reserve of this
kind, sometimes perhaps scarcely formed into a dis-
tinct reflection, breaks the force of conviction, and
often prevents that deep humiliation before God
which is the happiest token of approaching deliver-
ance. I will therefore examine into some of these
particulars; and for that purpose would seriously
ask thee, 0 sinner, what thou hast to offer in arrest
of judgment? "What plea thou canst urge for thy-
self, why the sentence of God should not go forth
against thee, and why thou shouldst not fall into the
hands of his justice ?
2. But this I must premise, that the question is
not, How wouldst thou answer to me, a weak sinful
worm like thyself, who am shortly to stand with thee
*4 RISE AND PROGRESS.
at the same bar? and "the Lord grant that I may
find mercy of the Lord in that day," 2 Tim. 1:18; but,
What wilt thou reply to thy Judge ? What couldst
thou plead, if thou wast now actually before his tri-
bunal, where, to multiply vain words, and to frame
idle apologies, would be but to increase thy guilt and
provocation? Surely the very thought of his pres-
ence must supersede a thousand of those trifling ex-
cuses which now sometimes impose on " a generation
that are pure in their own eyes," though they "are
not washed from their filthiness," Prov. 30 : 12 ; or
while they are conscious of their impurities, " trust
in words that cannot profit," Jer. 7 : 8, and "lean
upon broken reeds." Isa. 36 : 6.
3. You will not, to be sure, in such a condition,
plead " that you are descended from pious parents."
That was indeed your privilege ; and woe be to you
that you have abused it, and "forsaken the God of
your fathers." 2 Chron. 7 : 22. Ishmael was imme-
diately descended from Abraham, the friend of God,
and Esau was the son of Isaac, who was born ac-
cording to the promise; yet. you know they were
both cut off from the blessing to which they appre-
hended they had a kind of hereditary claim. You
may remember that our Lord does not only speak
of one who would call "Abraham father," who was
'tormented in flames," Luke 16 : 24, but expressly
declares that many of the children of the kingdom
SINNER STRIPPED OF EXCUSES. 75
shall be shut out of it ; and when others come from
the most distant parts to sit down in it, shall be dis-
tinguished from their companions in misery only by
louder accents of lamentation, and more furious
"gnashing of teeth." Matt. 8 : 11, 12.
. 4. Nor will you then presume to plead, "that you
had exercised your thoughts about the speculative
parts of religion/' For to what end can this serve
but to increase your condemnation ? Since you have
broken God's lav/, since you have contradicted the
most obvious and apparent obligations of religion, to
have inquired into it, and argued upon it, is a cir-
cumstance that proves your guilt more audacious.
What, did you think religion was merely an exercise
of men's wit, and the amusement of their curiosity?
If you argued about it on the principles of common
sense, you must have judged and proved it to be a
practical thing ; and if it was so, why did you not
practise accordingly ? You knew the particular
branches of it ; and why then did you not attend to
every,one of them ? To have pleaded an unavoidable
ignorance would have been the happiest plea that
could have remained for you ; nay, an actual, though
faulty ignorance, would have been some little allay of
your guilt. But if, by your own confession, you have
" known your Master's will, and have not done it," you
bear witness against yourself, that you deserve to be
"beaten with many stripes." Luke 12 : 47.
76 RISE AND PROGRESS.
5. Nor yet, again, will it suffice to say, " that you
have had right notions both of the doctrines and the
precepts of religion." Your advantage for practising
it was therefore the greater ; but understanding and
acting right can never go for the same thing, in the
judgment of God or of man. In " believing there is
one God," you have done well ; but the " devils also
believe and tremble." James 2:19. In acknow-
ledging Christ to be the Son of God and the Holy
One, you have done well too ; but you know the
unclean spirits made this very orthodox confession,
Luke 4 : 34, 41, and yet they are " reserved in ever-
lasting chains, under darkness,. unto the judgment of
the great day." Jude, ver. 6. And will you place
any secret confidence in that which might be pleaded
by the infernal spirits as well as by you ?
6. But perhaps you may think of pleading that
"you have actually done something in religion."
Having judged what faith was the soundest, and
what worship the purest, " you entered yourself into
those societies where such articles of faith were pro-
fessed, and such forms of worship were practised ;
and among these you have signalized yourself by the
exactness of your attendance, by the zeal with which
you have espoused their cause, and by the earnest-
ness with which you have contended for such princi-
ples and practices." 0 sinner, I much fear that this
zeal of thine about the circumstantials of religion,
SINNER STRIPPED OF EXCUSES. 77
will swell thine account, rather than be allowed in
abatement of it. He that searches thine heart knows
from whence it arose, and how far it extended.
Perhaps he sees that it was all hypocrisy, an artful
veil under which thou wast carrying on thy mean
designs for this world, while the sacred name of God
and religion were profaned and prostituted in the
basest manner ; and if so, thou art cursed with a
distinguished curse for so daring an insult on the
divine omniscience as well as justice. Or perhaps
the earnestness with which you have been " con-
tending for the faith and worship which was once
delivered to the saints," Jude, ver. 3, or which it is
possible you may have rashly concluded to be that,
might be mere pride and bitterness of spirit ; and all
the zeal you have expressed might possibly arise
from a confidence of your own judgment, from an
impatience of contradiction, or some secret malignity
of spirit, which delighteth itself in condemning, and
even in worrying others ; yea, which, if I may be
allowed the expression, fiercely preys upon religion,
as the tiger upon the lamb, to turn it into a nature
most contrary to its own. And shall this screen you
before the great tribunal ? Shall it not rather awa-
ken the displeasure it is pleaded to avert ?
7. But say that this zeal for notions and forms has
been ever so well-intended, and so far as it has gone,
ever so well-conducted too ; what will that avail to-
78 RISE AND PROGRESS.
wards vindicating thee in so many instances of neg-
ligence and disobedience as are recorded against
thee in the book of God's remembrance ? Were the
revealed doctrines of the Gospel to be earnestly main-
tained, as indeed they ought, and was the great prac-
tical purpose for which they were revealed to be for-
got ? Was the very mint, and anise, and cumrnin to
be tithed ; and were " the weightier matters of the law
to be omitted," Matt. 23 : 23, even that love to God
which is its "first and great command ?" Matthew
22 : 38. 0 how wilt thou be able to vindicate even the
justest sentence thou hast passed on others for their
infidelity, or for their disobedience, without being " con-
demned out of thine own mouth ?" Luke 19 : 22
8. Will you then plead "your fair moral charac-
ter, your works of righteousness and of mercy?"
Had your obedience to the law of God been com-
plete, the plea might be allowed as important and
valid. But I have supposed, and proved above, that
conscience testifies to the contrary ; and you will not
now dare to contradict it. I add farther, had these
works of yours, which you now urge, proceeded from
a sincere love to God, and a genuine faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you would not have thought of
pleading them any otherwise than as an evidence of
your interest in the gospel-covenant, and in the
blessings of it, procured by the righteousness and
blood of the Redeemer ; and that faith, had it been
SINNER STRIPPED OF EXCUSES. 79
sincere, would have been attended with such deep
humility, and with such solemn apprehensions of the
divine holiness and glory, that instead of pleading
any works of your own before God, you would rather
have implored his pardon for the mixture of sinful
imperfection attending the very best of them. Now,
as you are a stranger to this humbling and sanctify-
ing principle — which here in this address I suppose
my reader to be — it is absolutely necessary you should
be plainly and faithfully told, that neither sobriety,
nor honesty, nor humanity will justify you before the
tribunal of God, when he " lays judgment to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet," Isa. 28 : 17,
and examines all your actions, and all your thoughts
with the strictest severity. You have not been a
drunkard, an adulterer, or a robber. So far it is
well. You stand before a righteous God, who will
do you ample justice, and therefore will not condemn
you for drunkenness, adultery, or robbery ; but you
have forgotten him, your Parent and your Benefac-
tor; you have "cast off fear, and restrained prayer
before him," Job 15:4; you have despised the blood
of his Son, and all the immortal blessings that he
purchased with it. For this, therefore, you are judged
and condemned. And as for any thing that has
looked like virtue and humanity in your temper and
conduct, the exercise of it has in great measure been
its own reward, if there were any thing more than
bO RISE AJND PROGRESS.
form and artifice in it ; and the various bounties of
divine Providence to you, amidst all your numberless
provocations, have been a thousand times more than
an equivalent for such defective and imperfect vir-
tues as these. You remain, therefore, chargeable
with the guilt of a thousand offences, for which you
have no excuse, though there' are some other in-
stances in which you did not grossly offend. Arid
those good works in which you have been so ready
to trust, will no more vindicate you in his awful
presence, than a man's kindness to his poor neigh-
bors would be allowed as a plea in arrest of judg-
ment, when he stood convicted of high treason
against his prince.
9. But you will, perhaps, be ready to say, " you
did not expect all this ; you did not think the conse-
quences of neglecting religion would have been so
fatal." And why did you not think it? Why did
you not examine more attentively and more impar-
tially ? "Why did you suffer the pride and folly of
your vain heart to take up with such superficial ap-
pearances, and trust the light suggestions of your own
prejudiced mind against the express declaration of
the word of God ? Had you reflected on his char-
acter as the supreme Governor of the world, you
would have seen the necessity of such a day of retri-
bution as we are now referring to. Had you regard-
ed the Scripture, the divine authority of which you
SINNER STRIPPED OF EXCUSES. 81
professed to believe, every page might have taught
you to expect it. " You did not think of religion !"
and of what were you thinking when you forgot or
neglected it ? Had you so much employment of an-
other kind ? Of what kind, I beseech you ? What
end could you propose, by any thing else, of equal
moment ? Nay, with all your engagements, con-
science will tell you that there have been seasons
when, for want of thought, time and life have been
a burden to you ; yet you guarded against thought
as against an enemy, and cast up, as it were, an en-
trenchment of inconsideration around you on every
side, as if it had been to defend you from the most
dangerous invasion. God knew you were thought-
less, and therefore he sent you " line upon line, and
precept upon precept," Isa. 28 : 10, in such plain
language that it needed no genius or study to under-
stand it. He tried you, too, with afflictions as well
as with mercies, to awaken you out of your fatal
lethargy ; and yet, when awakened, you would lie
down again upon the bed of sloth. And now, pleas-
ing as your dreams might be, " you must lie down in
sorrow." Isa. 50 : 11. Reflection has at last over-
taken you, and must be heard as a tormentor, since
it might not be heard as a friend.
10. But some may perhaps imagine that one im-
portant apology is yet unheard, and that there may
be room to say, " you were, by the necessity of youi
Rue and Prog. c
83 RISE AND PROGRESS.
nature, impelled to those things which are now
charged upon you as crimes ; and that it was not in
your power to have avoided them, in the circum-
stances in which you were placed." If this will do
any thing, it indeed promises to do much — so much
that it will amount to nothing. If I were disposed
to answer you upon the folly and madness of youi
own principles, I might say, that the same considera-
tion which proves it was necessary for you to offend,
proves also that it is necessary for God to punish
you ; and that, indeed, he cannot hut do it : and I
might farther say, with an excellent writer, " that
the same principles which destroy the injustice of
sins, destroy the injustice of punishment too." But
if you cannot admit this, if you should still reply, in
spite of principle, that it must be unjust to punish
you for an action utterly and absolutely unavoidable,
I really think you would answer right. But in that
answer you will contradict your own scheme, as I
observed above ; and I leave your conscience to
judge what sort of a scheme that must be which
would make all kind of punishment unjust ; for the
argument will on the whole be the same, whether
with regard to human punishment or divine. It is
a scheme full of confusion and horror. You would
not, I am sure, take it from a servant who had
robbed you, and then fired your house ; you would
never inwardly believe that he could not have helped
SINNER STRIPPED OF EXCUSES. 83
it, or think that he had fairly excused himself by
such a plea ; and I am persuaded you would be so
far from presuming to offer it to God at the great
day, that you would not venture to turn it into a
prayer even now. Imagine that you saw a male-
factor dying with such words as these in his mouth :
" 0 God, it is true I did indeed rob and murder my
fellow-creatures ; but thou knowest that, as my cir-
cumstances were ordered, I could not do otherwise ;
my will was irresistibly determined by the motives
which thou didst set before me, and I could as well
have shaken the foundations of the earth, or dark-
ened the sun in the firmament, as have resisted the
impulse which bore me on." I put it to your con-
science whether you would not look on such a speech
as this with detestation, as one enormity added to
another. Yet, if the excuse would have any weight
in your mouth, it would have equal weight in his ; or
would be equally applicable to any — the most shock-
ing occasions. But, indeed, it is so contrary to the
plainest principles of common reason, that I can hardly
persuade myself that any one could seriously and
thoroughly believe it ; and should imagine my time
very ill-employed here, if I were to set myself to com-
bat those pretences to argument by which the wanton-
ness of human wit has attempted to varnish it over.
11. You see, then, on the whole, the vanity of all
your pleas, and how easily the most plausible of them
84 RISE AND PROGRESS.
might be silenced by a mortal man like yourself;
how much more, then, by Him who searches all
hearts, and can, in a moment, flash in upon the con-
science a most powerful and irresistible conviction ?
What then can you do, while you stand convicted in
the presence of God ? What should you do, but hold
your peace under an inward sense of your inexcusa-
ble guilt, and prepare yourself to hear the sentence
which his law pronounces against you ? You must
feel the execution of it, if the Gospel does not at
length deliver you ; and you must feel something of
the terror of it before you can be excited to seek to
that Gospel for deliverance.
THE MEDITATION OF A CONVINCED SINNER GIVING UP
HIS VAIN PLEAS BEFORE GOD.
" Deplorable condition to which I am indeed re-
duced ! I have sinned, and * what shall I say unto
thee, 0 thou Preserver of men ?' Job 7 : 20. What
shall I dare to say ? Fool that I was, to amuse
myself with such trifling excuses as these, and to
imagine they could have any weight in thy tremen-
dous presence, or that I should be able so much as to
mention them there. I cannot presume to do it. I
am silent and confounded : my hopes, alas, are slain,
and my soul itself is ready to die too, so far as an
immortal soul can die ; and I am almost ready to
say, 0 that it could die entirely ! I am indeed a
criminal in the hands of justice, quite disarmed, and
MEDITATION OF A CONVINCED SINNER. 85
stripped of the weapons in which I trusted. Dis-
simulation can only add provocation to provocation.
I will therefore plainly and freely own it. I have
acted as if I thought God was ' altogether such a
one as myself:' but he hath said, 'I will reprove
thee ; I will set thy sins in order before thine eyes,'
Psalms 50 : 21 ; will marshal them in battle array.
And Oh, what a terrible kind of host do they ap-
pear, and how do they surround me beyond any pos-
sibility of an escape. 0 my soul, they have, as it
were, taken thee prisoner, arid they are bearing thee
away to the divine tribunal.
" Thou must appear before it ; thou must see the
awful, the eternal Judge, who ' tries the very reins,5
Jer. 17 : 10, and who needs no other evidence, foi
he has * himself been witness to all thy rebellion.'
Jer. 29 : 23. Thou must see him, 0 my soul, sitting
in judgment upon thee ; and, when he is strict to
'mark iniquity,' Psalms 130 : 3, 'how wilt thou an-
swer him for one of a thousand !' Job 9:3. And
if thou canst not answer him, in what language will
he speak to thee. Lord, as things at present stand,
I can expect no other language than that of con-
demnation. And what a condemnation is it. Let
me reflect upon it. Let me read my sentence before
I hear it finally and irreversibly passed. I know
he has recorded it in his word, and I know, in the
general, that the representation is made with a gra-
86 RISE AND PROGRESS.
cious design. I know that he would have us alarm-
ed, that we may not be destroyed. Speak to me,
therefore, 0 God, while thou speakest not for the
last time, and in circumstances when thou wilt hear
me no more. Speak in the language of effectual
terror, so that it be not to speak me into final despair.
And let thy word, however painful in its operation,
be { quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-
edged sword.' Heb. 4 : 12. Let me not vainly
flatter myself, let me not be left a wretched prey to
those who would ' prophesy smooth things to me,' Isa.
30 : 10, till I am sealed up under wrath, and feel
thy justice piercing my soul, and ' the poison of thine
arrows drinking up all my spirits.' Job 6 : 4.
" Before I enter upon the particular view, I know,
in the general, that ' it is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.' Heb. 10:31. 0 thou
living God, in one sense I am already fallen into
thine hands. I am become obnoxious to thy dis-
pleasure, justly obnoxious to it ; and whatever thy
sentence may be, when it comes forth from thy pres-
ence, Psalms 17 : 2, I must condemn myself and
justify thee. Thou canst not treat me with more
severity than mine iniquities have deserved ; and
how bitter soever that cup of trembling may be, Isa.
51 : 17, which thou shalt appoint for me, I give
judgment against myself, that I deserve ' to wring
out the very dregs of it.' " Psalms 75 : 8.
THE SINNER SENTENCED. 87
•
CHAPTER VI.
THE SINNER SENTENCED.
1, 2. The sinner called upon to hear his sentence. — 3. God's
law does now in general pronounce a curse. — 4. It pronounces
death. — 5. And being turned into hell. — 6. The judgment-day
shall come. — 7, 8. The solemnity of that grand process de-
scribed according to Scriptural representations of it. — 9. With
a particular illustration of the sentence, " Depart, accursed,"
etc. — 10. The execution will certainly and immediately fol-
low.— 11. The sinner warned to prepare for enduring it. — The
reflection of a sinner struck with the terror of his sentence.
1. HEAR, 0 sinner, and I will speak, Job 42 : 4,
yet once more, as in the name of God, of God thine
Almighty Judge, who, if thou dost not attend to his
servants, will, ere long, speak unto thee in a more
immediate manner, with an energy and terror which
thou shalt not be able to resist.
2. Thou hast been convicted, as in his presence.
Thy pleas have been overruled, or rather they have
been silenced. It appears before God, it appears to
thine own conscience, that thou hast nothing more to
offer in arrest of judgment ; therefore hear thy sen-
tence, and summon up, if thou canst, all the powers
of thy soul to bear the execution of it. " It is," in-
deed, a very small thing "to be judged of man's
judgment ;" but " he who now judge th thee is the
£8 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Lord." 1 Cor. 4 : 3, 4. Hear, therefore, and trem-
ble, while I tell thee how he will speak to thee ; or
rather, while I show thee, from express scripture,
how he doth even now speak, and what is the au-
thentic and recorded sentence of his word, even of
his word who hath said, " Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but not one tittle of my word shall ever
pass away." Matt. 5 : 18.
3. The law of God speaks not to thee alone, 0 sin-
ner, nor to thee by any particular address ; but in a
most universal language it speaks to all transgres-
sors, and levels its terrors against all offences, great
or small, without any exception. And this is its
language : " Cursed is every one that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them." Gal. 3 : 10. This is its voice to
the whole world ; and this it speaks to thee. Its
awful contents are thy personal concern, 0 reader,
and thy conscience knows it. Far from continuing
in all things that are written therein to do them,
thou canst not but be sensible that "innumerable
evils have encompassed thee about." Psalms 40 : 12.
It is then manifest thou art the man whom it con-
demns : thou art even now " cursed with a curse,"
as God emphatically speaks, Mai. 3:9, with the
curse of the Most High God ; yea, " all the curses
which are written in the book of the law " are
pointed against thee. Deut. 29 : 20. God may
THE SINNER SENTENCED. 89
righteously execute any of them upon thee in a mo-
ment ; and though thou at present feelest none of
them, yet, if infinite mercy do not prevent, it is but
a little while and they will " come into thy bowels
like water," till thou art burst asunder with them,
and shall penetrate " like oil into thy bones." Psalms
109 : 18.
4. Thus saith the Lord, " The soul that sinneth, it
shall die." Ezek. 18:4. But thou hast sinned, and
therefore thou art under a sentence of death. And
0, unhappy creature, of what a death ! What will
the end of these things be ? That the agonies of
dissolving nature shall seize thee, and thy soul shall
be torn away from thy languishing body, and thou
shalt return to the dust from which thou wast taken.
Psalms 104 : 29. This is indeed one awful effect of
sin. In these affecting characters has God, through
all nations and all ages of men, written the awful
register and memorial of his holy abhorrence of it,
and righteous displeasure against it. But, alas, all
this solemn pomp and horror of dying is but the
opening of the dreadful scene. It is a rough kind of
stroke, by which the fetters are knocked off when
the criminal is led out to torture and execution.
5. Thus saith the Lord, "The wicked shall be
turned into hell, even all the nations that forget
God." Psalms 9 : 17. Though there be whole
nations of them, their multitudes and their power
90 RISE AND PROGRESS.
shall be no defence to them. • They shall be driven
into hell together — into that flaming prison which
divine vengeance hath prepared — into " Tophet,
which is ordained of old, even for royal sinners," as
well as for others ; so little can any human distinc-
tion protect. " He hath made it deep and large :
the pile thereof is fire and much wood ; the breath
of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, shall kindle
it," Isa. 30 : 33 ; and the flaming torrent shall flow
in upon it so fast, that it shall be turned into a sea
of liquid fire ; or, as the Scripture also expresses it,
" a lake burning with fire and brimstone " for ever.
Rev. 21 : 8. "This is the second death," and the
death to which thou, 0 sinner, by the word of God
art doomed.
6. And shall this sentence stand upon record in
vain ? Shall the law speak it, and the gospel speak
it ; and shall it never be pronounced more audibly ;
and will God never require and execute the punish-
ment ? He will, 0 sinner, require it ; and he will
execute it, though he may seem for a while to delay.
For well dost thou know that " he hath appointed
a day in which he will judge the " whole " world in
righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained,
of which he hath given assurance in having raised
him from the dead." Acts 17 : 31. And when God
judgeth the world, 0 reader, whoever thou art, he
will judge thee. And while I remind thee of it, T
JUDGMENT-DAY WILL COME. 9]
"would also remember that lie will judge me. And
"knowing the terror of the Lord," 2 Cor. 5:11.
that I may " deliver my own soul," Ezek. 33 : 9, 1
would, with all plainness and sincerity, labor to de-
liver thine.
7. I therefore repeat the solemn warning : Thou,
0 sinner, shalt " stand before the judgment-seat of
Christ." 2 Cor. 5 : 10. Thou shalt see that pom-
pous appearance, the description of which is grown so
familiar to thee that the repetition of it makes no
impression on thy mind. But surely,. stupid as thou
now art, the shrill trumpet of the archangel shall
shake thy very soul ; and if nothing else can awaken
and alarm thee, the convulsions and flames of a dis-
solving world shall do it.
8. Dost thou really think that the intent of Christ's
final appearance is only to recover his people from
the grave, and to raise them to glory and happiness ?
Whatever assurance thou hast that there shall be " a
resurrection of the just," thou hast the same that
there shall also be " a resurrection of the unjust,"
Acts 24 : 15; that " he shall separate" the rising
dead " one from another, as a shepherd divideth the
eheep from the goats," Matt. 25 : 32, with equal
certainty, and with infinitely greater ease. Or can
you imagine that he will only make an example of
some flagrant and notorious sinners, when it is said
that " all the dead," both " small and great," shall
92 RISE AND PROGRESS.
" stand before God," Rev. 20 : 12; and that even
"he who knew not his Master's will," and conse-
quently seems of all others to have had the fairest
excuse for his omission to obey it, yet even " he," for
that very omission, " shall be beaten," though " with
fewer stripes?" Luke 12 : 48. Or can you think
that a sentence, to be delivered with so much pomp
and majesty, a sentence by which the righteous
judgment of God is to be revealed, and to have its
most conspicuous and final triumph, will be incon-
siderable, or the punishment to which it shall con-
sign the sinner be slight or tolerable ? There would
have been little reason to apprehend that, even if we
had been left barely to our own conjectures what
that sentence should be. But this is far from being
the case : our Lord Jesus Christ, in his infinite con-
descension and compassion, has been pleased to give
us a copy of the sentence, and no doubt a most exact
copy ; and the words which contain it are worthy of
being inscribed on every heart. " The King," amidst
all the splendor and dignity in which he shall then
appear, " shall say unto those on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of rny Father, inherit the king-
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world." Matt. 25 : 34. And "where the word of a
king is, there is power " indeed. Eccles. 8:4. And
these words have a power which may justly animate
the heart of the humble Christian under the most
JUDGMENT-DAY AWFUL. 93
overwhelming sorrow, and may fill him " with joy
unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter, 1:8. To
be pronounced the blessed of the Lord, to be called
to a kingdom, to the immediate, the everlasting in-
heritance of it ; and of such a kingdom, so well pre-
pared, so glorious, so complete, so exquisitely fitted
for the delight and entertainment of such creatures,
so formed and so renewed that it shall appear wor-
thy the eternal counsels of God to have contrived it,
worthy his eternal love to have prepared it, and to
have delighted himself with the views of bestowing
it upon his people : behold a blessed hope indeed, a
lively, glorious hope, to which we are " begotten
again by the resurrection of Christ from the dead,"
1 Pet. 1:3, and formed by the sanctifying influence
of the Spirit of God upon our minds. But it is a hope
from which thou, 0 sinner, art at present excluded ;
and methinks that it might be grievous to reflect,
" These gracious words shall Christ speak to some,
to multitudes — but not to me ; on me there is no
blessedness pronounced ; for me- there is no kingdom
prepared." But is that all ? Alas, sinner, our Lord
hath given thee a dreadful counterpart to this. He
has told us what he will say to thee, if thou con-
tinuest what thou art — to thee, and all the nations
of the impenitent and unbelieving world, be they
ever so numerous, be the rank of particular criminals
ever so great. He shall say to the " kings of the
/
94 RISE AND PROGRESS.
earth " who have been rebels against him, to u the
great and rich men, and the chief captains and the
mighty men," as well as to " every bondman and
every freeman" of inferior rank, Rev. 6 : 15, " De-
part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre-
pared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25 : 41.
Oh, pause upon these weighty words, that thou
mayest enter into something of the importance of
them.
9. He will say, " Depart;" you shall be driven
from his presence with disgrace and infamy ; " from
him," the source of life and blessedness, in a near-
ness to whom all the inhabitants of heaven continu-
ally rejoice ; you shall "depart," accursed ; you have
broken God's law, and its curse falls upon you ; and
you are, and shall be under that curse, that abiding
curse ; from that day forward you shall be regarded
by God, and all his creatures, as an accursed and
abominable thing, as the most detestable and the
most miserable part of the creation. You shall go
"into fire;" and 0, consider into what fire! Is it
merely into one fierce blaze which shall consume
you in a moment, though with exquisite pain ?
That were terrible. But 0, such terrors are not to
be named with these. Thine, sinner, "is everlasting
fire." It is that which our Lord hath in such awful
terms described as prevailing there, " where their
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched ;" and
ILLUSTRATION OF THE SENTENCE. 95
again, in wonderful compassion, a third time, "where
their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Mark 9 : 44, 46, 48. Nor was it originally prepared
or principally intended for you ; it was " prepared
for the devil and his angels ;" for those first grand
rebels who were, immediately upon their fall, doomed
to it ; and since you have taken part with them in
their apostasy, you must sink with them into that
flaming ruin, and sink so much the deeper, as you
have despised the Saviour, who was never offered to
them. These must be your companions and youi
tormentors, with whom you must dwell for ever.
And is it I that say this ; or say not the law and the
gospel the same ? Does not the Lord Jesus Christ
expressly say it, who is the " faithful and true wit-
ness," Rev. 3 : 14, even he who himself is to pro-
nounce the sentence ?
10. And when it is thus pronounced, and pro-
nounced by him, shall it not also be executed ? "Who
could imagine the contrary? Who could imagine
there should be all this pompous declaration to fill
the mind only with vain terror, and that this sen-
tence should vanish into smoke ? You may easily
apprehend that this would be a greater reproach to
the divine administration than if sentence were never
to be passed. And therefore we might easily have
inferred the execution of it, from the process of the
preceding judgment. But lest the treacherous heart
96 RISE AND PROGRESS.
of a sinner should deceive him with so vain a hope>
the assurance of that execution is immediately added
in very memorable terms. It shall be done — it shall
immediately be done. Then, on that very day, while
the sound of it is yet in their ears, " the wicked shall
go away into everlasting punishment," Matt. 25 : 4 6 ;
and thou, 0 reader, whoever thou art, being found
in their number, shalt go away with them ; shait be
driven on among all these wretched multitudes, and
plunged with them into eternal ruin. The wide
gates of hell shall be open to receive thee ; they
shall be shut upon thee for ever, to enclose thee, and
be fast barred by the Almighty hand of divine
justice, to prevent all hope, all possibility of escape
for ever.
11. And now "prepare" thyself "to meet the
Lord thy God." Amos 4:12. Summon up all the
resolution of thy mind to endure such a sentence,
such an execution as this ; for " he will not meet
thee as a man," Isaiah 47 : 30, whose heart may
sometimes fail him when about to exert a needful
act of severity, so that compassion may prevail
against reason and justice. No, he will meet thee
as a God, whose schemes and purposes are all im-
movable as his throne. I therefore testify to thee in
his name this day, that if God be true, he will thus
speak ; and that if he be able, he will thus act. And
on supposition of thy continuance in thine impeni-
REFLECTION OF THE SINNER. 97
tence and unbelief, thou art brought into this mis-
rable case, that if God be not either false or weak,
thou art undone — thou art eternally undone.
THE REFLECTION OF A SINNER STRUCK WITH THE
TERROR OF HIS SENTENCE.
" Wretch that I am ! What shall I do, or whither
shall I flee ? 'I am weighed in the balance, and am
found wanting.' Dan. 5 : 27. This is indeed my
doom ; the doom I am to expect from the mouth of
Christ himself, from the mouth of him that died for
the redemption and salvation of men. Dreadful sen-
tence ! and so much the more dreadful when consid-
ered in that view. To what shall I look to save me
from it ? To whom shall I call ? Shall I say, ' to
the rocks, fall upon me, and to the hills, cover me ?'
Luke 23 : 30. What should I gain by that ? Were
I indeed overwhelmed with rocks and mountains,
they could not conceal me from the notice of his
eye ; and his hand could reach me with as much
ease there as anywhere else.
" Wretch, indeed, that I am ! 0 that I had never
been born ! 0 that I had never known the dignity
and prerogative of the rational nature ! Fatal pre-
rogative, indeed, that renders me obnoxious to con-
demnation and wrath ! 0 that I had never been in-
structed in the will of God at all, rather than that,
being thus instructed, I should have disregarded and
Rise and Frog. 7
98 RISE AND PROGRESS.
transgressed it ! Would to God I had been allied to
the meanest of the human race, to them that come
nearest to the state of the brutes, rather than that I
should have had my lot in cultivated life, amidst so
many of the improvements of reason, and — dreadful
reflection — amidst so many of the advantages of re-
ligion too, and thus to have perverted all to my own
destruction ! 0 that God would take away this
rational soul ; but alas, it will live for ever, will live
to feel the agonies of eternal death. Why have I
seen the beauties and glories of a world like this, to
exchange it for that flaming prison ? Why have I
tasted so many of my Creator's bounties, to wring
out at last the dregs of his wrath ? Why have I
known the delights of social life and friendly con-
verse, to exchange them for the horrid company of
devils and damned spirits in hell ? Oh, ' who can
dwell ' with them in ' devouring flames ; who can
lie down' with them 'in everlasting, everlasting,
everlasting burnings ?' Isa. 33 : 14.
" But whom have I to blame in all this but my-
self? What have I to accuse but my own stupid,
incorrigible folly ? On what is all this terrible ruin
to be charged, but on this one fatal, cursed cause,
that having broken God's law, I rejected his gospel
too?
" Yet stay, 0 my soul, in the midst of all these
doleful, foreboding complaints. Can I say that I
REFLECTION OF THE SINNER. 99
have finally rejected the Gospel ? Am I not to this
day under the sound of it ? The sentence is not yet
gone forth against me in so determinate a manner as
to be utterly irreversible Through all this gloomy
prospect one ray of hope breaks in, and it is possible
I may yet be delivered.
" Reviving thought ! Rejoice in it, 0 my soul,
though it be with trembling, and turn immediately
to that God, who, though provoked by ten thousand
offences, has not yet ' sworn in his wrath that thou
shalt never ' be permitted to hold further intercourse
with him, or to 'enter into his rest.' Psalm 95 : 11.
"I do, then, 0 blessed Lord, prostrate myself in
the dust before thee. I own I am a condemned and
miserable creature. But my language is that of tho
humble publican, ' God be merciful to me a sinner !'
Luke 18 : 13. Some general and confused apprehen-
sions I have of a way by which I may possibly
escape. 0 God, whatever that way is, show it me,
I beseech thee. Point it out so plainly that I may
not be able to mistake it. And 0, reconcile my
heart to it, be it ever so humbling, be it ever so
painful.
" Surely, Lord, I have much to learn ; but be thou
my teacher. Stay, for a little moment, thine up-
lifted hand, and in thine infinite compassion delay
the stroke till I inquire a little farther how I may
finally avoid it."
100 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER VII.
THE HELPLESS STATE OF THE SINNER UNDER
CONDEMNATION.
1, 2. The sinner urged to consider how he can be saved from
this impending ruin. — 3. Not by any thing he can offer. — 4.
Nor by any thing he can endure. — 5. Nor by any thing he can
do in the course of future duty. — 6-8. Nor by any alliance with
fellow-sinners on earth or in hell. — 9. Nor by any interposi-
tion or intercession of angels or saints in his favor. Hint of
the only method, to be afterwards more largely explained.
The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition.
1. SINNER, thou hast heard the sentence of God
as it stands upon record in his sacred and immuta-
ble word ; and wilt thou lie down under it in ever-
lasting despair ? "Wilt thou make no attempt to be
delivered from it, when it speaks nothing less than
eternal death to thy soul ? If a criminal, condemned
by human laws, has but the least shadow of hope
that he may escape, he is all attention to it. If there
be a friend who he thinks can help him, with what
strong importunity does he entreat the interposition
of that friend ? And even while he is before the
judge, how difficult is it often to force him away from
the bar, while the cry of mercy, mercy, mercy, may
be heard, though it be ever so unseasonable ? A
mere possibility that it may make some impression,
SINNER'S HELPLESS STATE. 101
makes him eager in it, and unwilling to be silenced
or removed.
2. Wilt thou not then, 0 sinner, ere yet execution
is done, that execution which may perhaps be done
this very day, wilt thou not cast about in thy thoughts
what measures may be taken for deliverance ? Yet
wrhat measures can be taken ? Consider attentively,
for it is an affair of moment. Thy wisdom, thy
power, thy eloquence, thy interest can never be ex-
erted on a greater occasion. If thou canst help thy-
self, do it. If thou hast any secret source of relief,
go not out of thyself for other assistance. If thou
hast any sacrifice to offer, if thou hast any strength
to exert, yea, if thou hast any allies on earth, or in
the invisible world, who can defend or deliver thee,
take thy own way, so that thou mayest but be de-
livered at all, that we may not see thy ruin. But
say, 0 sinner, in the presence of God, what sacrifice
thou wilt present, what strength thou wilt exert,
what allies thou wilt have recourse to on so urgent,
so hopeless an occasion. For hopeless I must indeed
pronounce it, if such methods are taken.
3. The justice of God is injured ; hast thou any
atonement to make to it ? If thou wast brought to
an inquiry and proposal, like that of an awakened
sinner, " Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come
before him with burnt- offerings, with calves of a
102 RISE AND PROGRESS.
yeat old ? "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands
of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ?"
Mic. 6 : 6, 7. Alas, wert thou as great a prince as
Solomon himself, and couldst thou indeed purchase
such sacrifices as these, there would he no room to
mention them. " Lebanon would not be sufficient to
burn, nor all the beasts thereof for a burnt-offering."
Isa. 40 : 16. Even under that dispensation which
admitted and required sacrifices in some cases, the
blood of bulls and of goats, though it exempted the
offender from farther temporal punishment, " could
not take away sin," Heb. 10:4, nor prevail by any
means to purge the conscience in the sight of God.
And that soul that had " done aught presumptu-
ously" was not allowed to bring any sin-offering, or
trespass-offering at all, but was condemned to " die
without mercy." Numb. 15 : 30. Now God and
thine own conscience know that thine offences have
not been merely the errors of ignorance and inadver-
tency, but that thou hast sinned with a high hand
in repeated aggravated instances, as thou hast ac-
knowledged already. Shouldst thou add, with the
wretched sinner described above, " Shall I give my
first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body
for the sin of my soul ?" Mic. 6:7. What could
the blood of a beloved child do in such a case, but
dye thy crimes so much the deeper, and add a yet
unknown horror to them ? Thou hast offended a
SINNER'S HELPLESS STATE. 103
Being of infinite majesty ; and if that offence is to
be expiated by blood, it must be another kind of
blood than that which flows in the veins of thy chil-
dren, or in thine own.
4. Wilt thou then suffer thyself till thou hast
made full satisfaction ? But how shall that satisfac-
tion be made ? Shall it be by any calamities to be
endured in this mortal, momentary life ? Is the jus-
tice of God then esteemed so little a thing, that the
Borrows of a few days should suffice to answer its
demands ? Or dost thou think of future sufferings
in the invisible world ? If thou dost, that is not de-
liverance ; and with regard to that, I may venture
to say, when thou hast made full satisfaction, thou
wilt be released ; when thou hast paid the utter-
most farthing of that debt, thy prison-doors shall be
opened ; but in the meantime thou must " make thy
bed in hell," Psalm 139 : 8 ; and 0, unhappy man,
wilt thou lie down there with a secret hope that the
moment will come when the rigor of divine justice
will not be able to inflict any thing more than thou
hast endured, and when thou mayest claim thy dis-
charge as a matter of right ? It would indeed be
well for thee, if thou couldst carry down with thee
such a hope, false and flattering as it is ; but alas,
thou wilt see things in so just a light, that to have
no comfort but this will be eternal despair. That
one word of thy sentence, " everlasting fire " — that
1.01 RISE AND PROGRESS.
one declaration, " the worm dietli not, and the fire
is not quenched," will be sufficient to strike such a
thought into black confusion, and to overwhelm thee
with hopeless agony and horror.
5. Or do you think that your future reformation
and diligence in duty for the time to come will pro-
cure your discharge from this sentence ? Take heed,
sinner, what kind of obedience thou thinkest of offer-
ing to a holy God. That must be spotless and com-
plete which his infinite sanctity can approve and ac-
cept, if he consider thee in thyself alone ; there must
be no inconstancy, no forgetfulness, no mixture of sin
attending it. And wilt thou, enfeebled as thou art
by so much original corruption, and so many sinful
habits contracted by innumerable actual transgres-
sions, undertake to render such an obedience, and
that for all the remainder of thy life ? In vain
wouldst thou attempt it, even for one day. New
guilt would immediately plunge thee into new ruin.
But if it did not, if from this moment to the very end
of thy life, all were as complete obedience as the law
of God required from Adam in Paradise, would that
be sufficient to cancel past guilt ? Would it dis-
charge an old debt, that thou hast not contracted a
new one ? Offer this to thy neighbor, and see if he
will accept it for payment ; and if he will not, wilt
thou presume to offer it to thy God ?
6. But I will not multiply words on so plain a
SINNER'S HELPLESS STATE. 105
subject. While I speak thus, time is passing away,
death, presses on, and judgment is approaching. And
what can save thee from these awful scenes, or what
can protect thee in them ? C an the world save thee — •
that vain delusive idol of thy wishes and pursuits, to
which thou art sacrificing thine eternal hopes ? Well
dost thou know that it will utterly forsake thee when
thou needest it most ; and that not one of its enjoy-
ments can be carried along with thee into the invisible
state, no, not so much as a trifle to remember it by,
if thou couldst desire to remember so inconstant and
so treacherous a friend as the world has been.
7. And when you are dead, or when you are dy-
ing, can your sinful companions save you ? Is there
any one of them, if he were ever so desirous of doing
it, that " can give unto God a ransom for you," Psa.
49 : 7, to deliver you from going down to the grave,
or from going down to hell ? Alas, you will proba-
bly be so sensible of this, that when you lie on the
borders of the grave, you will be unwilling to see or
to converse with those that were once your favorite
companions. They will afflict you. rather than re-
lieve you, even then ; how much less can they relieve
you before the bar of God, when they are over-
whelmed with their own condemnation ?
8. As for the powers of darkness, you are sure
they will be far from having any ability or inclina-
tion to help you. Satan has been watching and la-
106 RISE AND PROGRESS.
boring for your destruction, and he will triumph in
it. But if there could be any thing of an amicable
confederacy between you, what would that be but
an association in ruin ? For the day of judgment of
ungodly men will also be the judgment of these re-
bellious spirits ; and the fire into which thou, 0 sin-
ner, must depart, is that which was " prepared for
the devil and his angels." Matt. 20 : 41.
9. Will the celestial spirits then save thee ? "Will
they interpose their power or their prayers in thy
favor ? An interposition of power, when sentence is
gone forth against thee, were an act of rebellion
against heaven, which these holy and excellent crea-
tures would abhor. And when the final pleasure of
the Judge is known, instead of interceding in vain
for the wretched criminal, they would rather, with
ardent zeal for the glory of their Lord, and cordial
acquiescence in the determination of his wisdom and
justice, prepare to execute it. Yea, difficult as it
may at present be to conceive it, it is a certain truth,
that the servants of Christ, who now most tenderly
love you, and most affectionately seek your salvation,
not excepting those who are allied to you in the
nearest bonds of nature or of friendship, even they
shall put their amen to it. Now, indeed, their bow-
els yearn over you, and their eyes pour out tears on
your account. Now, they expostulate with you, and
plead with God for you, if by any means, while yet
SINNER'S LAMENTATION. 10?
there is hope, you may " be plucked as a firebrand
out of the burning." Amos 4:11. But alas, their
remonstrances you will not regard ; and as for their
prayers, what should they ask for you ? "What but
that you may see yourself to be undone ; and that,
utterly despairing of any help from yourself, or from
any created power, you may lie before God in humil-
ity and brokenness of heart ; that, submitting your-
self to his righteous judgment, and in an utter renun-
ciation of all self-dependence and of all creature de-
pendence, you may lift up an humble look towards
him, as almost from the depths of hell, if peradven-
ture he may have compassion upon you, and may
himself direct you to that only method of rescue,
which, while things continue as in present circum-
stances they are, neither earth, nor hell, nor heaven
can afford you.
THE LAMENTATION OF A SINNER IN THIS MISERABLE
CONDITION.
" 0 doleful, uncomfortable, helpless state ! 0
wretch that I am, to have reduced myself to it !
Poor, empty, miserable, abandoned creature ! Where
is my pride and the haughtiness of my heart ? "Where
are my idol deities, c whom I have loved and served,
after whom I have walked, and whom I have
sought,' Jer. 8 : 2, while I have been multiplying
my transgressions against the majesty of heaven?
Is there no heart to have compassion upon me ? Is
J08 RISE AND PROGRESS.
there no hand to save me ? ' Have pity upon me,
have pity upon me, 0 my friends, for the hand of
God hath touched me/ Job 19 : 21, hath seized
me. I feel it pressed upon me hard, and what shall
1 do ? Perhaps they have pity upon me ; hut alas,
how feeble a compassion. Only, if there be any-
where in the whole compass of nature any help, tell
me where it may be found. 0 point it out, direct me
towards it ; or rather, confounded and astonished as
my mind is, take me by the hand and lead me to it.
" 0 ye ministers of the Lord, whose office it is to
guide and comfort distressed souls, take pity upon
me. I fear I am a pattern of many other helpless
creatures who have the like need of your assistance.
Lay aside your other cares to care for my soul, to
care for this precious soul of mine, which lies as it
were bleeding to death — if that expression may be
used — while you perhaps hardly afford me a look,
or, glancing an eye upon me, * pass over to the other
side.' Luke 10 : 32. Yet, alas, in a case like mine,
what can your interposition avail if it be alone ? ' If
the Lord do not help me, how can you help me?'
2 Kings, 6:27.
"'0 God, the God of the spirits of all flesh,'
Numb. 16 : 22, I lift up mine eyes unto thee, and
'cry unto thee as out of the belly of hell.' Jonah
2:2. I cry unto thee, at least from the borders of it.
Yet, while I lie before thee in this infinite distress, I
SINNER'S LAMENTATION. J09
know that thine almighty power and boundless grace
can still find out a way for my recovery.
"Thou art he whom I have most of all injured
and affronted ; and yet from thee alone must I now
seek redress. ' Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
and done evil in thy sight;' so that 'thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when
thou judgest,' Psa. 51 : 4, though thou shouldst at
this moment adjudge me to eternal misery. And yet
I find something that secretly draws me to thee, as
if I might find rescue there, where I have deserved
the most aggravated destruction. Blessed God, I
'have destroyed myself; but in thee is my help,'
Hos. 13 : 9, if there can be help at all.
"I know, in the general, that 'thy ways are not
as our ways, nor thy thoughts as our thoughts ;' but
are as 'high above them as the heavens are above
the earth.' Isa. 55 : 8, 9. ' Have mercy,' therefore,
'upon me, 0 God, according to thy loving-kindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
Psa. 51 : 1. 0 point out the path to the city of ref
uge. 0 'lead me' thyself 'in the way. everlasting.'
Psa. 139 : 24. I know, in the general, that thy
Gospel is the only remedy : 0 teach thy servants to
administer it. 0 prepare my heart to receive it ; and
suffer not, as in many instances, that malignity which
has spread itself through all my nature, to turn that
noble medicine into poison,"
110 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER VIII.
NEWS OF SALVATION BY CHRIST BROUGHT TO THE CON-
VINCED AND CONDEMNED SINNER.
1. The awful things which have hitherto been said, intended
not to grieve, but to help. — 2. After some reflection on the
pleasure with which a minister of the Gospel may deliver the
message with which he is charged. — 3. And some reasons for
the repetition of what is in speculation so generally known. —
4, 6. The author proceeds briefly to declare the substance of
these glad tidings, namely, that God having in his infinite
compassion sent his Son to die for sinners, is now reconcilable
through him. — 7, 8. So that the most heinous transgressions
shall be entirely pardoned to believers, and they made com-
pletely and eternally happy. The sinner's reflection on this
good news.
1. MY dear reader, it is the great design of the
Gospel, and wherever it is cordially received, it is
the glorious effect of it, to fill the heart with senti-
ments of love ; to teach us to abhor all unnecessary
rigor arid severity, and to delight not in the grief,
but in the happiness of our fellow-creatures. I can
hardly apprehend how he can be a Christian who
takes pleasure in the distress which appears even in
a brute, much less in that of a human mind ; and
especially in such distress as the thoughts I have
been proposing must give, if there be any due atten-
NEWS OF SALVATION. Ill
tion to their weight and energy. I have often felt a
tender regret while I have been representing these
things; and I could have wished from my heart
that it had not been necessary to have placed them
in so severe and so painful a light. But now I am
addressing myself to a part of my work which I un-
dertake with unutterable pleasure, and to that which
indeed I had in view in all those awful things which
I have already been laying before you. I have been
showing you, that, if you hitherto have lived in a
state of impenitence and sin, you are condemned by
God's righteous judgment, and have in yourself no
spring of hope and no possibility of deliverance.
But I mean not to leave you under this sad appre-
hension, to He down and die in despair, complaining
of that cruel zeal which has "tormented you before
your time." Matt. 8 : 29.
2. Arise, 0 thou dejected soul, that art prostrate
in the dust before God, and trembling under the ter-
ror of his righteous sentence ; for I am commissioned
to tell thee, that, though "thou hast destroyed thy-
self, in God is thine help." Hos. 13:9. I bring thee
"good tidings of great joy," Luke 2 : 10, which de-
light mine own heart while 1 proclaim them, and
will, I hope, reach and revive thine — even the tidings
of salvation by the blood and righteousness of the
Redeemer. And I give it thee for thy greater se-
curity, in the words of a gracious and forgiving God,
U2 RISE AND PROGRESS.
that "he is in Christ reconciling the world unto him-
self, and not imputing to them their trespasses." 2
Cor. 5 : 19.
3. This is the best news that ever was heard, the
most important message which God ever sent to his
creatures ; and though I doubt not, that living as
you have done in a Christian country, you have
heard it often, perhaps a thousand and a thousand
times, I will, with all simplicity and plainness, re-
peat it to you again, and repeat it as if you had never
heard it before. If thou, 0 sinner, shouldst now for
the first time feel it, then will it be as a new gospel
unto thee, though so familiar to thine ear ; nor shall
it be " grievous to me" to speak what is so common,
"since to you it is safe" and necessary. Phil. 3:1.
They who are most deeply and intimately acquaint-
ed with it, instead of being cloyed and satiated, will
hear it with distinguished pleasure ; and as for those
who have hitherto slighted it, I am sure they had
need to hear it again. Nor is it absolutely impossi-
ble that some one soul at least may read these lines
who hath never been clearly and fully instructed in
this important doctrine, though his everlasting all
depends on knowing and receiving it. I will there-
fore take care that such a one shall not have it to
plead at the bar of God, that, though he lived in a
Christian country, he was never plainly and faith-
fully taught the doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ,
NEWS OF SALVATION. 113
u the way, the truth, and the life, by whom alone we
come unto the Father." John 14 : 6.
4. I do therefore testify unto you this day, that the
holy and gracious Majesty of heaven and earth, fore-
seeing the fatal apostasy into which the whole hu-
man race would fall, did not determine to deal in a
way of strict and rigorous severity with us, so as to
consign us over to universal ruin and inevitable dam-
nation ; but on the contrary, he determined to enter
into a treaty of peace and reconciliation, and to pub-
lish to all whom the Gospel should reach, the express
offers of life and glory, in a certain method which his
infinite wisdom judged suitable to the purity of his
nature and the honor of his government. This meth-
od was indeed a most astonishing one, which, familiar
as it is to our thoughts and our tongues, I cannot
recollect and mention without great amazement. He
determined to send his own Son into the world, "the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person," Heb. 1:3, partaker of his own divine per-
fections and honors, to be not merely a teacher of
righteousness and a messenger of grace, but also a
sacrifice for the sins of men ; and would consent to
his saving them on no other condition but this, that
he should not only labor, but die in the cause.
5. Accordingly, at such a period of time as infir
nite wisdom saw most convenient, the Lord Jesus
Christ appeared in human flesh ; and after he had
Rise and Prog. g
114 RISE AND PROGRESS.
gone through incessant and long-continued fatigue,
and borne all the preceding injuries which the in-
gratitude and malice of men could inflict, he volun-
tarily ''submitted himself to death, even the death of
the cross," Phil. 2:8; and having been "delivered
for our offences, was raised again for our justifica-
tion." Horn. 4 : 25. After his resurrection he con-
tinued long enough on earth to give his followers
most convincing evidences of it, and then "ascended
into heaven in their sight," Acts 1 : 9-11 ; and sent
down his Spirit from thence unto his apostles, to en-
able them, in the most persuasive and authoritative
manner, "to preach the Gospel ;" and he has given it
in charge to them, and to those who in every age
succeed them in this part of their office, that it should
be published "to every creature," Mark 16 : 15, that
all who believe in it may be saved bjrvirtue of its
abiding energy, and the immutable power and grace
of its divine Author, who is " the same yesterday, to-
day, and for ever." Heb. 13 : 8.
6. This Gospel do I therefore now preach and
proclaim unto thee, 0 reader, with the sjncerest de-
sire that, through divine grace; it may "this very day
be salvation to thy souL" Luke 19:9. Know, there-
fore, and consider it, whosoever thou art, that as
surely as these words are now before thine eyes, so
sure it is that the incarnate San of God was "made
a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men,"
NEWS OF SALVATION. 1L5
1 Cor. 4:9; his back torn with scourges, Ms head
with thorns, his limbs stretched out as on a rack,
and nailed to the accursed tree ; and in this misera-
ble condition he was hung by his hands and feet, as
an object of public infamy and contempt. Thus did
he die in the midst of all the taunts and insults . of
his cruel enemies, who thirsted for his blood ; and,
which was the saddest circumstance of all, in the
midst of those agonies with which he closed the most
innocent, perfect, and useful life that ever was spent
on earth,, he had not those supports of the divine
presence which sinful men have often experienced
when they have been suffering for the testimony of
their conscience. They have often burst out into
transports of joy and songs of praise, while their ex-
ecutioners have been glutting their hellish malice,
and more than savage barbarity, by making their
torments artificially grievous ; but the crucified Jesus
cried out, in the distress of his spotless and holy soul,
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'*
Matt. 27 : 46.
7. Look upon your dear Redeemer; look up to
this mournful, dreadful, yet, in one view, delightful
-spectacle; and then ask thine own heart, Do I be-
lieve that Jesus suffered and died thus? And why
did he suffer and die ? Let me answer in God's own
words, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement
1.16 RISE AND PROGRESS.
of our peace was upon him, that by his stripes we
might be healed : it pleased the Lord to bruise him,
and put him to grief, when he made his soul an of-
fering for sin ; for the Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all." Isa. 53 : 5, 6, 10. So that I may address
you in the words of the apostle, "Be it known unto
you, therefore, that through this Man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins," Acts 13:38; as it
was his command, just after he arose from the dead,
" that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem," Luke 24 : 47, the very place where
his blood had so lately been shed in such a cruel
manner. I do thereby testify to you, in the words
of another inspired writer, that Christ was made sin,
that is, a sin-offering, " for us, though he knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him," 2 Cor. 5:21; that is, that through the
righteousness he has fulfilled, and the atonement he
has made, we might be accepted by God as righteous,
and be not only pardoned, but received into his favor.
"To you is the word of this salvation sent," Acts
13 : 26, and to you, 0 reader, are the blessings of it
even now offered by God, sincerely offered ; so that, -
after all that I have said under the former heads, it
is not your having broken the law of God that shall
prove your ruin, if you do not also reject his gospel.
It is not all those legions of sins which rise up in
NEWS OF SALVATION. 117
battle array against you that shall be able to destroy
you, if unbelief do not lead them on, and final im-
penitency do not bring up the rear. I know that guilt
is a timorous thing; I will therefore speak in the
words of God himself, nor can any be more comfort-
able: "He that believeth on the Son, hath everlast-
ing life," John 3 : 36, "and he shall never come into
condemnation." John 5 : 24. "There is therefore
now no condemnation," no kind or degree of it, "to
them," to any one of them, "who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Rom. 8:1. You have indeed been a very great sin-
ner, and your offences have truly been attended with
most heinous aggravations ; nevertheless you may re-
joice in the assurance, that "where sin hath abound-
ed, there shall grace much more abound ;" " that
where sin hath reigned unto death," where it has
had its most unlimited sway and most unresisted tri-
umph, there " shall righteousness reign to eternal life,
through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 5 : 21. That
righteousness, to which on believing on him thou
wilt be entitled, shall not only break those chains by
which sin is, as it were, dragging thee at its chariot-
• wheels with a furious pace to eternal ruin, but it
shall clothe thee with the robes of salvation, shall
fix thee on a throne of glory, where thou shalt live
and reign for ever among the princes of heaven, shalt
reign in immortal beauty and joy, without one re-
118 RISE AND PROGRESS.
maining scar of divine displeasure upon thee, with-
out any single mark by which it could be known that
thou hadst ever been obnoxious to wrath and a curse,
except it be an anthem of praise to "the Lamb that
was slain, and has washed thee from thy sins in his
own blood." Rev. 1:5.
8. Nor is it necessary, in order to thy being re-
leased from guilt, and entitled to this high and com-
plete felicity, that thou shouldst, before thou wilt ven-
ture to apply to Jesus, bring any good works of thine
own to recommend thee to his acceptance. It is in-
deed true, that, if thy faith be sincere, it will certain-
ly produce them ; but I have the authority of the
word of God to tell thee, that if thou this day sin-
cerely believest in the name of the Son of God, thou
shalt this day be taken under his care, and be num-
bered among those of his sheep to whom he hath
graciously declared that "he will give eternal life,
and that they shall never perish." John 10 : 28.
Thou hast no need therefore to say, "Who shall go
up into heaven, or who shall descend into the deep
for me? For the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth,
and in thy heart." Horn. 10': 6, 7, 8. "With this
joyful message I leave thee — with this faithful
saying, indeed "worthy of all acceptation," 1 Tim.
1 : 15 — with this Gospel, 0 sinner, which is my
life ; and which, if thou dost not reject it, will be
thine too. •*
NEWS OF SALVATION. 119
THE SINNER'S REFLECTION ON THIS GOOD NEWS.
11 0 my soul, how astonishing is the message which
thou hast this day received ! I have indeed often
beard it before, and it is grown so common to me,
that the surprise is not sensible. But reflect, 0 my
soul, what it is thou hast heard, and say whether
the name of a Saviour, whose message it is, may not
well be called ' Wonderful, Counsellor,' Isa. 9 : 6,
when he displays before thee such wonders of love,
and proposes to thee such counsels of peace.
" Blessed Jesus, is it indeed thus? Is it not the
fiction of the human mind ? Surely it is not. "What
human mind could have invented or conceived it ?
It is a plain, a certain fact, that thou didst leave the
magnificence and joy of the heavenly world in com-
passion to such a wretch as I. 0, hadst thou from
that height of dignity and felicity only looked down
upon me for one moment, and sent some gracious
word to me for my direction and comfort, even by the
least of thy servants, justly might I have prostrated
myself in grateful admiration, and have kissed ' the
very footsteps' of him 'that published the salvation.'
Isa. 52 : 7. But didst thou condescend to be thyself
the messenger ? What grace had that been, though
thou hadst but once in person made the declaration,
and immediately returned back to the throne from
which divine compassion brought thee down. But
this is not all the triumph of thine illustrious grace,
120 RISE AND PROGRESS.
It not only brought thee down to earth, but kept thee
here in a frail and wretched tabernacle, for long suc-
cessive years ; and at length it cost thee thy life, and
stretched thee out as a malefactor upon the cross,
after thou hadst borne insult and cruelty which it
may justly wound my heart so much as to think of.
And thus thou hast atoned injured justice, and * re-
deemed me to God with thine own blood.' Rev. 5:9.
"What shall I say? 'Lord, I believe; help thou
my unbelief Mark 9 : 24. It seems to put faith
to the stretch, to admit what it indeed exceeds the
utmost stretch of imagination to conceive. Blessed,
for ever blessed be thy name, 0 thou Father of mer-
cies, that thou hast contrived the way. Eternal
thanks to the Lamb that was slain, and to that kind
Providence that sent the word of this salvation to
me. 0 let me not, for ten thousand worlds, ' receive
the grace of God in vain.' 2 Cor. 6 : 1. 0 impress
this Gospel upon my soul, till its saving virtue be
diffused over every faculty. Let it not only be heard,
and acknowledged, and professed, but felt. Make it
'thy power to my eternal salvation,' Rom. 1 : 16 ;
and raise me to that humble, tender gratitude, to that
active, unwearied zeal in thy service, which becomes
one 'to whom so much is forgiven,' Luke 7 : 47, and
forgiven upon such terms as these.
" I feel a sudden glow in mine heart while these
tidings are sounding in mine ears ; but 0, let it not
NEWS OF SALVATION. 121
be a slight, superficial transport. 0 let not this,
which I would fain call my Christian joy, be as that
foolish laughter, with which I have been so madly
enchanted, 'like the crackling blaze of thorns under
a pot.' Eccles. 7:6. 0 teach me to secure this
mighty blessing, this glorious hope, in the method
which thou hast appointed; and preserve me from
mistaking the joy of nature, while it catches a glimpse
of its rescue from destruction, for that consent of grace
which embraces and insures the deliverance."
122 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER IX.
A MORE PARTICULAR ACCdUNT OF THE WAY BY WHICH
THIS SALVATION IS TO BE OBTAINED.
1. An inquiry into the way of salvation by Christ being sup-
posed.— 2. The sinner is in general directed to repentance
and faith. — 3. And urged to give up all self-dependence. — 4.
And to seek salvation by free grace. — 5. A summary of more
particular directions is proposed. — 6. That the sinner should
apply to Christ. — 7. With a deep abhorrence of his former
gins. — 8. And a firm resolution of forsaking them. — 9. That
he solemnly commits his soul into the hands of Christ, the great
vital act of faith. — 10. Which is exemplified at large. — 11.
That he make it in fact the governing care of his future life
to obey and imitate Christ. — 12. This is the only method of
obtaining gospel salvation. The sinner deliberating on the
necessity of accepting it.
1 . I NOW consider you, my dear reader, as coming
to me with the inquiry which the Jews once address-
ed to our Lord: "What shall we do, that we may
work the works of God ?" John 6 : 28. " What
method shall I take to secure that redemption and
salvation which I am told Christ has procured for his
people?" I would answer it as seriously and care-
fully as possible, as one that Joiows of what impor-
tance it is to you to be rightly informed ; and that
knows also how strictly he is to answer to God for
the sincerity and care with which the reply is made.
SALVATION, HOW OBTAINED. 153
May I be enabled to "speak as his oracle," 1 Pet,
4:11, that is, in such a manner as faithfully to echo
back what the sacred oracles teach.
2. And here, that I may be sure to follow the safest
guides and the fairest examples, I must preach salva-
tion to you in the way of "repentance toward God,
and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," Acts 20 : 21,
that good old doctrine which the apostles preached,
and which no man can pretend to change but at the
peril of his own soul, and of theirs who attend to
him.
3. I suppose that you are by this time convinced
of your guilt and condemnation, and of your own
inability to recover yourself. Let me nevertheless
urge you to feel that conviction yet more deeply, and
to impress it with yet greater weight upon your soul ;
that you have "undone yourself," and that "in your-
self is not your help found." Hosea 13 : 9. Be
persuaded, therefore, expressly, and solemnly, and
sincerely, to give up all self-dependence; which, if
you do not guard against it, will be ready to return
secretly before it is observed, and will lead you to
attempt building up what you have just been de-
stroying.
4. Be assured, that, if ever you are saved, you
must ascribe that salvation entirely to the free grace
of God. If, guilty and miserable as you are, you are
not only accepted, but crowned, you must "lay down
124 RISE AND PROGRESS.
your crown," with all humble acknowledgment, "be-
fore the throne." Rev. 4:10. " No flesh must glory
in his presence ; but he that glorieth, must glory in
the Lord ; for of him are we in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1 :29, 30, 31.
And you must be sensible you are in such a state,
as, having none of these in yourself, to need them in
another. You must therefore be sensible that you
are ignorant and guilty, polluted and enslaved ; or,
as our Lord expresses it, with regard to some who
were under a Christian profession, that as a sinner
"you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked." Rev. 3 : 17.
5. If these views be deeply impressed upon your
mind, you will be prepared to receive what I am
now to say. Hear, therefore, in a few words, your
duty, your remedy, and your safety ; which consists
in this, " That you must apply to Christ, with a deep
abhorrence of your former sins, and a firm resolution
of forsaking them ; forming that resolution in the
strength of his grace, and fixing your dependence in
him for your acceptance with God, even while you
are purposing to do your very best, and when you
have actually done the best you ever will do in con-
sequence of that purpose."
6. The first and most important advice that I can
give you, in your present circumstances, is, that you
- SALVATION, HOW OBTAINED. 125
y^ * x '** £* \ •
look to Christ, and apply yourself t0 him. And here,
say not in your heart, " Who shall ascend into 'heaven,
to bring him down to me ?" Rom, 10 : 6, or. " AYho
shall raise me up thither, to present me before him?"
The blessed "Jesus, by whom all things consist,"
Col. 1 : 17, by whom the whole system, of them is
supported, " forgotten as he is by most that bear his
name," "is not far from any of us," Acts 17 : 27 ;
nor could he have promised to have been " wherever
two or three are met together in his name," Matt.
18 : 20, but in consequence of those truly divine per-
fections, by which he is everywhere present. Would
you, therefore, 0 sinner, desire to be saved ? Go to
the Saviour. Would you desire to be delivered ?
Look to that great Deliverer ; and though you should
be so overwhelmed with guilt, and shame, and fear,
or horror, that you should be incapable of speaking
to him, fall down in this speechless confusion at his
feet, " and behold him as the Lamb of God, that
taketh away the sins of the world." John 1 : 29.
7. Behold him, therefore, with an attentive eye,
and say whether the sight does not touch, and even
melt thy very heart. Dost thou not feel what a
foolish, and what a wretched creature thou hast
been, that for the sake of such low and sordid grati-
fications and interests as those which thou hast been
pursuing, thou shouldst thus "kill the Prince of
life?" Acts 3 : 15. Behold the deep wounds which
126 RISE AND PROGRESS.
lie bore for thee, " look on him whom thou hast
pierced, and surely thou must mourn," Zech. 12:10,
unless thine heart be hardened into stone. "Which
of thy past sins canst thou reflect upon, and say,
" For this it is worth my while to have thus injured
my Saviour, and to have exposed the Son of God to
such sufferings ?" And what future temptations can
arise so considerable, that thou shouldst say, "For
the sake of this, I will crucify my Lord again?"
Heb. 6:6. Sinner, thou must repent — thou must
repent of every sin, and must forsake it ; but if thou
cloest it to any purpose, I well know it must be at
the foot of the cross. Thou must sacrifice every
lust, even the dearest, though it should be like a
"right hand or a right eye," Matt. 5 : 29, 30 ; and
therefore that thou mayest, if possible, be animated
to it, I have led thee to that altar on which " Christ
himself was sacrificed for thee, an offering of a sweet
smelling savor." Eph. 5 : 2. Thou must " yield up
thyself to God, as one alive from the dead." Rom.
6:13. And therefore I have showed thee at what a
price he purchased thee ; "for thou wast not re-
deemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of the Son of God, that
Lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter,
1 : 18, 19. And now I would ask thee, as before
the Lord, what does thine own heart say to it ? Art
thou grieved for thy former offences ? Art thou will-
SALVATION, HOW OBTAINED. 127
ing to forsake thy sins ? Art thou willing to become
the cheerful, thankful servant of him who hath pur-
chased thee with his own blood ?
8. I will suppose such a purpose as this rising in
thine heart. How determinate it is, and how effect-
ual it may be, I know not ; what different views
may arise hereafter, or how soon the present sense
may wear off. But this I assuredly know, that thou
wilt never see reason to change these views ; for,
however thou mayest alter, the " Lord Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Heb.
13 : 8. And the reasons that now recommend re-
pentance and faith as fit and necessary, will continue
invariable as long as the perfections of the blessed
God are the same, and as long as his Son continues
the same.
9. But while you have these views and these pur-
poses, I must remind you that this is not all which
is necessary to your salvation. You must not only
purpose, but as God gives opportunity, you must act
as those who are convinced of the evil of sin, and of
the necessity and excellence of holiness. And that
you may be enabled to do so in other instances, you
must in the first place, and as the first great work of
God, as our Lord himself calls it, " believe in him
whom God hath sent," John 6 : 29 ; you must con-
fide in him ; must commit your soul into the hands
of Christ, to be saved by him in his own " appointed
128 RISE AND PROGRESS.
method of salvation." This is the great act of sav-
ing faith, and I pray God that you may experimen-
tally know what it means, so as to be able to say
with the apostle Paul, in the near view of death it-
self, "I know whom I have believed, and am per-
suaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed to him until that day," 2 Tim. 1 : 12;
that great decisive day, which, if we are Christians,
we have always in view. To this I would urge you ;
and 0 that I could be so happy as to engage you to
it while I am illustrating it in this and the following
addresses. Be assured you must not apply yourself
immediately to God absolutely, or in himself con-
sidered, in the neglect of a Mediator. It will neither
be acceptable to him, nor safe for you, to rush into
his presence without any regard to his own Son,
whom he hath appointed to introduce sinners to
him. And if you come otherwise, you come as one
who is not a sinner. The very manner of presenting
the address will be interpreted as a denial of that
guilt with which he knows you are chargeable ;
and therefore he will not admit you, nor so much as
look upon you. And accordingly our Lord, knowing
how much every man living was concerned in this,
gays, in the most universal terms, " No man cometh
unto the Father but by me." John 14 : 6.
10. Apply therefore to this glorious Redeemer,
amiable as he will appear to every believing eye in
LANGUAGE OF SUBMISSION. 129
the blood which he shed upon the cross, and in the
wounds which he received there. Go to him, 0 sin-
ner, this day, this moment, with all thy sins about
thee. Go just as thou art ; for if thou wilt never
apply to him till thou art first righteous and holy,
thou wilt never be righteous and holy at all ; nor
canst be so on this supposition, unless there were
some way of being so without him ; and then there
would be no occasion for applying to him for right-
eousness and holiness. It were, indeed, as if it should
be said that a sick man should defer his application
to a physician till his health is recovered. Let me,
therefore, repeat it without offence, go to him just as
thou art, and say — 0 that thou mayest this moment
be enabled to say it from thy very soul — " Blessed
Jesus, I am surely one of the most sinful, and one of
the most miserable creatures that ever fell prostrate
before thee ; nevertheless, I come, because I have
heard that thou didst once say, ' Come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.' Matt. 11 : 28. I come, because I have
heard that thou didst graciously say, 'Him that
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.' John
6 *. 37. 0 thou Prince of peace, 0 thou King of
glory, I am a condemned, miserable sinner ; I have
ruined my own soul, and am condemned for ever, if
thou dost not help me and save me. I have broken
thy Father's law and thine ; for thou art ' one with
Rise and Prog» Q
130 RISE AND PROGRESS.
him.' John 10 : 30. I have deserved condemna-
tion and wrath ; and I am, even at this very mo-
ment, under a sentence of everlasting destruction — a
destruction which will be aggravated by all the con-
tempt that I have cast upon thee, 0 thou bleeding
Lamb of God ; for I cannot and will not dissemble it
before thee, that I have wronged thee, most basely
and ungratefully wronged thee, under the character
of a Saviour as well as of a Lord. But now I am
willing to submit to thee ; and I have brought my
poor trembling soul to lodge it in thine hands, if
thou wilt condescend to receive it ; and if thou dost
not, it must perish. 0 Lord, I lie at thy feet ; stretch
out ' thy golden sceptre that I may live.' Esther
4:11. ' Yea, if it please the King, let the life of
my soul be given me at my petition.' Esther 7:3.
I have no treasure wherewith to purchase it, I have
no equivalent to give thee for it ; but if that com-
passionate heart of thine can find a pleasure in sav-
ing one of the most distressed creatures under heaven,
that pleasure thou mayest here find. 0 Lord, I have
foolishly attempted to be my own saviour, but it will
not do. I am sensible the attempt is vain, and
therefore I give it over, and look unto thee. On
thee, blessed Jesus, who art sure and steadfast, do I
desire to fix my anchor. On thee, as the only sure
foundation, would I build my eternal hopes. To thy
teaching, 0 thou unerring Prophet of the Lord, would
HOLY LIFE ESSENTIAL. 13)
1 submit ; be thy doctrines ever so mysterious, it is
enough for me that thou thyself hast said it. To
thine atonement, obedience, and intercession, 0 thou
holy and ever-acceptable High-priest, would I trust.
And to thy government, 0 thou exalted Sovereign,
would I yield a willing, delightful subjection : in
token of reverence and love, ' I kiss the Son,' Psalm
2 : 12. I kiss the ground before his feet. I admit
thee, 0 my Saviour, and welcome thee, with unut-
terable joy, to the throne in my heart. Ascend it,
and reign there for ever. Subdue mine enemies, 0
Lord, for they are thine ; and make me thy faithful
and zealous servant ; faithful to death, and zealous
to eternity."
11. Such as this must be the language of your
very heart before the Lord. But then remember,
that in consequence thereof, it must be the language
of your life too. The unmeaning words of the lips
would be a vain mockery. The most affectionate
transport of the passions, should it be transient and
ineffectual, would be but like a blaze of straw pre-
sented, instead of incense, at his altar. With such
humility, with such love, with such cordial self-dedi-
cation and submission of soul, must thou often pros-
trate thyself in the presence of Christ ; and then
thou must go away, and keep him in thy view ;
must go away, and live unto God through him, de-
nying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and behaving
132 RISE AND PROGRESS.
thyself " soberly, righteously, and godly," in this vain,
ensnaring world. Tit. 2 : 12. You must make it
your care to show your love by obedience, by form-
ing yourself, as much as possible, according to the
temper and manner of Jesus, in whom you believe.
You must make it the great point of your ambition,
and a nobler view you cannot entertain, to be a liv-
ing image of Christ ; that, so far as circumstances
will allow, even those who have heard and read but
little of him may, by observing you, in some measure
see and know what kind of a life that of the blessed
Jesus was. And this must be your constant care,
your prevailing character, as long as you live. You
must follow him whithersoever he leads you ; must
follow with a cross on your shoulder, when he com-
mands you to "take it up," Matt. 16 : 24; and so
must be faithful even unto death, expecting " the
crown of life." Rev. 2 : 10.
12. This, so far as I have been able to learn from
the word of God, is the way to safety and glory ; the
surest, the only way you can take. It is the way
which every faithful minister of Christ has trod, and
£S treading ; and the way to which, as he tenders
the salvation of his own soul, he must direct others,
We cannot, we would not alter it in favor of our-
selves, or of our dearest friends. It is the way in
which alone, so far as we can judge, it becomes the
blessed God to save his apostate creatures. And
SINNER DELIBERATING. 133
therefore, reader, I beseech and entreat you seriously
to consider it ; and let your own conscience answer,
as in the presence of God, whether you are willing
to acquiesce in it or not But know, that to reject
it is thine eternal death. For as " there is no other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we
can be saved," Acts 4 : 12, but this of Jesus of Naz-
areth, so there is no other method but this in which
Jesus himself will save us.
+
THE SINNER DELIBERATING ON THE EXPEDIENCY OF
FALLING IN WITH THIS METHOD OF SALVATION.
" Consider, 0 my soul, what answer wilt thou re-
turn to such proposals as these ? Surely, if I were
to speak the first dictate of this corrupt and degen-
erate heart, it would be, ' This is a hard saying, and
who can hear it ?' John 6 : 60. To be thus hum-
bled, thus mortified, thus subjected. To take such
a yoke upon me, and to carry it as long as I live.
To give up every darling lust, though dear to me as
a right eye, and seemingly necessary as a right hand.
To submit not only my life, but my heart, to the
command and discipline of another. To have a
master there, and such a master as will control
many of its favorite affections, and direct them quite
into another channel — a master who himself repre-
sents his commands, by taking up the cross and fol-
lowing him. To adhere to the strictest rules of god-
134 RISE AND PROGRESS.
liness and sobriety, of righteousness and truth ; not
departing from them in any allowed instance, great
or small, upon any temptation, for any advantage, to
escape any inconvenience and evil, no, not even for
the preservation of life itself; but, upon a proper call
of Providence, to act as if I ' hated even my own
life !' Luke 14 : 26. Lord, it is hard to flesh and
blood ; and yet I perceive and feel there is one de-
mand yet harder than this.
" With all these precautions, with all these morti-
fications, the pride of my nature would find some in-
ward resource of pleasure, might I but secretly think
that I had been my own saviour, that my own wis-
dom and my own resolution had broken the bands
and chains of the enemy, and that I had drawn out
of my own treasures the price with which my re-
demption was purchased. But must I lie down before
another, as guilty and condemned, as weak and help-
less ? And must the obligation be multiplied, and
must a Mediator have this share too ? Must I go to
the cross for my salvation, and seek my glory from
the infamy of that ? Must I be stripped of every
pleasing pretence to righteousness, and stand, in.
this respect, upon a level with the vilest of men ;
stand at the bar amongst the greatest criminals,
pleading guilty with them, and seeking deliverance
by that very act of grace whereby they have ob-
tained it ?
SINNER DELIBERATING. 135
" I dare not deliberately say this method is unrea-
sonable. My conscience testifies that I have sinned,
and cannot be justified before God as an innocent
and obedient creature. My conscience tells me, that
all these humbling circumstances are fit ; that it is
fit a convicted criminal should be brought upon his
knees ; that a captive rebel should give up the
weapons of his rebellion, and bow before his sover-
eign, if he expects his life. Yea, my reason, as well
as my conscience, tells me that it is fit and necessary
that, if I am saved at all, I should be saved from the
power and love of sin, as well as from the condem-
nation of it ; and that, if sovereign mercy gives me
a new life, after having deserved eternal death, it is
most fit I should ' yield myself to God as alive from
the dead.' Rom. 6:13. But, ' 0 wretched man
that I am, I feel a law in my members that wars
against the law of my mind,' Rom. 7 : 23, 24, and
opposes the conviction of my reason and conscience.
Who shall deliver me from this bondage ? Who
shall make me willing to do that which I know in
my own soul to be most expedient ? 0 Lord, subdue
my heart, and let it not be drawn so strongly one
way, while the nobler powers of my mind would di-
rect it another. Conquer every licentious principle
within, that it may be my joy to be so wisely gov-
erned and restrained. Especially, subdue my pride,
that lordly corruption which so ill suits an impover-
136 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ished and condemned creature, that thy way of sal-
vation may be made amiable to me in proportion to
the degree in which it is humbling. I feel a dispo-
sition to ' linger in Sodom, but 0 be merciful to me,
and pull me out of it,' Gen. 19 : 16, before the storm
of thy flaming vengeance fall, and there be no more
escaping."
THE SINNER ENTREATED. 137
CHAPTER X.
THE SINNER SERIOUSLY URGED AND ENTREATED TO
ACCEPT OF SALVATION IN THIS WAY.
1. Since many who have been impressed with these things,
suffer the impression to wear off. — 2. Strongly as the case
speaks for itself, sinners are to be entreated to accept this sal-
vation.—3. Accordingly the reader is entreated — by the maj-
esty and mercy of God. — 4. By the dying love of our Lord
Jesus Christ. — 5. By the regard due to our fellow-creatures. —
6. By the worth of his own immortal soul. — 7. The matter is
solemnly left with the reader, as before God. The sinner
yielding to these entreaties, and declaring his acceptance of
salvation by Christ.
1. THUS far have I often known convictions and
impressions to arise — if I might judge by the strong-
est appearances — which, after all, have worn off
again. Some unhappy circumstance of external
temptation, ever joined by the inward reluctance of
an unsanctified heart to this holy and humbling
scheme of redemption, has been the ruin of multi-
tudes. And " through the deceitfulness of sin, they
have been hardened," Heb. 3 : 13, till they seem to
have been " utterly destroyed, and that without rem-
edy." Prov. 29 : 1. And therefore, 0 thou immor-
tal creature who art now reading these lines, I be-
seech thee, that while affairs are in this critical situ-
138 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ation, while there are these balancings of mind be-
tween accepting and rejecting that glorious Gospel,
which, in the integrity of my heart, I have now been
laying before you, you would once more give me an
attentive audience while I plead, in God's behalf
shall T say, or rather in your own ? while, " as an
ambassador for Christ, and as though God did be-
seech you by me, I pray you in Christ's stead, that
you would be reconciled to God," 2 Cor. 5 : 20, and
would not, after these awakenings and these inqui-
ries, by a madness which it will surely be the dole-
ful business of a miserable eternity to lament, reject
this compassionate counsel of God towards you.
2. One would indeed imagine there should be no
need of importunity here. One would conclude, that
as soon as perishing sinners are told that an offended
God is ready to be reconciled, that he offers them a
full pafdon for all their aggravated sins, yea, that he
is willing to adopt them into his family now, that he
may at length admit them to his heavenly presence ;
all should, with the utmost readiness and pleasure,
embrace so kind a message, and fall at his feet in
speechless transports of astonishment, gratitude, and
joy. But, alas, we find it much otherwise. We see
multitudes quite unmoved, and the impressions which
are made on many more are feeble and transient.
Lest it should be thus with you, 0 reader, let me
urge the message with which I have the honor to
THE SINNER ENTREATED. 139
be charged ; let me entreat you to be reconciled to
God, and to accept of pardon and salvation in the
way in which it is so freely offered to you.
3. I entreat you, "by the majesty of that God in
whose name I come," whose voice fills all heaven
with reverence and obedience. He speaks not in
vain to legions of angels ; but if there could be any
contention among those blessed spirits, it would be,
who should be first to execute his commands. 0
let him not speak in vain to a wretched mortal. I
entreat you, " by the terrors of his wrath," who could
speak to you in thunder ; who could, by one single
act of his will, cut off this precarious life of yours,
and send you down to hell. I beseech you by his
mercies, by his tender mercies, by the bowels of his
compassion, which still yearn over you as those of a
parent over " a dear son," over a tender child, whom,
notwithstanding his former ungrateful rebellion, " he
earnestly remembers still." Jer. 31 : 2.0. I beseech
and entreat you, "by all this paternal goodness,"
that you do not, as it were, compel him to lose the
character of the gentle Parent in that of the right-
eous Judge ; so that, as he threatens with regard
to those whom he had just called his sons and his
daughters, " a fire shall be kindled in his anger,
which shall burn unto the lowest hell." Deut.
32 : 19, 22.
4. I beseech you further, " by the name and love
140 RISE AND PROGRESS.
of your dying Saviour." I beseech, you by all the
condescension of his incarnation, by that poverty to
which he voluntarily submitted, " that you might be
enriched " with eternal treasures, 2 Cor. 8 : 9 ; by
all the gracious invitations which he gave, which
still sound in his word, and still coming, as it were,
warm from his heart, are " sweeter than honey, 01
the honey-comb." Psalm 19:10. I beseech you by
all his glorious works of power and of wonder, which
were also works of love. I beseech you by the mem-
ory of the most benevolent person and the most gen-
erous friend. I beseech you by the memory of what
he suffered, as well as of what he said and did ; by
the agony which he endured in the garden when his
body was covered " with a dew of blood." Luke
22 : 44 I beseech you by all that tender distress
which he felt when his dearest friends " forsook him
and fled," Matt. 26 : 56, and his bloodthirsty enemies
dragged him away like the' meanest of slaves, and
like the vilest of criminals. I beseech you by the
blows and bruises, by the stripes and lashes which
this injured Sovereign endured while in their rebel-
lious hands ; by the shame of spitting, from which
he hid not that kind and venerable countenance.
Isa. 50 : 6. I beseech you by the purple robe, the
sceptre of reed, and the crown of thorns which this
King of glory wore, that he might set us among the
princes of heaven. Psalm 113 : 8, I beseech you
THE SINNER ENTREATED. > 141
by the heavy burden of " the cross," under which he
panted, and toiled, and fainted, in the painful way
" to Golgotha," John 19 : 17, that he might free us
from the burden of our sins. I beseech you by the
remembrance of those rude nails that tore the veins
and arteries, the nerves and tendons of his sacred
hands and feet ; and by that invincible, that trium-
phant goodness, which, while the iron pierced his
flesh, engaged him to cry out, " Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do." Luke 23 : 34.
I beseech you by that unutterable anguish which he
bore when lifted up upon the cross, and extended
there, as on a rack, for six painful hours, that you
open your heart to those attractive influences which
have " drawn to him thousands and ten thousands."
John 12 : 32. I beseech you by all that insult and
derision which the "Lord of glory bore there," Matt.
27 : 29-44 ; by that parching thirst which could
hardly obtain the relief of "vinegar," John 19 : 28,
29 ; by that doleful cry so astonishing in the mouth
of the only-begotten of the Father, " My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" Matt. 27 : 46.
I beseech you by that grace that subdued and par-
doned " a dying malefactor," Luke 23 : 42, 43 ; by
that compassion for sinners, by that compassion for
you, which wrought in his heart, long as its vital
motion continued, and which ended not when " he
bowed his head, saying, It is finished, and gave up
142 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the ghost." John 19 : 30. I beseech you by the
triumphs of that resurrection by which he was " de-
clared to be the Son of God with power ;" by the
spirit of holiness which wrought to accomplish it,
Romans 1:4; by that gracious tenderness which
attempered all those triumphs, when he said to her
out of whom he had cast seven devils, concerning
his disciples who had treated him so basely, " Go,
tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your
Father, unto my God and your God." John 20 : 17.
I beseech you by that condescension with which he
said to Thomas, when his unbelief had made such
an unreasonable demand, " Reach hither thy finger,
and behold mine hands ; and reach hither thine
hand, and thrust it into my side ; and be not faith-
less, but believing." John 20 : 27. I beseech you
by that generous and faithful care of his people,
which he carried up with him to the regions of
glory, and which engaged him to send down " his
Spirit," in that rich profusion of miraculous gifts, to
spread the progress of his saving word. Acts 2 : 33.
I beseech you by that voice of sympathy and power
with which he said to Saul, while injuring his
church, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"
Acts 9:4; by that generous goodness which spared
that prostrate enemy when he lay trembling at his
feet, and raised him to so high a dignity as to be
"not inferior to the very chiefest apostles." 2 Cor.
THE SINNER ENTREATED. 143
12:11 I beseech you by the memory of all that
Christ hath already done ; by the expectation of all
he will farther do for his people. I beseech you, at
once, by the sceptre of his grace, and by that sword
of his justice with which all his incorrigible " ene-
mies" shall be "slain before him," Luke 19 : 20,
that you do not trifle away these precious moments
while his Spirit is thus breathing upon you ; that
you do not lose an opportunity which may never
return, and on the improvement of which your eter-
nity depends.
5. I beseech you "by all the bowels of compassion
which you owe to the faithful ministers of Christ,"
who are studying and laboring, preaching and pray-
ing, wearing out their time, exhausting their strength,
and very probably shortening their lives, for the sal-
vation of your soul, and of souls like yours. I be-
seech you by the affection with which all that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity long to see you
brought back to him. I beseech you by the friend-
ship of the living, and by the memory of the dead,
by the ruin of those who have trifled away their
days and perished in their sins, and by the happiness
of those who have embraced the Gospel, and are
saved by it. I beseech you by*the great expectation
of that important "day, when the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven," 2 Thess. 1 : 7 ; by " the
terrors of a dissolving world," 2 Pet. 3:10; by the
144 RISE AND PROGRESS.
"sound of the archangel's trumpet," 1 Thess. 4 : 16;
and of that infinitely more awful sentence, "Come,
ye blessed," and " Depart, ye cursed," with which
that grand solemnity shall close. Matt. 25 : 34, 41.
6. I beseech you, finally, by your own precious
and immortal soul ; by the sure prospect of a dying
bed. or of a sudden surprise into the invisible state ;
and as you would feel one spark of comfort in your
departing spirit, when your flesh and your heart are
failing. I beseech you, by your own personal appear-
ance before the tribunal of Christ — for a personal
appearance it must be, even to them who now sit on
thrones of their own — by all the transports of the
blessed, and by all the agonies of the damned, the
one or the other of which must be your everlasting
portion. I affectionately entreat and beseech you, in
the strength of all these united considerations, as
you will answer it to me, who may in that day be
summoned to testify against you ; and, which is un-
speakably more, as you will answer it to your con-
science, as you will answer it to the eternal Judge,
that you dismiss not these thoughts, these medita-
tions, and these cares, till you have brought matters
to a happy issue ; till you have made resolute choice
of Christ, and his appointed way of salvation ; and
till you have solemnly devoted yourself to God in the
bonds of an everlasting covenant.
7. And thus I leave the matter before you, and
SINNER YIELDING TO ENTREATIES. 14.5
before the Lord. I have told you my errand ; I have
discharged my embassy. Stronger arguments I can-
not use; more endearing and more awful considera-
tions I cannot suggest. Choose, therefore, whether
you will go out, as it were clothed in sackcloth, to
cast yourself at the feet of him who now sends you
these equitable and gracious terms of peace and par-
don ; or whether you will hold it out till he appears
sword in hand to reckon with you for your treasons
and your crimes, and for this neglected embassy
among the rest of them. Fain would I hope the
best ; nor can I believe that this labor of love shall
be so entirely unsuccessful, that not one soul shall
be brought to the foot of Christ in cordial submission
and humble faith. "Take with you," therefore,
" words, and turn unto the Lord," Hos. 14 : 2; and
0 that those which follow might, in effect at least,
be the genuine language of every one that reads
them.
THE SINNER YIELDING TO THESE ENTREATIES, AND DE-
CLARING HIS ACCEPTANCE OF SALVATION BY CHRIST.
" Blessed Lord, it is enough. It is too much.
Surely there needs not this variety of arguments,
this importunity of persuasion, to court me to be
happy, to prevail on me to accept of pardon, of life
of eternal glory. Compassionate Saviour, my soul k
subdued ; so that I trust the language of thy grief i£
become that of my penitence, and I may say, * 1113
Rue and Prog. 1 0
146 RISE AND PROGRESS.
heart is melted like wax in the midst of my bowels.'
Psa. 22 : 14.
"0 gracious Redeemer, I have already neglected
thee too long. I have too often injured thee; have
crucified thee afresh by my guilt and impenitence, as
if I had taken pleasure in 'putting thee to an open
shame.' Heb. 6:6. But my heart now bows itself
before thee in humble, unfeigned submission. I de-
sire to make no terms with thee but these — rthat I
may be entirely thine. I cheerfully present thee with
a blank, entreating thee that thou wilt do me the
honor to signify upon it what is thy pleasure. Teach
me, 0 Lord, what thou wouldst have me to do; for
I desire to learn the lesson, and to learn it that I may
practise it. If it be more than my feeble powers can
answer, thou wilt, I hope, give me more strength ;
and in that strength I will serve thee. 0 receive a
soul which thou hast made willing to be thine.
" No more, 0 blessed Jesus, no more is it neces-
sary to beseech and entreat me. Permit me rather
to address myself to thee, with all the importunity of
a perishing sinner, that at length sees and knows
'there is salvation in no other.' Acts 4 : 12. Per-
mit me now, Lord, to come and throw myself at thy
feet like a helpless outcast that has no shelter but in
thy gracious compassion ; like one ' pursued by the
avenger of blood,' and seeking earnestly an admit
tance 'into the city of refuge.' Josh. 20 : 2, 3.
SINNER YIELDING TO ENTREATIES. 14?
" ' I wait for the Lord ; my soul doth wait ; and
m thy word do I hope,' Psa. 130 : 5, that thou wilt
1 receive me graciously.' Hos. 14 : 2. My soul con-
fides in thy goodness, and adores it. I adore the
patience which has borne with me so long, and the
grace that now makes me heartily willing to be thine —
to be thine on thine own terms, thine on any terms.
0 secure this treacherous heart to thyself. 0 unite
me to thee in such inseparable bonds, that none of the
allurements of flesh and blood, none of the vanities
of an ensnaring world, none of the solicitations of
sinful companions, may draw me back from thee, and
plunge me into new guilt and ruin. * Be surety, 0
Lord, for thy servant for 'good,' Psa. 119 : 122, that
1 may still keep my hold on thee, and so on eternal
life; till at length I know more fully, by joyful and
everlasting experience, how complete a Saviour thou
art. Amen."
U8 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XI.
A SOLEMN ADDRESS TO THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE PER-
SUADED TO FALL IN WITH THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL.
1. Universal success not to be expected. — 2-4. Yet, as un-
willing absolutely to give up any, the author addresses those
who doubt the truth of Christianity, urging an inquiry into
its evidences, and directing to proper methods for that pur-
pose.— 5. Those who determine to give it up without further
examination. — 6. And presume to set themselves to oppose
it. — 7, 8. Those who speculatively assent to Christianity as
true, and yet will sit down without any practical regard to its
most important and acknowledged truths. Such are dismissed
with a representation of the absurdity of their conduct on their
own principles. — 9, 10. With a solemn warning of its fatal
consequences. — 11. And a compassionate prayer, which con-
cludes this chapter, and this part of the work.
1 . I WOULD humbly hope that the preceding chap-
ters will be the means of awakening some stupid and
insensible sinners, the means of convincing them of
their need of gospel-salvation, and of engaging some
cordially to accept it. Yet I cannot flatter myself so
far as to hope this should be the case with regard to
all into whose hands this book shall come. "What
am I, alas, better than my fathers," 1 Kings, 19:4,
or better than my brethren, who have in all ages
been repeating their complaint, with regard to mul-
titudes, that they "have stretched out their hand all
APPEAL TO THE DOUBTING. 149
daylong to a disobedient and gainsaying people?"
Rom. 10 : 21. Many such may perhaps be found in
the number of my readers ; many, on whom neither
considerations of terror nor of love will make any
deep and lasting impression ; many, who, as our Lord
learned by experience to express it, "when we pipe
to them, will not dance ; and when we mourn unto
them, will not lament." Matt. 11 : 17. I can say
no more to persuade them, if they make light of
what I have already said. Here, therefore, we must
part : in this chapter I must take my leave of them ;
and 0 that I could do it in such a manner as to fix,
at parting, some conviction upon their hearts, that
though I seem to leave them for a little while, and
send them back to review again the former chapters,
as those in which alone they have any present con-
cern, they might soon, as it were, overtake me again,
and find a suitableness in ,the remaining part of this
treatise, which at present they cannot possibly find.
Unhappy creatures, I quit you as a physician quits a
patient whom he loves, and is just about to give over
as incurable : he returns again and again, and re-
examines the several symptoms, to observe whether
there be not some one of them more favorable than
the rest, which may encourage a renewed applica-
tion.
2 So would I once more return to you. You do
not find in yourself any disposition to embrace the
150 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Gospel, to apply yourself to Christ, to give yourself
up to the service of God, and to make religion the
business of your life. But if I cannot prevail upon
you to do this, let me engage you, at least, to answer
me, or rather to answer your own conscience, "Why
you will not do it?" Is it owing to any secret dis-
belief of the great principles of religion ? If it be,
the case is different from what I have yet considered,
and the cure must be different. This is not a place
to combat with the scruples of infidelity. Neverthe-
less, I would desire you seriously to inquire " How
far those scruples extend?" Do they affect any par-
ticular doctrine of the Gospel on which my argument
hath turned ; or do they affect the whole Christian
revelation ? Or do they reach yet farther, and extend
themselves to natural religion, as well as revealed ;
so that it should be a doubt with you, whether there
be any God, and providence, and future state, or not ?
As these cases are all different, so it will be of great
importance to distinguish the one from the other ;
that you may know on what principles to build as
certain, in the examination of those concerning which
you are yet in doubt. But, whatever these doubts
are, I would farther ask you, "How long have they
continued, and what method have you taken to get
them resolved?" Do you imagine, that, in matters
of such moment, it will be an allowable case for you
to trifle on, neglecting to inquire into the evidence of
APPEAL TO THE DOUBTING. 151
these things, and then plead your not being satisfied
in that evidence, as an excuse for not acting according
to them ? Must not the principles of common sense
assure you, that if these things be true, as when you
talk of doubting about them, you acknowledge it at
least possible they may be, they are of infinitely
greater importance than any of the affairs of life,
whether of business or pleasure, for the sake of which
you neglect them ? Why then do you continue in-
dolent and unconcerned, from week to week, and
from month to month, which probably conscience
tells you is the case ?
3. Do you ask, "What method you should take to
be resolved?" It is no hard question. Open your
eyes ; set yourself to think ; let conscience speak,
and verily do I believe, that if it be not seared in an
uncommon degree, you will find shrewd forebodings
of the certainty both of natural and revealed religion,
and of the absolute necessity of repentance, faith, and
holiness, to a life of future felicity. If you are a per-
son of any learning, you cannot but know by what
writers, and in what treatises, these great truths are
defended. And if you are not, you may find, in al-
most every town and neighborhood, persons capable
of informing you in the main evidences of Christian-
ity, and of answering such scruples against it as un-
learned minds may have met with. Set yourself,
then, in the name of God, immediately to consider
159 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the matter. If you study at all, bend your studies
close this way, and trifle not with mathematics, or
poetry, or history, or law, or physic, which are all
comparatively light as a feather, while you neglect
this. Study the argument as for your life ; for much
more than life depends on it. See how far you are
satisfied, and why that satisfaction reaches no far-
ther. Compare evidences on both sides. And, above
all, consider the design and tendency of the New
Testament. See to what it will lead you, and all
them that cordially obey it, and then say whether it
be not good. And consider how naturally its truth
is connected with its goodness. Trace the character
and sentiments of its authors, whose living image, if
I may be allowed the expression, is still preserved in
their writings ; and then ask your heart, can you
think this was a forgery, an impious, cruel forgery —
for such it must have been, if it were a forgery at
all— a scheme to mock God, and to ruin men, even
the best of men, such as reverenced conscience, and
would abide all extremities for what they appre-
hended to be truth. Put the question to your own
heart, Can I in my conscience believe it to be such
an imposture ? Can I look up to an omniscient
God, and say, " 0 Lord, thou knowest that it is in
reverence to thee, and in love to truth and virtue,
that I reject this book, and the method to happiness
here laid down."
APPEAL TO THE DOUBTING. 153
4. But there are difficulties in the way. And
what then ? Have those difficulties never been
cleared ? Go to the living advocates for Christianity,
to those of whose abilities, candor, and piety, you
have the best opinion, if your prejudices will give
you leave to have a good opinion of any such ; tell
them your difficulties ; hear their solutions ; weigh
them seriously, as those who know they must answer
it to God ; and while doubts continue, follow the
truth as far as it will lead you, and take heed that
you do not " imprison it in unrighteousness." Rom.
1:18. Nothing appears more inconsistent and ab-
surd than for a man solemnly to pretend dissatisfac-
tion in the evidences of the gospel, as a reason why
he cannot in conscience be a thorough Christian ;
when at the same time he violates the most apparent
dictates of reason and conscience, and lives in vices
condemned even by the heathen. 0 sirs, Christ has
judged concerning such, and judged most righteously
and most wisely : "They do evil, and therefore they
hate the light ; neither come they to the light, lest
their deeds should be made manifest, and be re-
proved." John 3 : 20. But there is a light that will
make manifest and reprove their works, to which
they will be compelled to come, and the painful
scrutiny of wnich they shall be forced to abide.
5. In the meantime, if you are determined to in-
quire no farther into the matter now, give me leave,
154 RISE AND PROGRESS.
at least, from a sincere concern that you may not
heap upon your head more aggravated ruin, to en-
treat you that you would be cautious how you expose
yourself to yet greater danger, by what you must
yourself own to be unnecessary ; I mean, attempts to
prevent others from believing the truth of the gospel.
Leave them, for God's sake, and for your own, in
possession of those pleasures and those hopes which
nothing but Christianity can give them ; and act not
as if you were solicitous to add to the guilt of an
infidel the tenfold damnation which they, who have
been the perverters and destroyers of the souls of
others, must expect to meet, if that gospel, which
they have so adventurously opposed, shall prove, as it
certainly will, a serious, and to them a dreadful truth.
6. If I cannot prevail here — but the pride of dis-
playing a superiority of understanding should bear
on such a reader, even in opposition to his own fa-
vorite maxims of the innocence of error, and the
equality of all religions consistent with social virtue,
to do his utmost to trample down the gospel with
contempt — I would, however, dismiss him with one
proposal, which I think the importance of the affair
may fully justify. If you have done with your exam-
ination into Christianity, and determine to live and
conduct yourself as if it were assuredly false, sit down,
then, and make a memorandum of that determina-
tion. Write it down :
APPEAL TO THE DOUBTING. 155
" On such, a day of such a year, I deliberately re-
solved that I would live and die rejecting Christianity
myself, and doing all I could to overthrow it. This
day I determined, not only to renounce all subjection
to, and expectation from Jesus of Nazareth, but also
to make it a serious part of the business of my life
to destroy, as far as I possibly can, all regard to him
in the minds of others, and to exert my most vigor-
ous efforts, in the way of reasoning or of ridicule, to
sink the credit of his religion, and, if it be possible,
to root it out of the world ; in calm, steady defiance
of that day, when his followers say He shall appear
in so much majesty and terror, to execute the ven-
geance threatened to his enemies."
Dare you write this, and sign it ? I firmly believe
that many a man, who would be thought a Deist,
and endeavors to increase the number, would not.
And if you in particular dare not do it, whence does
that small remainder of caution arise ? The cause
is plain. There is in your conscience some secret
apprehension that this rejected, this opposed, this de-
rided gospel may, after all, prove true. And if there
be such an apprehension, then let conscience do its
office, and convict you of the impious madness of act-
ing as if it were most certainly and demonstrably
false. Let it tell you at large, how possible it is that
" haply you may be found fighting against God,"
Acts 5 : 39 ; that, bold as yoji are in defying the
156 RISE AND PROGRESS.
terrors of the Lord, you may possibly fall into his
hands — may chance to hear that despised sentence,
which, when you hear it from the mouth of the eter-
nal Judge, you will not be able to despise. I will
repeat it again, in spite of all your scorn : you may
hear the King say to you, " Depart, accursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
Matt. 25 : 41. And now, go and pervert, and bur-
lesque the Scripture ; go and satirize the character of
its heroes, and ridicule the sublime discourses of its
prophets and its apostles, as some have done, who
have left behind them but the short-lived monu-
ments of their ignorance, their profaneness, and their
malice. Go and spread, like them, the banners of
infidelity, and pride thyself in the number of credu-
lous creatures listed under them. But take heed lest
the insulted Galilean direct a secret arrow to thine
heart, and stop thy licentious breath before it has
finished the next sentence thou wouldst utter against
him.
7. I will turn myself from the Deist or the sceptic,
and direct my address to the nominal Christian — if
he may upon any terms be called a Christian, who
feels not, after all I have pleaded, a disposition to
subject himself to the government and the grace of
that Saviour whose name he bears. 0 sinner, thou
art turning away from my Lord, in whose cause I
speak ; but let me earnestly entreat thee seriously to
ADDRESS TO NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 157
consider why thou art turning away ; and " to whom
thou wilt go," from him whom thou acknowledgest
" to have the words of eternal life." John 6 : 68.
You call yourself a Christian, and yet will not by
any means be persuaded to seek salvation in good
earnest from and through Jesus Christ, whom you
call your Master and Lord. How do you for a mo-
ment excuse this negligence to your own conscience ?
If I had urged you on any controverted point, it might
have altered the case. If I had labored hard to
make you the disciple of any particular party of
Christians, your delay might have been more rea-
sonable ; nay, perhaps your refusing to acquiesce
might have been an act of apprehended duty to our
common Master. But is it matter of controversy
among Christians, whether there be a great, holy,
and righteous God ; and whether such a Being, whom
we agree to own, should be reverenced and loved, or
neglected and dishonored ? Is it matter of contro-
versy, whether a sinner should deeply and seriously
repent of his sins, or whether he should go on in
them ? Is it a disputed point amongst us, whether
Jesus became incarnate, and died upon the cross for
the redemption of sinners, or not ? And if it be not,
can it be disputed by them who believe him to be
the Son of God and the Saviour of men, whether a
sinner should seek to him, or neglect him ; or whether
one who professes to be a Christian should depart
158 RISE AND PROGRESS.
from iniquity, or give himself up to the practice of
it ? Are the precepts of our great Master written so
obscurely in his word, that there should be room
seriously to question whether he require a devout,
holy, humble, spiritual, watchful, self-denying life, or
whether he allow the contrary ? Has Christ, aftei
all his pretensions of bringing life and immortality to
light, left it more uncertain than he found it, whether
there be any future state of happiness and misery, or
for whom these states are respectively intended ? Is
it a matter of controversy whether God will, or will
not, "bring every work into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be
evil?" Eccles. 12 : 14, or whether, at the conclusion
of that judgment, " the wicked shall go away into
everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life
eternal ?" Matt. 25 : 46. You will not, I arn sure,
for very shame, pretend any doubt about these things,
and yet call yourself a Christian. Why, then, will
you not be persuaded to lay them to heart, and to
act as duty and interest so evidently require ? 0
sinner, the cause is too obvious, a cause indeed quite
unworthy of being called a .reason. It is because
thou art blinded and besotted with thy vanities and
thy lusts. It is because thou hast some perishing
trifle, which charms thy imagination and thy senses,
so that it is dearer to thee than God and Christ,
than thy own soul and its salvation. It is; in a
TO NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 159
word, because thou art still under the influence of
that canial mind, which, whatever pious forms it
may sometimes admit and pretend, " is enmity
against God, and is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. And therefore
thou art in the very case of those wretches, concern-
ing whom our Lord said in the days of his flesh,
" Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have
life," John 5 : 40, and therefore " ye shall die in
your sins." John 8 : 24.
8. In this case I see not what it can signify, to
renew those expostulations and addresses which I
have made in the former chapters. As our blessed
Redeemer says of those who reject his gospel, " Ye
have both seen and hated both me and my Father,"
John 15 : 24, so may I truly say with regard to you,
I have endeavored to show you, in the plainest and
the clearest words, both Christ and the Father ; I
have urged the obligations you are under to both ; I
have laid before you your guilt and your condemna-
tion ; I have pointed out the only remedy ; I have
pointed out the rock on which I have built my own
eternal hopes, and the way in which alone I expect
salvation. I have recommended those things to you,
which, if God gives me an opportunity, I will, with
my dying breath, earnestly and affectionately recom-
mend to my own children, and to all the dearest
friends that I have upon earth, who may then be
160 RISE AND PROGRESS.
near me, esteeming it the highest token of my friend-
ship, the surest proof of my love to them. And if,
believing the gospel to be true, you resolve to reject
it, I have nothing farther to say, but that you must
abide the consequence. Yet as Moses, when he went
out from the presence of Pharaoh for the last time,
finding his heart yet more hardened by all the judg-
ments and deliverances with which he had formerly
been, exercised, denounced upon him " Grod's passing
through the land in terror to smite the first-born
with death, and warned him of that great and lam-
entable cry, which the sword of the destroying angel
should raise throughout all his realm," Exod. 11:4—
6, so will I, sinner, now when I am quitting thee,
speak to thee yet again, " whether thou wilt hear, or
whether thou wilt forbear," Ezek. 2 : 7, and denounce
that much more terrible judgment, which the sword
of divine vengeance, already whetted and drawn, and
" bathed, as it were, in heaven," Isa. 34 : 5, is pre-
paring against thee; which shall end in a much
more doleful cry, though thou wert greater and more
obstinate than that haughty monarch. Yes, sinner,
that I may, with the apostle Paul, when turning to
others who are more likely to hear me, " shake my
raiment, and say, I am pure from your blood," Acts
18 : 6, I will once more tell you what the end of
these things will be. And 0, that I could speak to
purpose ! 0 that I could thunder in thine ear such
SINNER'S DEATH. Iftl
a peal of terror as might awaken thee, and be too
loud to be "drowned in all the noise of carnal mirth,
or to be deadened by those dangerous opiates with
which thou art contriving to stupefy thy conscience !
9. Seek what amusements and entertainments
thou wilt, 0 sinner. I tell thee, if thou wert equal
in dignity, and power, and magnificence, to the
" great monarch of Babylon, thy pomp shall be
brought down to the grave, and all the sound of thy
viols ; the worm shall be spread under thee, and the
worm shall cover thee," Isa. 14 : 11 ; yes, sinner,
"the end of these things is death," Rom. 6 : 21 —
death in its most terrible sense to thee, if this con-
tinue thy governing temper. Thou canst not avoid
it ; and, if it be possible for any thing that I can say
to prevent, thou shalt not forget it. Your "strength
is not the strength of stones, nor is your flesh of
brass." Job 6 : 12. You are accessible to disease,
as well as others ; and if some sudden accident do
not prevent it, we shall soon see how heroically you
will behave yourself on a dying bed, and in the near
views of eternity. You, that now despise Christ,
and trifle with his gospel, we shall see you droop
and languish ; shall see all your relish for your car-
nal recreations and your vain companions lost. And
if perhaps one and another of them bolt in upon you,
and is brutish and desperate enough to attempt to
entertain a dying man with a gay story, or a profane
Rise and P*og, ] 1
162 RISE AND PROGRESS.
jest, we shall see how you will relish it. We shall
see what comfort you will have in reflecting on what
is past, or what hope in looking forward to what is
to come. Perhaps, trembling and astonished, you
will then he inquiring, in a wild kind of consterna-
tion, " what you shall do to be saved ;" calling for
the ministers of Christ, whom you now despise for
the earnestness with which they would labor to save
your soul ; and it may be falling into a delirium, or
dying convulsions, before they can come. Or per-
haps we may see you nattering yourself, through a
long, lingering illness, that you shall still recover,
and putting off any serious reflection and conversa-
tion, for fear it should overset your spirits. And the
cruel kindness of friends and physicians, as if they
were in league with Satan to make the destruction
of your soul as sure as possible, may perhaps abet
this fatal deceit.
10. And if any of these probable cases happen,
that is, in short, unless a miracle of grace snatch you
" as a brand out of the burning," when the flames
have, as it were, already taken hold of you ; all these
gloomy circumstances, which pass in the chambers
of illness and on the bed of death, are but the fore-
runners of infinitely more dreadful things. Oh, who
can describe them ? "Who can imagine them ? When
surviving friends are tenderly mourning over the
breathless corpse, and taking a fond farewell of it
SINNER IN THE JUDGMENT. 103
before it is laid to consume away in the dark and
silent grave, into what hands, 0 sinner, will thy soul
be fallen ? What scenes will open upon thy separate
spirit, even before thy deserted flesh be cold, or thy
sightless eyes are closed ? It shall then know what
it is to return to God, to be rejected by him as hav-
ing rejected his Gospel and his Son, and despised the
only treaty of reconciliation ; and that so amazingly
condescending and gracious. Thou shalt know what
it is to be disowned by Christ, whom thou hast re-
fused to entertain ; and what it is, as the certain
and immediate consequence of that, to be left in the
hands of the malignant spirits of hell. There will
be no more friendship then ; none to comfort, none
to alleviate thy agony and distress ; but, on the con-
trary, all around thee laboring to aggravate and in-
crease them. Thou shalt pass away the intermediate
years of the separate state in dreadful expectation,
and bitter outcries of horror and remorse. And then
thou shalt hear the trumpet of the archangel, in
whatever cavern of that gloomy world thou art
lodged. Its sound shall penetrate thy prison, where,
doleful and horrible as it is, thou shalt nevertheless
wish that thou mightest still be allowed to hide thy
guilty head, rather than show it before the face of
that awful Judge, before whom " heaven and earth
are fleeing away." Rev. 20 : 11. But thou must
come forth, and be reunited to a body now formed
164 RISE AND PROGRESS.
for ever to endure agonies, which in this mortal
state would have .dissolved it in a moment. You
would not be persuaded to come to Christ before:
you would stupidly neglect him, in spite of reason,
in spite of conscience, in spite of all the tender solici-
tations of the gospel, and the repeated admonitions
of its most faithful ministers. But now, sinner, you
shall have an interview with him — if that may be
called an interview, in which you will not dare to
lift up your head to view the face of your tremendous
and inexorable Judge. There, at least, how distant
soever the time of our life and the place of our abode
may have been, there shall we see how courageously
your heart will endure, and how " strong your hands
will be when the Lord doeth this." Ezek. 22 : 14.
There shall I see thee, 0 reader, whoever thou art
that goest on in thine impenitency, among thousands
and ten thousands of despairing wretches, trembling
and confounded. There shall I hear thy cries among
the rest, rending the very heavens in vain. The
Judge will rise from his throne with majestic compo-
sure, and leave thee to be hurried down to those ever-
lasting burnings, to which his righteous vengeance
hath doomed thee, because thou wouldst not be saved
from them. Hell shall shut its mouth upon thee
for ever, and the sad echo of thy groans and outcries
shall be lost, amidst the hallelujahs of heaven, to all
that find mercy of the Lord in that day.
SINNER AN OBJECT OF PRAYER. 165
1 1 . This will most assuredly be the end of these
things ; and thou, as a nominal Christian, professest
to know, and to believe it. It moves my heart at
least, if it moves not thine. I firmly believe, that
every one, who himself obtains salvation and glory,
will bear so much of his Saviour's image in wisdom
and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard to
the happiness of the whole creation, that he will be-
hold this sad scene with calm approbation, and with-
out any painful commotion of mind. But as yet I
am flesh and blood ; and therefore my bowels are
troubled, and mine eyes often overflow with grief, to
think that wretched sinners will have no more com-
passion upon their own souls ; to think, that in spite
of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon
final, everlasting destruction. It would signify noth-
ing here to add a prayer or a meditation for your
use. Poor creature, you will not meditate ; you will
not pray. Yet as I have often poured out my heart
in prayer over a dying friend, when the force of his
distemper has rendered him incapable of joining with
me, so I will now apply myself to God for you, 0
unhappy creature. And if you disdain so much as
to read what my compassion dictates, yet I hope
they who have felt the power of the gospel on their
own souls, as they cannot but pity such as you, will
join with me in such cordial, though broken petitions
as these :
166 RISE AND PROGRESS.
A PRAYER IN BEHALF OF AN IMPENITENT SINNER, IN
THE CASE JUST DESCRIBED.
"Almighty God, 'with thee all things are possi-
ble.' Matt. 19 : 26. To thee, therefore, do I humbly
apply myself in behalf of this dear immortal soul,
which thou here seest perishing in its sins, and hard-
ening itself against that everlasting gospel which has
been the power of God to the salvation of so many
thousands and millions. Thou art witness, 0 blessed
God, thou art witness to the plainness and serious-
ness with which the message has been delivered. It
is in thy presence that these awful words have been
written ; and in thy presence have they been read.
Be pleased, therefore, to record it in the book of thy
remembrance, that 'so, if this wicked man dieth in
his iniquity, after the warning has been so plainly
and solemnly given him, his blood may not be re-
quired at my hand,' Ezek. 33 : 8, 9, nor at the hand
of that Christian friend, whoever he is, by whom this
book has been procured for him, with a sincere de-
sire for the salvation of his soul. Be witness, 0
blessed ' Jesus, in the day in which thou shalt judge
the secrets of all hearts,' Rom. 2:16, that thy gospel
hath been preached to this hardened wretch, and
salvation by thy blood hath been offered him, though
he continued to despise it. And may thy unworthy
messenger be * unto God a sweet savor in Christ,' in
PRAYER FOR AN IMPENITENT SINNER. 167
this very soul, even though it should at last perish.
2 Cor. 2 : 15.
" But 0, that after all his hardness and impeni-
tence, thou wouldst still be pleased, by the sovereign
power of thine efficacious grace, to awaken and con-
vert him. Well do we know, 0 thou Lord of univer-
sal nature, that he who made the soul can cause the
Bword of conviction to come near and enter into it.
0 that, in thine infinite wisdom and love, thou wouldst
find out a way to interpose, and save this sinner from
death, from eternal death. 0 that, if it be thy
blessed will, thou wouldst immediately do it. Thou
knowest, 0 God, he is a dying creature ; thou know-
est that if any thing be done for him, it must be done
quickly ; thou seest, in the book of thy wise and gra-
cious decrees, a moment marked, which must seal
him up in an unchangeable state. 0 that thou
wouldst lay hold on him while he is yet * joined to
the living, and hath hope/ Eccles. 9:4. Thy im-
mutable laws, in the dispensation of grace, forbid that
a soul should be converted and renewed after its
entrance into the invisible world : 0 let thy sacred
Spirit work while he is yet as it were within the
sphere of its operations. Work, 0 God, by whatever
method thou pleasest ; only have mercy upon him. 0
Lord, have mercy upon him, that he sink not into
these depths of damnation and ruin, on the very brink
of which he so evidently appears. 0 that thou wouldst
1G8 RISE AND PROGRESS.
bring him, if that be necessary, and seem to thee
most expedient, into any depths of calamity and dis-
tress. 0 that, with Manasseh, he may be * taken in
the thorns, and laden with the fetters of affliction,'
if that may but cause him to ' seek the God of his
fathers.' 2 Chron. 33 : 11, 12.
"But I prescribe not to thine infinite wisdom.
Thou hast displayed thy power in glorious and as-
tonishing instances ; which I thank thee that I have
BO circumstantially known, and by the knowledge
of them have been fortified against the rash confi-
dence of those who weakly and so arrogantly pro-
nounce that to be impossible which is actually done.
Thou hast, I know, done that, by a single thought
in retirement, when the happy man reclaimed by it
hath been far from means, and far from ordinances,
which neither the most awful admonitions, nor the
most tender entreaties, nor the most terrible afflic-
tions, nor the most wonderful deliverances, had been
able to effect.
" Glorify thy name, 0 Lord, and glorify thy grace,
in the method which to thine infinite wisdom shall
seem most expedient. Only grant, I beseech thee,
with all humble submission to thy will, that this sin-
ner may be saved ; or if not, that the labor of this
part of this treatise may not be altogether in vain ;
but that if some reject it to their aggravated ruin,
others may hearken and live. That those thy ser-
PRAYER FOR AN IMPENITENT SINNER. 169
vants, who have labored for their deliverance and
happiness, may view them in the regions of glory, as
the spoils which thou hast honored them as the in-
struments of recovering ; and may join with them in
the hallelujahs of heaven, ' to Him who hath loved
us, and washed us from our sins in his own Wood, and
hath made us,' of condemned rebels, and accursed,
polluted sinners, * kings and priests unto God ; to
him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.' Rev.
1 : 5, 6. Amen."
170 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XII.
AN ADDRESS TO A SOUL SO OVERWHELMED WITH A
SENSE OF THE GREATNESS OF ITS SINS, THAT IT
DARES NOT APPLY ITSELF TO CHRIST WITH ANY HOPE
OF SALVATION.
1—4. The case described at large. — 5. As it frequently oc-
curs.— 6. Granting all that the dejected soul charges on itself.- —
7. The invitations and promises of Christ give hope. — 8.
The reader urged, under all his burdens and fears, to an hum-
ble application to him. Which is accordingly exemplified in
the concluding Reflection and Prayer.
1 . I HAVE now done with those unhappy creatures
who despise the Gospel, and with those who neglect
it. With pleasure do I now turn myself to those
who will hear me with more regard. Among the
various cases which now present themselves to my
thoughts, and demand my tender, affectionate, re-
spectful care, there is none more worthy of compas-
sion than that which I have mentioned in the title
of this chapter, none which requires a more immedi-
ate attempt of relief.
2. It is very possible some afflicted creature may
be ready to cry out, "It is enough ; aggravate my
grief and my distress no more. The sentence you
have been so awfully describing, as what shall be
passed and executed on the impenitent and unbe-
THE DEJECTED SOUL. 171
lieving, is my sentence ; and the terrors of it are my
terrors. ' For mine iniquities have gone up into the
heavens,' and my transgressions have reached unto
the clouds. Rev. 18 : 5. My case is quite singu-
lar. Surely there never was so great a sinner as I,
I have received so many mercies, have enjoyed so
many advantages, I have heard so many invitations
of gospel grace ; and yet my heart has been so hard,
and my nature is so exceeding sinful, and the num-
ber and aggravating circumstances of my provoca-
tions have been such, that I dare not hope. It is
enough that Grod hath supported me thus long ; it is
enough, that, after so many years of wickedness, I
am yet out of hell. Every day's reprieve is a mercy
at which I am astonished. I lie down, and wonder
that death and damnation have not seized me in my
walks the day past. I arise, and wonder that my
bed has not been my grave — wonder that my soul is
not separated from my flesh, and surrounded with
devils and damned spirits.
3. "I have indeed heard the message of salvation ;
but alas, it seems no message of salvation to me.
There are happy souls that have hope ; and their
hope is indeed in Christ and the grace of God mani-
fest in him. But they feel in their hearts an en-
couragement to apply to him, whereas I dare not do
it. Christ and grace are things in which I fear I
have no part, and must expect none. There are ex-
172 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ceeding rich and precious promises in the word of
God ; but they are to me as a sealed book, and are
hid from me as to any personal use. I know Christ
is able to save : I know he is willing to save some.
But that he should be willing to save me — such a
polluted, such a provoking creature, as God knows,
and as conscience knows, I have been, and to this
day am — this I know not how to believe ; and the
utmost that I can do towards believing it, is to ac-
knowledge that it is not absolutely impossible, and
that I do not lie down in complete despair ; though,
alas, I seem upon the borders of it, and expect every
day and hour to fall into it."
4. I should not, perhaps, have entered so fully into
this case, if I had not seen many in it ; and I will
add, reader, for your encouragement, if it be your
case, several who now are in the number of the most
established, cheerful, and useful Christians. And I
hope divine grace will add you to the rest, if " out
of these depths you be enabled to cry unto God,"
Psalm 130 : 1 ; and though, like Jonah, you may
seem to be cast out from his presence, yet still, with
Jonah, you "look towards his holy temple." Jonah
2: 4.
5. Let it not be imagined, that it is in any neglect
of that blessed Spirit whose office it is to be the
great Comforter, that I now attempt to reason you
out of this disconsolate frame ; for it is as the great
THE DEJECTED SOUL. 173
source of reason, that he deals with rational crea-
tures ; and it is in the use of rational means and
considerations that he may most justly be expected
to operate. Give me leave, therefore, to address my-
self calmly to you, and to ask you, what reason you
have for all these passionate complaints and accusa-
tions against yourself. What reason have you to
suggest that your case is singular, when so many
have told you they have felt the same ? What rea-
son have you to conclude so hardly against yourself,
when the Gospel speaks in such favorable terms ?
Or, what reason to imagine, that the gracious things
it says are not intended for you ? You know, indeed,
more of the corruption of your own heart, than you
know of the hearts of others ; and you make a thou-
sand charitable excuses for their visible failings, and
infirmities, which you make not for your own. And
it may be, some of* those whom you admire as emi-
nent saints when compared with you, are on their
part humbling themselves in the dust, as unworthy
to be numbered among the least of God's people, and
wishing themselves like you, in whom they think
they see much more good, and much less of evil, than
in themselves.
6. But to suppose the worst, what if you were
really the vilest sinner that ever lived -upon the face
of the earth ? What if " your iniquities had gone up
into the heavens" everyday, and "your transgress
174 RISE AND PROGRESS.
sions had reached unto the clouds," Rev. 18 ; 5 —
reached thither with such horrid aggravations, that
earth and heaven should have had reason to defest
you as a monster of impiety ? Admitting all this,
" is any thing too hard for the Lord ?" Gen. 18 : 14.
Are any sins, of which a sinner can repent, of so deep
a dye that the blood of Christ cannot wash them
away ? Nay, though it would be daring wickedness
and monstrous folly for any " to sin that grace may
abound," Rom. 6:1; yet, had you indeed raised your
account beyond all that divine grace has ever yet
pardoned, who should " limit the holy One of Israel ?"
Psalm 78 : 41 ; or who shall pretend to say, that it
is impossible that God may, for your very wretched-
ness, choose you out from others, to make you a monu-
ment of mercy, and a trophy of hitherto unparalleled
grace ? The apostle Paul strongly intimates this to
have been the case with regard to himself; and why
might not you likewise, if indeed " the chief of sin-
ners" obtain mercy, that in you, as the chief, " Jesus
Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a
pattern to them who shall hereafter believe ?" 1
Tim. 1 : 15, 16. .
7. Gloomy as your apprehensions are, I would ask
you plainly, Do you in your conscience think that
Christ is not able to save you ? What, is he not
" able to save, even to the uttermost, them that come
unto God by him ?" Heb. 7 ; 25. Yes, you agjill say,
INVITATION TO CHRIST. 175
abundantly able to do it ; but I dare not imagine that
he will do it. And how do you know that he will
not ? He has helped the very greatest sinners of all
that have yet applied themselves to him ; and he has
made thee offers of grace and salvation in the most
engaging and encouraging terms. " If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink," John 7 : 37 ;
" Let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will,
let him take of the water of life freely.'* Rev. 22 : 17.
" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11 : 28. And
once more, " Him that cometh unto me, I will in no
wise cast out." John 6 : 37. " True," will you say,
"none that are given him by the Father : could I
know I were of that number, I could then apply
cheerfully to him." But, dear reader, let me entreat
you to look into the text itself, and see whether that
limitation be expressly added there. Do you there
read, none of them whom the Father hath given me
shall be cast out ? The words are in a much more
encouraging form ; and why should you frustrate his
wisdom and goodness by such an addition of your
own ? " Add not to his words, lest he reprove thee,"
Prov. 30:6; take them as they stand, and drink in
the consolation of them. Our Lord knew into what
perplexity some serious minds might possibly be
thrown by what he had before been saying, "All
that the Father hath given me, shall come unto me ;"
176 RISE AND PROGRESS.
and therefore, as it were on purpose to balance it, he
adds those gracious words, "him that cometh unto
me, I will in no wise," by no means, on no consider-
ation whatsoever, " cast out."
8. If, therefore, you are already discouraged and
terrified at the greatness of your sins, do not add to
their weight and number that one greater and worse
than all the rest, a distrust of the faithfulness and
grace of the blessed Redeemer. Do not, so far as in
you lies, oppose all the purposes of his love to you.
0 distressed soul, whom dost thou dread ? To whom
dost thou tremble to approach ? Is there any thing
so terrible in a crucified Redeemer, in the Lamb that
was slain ? If thou earnest thy soul, almost sinking
under the. burden of its guilt, to lay it down at his
feet, what dost thou offer him, but the spoil which he
bled and died to recover and possess ? And did he
purchase it so dearly, that he might reject it with
disdain ? Go to him directly, and fall down in his
presence, and plead that misery of thine which thou
hast now been pleading in a contrary view, as an en-
gagement to your own soul to make the application,
and as an argument with the compassionate Saviour
to receive you. Go, and be assured, that " where
sin hath abounded, there grace shall much more
abound." Rom. 5 : 20. Be assured, that if one
sinner can promise himself a more certain welcome
than another, it is not he that is least guilty and
APPLYING TO CHRIST FOR MERCY. 1/7
miserable, but he that is most deeply humbled before
God under a sense of that misery and guilt, and lies
the lowest in the apprehension of it.
REFLECTIONS ON THESE ENCOURAGEMENTS, ENDING IN
AN HUMBLE AND EARNEST APPLICATION TO CHRIST
FOR MERCY.
" 0 my soul, what sayest thou to these things ?
Is there not at least a possibility of help from Christ?
And is there a possibility of help any other way ? Is
any other name given under heaven, whereby we
can be saved ? I know there is none. Acts 4:12.
I must then say, like the lepers of Israel, 2 King£,
7 : 4, ' If I sit here, I perish ; and if I make my ap-
plication in vain, I can but die.' But perad venture
he may save my soul alive. I will therefore arise,
and go unto him ; or rather, believing him here, by
his spiritual presence, sinful and miserable as I am,
I will this moment fall down on my face before him,
and pour out my soul unto him.
"Blessed Jesus, I present myself unto thee, as a
wretched creature, driven indeed by necessity to do
it. For surely, were not that necessity urgent and
absolute, I should not dare, for very shame, to appear
in thy holy and majestic presence. I am fully con-
vinced that my sins and my follies have been inex-
cusably great, more than I can express, more than 1
can conceive. I feel a source of sin in my corrupt
Rise and Frog. 1 2
178 RISE AND PROGRESS.
and degenerate nature, which pours out iniquity as
a fountain sends out its water, and makes me a bur-
den and a terror to myself. Such aggravations have
attended my transgressions, that it looks like pre-
sumption so much as to ask pardon for them. And
yet, would it not be greater presumption to say, that
they exceed thy mercy, and the efficacy of thy blood ;
to say, that thou hast power and grace enough to
pardon and save only sinners of a lower order, while
such as I lie out of thy reach ? Preserve me from
that blasphemous imagination. Preserve me from
that unreasonable suspicion. Lord, thou canst do all
things, neither is there any thought of mine heart
withholden from thee. Job 42 : 2. Thou art indeed,
as thy word declares, able to save unto the uttermost.
Heb. 7 : 25. And therefore, breaking through all
the oppositions of shame and fear that would keep
me from thee, I come and lie down as in the dust be-
fore thee. Thou knowest, 0 Lord, all my sins and
all my follies. Psa. 69 : 5. I cannot, and I hope
I may say, I would not disguise them before thee,
or set myself to find out plausible excuses. Accuse
me, Lord, as thou pleasest ; and I will ingenuously
plead guilty to all thine accusations. I will own
myself as great a sinner as thou callest me ; but I
am still a sinner that comes unto thee for pardon. If
I must die, it shall be submitting, and owning the
justice of the fatal stroke. If I perish, it shal] be
APPLYING TO CHRIST FOR MERCY. 17!)
laying hold, as it were, on the horns of the altar;
laying myself down at thy footstool, though I have
been such a rebel against thy throne. Many have
received a full pardon there ; have met with favor
even beyond their hopes. And are all thy compas-
sions, 0 blessed Jesus, exhausted ? And wilt thou
now begin to reject an humble creature who flies to
thee for life, and pleads nothing but mercy and free
grace ? Have mercy upon me, 0 most gracious Re-
deemer; have mercy upon me, and let my life be
precious in thy sight. 2 Kings, 1 : 14. 0 do not re-
solve to send me down to that state of final misery
and despair, from which it was thy gracious purpose
to deliver and save so many.
"Spurn me not away, 0 Lord, from thy presence,
nor be offended when I presume to lay hold on thy
royal robe, and say that I cannot and will not let
thee go till my suit is granted. Gen. 32 : 26. 0
remember that my eternity is at stake. Remember,
0 Lord, that all my hopes of obtaining eternal hap-
piness, and avoiding everlasting, helpless, hopeless
destruction, are anchored upon thee ; they hang upon
thy smiles, or drop at thy frown. 0 have mercy up-
on me, for the sake of this immortal soul of mine ;
or if not for the sake of mine alone, for the sake of
many others, who may, on the one hand, be en-
couraged by thy mercy to me, or, on the other, may
be greatly wounded and discouraged by my helpless
180 RISE AND PROGRESS.
despair. I beseech thee, 0 Lord, for thine own sake,
and for the display of thy Father's rich and sovereign
grace ; I beseech thee by the blood thou didst shed
on the cross ; I beseech thee by the covenant of grace
and peace, into which the Father did enter with thee
for the salvation of believing and repenting sinners,
save me, save me, 0 Lord, who earnestly desire to
repent and believe. I am indeed a sinner, in whose
final and everlasting destruction thy justice might be
greatly glorified ; but 0, if thou wilt pardon me, it
will be a monument raised to the honor of thy grace,
and the efficacy of thy blood, in proportion to the
degree in which the wretch to whom thy mercy is
extended was mean and miserable without it. Speak,
Lord, by thy blessed Spirit, and banish my fears.
Look unto me with love and grace in thy counte-
nance, and say to me, as in the days of thy flesh thou
didst to many an humble supplicant, lThy sins are
forgiven thee; go in peace.' "
THE DOUBTING SOUL ASSISTED. 131
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DOUBTING SOUL MORE PARTICULARLY ASSISTED IN
ITS INaUIRIES AS TO THE SINCERITY OF ITS FAITH
AND REPENTANCE.
1 . Transient impressions liable to be mistaken for conversion,
which would be a fatal error. — 2. General scheme for self-
examination. — 3. Particular inquiries: What views there have
been of sin. — 4. What views there have been of Christ. —
5. As to the need the soul has of him. — 6. And its willingness
to receive him with a due surrender of heart to his service. —
7. Nothing short of this sufficient. The soul submitting to
divine examination the sincerity of its faith and repentance.
1. IN consequence of all the serious things which
have been said in the former chapters, I hope it will
be no false presumption to imagine that some relig-
ious impressions may be made on hearts which had
never felt them before; or may be revived where
they have formerly grown cold and languid. Yet J
am very sensible, and I desire that you may be so,
how great danger there is of self-flattery on this im-
portant head, and how necessary it is to caution men
against too hasty a conclusion that they are really
converted, because they have felt some warm emo-
tions on their minds, and have reformed the gross ir-
regularities of their former conduct. A mistake here
may be infinitely fatal ; it may prove the occasion of
182 RISE AND PROGRESS.
that false peace which shall lead a man to bless him-
self in his own heart, and to conclude himself secure,
while " all the threatenings and curses of God's law'*
are sounding in his ears, and lie indeed directly
against him, Deut. 19 : 19, 20; while in the mean-
time he applies to himself a thousand promises in
which he has no share ; which may prove therefore
like generous wines to a man in a high fever, or
strong opiates to one in a lethargy. " The stony-
ground hearers received the word with joy," and a
promising harvest seemed to be springing up ; yet
"it soon withered away," Matt. 13 : 5, 6, and no
reaper filled his arms with it. Now, that this may
not be the case with you, that all my labors and
yours hitherto may not be lost, and that a vain dream
of security and happiness may not plunge you deeper
in misery and ruin, give me leave to lead you into
a serious inquiry into your own heart, that so you
may be better able to judge of your case, and to dis-
tinguish between what is at most being only near
the kingdom of heaven, and becoming indeed a
member of it.
2. Now this depends upon the sincerity of your
faith in Christ, when faith is taken in the largest
extent, as explained above ; that is, as comprehend-
ing repentance, and that steady purpose of new and
universal obedience, of which, wherever it is real,
faith will assuredly be the vital principle. Therefore,
THE DOUBTING SOUL ASSISTED. 183
to assist you in judging of your state, give me leave
to ask you, or rather to entreat you to ask yourself,
what views you have had, and now have, of sin and
of Christ ; and what your future purposes are with
regard to your conduct in the remainder of life that
may lie before you. I shall not reason largely upon the
several particulars I suggest under these heads, but
rather refer you to your own reading and observation,
to judge how agreeable they are to the word of God,
the great rule by which our characters must quickly
be tried, and our eternal state unalterably determined.
3. Inquire seriously, in the first place, what views
you have had of sin, and what sentiments you have
felt in your soul with regard to it. There was a
time when it wore a flattering aspect, and made a
fair, enchanting appearance, so that all your heart
was charmed with it, and it was the very business
of your life to practise it. But you have since been
undeceived. You have felt it "bite like a serpent,
and sting like an adder." Prov. 23 : 32. You have
beheld it with an abhorrence far greater than the
delight which it ever gave you. So far it is well.
It is thus with every true penitent, and with some, I
fear, who are not of that number. Let me therefore
inquire farther, Whence arose this abhorrence ? Was
it merely from a principle of self-love ? Was it mere-
ly because you had been wounded by it ? Was it
merely because you had thereby brought condemna-
184 RISE AND PROGRESS.
tioii and ruin upon your own soul ? Was there no
sense of its deformity, of its baseness, of its maligni-
ty, as committed against the blessed God, considered
as a glorious, a bountiful, and a merciful Being ?
Were you never pierced by the apprehension of its
vile ingratitude? And as for those purposes which
have arisen in your heart against it, let me beseech
you to reflect how they have been formed, and how
they have hitherto been executed. Have they been
universal ? Have they been resolute ? And yet,
amidst all that resolution, have they been humble ?
When you have declared war with sin, was it with
every sin ? And is it an irreconcilable war, which
you determine, by divine grace, to push on till you
have entirely conquered it, or die in the attempt ?
And are you accordingly active in your endeavors to
subdue and destroy it? If so, what are "the fruits
worthy of repentance which you bring forth ? ' ' Luke
3:8. It does not, I hope, all flow away in floods
of grief. Have you "ceased to do evil?" Are you
"learning to do well?" Isa. 1 : 16, 17. Doth your
reformation show that you repent of your sins ; or
do your renewed relapses into sin prove that you re-
pent even of what you call your repentance ? Have
you an inward abhorrence of all sin, and an unfeign-
ed zeal against it? And doth that produce a care
to guard against the occasions of it, and temptations
to it ? Do you watch against the circumstances that
THE DOUBTING SOUL ASSISTED. 185
have ensnared you ; and do you particularly double
your guard against " that sin which does most easily
beset you ?" Heb. 12 : 1. Is that laid aside, that
the Christian race may be run — laid aside with firm
determination that you will return to it no more, that
you hold no more parley with it, that you will never
take another step towards it ?
4. Permit me also, farther to inquire what your
views of Christ have been. What think you of him,
and your concern with him? Have you been fully
convinced that there must be a correspondence set-
tled between him and your soul ? And do you see
and feel, that you are not only to pay him a kind of
distant homage, and transient compliment, as a very
wise, benevolent, and excellent person, for whose
name and memory you have a reverence ; but that,
as he lives and reigns, as he is ever near you, and
always observing you, so you must look to him.
must approach him, must humbly transact business
with him, and that business of the highest impor-
tance, on which your salvation depends?
5. You have been brought to inquire, " Where-
with shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself
before the most high God ?" Micah 6:6. And once,
perhaps, you were thinking of sacrifices which your
own stores might have been sufficient to furnish out.
Are you now convinced they will not suffice ; and
that you must have recourse to the Lamb which God
186 RISE AND PROGRESS.
has provided ? Have you had a view of " Jesus as
taking away the sin of the world ?" John 1 : 29,
" as made a sin-offering for us, though he knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him ?" 2 Cor. 5 : 21. Have you viewed him as
perfectly righteous in himself; and, despairing of
being justified by any righteousness of your own,
have you " submitted to the righteousness of God ?"
Rom. 10 : 3. Has your heart ever been brought to
a deep conviction of this important truth, that if ever
you are saved at all, it must be through Christ ; that
if God ever extends mercy to you at all, it must be
for his sake ; that if ever you are fixed in the temple
of God above, you must stand there as an everlast-
ing trophy of that victory which Christ has gained
over the powers of hell, who would otherwise have
triumphed over you ?
6. Our Lord says, "Look unto me, and be ye
saved." Isaiah 45 : 22. He says, "If I be lifted
up, I will draw all men unto me." John 12 : 32.
Have you looked to him as the only Saviour, have
you been drawn unto him by that sacred magnet, the
attracting influence of his ' dying love ? Do you
know what it is to come to Christ, as a poor "weary
and heavy-laden sinner, that you may find rest?"
Matt. 11 : 28. Do you know what it is, in a spiritual
sense, " to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the
Son of man," John 6 : 53 ; that is, to look upon
THE DOUBTING SOUL ASSISTED. 187
Christ crucified as the great support of your soul,
and to feel a desire after him, earnest as the appetite
of nature after its necessary food ? Have you known
what it is cordially to surrender yourself to Christ, as
a poor creature whom love has made his property ?
Have you committed your immortal soul to him, that
he may purify and save it ; that he may govern it
by the dictates of his word and the influences of his
Spirit ; that he may use it for his glory, that he may
appoint it to what exercises and discipline he pleases,
while it dwells here in flesh ; and that he may re-
ceive it at death, and fix it among those spirits, who
with perpetual songs of praise surround his throne,
and are his servants for ever ? Have you heartily
consented to this ? And do you, on this account of
the matter, renew your consent ? Do you renew it
deliberately and determinately, and feel your whole
soul, as it were, saying Amen, while you read this ?
If this be the case, then I can, with great pleasure,
give you, as it were, the right hand of fellowship,
and salute and embrace you as a sincere disciple of
the Lord Jesus Christ ; as one who is delivered from
the power of darkness, and is translated into the
kingdom of the Son of God. Col. 1 : 13. I can
then salute you in the Lord, as one to whom, as a
minister of Jesus, I am commissioned and charged to
speak comfortably, and tell you, not that I absolve
you from your sins, for it is a small matter to be
188 RISE AND PROGRESS.
judged of man's judgment, but that the blessed God
himself absolveth you ; that you are one to whom
he hath said in his Gospel, and is continually saying,
" Your sins are forgiven you," Luke 7 : 48 ; there-
fore go in peace, and take the comfort of it.
7. But if you are a stranger to these experiences,
and to this temper which I have now described, the
great work is yet undone : you are an impenitent
and unbelieving sinner, and " the wrath of God
abide th on you." John 3 : 36. However you may
have been awakened and alarmed, whatever resolu-
tions you may have formed for amending your life,
how right soever your notions may be, how pure
soever your forms of worship, how ardent soever your
zeal, how severe soever your mortification, how hu-
mane soever your temper, how inoffensive soever
your life may be, I can speak no comfort to you.
Vain are all your religious hopes, if there has not
been a cordial humiliation before the presence of God
for all your sins ; if there has not been this avowed
war declared against every thing displeasing to God ;
if there has not been this sense of your need of Christ,
and of your ruin without him ; if there has not been
this earnest application to him, this surrender of your
soul into his hands by faith, this renunciation of
yourself, that you might fix on him the anchor of
your hope ; if there has not been this unreserved
dedication of yourself, to be at all times, and in all
REPENTANCE AND FAITH. 189
respects, the faithful servant of God through him ;
and if you do not with all this acknowledge, that you
are an unprofitable servant, who have no other expec-
tations of acceptance or of pardon hut only through
his righteousness and blood, and through the riches
of divine grace in him, I repeat it to you again,
that all your hopes are vain, and you are " building
on the sand." Matt. 7 : 26. The house you have
already raised must be thrown down to the ground,
and the foundation be removed and laid anew, or-
you, and all your hopes, will shortly be swept away
with it, and buried under it in everlasting ruin.
THE SOUL SUBMITTING TO DIVINE EXAMINATION THE
SINCERITY OF ITS REPENTANCE AND FAITH.
" 0 Lord God, thou searchest all hearts, and triest
the reins of the children of men. Jer. 17 : 10.
Search me, 0 Lord, and know my heart ; try me,
and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlast-
ing. Psalms 139 : 23, 24. Doth not conscience,
0 Lord, testify in thy presence, that my repentance
and faith are such as have been described, or at least
that it is my earnest prayer that they may be so ?
Come, therefore, 0 thou blessed Spirit, who art the
author of all grace and consolation, and work this
temper more fully in my soul. 0 represent sin to
.mine eyes in all its most odious colors, that I may
190 RISE AND PROGRESS.
feel a mortal and irreconcilable hatred to it. 0 rep-
resent the majesty and mercy of the blessed God in
such a manner that my heart may be alarmed, and
that it may be melted. Smite the rock, that the
waters may flow, Psalms 78 : 20 — waters of genu-
ine, undissembled, and filial repentance. Convince
me, 0 thou blessed Spirit, of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. John 16 : 8. Show me that I
have undone myself; but that my help is found in
God alone, Hos. 13 : 9, in God through Christ, in
whom alone he will extend compassion and help to
me. According to thy peculiar office, take of Christ
and show it unto me. John 16 : 15. Show me his
power to save. Show me his willingness to exert
that power. Teach my faith to behold him as ex-
tended on the cross, with open arms, with a pierced,
bleeding side ; and so telling me, in the most forcible
language, what room there is in his very heart for
me. May I know what it is to have my whole
heart subdued by love ; so subdued as to be crucified
with him, Rom. 6 : 6 ; to be dead to sin and dead to
the world, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ.
Rom. 6:11. In his power and love may I confide.
To him may I without any reserve commit my spirit.
His image may I bear. His laws may I observe. His
service may I pursue. And may I remain, through
time and eternity, a monument of the efficacy of his
Gospel, and a trophy of his victorious grace.
REPENTANCE AND FAITH. 191
" 0 blessed God, if there be any thing wanting
towards constituting me a sincere Christian, discover
it to me, and work it in me. Beat down, I beseech
thee, every false and presumptuous hope, how costly
soever that building may have been which is thus
laid in ruins, and how proud soever I may have been
of its vain ornaments. Let me know the worst of
my case, be that knowledge ever so distressing ; and
if there be remaining danger, 0 let my heart be fully
sensible of it, sensible while yet there is a remedy.
" If there be any secret sin yet lurking in my soul,
which I have not sincerely renounced, discover it to
me, and rend it out of my heart, though it may have
shot its roots ever so deep, and have wrapped them
all around it, so that every nerve shall be pained by
the separation. Tear it away, 0 Lord, by a hand
graciously severe. And by degrees, yea, Lord, by
speedy advances, go on, I beseech thee, to perfect
what is still lacking in my faith. 1 Thess. 3:10.
Accomplish in me all the good pleasure of thy good-
ness. 2 Thess. 1 : 11. Enrich me, 0 heavenly
Father, with all the graces of thy Spirit ; form me
to the complete image of thy dear Son ; and then,
for his sake, come unto me, and manifest thy gracious
presence in my soul, John 14 : 21, 23, till it is
ripened for that state of glory for which all these
operations are intended to prepare it. Amen/'
RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XIV.
A MORE PARTICULAR VIEW OF THE SEVERAL BRANCHES
OF THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER, BY WHICH THE READER
MAY BE FARTHER ASSISTED IN JUDGING WHAT HE IS,
AND WHAT HE SHOULD ENDEAVOR TO BE.
1, 2. The importance of the case engages to a more par-
ticular survey what manner of spirit we are of. — 3. Accord-
ingly the Christian temper is described, by some general views
of it, as a new and divine temper. — 4. As resembling that of
Christ. — 5. And as engaging us to be spiritually minded, and
to walk by faith. — 6. A plan of the remainder. — 7. In which
the Christian temper is more particularly considered with
regard to the blessed God ; as including fear, affection, and
obedience. — 8, 9. Faith and love to Christ. — 10. Joy in
Him. — 11-13. And a proper temper towards the Holy Spirit,
particularly as a spirit of adoption and of courage. — 14. With
regard to ourselves ; as including preference of the soul to
the body, humility, purity. — 15. Temperance. — 16. Content-
ment.— 17. And Patience. — 18. With regard to our fellow-
creatures ; as including Love. — 19. Meekness. — 20. Peace-
ableness. — 21. Mercy. — 22. Truth. — 23. And candor in
judging. — 24. General qualifications of each branch. — 25.
Such as Sincerity. — 26. Constancy. — 27. Tenderness. — 28.
Zeal. — 29. And Prudence. — 30. These things should fre-
quently be recollected. — A review of all in a scriptural prayer.
1. WHEN I consider the infinite importance of
eternity, I find it exceedingly difficult to satisfy my-
self in any thing which I can say to men, where
tlieir eternal interests are concerned. I have given
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 193
you a view, I hope I may truly say, a just as well as
a faithful view, of a truly Christian temper already.
Yet, for your farther assistance, I would offer it to
your consideration in various points of light, that you
may be assisted in judging of what you are and what
you ought to be. And in this I aim, not only at your
conviction, if you are yet a stranger to real religion,
but at your farther edification, if, by the grace of
God, you are by this time experimentally acquainted
with it. Happy you will be, happy beyond expres-
sion, if, as you go on from one article to another,
you can say, " This is my temper and character."
Happy in no inconsiderable degree, if you can say,
" This is what I desire, what I pray for, and what I
pursue, in preference to every opposite view, though
it be not what I have as yet attained."
2. Search, then, and try " what manner of spirit
you are of." Luke 9 : 55. And may He that
searcheth all hearts direct the inquiry, and enable
you " so to judge yourself, that you may not be con-
demned of the Lord." 1 Cor. 11 : 31, 32.
3. Know, in the general, " that if you are a Chris-
tian indeed, you have been * renewed in the spirit of
your mind,' Eph. 4 : 23, so renewed as to be regen-
erated and born again." It is not enough to have
assumed a new name, to have been brought under
some new restraints, or to have made a partial
change in some particulars of your conduct. The
Rise and Prog. • J3
194 RISE AND PROGRESS.
change must be great and universal. Inquire, then,
whether you have entertained new apprehensions of
things, have formed a practical judgment different
from what you formerly did ; whether the ends you
propose, the affections which you feel working in
your heart, and the course of action to which, by
those affections, you are directed, be, on the whole,
new or old. Again, " If you are a Christian indeed,
you are a ' partaker of a divine nature,' 2 Peter, 1 : 4,
divine in its original, its tendency, and its resem-
blance." Inquire, therefore, whether God hath im-
planted a principle in your heart which tends to
him, and which makes you like him. Search your
soul attentively, to see if you have really the image
there of God's moral perfections, of his holiness and
righteousness, his goodness and fidelity ; for " the
new man is, after God, created in righteousness and
true holiness," Eph. 4 : 24, " and is renewed in
knowledge after -the image of him that created
him." Col. 3 : 10.
4. For your farther assistance, inquire " whether
' the same mind be in you which was always in
Christ.' Phil. 2:5. Whether you bear the imago
of God's incarnate Son, the brightest and fairest re-
semblance of the Father which heaven or earth has
ever beheld." The blessed Jesus designed himself to
be a model for all his followers ; and he is certainly
a model most fit for our imitation — an example in
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 195
our own nature, and in circumstances adapted to
general use — an example recommended to us at once
by its spotless perfection, and by the endearing rela-
tions in which he stands to us, as our Master, our
Friend, and our Head ; as the person by whom our
everlasting state is to be fixed, and in resemblance to
whom our final happiness is to consist, if ever we
are happy at all. Look, then, into the life and tem-
per of Christ, as described and illustrated in the
Gospel, and search whether you can find any thing
like it in your own. Have you any thing of his de-
votion, love, and resignation to God ? Any thing of
his humility, meekness, and benevolence to men ?
Any thing of his purity and wisdom, his contempt
of the world, his patience, his fortitude, his zeal ?
And indeed all the other branches of the Christian
temper, which do not imply previous guilt in the
person by whom they are exercised, may be called
in to illustrate and assist your inquiries under this
head.
5. Let me add, " If you are a Christian, you are
in the main ' spiritually minded,' as knowing 'that
is life and peace ;' whereas, ' to be carnally minded
is death.' " Rom. 8 : 6. Though you " live in the
flesh, you will not war after it," 2 Cor. 10:3, you
will not take your orders and your commands from
it. You will indeed attend to its necessary interests
as matter of duty ; but it will still be with regard to
196 RISE AND PROGRESS.
another and a nobler interest, that of the rational
and immortal spirit. Your thoughts, your affections,
your pursuits, your choice, will be determined by a
regard to things spiritual rather than carnal. In a
word, " you will walk by faith, and not by sight."
2 Cor. 5:7. Future, invisible, and in some degree,
incomprehensible objects, will take up your mind.
Your faith will act on the being of God, his perfec-
tions, his providences, his precepts, his threatenings,
and his promises. It will act upon Christ, " whom
having not seen," you will " love and honor." 1 Pet.
1:8. It will act on that unseen world, which it
knows to be eternal, and therefore infinitely more
worthy of your affectionate regard than any of
"those things which are seen and are temporal."
2 Cor. 4 : 18.
6. These are general views of the Christian tem-
per, on which I would entreat you to examine your-
self; and now I would go on to lead 'you into a sur-
vey of the grand branches of it, as relating to God,
our neighbor, and ourselves ; and of those qualifica-
tions which must attend each of these branches,
such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, zeal, and
prudence. And I beg your diligent attention, while
I lay before you a few hints with regard to each, by
which you may judge the better both of your state
and your duty.
7. Examine, then, I entreat you, "the temper of
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 197
your heart with regard to the blessed God." Do you
find there a reverential fear, and a supreme love and
veneration for his incomparable excellencies, a desire
after him as the highest good, and a cordial gratitude
towards him as your supreme benefactor ? Can^ou
trust his care ? Can you credit his testimony ? Do
you desire to pay an unreserved obedience to all that
he commands, and an humble submission to all the
disposals of his providence ? Do you design his glory
as your noblest end, and make it the great business
of your life to approve yourself to him ? Is it your
governing care to imitate him, and to " serve him in
spirit and in truth ?" John 4 : 24.
8. Faith in Christ I have already described at
large, and therefore shall say nothing farther, either
of that persuasion of his power and grace, which is
the great foundation of it, or of that acceptance of
Christ under all his characters, or that surrender of
the soul into his hands, in which its peculiar and
distinguishing nature consists.
9. If this faith in Christ be sincere, " it will un-
doubtedly produce a love to him," which will ex-
press itself in affectionate thoughts of him ; in strict
fidelity to him ; in a careful observation of his charge ;
in a regard to his spirit, to his friends, and to his
interests ; in a reverence to the memorials of his
dying love which he has instituted ; and in an ardent
desire after that heavenly world where he dwells,
198 RISE AND PROGRESS.
and where he will at length " have all his people to
dwell with him." John 17 : 24.
10. I may add, agreeably to the word of God,
" that thus believing in Christ and loving him, yon
will also rejoice in him ;" in his glorious design,
and in his complete fitness to accomplish it ; in the
promises of his word, and in the privileges of his
people. It will be matter of joy to you, that such a
Redeemer has appeared in this world of ours ; and
your joy for yourself will be proportionable to the
degree of clearness with which you discern your in-
terest in him, and relation to him.
1 1 . Let me farther lead you into some reflections
on " the temper of your heart towards the blessed
Spirit." If " we have not the Spirit of Christ, we
are none of his." Rom. 8:9. If we are not " led
by the Spirit of God, we are not the children of
God." Rom. 8 : 14. You will then, if you are a
real Christian, desire that you may " be filled with
the Spirit," Eph. 5 : 18 ; that you may have every
power of your soul subject to his authority ; that his
agency on your heart may be more constant, more
operative, and more delightful. And to cherish these
sacred influences, you will often have recourse to
serious consideration and meditation ; you will ab-
stain from those sins which tend to grieve him ; you
will improve the tender seasons, in which he seems
to breathe upon your soul ; you will strive earnestly
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 199
with God in prayer, that you may have him " shed
on you still more abundantly through Jesus Christ,"
Tit. 3:6; and you will be desirous to fall in with
the end of his mission, which was to glorify Christ,
John 16 : 14, and to establish his kingdom. " You
will desire his influences as the Spirit of adoption,"
to render your acts of worship free and affectionate,
your obedience vigorous, your sorrow for sin overflow-
ing and tender, your resignation meek, and your love
ardent : in a word, to carry you through life and death
with the temper of a child who delights in his father,
and who longs for his more immediate presence.
12. Once more, " If you are a Christian indeed,
you will be desirous to obtain the spirit of courage."
Amidst all that humility of soul to which you will
be formed, you will wish to commence a hero in the
cause of Christ, opposing, with a vigorous resolu-
tion, the strongest efforts of the powers of darkness,
the inward corruptions of your own heart, and all
the outward difficulties you may meet with in the
way of your duty, while in the cause and in the
strength of Christ you go on " conquering and to
conquer."
13. All these things may be considered as branches
of godliness ; of that godliness which is " profitable
unto all things," and hath the " promise of the life
which now is, and of that which is to come."
1 Tim. 4 : 8.
200 RISE AND PROGRESS.
14. Let me now farther lay before you some
branches of the Christian temper "which relate
more immediately to ourselves." And here, if you
are a Christian indeed, you will undoubtedly prefer
the soul to the body, and things eternal to those that
are temporal. Conscious of the dignity and value
of your immortal part, you will come to a firm reso-
lution to secure its happiness, whatever is to be re-
signed, whatever is to be endured in fhat view. If
you are a real Christian, you will be also " clothed
with humility." 1 Pet. 5 : 5. You will have a
deep sense of your own imperfections, both natural
and moral ; of the short extent of your knowledge ;
of the uncertainty and weakness of your resolutions ;
and of your continual dependence upon God, and
upon almost every thing about you. And especially
will you be deeply sensible of your guilt ; the re-
membrance of which will fill you with shame and
confusion, even when you have some reason to hope
it is forgiven. This will forbid all haughtiness and
insolence in your behavior to your fellow-creatures.
It will teach you, under afflictive providences, with
all holy submission to bear the indignation of the
Lord, as those that know they " have sinned against
him." Micah 7:9. Again, if you are a Christian
indeed, " you will labor after purity of soul," and
maintain a fixed abhorrence of all prohibited sensual
indulgence. A recollection of past impurities will
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 201
fill you with shame and grief, and you will endeavor
for the future to guard your thoughts and desires, as
well as your words and actions, and to abstain, not
only from the commission of evil, but " from the "
distant " appearance " and probable occasions " of
it," 1 Thess. 5 : 22 ; as conscious of the perfect holi-
ness of that God with whom you converse, and of
the " purifying nature of that hope," 1 John 3 : 3,
which by his Gospel he hath taught you to entertain.
15. With this is nearly allied "that amiable vir-
tue of temperance," which will teach you to guard
against such a use of meats and drinks as indis-
poses the body for the service of the soul ; or such
an indulgence in either, as will rob you of that pre-
cious jewel, your time, or occasion an expense beyond
what your circumstances will admit, and beyond
what will consist with what you owe to the cause of
Christ, and those liberalities to the poor which your
relation and theirs to God and each other will re-
quire. In short, you will guard against whatever
has a tendency to increase a sensual disposition,
against whatever would alienate the soul from com-
munion with God, and would diminish its zeal and
activity in his service.
16. The divine philosophy of the blessed Jesus
will also teach you "a contented temper." It will
moderate your desires of those worldly enjoyments
after which many feel such an insatiable thirst, evei
202 ' RISE AND PROGRESS.
growing with indulgence and success. You will
guard against an immoderate care about those things
which would lead you into 'a forgetfulness of your
heavenly inheritance. If Providence disappoint your
undertakings, you will submit; if others be more
prosperous, you will not envy them, but rather will
be thankful for what God is pleased to bestow upon
them, as well as for what he gives you. No unlaw-
ful methods will be used to alter your present condi-
tion ; and whatever it is, you will endeavor to make
the best of it, remembering it is what infinite wisdom
and goodness have appointed you, and that it is be
yond all comparison better than you have deserved ;
yea, that the very deficiences and inconveniences of
it may conduce to the improvement of your future
and complete happiness.
17. With contentment, if you are a disciple of
Christ, " you will join patience too," and " in patience
will possess your soul." Luke 21 : 19. You can-
not indeed be quite insensible either of afflictions or
injuries; but your mind will be calm and composed
under them, and steady in the prosecution of proper
duty, though afflictions press, and though your hopes,
your dearest hopes and prospects be delayed. Pa-
tience will prevent hasty and rash conclusions, and
fortify you against seeking irregular methods of re-
lief; disposing you, in the meantime, till God shall
be pleased to appear for you, to go on steadily in the
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 203
way of your duty; "committing yourself to him in
well-doing." 1 Pet. 4:19. You will also be care-
ful that "patience may have its perfect work," James
1 : 4, and prevail in proportion to those circumstances
which demand its peculiar exercise. For instance,
when the successions of evil are long and various,
BO that "deep calls to deep," and "all God's waves
and billows seem to be going over you," one after
another, Psa. 42 : 7 ; when God touches you in the
most tender part ; when the reasons of his conduct
to you are quite unaccountable ; when your natural
spirits are weak and decayed ; when unlawful meth-
ods of redress seem near and easy ; still, your rever-
ence for the will of your heavenly Father will carry
it against all, and keep you waiting quietly for de-
liverance in his own time and way.
18. I have thus led you into a brief review of the
Christian temper, with respect to God and ourselves :
permit me now to add, " that the Gospel will teach
you another set of very important lessons with re-
spect to your fellow-creatures." They all are sum-
med up in this, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy-
self," Rom. 13 : 9; and "whatsoever thou wouldst,"
that is, whatsoever thou couldst, in an exchange of
circumstances, fairly and reasonably desire, "that
others should do unto thee, do thou likewise the same
unto them." Matt. 7 : 12. The religion of the
blessed Jesus, when it triumphs in your soul, will
204 RISE AND PROGRESS.
conquer the predominancy of an irregular self-love,
and will teach you candidly and tenderly to look upon
your neighbor as another self. As you are sensible
of your own rights, you will be sensible of his : as
you support your own character, you will support his.
You will desire his welfare, and be ready to relieve
his necessity, as you would have your own consulted
by another. You will put the kindest construction
upon his most dubious words and actions. You will
take pleasure in his happiness ; you will feel his dis-
tress, in some measure, as your own. And most
happy will you be, when this obvious rule is familiar
to your mind, when this golden law is written upon
your heart, and when it is habitually and impartially
consulted by you upon every occasion, whether great
or small.
19. The Gospel will also teach you "to put on
meekness," Col. 3:12, not only with respect to God,
submitting to the authority of his word, and the
disposal of his providence, as was urged before, but
also with regard to your brethren of mankind. Its
gentle instructions will form you to calmness of tem-
per under injuries and provocations, so that you may
not be angry without, or beyond just cause. It will
engage you to guard your words, lest you provoke and
exasperate those you should rather study by love to
gain, and by tenderness to heal. Meekness will ren-
der you slow in using any rough and violent meth-
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 205
ods, if they can by any means be lawfully avoided ;
and ready to admit, and even to propose a reconcilia-
tion, after they have been entered into, if there may
yet be hope of succeeding. So far as this branch of
the Christian temper prevails in your heart, you will
take care to avoid every thing which might give un-
necessary offence to others ; you will behave yourself
in a modest manner, according to your station ; and
it will work, both with regard to superiors and in-
feriors— teaching you duly to honor the one, and not
to overbear or oppress, to grieve or insult the other.
And in religion itself, it will restrain all immoderate
sallies and harsh censure ; and will command down
that wrath of man, which, instead of working, so
often opposes the righteousness of God, James- 1 : 20,
and shames and wounds that good cause in which it
is boisterously and furiously engaged.
20. With this is naturally connected "a peaceful
disposition." If you are a Christian indeed, you will
have such a value and esteem for peace, as to en-
deavor to obtain, and to preserve it, "as much as
lieth in you," Rom. 12 : 18 — as much as you fairly
and honorably can. This will have such an influ*-
ence upon your conduct, as to make you not only
cautious of giving offence, and slow in taking it, but
earnestly desirous to regain peace as soon as may
be, when it is in any measure broken, that the wound
may be healed while it is green, and before it begins
206 RISE AND PROGRESS.
to rankle and fester. And more especially, this dis-
position will engage you "to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace," Eph. 4 : 3, " with all
that in every place call on the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. 1:2; whom if you truly love,
you will also love all those whom you have reason to
believe to be his disciples and servants.
21. If yeu be yourselves indeed of that number,
"you will also put on bowels of mercy." Col. 3 : 12.
The mercies of God, and those of the blessed Re-
deemer, will work on your heart, to mould it to sen-
timents of compassion and generosity, so that you
will feel the wants and sorrows of others ; you will
desire to relieve their necessities ; and as you have
an opportunity, you will do good both to their bodies
and their souls; expressing your kind affections in
suitable actions, which may both evidence their sin-
cerity and render them effectual.
22. As a Christian, "you will also maintain truth
inviolable," not only in your solemn testimonies,
when confirmed by an oath, but likewise in common
conversation. You will remember, too, that your
promises bring an obligation upon you, which you
are by no means at liberty to break through. On
the whole, you will be careful to keep a strict cor-
respondence between your words and your actions, in.
such a manner as becomes a servant of the God of
truth.
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 207
23. Once more, as, amidst the strictest care to ob-
serve all the divine precepts, you will still find many
imperfections, on account of which you will be ob-
liged to pray that "God would not enter into strict
judgment with you," as well knowing "that in his
sight you cannot be justified," Psa. 143 : 2, you will
be careful not to judge others " in such a manner as
should awaken the severity of ' his judgment against
yourself " Matt. 7:1,2. You will not, therefore,
judge them impertinently, when you have nothing to
do with their actions ; nor rashly, without inquiring
into circumstances ; nor partially, without weighing
them attentively and fairly ; nor uncharitably, putting
the worst construction upon things in their own na-
ture dubious — deciding upon intentions as evil, far-
ther than they certainly appear to be so — pronounc-
ing on the state of men, or on the whole of their
character, from any particular action, and involving
the innocent with the guilty. There is a moderation
contrary to all these extremes, which the Gospel
recommends ; and if you receive the Gospel in good
earnest into your heart, it will lay the axe to the
root of such evils as these.
24. Having thus briefly illustrated the principal
branches of the Christian temper and character, I
shall conclude the representation, with reminding
you of "some general qualifications which must be
mingled with all, and give a tincture to each of
208 RISE AND PROGRESS.
them — such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, zeal,
and prudence."
25. Always remember, that "sincerity is the very
soul of true religion." A single intention to please
God, and to approve ourselves to him, must animate
and govern all that we do in it. Under the influence
of this principle you will impartially inquire into
every intimation of duty, and apply to the practice
of it so far as it is known to you. Your heart will be
engaged in all you do. Your conduct, in private and
in secret, will be agreeable to your most public be-
havior. A sense of the divine authority will teach
you " to esteem all God's precepts concerning all
things to be right, and to hate every false way."
Psa. 119 : 128.
26. Thus are you, "in simplicity and godly sin-
cerity to have your conversation in the world." 2
Cor. 1 : 12. And "you are also to charge it upon
your soul 'to be steadfast and immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord/ " 1 Cor. 15 : 58.
There must not only be some sudden fits and starts
of devotion, or of something which looks like it, but
religion must be an habitual and permanent thing.
There must be a purpose to adhere to it at all times.
It must be made the stated and ordinary business of
life. Deliberate and presumptuous sins must be care-
fully avoided ; a guard must be maintained against
the common infirmities of life ; and falls of one kind
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 209
or of another must be matter of proportionable hu-
miliation before God, and must occasion renewed
resolution for his service. And thus you are to go
on to the end of your life, not discouraged by the
length and difficulty of the way, nor allured on the
one hand, or terrified 'on the other, by all the vari-
ous temptations which may surround and assault
you. Your soul must be fixed on this basis, and
you are still to behave yourself as one who knows
he serves an unchangeable God, and who expects
from him "a kingdom which cannot be moved."
Heb. 12 : 28.
27. Again, so far as the gospel prevails in your
heart, " your spirit will be tender, and the stone will
be transformed into flesh." You will desire that
your apprehensions of divine things may be quick,
your affections ready to take proper impressions, your
conscience always easily touched, and on the whole,
your resolutions pliant to the divine authority, and
cordially willing to be and to do whatever God shall
appoint. You will have a tender regard to the word
of God, a tender caution against sin, a tender guard
against the snares of prosperity, a tender submission
to God's afflicting hand ; in a word, you will be ten-
der wherever the divine honor is concerned, and
careful neither to do any thing yourself, nor to allow
any thing in another, so far as you can influence, by
which God should be offended, or religion reproached.
Rise & Prog. 1 4
210 RISE AND PROGRESS.
28. Nay, more than all this, you will, so far as
true Christianity governs in your mind, " exert a
holy zeal in the service of your Redeemer and your
Father." You will be " zealously affected in every
good thing," Gal. 4 : 18, in proportion to its appre-
hended goodness and importance. You will be zeal-
ous, especially to correct what is irregular in your-
self, and to act to the utmost of your ability for the
cause of God. Nor will you be able to look with an
indifferent eye on the conduct of others in this viewT ;
but so far as charity, meekness, and prudence will
admit, you will testify your disapprobation of every
thing in it which is dishonorable to God and inju-
rious to men. And you will labor, hot only to re-
claim men from such courses, but 'to engage them to
religion, and quicken them in it.
29. And once more, you will desire "to use the
prudence which God hath given you," in judging
what is, in present circumstances, your duty to God,
your neighbor, and yourself — what will be, on the
whole, the most acceptable manner of discharging
it, and how far it may be most advantageously pur-
sued ; as remembering that he is indeed the wisest
and the happiest man, who, by constant attention of
thought, discovers the greatest opportunities of doing
good, and with ardent and animated resolution
breaks through every opposition, that he may im-
prove those opportunities.
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 211
30. This is such a view of the Christian temper
as could conveniently be thrown within such narrow
limits ; and I hope it may assist many in the great
and important work of self-examination. Let your
own conscience answer, how far you have already
attained it, and how far you desire it ; and let the
principal topics here touched upon be fixed in your
memory and in your heart, that you may be men-
tioning them before God in your daily addresses to
the throne of grace, in order to receive from him
all necessary assistance for bringing them into prac-
tice.
A PRAYER, CHIEFLY IN SCRIPTURE LANGUAGE, IN WHICH
THE SEVERAL BRANCHES OF THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER
ARE MORE BRIEFLY ENUMERATED IN THE ORDER LAID
DOWN ABOVE.
" Blessed God, I humbly adore thee as the great
Father of lights, and the giver of every good and
every perfect gift. James 1:17. From thee, there-
fore, I seek every blessing, and especially those which
may lead me to thyself, and prepare me for the eter-
nal enjoyment of thee. I adore thee as the God who
searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children
of men. Jer. 17 : 10. Search me, 0 God, and know
my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and see
if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in
the way everlasting. Psa. 139 : 23, 24. May I know
what manner of spirit I am of, Luke 9 : 55, and be
212 RISE AND PROGRESS.
preserved from mistaking, where the error might be
infinitely fatal.
"May I, 0 Lord, be renewed in the spirit of my
mind. Eph. 4 : 23. A new heart do thou give me,
and a new spirit do thou put within me. Ezekiel
36 : 26. Make me partaker of a divine nature, 2 Pet.
1:4; and as he who hath called me is holy, may I
be holy in all manner of conversation. 1 Pet. 1 : 15,
May the same mind be in me which was also in
Christ Jesus, Phil. 2:5; may I so walk even as he
walked. 1 John, 2:6. Deliver me from being car-
nally minded, which is death ; and make me spiritu-
ally minded, since that is life and peace. Rom. 8 : 6.
And may I, while I pass through this world of sense,
walk by faith, and not by sight, 2 Cor. 5 : 7, and be
strong in faith, giving glory to God. Horn. 4 : 20.
" May thy grace, 0 Lord, which hath appeared
unto all men, and appeared to me with such glorious
evidence and lustre, effectually teach me to deny un-
godliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, right-
eously, and godly. Tit. 2:11, 12. Work in my heart
that godliness which is profitable unto all things, 1
Tim. 4:8; and teach me, by the influence of thy
blessed Spirit, to love thee, the Lord my God, with
all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my
mind, and with all my strength. Mark 12 : 30. May
I yield myself unto thee, as alive from the dead,
Rom. 6:13, and present my body a living sacrifice,
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 213
holy and acceptable in thy sight, which is my most
reasonable service. Rom. 12 : 1. May I entertain
the most faithful and affectionate regard to the
blessed Jesus, thine incarnate Son, the brightness of
thy glory, and the express image of thy person. Heb.
1:3. Though I have not seen him, may I love him ;
and in him, though now I see him not, yet believing,
may I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
1 Pet. 1:8; and may the life which I live in the
flesh be daily by the faith of the Son of God. Gal.
2:20. May I be filled with the Spirit, Eph. 5:18,
and may I be led by it, Rom. 8 : 14 ; and so may it
be evident to others, and especially to my own soul,
that I am a child of God, and an heir of glory. May
I not receive the spirit of bondage unto fear, but the
spirit of adoption, whereby I may be enabled to cry,
Abba, Father. Rom. 8 : 15. May he work in me,
as the spirit of love, and of power, and of a sound
mind, 2 Tim. 1:7, that so I may add to my faith
virtue. 2 Pet. 1:5. May I be strong, and very
courageous, Josh. 1:7, and quit myself like a man,
1 Cor. 16 : 13, and like a Christian, in the work to
which I am called, and in that warfare which I had
in view when I listed under the banner of the great
Captain of my salvation.
" Teach me, 0 Lord, seriously to consider the na-
ture of my own soul, and to set a suitable value upon
it. May I labor not only, or chiefly, for the meat
214 RISE AND PROGRESS.
that perislieth, but for that which endureth to eter-
nal life. John 6 : 27- May I humble myself under
thy mighty hand, and be clothed with humility, 1
Pet. 5:5, 6, decked with the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great
price. 1 Pet. 3:4. May I be pure in heart, that I
may see God, Matt. 5 : 8, mortifying my members
which are on the earth, Col. 3 : 5, so that if a right
eye offend me, I may pluck it out, and if a right
hand offend me, I may cut it off. Matt. 5 : 29, 30.
May I be temperate in all things, 1 Cor. 9 : 25, con-
tent with such things as I have, Heb. 13 : 5, and
instructed to be so in whatever state I am. Phil.
4:11. May patience also have its perfect work in
me, that I may be in that respect complete, and
wanting nothing. James 1:4.
" Form me, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, to a proper
temper towards my fellow-creatures. May I love
my neighbor as myself, Gal. 5 : 14, and whatsoever
I would that others should do unto me, may I also
do the same unto them. Matt. 7 : 12. May I put
on meekness under the greatest injuries and provo-
cations, Col. 3 : 12 ; and if it be possible, as much as
lieth in me, may I live peaceably with all men. Rom.
12:18. May I be merciful, as my Father in heaven
is merciful. Luke 6 : 36. May I speak the truth
from my heart, Psalm 15:2, and may I speak it in
love, Eph. 4 : 15 — guarding against every instance
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER. 215
of a censorious and malignant disposition, and taking
care not to judge severely, as I would not be judged
with the severity which thou, Lord, knowest, and
which mine own conscience knows, I should not be
able to support.
" I entreat thee, 0 Lord, to work in me all those
qualifications of the Christian temper which may
render it peculiarly acceptable to thee, and may
prove ornamental to my profession in the world.
Renew, I beseech thee, a right spirit within me, Psa.
51 : 10 ; make me an Israelite indeed, in whom there
is no allowed guile. John 1 : 47. And while I feast
on Christ, as my passover sacrificed for me, may I
keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth. 1 Cor. 5:7, 8. Make me, I beseech
thee, 0 thou almighty and unchangeable God, stead-
fast and immovable, always abounding in thy work,
as knowing that my labor in the Lord shall not be
finally in vain. 1 Cor. 15 : 58. May my heart be
tender, 2 Kings, 22 : 19, easily impressed with thy
word and providence, touched with an affectionate
concern for thy glory, and sensible of every impulse
of thy Spirit. May I be zealous for my God, Numb.
25 : 13, with a zeal according to knowledge and
charity, 1 Cor. 16 : 14 ; and teach me in thy service
to join the wisdom of the serpent with the boldness
of the lion and the innocence of the dove. Matthew
10 : 16. Thus render me, by thy grace, a shining
216 RISE AND PROGRESS.
image of my dear Redeemer ; and at length bring
me to wear the bright resemblance of his holiness
and his glory, in that world where he dwells — that
I may ascribe everlasting honors to him, and to thee,
0 thou Father of mercies, whose invaluable gift he
is, and to thine Holy Spirit, through whose gracious
influence, I would humbly hope, I may call thee my
Father, and Jesus my Saviour. Amen."
CHRISTIAN TEMPER SOUGHT. 217
CHAPTER XV.
THE READER REMINDED HOW MUCH HE NEEDS THE AS-
SISTANCE OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO FORM HIM TO THE
TEMPER DESCRIBED ABOVE, AND WHAT ENCOURAGE-
MENT HE HAS TO EXPECT IT.
1. Forward resolutions may prove ineffectual. — 2. Yet re-
ligion is not to be given up in despair, but divine grace to be
Bought. — 3. A general view of its reality and necessity, from
reason. — 4. And Scripture.— 5. The Spirit to be sought as the
Spirit of Christ. — 6. And in that view, the great strength of the
soul. — 7. The encouragement there is to hope for the commu-
nication of it. — 8. A concluding exhortation to pray for it.
And an humble address to God pursuant to that exhortation.
1 . I HAVE now laid before you a plan of that temper
and character which the gospel requires, and which,
if you are a true Christian, you will desire and pur-
sue. Surely there is, in the very description of it,
something which must powerfully strike every mind
which has any taste for what is truly beautiful and
excellent. And I question not but you, my dear
reader, will feel some impression of it upon your
heart. You will immediately form some lively pur-
pose of endeavoring after it ; and perhaps you may
imagine, you shall certainly and quickly attain to it.
You see how reasonable it is, and what desirable
consequences necessarily attend it, and the aspect
which it bears on your present enjoyment and your
218 RISE AND PROGRESS.
future happiness ; and therefore are determined you
will act accordingly. But give me leave seriously
to remind you how many there have been — would to
God that several such instances had not happened
within the compass of my own personal observation —
whose goodness hath been " like a morning cloud,
and the early dew," which soon "passeth away."
Hos. 6:4. There is not room indeed absolutely to
apply the words of Joshua, taken in the most rigor-
ous sense, when he said to Israel, that he might
humble their too hasty and sanguine resolutions,
"You cannot serve the Lord," Josh. 24 : 19 ; but
I will venture to say, you cannot easily do it. Alas,
you know not the difficulties you have to break
through ; you know not the temptations which Satan
will throw in your way ; you know not how impor-
tunate your vain and sinful companions will be, to
draw you back into the snare you may attempt to
break ; and, above all, you know not the subtle arti-
fices which your own corruptions will practise upon
you, in order to recover their dominion over you.
You think the views you now have of things will be
lasting, because the principles and objects to which
they refer are so ; but perhaps to-morrow may unde-
ceive you, or rather deceive you anew : to-morrow
may present some trifle in a new dress, which shall
amuse you into a forgetfulness of all this. Nay, per-
haps before you lie down on your bed, the impres-
CHRISTIAN TEMPER SOUGHT. 219
sions you now feel may wear off. The corrupt
desires of your own heart, now perhaps a little
charmed down, and lying as if they were dead, may
spring up again with new violence, as if they had
slept only to recruit their vigor ; and if you are not
supported by a better strength than your own, this
struggle for liberty will only make your future chains
the heavier, the more shameful, and the more fatal.
2. What then is to be done ? Is the convinced
sinner to lie down in despair ; to say, " I am a help-
less captive, and by exerting myself with violence,
may break my limbs sooner than my bonds, and in-
crease the evil I would remove ?" God forbid ! You
cannot, I am persuaded, be so little acquainted with
Christianity, as not to know " that the doctrine of
divine assistance bears a very considerable part in it."
You have often, I doubt not, read of " the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as making us free from
the law of sin and death," Rom. 8 : 2, and have
been told, " that through the Spirit we mortify the
deeds of the body." Rom. 8 : 13. You have read
of " doing all things through Christ, who strength-
eneth us," Phil. 4: 13, whose grace "is sufficient
for us," and whose " strength is made perfect in weak-
ness." 2 Cor. 12 : 9. Permit me, therefore, now to
call your attention to this, as a truth of the clearest
evidence, and of the utmost importance.
3. Reason, indeed, as well as the whole tenor of
220 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Scripture, agrees with this.^ The whole created
world has a necessary dependence on God : from
him even the knowledge of " natural things" is de-
rived, Psalm 94 : 10, and "skill in them is to be
ascribed to him." Exod. 31 : 3—6. Much more loudly
does so great and excellent a work as the new-form-
ing the human mind, bespeak its divine Author.
When you consider how various the branches of the
Christian temper are, and how contrary many of
them also are to that temper which hath prevailed
in your heart, and governed your life in time past,
you must really see divine influences as necessary to
produce and nourish them, as the influences of the
sun and rain are to call up the variety of plants and
flowers, and grains and fruits, by which the earth is
adorned, and our life supported. You will be yet
more sensible of this, if you reflect on the violent
opposition which this happy work must expect to
meet with ; of which I shall presently warn you more
largely, and which if you have not already experi-
enced, it must be because you have but very lately
begun to think of religion.
4. Accordingly, if you give yourself leave to con-
sult Scripture on this head — and if you would live
like a Christian, you must be consulting it every day,
and forming your notions and actions by it — you will
* See many of these thoughts much more largely illustrated
in my eighth Sermon on Regeneration,
CHRISTIAN TEMPER SOUGHT. 221
eee that the whole tenor of it teaches that depend-
ence upon God which I am now recommending.
You will particularly see, that the production of re-
ligion in the soul is matter of divine promise ; that
when it has been effected, Scripture ascribes it to a
divine agency ; and that the increase of grace and
piety in the heart of those who are truly regenerate,
is also spoken of as the work of God, who begins
and " carries it on until the day of Jesus Christ."
Phil. 1 : 6.
5. In consequence of all these views, lay it down
to yourself as a most certain principle, that no attempt
in religion is to be made in your own strength. If
you forget this, and God purposes finally to save you,
he will humble you by repeated disappointments, till
he teach you better. You will be ashamed of one
scheme and effort, and of another, till you settle upon
the true basis.. He will also probably show you, not
only in the general, that your strength is to be derived
from heaven, but particularly that it is the office of
the blessed Spirit to purify the heart, and to invigo-
rate holy resolutions ; and also, that in all these
operations he is to be considered as the Spirit of
Christ, working under his direction, and as a vital
communication from him, under the character of the
great Head of the church, the grand Treasurer and
Dispenser of these holy and beneficial influences. On
which account, it is called " the supply of the Spirit
222 RISE AND PROGRESS.
of Jesus Christ," Phil. 1:19, who is " exalted at the
right hand " of the Father, " to give repentance and re-
mission of sins," Acts 5 : 31 ; "in whose grace alone
we can be strong," 2 Tim. 2:1, and " of whose fulness
we receive, even grace for grace." John 1 : 16.
6. Resolve, therefore, strenuously for the service
of God, and for the care of your soul; but " resolve
modestly and humbly." Even " the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the young men utterly fall ;
but they who wait on the Lord" are the persons who
" renew their strength." Isa. 40 : 30, 31. "When a
soul is almost afraid to declare, in the presence of
the Lord, that it will not do this or that which has
\ formerly offended him ; when it is afraid absolutely
to promise, that it will perform this or that duty with
vigor and constancy, but only expresses its humble
and earnest desire that it may by grace be enabled
to avoid the one, or pursue the other ; then, so far as
my observation and experience have reached, it is in
the best way to learn the happy art of conquering
temptation, and of discharging duty.
7. On the other hand, let not your dependence
upon this Spirit, and your sense of your own weak-
ness and insufficiency for any thing spiritually good,
without his continual aid, discourage you from de-
voting yourself to God, and engaging in a religious
life, considering " what abundant reason you have to
hope that these gracious influences will be commu-
CHRISTIAN TEMPER SOUGHT. 223
nicated to you." The light of nature, at the same
time that it teaches the need we have of help from
God in a virtuous course, may lead us to conclude
that so benevolent a Being, who bestows on the most
unworthy and careless part of mankind so many
blessings, will take a peculiar pleasure in communi-
cating, to such as humbly ask them, those gracious
assistances which may form their deathless souls into
his own resemblance, and fit them for that happiness
to which their rational nature is suited, and for which
it was in its first constitution intended. The word
of God will much more abundantly confirm such a
hope. You there hear divine wisdom crying even to
those who had long trifled with her instructions,
" Turn ye at my reproof, and I will pour out my
Spirit upon you." Prov. 1 : 23. You hear the apos-
tle saying, "Let us come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in every time of need." Heb. 4 : 16. Yea, and
you there hear our Lord himself arguing in this sweet
and convincing manner : " If ye, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit
unto them that ask him?" Luke 11 : 13. This
gift and promise of the Spirit was given unto Christ
when he ascended up on high, in trust for all his
true disciples. God hath " shed it abroad abundantly
upon us in him." Titus 3:6. And I may add, that
824 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the very desire you feel after the farther communica-
tion of the Spirit, is the result of the first-fruits of it
already given ; so that you may, with peculiar pro-
priety, interpret it as a special call " to open your
mouth wide, that he may fill it." Psalm 81 : 10.
You thirst, and therefore you may cheerfully plead,
that Jesus has " invited you to come unto him and
drink ;" with a promise, not only that you shall drink
if you come unto him, but also that " out of your
belly shall flow," as it were, "rivers of living wa-
ter," for the edification and refreshment of others.
John 7 : 37, 38.
8. Go forth, therefore, with humble cheerfulness,
to the prosecution of all the duties of the Christian
life. Go and prosper " in the strength of the Lord,
making mention of his righteousness, and of his
only." Psalm 71 : 16. And as a token of farther
communication, may your heart be quickened to the
most earnest desire after the blessings I have been
now recommending to your pursuit. May you be
stirred up to pour out your soul before God in such
holy breathings as these; and may' they be your
daily language in his gracious presence.
AN HUMBLE SUPPLICATION FOR THE INFLUENCES OF
DIVINE GRACE, TO FORM AND STRENGTHEN RELIGION
IN THE SOUL.
" Blessed God, I sincerely acknowledge before thee
my own weakness and insufficiency for any thing
CHRISTIAN TEMPER SOUGHT. 225
that is spiritually good. I have experienced it a
thousand times ; and yet my foolish heart would
again trust itself, Prov. 28 : 26, and form resolu-
tions in its own strength. But let this be the first-
fruits of thy gracious influence upon it, to bring it
to an humble distrust of itself, and to a repose on thee.
" Abundantly do I rejoice, 0 Lord, in the kind
assurances which thou givest me of thy readiness to
bestow liberally and richly so great a benefit. I do
therefore, according to thy condescending invitation,
come with boldness to the throne of grace, that I
may find grace to help in every time of need. Heb.
4:16. I mean not, 0 ]>i'd God, to turn thy grace
into wantonness or pwveiseiiQss, Jude, ver. 4, or
to make my weakness an excuse for negligence and
sloth. I COP&SS that thou hast already given me
more strength than I have used ; and I charge it
upon myself, and not on thee, that I have not long
since received still more abundant supplies. I desire,
for the future, to be found diligent in the use of all
appointed means — in the neglect of which I well
know that petitions like these would be a profane
mockery, and might much more probably provoke
thee to take away what I have, than prevail upon
thee to impart more. But firmly resolving to exert
myself to the utmost, I earnestly entreat the commu-
nication of thy grace, that I may be enabled to fulfil
that resolution.
Rise and Frof. 15
226 RISE AND PROGRESS.
"Be surety, 0 Lord, unto thy servant for good,
Psalm 119 : 122. Be pleased to shed abroad thy
sanctifying influences on my soul, to form me for
every duty thou requirest. Implant, I beseech thee,
every grace and virtue deep in my heart, and main-
tain the happy temper in the midst of those assaults
from within and from without, to which I am con-
tinually liable while I am still in this world and
carry about with me so many infirmities. Fill my
breast, I beseech thee, with good affections towards
thee, my God, arid towards my fellow-creatures. Re-
mind me always of thy presence, and may I remem-
ber that every secret sentiment of my soul is open to
thee. May I therefore guard against the first risings
of sin, and the first approaches to it ; and that Satan
may not find room for his evil suggestions, I ear-
nestly beg that thou, Lord, wouldst fill my heart
with thine Holy Spirit, and take up thy residence
there. Dwell in me, and walk with me, 2 Cor.
6 : 16, and let my body be the temple of the Holy
Ghost. 1 Cor. 6 : 19.
" May I be so joined to Christ Jesus my Lord, as
to be one spirit with him, 1 Cor. 6 : 17, and feel his
invigorating influences continually bearing me on,
superior to every temptation, and to every corruption ;
that while the youths shall faint and be weary, and
the young men utterly fall, I may so wait upon the
Lord as to renew my strength, Isa. 40 : 30, 31, and
CHRISTIAN TEMPER SOUGHT. 2^7
may go on from one degree of faith, and love, and
zeal, and holiness, to another, till I appear peifect
before thee in Zion, Psalm 84 : 7, to drink in im-
mortal vigor and joy from thee, as the everlasting
fountain of both, through Jesus Christ my Lord,
in whom I have righteousness and strength, Isa.
45 : 24, and to whom I desire ever to ascribe the
praise of all my improvements in both. Amen."
228 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CHRISTIAN CONVERT WARNED OF, AND ANIMATED
AGAINST THOSE DISCOURAGEMENTS WHICH HE MUST
EXPECT TO MEET WHEN ENTERING ON A RELIGIOUS
COURSE
1 . Christ has instructed his disciples to expect opposition and
difficulties in the way to heaven. — 2. Therefore a more par-
ticular view of them is taken, as arising — from the remainder
of indwelling sin. — 3. From the world, and especially from
former sinful companions. — 4. From the temptations and sug-
gestions of Satan. — 5, 6. The Christian is animated and en-
couraged, by various considerations, to oppose them ; particu-
larly by the presence of God ; the aids of Christ ; the example
of others, who, though feeble, have conquered ; and the crown
of glory to be expected. — 7. Therefore, though apostasy be
infinitely fatal, the Christian may press on cheerfully. Ac-
cordingly the soul, alarmed by these views, is represented as
committing itself to God, in the prayer which concludes the
chapter.
1. WITH the utmost propriety has our divine
Master required us "to strive to enter in at the
strait gate," Luke 13 : 24, thereby intimating, not
only that the passage is narrow, but that it is beset
with enemies — beset, on the right hand and on the
left, with enemies cunning and formidable. And be
assured, 0 reader, that whatever your circumstances
in life are, you must meet and encounter them. It
SPIRITUAL DISCOURAGEMENTS. 229
will therefore be your prudence to survey them at-
tentively in your own reflections, that you may see
what you are to expect ; and may consider in what
, armor it is necessary you shall be clothed, and with
what weapons you must be furnished to manage the
combat. You have often heard them marshalled,
as it were, under three great leaders, the flesh, the
world, and the devil ; and, according to this distri-
bution, I would call you to consider the forces of
each, as setting themselves in array against you. 0
that you may be excited " to take to yourself the
whole armor of God," Eph. 6 : 13, and to "acquit
yourself like a man " and a Christian. 1 Cor. 16 : 13.
2. Let your conscience answer, whether you do
not carry about with you a corrupt and degenerate
nature. You will, I doubt not, feel its effects. You
will feel, in the language of the apostle, who speaks
of it as the case of Christians themselves, " the flesh
lusting against the spirit, so that you will not be
able," in all instances, "to do the things that you
would." Gal. 5 : 17. You brought irregular pro-
pensities into the world along with you ; and you
have so often indulged those sinful inclinations, that
you have greatly increased their strength ; and you
will find, in consequence of it, that these habits
cannot be broken through without great difficulty.
You will, no doubt, often recollect the strong figures
in which the prophet describes a case like yours ; and
230 RISE AND PROGRESS.
you will own that it is justly represented by that
" of an Ethiopian changing his skin, and the leopard
his spots." Jer. 13 : 23. It is indeed possible, that
at first you may find such an edge and eagerness
upon your spirits, as may lead you to imagine that
all opposition will immediately fall before you. But,
alas, I fear that in a little time these enemies, which
seemed to be slain at your feet, will revive, and re-
cover their weapons, and renew the assault in one
form or another. And perhaps your most painful
combats may be with such as you had thought most
easy to be vanquished ; and your greatest danger
may arise from some of those enemies from whom
you apprehended the least, particularly from pride
and from indolence of spirit ; from a secret aliena-
tion of heart from God, and from an indisposition for
conversing with him, through an immoderate attach-
ment to "things seen and temporal," which may be
oftentimes exceedingly dangerous to your salvation,
though perhaps they be not absolutely and univer-
sally prohibited. In a thousand of these instances
you must learn to deny yourself, or you " cannot be
Christ's disciple." Matt. 16 : 24.
3. You must also lay your account to find great
difficulties from the world, from its manners, cus-
toms, and examples. The things of the world wi]l
hinder you one way, and the men of the world
another. Perhaps you may meet with much less
SPIRITUAL DISCOURAGEMENTS. 23J
assistance in religion than you are now ready to
expect from good men. The present generation of
them is generally so cautious to avoid every thing
that looks like ostentation, and there seems some-
thing so insupportably dreadful in the charge of en-
thusiasm, that you will find most of your Christian
brethren studying to conceal their virtue and their
piety, much more than others study to conceal their
vices and their profaneness. But while, unless your
situation be singularly happy, you meet with very
little aid one way, you will, no doubt, find great
opposition another. The enemies of religion will be
bold and active in their assaults, while many of its
friends seem unconcerned ; and one sinner will prob-
ably exert himself more to corrupt you, than ten
Christians to secure and save you. They who have
been once your companions in sin, will try a thou-
sand artful methods to allure you back again to their
forsaken society ; some of them, perhaps, with an
appearance of tender fondness, and many more by
the almost irresistible art of ridicule : that boasted
test of right and wrong, as it has been wantonly
called, will be tried upon you, perhaps without any
regard to decency, or even to common humanity.
You will be derided and insulted by those whoso
esteem and affection you naturally desire ; and may
find much more propriety than you imagine in that
expression of the apostle, " the trial of cruel mock-
232 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ings," Heb. 11 : 36, which some fear more than either
sword or flames. This persecution of the tongue
you must expect to go through, and perhaps may be
branded as a lunatic, for no other cause than that
you now begin to exercise your reason to purpose,
and will not join with those that are destroying their
own souls in- their wild career of folly and madness.
4. And it is not at all improbable, that in the
meantime Satan may be doing his utmost to dis-
courage and distress you. He will, no doubt, raise
in your imagination the most tempting idea of the
gratifications, the indulgences, and the companions
you are obliged to forsake ; and give you the most
discouraging and terrifying view of the difficulties,
severities, and dangers, which are, as he will per-
suade you, inseparable from religion. He will not
fail to represent God himself, the fountain of good-
ness and happiness, as a hard Master, whom it is
impossible to please. He will perhaps fill you with
the most distressful fears, and, with cruel and inso-
lent malice, glory over you as his slave, when he
knows you are the Lord's freeman. At one time he
will study, by his vile suggestions, to interrupt you
in your duties, as if they gave him an additional
power over you. At another time he will endeavor
to weary you of your devotion, by influencing you
to prolong it to an immoderate and tedious length,
lest his power should be exerted upon you when it
SPIRITUAL DISCOURAGEMENTS. 233
ceases. In short, this practised deceiver has artifices
which- it would require whole volumes to display,
with particular cautions against each. And he wi]l
follow you with malicious arts and pursuits to the
very end of your pilgrimage, and will leave no
method unattempted which may be likely to weaken
your hands and to sadden your heart, that if, through
the gracious interposition of God, he cannot prevent
your final happiness, he may at least impair your
peace and your usefulness as you are passing to it.
5. This is what the people of God feel, and what
you will feel in some degree or other, if you have
your lot arid portion among them. But, after all,
be not discouraged : Christ is the " Captain of youi
salvation." Heb. 2:10. It is delightful to consider
him under this view. When we take a survey of
these hosts of enemies, we may lift up our head
amidst them all, and say, " More and greater is he
that is with us, than all those that are against us."
2 Kings, 6:16. " Trust in the Lord, and you will
be like Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but
abideth for ever." Psalm 125 : 1. When your ene-
mies press upon you, remember you are to " fight in
the presence of God." Zech. 10 : 5. Endeavor,
therefore, to act a gallant and a resolute part ; en-
deavor to " resist them steadfast in the faith." 1
Pet. 5:9. Remember, " He can give power to the
faint, and increase strength to them that have no
234 RISE AND PROGRESS.
might." Isaiah 40 : 29. He hath done it in ten
thousand instances already, and he will do it in ten
thousand more. How many striplings have con-
quered their gigantic foes in all their most formida-
ble armor, when they have gone forth against them,
though hut as it were " with a staff and a sling, in
the name of the Lord God of Israel." 1 Sam. 17-; 40-
45. How many women and children have trodden
down the force of the enemy, " and out of weakness
have been made strong." Heb. 11 : 34.
6. Amidst all the opposition of earth and hell, look
upward and look forward, and you will feel your
heart animated by the view. Your General is near ;
he is near to aid you, he is near to reward you. "When
you feel the temptation press the hardest, think of
him who endured even the cross itself for your res-
cue. View the fortitude of your divine Leader, and
endeavor to march on in his steps. Hearken to his
voice, for he proclaims it aloud, " Behold, I come
quickly ; and my reward is with me." Rev. 22: 12.
"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life." Rev. 2:10. And 0, how bright will
it shine, and how long will its lustre last ! When
the gems that adorn the crowns of monarchs, and
pass — instructive thought ! — from one royal head to
another through succeeding centuries, are melted
down in the last flame, it is " a crown of glory
which fadeth not away." 1 Pet. 5 : 4.
SPIRITUAL ADVERSARIES. 235
7, It is indeed true, that "such as turn aside to
crooked paths" will be "led forth, with the workers
of iniquity," to that terrible execution which divine
justice is preparing for them, Psalm 125 : 5 ; and it
would have been " better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness, than, after having known
it, to turn aside from the holy commandment." 2
Peter, 2 : 21. But I would, by divine grace, " hope
better things of you." Heb. 6:9. And I make it
my hearty prayer for you, my reader, that you may
be " kept by the mighty power of God," kept, as in a
garrison on all sides fortified in the securest manner,
"through faith, unto salvation."
THE SOUL, ALARMED BY A SENSE OF THESE DIFFICUL-
TIES, COMMITTING ITSELF TO DIVINE PROTECTION.
" Blessed God, it is to thine almighty power that
I flee. Behold me surrounded with difficulties and
dangers, and stretch out thine omnipotent arm to
save me, ' 0 thou that savest by thy right hand them
that put their trust in thee, from those that rise up
against them.' Psalm 17 : 7. This day do I sol-
emnly put myself under thy protection : exert thy
power in my favor, and permit me ' to make the
shadow of thy wings my refuge/ Psalm 57 : 1. Let
' thy grace be sufficient for me,' and ' thy strength be
made perfect in my weakness.' 2 Cor. 12 : 9. I
dare not say, ' I will never forsake thee, I will never
236 RISE AND PROGRESS.
deny thee,' Mark 14 : 31 : but I hope I can truly
say, 0 Lord, I would not do it ; and according to my
present apprehension and purpose, death would ap-
pear to me much less terrible, than in any wilful and
deliberate instance to offend thee. 0 root out those
corruptions from my heart, which in an hour of press-
ing temptation might incline me to view things in a
different light, and so might betray me into the hands
of the enemy. Strengthen my faith, 0 Lord, and
encourage my hope. Inspire me with heroic resolu-
tion in opposing every thing that lies in my way to
heaven ; and let me ' set my face like a flint ' against
all the assaults of earth and hell. Isa. 50 : 7. ' If
sinners entice me, let me not consent,' Prov. 1 : 10 ;
if they insult me, let me not regard it ; if they threaten
me, let me not fear. Rather may a holy and ardent,
yet prudent and well-governed zeal take occasion,
from that malignity of heart which they discover, to
attempt their conviction and reformation. At least,
let me never be ashamed to plead thy cause against
the most profane deriders of religion. ' Make me to
hear joy and gladness' in my soul, and I will en-
deavor to ' teach transgressors thy ways, that sinners
maybe con verted unto thee.' Psalm 51 : 8, 13. Yea,
Lord, while my fears continue, though I should ap-
prehend myself condemned, I am condemned so right-
eously for my own folly, that I would be thine ad-
vocate, though against myself.
SPIRITUAL ADVERSARIES. 237
" Keep me, 0 Lord, now and at all times. Never
let me think, whatever age or station I attain, that
1 am strong enough to maintain the combat without
thee. Nor let me imagine myself, even in this in-
fancy of religion in my soul, so weak that thou canst
not support me. "Wherever thou leadest me, there
let me follow ; and whatever station thou appointest
me, there let me labor — there let me maintain the
holy war against all the enemies of my salvation, and
rather fall in it than basely abandon it.
" And thou, 0 glorious Redeemer, ' the Captain of
my salvation,' the great ' Author and Finisher of my
faith,' Heb. 12:2, when I am in danger of denying
thee, as Peter did, look upon me with that mixture
of majesty and tenderness, Luke 22 : 61, which may
either secure me from falling, or may speedily recover
me to God and my duty again, and teach me to take
occasion, even from my miscarriages, to humble my-
self more deeply for all that has been amiss, and to
redouble my future diligence and caution. Amen."
238 RISE AJSD PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CHRISTIAN URGED TO AND ASSISTED IN AN EXPRESS
ACT OF SELF-DEDICATION TO THE SERVICE OF GOD.
1. The advantages of such a surrender are briefly sug-
gested.— 2, 3, 4. Advice for the manner of doing it ; that it
be deliberate, cheerful, entire, perpetual. — 5. And that it be
expressed with some affecting solemnity. — 6. A written instru-
ment to be signed and declared before God, at some season of
extraordinary devotion, proposed. The chapter concludes with
a specimen of such an instrument, together with an abstract ot
it, to be used with proper and requisite alterations.
1. As I would hope, that notwithstanding all the
forms of opposition which do or may arise, yet in
consideration of those noble supports and motives
which have been mentioned in the two preceding
chapters, you are heartily determined for the service
of God, I would now urge you to make a solemn sur-
render of yourself unto it. Do not. only form such a
purpose in your heart, but expressly declare it in the
divine presence. Such solemnity in the manner of
doing it, is certainly very reasonable in the nature of
things ; and surely it is highly expedient for binding
to the Lord such a treacherous heart as we know our
own to be. It will be pleasant to reflect upon it, as
done at such and such a time, with such and such
circumstances of place and method, which may serve
SELF-DEDICATION URGED. 239
to strike the memory and the conscience. The sense
of the vows of God which are upon you, will strengthen
you in an hour of temptation ; and the recollection
may also encourage your humble boldness and free-
dom in applying to him, under the character and
relation of your covenant God and Father, as future
exigencies may require.
2. Do it, therefore ; but do it deliberately. Con-
sider what it is that you are to do, and consider how
reasonable it. is that it should be done, and done cor-
dially and cheerfully — " not by constraint, but will-
ingly," 1 Peter, 5:2; for in this sense, and in every
other, " God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Cor. 9 : 7.
Now, surely there is nothing we should do with greater
cheerfulness or more cordial consent, than making
such a surrender of ourselves to the Lord, to the God
who created us, who brought us into this pleasant
and well-furnished world, who supported us in our
tender infancy, who guarded us in the thoughtless
days of childhood and youth, who has hitherto con-
tinually helped, sustained, and preserved us. Noth-
ing can be more reasonable than that we should
acknowledge him as our rightful owner, and our
Sovereign Ruler — than that we should devote our-
selves to him as our most gracious Benefactor, and
seek him as our supreme felicity. Nothing can be
more apparently equitable than that we, the product
of his power, and the price of his Son's blood, should
£40 RISE AND PROGRESS.
be his, and his for ever. If you see the matter in it3
just view, it will be the grief of your soul that you
have ever alienated yourself from the blessed God
and his service : so far will you be from wishing to
continue in that state of alienation another year, or
another day, you will rejoice to bring back to him
his revolted creature ; and as you have in times past
" yielded your members as instruments of unright-
eousness unto sin," you will delight to " yield your-
selves unto God as alive from the dead," and to em-
ploy "your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God." Rom. 6 : 13.
3. The surrender will also be as entire as it is
cheerful and immediate. All you are, and all you
have, and all you can do, your time, your posses-
sions, your influence over others, will be devoted to
him, that for the future it may be employed entirely
for him, and to his glory. You will desire to keep
back no thing from him ; but will seriously judge that
you are then in the truest and noblest sense your
own, when you are most entirely his. You are also,
on this great occasion, to resign all that you have to
the disposal of his wise and gracious providence ; not
only owning his power, but consenting to his un-
doubted right to do what he pleases with you, and
all that he has given you ; and declaring a hearty
approbation of all that he has done, and of all that
he may farther do.
SELF-DEDICATION URGED. 241
4. Once more, let me remind you that this sur-
render must be perpetual. You must give yourself
up to God in such a manner as never more to pre-
tend to be your own ; for the rights of God are, like
his nature, eternal and immutable, and with regard
to his rational creatures, are the same yesterday, to-
day, and for ever.
5. I would farther advise and urge that this dedi-
cation may be made with all possible solemnity. Do
it in express words. And perhaps it may be in many
cases most expedient, as many pious divines have
recommended, to do it in writing. Set your hand
and seal to it, " that on such a day of such a month
and year, and at such a place, on full consideration
and serious reflection, you came to this happy reso-
lution, that whatsoever others might do, you would
serve the Lord." Joshua 24 : 15.
6. Such an instrument you may, if you please,
draw up for yourself; or, if you rather choose to
have it drawn up to your hand, you may find some-
thing of this nature below, in which you may easily
make such alterations as shall suit your circum-
stances, where there is any thing peculiar in them.
But whatever you use, weigh it well, meditate atten-
tively upon it, that you may " not be rash with your
rnouth to utter any thing before God." Eccl. 5 : 2.
And when you determine to execute this instrument,
let the transaction be attended with some more than
Rise and frog. 1 6
243 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ordinary religious retirement. Make it, if you con-
veniently can, a day of secret fasting and prayer ;
and when your heart is prepared with a becoming
awe of the Divine Majesty, with an humble confi-
dence in his goodness, and an earnest desire of his
favor, then present yourself on your knees before
God, and read it over deliberately and solemnly;
and when you have signed it, lay it by in some se-
cure place, where you may review it whenever you
please ; and make it a rule with yourself to review
it, if possible, at certain seasons of the year, that
you may keep up the remembrance of it. And God
grant that you may be enabled to keep it, and in the
whole of your conversation to walk according to it.
May it be an anchor to your soul in every tempta-
tion, and a cordial to it in every affliction. May the
recollection of it embolden your addresses to the
throne of grace now, and give additional strength to
your departing spirit, in a consciousness that it is
ascending to your covenant God and Father, and to
that gracious Redeemer" whose power and faithful-
ness will securely " keep what you commit to him
unto that day." 2 Tim. 1 : 12.
AN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DEDICATION.
" Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah, thou great
Creator of heaven and earth, and adorable Lord of
angels and men, I desire, with the deepest humilia-
FORM OF SELF-DEDICATION. 243
tion and abasement of soul, to fall down at this time
in thine awful presence, and earnestly pray that thou
wilt penetrate my heart with a suitable sense of thine
unutterable and inconceivable glories.
" Trembling may justly take hold upon me, Job
21 : 6, when I, a sinful worm, presume to lift up my
head to thee, presume to appear in thy majestic pres-
ence on such an occasion as this. Who am I, 0
Lord God, or what is my house ? What is my nature
or descent, my character and desert, that I should
thus address the King of kings, and Lord of lords ?
I blush and am confounded before thee. But, 0
Lord, great as is thy majesty, so also is thy mercy.
If thou wilt hold converse with any of thy creatures,
thy superlatively exalted nature must stoop, must
stoop infinitely low. And I know, that in and through
Jesus, the Son of thy love, thou condescendest to
visit sinful mortals, and to allow their approach to
thee, and their covenant intercourse with thee ; nay,
I know that the scheme and plan is thine own, and
that thou hast graciously sent to propose it to us ;
as none untaught by thee would have been able to
form it, or inclined to. embrace it, even when actually
proposed.
" To thee, therefore, do I now come, invited by the
name of thy Son, and trusting in his righteousness
and grace. Laying myself at thy feet, ' with shame
and confusion efface,' and 'smiting upon my breast,'
744 RISE AND PROGRESS.
I say, with the humble publican, ' God be merciful
to me a sinner.' Luke 18 : 13. I acknowledge, 0
Lord, that I have been a great transgressor. * My
sins have reached unto heaven,' Rev. 18 : 5, and 'my
iniquities are lifted up unto the skies.' Jer. 51 : 9.
The irregular propensities of my corrupted and de-
generated nature have, in ten thousand aggravated
instances, * wrought to bring forth fruit unto death.'
Rom. 7:5. And if thou shouldst be strict to mark
my offences, I must be silent under a load of guilt,
and immediately sink into destruction. But thou
hast graciously called rne to return unto thee, though
I have been a wandering sheep, a prodigal son, a
backsliding child. Jer. 3 : 22. Behold, therefore, 0
Lord, I come unto thee. I come, convinced not only
of my sin, but of my folly. I come, from my very
heart ashamed of myself, and with an acknowledg-
ment, in the sincerity and humility of my soul, that
'I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.'
1 Sam. 26 : 21. I am confounded myself at the re-
membrance of these things ; but be thou * merciful to
my unrighteousness, and do not remember against
me my sins and my transgressions.' Heb. 8 : 12.
Permit me, 0 Lord, to bring back unto thee those
powers and faculties which I have ungratefully
and sacrilegiously alienated from thy service ; and
receive, I beseech thee, thy poor revolted creature,
who is now convinced of thy right to him, and
FORM OF SELF-DEDICATION. 245
desires nothing in the whole world so much as to be
thine.
" Blessed God, it is with the utmost solemnity that
t make this surrender of myself unto thee. * Hear,
0 heavens, and give ear, 0 earth ; I avouch the
Lord this day to be my God,' Deut. 26 : 17, and I
avouch and declare myself this day to be one of his
covenant children and people. Hear, 0 thou God
of heaven, and record it in ' the book of thy remem-
brance,' Mai. 3 : 16, that henceforth I am thine —
entirely thine. I would not merely consecrate unto
thee some of my powers, or some of my possessions,
or give thee a certain proportion of my services, or
all I am capable of for a limited time ; but I would
be wholly thine, and thine for ever. From this day
1 would solemnly renounce all the * former lords
which have had dominion over me,' Isa. 26 : 13,
every sin and every lust ; and bid, in thy name, an
eternal defiance to the powers of hell, which have
most unjustly usurped the empire over my soul, and
to all the corruptions which their fatal temptations
have introduced into it. The whole frame of my
nature, all the faculties of my mind, and all the
members of my body, would I present before thee
this day, ' as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
unto God, which ' I know to be ' my most reasonable
service.' Rom. 12 : 1. To thee I consecrate all my
worldly possessions ; in thy service I desire to spend
246 RISE AND PROGRESS.
all the remainder of my time upon earth, and beg
thou wouldst instruct and influence me, so that,
whether my abode here be longer or shorter, every
year and month, every day and hour, may be used
in such a manner as shall most effectually promote
thine honor, and subserve the designs of thy wise
and gracious providence. And I earnestly pray, that
whatever influence thou givest me over others, in
any of the superior relations of life in which I may
stand, or in consequence of any peculiar regard which
may be paid to me, thou wouldst give me the strength
and courage to exert myself to the utmost for thy
glory ; resolving not only that I will myself do it,
but that all others, so far as I can rationally and
properly influence them, ' shall serve the Lord/
Josh. 24 : 15. In this course, 0 blessed God, would
I steadily persevere to the very end of life ; earnestly
praying, that every future day of it may supply the
deficiencies and correct the irregularities of the for-
mer ; and that I may, by divine grace, be enabled
not only to hold on in that happy way, but daily to
grow more active in it.
" Nor do I only consecrate all that I am and have
to thy service, but I also most humbly resign, and
submit to thy holy and sovereign will, myself, and
all that I can call mine. I leave, 0 Lord, to thy
management and direction, all I possess, and all I
wish ; and set every enjoyment and every interest
FORM Of SELF-DEDICATION. 247
before thee, to be disposed of as thou pleasest. Con-
tinue or remove what thou hast given me — bestow
or refuse what I imagine I want, as thou, Lord, shalt
gee good. And though I dare not say I will never
repine, yet I hope I may venture to say, that I will
labor not only to submit, but to acquiesce ; not only
to bear what thou doest in thy most afflictive dispen-
sations, but to consent to it, and to praise thee for it—
contentedly resolving, in all thou appointest for me,
my will into thine, and looking on myself as nothing,
and on thee, 0 God, as the great eternal ALL, whose
wrord ought to determine every thing, and whose
government ought to be the joy of the whole rational
creation.
" Use me, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, as the instru-
ment of thy glory ; and honor me so far, as either by
doing or suffering what thou shalt appoint, to bring
some revenue of praise to thee, and of benefit to the
world in which I dwell. And may it please thee,
from this day forward, to number me among thy pe-
culiar people, that I may ' no more be a stranger and
foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with the saints, and
of the household of God.' Eph. 2 : 19. Receive, 0
heavenly Father, thy returning prodigal. Wash me
in the blood of thy dear Son ; clothe me with his
perfect righteousness ; and sanctify me throughout
by the power of thy Spirit. Destroy, I beseech thee,
more and more the power of sin in my heart. Trans-
248 RISE AND PROGRESS.
form me more into thine own image, and fashion me
to the resemblance of Jesus, whom henceforward I
would acknowledge as my teacher and sacrifice, my
intercessor and my Lord. Communicate to me, I
beseech thee, all needful influences of thy purifying,
thy cheering, and thy comforting Spirit. And lift
up that ' light of thy countenance upon me,' which
will put the sublimest joy and ' gladness into my
soul.' Psa. 4 : 6, 7.
" Dispose my affairs, 0 God, in a manner which
may be most subservient to thy glory and my own
truest happiness ; and when I have done and borne
thy will upon earth, call me from hence at what
time and in what manner thou pleasest ; only grant,
that in my dying moments, and in the near prospect
of eternity, I may remember these my engagements
to thee, and may employ my latest breath in thy
service. And do thou, Lord, when thou seest the
agonies of dissolving nature upon me, remember this
covenant too, even though I should then be incapa-
ble of recollecting it. Look down, 0 my heavenly
Father, with a pitying eye, upon thy languishing,
thy dying child ; place thine everlasting arms under-
neath me for my support ; put strength and confi-
dence into my departing spirit, and receive it to the
embraces of thine everlasting love. Welcome it to
the abodes of them that sleep in Jesus, 1 Thess. 4 : 14;
to wait with them that glorious day, when the last
FORM OF SELF-DEDICATION. 249
of thy promises to thy covenant people shall be ful-
filled in their triumphant resurrection, and in that
abundant entrance which shall be administered to
them into that everlasting kingdom, 2 Pet. 1 : 11, of
which thou hast assured them by THY COVENANT,
and in the hope of which I now lay hold of it, de-
siring to live and to die, as with mine hand on that
hope.
" And when I am thus numbered among the dead,
and all the interests of mortality are over with me
for ever, if this solemn memorial should chance to
fall into the hands of my surviving friends, may it
be the means of making serious impressions on their
minds. May they read it, not only as my language,
but as their own ; and learn to fear the Lord my
God, and with me, to put their trust under the
shadow of his wing for time and for eternity. And
may they also learn to adore with me that grace
which inclines our hearts to enter into the covenant,
and condescends to admit us into it when so inclined ;
ascribing, with me, and with all the nations of the
redeemed, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, that glory, honor, and praise, which is so
justly due to each divine Person for the part he bears
in this illustrious work. Amen."
N. B. For the sake of those who may think the preceding
Form of Self-dedication too long to be transcribed, as it is
possible many will, I have, at the desire of a much-esteemed
250 RISE AND PROGRESS.
friend, added the following abridgment of it, which should, by
all means, be attentively weighed in every clause before it ia
executed ; and any word or phrase which may seem liable to
exception changed, that the whole heart may consent to it all.
" Eternal and ever-blessed God, I desire to present
myself before thee, with the deepest humiliation and
abasement of soul, sensible how unworthy such a
sinful worm is to appear before the holy Majesty of
heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and es-
pecially on such an occasion as this, ever to dedicate
myself, without reserve, to thee. But the scheme
and plan is thine own. Thine infinite condescension
hath offered it by thy Son, and thy grace hath in-
clined my heart to accept of it.
"I come, therefore, acknowledging myself to have
been a great offender ; smiting upon my breast, and
saying with the humble publican, ' God be merciful
to me a sinner.' I come, invited by the name of thy
Son, and wholly trusting in his perfect righteousness ;
entreating that for his sake thou wilt be merciful to
my unrighteousness, and wilt no more remember my
sins. Receive, I beseech thee, thy revolted creature,
who is now convinced of thy right to him, and de-
sires nothing so much as that he may be thine.
" This day do I, with the utmost solemnity, sur-
render myself to thee. I renounce all former lords
that have had dominion over me ; and I consecrate
to thee all that I am, and all that I have ; the fac-
FORM OF SELF-DEDICATION. 251
ulties of my mind, the members of my body, my
worldly possessions, my time, and my influence over
others; to be all used entirely for thy glory, and
resolutely employed -in obedience to thy commands,
as long as thou continuest me in life ; with an ar-
dent desire and humble resolution to continue thine
through all the endless ages of eternity ; ever hold-
ing myself in an attentive posture to observe the
first intimations of thy will, and ready to spring
forward with zeal and joy to the immediate execu-
tion of it.
"To thy direction also I resign myself, and all 1
am and have, to be disposed of by thee in such a
manner as thou shalt in thine infinite wisdom judge
most subservient to the purposes of thy glory. To
thee I leave the management of all events, and say
without reserve, 'Not my will, but thine be done,'
rejoicing with a loyal heart in thine unlimited gov-
ernment, as what ought to be the delight of the whole
rational creation.
"Use me, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, as an instrument
of thy service ; number me among thy peculiar peo-
ple. Let me be washed in the blood of thy dear Son.
Let me be clothed with his righteousness. Let me
be sanctified by his Spirit. Transform me more and
more into his image. Impart to me, through him,
all needful influences of thy purifying, cheering, and
comforting Spirit. And let my life be spent under
252 RISE AND PROGRESS.
those influences, and in the light of thy gracious
countenance, as my Father and my God.
"And when the solemn hour of death comes, may
I remember thy COVENANT, ' well-ordered in all things
and sure, as all my salvation and all my desire,' 2
Sam. 23 : 5, though every hope and enjoyment is
perishing; and do thou, 0 Lord, remember it too.
Look down with pity, 0 my heavenly Father, on thy
languishing, dying child. Embrace me in thine ev-
erlasting arms. Put strength and confidence into
my departing spirit, and receive it to the abodes of
them that sleep in Jesus, peacefully and joyfully to
wait the accomplishment of thy great promise to all
thy people, even that of a glorious resurrection, and
of eternal happiness in thine heavenly presence.
"And if any surviving friend should, when I am
in the dust, meet with this memorial of my solemn
transactions with thee, may he make the engagement
his own ; and do thou graciously admit him to par-
take in all the blessings of THY COVENANT, through
Jesus the great Mediator of it ; to whom, with thee,
0 Father, and thy Holy Spirit, be everlasting praises
ascribed, by all the millions who are thus saved by
thee, and by all those other celestial spirits in whose
work and blessedness thou shalt call them to share.
Amen."
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 253
CHAPTER XVIII,
ON COMMUNION IN THE LORD'S SUPPER.
1. If the reader has received the ordinance of baptism, and,
aa above recommended, dedicated himself to God. — 2. He is
urged to ratify that engagement at the table of the Lord. —
3. From a view of the ends for which that ordinance was
instituted. — 4. Whence its usefulness is strongly inferred. — 5.
And from the authority of Christ's appointment, which is sol-
emnly pressed on the conscience. — 6. Objections from appre-
hensions of 'unfitness. — 7. Weakness of grace, etc., briefly
answered. — 8. At least, serious thoughtfulness on this subject
is absolutely insisted upon. — 9. The chapter is closed with a
prayer for one who desires to attend, yet finds himself pressed
with remaining doubts.
1. I HOPE this chapter will find you, by a most
express consent, become one of God's covenant people,
solemnly and most cordially devoted to his service ;
and it is my hearty prayer, that the engagements
you have made on earth may be ratified in heaven.
But for your farther instruction and edification, give
me leave to remind you, that our Lord Jesus Christ
hath appointed a peculiar manner of expressing our
regard to him, by commemorating his dying love,
which, though it does not forbid any other proper
way of doing it, must by no means be set aside or
neglected for any human methods, how prudent and
expedient soever they may appear to us.
2. Our Lord has wisely ordained, that the advan-
254 RISE AND PROGRESS.
tages of society should be brought into religion ; and
as, by his command, professed Christians assemble
together for other acts of public worship, so he has
been pleased to institute a social ordinance, in which
a whole assembly of them is to come to his table, and
there to eat the same bread, and drink the same cup.
And this they are to do, as a token of their affection-
ate remembrance of his dying love, of their solemn sur-
render of themselves to God, and of their sincere love
to one another, and to all their fellow- Christians.
3. That these are indeed the great ends of the
Lord's supper, I shall not now stay to argue at large.
You need only read what the apostle Paul hath writ-
ten in the tenth and eleventh chapters of his first
epistle to the Corinthians, to convince you fully of
this. He there expressly tells us, that our Lord com-
manded "the bread to be eaten," and "the wine to
be drunk, in remembrance of him," 1 Cor. 11 : 24, 25,
or as a commemoration or memorial of him ; so that,
as often as we attend this institution, "we show forth
the Lord's death," which we are to do " even until
he come." 1 Cor. 11 : 26. And it is particularly as-
serted, that "the cup is the New Testament in his
blood;" that is, it is a seal of that covenant which
was ratified by his blood. Now, it is evident, that
in consequence of this, we are to approach it with a
view to that covenant, desiring its blessings, and re-
solving, by divine grace, to comply with its demands.
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 205
On the whole, therefore, as the apostle speaks, we
have " communion in the body and the blood of
Christ," 1 Cor. 10 : 16, and partaking of his table
and of his cup, we converse with Christ > and join
ourselves to him as his people ; as the Jews, by eating
their sacrifices, conversed with Jehovah, and joined
themselves to him. He farther reminds them, that,
though many, they were "one bread and one body,"
being "all partakers of that one bread," 1 Cor. 10 : 17,
and being "all made to drink into one Spirit," 1 Cor.
12:13; that is, meeting together as if they were but
one family, and joining in the commemoration of that
one blood which was their common ransom, and of
the Lord Jesus, their common head. Now, it is evi-
dent, all these reasonings are equally applicable to
Christians in succeeding ages. Permit me, therefore,
by the authority of our divine Master, to press upon
you the observation of this precept.
4. And let me also urge it, from the apparent ten-
dency which it has to promote your truest advantage.
You are setting out in the Christian life ; and I have
reminded you at large of the opposition you must
expect to meet in it. It is the love of Christ which
must animate you to break through all. What then
can be more desirable than to bear about with you a
lively sense of it? and what can awaken that sense
more than the contemplation of his death as there
represented ? "Who can behold the bread broken, and
256 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the wine poured out, and not reflect how the body of
the blessed Jesus was even torn in pieces by his suf-
ferings, and his sacred blood poured forth like water
on the ground ? Who can think of the heart-rending
agonies of the Son of God as the price of our redemp-
tion and salvation, and not feel his soul melted with
tenderness, and inflamed with grateful affection?
What an exalted view doth it give us of the blessings
of the gospel-covenant, when we consider it as estab-
lished in the blood of God's only-begotten Son. And
when we make our approach to God as our heavenly
Father, and give up ourselves to his service in this
solemn manner, what an awful tendency has it to fix
the conviction, that we are not our own, being bought
with such a price. 1 Cor. 6 : 19, 20. What a ten-
dency has it to guard us against every temptation to
those sins which we have so solemnly renounced, and to
engage our fidelity to him to whom we have bound
our souls as with an oath. Well may our hearts be
knit together in mutual love, Col. 2 : 2, when we con-
sider ourselves as " one in Christ," Gal. 3 : 28 : his
blood becomes the cement of the society, joins us in
spirit, not only to each other,, but " to all that in every
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
both theirs and ours," 1 Cor. 1 : 2; and we anticipate
in pleasing hope that blessed day, when the assembly
shall be complete, and we shall all "be for ever with
the Lord " 1 Thess. 4 : 17. Well may these views
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 257
engage us to deny ourselves, and to " take up our crosa
and follow our crucified Master." Matt. 16 : 24.
Well may they engage us to do our utmost, by prayer,
and all other suitable endeavors, to serve his follow-
ers and his friends ; to serve those whom he hath pur-
chased with his blood, and who are to be his associ-
ates and ours, in the glories of a happy immortality.
5. It is also the express institution and command
of our blessed Redeemer, that the members of such
societies should be tenderly solicitous for the spirit-
ual welfare of each other ; and that, on the whole,
his churches may be kept pure and holy ; that they
should " withdraw themselves from every brother
that walketh disorderly," 2 Thess. 3:6; that they
should " mark such as cause offences" or scandals
among them, "contrary to the doctrine which they
have learned, and avoid them," Rom. 16 : 17 ; "that
if any obey not the word of Christ by his apostles,"
they should "have no fellowship or communion with
such, that they may be ashamed," 2 Thess. 3 : 14;
that they should " not eat with such as are notoriously
irregular" in their behavior, but, on the contrary,
should " put away from among themselves such wick-
ed persons." 1 Cor. 5 : 11—13. It is evident, there-
fore, that the institution of such societies is greatly
for the honor of Christianity, and for the advantage
of its particular professors. And consequently, every
consideration of obedience to our common Lord, and
Riee and Prog. j 7
258 RISE AND PROGRESS.
of prudent regard to our own benefit and that of our
brethren, will require those who love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity should enter into them, and as-
semble among them, in these their most solemn and
peculiar acts of communion, at his table.
6. I entreat you, therefore, and if I may presume
to say it, in his name and by his authority, I charge
it on your conscience, that this precept of our dying
Lord go not, as it were, for nothing with you ; but
that, if you indeed love him, you keep this, as well
us the rest of his commandments. I know you may
be ready to form objections. I have elsewhere de-
bated many of the chief of them at large, and I hope
not without some good effect.* The great question
is that which relates to your being prepared for a
worthy attendance ; and in conjunction with what
has been said before, I think that may be brought to
a very short issue. Have you, so far as you know
your own heart, been sincere in that deliberate sur-
render of yourself to God, through Christ, which I
recommended in the former chapter ? If you have,
whether it were with or without the particular form-
er manner of doing it there recommended, you have
certainly taken hold of the covenant, and therefore
should devote yourself to God, in obedience to all
his commands. And there is not, and cannot be, any
other view of the ordinance in which you can' have
* See the fourth of my Sermons to Young Persons.
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 259
any further objection to it. If you desire to remem-
ber Christ's death ; if you desire to renew the dedi-
cation of yourself to God through him ; if you would
list yourself among his people; if you would love
them, and do them good according to your ability ;
and, on the whole, would not allow yourself in the
practice of any one known sin, or in the omission of
any one known duty ; then I will venture confidently
to say, not only that you will be welcome to the or-
dinance, but that it was instituted for such as you.
7. As for other objections, a few words may suffice
by way of reply. The weakness of the religious prin-
ciple in your soul, if it be really implanted there, is so
far from being an argument against your seeking such
a method to strengthen it, that it rather strongly en-
forces the necessity of doing it. The neglect of this
solemnity, by so many that call themselves Christians,
should rather engage you so much the more to distin-
guish your zeal for an institution in this respect so
much slighted and inj ured . And as for the fears of ag-
gravated guilt, in case of apostasy, do not indulge them.
This may, by the divine blessing, be an effectual reme-
dy against the evil you fear ; and it is certain, that
after what you must already have known and felt
before you could be brought into your present situa-
tion— on the supposition I have now been making —
there can be no room to think of a retreat ; no room,
even for the wretched hope of being less miserable than
260 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the generality of those that have perished. Your
scheme, therefore, must be to make your salvation as
sure, and to make it as glorious as possible ; and I know
not any appointment of our blessed Redeemer which
may have a more comfortable aspect upon that blessed
end, than this which I am recommending to you.
8. One thing I would at least insist upon, and I
see not with what face it can be denied. I mean,
that you should take this matter into serious consider-
ation ; that you should diligently inquire, "whether
you have reason in your conscience to believe it is the
will of God you should now approach to the ordi-
nance or not ;" and that you should continue your
reflections, your inquiries, and your prayers, till you
find farther encouragement to come, if that encour-
agement be hitherto wanting. For of this be assured,
that a state in which you are on the whole unfit to
approach this ordinance, is a state in which you are
destitute of the necessary preparations for death and
heaven ; in which, therefore, if you would not allow
yourselves to slumber on the brink of destruction, you
ought not to rest so much as one single day.
A PRAYER FOR ONE WHO EARNESTLY DESIRES TO AP-
PROACH THE TABLE OF THE LORD, YET HAS SOME
REMAINING DOUBTS CONCERNING HIS RIGHT TO THAT
SOLEMN ORDINANCE.
" BLESSED LORD, I adore thy wise and gracious
appointments for the edification of thy church in
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 261
holiness and in love. I thank thee that thou hast
commanded thy servants to form themselves into
churches ; and I adore my gracious Saviour, who
hath instituted, as with his dying breath, the holy
solemnity of his supper, to he through all ages a
memorial of his dying love, and a bond of that union
which it is his sovereign pleasure that his people
should preserve. I hope thou, Lord, art witness to
the sincerity with which I desire to give myself up
to thee ; and that I may call thee to record on my
soul, that if I now hesitate about this particular
manner of doing it, it is not because I would allow
myself to break any of thy commands, or to slight
any of thy favors. I trust thou knowest that my
present delay arises only from my uncertainty as to
my duty, and a fear of profaning holy things by an
unworthy approach to them. Yet surely, 0 Lord, if
thou hast given me a reverence for thy command, a
desire of communion with thee, and a willingness to
devote myself wholly to thy service, I may regard it
as a token for good, that thou art disposed to receive
me, and that I am not wholly unqualified for an
ordinance which I so highly honor and so earnestly
desire. I therefore make it my humble request unto
thee, 0 Lord, this day, that thou wouldst graciously
be pleased to instruct me in my duty, and to teach
me the way which I should take. ' Examine me, 0
Lord, and prove me ; try my reins and my heart.'
262 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Psalm 26 : 2. Is there any secret sin, in the love and
practice of which I would indulge ? Is there any
of thy precepts, in the habitual breach of which I
would allow myself? I trust I can appeal to thee
as a witness, that there is not. Let me not, then,
wrong my own soul, by a causeless and sinful absence
from thy sacred table. But grant, 0 Lord, I beseech
thee, that thy word, thy providence, and thy Spirit,
may so concur as to ' make my way plain before me/
Prov. 15 : 19. Scatter my remaining doubts, if thou
seest that they have no just foundation. Fill me
with more assured faith, with a more ardent love,
and plead thine own cause with mine heart in such
a manner as that I may not be able any longer to
delay that approach, which, if I am thy servant in-
deed, is equally my duty and my privilege. In the
meantime, grant that it may never be long out of
my thoughts ; but that I may give all diligence, if
there be any remaining occasion of doubt, to remove
it by a more affectionate concern to avoid whatever
is displeasing to the eyes of thine holiness, and to
practise the full extent of my duty. May the views
of Christ crucified be so familiar to my mind, and
may a sense of his dying love so powerfully constrain
my soul, that my own growing experience may put
it out of all question that I am one of those for whom
he intended this feast of love.
" And even now, as joined to thy church in spirit
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 263
and in love, though not in so express and intimate a
bond as I could wish, would I heartily pray that
thy blessing may be on all thy people ; that thou
wouldst 'feed thine heritage, and lift them up for
ever.' Psalm 28 : 9. May every Christian church
flourish in knowledge, in holiness, and in love. May
all thy priests be clothed with salvation, that by their
means thy chosen people may be made joyful. Psa.
132 : 16. And may there be a glorious accession to
thy churches everywhere, of those who may fly to
them ' as a cloud, and as doves to their windows.*
Isaiah 60 : 8. May thy table, 0 Lord, be ' furnished
with guests,' Matt. 22 : 10, and may all that 'love
thy salvation say, Let the Lord be magnified, who
hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants.' Psa.
35 : 27. And I earnestly pray, that all who profess
' to have received Christ Jesus the Lord,' may be
duly careful to ' walk in him,' Col. 2 : 6, and that
we may all be prepared for the general assembly of
the first-born, and may join in that nobler and more
immediate worship where all these types and shad-
ows shall be laid aside ; where even these memorials
shall be no longer necessary ; but a living, present
Redeemer shall be the everlasting joy of those who
here in his absence have delighted to commemorate
his death. Amen."
264 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XIX.
SOME MORE PARTICULAR DIRECTIONS FOR MAINTAINING
CONTINUAL COMMUNION WITH GOD, OR BEING IN HIS
FEAR ALL THE DAY LONG.
1 . A letter to a pious friend on this subject introduced here.—
2. General plan of direction. — 3. For the beginning of the
day. — 4. Lifting up the heart to God at our first awakening. —
5-10. Setting ourselves to the secret devotions of the morning,
with respect to which particular advice is given. — 11. For the
progress of the day. — 12. Directions are given concerning seri-
ousness in devotion. — 13. Diligence in business. — 14. Prudence
in recreations. — 15. Observations of Providence. — 16. Watch-
fulness against temptations. — 17. Dependence on divine influ-
ence.— 18. Government of the thoughts when in solitude. —
19. Management of discourse in company.— 20. For the con-
clusion of the day. — 21. With the secret devotions of the even-
ing.— 22, 23. Directions for self-examination at large. — 24.
Lying down with a proper temper. — 25. Conclusion of the
letter. — 26. And of the chapter. With a serious view of death,
proper to be taken at the close of the day.
1. I WOULD hope, that upon serious consideration,
self-examination, and prayer,- the reader has given
himself up to God ; and that his concern now is to
inquire, how he may act according to the vows of
God which are upon him. Now, for his farther as-
sistance here, besides the general view I have already
given of the Christian temper and character, I will
COMMUNION WITH GOD. 265
propose some more particular directions relating to
maintaining that devout, spiritual, and heavenly
character, which may, in the language of Scripture,
be called " a daily walking with God, or being in his
fear all the day long." Prov. 23 : 17. And I know
not how I can express the idea and plan which 1
have formed of this, in a more clear and distinct
manner than I did in a letter which I wrote many
years ago [in. 1727] to a young person of eminent
piety, with whom I had then an intimate friendship ;
and who, to the great grief of all that knew him,
died a few months after he received it. Yet I hope
he lived long enough to reduce the directions to prac-
tise, which I wish and pray that every reader may
do, so far as they may properly suit his capacities
and circumstances in life, considering it as if addressed
to himself. I say, and desire it may be observed,
that I wish my reader may act on these directions so
far as they may properly suit his capacity and cir-
cumstances in life ; for I would be far from laying
down the following particulars as universal rules for
all, or for any one person in the world, at all times.
Let them be practised by those that are able, and
when they have leisure ; and when you cannot reach
them all, come as near the most important of them
as you conveniently can. With this precaution I
proceed to the letter, which I would hope, after this
previous care to guard against the danger of mistak-
266 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ing it, will not discourage any, the weakest Chris-
tian. Let us humbly and cheerfully do what we can,
and rejoice that we have so gracious a Father, who
knows all our infirmities, and so compassionate a
High-priest, to recommend to divine acceptance the
feeblest efforts of sincere duty and love.
MY DEAR FRIEND — Since you desire my thoughts
in writing, and at large, on the subject of our late
conversation, namely, " By what particular methods,
in our daily conduct, a life of devotion and usefulness
may be most happily maintained and secured," I
set myself with cheerfulness to recollect and digest
the hints which I then gave you ; hoping it may be
of some service to you in your most important inter-
ests ; and may also fix on my own mind a deeper
sense of my obligations to govern my own life by the
rules I offer to others. I esteem attempts of this
kind among the pleasantest fruits, and the surest
cements of friendship ; and as I hope ours will last
for ever, I am persuaded a mutual care to cherish
sentiments of this kind will add everlasting endear-
ments to it.
2. The directions you will expect from me on this
occasion naturally divide themselves into three heads :
How we are to regard God in the beginning, the
progress, and the close of the day. I will open my
heart freely to you with regard to each, and will
DAILY DEVOTIONS. 267
leave you to judge how far these hints may suit your
circumstances ; aiming at least to keep between the
extremes of a superstitious strictness in trifles, and
an indolent remissness, which, if admitted in little
things, may draw after it criminal neglects, and at
length more criminal indulgences.
3. In the beginning of the day, it should cer-
tainly be our care to lift up our hearts to God as
soon as we wake, and while we are rising ; and then,
*to set ourselves seriously and immediately to the se-
cret devotions of the morning.
4. For the first of these, it seems exceedingly nat-
ural. There are so many things that may suggest a
great variety of pious reflections and ejaculations,
which are so obvious that one would think a serious
mind could hardly miss them. The ease and cheer-
fulness of our mind on our first awaking ; the refresh-
ment we find from sleep ; the security we have en-
joyed in that defenceless state ; the provision of warm
and decent apparel ; the cheerful light of the return-
ing sun ; or even — which is not unfit to . mention to
you — the contrivances of art, taught and furnished
by the great Author of all our conveniences, to sup-
ply us with many useful hours of life in the absence
of the sun ; the hope of returning to the dear society
of our friends ; the prospect of spending another day
in the service of God and the improvement of OUT
own minds ; and above all, the lively hope of a joy-
VJ68 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ful resurrection to an eternal day of happiness and
glory : any of these particulars, and many more
which I do not mention, may furnish us with matter
of pleasing reflection and cheerful praise while we
are rising. And for our farther assistance, when we
are alone at this time, it may not be improper to
speak sometimes to ourselves, and sometimes to our
heavenly Father, in the natural expressions of joy
and thankfulness. Permit me, sir, to add, that if
we find our hearts in such a frame at our first awak-*
ing, even that is just matter of praise, and the
rather, as perhaps it is an answer to the prayer with
which we lay down.
5. For the exercise of secret devotion in the morn-
ing, which I hope will generally be our first work, I
cannot prescribe an exact method to another. You
must, my dear friend, consult your own taste, in
some measure. The constituent parts of the service
are, in the general, plain. "Were I to propose a par-
ticular model for those who have half or three-
quarters of an hour at command, which, with pru-
dent conduct, I suppose most may have, it should be
this:
6. To begin the stated devotions of the day with
a solemn act of praise, offered to God on our knees,
and generally with a low, yet distinct voice ; ac-
knowledging the mercies we have been reflecting on
while rising, never forgetting to mention Christ as
DAILY DEVOTIONS. 269
the great foundation of all our enjoyments and our
hopes, or to return thanks for the influences of the
blessed Spirit, which have led our hearts to God, or
are then engaging us to seek him. This, as well as
other offices of devotion afterwards mentioned, must
be done attentively and sincerely ; for not to offer our
praises heartily, is, in the sight of God, not to praise
him at all. This address of praise may properly be
concluded with an express renewal of our dedication
to God, declaring our continued repeated resolution
of being devoted to him, and particularly of living to
his glory the ensuing day.
7. It may be proper, after this, to take a prospect
of the day before us, so far as we can probably fore-
see, in the general, where and how it may be spent ;
and seriously to reflect, " How shall I employ myself
for God this day ? What business is to be done, and
in what order ? What opportunities may I expect,
either of doing or of receiving good ? What tempta-
tions am I likely to be assaulted with, in any place,
company, or circumstances, which may probably
occur ? In what instance have I lately failed ? And
how shall I be safest now ?"
8. After this review it will be proper to offer up
a short prayer, begging that God would quicken us
to each of these foreseen duties ; that he would fortify
us against each of these apprehended dangers ; that
he would grant us success in such or such a business
270 RISE AND PROGRESS.
undertaken for his glory ; and also that he would
help us to discover and improve unforeseen opportu-
nities to resist unexpected temptations, and to bear
patiently and religiously any afflictions which may
surprise us in the day on which we are entering.
9. I would advise you after this to read some por-
tion of Scripture ; not a great deal, nor the whole
Bible in its course, but some select portions out of
its most useful parts, perhaps ten or twelve verses,
not troubling yourself much about the exact connec-
tion,-or other critical niceties which may occur,
though at other times I would recommend them to
your inquiry, as you^ have ability and opportunity,
but considering them merely in a devotional and
practical view. Here take such instructions as read-
ily present themselves to your thoughts, repeat them
over to your own conscience, and charge your heart
religiously to observe them, and a<5t upon them, un-
der a sense of the divine authority which attends them.
And if you pray over the substance of this Scripture
with your Bible open before you, it may impress your
memory and your heart yet more deeply, and may
form you to a copiousness and variety, both of thought
and expression, in prayer.
10. It might be proper to close these devotions
with a psalm or hymn ; and I rejoice with you, that
through the pious care of our sacred poets, we are
provided with so rich a variety for the assistance of
DAILY DEVOTIONS. *>7J
the closet and family on these occasions, as well as
for the service of the sanctuary.
1 1 . The most material directions which have oc-
curred to me relating to the progress of the day, are
these : That we be serious in the devotions of the
day ; that we be diligent in the business of it, that
is, in the prosecution of our worldly callings ; that
we be temperate and prudent in the recreations of
it ; that we carefully mark the providences of the
day ; that we cautiously guard against the tempta-
tions of it ; that we keep up a lively and humble
dependence upon the divine influence, suitable to
every emergency of it ; that we govern our thoughts
well in the solitude of the day, and our discourses
well in the conversations of it. These, sir, were the
heads of a sermon which you have lately heard me
preach, and to which I know you referred in that
request which I am now endeavoring to answer. I
will therefore touch upon the most material hints
which fall under each of these particulars.
12. For seriousness in devotion, whether public or
domestic, let us take a few moments before we enter
upon such solemnities, to pause, and reflect on the
perfections of the God we are addressing, on the im-
portance of the business we are coming about, on the
pleasure and advantage of a regular and devout at-
tendance, and on the guilt and folly of an hypocriti-
cal formality. When engaged, let us maintain a
272 RISE AND PROGRESS.
strict watchfulness over our own spirits, and check
the first wanderings of thought. And when the
duty is over, let us immediately reflect on the man-
ner in which it has been performed, and ask our own
consciences whether we have reason to conclude that
we are accepted of God in it. For there is a certain
manner of going through these offices, which our own
hearts will immediately tell us "it is impossible for
God to approve ;" and if we have inadvertently fallen
into it, we ought to be deeply humbled before God
for it, lest "our very prayer become sin." Psalm
109:7.
13. As for the hours of worldly business, whether
it be that of the han'ds, or the labor of a learned life
not immediately relating to religious matters, let us
set to the prosecution of it with a sense of God's au-
thority, and with a regard to his glory. Let us avoid
a dreaming, sluggish, indolent temper, which nods
over its work, and does only the business of one hour
in two or three. In opposition to this, which runs
through the life of some people, who yet think they
are never idle, let us endeavor to despatch as much
as we well can in a little time ; considering that it
is but a little we have in all. And let us be habit-
ually sensible of the need we have of the divine
blessing to make our labors successful.
14. For seasons of diversion, let us take care that
our recreations be well-chosen ; that they be pursued
DAILY DEVOTIONS. 273
with, a good intention, to fit us for a renewed appli-
cation to the labors of life ; and thus that they be
only used in subordination to the honor of God, the
great end of all our actions. Let us take heed, that
our hearts be not estranged from God by them, and
that they do not take up too much of our time ; al-
ways remembering that the faculties of human na-
ture, and the advantages of the Christian revelation,
were not given us in vain ; but that we are always
to be in pursuit of some great and honorable end,
and to indulge ourselves in amusements and diver-
sions no farther than as they make a part in a
scheme of rational and manly, benevolent and pious
conduct.
15. For the observation of Providence, it will be
useful to regard the divine interposition in our com*
forts and in our afflictions. In our comforts, whether
more common or extraordinary : that we find our-
selves in continued health ; that we are furnished
with food for support and pleasure ; that we have so
many agreeable ways of employing our time ; that
we have so many friends, and those so good, and so
happy ; that our business goes on so prosperously ;
that we go out and come in. safely ; and that we
enjoy composure and cheerfulness of spirit, without
which nothing else could be enjoyed : all these should
be regarded as providential favors, and due acknow-
ledgments should be made to God on these accounts,
Riae- and Prog. 18
274 RISE AND PROGRESS.
as we pass through such agreeable scenes. On the
other hand, Providence is to be regarded in every
disappointment, in every loss, in every pain, in every
instance of unkindness from those who have professed
friendship ; and we should endeavor to argue our-
selves into a patient submission, from this considera-
tion, that the hand of God is always mediately, if
not immediately, in each of them ; and that, if they
are not properly the work of Providence, they are at
least under his direction. It is a reflection which
we should particularly make with relation to those
little cross accidents — as we are ready to call them —
and those infirmities and follies in the temper and
conduct of our intimate friends, which may else be
ready to discompose us. And it is the more neces-
sary to guard our minds here, as wise and good men
often lose the command of themselves on these com-
paratively little occasions ; who, calling up reason
and religion to their assistance, stand the shock of
great calamities with fortitude and resolution.
16. For watchfulness against temptations, it is
necessary, when changing our place, or our employ-
ment, to reflect, "What snares attend me here?"
And as this should be our habitual care, so we should
especially guard against those snares which in the
morning we foresaw. And when we are entering
on those circumstances in which we expected the
assault, we should reflect, especially if it be a matter
DAILY DEVOTIONS. 275
of great importance, " Now the combat is going to
begin ; now God and the blessed angels are observ-
ing what constancy, what fortitude there is in my
soul, and how far the divine authority, and the re-
membrance of my own prayers and resolutions, will
weigh with me when it comes to a trial."
17. As for dependence on divine grace and influ-
ence, it must be universal ; and since we always
need it, we must never forget that necessity. A mo-
ment spent in humble fervent breathings after the
communications of the divine assistance, may do
more good than many minutes spent in mere rea-
sonings ; and though indeed this should not be neg-
lected, since the light of reason is a kind of divine
illumination, yet still it ought to be pursued in a
due sense of our dependence on the Father of lights,
or where we think ourselves wisest, we may " be-
come vain in our imaginations," Rom. 1 : 21, 22,
Let us therefore always call upon God, and say, for
instance, when we are going to pray, " Lord, fix my
attention. Awaken my holy affections, and pour
out upon me the spirit of grace and of supplication."
Zech. 12:10. "When taking up a Bible or any other
good book, " Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law. Psalm 119 : 18.
Enlighten my understanding. Warm my heart,
May my good resolutions be confirmed, and all the
course of my life be in a proper manner regulated. "
276 RISE AND PROGRESS.
"When addressing- ourselves to any worldly business,
" Lord, prosper thou the work of mine hands upon
me, Psalm 90 : 17, and give thy blessing to my hon-
est endeavors." When going to any kind of recrea-
tion, " Lord, bless my refreshments. Let me not for-
get thee in them, but still keep thy glory in view."
When coming into company, " Lord, may I do, and
get good. Let no corrupt communication proceed
out of my mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hear-
ers." Eph. 4 : 29. When entering upon difficulties,
" Lord, give me that wisdom which is profitable to
direct." Eccles. 10 : 10. " Teach me thy way, and
lead me in a plain path." Psalm 27 : 11. When
encountering sore temptations, " Let thy strength, 0
gracious Redeemer, be made perfect in my weak-
ness." 2 Cor. 12 : 9. These instances may illus-
trate the design of this direction, though they may
be far from a complete enumeration of all the cir-
cumstances in which it is to be regarded.
18. For the government of our thoughts in soli-
tude, let us accustom ourselves, on all occasions, to
exercise a due command over our thoughts. Let us
take care of those entanglements of passion, or those
attachments to any present interest in view, which
would deprive us of our power over them. Let us
set before us some profitable subject of thought ;
such as the perfection of the blessed (rod, the love
DAILY DEVOTIONS. 277
of Christ, the value of time, the certainty and im-
portance of death and judgment, and the eternity of
happiness or misery which is to follow. Let us also,
at such intervals, reflect on what we have observed
as to the state of our own souls, with regard to the
advance or decline of religion ; or on the last sermon
we have heard, or the last portion of Scripture we
have read. You may, perhaps, in this connection,
sir, recollect what I have, if I remember right, pro-
posed to you in conversation ; that it might be very
useful to select some one verse of Scripture which
we have met with in the morning, and to treasure it
up in our mind, resolving to think of that at any
time when we are at a loss for matter of pious re-
flection, in any intervals of leisure for entering upon
it. This will often be as a spring from whence
many profitable and delightful thoughts may rise,
which perhaps we did not before see in that connec-
tion and force. Or if it should not be so, yet I am
persuaded it will be much better to repeat the same
scripture in our mind a hundred times in a day, with
some pious ejaculation formed upon it, than to leave
our thoughts at the mercy of all those various trifles
which may otherwise intrude upon us, the variety of
which will be far from making amends for their
vanity.
19. Lastly, for the government of our discourse in
company. We should take great care that nothing
278 RISE AND PROGRESS.
may escape us which can expose us, or our Christian
profession, to censure and reproach ; nothing injuri-
ous to those that are absent, or those that are pres-
ent; nothing malignant, nothing insincere, nothing
which may corrupt, nothing which may provoke,
nothing which may mislead those ahout us. Nor
should we by any means be content that what we
say is innocent — it should be our desire that it may
be edifying to. ourselves and others. In this view,
we should endeavor to have some subject of useful
discourse always ready ; in which we may be as-
sisted by the hints given about furniture for thought,
under the former head. We should watch for decent
opportunities of introducing useful reflections ; and
if a pious friend attempt to do it, we should endeavor
to second it immediately. When the conversation
does not turn directly on religious subjects, we should
endeavor to make it improving some other way : we
should reflect on the character and capacities of our
company, that we may lead them to talk of what
they understand best ; for their discourses on those
subjects will probably be most pleasant to them-
selves, as well as most useful to us. And in pauses
of discourse, it may not be improper to lift up a holy
ejaculation to God, that his grace may assist us and
our friends in our endeavors to do good to each other ;
that all we say or do may be worthy the character
of reasonable creatures and of Christians.
EVENING DEVOTIONS. 279
20. The directions for a religious closing of the
day, which I shall here mention, are only two : Let
us see to it, that the secret duties of the evening be
well performed ; and let us lie down on our beds in
a pious frame.
21. For secret devotion in the evening, I would
propose a method something different from that in
the morning ; but still, as then, with due allowances
for circumstances, which may make unthought-of al-
terations proper. I should advise to read a portion
of Scripture in the first place, with suitable reflec-
tions and prayer, as above ; then to read a hymn, or
psalm ; after this to enter on self-examination, to be
followed by a longer prayer than that which followed
reading, to be formed on this review of the day. In
this address to the throne of grace, it will be highly
proper to entreat that God would pardon the omis-
sions and offences of the day ; to praise him for mer-
cies temporal and spiritual ; to recommend ourselves
to his protection for the ensuing night ; with proper
petitions for others, whom we ought to bear on our
hearts before him ; and particularly for those friends
with whom we have conversed or corresponded in
the preceding day. Many other concerns will occur,
both in morning and evening prayer, which I have
not here hinted at ; but I did not apprehend that a
full enumeration of these things belonged, by any
means, to our present purpose.
280 RISE AND PROGRESS.
22. Before I quit this head, I must take the liberty
to remind you that self-examination is so important
a duty, that it will be worth our while to spend a
few words upon it. And this branch of it is so easy,
that when we have proper questions before us, any
person of a common understanding may hope to go
through it with advantage, under a divine blessing.
I offer you therefore the following queries, which I
hope you will, with such alterations as you may
judge requisite, keep near you for daily use. " Did
I awake as with God this morning, and rise with a
grateful sense of his goodness ? How were the secret
devotions of the morning performed ? Did I offer my
solemn praises, and renew the dedication of myself
to God, with becoming attention and suitable affec-
tions ? Did I lay my scheme for the business of the
day wisely and well ? How did I read the Scrip-
tures, and any other devotional or practical piece
which I afterwards found it convenient to review ?
Did it do my heart good, or was it a mere amuse-
ment ? How have the other stated devotions of the
day been attended, whether in the family or in pub-
lic ? Have I pursued the common business of the
day with diligence and spirituality, doing every thing
in season, and with all convenient despatch, and as
'unto the Lord?' Col. 3 : 23. "What time have I
lost this day, in the morning or the forenoon, in the
afternoon or the evening ?" for these divisions
EVENING DEVOTIONS. 281
assist your recollection ; " and what has occasioned
the loss of it ? With what temper, and under what
regulations have the recreations of this day been
pursued ? Have I seen the hand of God in my mer-
cies, health, cheerfulness, food, clothing, books, pres-
ervation in journeys, success of business, conversation,
and kindness of friends, etc ? Have I seen it in afflic-
tions, and particularly in little things, which had a
tendency to vex and disquiet me ? Hare I received
my comforts thankfully, and my afflictions submis-
sively ? How have I guarded against the temptations
of the day, particularly against this or that tempta-
tion which I foresaw in the morning ? Have I main-
tained a dependence on divine influence ? Have I
' lived by faith on the Son of God,' Gal. 2 : 20, and
regarded Christ this day as my teacher and governor,
my atonement and intercessor, my example and guar-
dian, my strength and forerunner ? Have I been
looking forward to death and eternity this day, and
considered myself as a probationer for heaven, and,
through grace, an expectant of it ? Have I governed
my thoughts well, especially in such or such an in-
terval of solitude ? How was my subject of thought
this day chosen, and how was it regarded ? Have
I governed my discourses well, in such and such
company ? Did I say nothing passionate, mischiev-
ous, slanderous, imprudent, impertinent? Has my
heart this day been full of love to God, and to all
282 RISE AND PROGRESS.
mankind ; and have I sought, and found, and im-
proved opportunities of doing and of getting good ?
With what attention and improvement have I
read the Scripture this evening ? How was self-ex-
amination performed the last night ; and how have
I profited this day by any remarks I then made
an former negligences and mistakes? With what
temper did I then lie down, and compose myself to
sleep ?"
23. You will easily see, sir, that these questions
are so adjusted as to be an abridgment of the most
material advice I have given in this letter ; and 1
believe I need not, to a person of your understanding,
say any thing as to the usefulness of such inquiries.
Conscience will answer them in a few minutes ; but
if you think them too large and particular, you may
make still a shorter abstract for daily use, and re-
serve these, with such obvious alteration as will then
be necessary, for seasons of more than ordinary ex-
actness in review, which I hope will occur at least
once a week. Secret devotion being thus performed,
before drowsiness renders us unfit for it, the interval
between that and our going to rest must be conducted
by the rules mentioned under the next head. And
nothing will farther remain to be considered here,
but,
24. The sentiments with which we should lie
down and compose ourselves to sleep. Now here it
EVENING DEVOTIONS. 283
is obviously suitable to think of the divine goodness,
in adding another day, and the mercies of it, to the
former days and mercies of our life ; to take notice
of the indulgence of Providence in giving us com-
modious habitations and easy beds, and continuing
to us such health of body that we can lay ourselves
down at ease upon them, and such serenity of mind
as leaves us any room to hope for refreshing sleep —
a refreshment to be sought, not merely as an indul-
gence to animal nature, but as what our wise Crea-
tor, in order to keep us humble in the midst of so
many infirmities, has been pleased to make necessary
to our being able to pursue his service with renewed
alacrity. Thus may our sleeping, as well as our
waking hours, be in some sense devoted to God.
And when we are just going to resign ourselves to
the image of death, to what one of the ancients
beautifully calls "its lesser mysteries," it is also evi-
dently proper to think seriously of that end of all the
living, and to renew those actings of repentance and
faith which we should judge necessary if we were
to wake no more here. You have once, sir, seen a
meditation of that kind in my hand : I will transcribe
it for you in the postscript ; and therefore shall add
no more to this head, but here put a close to the
directions you desired.
25. I am persuaded the most important of them
have, in one form or another, been long regarded by
284 RISE AND PROGRESS.
you, and made governing maxims of your life. 1
shall greatly rejoice if the review of these, and the
examination and trial of the rest, may be the means
of leading you into more intimate communion with
God, and so of rendering your life more pleasant and
useful, and your eternity, whenever that is to com-
mence, more glorious. There is not a human crea-
ture upon earth whom I should not delight to serve
in these important interests ; but I can faithfully as-
sure you, that I am, with particular respect,
Dear sir,
Your very affectionate friend and servant.
26. This, reader, with the alteration of a very few
words, is the letter I wrote to a worthy friend (now,
T doubt not, with God) about sixteen years ago ; and
I can assuredly say, that the experience of each of
these years has confirmed me in these views, and
established me in the persuasion, that one day thus
spent is far preferable to whole years of sensuality
and the neglect of religion. I chose to insert the
letter as it is, because I thought the freedom and
particularity of the advice I had given in it would
appear most natural in its original form ; and as I
propose to enforce these counsels in the next chapter,
I shall conclude this with that meditation which I
promised my friend as a postscript, and which I
could wish you to make so familiar to yourself, as
EVENING DEVOTIONS. 285
that you may be able to recollect the substance of it
whenever you compose yourself to sleep.
A SERIOUS VIEW OF DEATH, PROPER TO BE TAKEN A3
WE LIE DOWN ON OUR BEDS.
" 0 my soul, look forward a little with seriousness
and attention, and learn wisdom by the consideration
of thy latter end. Deut. 22 : 29. Another of thy
mortal days is now numbered and finished ; and as I
have put off my clothes, and laid myself upon my
bed for the repose of the night, so will the day of
life quickly come to its period ; so must the body it-
self be put off and laid to its repose in a bed of dust.
There let it rest ; for it will be no more regarded by
me than the clothes which I have now laid aside.
I have another far more important concern to attend.
Think, 0 my soul, when death comes, thou art to
enter upon the eternal world, and to be fixed either
in heaven or in hell. All the schemes and cares, the
hopes and fears, the pleasures and sorrows of life,
will come to their period, and the world of spirits
will open upon thee. And 0, how soon may it open.
Perhaps before the returning sun bring on the light
of another day. To-morrow's sun mav not enlighten
my eyes, but only shine round a senseless corpse,
which may lie in the place of this animated body.
At least the death of many in the flower of their
age, and many who were superior to me in capacity,
RISE AND PROGRESS.
piety, and the prospects of usefulness, may loudly
warn me not to depend on a long life, and engage
me rather to wonder that I am continued here so
many years, than to be surprised if I am speedily
removed.
" And now, 0 my soul, answer as in the sight of
God, Art thou ready ? Art thou ready ? Is there
no sin unforsaken, and so unrepented of, to fill me
with anguish in my departing moments, and to make
me tremble on the brink of eternity? Dread to
remain under the guilt of it, and this moment re-
new thy most earnest applications to the mercy of
God, and the blood of a Redeemer, for deliverance
from it.
" But if the great account be already adjusted, if
thou hast cordially repented of thy numerous of-
fences, if thou hast sincerely committed thyself, by
faith, into the hands of the blessed Jesus, and hast
not renounced thy covenant with him, by turning to
the allowed practice of sin, then start not at the
thought of a separation : it is not in the power of
death to hurt a soul devoted to God, and united to
the great Redeemer. It may take from me my
worldly comforts ; it may disconcert and break my
schemes for service on earth ; but 0, my soul, diviner
entertainments and nobler services 'wait thee be-
yond the grave.' For ever blessed be the name of
God and the love of Jesus, for these quieting, encour-
EVENING DEVOTIONS. 28?
aging, joyful views. I will now lay me down in
peace, and sleep, Psalm 4 : 8, free from the fears of
what shall be the issue of this night, whether life or
death be appointed for me. Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit, Luke 23 : 46, for thou hast
redeemed me, 0 God of truth, Psalm 31 : 5, and
therefore I can cheerfully refer it to thy choice,
whether I shall awake in this world or another."
888 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XX.
A SERIOUS PERSUASIVE TO SUCH A METHOD OF SPKNP-
ING OUR DAYS AS IS REPRESENTED IN THE FORMEit
CHAPTER.
1, 2. Christians fix their views too low, and indulge too in-
dolent a disposition, which makes it more necessary to urge
such a life as that under consideration. — 3. It is therefore en-
forced, from its being apparently reasonable, considering our-
selves as the creatures of God, and as redeemed by the blood
of Christ. — 4. From its evident tendency to conduce to our
comfort in life. — 5. From the influence it will have to promote
our usefulness to others. — 6. From its efficacy to make afflic-
tions lighter. — 7. From its happy aspect on death. — 8. And
on eternity. — 9. Whereas not to desire improvement would
argue a soul destitute of religion. A prayer suited to the state
of a soul who longs to attain the life recommended above.
1. I HAVE been assigning, in the preceding chap-
ter, what I fear will seem to some of my readers so
hard a task, that they will want courage to attempt
it ; and indeed it is a life in many respects so far
above that of the generality of Christians, that I am
not without apprehensions that many who deserve
the name may think the directions, after all the pre-
cautions with which I have proposed them, are car-
ried to an unnecessary degree of nicety and strictness.
But I am persuaded much of the credit and comfort
of Christianity is lost, in consequence of its professors
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED. 289
fixing their aims too low, and not conceiving of their
high and holy calling in so elevated and sublime a
view as the nature of religion wou4d require, and the
word of God would direct. I am fully convinced,
that the expressions of " walking with God," of " be-
ing in the fear of the Lord all the day long," Prov.
23 : 17, and above all, that of " loving the Lord our
God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and
strength," Mark 12 : 30, must require, if not all these
circumstances, yet the substance of all that I have
been recommending, so far as we have capacity, lei-
sure, and opportunity : and I cannot but think that
many might command more of the latter, and per-
haps improve their capacities too, if they would take
a due care in the government of themselves ; if they
would give up vain and unnecessary diversions, and
certain indulgences, which only suit to delight the
lower part of our nature, and, to say the best of them,
deprive us of pleasures much better than themselves,
if they do not plunge us into guilt. Many of these
rules would appear easily practicable, if men would
learn to know the value of time, and particularly to
redeem it from unnecessary sleep, which \vastes many
golden hours of the day : hours in which many of
God's servants are delighting themselves in him, and
drinking in full draughts of the water of life ; while
these their brethren are slumbering upon their beds,
and lost in vain dreams, as far below the common
Riae and Prog. 1 9
290 RISE AND PROGRESS.
entertainments of a rational creature as the pleas-
ures of the sublimest devotion are above them.
2. I know, likewise, that the mind is very fickle
and inconstant, and that it is a hard thing to preserve
such a government and authority over our thoughts
as would he very desirable, and as the plan I have
laid down will require. But so much of the honor
of God, and so much of our true happiness depends
upon it, that I beg you will give me a patient and
attentive hearing while I am pleading with you, and
that you will seriously examine the arguments, and
then judge whether a care and conduct like that
which I have advised be not in itself reasonable, and
whether it will not be highly conducive to your com-
fort and usefulness in life, your peace in death, and
the advancement and increase of your eternal glory.
3. Let conscience say, whether such a life as I
have described above be not in itself highly reason-
able. Look over the substance of it again, and bring
it under a close examination ; for I am very appre-
hensive that some weak objections may rise against
the whole, which may in their consequence affect
particulars, against which no reasonable man would
presume to make any objection at all. Recollect, 0
Christian, carry it with you in your memory and
your heart, while you are pursuing this review, that
you are the creature of God, that you are purchased
with the blood of Jesus ; and then say whether these
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED. 29]
relations in which you stand do not demand all that
application and resolution which I would engage you
to. Suppose all the counsels I have given you re-
duced into practice ; suppose every day begun and
concluded with such devout breathings after God,
and such holy retirements for morning and evening
converse with him and with your own heart ; sup-
pose a daily care, in contriving how your time may
be managed, and in reflecting how it has been em-
ployed ; suppose this regard to God, this sense of his
presence, and zeal for his glory, to run through your
acts of worship, your hours of business and recreation ;
suppose this attention to Providence, this guard
against temptation, this dependence upon divine in-
fluence, this government of the thoughts in solitude,
and of the discourse in company ; nay, I will add
farther, suppose every particular direction given to
be pursued, excepting when particular cases occur,
with respect to which you shall be able in conscience
to say, " I wave it not from indolence and careless-
ness, but because I think it will be just now more
pleasing to God to be doing something else," which
may often happen in human life, where general rules
are best concerted : suppose, I say, all this to be done,
not for a day or a week, but through the remainder
of life, whether longer or shorter ; and suppose this
to be reviewed at the close of life, in the full exercise
of your rational faculties ; will there be reason to say,
292 RISE AND PROGRESS.
in the reflection, " I have taken too much pains in
religion ; the Author of my being did not deserve all
this from me ; less diligence, less fidelity, less zeal
than this, might have been an equivalent for the
blood which was shed for my redemption ? A part
of my heart, a part of my time, a part of my labors,
might have sufficed for him who hath given me all
my powers — for him who hath delivered me from
that destruction which would have made them my
everlasting torment — for him who is raising me to
the regions of a blissful immortality." Can you with
any face say this ? If you cannot, then surely your
conscience bears witness, that all I have recommend-
ed, under the limitations above, is reasonable ; that
duty and gratitude require it ; and consequently, that
by every allowed failure in it, you bring guilt upon
your own soul, you offend God, and act unworthy of
your Christian profession.
4. I entreat you farther to consider whether such
a conduct as I have now been recommending, would
not conduce much to your comfort and usefulness in
life. Reflect seriously what is true happiness. Does
it consist in distance from God, or in nearness to him ?
Surely you cannot be a Christian, surely you cannot
be a rational man, if you doubt whether communion
with the great Father of our spirits be a pleasure
and felicity ; and if it be, then surely they enjoy most
of it who keep him most constantly in view. You
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED. 293
cannot but know, in your own conscience, that it is
this which makes the happiness of heaven ; and there-
fore the more of it any man enjoys upon earth, the
more of heaven comes down into his soul. If you
have made any trial of religion, though it be but a
few months or weeks since you first became acquaint-
ed with it, you must be some judge, from your own
experience, which have been the most pleasant days
of your life. Have they not been those in which
you have acted most upon these principles ; those in
which you have most steadily and resolutely carried
them through every hour of time, and every circum-
stance of life ? The check which you must, in many
instances, give to your own inclinations, might seem
disagreeable; but it would surely be overbalanced,
in a most happy manner, by the satisfaction you
would find in a consciousness of self-government ; in
having such a command of your thoughts, affections,
and actions, as is much more glorious than any au-
thority over others can be.
5. I would also entreat you to consider the influ-
ence which such a conduct as this might have upon
the happiness of others. And it is easy to be seen
that it must be very great ; as you would find your
heart always disposed to watch every opportunity of
doing good, and to seize it with eagerness and delight.
It would engage you to make it the study and busi-
ness of your life, to order things in such a manner,
294 RISE AND PROGRESS.
that the end of one kind and useful action might be
the beginning of another ; in which you would go on
as naturally as the inferior animals do in those pro-
ductions and actions by which mankind are relieved
or enriched ; or as the earth bears her successive crops
of different vegetable supplies. And though man-
kind be, in this corrupt state, so unhappily inclined
to imitate evil examples rather than good, yet it -may
be expected, that while "your light shines before
men," some, " seeing your good works," will endeavor
to transcribe them in their own lives, and so to "glo-
rify your Father which is in heaven." Matt. 5:16.
The charm of such beautiful models would surely
impress some, and incline them at least to attempt
an imitation; and every attempt would dispose to
another. And thus, through the divine goodness,
you might be entitled to a share in the praise, and
the reward, not only of the good you had immediately
done yourself, t)ut likewise of that which you had
engaged others to do. And no eye but that of the
all-searching God can see into what distant times or
places the blessed consequences may reach. In every
instance in which these consequences appear, it will
put a generous and sublime joy into your heart which
no worldly prosperity could afford, and which would
be the liveliest emblem of that high delight which
the blessed God feels in seeing and making his crea-
tures happy.
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED. 295
6. It is true, indeed, that amidst all these pious and
benevolent cares, afflictions may come, and in some
measure interrupt you in the rnidst of your projected
schemes. But surely these afflictions will be much
lighter, when your heart is gladdened with the peace-
ful and joyful reflections of your own mind, and with
so honorable a testimony of conscience before God and
man. Delightful will it be to go back to past scenes
in your pleasing review, and to think that you have
not only been sincerely humbling yourself for those past
offences which afflictions may bring to your remem-
brance, but that you have given substantial proofs of
the sincerity of that humiliation, by a real reformation
of what has been amiss, and by acting with strenu-
ous and vigorous resolution on the contrary principle.
And while converse with God, and doing good to men,
are made the great business and pleasure of life, you
will find a thousand opportunities of enjoyment, even
in the midst of these afflictions, which would render
you so incapable of relishing the pleasures of sense,
that the very mention of them might, in those cir-
cumstances, seem an insult and a reproach.
7. At length death will come, that solemn and im-
portant hour, which has been passed through by so
many thousands who have in the main lived such a
life, and by so many millions who have neglected it.
And let conscience say, if there was ever one of all
these millions who had any reason to rejoice in that
296 R/SE AND PROGRESS.
neglect; or any one, among the most strict and ex-
emplary Christians, who then lamented that his heart
and life had been too zealously devoted to God. Let
conscience say, whether they have wished to have
a part of that time, which they have thus employed,
given back to them again, that they might be more
conformed to this world; that they might plunge
themselves deeper into its amusements, or pursue its
honors, its possessions, or its pleasures, with greater
eagerness than they had done. If you were yourself
dying, and a dear friend or child stood near you, and
this book and the preceding chapter should chance
to come into your thoughts, would you caution that
friend or child against conducting himself by such
rules as I have advanced ? The question may per-
haps seem unnecessary, where the answer is so plain
and certain. Well, then, let me beseech you to learn
how you should live, by reflecting how you would
die, and what course you would wish to look back
upon, when you are just quitting this world and en-
tering upon another. Think seriously : what if death
should surprise you on a sudden, and you should be
called into eternity at an hour's or a minute's warn-
ing, would you not wish that your last day should
have been thus begun ; and the course of it, if it were
a day of health and activity, should have been thus
managed? Would you not wish that your Lord
should find you engaged in such thoughts and such
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED. 297
pursuits? Would not the passage, the flight from
earth to heaven, he most easy, most pleasant, in this
view and connection? And, on the other hand, if
death should make more gradual approaches, would
not the remembrance of such a pious, holy, humble,
diligent, and useful life, make a dying bed much
softer and easier than it would otherwise be? You
would not die, depending upon these things. God
forbid that you should. Sensible of your many im-
perfections, you would, no doubt, desire to throw
yourself at the feet of Christ, that you might appear
before God " adorned with his righteousness, and
washed from your sins in his blood." You would
also, with your dying breath, ascribe to the riches of
his grace every good disposition you had found in
your heart, and every worthy action you had been
enabled to perform. But would it not give you a de-
light worthy of being purchased with ten thousand
worlds, to reflect that his "grace, bestowed on you,
had not been in vain," 1 Cor. 15:10; but that you
had, from a humble principle of grateful love, glori-
fied your heavenly Father on earth, and, in some
degree, though not with the perfection you could de-
sire, " finished the work which he had given you to
do," John 17:4; that you had been living for many
past years as on the borders of heaven, and* endeav-
oring to form your heart and life to the temper and
manners of its inhabitants?
298 RISE AND PROGRESS.
8. And once more, let me entreat you to reflect on
the view you will have of this matter when you
come into a world of glory, if (which I hope will be
the happy case) divine mercy conduct you thither.
Will not your reception there be affected by your
care, or negligence, in this holy course ? "Will it ap-
pear an indifferent thing in the eye of the blessed
Jesus, who distributes the crowns, and allots the
thrones there, whether you have been among the
most zealous, or the most indolent of his servants ?
Surely you must wish to have "an entrance admin-
istered unto you abundantly into the kingdom of your
Lord and Saviour," 2 Pet. 1:11; and what can more
certainly conduce to it, than to be " always abound-
ing in this work?" 1 Cor. 15 : 58. You cannot
think so meanly of that glorious state, as to imagine
that you shall there look round about with a secret
disappointment, and say in your heart that you over-
valued the inheritance you have received, and pursued
it with too much earnestness. You will not surely
complain that it had too many of your thoughts and
cares; but, on the contrary, you have the highest
reason to believe, that, if any thing were capable
of exciting your indignation and your grief there, it
would be, that amidst so many motives and so many
advantages, you exerted yourself no more in the
prosecution of such a prize.
9, But I will not enlarge on so clear a case, and
DEVOTION TO GOD uGED. 299
therefore conclude the chapter with reminding you,
that to allow yourself deliberately to sit down satis-
fied with any imperfect attainments in religion, and
to look upon a more confirmed and improved state of
it as what you do not desire, nay, as what you sin-
cerely resolve that you will not pursue, is one of the
most fatal signs we can well imagine, that you are
an entire stranger to the first principles of it.
A PRAYER SUITED TO THE STATE OF A SOUL WHO DE-
SIRES TO ATTAIN THE LIFE ABOVE RECOMMENDED.
"Blessed God, I cannot contradict the force of
these reasonings : 0 that I may feel more than ever
the lasting effects of them. Thou art the great foun-
tain of being and of happiness ; and as from thee
my being was derived, so from thee my happiness
directly flows ; and the nearer I am to thee, the purer
and more delicious is the stream. 'With thee is the
fountain of life; in thy light may I see light.' Psa.
36:9. The great object of my final hope is to dwell
for ever with thee. Give me now some foretaste of
that delight. Give me, I beseech thee, to experience
'the blessedness of that man who feareth the Lord,
and who delighteth greatly in his commandments,'
Psa. 112:1, and so form my heart by thy grace, that
I may 'be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.'
Prov. 23 : 17.
" To thee may my awakening thoughts be di-
300 RISE AND PROGRESS
reeled ; and with the first ray of light that visits my
opening eyes, ' lift up, 0 Lord, the light of thy coun-
tenance upon me.' Psa. 4 : 6. When my faculties
are roused from that broken state in which they lay
while buried, and, as it were, annihilated in sleep,
may my first actions be consecrated to thee, 0 God,
who givest me light; who givest me, as it were,
every morning a new life and a new reason. Enable
my heart to pour out itself before thee with a filial
reverence, freedom, and endearment. And may I
hearken to God, as I desire that he should hearken
unto me. May thy word be read with attention and
pleasure. May my soul be delivered into the mould
of it, and may I * hide it in my heart, that I may not
sin against thee.' Psa. 119:11. Animated by the
great motives there suggested, may I every morning
be renewing the dedication of myself to thee, through
Jesus Christ thy beloved Son ; and be deriving from
him new supplies of that blessed Spirit of thine,
whose influences are the life of my soul.
" And being thus prepared, do thou, Lord, lead me
forth by the hand to all the duties and events of the
day. In that calling wherein thou hast been pleased
to call me, may I abide with thee, 1 Cor. 7 : 20, not
1 being slothful in business,' but ' fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord.' Rom. 12 : 11. May I know the
value of time, and always improve it to the best ad-
vantage, in such duties as thou hast assigned me,
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED. 301
how low soever they may seem, or how painful so-
ever they may be. To thy glory, 0 Lord, may the
lahors of life be pursued ; and to thy glory may the
refreshments of it be sought. * "Whether I eat, or
drink, or whatever I do,' 1 Cor. 10 : 31, may that
end still be kept in view, and may it be attained.
And may every refreshment, and release from busi-
ness, prepare me to serve thee with greater vigor
and resolution.
" May my eye be watchful to observe the descent
of mercies from thee ; and may a grateful sense of
thy hand in them add a savor and relish to all.
And when afflictions come, which in a world like
this I would accustom myself to expect, may I re-
member that they come from thee ; and may that
fully reconcile me to them, while I firmly believe
that the same love which gives us our daily bread,
appoints us our daily crosses, which I would learn
to take up, that I may follow my dear Lord, Mark
8 : 34, with a temper like that which he manifested
when ascending Calvary for my sake ; saying, like
him, ' The cup which my Father hath given me,
shall I not drink it?' John 18 : 11. And when I
* enter into temptation,' do thou, Lord, 'deliver me
from evil.' Matt. 6 : 13. Make me sensible, I en-
treat thee, of my own weakness, that my heart may
be raised to thee for present communications of pro-
portionable strength. When I am engaged in the
302 RISE AND PROGRESS.
society of others, may it be my desire and my care
that I may do and receive as much good as possible ;
and may I continually answer the great purposes of
life, by honoring thee, and diffusing useful know-
ledge and happiness in the world. And when I arn
alone, may I remember my ' heavenly Father is with
me ;' and may I enjoy the pleasure of thy presence,
and feel the animating power of it awakening my
soul to an earnest desire to think and act as in thy
sight.
" Thus let my days be spent ; and let them always
be closed in thy fear, and under a sense of thy gra-
cious presence. Meet me, 0 Lord, in my evening
retirements. May I choose the most proper time for
them ; may I diligently attend to reading and prayer ;
and when I review my conduct, may I do it with an
impartial eye. Let not self-love spread a false color-
ing over it ; but may I judge myself as one that ex-
pects to be judged of the Lord, and is very solicitous
he may be approved by thee, who ' searchest all
hearts,' and ' canst not forget any of my works.'
Amos 8:7. ' Let my prayer come before thee as
incense,' and ' let the lifting up of my hands be as
the morning and the evening sacrifice.' Psa. 141 : 2.
May I resign my powers to sleep in sweet calmness
and serenity ; conscious that I have lived to God in
the day, and cheerfully persuaded that I am 'ac-
cepted of thee in Christ Jesus my Lord,' and humbly
DEVOTION TO GOD URGED 303
t hoping in thy mercy through him,' whether my
days on earth be prolonged, or ' the residue of them
be cut off in the midst.' Isaiah 38 : 10. If death
comes by a leisurely advance, may it find me thus
employed ; and if I am called on a sudden to ex-
change worlds, may my last days and hours be found
to have been conducted by such maxims as these ;
that I may have a sweet and 'easy passage from the
services of time to the infinitely nobler services of an
immortal state. I ask it through Him who, while
on earth, was the fairest pattern and example of
every virtue and grace, and who now lives and
reigns with thee, ' able to save unto the uttermost.'.
Heb. 7 : 25. To him, having done all, I would fly,
with humble acknowledgment that I am an 'un-
profitable servant,' Luke 17 : 10 : 'to him be glory
for ever arid ever.' Amen."
304 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XXI.
A CAUTION AGAINST VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS, BY WHICH
THE YOUNG CONVERT MAY BE DRAWN ASIDE FROM
THE COURSE RECOMMENDED ABOVE.
1. Dangers continue after the first difficulties (considered
chap, xvi.) are broken through. — 2. Particular cautions —
Against a sluggish and indolent temper. — 3. Against the exces-
sive love of sensitive pleasure. — 4. Leading to a neglect of
business and needless expense. — 5. Against the snares of evil
company. — 6. Against excessive hurry of worldly business. —
7. Which is enforced by the fatal consequences these have had
in many cases. — 8. The chapter concludes with an exhortation
to die to this world, and to live to another. And the young
convert's prayer for divine protection against the dangers aris-
ing from these snares.
1 . THE representation I have been making of the
pleasure and advantage of a life spent in devotedness
to God and communion with him, as I have de-
scribed it above, will, I hope, engage you, my dear
reader, to form some purposes, and make some at-
tempt to obtain it. But from considering the nature,
and observing the course of things, it appears exceed-
ingly evident, that besides the general opposition
which I formerly mentioned as like to attend you in
your first entrance on a religious life, you will find,
even after you have resolutely broke through this,
that a variety of hinderances in any attempts of ex-
TEMPTATIONS TO BE RESISTED. 305
emplaiy piety, and in the prosecution of a remark-
ably strict and edifying course, will present them-
selves daily in your path ; and whereas you may, by
a few resolute efforts, baffle some of the former sort
of enemies, these will be perpetually renewing their
onsets, and a vigorous struggle must be continually
maintained with them. Give me leave now, there-
fore, to be particular in my cautions against some of
the chief of them. And here I would insist upon
the difficulties which will arise from indolence and
the love of pleasure, from vain company and worldly
cares. Each of these may prove ensnaring to any,
and especially to young persons, to whom I would
now have some particular regard.
2. I entreat you, therefore, in the first place, that
you will guard against a sluggish and indolent tem-
per. The love of ease insinuates itself into the heart
under a variety of plausible pretences, which are
often allowed to pass, when temptations of a grosser
nature would not be admitted. The misspending a
little time seems to wise and good men but a small
matter ; yet this sometimes runs them into great in-
conveniences. It often leads them to break in upon
the seasons regularly allotted to devotion, and to de-
fer business which might immediately be done, but
being put off from day to day, is not done at all, and
thereby the services of life are at least diminished,
and the rewards of eternity diminished proportiona-
te and Prog. 20
306 RISE AND PROGRESS.
bly — not to insist upon it, that very frequently this
lays the soul open to farther temptations, by which
it falls, in consequence of being found unemployed.
Be therefore suspicious of the first approaches of this
kind. Remember, that the soul of man is an active
being, and that it must find its pleasure in activity.
" Gird up," therefore, " the loins of your mind." 1
Pet. 1 : 13. Endeavor to keep yourself always wel]
employed. Be exact, if I may with humble rever-
ence use the expression, in your appointments with
God. Meet him early in the morning ; and say not
with the sluggard, when the proper hour of rising is
come, A little more sleep, a little more slumber.
Prov. 6 : 10. That time which prudence shall ad-
vise you, give to conversation and to other recrea-
tions. But when that is elapsed, and no unforeseen
and important engagement prevents, rise and begone.
Gluit the company of your dearest friends, and retire
to your proper business, whether it be in the field,
the shop, or the closet. For by acting contrary to
the secret dictates of your mind as to what it is just
at the present moment best to do, though it be but
in the manner of spending half an hour, some degree
of guilt is contracted, and a habit is cherished, which
may draw after it much worse consequences. Con-
sider, therefore, wrhat duties are to be despatched,
and in what seasons. Form your plan as prudently
as. you can, and pursue it resolutely, unless an unex-
TEMPTATIONS TO BE RESISTED. 307
pec ted incident arises, which, leads you to conclude
that duty calls you another way. Allowances for
such unthought-of interruptions must be made ; but
if, in consequence of this, you are obliged to omit any
thing of importance which you proposed to have
done to-day, do it if possible to-morrow ; and do not
cut yourself out new work till the former plan be
despatched, unless you really judge it not merely
more amusing, but more important. And always
remember, that a servant of Christ should see to it
that he determine on these occasions as in his Mas-
ter's presence.
3. Guard also against an excessive love of sensi-
tive and animal pleasure, as that which will be a
great hinderance to you in that religious course which
I have now been urging. You cannot but know
that Christ has told us, that " a man must deny
himself, and take up his cross daily," Luke 9 : 23,
if he desire to become his disciple. Christ the
Son of God, the maker and the heir of all things,
"pleased not himself," Rom. 15 : 3, but submitted to
want, to difficulties, and hardships, in the way of
duty, and some of them of the extremest kind and
degree, for the glory of God and the salvation of
men. In this way we are to follow him ; and as
we know not how soon we may be called, even to
" resist unto blood, striving against sin," Heb. 12:4,
it is certainly best to accustom ourselves to that dis-
308 RISE AND PROGRESS.
oipline which we may possibly be called out to exer-
cise, even in such rigorous heights. A soft arid deli-
cate life will give force to temptations, which might
easily be subdued by one who has habituated him-
self to " endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ." 2 Tim. 2:3. It also produces an attach-
ment to this world, and an unwillingness to leave it,
which ill becomes those who are strangers and pil-
grims on earth, and who expect so soon to be called
away to that better country which they " profess to
seek." Heb. 11 : 13, 16. Add to this, that what
the world calls a life of pleasure, is necessarily a life
of expense too, and may perhaps lead you, as it has
many others, and especially many who have been
setting out in the world, beyond the limits which
Providence has assigned ; and so, after a course of
indulgence, may produce a proportionable want.
And while in other cases it is true that pity should
be shown to the poor, this is a poverty that is justly
contemptible, because it is the effect of a man's own
folly; and when your "want thus comes upon you
as an armed man," Prov. 6:11, you will not only
find yourself stripped of the capacity you might
otherwise have secured for performing those works
of charity which are so ornamental to a Christian
profession, but probably will be under strong tempta-
tions to some low artifice or mean compliance, quite
beneath the Christian character and that of an up-
TEMPTATIONS TO BE RESISTED. 309
right man. Many, who once made a high profession,
after a series of such sorry and scandalous shifts,
have fallen into the infamy of the worst kind of
bankrupts; I mean such as have lavished away on
themselves what was indeed the property of others,
and so have injured, and perhaps ruined the indus-
trious, to feed a foolish, luxurious, or ostentatious
humor, which, while indulged, was the shame of
their own families, and when it can be indulged no
longer, is their torment. This will be a terrible
reproach to religion ; such a reproach to it, that a
good man would rather choose to live on bread and
water, or indeed to die for want of them, than to
occasion it.
4. Guard, therefore, I beseech you, against any
thing which might tend that way, especially by dili-
gence in business, and by prudence and frugality in
expense, which, by the divine blessing, may have a
very happy influence to make your affairs prosperous,
your health vigorous, and your mind easy. But this
cannot be attained without keeping a resolute watch
over yourself, and strenuously refusing to comply
with many proposals which indolence or sensuality
will offer in very plausible forms, and for which it
will plead, " that it asks but very little." Take heed,
lest in this respect you imitate those fond parents,
who, by indulging their children in every little thing
they have a mind to, encourage them, by insensible
310 RISE AND PROGRESS.
degrees, to grow still more encroaching and imperi-
ous in their demands — as if they chose to be ruined
with them, rather than to check them in what seems
a trifle. Remember and consider that excellent re-
mark, sealed by the ruin of so many thousands : "He
that despiseth small things, shall fall by little and
little."
5. In this view, give me leave also seriously and
tenderly to caution you, my dear reader, against the
snares of vain company. I speak not, as before, of
that company which is openly licentious and profane
I hope there is something now in your temper and
views, which would engage you to turn away from
such with detestation and horror. But I beseech
you to consider, that those companions may be very
dangerous, who might at first give you but very
little alarm : I mean those who, though not the de-
clared enemies of religion, and professed followers of
vice and disorder, yet nevertheless have no practical
sense of divine things on their hearts, so far as can
be judged by their conversation and behavior. You
must often of necessity be with such persons ; and
1 Christianity not only allows, 'but requires, that you
should, on all expedient occasions of intercourse with
them, treat them with civility and respect ; but
choose not such for your most intimate friends, and
do not contrive to spend most of your leisure mo-
ments among them. For such converse has a sen-
TEMPTATIONS TO BE RESISTED. 3H
sible tendency to alienate the soul from God, and to
render it unfit for all spiritual communion with him.
To convince you of this, do but reflect on your own
experience, when you have been for many hours
together among persons of such a character. Do
you not find yourself more indisposed for devotional
exercises ? Do you not find your heart, by insensible
degrees, more and more inclined to a conformity to
this world, and to look with a secret disrelish on
those objects and employments to which reason di-
rects as the noblest and best ? Observe the first
symptoms, and guard against the snare in time ; and
for this purpose, endeavor to form friendships founded
in piety, and supported by it. " Be a companion of
them that fear God, and of them that keep his pre-
cepts." Psalm 119 : 63. You well know, that in
the sight of God " they are the excellent of the
earth;" let them therefore "be all your delight."
Psalm 16 : 3. And that the peculiar benefit of their
friendship may not be lost, endeavor to make the best
of the hours you spend with them. The wisest of
men has observed, that when "counsel in the heart
of a man is like deep waters," that is, when it lies
low and concealed, " a man of understanding will
draw it out." Prov. 20 : 5. Endeavor, therefore,
on such occasions, so far as you can dp it with de-
cency and convenience, to give the conversation a
religious turn. And when serious and useful sub-
312 RISE AND PROGRESS.
jects are started in your presence, lay hold of them,
and cultivate them ; and for that purpose " let the
word of Christ dwell richly in you," Col. 3 : 16, and
be continually made " the man of your counsel."
Psalm 119 :24,
6. If it be so, it will secure you not only from the
snares of idleness and luxury, but from the contagion
of every bad example. And it will also engage you
to guard against those excessive hurries of worldly
business, which would fill up all your time and
thoughts, and thereby " choke the good word " of
God, and render it in a great measure, if not quite,
unfruitful. Matt. 13 : 22. Young people are gen-
erally of an enterprising disposition : having experi-
enced comparatively little of the fatigue of business,
arid of the disappointments and incumbrances of life,
they easily swallow them up and annihilate them in
their imagination, and fancy that their spirit, their
application, and address, will be able to encounter
and surmount every obstacle or hinderance. But
the event proves it otherwise. Let rne entreat you,
therefore, to be cautious how you plunge yourself into
a greater variety of business than you are capable of
managing as you, ought, that is, in consistency with
the care of your soul and the service of God, which
certainly ought not on any pretence to be neglected.
It is true, indeed, that a prudent regard to your
worldly interest would require such a caution : as it
TEMPTATIONS TO BE RESISTED. 313
is obvious to every careful observer, that multitudes
are undone by grasping at more than they can con-
veniently manage. Hence it has frequently been
seen, that while they have seemed resolved to be
rich, they have " pierced themselves through with
many sorrows," I'Tim. 6 : 10, have ruined their own
families, and drawn down many others into desola-
tion with them. Whereas, could they have been
contented with moderate employments and moderate
gains, they might have prospered in their business,
and might, by sure degrees, under a divine blessing,
have advanced to great and honorable increase. But
if there were no danger at all to be apprehended on
this head, if you were as certain of becoming rich
and great as you are of perplexing and fatiguing
yourself in the attempt, consider, I beseech you,
how precarious these enjoyments are. Consider how
often " a plentiful table becomes a snare, and that
which should have been for a man's welfare, be-
comes a trap." Psalm 69 : 22. Forget not that
short lesson, which is so comprehensive of the high-
est wisdom : " One thing is needful." Luke 10 : 42.
Be daily thinking, while the gay and the great things
of life are glittering before your eyes, how soon death
will come, and impoverish you at once — how soon
it will strip you of all possessions but those which a
naked soul can carry along with it into eternity,
when it drops the body into the grave. ETERNITY,
'314 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ETERNITY, ETERNITY ! Carry the view of it about
with you, if it be possible, through every hour of
waking life ; and be fully persuaded that you have
no business, no interest in life, that is inconsistent
with it; for whatsoever would be injurious in view
of eternity, is not your business, is not your interest.
You see, indeed, that the generality of men act as if
they thought the great thing which God requires of
them, in order to secure his favor, was to get as
much of the world as possible — at least as much as
they can without any gross immorality, and without
risking the loss of all. Such persons may tell others,
and perhaps flatter themselves, that they only seek
opportunities of greater usefulness. But in effect, if
they mean any thing more by this than a capacity
of usefulness, which, when they have it, they will
not exert, they generally deceive themselves ; and,
one way or another, it is a vain pretence. In most
instances men seek the world — either that they may
hoard up riches for the mean and scandalous satis-
faction of looking upon them while they are living,
and of thinking, that when they are dead it will be
said of them, that they have left so many hundreds
or thousands of pounds behind them ; very probably
to ensnare their children, or their heirs— for the van-
ity is not peculiar to those who have children of
their own — or else, that they may lavish away their
riches on their lusts, and drown themselves in a gulf
TEMPTATIONS TO BE RESISTED. 315
of sensuality, in which, if reason be not lost, religion
is soon swallowed up, and with it all the noblest
pleasures which can enter into the heart of man.
In this view, the generality of rich people appear to
me objects of much greater compassion than the
poor ; especially as, when both live — which is fre-
quently the case — without any fear of God before
their eyes, the rich abuse the greater variety and
abundance of their favors, and therefore will proba-
bly feel, in that world of future ruin which awaits
impenitent sinners, a more exquisite sense of their
misery.
7. And let me observe to you, my dear reader,
lest you should think yourself secure from any such
danger, that we have great reason to apprehend
there are many now in a very wretched state, who
once thought seriously of religion, when they were
first setting out, in lower circumstances of life ; but
they have since forsaken God for mammon, and are
now priding themselves in those golden chains, which,
in all probability, before it be long, will leave them
to remain in those of darkness. When, therefore,
an attachment to the world may be followed with
such fatal consequences, " let not thine heart envy
sinners," Prov. 23 : 17 ; and do not, out of a desire
of gaining what they have, be guilty of such folly
as to expose yourself to this double danger of failing
in the attempt, or of being undone by the success of
316 RISE AND PROGRESS.
it. Contract your desires ; endeavor" to be easy and
content with a little ; and if Providence call you out
to act in a larger sphere, submit to it in obedience
to Providence, but number it among the trials of life,
which it will require a larger proportion of grace
to bear well. For be assured, that as affairs and
interests multiply, cares and duties will certainly
increase, and probably disappointments and sorrows
will increase in an equal proportion.
8. On the whole, learn, by divine grace, to die to
the present world ; to look upon it as a low state of
being, which God never intended for the final and
complete happiness, or the supreme care of any one
of his children : a world, where something is indeed
to be enjoyed, but chiefly from himself; where a
great deal is to be borne with patience and resigna-
tion ; and where some important duties are to be
performed, and a course of discipline to be passed
through, by which you are to be formed for a better
state, to which, as a Christian, you are near, and to
which God will call you, perhaps on a sudden, but
undoubtedly, if you hold on your way, in the fittest
time and the most convenient manner. Refer, there-
fore, all this to him. Let your .hopes and fears, your
expectations and desires, with regard to this world,
be kept as low as possible ; and all your thoughts
be united, as much as may be, in this one centre :
What is it that God would, in present circumstances,
PRAYER AGAINST TEMPTATION. 317
have you to be ; and what is that method of conduct
by which you may most effectually please and glorify
him.
THE YOUNG CONVERT'S PRAYER FOR DIVINE PROTECTION
AGAINST THE DANGER OF THESE SNARES.
l< Blessed God, in the midst of ten thousand snares
and dangers, which surround me from without and
from within, permit me to look up unto thee with
my humble entreaty, that thou wouldst ' deliver me
from them that rise up against me,' Psalm 59 : 1,
and that * thine eyes may be upon me for good.' Jer.
24 : 6. When sloth and indolence are ready to seize
me, awaken me from that idle dream, with lively
and affectionate views of that invisible and eternal
world to which I am tending. Remind me of what
infinite importance it is, that I diligently improve
those transient moments which thou hast allotted me
as the time of my preparation for it.
" When sinners entice me, may I not consent. Prov.
1:10. May holy converse with God give me a dis-
relish for the converse of those who are strangers to
thee, and who would separate my soul from thee.
May I ' honor them that fear the Lord,' Psalm 15:4;
and walking with such wise and holy men, may I
find I am daily advancing in wisdom and holiness.
Prov. 13 : 20. Gluicken me, 0 Lord, by their means,
that by me thou mayest also quicken others. Make
318 RISE AND PROGRESS.
me the happy instrument of enkindling and animat-
ing the flame of divine love in their breasts ; and
may it catch from heart to heart, and grow every
moment in its progress.
" Guard me, 0 Lord, from the love of sensual
pleasure. May I seriously remember, that ' to be
carnally minded is death.' Rom. 8:6. May it please
thee, therefore, to purify and refine my soul by the
influence of thine Holy Spirit, that I may always shun
unlawful gratifications more solicitously than others
pursue them ; and that those indulgences of animal
nature which thou hast allowed, and which the consti-
tution of things renders necessary, may be soberly and
moderately used. May I still remember the superior
dignity of my spiritual and intelligent nature, and
may the pleasures of the man and the Christian be
sought as my noblest happiness. May my soul rise
on the wings of holy contemplation to the regions of
invisible glory ; and may I be endeavoring to form
myself, under the influences of divine grace, for the
entertainments of those angelic spirits that live in
thy presence in a happy incapacity of those gross
delights by which spirits dwelling in flesh are so
often ensnared, and in which they so often lose the
memory of their high original, and of those noble
hopes which alone are proportionable to it.
" Give me, 0 Lord, to know the station ia which
thou hast fixed me, and steadily to pursue the duties
PRAYER AGAINST TEMPTATION. 3J.9
of it. But deliver me from those excessive cares of
this world, which would so engross my time and my
thoughts, that 'the one thing needful' should be for-
gotten. May my desires after worldly possessions be
moderated, by considering their uncertain and unsat-
isfying nature ; and while others are laying up treas-
ures on earth, may I be 'rich towards God.' Luke
12 : 21. May I never be too busy to attend to those
great affairs which lie between thee and my soul ;
never be so engrossed with the concerns of time, as
to neglect the interests of eternity. May I pass
through earth with my heart and hopes set upon
heaven, and feel the attractive influence stronger and
stronger as I approach still nearer and nearer to that
desirable centre ; till the happy moment come, when
every earthly object shall disappear from my view,
and the shining glories of the heavenly world shall
fill rny improved and strengthened sight, which shall
then be cheered with that which would now over-
whelm me. Amen."
3-0 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE CASE OF SPIRITUAL DECAY AND LANGUOR IN
RELIGION.
1. Declensions in religion, and relapses into sin, with their
sorrowful consequences, are in the general too probable. — 2.
The case of declension and languor in religion described nega-
tively.— 3. And positively. — 4. As discovering itself — by a
failure in the duties of the closet. — 5. By a neglect of social
worship. — 6. By want of love to our fellow-Christians. — 7. By
an undue attachment to sensual pleasures, or secular cares. — 8.
By prejudices against some important principles in religion. —
9, 10. A symptom peculiarly sad and dangerous. — 11. Direc-
tions for recovery. — 12. Immediately to be pursued. A prayer
for one under spiritual decays.
1 . IF I am so happy as to prevail upon you in the
exhortations and cautions I have given, you will
probably go on with pleasure and comfort in religion,
and your path will generally be " like the morning
light, which shineth more and more until the perfect
day." Prov. 4:18. Yet I dare not flatter myself
with an expectation of such success as shall carry
you above those varieties of temper, conduct, and
state, which have been more or less the complaint
of the best of men. Much do I fear, that how warmly
soever your heart may now be impressed with the
representation I have been making, though the great
DECLENSION IN RELIGION. 321
objects of your faith and hope continue unchange-
able, your temper towards them will be changed.
Much do I fear that you will feel your mind languish
and tire in the good ways of God ; nay, that you may
be prevailed upon to take some step out of them, and
may thus fall a prey to some of those temptations
which you now look upon with a holy scorn. The
probable consequence of this will be, that God will
hide his face from you ; that he will stretch forth his
afflicting hand against you, and that you still will
see your sorrowful moments, how cheerfully soever
you now " be rejoicing in the Lord, and joying in the
God of your salvation." Hab. 3 : 18. I hope, there-
fore, it may be of some service, if this too probable
event should happen, to consider these cases a little
more particularly ; and I heartily pray, that God
would make what I shall say concerning them, the
means of restoring, comforting, and strengthening
your soul, if he ever suffers you in any degree to de-
viate from him.
2. We will first consider the case of spiritual de-
clensions and languor in religion. And here I desire,
that before I proceed any farther, you would observe
that I do not comprehend under this head every
abatement of that fervor which a young convert may
find, when he first becomes experimentally acquainted'
with divine things. Our natures are so framed, that
the novelty of objects strikes them in something of a
ftitt *nd Fro*. 21
822 RISE AND PROGRESS.
peculiar manner : not to urge how much more easily
our passions are impressed in the earlier years of life,
than when we are more advanced in the journey of
it. This, perhaps, is not sufficiently considered. Too
great a stress is commonly laid on the flow of affec-
tions ; and for want of this, a Christian, who is ri-
pened in grace, and greatly advanced in his prepara-
tion for glory, may sometimes be led to lament imag-
inary rather than real decays, and to say, without
any just -foundation, " 0 that it were with me as in
months past." Job 29 : 2. Therefore, you can hardly
be too frequently told, that religion consists chiefly,
" in the ' resolution of the will for God,' and in a
constant care to avoid, whatever we are persuaded
he would disapprove, to despatch the work he has
assigned us in life, and to promote his glory in the
happiness of mankind." To this we are chiefly to
attend, looking in all to the simplicity and purity of
those motives from which we act, which we know
are chiefly regarded by that God who searches the
heart ; humbling ourselves before him at the same
time under a sense of our many imperfections, and
flying to the blood of Christ and the grace of the
Gospel.
3. Having given this precaution, I will now a lit-
tle more particularly describe the case, which I call
the state of a Christian who is declining in religion ;
so far as it does not fall in with those which I shall
DECLENSION IN RELIGION, 3^3
consider in the following chapters. And I must ob-
serve, that it chiefly consists " in a forgetfulness of
divine objects, and a remissness in those various du-
ties to which we stand engaged by that solemn sur-
render which we have made of ourselves to the
service of God." There will be a variety of symp-
toms, according to the different circumstances and
relations in which the Christian is placed ; but some
will be of a more universal kind. It will be pecu-
liarly proper to touch on these ; and so much the
rather, as these declensions are often unobserved, like
the gray hairs which were upon Ephraim, when he
knew it not. Hosea 7:9.
4. Should you, my reader, fall into this state, it
will probably first discover itself by a failure in the
duties of the closet. Not that I suppose they will at
first, or certainly conclude that they will at all, be
wholly omitted ; but they will be run over in a cold
and formal manner. Sloth, or some of those other
snares which I cautioned you against in the former
chapter, will so far prevail upon you, that though
perhaps you know and recollect that the proper sea-
son of retirement is come, you will sometimes indulge
yourself upon your bed in the morning, sometimes in
conversation or business in the evening, so as not to
have convenient time for it. Or perhaps, when you
eome into your closet at that season, some favorite
book you are desirous to read, some correspondence
324 RISE AND PROGRESS.
that you choose to carry on, or some other amuse-
ment, will present itself, and plead to be despatched
first. This will probably take up n^re time than
you imagined ; and then secret prayer will be hur-
ried over, and perhaps reading the Scriptures quite
neglected. You will plead, perhaps, that it is but
for once ; but the same allowance will be made a
second and a third time ; and it will grow more easy
and familiar to you each time than it was the last.
And thus God will be mocked, and your own soul
will be defrauded of its spiritual meals, if I may be
allowed the expression ; the word of God will be
slighted, and self-examination quite disused ; and
secret prayer itself will grow a burden rather than a
delight — a trifling ceremony, rather than a devout
. homage fit for the acceptance of " our Father who is
in heaven."
5. If immediate and resolute measures be not taken
for your recovery from these declensions, they will
spread farther, and reach the acts of social worship.
You will feel the effects in your family and in public
ordinances. And if you do not feel them, the symp-
toms will be so much the worse. Wandering thoughts
will, as it were, eat out the very heart of these duties.
It is not, I believe, the privilege of the most eminent
Christians to be entirely free from them ; but prob-
ably in these circumstances you will find but few
intervals of strict attention, or of any thing which
DECLENSION IN RELIGION. 325
Wears the appearance of inward devotion. And when
these heartless duties are concluded, there will scarce
be a reflection made, how little God hath been en-
joyed in them, how little he hath been honored by
them. Perhaps the sacrament of the Lord's supper,
being so admirably adapted to fix the attention of the
soul, and to excite its warmest exercise of holy affec-
tions, may be the last ordinance in which these de-
clensions will be felt. And yet, who can say that
the sacred table is a privileged place ? Having been
unnecessarily straitened in your preparations, you will
attend with less fixedness and enlargement of heart
than usual. And perhaps a dissatisfaction in the
review, when there has been a remarkable alienation
or insensibility of mind, may occasion a disposition to
forsake your place and your duty there. And when
your spiritual enemies have once gained this point
upon you, it is probable you will fall by swifter de-
grees than ever, and your resistance to their attempts
will grow weaker and weaker.
6. When your love to God our Father and to the
Lord Jesus Christ fails, your fervor of Christian af-
fection to your brethren in Christ will proportionably
decline, and your concern for usefulness in life abate,
especially where any thing is to be done for spiritual
edification. You will find some one excuse or another
for the neglect of religious discourse, perhaps not only
among neighbors and Christian friends, when very
£26 RISE AND PROGRESS.
convenient opportunities offer, but even with regard
to those who are members of your own families, and
to those who, if you are fixed in the superior relations
of life, are committed to your care.
7. With this remissness, an attachment either to
Bensual pleasures or to worldly business will increase.
For the soul must have something to employ it, and
something to delight itself in ; and as it turns to the
one or the other of these, temptations of one sort or
another will present themselves. In some instances,
perhaps the strictest bonds of temperance, and the
regular appointments of life, may be broken in upon,
through a fondness for company, and the entertain-
ments which often attend it. In other instances, the
interests of life appearing greater than they did be-
fore, and taking up more of the mmd, contrary inter-
ests of other persons may throw you into disquietude,
or plunge you into debate and contention, in which
it is extremely difficult to preserve either the serenity
or the innocence of the soul. And perhaps, if min-
isters and other Christian friends observe this, and
endeavor in a plain and faithful way to reduce you
from your wandering, a false delicacy of mind, often
contracted in such a state as this, will render these
attempts extremely disagreeable. The ulcer of the
soul, if I may be allowed the expression, will not
bear being touched when it most needs it ; and one
of the most generous and self-denying instances of
DECLENSION IN RELIGION. 327
Christian friendship shall be turned into an occasion
of coldness and distaste, yea, perhaps of enmity.
8. And possibly, to sum up all, this disordered
state of mind may lead you into some prejudices
against those very principles which might be most
effectual for your recovery; and your great enemy
may succeed so far in his attempts against you, as
to persuade you that you have lost nothing in relig-
ion, when you have almost lost all. He may very
probably lead you to conclude, that your former de-
votional frames were mere fits of enthusiasm, and
that the holy regularity of your walk before God was
an unnecessary strictness and scrupulosity. Nay, you
may think it a great improvement in understanding,
that you have learnt from some new masters, that if
a man treat his fellow-creatures with humanity and
good-nature, judging and reviling only those who
would disturb others by the narrowness of their no-
tions— for these are generally exempted from other
objects of the most universal and disinterested be-
nevolence so often boasted of — he must necessarily
be in a very good state, though he pretend not to
converse much with God, provided that he think
respectfully of him, and do not provoke him by any
gross immoralities.
9. I mention this in the last stage of religious de-
clension, because I apprehend that to be its proper
place ; and I fear it will be found, by experience, to
£28 RISE AND PROGRESS.
stand upon the very confines of that gross apostasy
into deliberate and presumptuous sin, which will
claim our consideration under the next head. And
because, too, it is that symptom which most effect-
ually tends to prevent the success, and even the use
of any proper remedies, in consequence of a fond
and fatal apprehension that they are needless. It
is, if I may borrow the simile, like those fits of
lethargic drowsiness which often precede apoplexies
and death.
10. It is by no means my design at this time to
reckon up, much less to consider at large, those dan-
gerous principles which are now ready to possess the
mind, and to lay the foundation of a false and treach-
erous peace. Indeed they are in different instances
various, and sometimes run into opposite extremes.
But if God awaken you to read your Bible with at-
tention, and give you to feel the spirit with which it
is written, almost every page will flash conviction
upon the mind, and spread a light to scatter and
disperse these shades of darkness.
11. "What I chiefly intend in this address, is to
engage you, if possible, as soon as you perceive the
first symptoms of these declensions, to be upon your
guard, and to endeavor, as speedily as possible, to
recover yourself from them. And I would remind
' you, that the remedy must begin where the first cause
or complaint prevailed — I mean, in the closet. Take
DECLENSION IN RELIGION. 329
some time for recollection, and ask your own con-
science seriously, how matters stand between the
blessed God and your soul. Whether they are as
they once were, and as you could wish them to be,
if you saw your life just drawing to a period, and
were to pass immediately into the eternal state. One
serious thought of eternity shames a thousand vain
excuses, with which, in the forgetfulness of it, we are
ready to delude our own souls. And when you feel
that secret misgiving of heart which will naturally
arise on this occasion, do not endeavor to palliate the
matter, and to find out slight and artful coverings
for what you cannot forbear secretly condemning,
but honestly fall under the conviction, and be hum-
bled for it. Pour out your heart before God, and
seek the renewed- influences of his Spirit and grace.
Return with more exactness to secret devotion, and
to self-examination. Read the Scripture with yet
greater diligence, and especially the more devotional
and spiritual parts of it. Labor to ground it in your
heart, and to feel what you have reason to believe
the sacred penmen felt when they wrote, so far as
circumstances may agree. Open your soul, with all
simplicity, to every lesson which the word of God
would teach you; and guard against those things
which you perceive to alienate your mind from in-
ward religion, though there be nothing criminal in
the things themselves. They may perhaps in the
330 RISE AND PROGRESS.
general be lawful ; to some possibly they may be ex-
pedient ; but if they produce such an effect as was
mentioned above, it is certain they are not conven-
ient for you. In these circumstances, above all, seek
the converse of those Christians whose progress in
religion seems most remarkable, and who adorn their
profession in the most amiable manner. Labor to
obtain their temper and sentiments, and lay open
your case and your heart to them, with all the free-
dom which prudence will permit. Employ yourself,
at seasons of leisure, in reading practical and devo-
tional books, in which the mind and heart of the
pious author is transfused into the work, and in
which you can, as it were, taste the genuine spirit
of Christianity. And to conclude, take the first op-
portunity that presents, of making an approach to
the table of the Lord, and spare neither time nor
pains in the most serious preparation for it. There
renew your covenant with God ; put your soul anew
into the hands of Christ, and endeavor to view the
wonders of his dying love, in such a manner as may
rekindle the languishing flame, and quicken you to
more vigorous resolution than ever, " to live unto
him who died for you." 2 Cor. 5 : 15. And watch
over your own heart, that the good impressions you
then felt may continue. Rest not, till you have
obtained as confirmed a state of religion as you
ever knew. Rest not, till you have made a greater
PRAYER UNDER DECLENSION. 331
progress than before ; for it is only by a zeal to go
forward, that you can be secure from the danger of
going backward, and revolting more and more.
12. I only add, that it is necessary to take these
precautions as soon as possible, or you will probably
find a much swifter progress than you are aware in
the downhill road ; and you may possibly be left of
God to fall into some gross and aggravated sin, so
as to fill your conscience with an agony and horror
which the pain of "broken bones," Psa. 51 : 8, can
but imperfectly express.
A PRAYER FOR ONE UNDER SPIRITUAL DECAYS.
" Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah, thy perfec-
tions and glories are, like thy being, immutable.
Jesus thy Son is 'the same yesterday, to-day, and
for ever.' Heb. 13 : 8. The eternal world, to which
I am hastening, is always equally important, and
presses upon the attentive mind for a more fixed and
solemn regard, in proportion to the degree in which
it comes nearer and nearer. But, alas, my views,
and my affections, and my best resolutions, are con-
tinually varying, like this poor body, which goes
through daily and hourly alterations in its state and
circumstances. Whence, 0 Lord, whence this sad
change which I now experience in the frame and
temper of my mind towards thee? Whence this
alienation of my soul from thee? Why can I not
832 RISE AND PROGRESS.
come to thee with all the endearments of filial love,
as I once could ? Why is thy service so remissly at-
tended, if attended at all ? And why are the exercises
of it, which were once my greatest pleasure, become
a burden to me ? Where, 0 God, is the blessedness
I once spoke of, Gal. 4:15, when my joy in thee as
my heavenly Father was so conspicuous that stran-
gers might have observed it, and when my heart did
so overflow with love to thee, and with zeal for thy
service, that it was matter of self-denial to me to
limit and restrain the genuine expressions of those
strong emotions of my soul, even where prudence
and duty required it ?
"Alas, Lord, whither am I fallen? Thine eye sees
me still ; but 0, how unlike what it once saw me.
Cold and insensible as I am, I must blush on the
reflection. Thou ' seest me in secret,' Matt. 6 : 6, and
seest rne, perhaps, often amusing myself with trifles,
in those seasons which I used solemnly to devote to
thine immediate service. Thou seest me coming
into thy presence as by constraint ; and when I am
before thee, so straitened in my spirit that I hardly
know what to say to thee, though thou art the God
with whom I have to do, and though the keeping
up a humble and dutiful correspondence with thee is,
beyond all comparison, the most important business
of my life. And even when I am speaking to thee,
with how much coldness and formality, is it. It is
PRAYER UNDER DECLENSION. 333
perhaps the work of imagination, the labor of the
lips ; but where are those ardent desires, those intense
breathings after God, which I once felt? "Where is
that pleasing repose in thee which I was once con-
scious of, as being near my divine rest, as being happy
in that nearness, and resolving that, if possible, I
would no more be removed from it? But 0, how
far am 1 now removed. When these short devotions,
if they may be called devotions, are over, in what
long intervals do I forget thee, and appear so little
animated with thy love, so little devoted to thy ser-
vice, that a stranger might converse with me a con-
siderable time, without knowing that I had ever
formed any acquaintance with thee, without discover-
ing that I had so much as known or heard any thing
of God. Thou callest me to thine house, 0 Lord
on thine own day ; but how heartless are my services
there. I present thee no more than my body; my
thoughts and affections are engrossed with other ob-
jects, while I ' draw near thee with my mouth, and
honor thee with my lips.' Isa. 29 : 13. Thou call-
est me to thy table ; but my heart is so frozen, that
it hardly melts even at the foot of the cross, hardly
feels any efficacy in the blood of Jesus. 0 wretched
creature that I am : unworthy of being called thine ;
unworthy of a place among thy children, or of the
meanest situation in thy family : rather worthy to be
cast out, to be 'forsaken, yea, to be utterly destroyed.
3&1 RISE AND PROGRESS.
" Is this, Lord, the service which I once promised,
and which thou hast so many thousand reasons to
expect ? Are these the returns I am making for thy
daily providential care, for the sacrifice of thy Son,
for the communications of thy Spirit, for the pardon
of my numberless aggravated sins, for the hopes, the
undeserved and so often forfeited hopes of eternal
glory ? Lord, I am ashamed to stand or to kneel
before thee. But pity me, I beseech thee, and help
me ; for I am a pitiable object indeed : my soul
eleaveth unto the dust, and lays itself as in the dust
before thse ; but 0, quicken me according to thy
word. Psa. 119 : 25. Let me trifle no longer, for I
am upon the brink of a precipice. I am thinking of
my ways. 0 give me grace to turn my feet unto
thy testimonies, to make haste, without any farther
delay, that I may keep thy commandments. Psalm
119 : 59, 60. Search me, 0 Lord, and try me. Psalm
139 : 23. Go to the first root of this distemper, which
spreads itself over my soul, and recover me from it.
Represent sin unto me, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, that
I may see it with abhorrence ; and represent the
Lord Jesus Christ to me in such a light, that I may
look upon him and mourn, Zee. 12 : 10 — that I may
look upon him and love. May I awaken from this
stupid lethargy into which I am sinking, and may
Christ give me more abundant degrees of spiritual
life and activity than I have ever yet received ; and
PRAYER UNDER DECLENSION. 335
may I be so quickened and animated by him, that I
may more than recover the ground I have lost, and
may make a more speedy and exemplary progress
than in my best days I have ever yet done. Send
down upon me, 0 Lord, in a more rich and abundant
effusion, thy good Spirit. May he dwell in me as a
temple which he has consecrated to himself, 1 Cor.
3 : 16, and while all the service is directed and gov-
erned by him, may holy and acceptable sacrifices be
continually offered. Rom. 12 : 1. May the incense
be constant, and may it be fragrant. May the
sacred fire burn and blaze perpetually. Lev. 6 : 13.
And may none of its vessels ever be profaned, by
being employed to an unholy or forbidden use.
Amen."
336 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE SAD CASE OF A RELAPSE INTO KNOWN AND DELIB-
ERATE SIN, AFTER SOLEMN ACTS OF DEDICATION TO
GOD, AND SOME PROGRESS MADE IN RELIGION.
1. Unthought-of relapses may happen. — 2. And bring the
eoul into a miserable case. — 3. Yet the case is not desperate.—
4. The backslider urged immediately to return, by deep humil-
iation before God for so aggravated an offence. — 5. By re-
newed regards to the divine mercy in Christ. — 6. By an open
profession of repentance, where the crime hath given public
offence. — 7. Falls to be reviewed for future caution. — 8. The
chapter concludes with a prayer for the use of one who hath
fallen into gross sins, after religious resolutions and engage-
ments.
1. THE declensions which I have described in the
foregoing chapter, must be acknowledged worthy of
deep lamentation ; but happy will you be, my dear
reader, if you never know, by experience, a circum-
stance yet more melancholy than this. Perhaps
when you consider the view of things which you
now have, you imagine that no consideration can
ever bribe you, in any single instance, to act con-
trary to the present dictates or suggestions of your
conscience, or of the Spirit of God by which it has
been enlightened and directed. No ; you think it
would be better for you to die. And you think
RELAPSE INTO KNOWN SIN. 337
rightly ; but Peter thought and said so too : " Though
I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee,"
Matt. 26 : 35 ; and yet, after all, he fell ; and there-
fore, "be not high-minded, but fear." Rom. 11 : 20.
It is not impossible but you may fall into that very
sin, of which you imagine you are least in danger, OY
into that against which you have most solemnly re-
solved, and of which you have already most bitterly
repented. You may relapse into it again and again.
But 0, if you do, nay, if you should deliberately and
presumptuously fall but once, how deep will it pierce
your heart. How dear will you pay for all the
pleasure with which the temptation has been accom-
panied. How will this separate between God and
you. What a desolation, what a dreadful desolation
will it spread over your soul. It is grievous to think
of it. Perhaps in such a state you may feel more
agony and distress in your own conscience, when you
come seriously to reflect, than you ever felt when
you were first awakened and reclaimed ; because the
sin will be attended with some very high aggrava-
tions, beyond those of your unregenerate state. I
well know the person that said, " The agonies of a
sinner, in the first pangs of his repentance, are not to
be mentioned in comparison with those of the
4 backslider in heart,' when he comes to be 'filled
with his own ways.' " Prov. 14 : 14.
2. Indeed, it is enough to wound one's heart to
Rise and Prog. 22
838 RISE AND PROGRESS.
think how yours will be wounded ; how all your
comforts, all your evidences, all your hopes, will be
clouded.; what thick darkness will spread itself on
every side ; so that neither sun, nor moon, nor stars
will appear in your heaven. Your spiritual consola-
tions will be gone ; and your temporal enjoyments
will also be rendered tasteless and insipid. And if
afflictions be sent, as they probably may, in order to
reclaim you, a consciousness of guilt will sharpen
and envenom the dart. Then will the enemy of
your soul, with all his art and power, rise up against
you, encouraged by your fall, and laboring to tram-
ple you down in utter, hopeless ruin. He will per-
suade you that you are already undone beyond re-
covery. He will suggest, that it signifies nothing to
attempt it any more ; for that every effort, every
amendment, every act of repentance, will but make
your case so much the worse, and plunge you lower
and lower into hell.
3. Thus will he endeavor by terrors to keep you
from that sure remedy which yet remains. But
yield not to him. Your case will indeed be sad ;
and if it be now your case, it' is deplorably so ; and
to rest in it, would be still much worse. Your heart
would be hardened yet more and more ; and nothing
could be expected but sudden and aggravated de-
struction. Yet, blessed be God, it is not quite hope-
less. Your " wounds are corrupted, because of your
RELAPSE INTO KNOWN SIN. 339
foolishness," Psalm 38 : 5 ; but the gangrene is not
incurable. " There is a balm in Gilead, there is a
physician there." Jer, 8 : 22. Do not, therefore,
render your condition hopeless, by now saying, " There
is no hope," Jer. 2 : 25, and by drawing a fatal argu-
ment from a false supposition, " for going after the
idols you have loved." Let me address you in the
language of God to his backsliding people, wheiy
they were ready to apprehend that to be their case,
and to draw such a conclusion from it : " Only return
unto me, saith the Lord." Jer. 3 : 13. Cry for re-
newed grace ; and in the strength of it, labor to return.
Cry with David, under the like guilt, " I have gone
astray like a lost sheep ; seek thy servant, for I do
not forget thy commandments," Psa. 119 : 176 ; and
that remembrance of them is, I hope, a token for
good. But if thou wilt return at all, do it immedi-
ately. Take not one step more in that fatal path
to which thou hast turned aside. Think not to add
one more sin to the account, and then to repent ; as
if it would be but the same thing on the whole.
The second error may be worse than the first ; it
may make way for another and another, and draw
on a terrible train of consequences, beyond all you
can now imagine. Make haste, therefore, and do not
delay. " Escape, and fly as for thy life," Genesis
19 : 17, before "the dart strike through thy liver."
Prov. 7 : 23. " Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slum-
340 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ber to thine eyelids," Prov. 6 : 4, lie not down upon
thy bed under unpardoned guilt, lest evil overtake
thee, lest the sword of divine justice should smite
thee, and whilst thou purposest to return to-morrow,
thou shouldst this night go and take possession of
hell.
4. Return immediately, and permit me to add,
return solemnly. Some very pious and excellent di-
vines have expressed themselves upon this head in a
manner which seems liable to dangerous abuse, when
they urge men after a fall, " not to stay to survey
the ground, nor consider how they came to be thrown
down, but immediately to get up and renew the
race." In slighter cases the advice is good ; but
when conscience has suffered such violent outrage,
by the commission of known, wilful, and deliberate
sin — a case which one would hope should but seldom
happen to those who have once sincerely entered on
a religious course — I can by no means think that
either reason or Scripture encourages such a method.
Especially would it be improper, if the action itself
had been of so heinous a nature, that even to have
fallen into it on the most sudden surprise of tempta-
tion, must have greatly ashamed, and terrified, and
distressed the soul. Such an affair is dreadfully sol-
emn, and should be treated accordingly. If this has
been the sad case with you, my then unhappy reader,
I would pity you, and mourn over you ; and would
RELAPSE INTO KNOWN SIN. 34J
beseech you, as you value your peace, your recovery,
the health and the very life of your soul, that you
would not loiter away an hour. Retire immediately
for serious reflection. Break through other engage-
ments and employments, unless they be such as you
cannot in conscience delay for a few hours, which
can seldom happen in the circumstance I now sup-
pose. Set yourself to it, therefore, as in the presence
of God, and hear at large, patiently and humbly,
what conscience has to say, though it chide and re-
proach severely. Yea, earnestly pray that God would
speak to you by conscience, and make you more
thoroughly to know and feel "what an evil and bit-
ter thing it is, that you have thus forsaken him."
Jer. 2 : 19. Think of all the aggravating circum-
stances attending your offence ; and especially think
of those which arise from abused mercy and good-
ness ; which arise, not only from your solemn vows
and engagements to God, but from the views you
have had of a Redeemer's love, sealed even in blood.
And are these the returns ? Was it not enough that
Christ should have been thus injured by his ene-
mies ? Must he be " wounded in the house of his
friends" too? Zech. 13 : 6. Were "you delivered
to work such abominations as these?" Jer. 7 : 10.
Did the blessed Jesus groan and die for you, that
you might sin with boldness and freedom — that you
might extract, as it were, the very spirit and essence
342 RISE AND PROGRESS.
of sin, and offend God to a height of ingratitude and
baseness, which would otherwise have been, in the
nature of things, impossible ? 0 think, how justly
God might " cast you out from his presence." How
justly he might number you among the most signal
instances of his vengeance. And think how " your
heart would endure, or your hands be strong," if he
should " deal thus with you." Ezek. 22 : 14. Alas,
all your former experiences would enhance your
sense of the ruin and misery that must be felt in an
eternal banishment from the divine presence and
favor.
5. Indulge such reflections as these. Stand the
humbling sight of your sins in such a view as this.
The more odious and the more painful it appears,
the greater prospect there will be of your benefit by
attending to it. But the matter is not to rest here.
All these reflections are intended, not to grieve, but
to cure ; and to grieve no more than may promote
the cure. You are indeed to look upon sin ; but you
are also, in such circumstances, if ever, to look upon
Christ — to look upon him whom you have now pierced
deeper than before, and to mourn for him writh sin-
cerity and tenderness. Zech. 12 : 10. The God
whom you have injured and affronted, whose laws
you have broken, and whose justice you have, as it
were, challenged by this foolish, wretched apostasy,
is nevertheless, "a most merciful God." Deut. 4 :31*
RELAPSE INTO KNOWN SIN. £43
You cannot be so ready to return to him as he is to
receive you. Even now does he, as it were, solicit
a reconciliation, by those tender impressions which he
is making upon your heart. But remember how he
will be reconciled. It is in the very same way in
which you made your first approach to him — in the
name and for the sake of his dear Son. Come, there-
fore, in an humble dependence upon him. Renew
your application to Jesus, that his blood may, as it
were, be sprinkled upon your soul, that your soul
may thereby be purified, and your guilt removed.
This very sin of yours, which the blessed God fore-
saw, increased the weight of your Redeemer's suffer-
ings : it was concerned in shedding his blood. Hum-
bly go, and place your wounds, as it were, under the
droppings of that precious balm, by which alone they
can be healed. That compassionate Saviour will
delight to restore you, when you lie as an humble
suppliant at his feet, and will graciously take part
with you in that peace and pleasure which he gives.
Through him renew your covenant with God, that
broken covenant, the breach of which divine justice
might teach you to know " by terrible things in right-
eousness," Psalm 45 : 4 : but mercy allows of an
accommodation. Let the consciousness and remem-
brance of that breach engage you to enter into cove-
nant anew, under a deeper sense than ever of your
own weakness, and a more cordial dependence on.
314 RISE AND PROGRESS.
divine grace for your security, than you have ever yet
entertained. I know you will be ashamed to present
yourself among the children of God in his sanctuary,
and especially at his table, under a consciousness of
so much guilt ; but break through that shame, if
Providence open you the way. You would be hum-
bled before your offended Father ; but surely there is
no place where you are more likely to be humbled,
than when you see yourself in his house ; and no ordi-
nance administered there can lay you lower than that
in which " Christ is evidently set forth as crucified
before your eyes." Gal. 3:1. Sinners are the only
persons who have business there. The best of men
come to that sacred table as sinners. As such make
your approach to it ; yea, as the greatest of sinners,
as one who needs the blood of Jesus as much as any
creature upon earth.
6. And let me remind you of one thing more. If
your fall has been of such a nature as to give any
scandal to others, be not at all concerned to save
appearances, and to moderate those mortifications
which deep humiliation before them would occasion.
The depth and pain of that mortification is indeed an
excellent medicine, which God has in his wise good-
ness appointed for you in such circumstances as
these. In such a case, confess your fault with the
greatest frankness ; aggravate it to the utmost ; en-
treat pardon and prayer from those whom you have
RELAPSE INTO KNOWN SIN. 315
offended. Then, and never till then, will you be in
the way to peace ; not by palliating a fault, not by
making vain excuses, not by objecting to the man-
ner in which others may have treated you ; as if the
least excess of rigor in a faithful admonition were a
crime equal to some great immorality that occasioned
it. This can only proceed from the madness of pride
and self-love : it is the sensibility of a wound which
is hardened, swelled, and inflamed ; and it must be
reduced, and cooled, and suppled, before it can possi-
bly be cured. To be censured and condemned by
men, will be but a little grievance to a soul thor-
oughly humbled and broken under a sense of having
incurred the condemning sentence of God. Such a
one will rather desire to glorify God, by submitting
to deserved blame ; and will fear deceiving others
into a more favorable opinion of himself than he in-
wardly knows that he deserves. These are the sen-
timents which God gives to the sincere penitent in
such a case ; and by this means he restores him to
that credit and regard among others which he does
not know how to seek, but which, nevertheless, for
the sake both of his comfort and usefulness, God wills
that he should have, and which it is, humanly speak-
ing, impossible for him to recover any other way.
But there is something so honorable in the frank
acknowledgment of a fault, and in deep humiliation
for it, that all who see it must needs approve it.
346 RISE AND PROGRESS.
They pity an offender who is brought to such a dis-
position, and endeavor to comfort him with return-
ing expressions not only of their love, but of their
esteem too.
7. Excuse this digression, which may suit some
cases ; and which would suit many more, if a regu-
lar discipline were to be exercised in churches ; for,
on such a supposition, the Lord's supper could not be
approached, after visible and scandalous falls, with-
out solemn confession of the offence, and declarations
of repentance. On the other hand, there may be
instances of sad apostasy, where the crime, though
highly aggravated before God, may not fall under
human notice. In this case, remember that your
business is with Him to whose piercing eye every
thing appears in its just light : before him, therefore,
prostrate your soul, and seek a solemn reconciliation
with him, confirmed by the memorials of his dying
Son. And when this is done, imagine not, that be-
cause you have received the tokens of pardon, the
guilt of your apostasy is to be forgotten at once. Bear
it still in your memory for future caution : lament it
before God, especially in the frequent returns of se-
cret devotion ; and view with humiliation the scars
of those wounds which your own folly occasioned,
even when by divine grace they are thoroughly healed.
For God establishes his covenant, not to remove the
sense of every past abomination, but "that thou
PRAYER FOR ONE FALLEN INTO SIN. 347
mayest remember thy ways, and be confounded, and
never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame,
even when I am pacified towards thee for all that
thou hast done, saith the Lord.'' Ezek. 16 : 63.
8. And now, upon the whole, if you desire to at-
tain such a temper, and to return to such steps as
these, then immediately fall down before God, and
pour out your heart in his presence, in language like
this.
A* PRAYER FOR ONE WHO HAS FALLEN INTO GROSS SIN,
AFTER RELIGIOUS RESOLUTIONS AND ENGAGEMENTS.
" 0 most Holy,. Holy, Holy Lord God, when I seri-
ously reflect on thy spotless purity, and on the strict
and impartial methods of thy steady administration,
together with that almighty power of thine which is
able to carry every thought of thine heart into imme-
diate and full execution, I may justly appear before
thee this day with shame and terror, in confusion and
consternation of spirit. This day, 0 my God, this
dark, mournful day, would I take occasion to look
back to that sad source of our guilt and our misery,
the apostasy of our common parents, and say with
thine offending servant David, ' Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me/
Psalm 51:5. This day would I lament all the fatal
consequences of such a descent with regard to my-
self. And 0, how many have they been. The re-
348 RISE AND PROGRESS.
membrance of the sins of my unconverted state, and
the failings and infirmities of my after-life, may justly
confound me. How much more such a scene as now
lies before my conscience, and before thine all-seeing
eye. For thou, 0 Lord, ' knowest my foolishness, and
my sins are not hid from thee.' Psalm 69 : 5. Thou
tellest all my wanderings from thy statutes, Psalm
56 : 8 ; thou seest and thou recordest every instance
of my disobedience to thee, and of my rebellion against
thee. Thou seest them in every aggravated circum-
stance which I can discern, and many more which I
have never observed or reflected upon. How then
shall I appear in thy presence, or lift up my face to
thee. Ezra 9:6. I am full of confusion, Job 10 : 15,
and feel a secret regret in the thought of applying to
thee ; but, ' 0 Lord, to whom shall I go but unto
thee,' John 6 : 68 ; unto thee, on whom depends
my life or my death ; unto thee, who alone canst take
away the burden of guilt which now presses me down
to the dust, who alone canst restore to my soul that
rest and peace which I have lost, and which I deserve
for ever to lose ?
" Behold me, 0 Lord God, falling down at thy feet.
Behold me pleading guilty in thy presence, and sur-
rendering myself to that justice which I cannot es-
cape. I have not one word io offer in my own vin-
dication, in my own excuse. - Words, far from being
able to clear up my innocence, can never sufficiently
PRAYER FOR ONE FALLEN INTO SIN. 34D
describe the enormity and demerit of my sin. Tliou,
0 Lord, and thou only, knowest to the full, how hein-
ous and how aggravated it is. Thine infinite under-
standing alone can fathom the infinite depth of its
malignity. I am, on many accounts, most unable to
do it. I cannot conceive the glory of thy sacred maj-
esty, whose authority I have despised, nor the num-
ber and variety of those mercies which I have sinned
against. I cannot conceive the value of the blood of
thy dear Son, which I have ungratefully trampled
under my feet ; nor the dignity of that blessed Spirit
of thine, whose agency I have, as far as I could, been
endeavoring to oppose, and whose work I have been,
as with all my might, laboring to undo, and to tear
up, as it were, that plantation of his grace which I
should rather have been willing to have guarded with
my life, and watered with my blood. 0 the baseness
and madness of my conduct, that I should thus, as
it were, rend open the wounds of my soul, of which
1 had died long ere this, had not thine own hand
applied a remedy, had not thine only Son bled to
prepare it ; that I should violate the covenant I had
made with thee by sacrifice, Psalm 50 : 5, by the
memorials of such a sacrifice too, even of Jesus my
Lord, whereby I am become guilty of his body and
blood, 1 Cor. 1 1 : 27 ; that I should bring such dis-
honor upon religion too, by so unsuitable a walk,
and perhaps open the mouths of its greatest enemies
350 RISE AND PROGRESS.
to insult it upon my account, and prejudice some
against it to their everlasting destruction.
" I wonder, 0 Lord God, that I am here to own
all this. I wonder that thou hast not long ago ap-
peared as a swift witness against me, Mai. 3 : 5, that
thou hast not discharged the thunderbolts of thy
flaming wrath against me, and crushed me into hell ;
making me there a terror to all about me, as well as
to myself, by a vengeance and ruin to be distin-
guished even there, where all are miserable, and all
hopeless.
"0 God, thy patience is marvellous. But how
much more marvellous is thy grace, which, after all
this, invites me to thee. While I am here giving
judgment against myself that I deserve to die, to die
for ever, thou art sending me the words of everlast-
ing life, and ' calling me, as a backsliding child, to
return unto thee.' Jer. 3 : 22. Behold, therefore,
0 Lord, invited by thy word, and encouraged by thy
grace, I come ; and great as my transgressions are,
1 humbly beseech thee freely to pardon them ; be-
cause I know, that though ' my sins have reached
unto heaven,' Rev. 18 : 5, and are 'lifted up even
unto the skies,' Jer. 51 : 9, 'thy mercy, 0 Lord, is
above the heavens.' Psalm 108 : 4. Extend that
mercy to me, 0 heavenly Father, and display, in
this illustrious instance, the riches of thy grace and
the pre valency of thy Son's blood : for surely, if such
PRAYER FOR ONE FALLEN INTO SIN. 35]
crimson sins as mine may be made ' white as snow
and as wool,' Isaiah 1 : 18, and if such a revolter as
I am be brought to eternal glory, earth must, so far
as it is known, be filled with wonder, and heaven
with praise ; and the greatest sinner may cheerfully
apply for pardon, if I, ' the chief of sinners,' find it.
And 0, that when 1 have lain mourning, and as it
were bleeding at thy feet, as long as thou thinkest
proper, thou wouldst at length 'heal this soul of
mine ' which has sinned against thee, Psalm 41:4,
and ' give me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit
of heaviness.' I?a. 61:3. 0 that thou wouldst at
length * restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and
make me to hear songs of gladness, that the bones
which thou hast broken may rejoice.' Psa. 51:8, 12.
Then, when a sense of thy forgiving love is shed
abroad upon my heart, and it is cheered with the
voice of pardon, I will proclaim thy grace to others ;
{I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners
shall be converted unto thee,' Psalm 51 : 13 : those
that have been backsliding from thee shall be en-
couraged to seek thee, by my happy experience,
which I will gladly proclaim for thy glory, though
it be to my own shame and confusion of face. And
may this 'joy of the Lord be my strength,' JSTeh.
8 : 10, so that in it I may serve thee henceforward
with a vigor and zeal far beyond what I have hitherto
352 RISE AND PROGRESS.
known. This I would ask with all humhle submis-
sion to thy will, for I presume not to insist upon it.
If thou shouldst see fit to make me a warning to
others, by appointing that I should walk all my days
in darkness, and at last die under a cloud, ' thy will
be done.' But, 0 God, extend mercy, for thy Son's
sake, to this sinful soul at last, and give me some
place, though it were at the feet of all thy other
servants, in the regions of glory. 0 bring me at
length, though it should be through the gloomiest
valley that any one ever passed, into that blessed
world, where I shall depart from God no more, where
I shall wound my own conscience, and dishonor thy
holy name no more. Then shall my tongue be
loosed, how long soever it might here be bound
under the confusion of guilt ; and immortal praises
shall be paid to that victorious blood which has
redeemed such an infamous slave of sin as I must
acknowledge myself to be, and brought me, from
returns into bondage and repeated pollution, to share
the dignity and holiness of those who are ' kings and
priests unto God.' Rev. 1:6. Amen."
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 353
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CASE OF THE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE HIDINGS OF
GOD'S FACE.
1. The phrase scriptural. — 2. It signifies the withdrawing
the tokens of the divine favor. — 3. Chiefly as to spiritual con-
siderations.— 4. This may become the case of any Christian. —
5. And will be found a very sorrowful one. — 6. The following
directions, therefore, are given to those who suppose it to be
their own. To inquire whether it be indeed a case of spiritual
distress, or whether a disconsolate frame may not proceed from
indisposition of body. — 7. Or difficulties as to worldly circum-
stances.— 8, 9. If it be found to be indeed such as the title of
the chapter proposes, be advised to consider it as a merciful
dispensation of God to awaken and bestir the soul, and excite
to a strict examination of conscience, and reformation of what
has been amiss. — 10. To be humble and patient while the
trial continues. — 11. To go on steadily in the way of duty. —
12. To renew a believing application to the blood of Jesus.
An humble supplication for one under these mournful exercises
of mind, when they are found to proceed from the spiritual
cause supposed.
1. THERE is a case which often occurs in the
Christian life, which they who accustom themselves
much to the exercise of devotion have been used to
call the " hiding of Grod's face." It is a phrase bor-
rowed from the word of God, which I hope may
shelter it from contempt at the first hearing. It will
Rise &od Prog. 23
354 RISE AND PROGRESS.
be my business in this chapter to state it as plainly
as I can, and then to give some advice as to your
own conduct when you fall into it, as it is very prob-
able you may before you have finished your journey
through this wilderness.
2. The meaning of it may partly be understood
by the opposite phrase of God's " causing his face
to shine upon a person, or lifting up upon him the
light of his countenance." This seems to carry in it
an allusion to the pleasant and delightful appearance
which the face of a friend has, and especially if in
a superior relation of life, when he converses with
those whom he loves and delights in. Thus Job,
when speaking of the regard paid him by his at-
tendants, says, " If I smiled upon them, they believed
it not, and the light of my countenance they cast not
down," Job 29 : 24 ; that is, they were careful, in
such agreeable circumstances, to do nothing to dis-
please me, or, as we speak, to cloud my brow.
And David, when expressing his desire of the mani-
festation of God's favor to him, says, " Lord, lift
thou up the light of thy countenance upon me ;" and,
as the effect of it, declares, " thou hast put gladness
into my heart, more than if corn and wine increased."
Psalm 4 : 6, 7. Nor is it impossible, that in this
phrase, as used by David, there may be some allu-
sion to the bright shining forth of the Shekinah, that
is, the lustre which dwelt in the cloud as the visible
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 355
sign of the divine presence with Israel, which God
was pleased peculiarly to manifest upon some public
occasions, as a token of his favor and acceptance.
On the other hand, therefore, for God " to hide his
face," must imply his withholding the tokens of his
favor, and must be esteemed a mark of his displeas-
ure. Thus Isaiah uses it : " Your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
Isaiah 59 : 2. And again, " Thou hast hid thy face
from us," as not regarding the calamities we suffer,
" and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."
Isaiah 64 : 7. So likewise, for God " to hide his face
from our sins," Psalm 51 : 9, signifies to overlook
them, and to take no farther notice of them. The
same idea is, at other times, expressed by " God's
hiding his eyes," Isaiah 1 : 15, from persons of a
character disagreeable to him, wrhen they come to
address him with their petitions, not vouchsafing, as
it were, to look towards them. This is plainly the
scriptural sense of the word ; and agreeably to this,
±t is generally used by Christians in our day, and
every thing which seems a token of divine displeasure
towards them is expressed by it.
3. It is farther to be observed here, that the
things which they judge to be manifestations of di-
vine favor towards them, or complacency in them,
are not only, nor chiefly of a temporal nature, or
356 RISE AND PROGRESS.
such as merely relate to the blessings of this animal
and perishing life. David, though the promises of
the law had a continual reference to such, yet was
taught to look farther, and describes them as prefer-
able to, and therefore plainly distinct from " the
blessings of the corn-floor or the wine-press." Psalm
4:7. And if you whom I am now addressing do
not know them to be so, it is plain you are quite
ignorant of the subject we are inquiring into, and
indeed have yet to learn the first lessons of true
religion. All that David says, of "beholding the
beauty of the Lord," Psalm 27 : 4, or being " satis-
fied as with marrow and fatness, when he remem-
bered him upon his bed," Psalm 63 : 5, 6, as well as
" with the goodness of his house, even of his holy
temple," Psalm 65 : 4, is to be taken in the same
sense, and can need very little explication to the
truly experienced soul. But those who have known
the light of God's countenance, and the shinings of
his face, will, in proportion to the degree of that
knowledge, be able to form some notion of the hiding
of his face, or the withdrawing of the tokens he has
given his people of his presence and favor, which
sometimes greatly imbitters prosperity ; as, where
the contrary is found, it sweetens affliction, and often
swallows up the sense of it.
4. And give me leave to remind you, my Chris-
tian friend — for under that character I now address
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE, 357
my reader — that to be thus deprived of the sense of
God's love, and of the tokens of his favor, may soon
be the case with you, though you may now have the
pleasure to see the candle of the Lord shining upon
you, or though it may even seem to be sunshine and
high noon in your soul. You may lose your lively
views of the divine perfections and glory, in the
contemplation of which you now find that inward
satisfaction. You may think of the divine wisdom
and power, of the divine mercy and fidelity, as well
as of his righteousness and holiness, and feel little
inward complacency of soul in the view : it may be,
with respect to any lively impressions, as if it were
the contemplation merely of a common object. It
may seem to you as if you had lost all idea of those
important words, though the view has sometimes
swallowed up your whole soul in transports of aston-
ishment, admiration, and love. You may lose your
delightful sense of the divine favor. It may be
matter of great and sad doubt with you, whether
you do indeed belong to God ; and all the work of
his blessed Spirit may be so veiled and shaded in the
soul, that the peculiar characters by which the hand
of that sacred Agent might be distinguished, shall
be in a great measure lost ; and you may be ready
to imagine you have only deluded yourself in all the
former hopes you have entertained. In consequence
of this, those ordinances in which you now rejoice,
358 RISE AND PROGRESS.
may grow very uncomfortable to you, even when you
do indeed desire communion with God in them. You
may hear the most delightful evangelical truths
opened, you may hear the privileges of God's chil-
dren most affectionately represented, and not be
aware that you have any part or lot in the matter ;
and from that very coldness and insensibility may be
drawing a farther argument that you have nothing
to do with them. And then "your heart" may
"meditate terror," Isa. 33 : 18, and under the dis-
tress that overwhelms you, your dearest enjoyments
may be reflected upon as adding to the weight of it,
and making it more sensible, while you consider that
you had once such a taste for these things, and have
now lost it all. So that perhaps it may seem to you,
that they who never felt any thing at all of religious
impressions are happier than you, or at least are less
miserable. You may, perhaps, in these melancholy
hours, even doubt whether you have ever prayed at
all, and whether all that you called your enjoyment
of God, was not some false delight, excited by the
great enemy of souls, to make you apprehend that
your state was good, that so you might continue his
more secure prey.
5. Such as this may be your case for a considera-
ble time; and ordinances may be attended in vain,
and the presence of God may be in vain sought in
them. You may pour out your soul in private, and
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 359
then come to public worship, and find little satisfac-
tion in either, but be forced to take up the Psalmist's
complaint, "My God, I cry in the daytime, but thou
hearest not ; and in the night season, and am not
silent," Psa. 22 : 2; or that of Job, " Behold, I go
forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I
cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he
doth work, but I cannot behold him : he hideth him-
self on the right hand, that I cannot see him." Job
23 : 8, 9. So that all which looked like religion in
your mind, shall seem as it were to be melted into
grief, or chilled into fear, or crushed into a deep sense
of your own un worthiness ; in consequence of which,
you shall not dare so much as lift up your eyes before
God, and be almost ashamed to take your place in a
worshipping assembly among any that you think his
servants. I have known this to be the case of some
excellent Christians, whose improvements in religion
have been distinguished, and whom God hath hon-
ored above many of their brethren in what he hath
done for them, and by them. Give me leave, there-
fore, having thus described it, to offer you some plain
advice with regard to it ; and let not that be im-
puted to enthusiastic fancy which proceeds from an
intimate and frequent view of facts on the one hand,
and from a sincere, affectionate desire on the other,
to relieve the tender, pious heart, in so desolate a
state. At least, I am persuaded the attempt will not
360 RISE AND PROGRESS.
be overlooked or disapproved by "the great Shepherd
of the sheep," Heb. 13 : 20, who has charged us to
" comfort the feeble-minded." 1 Thess. 5 : 14.
6. And here I would first advise you most care-
fully to inquire whether your present distress does
indeed arise from causes which are truly spiritual,
or whether it may not rather have its foundation in
some disorder of the body, or in the circumstances
of life in which you are providentially placed, which
may break your spirits and deject your mind. The
influence of the inferior part of our nature on the
nobler, the immortal spirit, while we continue in
this embodied state, is so evident, that no attentive
person can, in the general, fail to observe it ; and
yet there are cases in which it seems not to be suf-
ficiently considered ; and perhaps your own may be
one of them. The state of the blood is often such as
necessarily to suggest gloomy ideas, even in dreams,
and to indispose the soul for taking pleasure in any
thing : and when it is so, why should it be imagined
to proceed from any peculiar divine displeasure, if
the soul does not find its usual delight in religion ?
Or why should God be thought to have departed from
us, because he suffers natural causes to produce nat-
ural effects, without interposing, by miracle, to break
the connection? When this is the case, the help of
the physician is to be sought, rather than that of the
divine ; or at least, by all means, together with it ;
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 3G1
and medicine, diet, exercise, and air, may in a few
weeks effect what the strongest reasonings, the most
pathetic exhortations or consolations might for many
months have attempted in vain.
7. In other instances, the dejection and feebleness
of the mind may arise from something uncomfortable
in our worldly circumstances. These may cloud as
well as distract the thoughts and imbitter the temper,
and thus render us in a great degree unfit for religious
services and pleasures ; and when it is so, the remedy
is to be sought in submission to divine Providence,
in abstracting our affections as far as possible from
the present world, in a prudent care to ease ourselves
of the burden so far as we can, by moderating un-
necessary expenses, and by diligent application to
business, in humble dependence on the divine bless-
ing ; in the meantime, endeavoring, by faith, to look
up to Him who sometimes suffers his children to be
brought into such difficulties, that he may endear
himself more sensibly to them by the method he
shall take for their relief.
8. On the principles here laid down, it may per-
haps appear, on inquiry, that the distress complained
of may have a foundation very different from what
was at first supposed. But where the health is sound,
and the circumstances easy ; when the animal spirits
are disposed for gayety and entertainment, while all
taste for religious pleasure is in a manner gone ;
362 RISE AND PROGRESS.
when the soul is seized with a kind of lethargic in-
sensibility, or what I had almost called a paralytic
weakness with respect to every religious exercise,
even though there should not he that deep terrifying
distress, or pungent amazement, which I before rep-
resented as the effect of melancholy, nor that anxiety
about the accommodations of life which strait cir-
cumstances naturally produce ; I would in that case
vary my advice, and urge you with all possible at-
tention and impartiality, to search into the cause
which has brought upon you that great evil under
which you justly mourn. And probably, in the gen-
eral, the cause is sin — some secret sin, which has not
been discovered or observed by the eye of the world ;
for enormities that draw on them the observation and
censure of others, will probably fall under the case
mentioned in the former chapter, as they must be in-
stances of known and deliberate guilt. Now the eye
of God hath seen these evils which have escaped the
notice of your fellow-creatures : and in consequence
of this care to conceal them from others, while you
could not but know they were open to him, God has
seen himself in a peculiar manner affronted and in-
jured, I had almost said insulted by them ; and hence
his righteous displeasure. 0, let that never be for-
gotten, which is so plainly said, so commonly known,
so familiar to almost every religious ear, yet too lit-
tle felt by any of our hearts: "Your iniquities have
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 3G3
separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
Isa. 59 : 1, 2. And this is, on the whole, a merciful
dispensation of God, though it may seem severe : re-
gard it not, therefore, merely as your calamity, but
as intended to awaken you, that you may not content
yourself even with lying in tears of humiliation be-
fore the Lord, but, like Joshua, rise and exert your-
self vigorously, to "put away from you that accursed
thing," whatever it be. Let this be your immediate
and earnest care, that your pride may be humbled,
that your watchfulness may be maintained, that your
affections to the world may be deadened, and that,
on the whole, your fitness for heaven may in every
respect be increased. These are the designs of your
heavenly Father, and let it be your great concern to
cooperate with them.
9. Receive it therefore, on the whole, as the most
important advice that can be given you, immediately
to enter on a strict examination of your conscience.
Attend to its gentlest whispers. If a suspicion arises
in your mind that any thing has not been right, trace
that suspicion ; search into every secret folding of your
heart; improve to the purposes of a fuller discovery
the advice of your friends, the reproaches of your
enemies ; recollect for what your heart hath smitten
you at the table of the Lord, for what it would smite
you if you were upon a dying bed, and within this
364 RISE AND PROGRESS.
hour to enter on eternity. When you have made any
discovery, note it down; and go on in your search
till you can say, These are the remaining corruptions
of my heart, these are the sins and follies of my life ;
this have I neglected ; this have I done amiss. And
when the account is as complete as you can make it,
set yourself, in the strength of God, to a serious ref-
ormation ; or rather, begin the reformation of every
thing that seems amiss, as soon as ever you discover
it ; " Return to the Almighty, and thou shalt be built
up ; put iniquity far from thy tabernacle, and then
shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and
shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make
thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee ; thou
shalt pay thy vows unto him, and his light shall shine
upon thy ways." Job 22 : 23, 26, 27.
10. In the meantime, be waiting for God with the
deepest humility, and submit yourself to the disci-
pline of your heavenly Father, acknowledging his
justice, and hoping in his mercy : even when your
conscience is least severe in its remonstrances, and
discovers nothing more than the common infirmities
of God's people, yet still bow yourself down before
him, and own that so many are the evils of your best
days, so many the imperfections of your best services,
that by them you have deserved all, and more than
all that you suffer ; deserved not only that your sun
should be clouded, but that it should go down and
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 3(35
arise no more, but leave your soul in a state of ever-
lasting darkness. And while the shade continues,
be not impatient. Fret not yourself in any wise, but
rather, with a holy calmness and gentleness of soul,
"wait on the Lord." Psa. 37 : 8, 34. Be willing
to stay his time, willing to bear his frown, in humble
hope that he will at length "return and have com-
passion on you." Jer. 12 : 15. He has not utterly
forgotten to be gracious, nor resolved that "he will
be favorable no more." Psa. 77 : 7, 9. "For the
Lord will not cast off for ever ; but though he cause
grief, yet will he have compassion according to the
multitude of his mercies." Lam. 3 :31, 32. It is
comparatively but "for a small moment that he hides
his face from you;" but you may humbly hope, that
with great mercies he will gather you, and that " with
everlasting kindness he will have mercy on you."
Isa. 54 : 7, 8. These suitable words are not mine, but
his ; and they wear this, as in the very front of them,
"That a soul under the hidings of God's face may
at last be one whom he will gather, and to whom he
will extend everlasting favor."
11. But while the darkness continues, "go on in
the way of your duty." Continue the use of means
and ordinances : read and meditate : pray, yes, and
sing the praises of God too, though it may be with
a heavy heart. Follow the "footsteps of his flock,"
Cant. 1:8; you may perhaps meet the Shepherd of
3G6 RISE AND PROGRESS.
souls ill doing it. Place yourself at least in his way.
It is possible you may by this means get a kind look
from him ; and one look, one turn of thought, which
may happen in a moment, may, as it were, create a
heaven in your soul at once. Go to the table of the
Lord. If you cannot rejoice, go and mourn there.
Go and "mourn for that Saviour whom," by your
sins, "you have pierced," Zech. 12 : 10 ; go and la-
ment the breaches of that covenant which you have
there so often confirmed. Christ may perhaps make
himself known unto you "in the breaking of the
bread," Luke 24 : 35, and you may find, to your sur-
prise, that he hath been near you, when you imagin*
ed he was at the greatest distance from you — -near
you, when you thought you were cast out from his
presence. Seek your comfort in such enjoyments as
these, and not in the vain amusements of this world,
and in the pleasures of sense. I shall never forget
that affectionate expression, which I am well assured
broke out from an eminently pious heart, then almost
ready to break under its sorrows of this kind : "Lord,
if I may not enjoy thee, let me enjoy nothing else;
but go down mourning after thee to the grave." I
wondered not to hear, that almost as soon as the sen-
timent had been breathed out before God in prayer,
the burden was taken off, and "the joy of God's sal-
vation restored."
12. I shall add but one advice more, and that is?
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 3(J7
that " you renew your application to the blood of Je-
sus, through whom the reconciliation between God
and your soul has been accomplished." It is he that
is our peace, and by his blood it is that " we are
made nigh," Eph. 2 : 13, 14 ; it is in him, as the
beloved of his soul, that God declares he is well
pleased, Matt. 3:17; and it is in him that " we are
made accepted, to the glory of his grace." Eph. 1:6.
Go, therefore, 0 Christian, and apply by faith to a
crucified Saviour ; go and apply to him, as to a mer-
ciful high-priest, " and pour out thy complaint before
him, and show before him thy trouble." Psa. 142 : 2.
Lay open the distress and anguish of thy soul to Him,
who once knew what it was to say — 0 astonishing,
that He should ever have said it — " My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" Matt. 27 : 46.
Look up for pity and relief to him, who himself suf-
fered, being not only tempted, but with regard to
sensible manifestations, deserted, that he might thus
know how to pity those that are in such a melan-
choly case, and be ready, as well as able, " to succor
them." Heb. 2 : 18. "He is Immanuel, God with
us," Matt. 1 : 23 ; and it is only in and through him
that his Father shines forth upon us with the mild-
est beams of mercy and of love. Let it be, therefore,
your immediate care to renew your acquaintance
\vith him. Review the records of his life and death ;
and when you do so, surely you will feel a secret
1
368 RISE AND PROGRESS.
sweetness diffusing itself over your soul. You will
be brought into a calm, gentle, silent frame, in which
faith and love will operate powerfully, and God may
probably cause "the still small voice" of his com-
forting Spirit to be heard, 1 Kings, 19 : 12, till your
soul burst out into a song of praise, and you are
f< made glad according to the days in which you have
been afflicted." Psa. 90 : 15. In the meantime, such
language as the following supplication speaks, may
be suitable.
AN HUMBLE SUPPLICATION FOR ONE UNDER THE HID-
INGS OF GOD'S FACE.
" Blessed God, ' with thee is the fountain of life'
and of happiness. Psalm 36 : 9. I adore thy name
that I have ever tasted of thy streams ; that I have
ever had the peculiar pleasure arising from the light
of thy countenance, and the shedding abroad of thy
love in my soul. But, alas, these delightful seasons
are now to me no more ; and the remembrance of
them engages me to < pour out my soul within me.'
Psalm 42 : 4. I would come, as I have formerly
done, and call thee, with the same endearment, ' my
Father and my God ;' but alas, I know not how to
do it. Guilt and fears arise, and forbid the delight-
ful language. I seek thee, 0 Lord, but I seek in
vain. I would pray, but my lips are sealed up. I
would read thy word, but all the promises of it are
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 3(59
veiled from mine eyes. I frequent those ordinances
which have been formerly most nourishing and com-
fortable to my soul ; but alas, they are only the
shadows of ordinances ; the substance is gone ; the
animating spirit is fled, and leaves them now, at
best, but the image of what I once knew them.
" But, Lord, hast ' thou cast off for ever, and wilt
thou be favorable no more?' Psalm 77 : 7. Hast
thou in awful judgment determined that my soul
must be left to a perpetual winter, the sad emblem
of eternal darkness ? Indeed, I deserve it should bu
so. I acknowledge, 0 Lord, I deserve to be cast
away from thy presence with disdain, to be sunk
lower than I am, much lower; I deserve to have
* the shadow of death upon my eyelids,' Job 16 : 16,
and even to be surrounded with the thick gloom of
the infernal prison. But hast thou not raised multi-
tudes, who have * deserved, like me, to be delivered
into chains of darkness/ 2 Pet. 2 : 4, to the vision of
thy glory above, where no cloud can ever interpose
between thee and their rejoicing spirits ? * Have
mercy upon me, 0 Lord, have mercy upon me.' Psa/
123 : 3. And though my iniquities have now justly
4 caused thee to hide thy face from me,' Isa. 59 : 2,
yet be thou rather pleased, agreeably to the gracious
language of thy word, ' to hide thy face from my
sins, and to blot out all my iniquities.' Psa. 51:9.
Cheer my heart with the tokens of thy returning
Rise & Proa. 24
370 RISE AND PROGRESS.
favor, and { say unto my soul, I am thy salvation,'
Psalm 35 : 3.
" Remember, 0 Lord God, remember that dread-
ful day, in which Jesus thy dear Son endured what
my sins have deserved. Remember that agony, in
which he poured out his soul before thee, and said,
* My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?'
Matt. 27 : 46. Did he not, 0 Lord, endure all this,
that humble penitents might, through him, be brought
near unto thee, and might behold thee with pleasure,
as their Father and their God ? Thus do I desire to
come unto thee. Blessed Saviour, art thou not
appointed { to give unto them that mourn in Zion,
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ?' Isa.
61:3. 0 wash away my tears, anoint my head
with ' the oil of gladness, and clothe me with the
garments of salvation.' Isa. 61 : 10.
" ' 0 that I knew where I might find thee.' Job
23 : 3. 0 that I knew what it is that hath engaged
thee to depart from me. I am * searching and try-
ing my ways.' Lam. 3 : 40. 0 that thou wouldst
' search me, and know my heart ; try me, and know
my thoughts ;' and if ' there be any wicked way in
me,' discover it, and ' lead me in the way everlast-
ing, Psalm 139 : 23, 24 ; in that way in which 1
may find rest and peace 'for my soul,' Jer. 6 : 16,
and feel the discoveries of thy love in Christ.
HIDINGS OF GOD'S FACE. 3/J
" 0 God, ' who didst command the light to shine
out of darkness,' 2 Cor. 4 : 6, speak but the word,
and light shall dart into my soul at once. ' Open
thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy
praise,' Psalm 51 : 15, shall burst out into a cheerful
song, which shall display, before those whom my
present dejections may have discouraged, the pleas-
ures and supports of religion. ^
" Yet, Lord, on the whole, I submit to thy will.
If it is thus that my faith must be exercised, by
walking in darkness for days, and months, and years
to come, how long soever they may seem, how long
soever they may be, I submit. Still will I adore
thee as the ' God of Israel,' and the Saviour, though
'thou art a God that hidest thyself.' Isa. 45 : 15.
Still will I ' trust in the name of the Lord, and stay
myself upon my God,' Isaiah 50 : 10 — 'trusting in
thee, though thou slay me,' Job 13 : 15, and 'wait-
ing for thee more than they that watch for the
morning ; yea, more than they that watch for the
morning.' Psa. 130 : 6. Peradventure ' in the even-
ing time it may be light.' Zech. 14 : 7. I know
thou hast sometimes manifested thy compassion to
thy dying servants, and given them, in the lowest
ebb of their natural spirits, a full tide of divine glory ;
thus turning ' darkness into light before them.' Isa.
42 : 16. So may it please thee to gild 'the Valley
of the Shadow of Death ' with the light of thy pres-
372 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ence, when I am passing it, and to stretch forth
'thy rod and thy staff to comfort me,' Psalm 23 : 4,
that my tremblings may cease, and the gloom may
echo with songs of praise. But if it be thy sovereign
pleasure, that distress and darkness should still con-
tinue to the last motion of my pulse, and the last
gasp of my breath, 0 let it cease with the parting
struggle, and bring me to that light which is sown
for the righteous, and to that gladness which is re-
served ' for the upright in heart,' Psalm 97:11; to
the unclouded regions of everlasting splendor arid
joy, where the full anointings of thy Spirit shall be
poured out upon all thy people, and thou wilt no
more * hide thy face from any of them.' Ezekiel
39 : 29.
" This, Lord, is ' thy salvation for which I am
waiting,' Gen. 49 : 18 ; and while I feel the desires
of my soul drawn out after it, I will never despair of
obtaining it. Continue and increase those desires,
and at length satisfy and exceed them all, ' through
the riches of thy grace in Christ Jesus,' Amen."
STRUGGLING UNDER AFFLICTION. 377J
CHAPTER XXV.
THE CHRISTIAN STRUGGLING UNDER GREAT AND HEAVY
AFFLICTION.
1. Here it is advised, that afflictions should be expected. —
2. That the righteous hand of God should be acknowledged
in them when they come. — 3. That they should be borne with
patience. — 4. That the divine conduct in them should be cor-
dially approved. — 5. That thankfulness should be maintained
in the midst of trials. — 6. That the design of afflictions should
be diligently inquired into, and all proper assistance taken in
discovering it. — 7. That when it is discovered, it should hum-
bly be complied with and answered. A prayer suited to such
a case.
1. SINCE " man is born unto trouble, as the sparks
fly upward," Job 5:7, and Adam has entailed on
all his race the sad inheritance of calamity in their
way to death, it will certainly be prudent and neces-
sary that we should all expect to meet with trials
and afflictions ; and that you, reader, whoever you are,
should be endeavoring to gird on your armor, and
put yourself in a posture to encounter those trials
which will fall to your lot as a man and a Chris-
tian. Prepare yourself to receive your afflictions,
and to endure them in a manner agreeable to both
these characters. In this view, when you see others
under the burden, consider how possible it is that
374 RISE AND PROGRESS.
you may be called out to the very same difficulties,
or to others equal to them. Put your soul as in the
place of theirs. Think how you could endure the
load under which they lie, and endeavor at once to
comfort them, and to strengthen your own heart, or
rather pray that God would do it. And observing
how liable mortal life is to such sorrows, moderate
your expectations from it, raise your thoughts above
it, and form your schemes of happiness only for that
world where they cannot be disappointed ; in the
meantime, blessing God that your prosperity is
lengthened out thus far, and ascribing it to his spe-
cial providence that you continue so long unwounded,
when so many showers of arrows are flying around
you, and so many are falling by them, on the right
hand and on the left.
2. When at length your turn comes, as it certainly
will, from the first hour in which an affliction seizes
you, realize to yourself the hand of God in it, and
lose not the view of him in any second cause, which
may have proved the immediate occasion. Let it be
your first care to "humble yourself under the mighty
.hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time."
1 Pet. 5 : 6. Own that " he is just in all that is
brought upon you," Neh. 9 : 33, and that in all these
things " he punishes you less than your iniquities de-
serve." Ezra 9:13. Compose yourself tc bear his
hand with patience, to glorify his name by a sub-
STRUGGLING UNDER AFFLICTION. 375
mission to his will, and to fall in with the gracious
design of his visitation, as well as to wait the issue
of it quietly, whatsoever the event may be.
3. Now, that " patience may have its perfect
work," James 1:4, reflect frequently, and deeply,
upon your own unworthiness and sinfulness. Con-
sider how often every mercy has been forfeited, and
every judgment deserved. And consider, too, how
long the patience of God hath borne with you, and
how wonderfully it is still exerted towards you \ and
indeed, not only his patience, but his bounty too.
Afflicted as you are — for I speak to you now as actu-
ally under the pressure — look around and survey your
remaining mercies, and be gratefully sensible of them.
Make the supposition of their being removed : what
if God should stretch out his hand against you, and
add poverty to pain, or pain to poverty, or the loss
of friends to both, or the death of surviving friends
to that of those whom you are now mourning over ;
would not the wound be more grievous ? Adore his
goodness that this is not the case ; and take heed
lest your unthankfulness should provoke him to mul-
tiply your sorrows. Consider also the need you have
of discipline, how wholesome it may prove to your
soul, and what merciful designs our heavenly Father
has in all the corrections he sends upon his chil-
dren.
4. Nay, I will add, that in consequence of all these
376 RISE AND PROGRESS.
considerations, it may be well expected, not only that
you should submit to your afflictions, as what you
cannot avoid, but that you should sweetly acquiesce
in them, and approve them ; that you should not
only justify, but glorify God in sending them ; that
you should glorify him with your heart, and with
your lips too. Think not praises unsuitable on such
an occasion ; nor that praise alone to be suitable
which takes its rise from remaining comforts ; but
know, that it is your duty not only to be thankful in
your afflictions, but to be thankful on account of
them.
5. God himself hath said, " In every thing give
thanks," 1 Thess. 5:18; and he has taught his ser-
vants to say, ".Yea, also, we glory in tribulation."
Rom. 5:3. And most certain it is, that to true be-
lievers afflictions are tokens of divine mercy ; for
"whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourg-
eth every son whom he receiveth," with peculiar and
distinguishing endearment. Heb. 12:6. View your
present afflictions in this light, as chastisements of
love ; and then let your own heart say, whether love
does not demand praise. Think with yourself, " It is
thus that God is making me conformable to his own
Son ; it is thus that he is training me up for com-
plete glory. Thus he kills my corruptions ; thus he
strengthens my graces ; thus he is wisely contriving
to bring me nearer to himself, and to ripen me for
STRUGGLING UNDER AFFLICTION. 377
the honors of his heavenly kingdom. It is, if need
be, that ' I am in heaviness,' 1 Peter, 1:6, and he
surely knows what that need is better than I can
pretend to teach him, and knows what peculiar pro-
priety there is in this affliction to answer my present
necessity, and to do me that peculiar good which he
is graciously intending me by it. This tribulation
shall * work patience, and patience experience, and
experience ' a more assured ' hope,' even a hope which
' shall not make ashamed,' while the love of God is
shed abroad in my heart, Rom. 5:3,5, and shines
through my affliction, like the sun through a gentle
descending cloud, darting in light upon the shade,
and mingling fruitfulness with weeping."
6 Let it be then your earnest care, while you thus
look on your affliction, whatever it may be, as com-
ing from the hand of God, to improve it to the pur-
poses for which it was sent. And that you may so
improve it, let it be your first concern to know what
those purposes are. Summon up all the attention
of your soul to bear the rod, and him ." who hath
appointed it," Mic. 6:9, and pray earnestly that you
may understand its voice. Examine your life, your
« words, and your heart ; and pray that God would so
guide your inquiries, that you may " return unto the
Lord that smiteth you." Isaiah 9 : 13. To assist
you in this, call in the help of pious friends, and par-
ticularly of your minister : entreat not only their
378 RTSE AND PROGRESS.
prayers, but their advice too, as to the probable de-
sign of Providence ; and encourage them freely to
tell you any thing which occurs to their minds upon
this head. And if such an occasion should lead them
to touch upon some of the imperfections of your char-
acter and conduct, look upon it as a great token of
their friendship, and take it not only patiently, but
thankfully. It does but ill become a Christian, at
any time, to resent reproofs and admonitions ; and
least of all does it become him, when the rebukes of
his heavenly Father are upon him. He ought rather
to seek admonitions at such a time as this, and vol-
untarily offer his wounds to be searched by a faithful
and skilful hand.
9. And when, by one means or another, you have
got a ray of light to direct you in the meaning and
language of such dispensations, take heed that you
do not, in any degree, " harden yourself against God,
and walk contrary to him." Lev. 26 : 27. Obstinate
reluctance to the apprehended design of any provi-
dential stroke, is inexpressibly provoking to him. Set
yourself, therefore, to an immediate reformation of
whatever you discover amiss, and labor to learn the
general lessons of greater submission to God's will,
of a more calm indifference to the world, and of a
closer attachment to divine converse, and to the views
of an approaching invisible state. And whatever
particular proportion or correspondence you may ob-
PRAYER UNDER AFFLICTION. 379
serve between this or that circumstance in your afflic-
tion and your former transgressions, be especially
careful to act according to that more peculiar and
express voice of the rod. Then you may perhaps
have speedy and remarkable reason to say, that " it
hath been good for you that you have been afflicted,"
Psalm 119 : 71, and with a multitude of others, may
learn to number the times of your sharpest trials
among the sweetest and most exalted moments of
your life For this purpose, let prayer be your fre-
quent employment ; and let such sentiments as these,
if not in the very same terms, be often and affection-
ately poured out before God.
AN HUMBLE ADDRESS TO GOD, UNDER THE PRESSURE OF
HEAVY AFFLICTION.
" 0 thou supreme, yet all-righteous and gracious
Governor of the whole universe, mean and inconsid-
erable as this little province of thy spacious empire
may appear, thou dost not disregard the earth and its
inhabitants, but attendest to its concerns with the
most condescending and gracious regard. ' Thou
reignest, and I rejoice in it;' as it is indeed ' matter
of universal joy.' Psalm 97 : 1. I believe thy uni-
versal providence and care ; and I firmly believe thy
wise, holy, and kind interposition in every thing which
relates to me and to the circumstances of my abode
in this world. I would look through all inferior
380 RISE AND PROGRESS.
causes unto thee, whose eyes are upon all thy crea-
tures ; to thee, ' who formest light, and Greatest dark-
ness ;' who * makest peace, and Greatest evil,' Isaiah
45 : 7 ; to thee, Lord, who at thy pleasure canst ex-
change the one for the other— canst turn the brightest
noon into midnight, and the darkest midnight into
noon.
" 0 thou wise and merciful Governor of the world,
I have often said, 'Thy will be done ;' and now, thy
will is painful to me. But shall I upon that account
unsay what I have so often said ? 'God forbid.' I
come rather to lay myself down at thy feet, and to
declare my full and free submission to all thy sacred
pleasure. 0 Lord, thou art just and righteous in all.
I acknowledge, in thy venerable and awful presence,
that ' I have deserved this,' and ten thousand times
more. Ezra 9:13. I acknowledge, that ' it is of thy
mercy that I am not utterly consumed,' Lam. 3 : 22,
and that any, the least degree of comfort yet remains.
0 Lord, I most readily confess that the sins of one
day of my life have merited all these chastisements ;
and that every day of my life has been more or less
sinful. Smite, therefore, 0 thou righteous Judge,
and I will still adore thee, that instead of the scourge,
thou hast not given a commission to the sword, to do
all the dreadful work of justice, and to pour out my
blood in thy presence.
" But shall I speak unto thee only as my Judge ?
PRAYER UNDER AFFLICTION. 381
0 Lord, them hast taught me a tenderer name ; thou
condescendest to call thyself my Father, and to speak
of correction as the effect of thy love. 0 welcome,
welcome those afflictions, which are the tokens of thy
paternal affection, the marks of my adoption into thy
family. Thou knowest what discipline I need. Thou
eeest, 0 Lord, that bundle of folly which there is in
the heart of thy poor, froward, and thoughtless child,
and knowest what rods and what strokes are needful
to drive it away. I would therefore * be in humble
subjection to the Father of spirits,' who ' chasteneth
me for my profit' — would 'be in subjection to him,
and live.' Heb. 12 : 9, 10. I would bear thy strokes,
not merely because I cannot resist them, but because
1 love and trust in thee. I would sweetly acquiesce
and rest in thy will, as well as stoop to it, and would
say, ' Good is the word of the Lord",' 2 Kings, 20 : 19 ;
and I desire that not only my lips, but my soul may
acquiesce. Yea, Lord, I would praise thee, that thou
wilt show so much regard to me as to apply such
remedies as these to the diseases of my mind, and art
thus kindly careful to train me up for glory. I have
no objection against being afflicted — against being
afflicted in this particular way. ' The cup which my
Father puts into my hand, shall I not drink it?'
John 18 : 11. By thine assistance and support I will.
Only be pleased, 0 Lord, to stand by me, and some-
times to grant me a favorable look, in the midst of
383 RISE AND PROGRESS.
my sufferings. Support my soul, I beseech thee, by
thy consolations mingled with my tribulations, and
I shall glory in those tribulations that are thus al-
layed. It has been the experience of many, who
have reflected on afflicted days with pleasure, and
have acknowledged that their comforts have swal-
lowed up their sorrows. And after all that thou hast
done, ' are thy mercies restrained ?' Isaiah 63 : 15.
•Is thy hand waxed short?' Numbers 11 : 23 ; or
canst thou not do the same for me ?
" If my heart be less tender, less sensible, thou
canst cure that disorder, and canst make this afflic-
tion the means of curing it. Thus let it be ; and at
length, in thine own due time, and in the way which
thou shalt choose, work out deliverance for me, 'and
show me thy marvellous loving-kindness, 0 thou that
savest by thy right hand them that put their trust
in thee.' Psalm 17:7. For I well know, that how
dark soever this night of affliction may seem, if thou
sayest, ' Let there be light,' there shall be light. But
I would urge nothing before the time thy wisdom and
goodness shall appoint. I am much more concerned
that my afflictions may be sanctified, than that they
may be removed. Number me, 0 God, among the
happy persons whom, while thou chastenest, thou
cteachest out of thy law.' Psalm 94 : 12. Show
me, I beseech thee, 'wherefore thou contendest with
me,' Job 10:2, and purify me by the fire, which is
PRAYER UNDER AFFLICTION. 383
so painful to me while I am passing through it. Dost
thou not chasten thy children for this very end, ' that
they may be partakers of thy holiness ?' Heb. 12:10.
Thou knowest, 0 God, it is this my soul is breathing
after. I am partaker of thy bounty every day and
moment of my life : I am partaker of thy Gospel, and
I hope, in some measure too, a partaker of the grace
of it operating on my heart. 0 may it operate more
and more, that I may largely partake of thine holi-
ness too, that I may come nearer and nearer in the
temper of rny mind to thee, 0 blessed God, the su-
preme model of perfection. Let my soul be as it
were melted, though with the intensest heat of the
furnace, if I may but thereby be made fit for being
delivered into the mould of the Gospel, and bearing
thy bright and amiable image.
" 0 Lord, { my soul longeth for thee ; it crieth out
for the living God.' Psalm 84 : 2. In thy presence,
and under the support of thy love, I can bear any
thing ; and am willing to bear it, if I may grow
more lovely in thine eyes, and more meet for thy
kingdom. The days of my affliction will have an
end ; the hour will at length come, when thou 'wilt
wipe away all my tears.' Rev. 21:4. ' Though it
tarry,' I would ' wait for it.' Hab. 2:3. My foolish
heart, in the midst of all its trials, is ready to grow
fond of this earth, disappointing and grievous as it
is ; and graciously, 0 God, dost thou deal with me,
384 RISE AND PROGRESS.
in breaking those bonds that would tie me faster to
it. 0 let my soul be girding itself up, and as it
were, stretching its wings in expectation of that
blessed hour when it shall drop all its sorrows and
incumbrances at once, and soar away to expatiate
with infinite delight in the regions of liberty, peace,
and joy. Amen."
GROWTH IN GRACE. 385
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE CHRISTIAN ASSISTED IN EXAMINING INTO HIS
GROWTH IN GRACE.
1. The examination important. — 2. False marks of growth
to be avoided. — 3. True marks proposed; such as increasing
love to God. — 4. Benevolence to men. — 5. Candor of dispo-
sition.— 6. Meekness under injuries. — 7. Serenity amidst the
uncertainties of life. — 8. Humility, especially as expressed in
evangelical exercises of mind towards Christ and the Holy
Spirit. — 10. Zeal for the divine honor. — 11. Habitual and
cheerful willingness to exchange worlds whenever God shall
appoint. — 12. Conclusion. The Christian breathing after
growth in grace.
1. IF by divine grace you have " been born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible," 1 Pet.
1 : 23, even " by that word of God which liveth and
abideth for ever," not only in the world and the
church, but in particular souls in which it is sown ;
you will, " as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk
of the word, that you may grow thereby." 1 Pet.
2:2. And though in the most advanced state of
religion on earth, we are but infants in comparison
to what we hope to be, when, in the heavenly world,
we arrive " unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ," Eph. 4 : 13 ;
yet, as we have some exercise of a sanctified reason,
Rise and Prog, 25
886 RISE AND PROGRESS.
we shall be solicitous that we may be growing and
thriving. And you, my reader, "if so be you have
tasted that the Lord is gracious," 1 Pet. 2:3, will, I
doubt not, feel this solicitude. I would, therefore,
endeavor to assist you in making the inquiry, whether
religion be on the advance in your soul. And here
I shall warn you against some false marks of growth,
and then shall endeavor to lay down others on which
you may depend as more solid. In this view I would
observe, that you are not to measure your growth in
grace only or chiefly by your advances in knowledge,
or in zeal, or any other passionate impression of the
mind, no, nor by the fervor of devotion alone ; but
by the habitual determination of the will for God,
arid by your prevailing disposition to obey his com-
mands, submit to his disposal, and promote the high-
est welfare of his cause in the earth.
2. It must be allowed, that knowledge and affec-
tion in religion are indeed desirable. Without some
degree of the former, religion cannot be rational i
and it is very reasonable to believe, that without
some degree of the latter, it cannot be sincere in
creatures whose natures are constituted like ours.
Yet there may be a great deal of speculative know-
ledge, and a great deal of rapturous affection, where
there is no true religion at all ; and still more, where
religion exists, though there be no advanced state of
it. The exercise of our rational faculties upon the
GROWTH IN GRACE. 387
evidences of divine revelation, and upon the declara-
tion of it as contained in Scripture, may furnish a
very wicked man with a well-digested body of ortho-
dox divinity in his head, when not one single doctrine
of it has ever reached his heart. An eloquent de-
scription of the sufferings of Christ, of the solemnities
of judgment, of the joys of the blessed, and the mise-
ries of the damned, might move the breast even of
a man who did not firmly believe them ; as we often
find ourselves strongly moved by well- wrought nar-
rations or discourses, which at the same time we
know to have their foundation in fiction. Natural
constitution, or such accidental causes as are, some
of them, too low to be here mentioned, may supply
the eyes with a flood of tears, which may discharge
itself plenteously upon almost any occasion that shall
first arise. And a proud impatience of contradic-
tion, directly opposite as it is to the gentle spirit of
Christianity, may make a man's blood boil when he
hears the notions he has entertained, and especially
those which he has openly and vigorously espoused,
disputed and opposed. This may possibly lead him,
in terms of strong indignation, to pour out his zeal
and his rage before God, in a fond conceit, that as
the God of truth, he is the pattern of those favorite
doctrines by whose fair appearances perhaps he him-
self is misled. And if these speculative refinements,
or these affectionate sallies of the mind, be consistent
388 RISE AND PROGRESS.
with a total absence of true religion, they are much
more apparently consistent with a very 4ow state of
it. I would desire to lead you, my friend, into sub-
limer notions and juster marks, and refer you to
other practical writers, and above all, to the book
of God, to prove how material they are. I would
therefore entreat you to bring your own heart to
answer, as in the presence of God, such inquiries as
these :
3. Do you find " divine love, on the whole, ad-
vancing in your soul ?" Do you feel yourself more
and more sensible of the presence of God ; and does
that sense grow more delightful to you than it for-
merly was? Can you, even when your natural
spirits are weak and low, and you are not in any
frame for the ardors and ecstasies of devotion, never-
theless find a pleasing rest, a calm repose of heart,
in the thought that God is near you, and that he sees
the secret sentiments of your soul, while you are, as
it were, laboring up the hill, and casting a longing
eye towards him, though you cannot say you enjoy
any sensible communications from him ? Is it agree-
able to you to open your heart to his inspection and
regard, to present it to him laid bare of every dis-
guise, and say with David, " Thou, Lord, knowest
thy servant ?" 2 Sam. 7 : 20. Do you find a grow-
ing esteem and approbation of that sacred law of
God, which is the transcript of his moral perfections?
GROWTH IN GRACE. 389
Do you inwardly " esteem all his precepts concerning
all things to be right ?" Psalm 119 : 128. Do you
discern not only the necessity, but the reasonableness,
the beauty, the pleasure of obedience ; and feel a
growing scorn and contempt of those things which
may be offered as the price of your innocence, and
would tempt you to sacrifice or hazard your interest
in the divine favor and friendship ? Do you find an
ingenuous desire to please God, not only because he
is so powerful, and has so many good and so many
evil things entirely at his command, but from a ven-
eration of his most amiable nature and character ;
and do you find your heart habitually reconciled to
a most humble subjection both to his commanding
and to his disposing will ? Do you perceive that
your own will is now more ready and disposed, in
every circumstance, to bear the yoke, and to submit
to the divine determination, whatever he appoints to
be borne or forborne ? Can you " in patience possess
your soul ?" Luke 21 : 19. Can you maintain a
more steady calmness and serenity, when God is
striking at your dearest enjoyments in this world,
and acting most directly contrary to your present
interests, to your natural passions and desires ? If
you can, it is a most certain and noble sign that
grace is growing up in you to a very vigorous state.
4. Examine also, " what affections you find in
your heart towards those who are about you, and to-
390 RISE AND PROGRESS.
wards the rest of mankind in general." Do you find
your heart overflow with undissembled and unre-
strained benevolence ? Are you more sensible than
you once were of those most endearing bonds which
unite all men, and especially all Christians, into one
community ; which make them brethren and fellow-
citizens ? Do all the unfriendly passions die and
wither in your soul, while the kind, social affections
grow and strengthen ? And though self-love was
never the reigning passion since you became a true
Christian, yet, as some remainders of it are still too
ready to work inwardly, and to show themselves,
especially as sudden occasions arise, do you perceive
that you are getting ground of them ? Do you think
of yourself only as one of a great number, whose
particular interests and concerns are of little impor-
tance when compared with those of the community,
and ought by all means, on all occasions, to be sac-
rificed to them ?
5. Reflect especially " on the temper of your mind
towards those whom an unsanctified heart might be
ready to imagine it had some just excuse for except-
ing out of the list of those it loves, and from whom
you are ready to feel some secret alienation or aver-
sion." How does your mind stand affected towards
those who differ from you in their religious sentiments
and practices ? I do not say that Christian charity
will require you to think every error harmless. It
GROWTH IN GRACE. 39J
argues no want of love to a friend, in some cases, to
fear lest his disorder should prove more fatal than he
seems to imagine ; nay, sometimes the very tender-
ness of friendship may increase that apprehension.
But to hate persons because we think they are mis-
taken, and to aggravate every difference in judgment
or practice into a fatal and damnable error, that de-
stroys all Christian communion and love, is a symp-
tom generally much worse than the evil it condemns.
Do you love the image of Christ in a person who
thinks himself obliged in conscience to profess and
worship in a manner different from yourself? Nay,
farther, can you love and honor that which is truly
amiable and excellent in those in whom much is
defective ; in those in whom there is a mixture of
bigotry and narrowness of spirit, which may lead
them perhaps to slight, or even to censure you?
Can you love them as the disciples and servants of
Christ, who, through a mistaken zeal, may be ready
to " cast out your name as evil," Luke 6 : 22, and
to warn others against you as a dangerous person ?
This is none of the least triumphs of charity, nor any
despicable evidence of an advance in religion.
6. And on this head, reflect farther, " How can
you bear injuries?" There is a certain hardness of
soul in this respect, which argues a confirmed state
in piety and virtue. Does every thing of this kind
hurry and ruffle you, so as to put you on contrivances
392 RISE AND PROGRESS.
how you may recompense, or at least, how you may
disgrace and expose him who has done you the
wrong ? Or can you stand the shock calmly, and
easily divert your mind to other objects ; only, when
you recollect these things, pitying and praying for
those who, with the worst tempers and views, are as-
saulting you ? This is a Christlike temper indeed,
and he will own it as such — will own you as one of
his soldiers, as one of his heroes ; especially if it
rises so far as, instead of being " overcome of evil, to
overcome evil with good." Rom. 12 : 21. Watch
over your spirit and over your tongue, when injuries
are offered, and see whether you be ready to medi-
tate upon them, to aggravate them in your own
view, to complain of them to others, and to lay on
all the load of blame that you in justice can ; or
whether you be ready to put the kindest construc-
tion upon the offence, to excuse it as far as reason
will allow, and where, after all, it will wear a
black and odious aspect, to forgive it, heartily to
forgive it, and that even before any submission is
made, or pardon asked ; and in token of the sincerity
of that forgiveness, to be contriving what can be
done, by some benefit or other towards the injurious
person, to teach him a better temper.
7. Examine farther, " with regard to other evils
and calamities of life, and even with regard to its
uncertainties, how you can bear them." Do you find
GROWTH IN GRACE. 393
your soul is in this respect gathering strength ? Have
you fewer foreboding fears and disquieting alarms
than you once had, as to what may happen in life ?
Can you trust the wisdom and goodness of God to
order your affairs for you, with more complacency
and cheerfulness than formerly ? Do you find your-
self able to unite your thoughts more in surveying
present circumstances, that you may collect imme-
diate duty from them, though you know not what
God will next appoint or call you to ? And when
you feel the smart of affliction, do you make a less
matter of it ? Can you transfer your heart more
easily to heavenly and divine objects, without an
anxious solicitude whether this or that burden be
removed, so it may but be sanctified to promote your
communion with God and your ripeness for glory ?
8. Examine also, " whether you advance in hu-
mility." This is a silent but most excellent grace ;
and they who are most eminent in it are dearest to
God, and most fit for the communications of his pres-
ence to them. Do you, then, feel your mind more
emptied of proud and haughty imaginations — not
prone so much to look back upon past services which
it has performed, as forward to those which are yet
before you, and inward upon the remaining imper-
fections of your heart ? Do you more tenderly ob-
serve your daily failures and miscarriages, and find
yourself disposed to mourn over those things before
394 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the Lord, that once passed with you as slight mat-
ters, though when you come to survey them as in
the presence of God, you find they were not wholly
involuntary or free from guilt ? Do you feel in your
breast a deeper apprehension of the infinite majesty
of the blessed God, and of the glory of his natural
and moral perfections, so as, in consequence of these
views, to perceive yourself as it were annihilated in
his presence, and to shrink into " less than nothing,
and vanity ?" Isaiah 40 : 17. If this be your tem-
per, God will look upon you with peculiar favor, and
will visit you more and more with the distinguishing
blessings of his grace.
9. But there is another great branch and effect of
Christian humility, which it would be an unpardon-
able negligence to omit. Let me, therefore, farther
inquire, are you more frequently renewing your ap-
plication, your sincere, steady, determined application
to the righteousness and blood of Christ, as being
sensible how unworthy you are to appear before God
otherwise than in him ? And do the remaining cor-
ruptions of your hea.rt humble you before him, though
the disorders of your life are in a great measure
cured ? Are you more earnest to obtain the quick-
ening influences of the Holy Spirit ; and have you
such a sense of your own weakness as to engage you
to depend, in all the duties you perform, upon the
communications of his grace to " help your infirrni-
GROWTH IN GRACE. 3;)5
ties ?" Rom. 8 : 26. Can you, at the close of your
most religious, exemplary, and useful days, blush
before God for the deficiencies of them, while others
perhaps may be ready to admire and extol your con-
duct ? And while you give the glory of all that has
been right to Him from whom the strength and grace
has been derived, are you coming to the blood of
sprinkling, to free you from the guilt which mingles
itself even with the best of your services ? Do you
learn to receive the bounties of Providence not only
with thankfulness, as coming from God, but with a
mixture of shame and confusion too, under a con-
sciousness that you do not deserve them, and are
continually forfeiting them? And do you justify
Providence in your afflictions and disappointments,
evenx while many are flourishing around you full in
the bloom of prosperity, whose offences have been
more visible at least, and more notorious than yours?
10. Do you also advance "in zeal and activity"
for the service of God and the happiness of mankind ?
Does your love show itself solid and sincere, by a
continual flow of good works from it ? Can you
view the sorrows of others with tender compassion,
and with projects and contrivances what you may
do to relieve them ? Do you feel in your breast that
you are more frequently " devising liberal things/'
Isaiah 32 : 8, and ready to waive your own advan-
tage or pleasure that you may accomplish them ?
396 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Do you find your imagination teeming, as it were,
with conceptions and schemes for the advancement
of the cause and interest of Christ in the world, for
the propagation of his Gospel, and for the happiness
of your fellow-creatures ? And do you not only pray,
but act for it ; act in such a manner as to show that
you pray in earnest, and feel a readiness to do what
little you can in this cause, even though others, who
might, if they pleased, very conveniently do a vast
deal more, will do nothing ?
11. And, not to enlarge upon this copious head,
reflect once more, "how your affections stand with
regard to this world and another." Are you more
deeply and practically convinced of the vanity of
these " things which are seen, and are temporal ?"
2 Cor. 4 : 18. Do you perceive your expectations
from them and your attachments to them to dimin-
ish ? You are willing to stay in this world as long
as your Father pleases ; and it is right and well :
but do you find your bonds so loosened to it, that
you are willing, heartily willing, to leave it at the
shortest warning ; so that if God should see fit to
summon you away on a sudden, though it should be
in the midst of your enjoyments, pursuits, expecta-
tions, and hopes, you would cordially consent to that
remove without saying, " Lord, let me stay a little
while longer, to enjoy this or that agreeable enter-
tainment, to finish this or that scheme ?" Can you
GROWTH IN GRACE. '397
think, with an habitual calmness and hearty appro-
bation, if such be the divine pleasure, of waking no
more when you lie down on your bed, of returning
home no more when you go out of your house ? And
yet, on the other hand, how great soever the burdens
of life are, do you find a willingness to bear them, in
submission to the will of your heavenly Father,
though it should be to many future years, and though
they should be years of far greater affliction than you
have ever yet seen? Can you say calmly and
steadily, if not with such overflowings of tender
affection as you could desire, " Behold, 'thy servant/
thy child is ' in thine hand ; do with me as seemeth
good in thy sight.' 2 Sam. 15 : 26. My will is
melted into thine ; to be lifted up or laid down, to
be carried out or brought in, to be here or there, in
this or that circumstance, just as thou pleasest, and
as shall best suit with thy great extensive plan,
which it is impossible that I, or all the angels in
heaven, should mend."
12. These, if I understand matters arighti are
Borne of the most substantial evidences of growth
and establishment in religion. Search after them ;
bless God for them, so far as you discover them in
yourself, and study to advance in them daily, under
the influences of divine grace ; to which I heartily
recommend you, and to which I entreat you fre-
quently to recommend yourself.
398 RISE AND PROGRESS.
THE CHRISTIAN BREATHING EARNESTLY AFTER
GROWTH IN GRACE.
" 0 thou ever-blessed Fountain of natural and
spiritual life, I thank thee that I live, and know the
exercises and pleasures of a religious life. I bless
thee that thou hast infused into me thine own vital
breath, though I was once * dead in trespasses and
sins,' Eph. 2:1, so that I am become, in a sense
peculiar to thine own children, ' a living soul.' Gen.
2:7. But it is my earnest desire that I may not
only live but grow, ' grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,' 2
Pet. 3 : 18, upon an acquaintance with whom my
progress in it so evidently depends. In this view, I
humbly entreat thee that thou wilt form my mind
to right notions in religion, that I may not judge of
grace by any wrong conceptions of it, nor measure
my advances in it by those things which are merely
the effects of nature, and possibly its corrupt effects.
"May I be seeking after an increase of divine love
to thee, my God and Father in Christ, of unreserved
resignation to thy wise and holy will, and of exten-
sive benevolence to my fellow/creatures. May I grow
in patience and fortitude of soul, in humility and
zeal, in spirituality and a heavenly disposition of
mind, and in a concern, 'that, whether present or
absent, I may be accepted of the Lord,' 2 Cor. 5:9,
that whether I live or die, it may be for thy glory.
GROWTH IN GRACE. 309
In a word, as tliou Imowest I hunger and thirst after
righteousness, make me whatever thou wouldst de-
light to see me. Draw on my soul, by the gentle
influences of thy gracious Spirit, every trace, and
every feature, which thine eye, 0 heavenly Father,
may survey with pleasure, and which thou mayest
acknowledge as thine own image.
" I am sensible, 0 Lord, I have not as yet attained,
yea, my soul is utterly confounded to think how far
I am from being already perfect ; but this one thing,
after the great example of thine apostle, I would en-
deavor to do : ' forgetting the things which are behind,
I would press forward to those which are before.' Phil.
3 : 12, 13. 0 that thou wouldst feed my soul by thy
word and Spirit. Having been, as I humbly hope and
trust, regenerated by it, ' being born again, not of cor-
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by thy word,
which liveth and abideth for ever,' 1 Pet. 1 : 23, 'as a
new-born babe, I desire the sincere milk of the word,
that I may grow thereby.' 1 Pet. 2:2. And may
'my profiting appear unto all men,' 1 Tim. 4:15, till
at length ' I come unto a perfect man, unto the meas-
ure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,' Eph. 4 : 13 ,*
and after having enjoyed the pleasure of those that
flourish eminently in thy courts below, be fixed in
the paradise above. I ask and hope it through our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; ' to him be glory,
both now and for ever.' 2 Pet. 3:18. Amen."
400 RISE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XXVII,
THE ADVANCED CHRISTIAN REMINDED OF THE MERCIES
OF GOD, AND EXHORTED TO THE EXERCISE OF HABIT-
UAL LOVE TO HIM, AND JOY IN HIM.
1. A holy joy in God our privilege as well as our duty. — 2.
The Christian invited to the exercise of it. — 3. By the consid-
eration of temporal mercies. — 4. And of spiritual favors. — 5.
By the views of eternal happiness. — 6. And of the mercies of
God to others, the living and the dead. — 7. The chapter closes
with an exhortation to this heavenly exercise. And with an
example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in God.
1. I WOULD now suppose my reader to find, on an
examination of his spiritual state, that he is growing
in grace. And if you desire that this growth may at
once be acknowledged and promoted, let me call your
soul " to that more affectionate exercise of love to
God and joy in him," which suits, and strengthens,
and exalts the character of the advanced Christian ;
and which I beseech you to regard, not only as your
privilege, but as your duty too. Love is the most
sublime, generous principle of all true and accepta-
ble obedience ; and with love, when so wisely and
happily fixed, when so certainly returned, JOY, pro-
portionable JOY, must naturally be connected. It
may justly grieve a man that enters into the spirit of
Christianity, to see how low a life even the gener-
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 4QJ
ality of sincere Christians commonly live in this re-
spect ; " Rejoice then in the Lord, ye righteous, and
give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness,'*
Psalm 97 : 12, and of all those other perfections and
glories which are included in that majestic, that won-
derful, that delightful name, THE LORD THY GOD.
Spend not your sacred moments merely in confession
or in petition, though each must have their daily
share ; but give a part, a considerable part, to the
celestial and angelic work of praise. Yea, labor to
carry about with you continually a heart overflow-
ing with such sentiments, warmed and inflamed with
such affections.
2. Are there not continually rays enough diffused
from the great Father of light and love to enkindle
it in our bosom ? Come, my Christian friend and
brother, come and survey with me the goodness of
our heavenly Father. And 0 that he would give
me such a sense of it, that I might represent it in a
suitable manner ; that " while I am musing, the fire
may burn" in my own heart, Psalm 39 : 3, and be
communicated to yours. And 0 that it might pass,
with the lines I write, from soul to soul, awakening
in the breast of every Christian that reads them, sen-
timents more worthy the children of Grod and the
heirs of glory, who are to spend an eternity in those
sacred exercises to which I am now endeavoring to
excite you.
Rise niid Prog. 26
402 RISE AND PROGRESS.
3. Have you not reason to adopt the words of Da-
vid, and say, " How many are thy gracious thoughts
unto me, 0 Lord. How great is the sum of them.
When I would count them, they are more in number
than the sand." Psalm 139 : 17, 18. You indeed
know where to begin the survey, for the favors of
God to you began with your being. Commemorate
it therefore with a grateful heart, that the eyes which
<c saw your substance, being yet imperfect," beheld
you with a friendly care "when you were made in
secret," and have watched over you ever since ; and
that the hand which " drew the plan of your mem-
bers, when as yet there was none of them," Psalm
139 : 15, 16, not only fashioned them at first, but
from that time has been concerned in " keeping all
your bones, so that none of them is broken," Psalm
34 : 20, and that, indeed, it is to this you owe it that
you live. Look back upon the path you have trod,
from the day that God brought you out of the womb,
and say whether you do not, as it were, see all the
road thick set with the marks and memorials of the
divine goodness. Recollect the places where you
have lived, and the persons with whom you have
most intimately conversed, and call to mind the mer-
cies you have received in those places, and from those
persons, as the instruments of the divine care and
goodness. Recollect the difficulties and dangers with
which you have been surrounded, and reflect atten-
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 403
lively on what God hath done to defend you from
them, or to carry you through them. Think how
often there has been but a step between you and
death, and how suddenly God has sometimes inter-
posed to set you in safety, even before you appre-
hended your danger. Think of those chambers of
illness in which you have been confined ; and from
which perhaps, you once thought you should go.,
forth no more ; but said, with Hezekiah, in the cut-
ting off of your days, "I shall go to the gates of the
grave : I am deprived of the residue of my years."
Isaiah 38 : 10. God has, it may be, since that time,
added many years to your life ; and you know not
how many are in reserve, or how much usefulness
and happiness may attend each. Survey your cir-
cumstances in relative life ; how many kind friends
are surrounding you daily, and studying how they
may contribute to your comfort. Reflect on those
remarkable circumstances in providence which occa-
sioned the knitting of some bonds of this kind, which
next to those which join your soul to God, you num-
ber among the happiest. And forget not in how
many instances, when these dear lives have been
threatened, lives perhaps more sensibly dear than
your own, God has given them back from the bor-
ders of the grave, and so added new endearments,
arising from that tender circumstance, to all your
after-converse with them. Nor forget in how gra-
404 RISE AND PROGRESS.
cious a manner he hath supported some others in
their last moments, and enabled them to leave behind
a sweet odor of piety, which hath embalmed their
memories, revived you when ready to faint under the
sorrows of the last separation, and on the whole, made
even the recollection of their death delightful.
4. But it is more than time that I lead on your
thoughts to the many spiritual mercies which God has
bestowed upon you. Look back, as it were, to " the
rock from whence you were hewn, and to the hole of
the pit from whence you were digged." Isa. 51 : 1.
Reflect seriously on the state wherein divine grace found
you : under how much guilt, under how much pollu-
tion ; in what danger, in wjiat ruin. Think what was,
and 0 think, with yet deeper reflection, what would
have been the case. The eye of God, which penetrates
into eternity, saw what your mind, amused with the
trifles of the present time and sensual gratification, was
utterly ignorant and regardless of : it saw you on the
borders of eternity, and pitied you ; saw that you
would in a little time have been such a helpless,
wretched creature as the sinner that is just now dead,
and has, to his infinite surprise and everlasting ter-
ror, met his unexpected doom ; and would, like him,
stand thunderstruck in astonishment and despair.
This God saw, and he pitied you ; and being merci-
ful to you, he provided, in the counsel of his eternal
Jove and grace, a Redeemer for you, and purchased
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 405
you to himself, through the blood of his Son — a price
which, if you will pause upon it, and think seriously
what it was, must surely affect you to such a de-
gree as to make you fall down before God in wonder
and shame, to think it should ever have been given
for you. To accomplish these blessed purposes, he
sent his grace into your heart ; so that, though "you
were once darkness, you are now light in the Lord."
Eph. 5:8. He made that happy change which you
now feel in your soul, and " by his Holy Spirit, which
is given to. you," he shed abroad that principle of love,
Rom. 5:5, which is enkindled by this review, and
now flames with greater ardor than before. Thus
far he hath supported you in your Christian course,
and " having obtained help from him," it is that you
continue even to this day. Acts 26 : 22. He hath
not only blessed you, but "made you a blessing,"
Gen. 12:2; and though you have not been so useful
as that holy generosity of heart which he has excited
would have engaged you to desire, yet some good you
have done in the station in which he has fixed you.
Some of your brethren of mankind have been relieved ;
perhaps, too, some thoughtless creature reclaimed to
virtue and happiness by his blessing on your endeav-
ors. Some in the way to heaven are praising God
for you ; and some perhaps, already there, are long-
ing for your arrival, that they may thank you, in
nobler and more expressive forms, for benefits, the
406 RISE AND PROGRESS.
importance of which, they now sufficiently understand,
though while here they could never conceive it.
5. Christian, look around on the numberless bless-
ings of one kind and of another with which you are
already encompassed, and advance your prospect
still farther to what faith yet discovers within the
veil. Think of those now unknown transports with
which thou shalt drop every burden in the grave,
and thine immortal spirit shall mount, light and joy-
ful, holy and happy, to God, its original, its support,
and its hope ; to God, the source of being, of holiness,
and of pleasure ; to Jesus, through whom all these
blessings are derived to thee, and who will appoint
thee a throne near to his own, to be for ever a spec-
tator and partaker of his glory. Think of the rap-
ture with which thou shalt attend his triumph in the
resurrection- day, and receive this poor mouldering,
corruptible body, transformed into his glorious image ;
and then think, " These hopes are not mine alone,
but the hopes of thousands and millions. Multitudes,
whom I number among the dearest of my friends
upon the earth, are rejoicing with me in these ap-
prehensions and views ; and God gives me sometimes
to see the smiles on their cheeks, the sweet, humble
hope that sparkles in their eyes and shines through
the tears of tender gratitude, and to hear that little
of their inward complacency and joy which language
can express. Yea, and multitudes more, who were
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 4C7
once equally dear to me with these, though I have laid
them in the grave, and wept over their dust, are living
to God, living in the possession of inconceivable de-
lights, and drinking large draughts of the water of life,
which flows in perpetual streams at his right hand."
6. 0 Christian, thou art still intimately united and
allied to them. Death cannot break a friendship
thus cemented, and it ought not to render thee insen-
sible of the happiness of those friends for whose mem-
ory thou retainest so just an honor. They live to
God as his servants ; they " serve him, and see his
face," Rev. 22:3, 4; and they make but a small
part of that glorious assembly. Millions, equally
worthy of thine esteem and affection with themselves,
inhabit those blissful regions ; and wilt thou not
rejoice in their joy ? And wilt thou not adore that
everlasting spring of holiness and happiness from
whence each of their streams is derived ? Yea, I
will add, while the blessed angels are so kindly re-
garding us, while they are ministering to thee, 0
Christian, and bearing thee in their arms, "as an
heir of salvation," Heb. 1 : 14, wilt thou not rejoice
in their felicity too ? And wilt thou not adore that
God who gives them all the superior glory of their
more exalted nature, and gives them a heaven which
fills them with blessedness even while they seem to
withdraw from it that they may attend on thee ?
7. This, and infinitely more than this, the blessed
408 RISE AND PROGRESS.
God is, and was, and shall ever be. The felicities
of the blessed spirits that surround his throne, and
thy felicities, 0 Christian, are immortal. These
heavenly luminaries shall glow with an undecaying
flame, and thou shalt shine and burn among them
when the sun and the stars are gone out. Still shall
the unchanging Father of lights pour forth his beams
upon them ; and the lustre they reflect from him,
and their happiness in him, shall be everlasting, shall
be ever growing. Bow down, 0 thou child of God,
thou heir of glory — bow down, and let all that is
within thee unite in one act of grateful love ; and let
all that is around thee, all that is before thee in the
prospects of an unbounded eternity, concur to elevate
and transport thy soul, that thou mayest, as far as
possible, begin the work and blessedness of heaven?
in falling down before the God of it, in opening thine
heart to his gracious influences, and in breathing out
before him that incense of praise which these Avarm
beams of his presence and love have so great a ten-
dency to produce, and to ennoble with a fragrancy
resembling that of his paradise above.
THE GRATEFUL SOUL REJOICING IN THE BLESSINGS OF
PROVIDENCE AND GRACE, AND POURING OUT ITSELF
BEFORE GOD IN VIGOROUS AND AFFECTIONATE EXEE-
CISES OF LOVE AND PRAISE.
"0 my God, it is enough; I have mused, and 'the
fire burneth.' Psa. 39:3. But 0. in what Ian-
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 409
guage shall the flame break forth ? "What can I say
but this, that my heart admires thee, and adores thee;
and loves thee ? My little vessel is as full as it can
hold ; and I would pour out all that fulness before
thee, that it may grow capable of receiving more and
more. Thou art ' my hope and my help ; my glory,
and the lifter up of my head.' Psa. 3:3. ' My heart
rejoiceth in thy salvation,' Psa. 13 : 5; and when I
set myself under the influences of thy good Spirit to
converse with thee, a thousand delightful thoughts
spring up at once ; a thousand sources of pleasure
are unsealed, and flow in upon my soul with such
refreshment and joy, that they seem to crowd into
every moment the happiness of days, and weeks, and
months.
" I bless thee, 0 God, for this soul of mine which
thou hast created ; which thou hast taught to say,
and I hope to the happiest purpose, 'Where is God.
my Maker?' Job 35 : 10. I bless thee for the know-
ledge with which thou hast adorned it. I bless thee
for that grace with which I trust I may — not without
humble wonder — say, thou hast sanctified it ; though,
alas, the celestial plant is fixed in too barren a soil,
and does not flourish to the degree I could wish.
"I bless thee also for that body which thou hast
given me, and which thou preservest as yet in its
strength and vigor, not only capable of relishing the
entertainments which thou providest for its various
410 RISE AND PROGRESS.
senses, but, which I esteem far more valuable than
any of them for its own sake, capable of acting with
some vivacity in thy service. I bless thee for that
ease and freedom with which these 'limbs of mine
move themselves, and obey the dictates of my spirit,
[ hope as guided by thine. I bless thee that 'the
keepers of my house do not tremble, nor the strong
men bow themselves;' that they 'that look out of
the windows are not yet darkened, nor the daughters
of music brought low.' I bless thee, 0 God of my
life, that 'the silver cord is not yet loosed, nor the
golden bowl broken,' Eccl. 12 : 3, 4, 6 ; for it is thine
hand that braces all my nerves, and thine infinite
skill that prepares those spirits that flow in so freely,
and when exhausted, recruit so soon and so plenti-
fully. I praise thee for that royal bounty with which
thou providest for the daily support of mankind in
general, and for mine in particular; for the various
tables which thou spreadest before me, and for the
overflowing cup which thou 'puttest into my hands.'
Psa. 23 : 5. I bless thee that these bounties of thy
providence do not serve as it were to upbraid a dis-
abled appetite, and are not ' like messes of meat set
before the dead.' I bless thee too, that I ' eat not
my morsel of meat alone,' Job 31 : 17, but share it
with so many agreeable friends, who add the relish
of a social life to that of the animal, at our seasons
of common repast. I thank thee for so many dear
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 411
relatives at home, for so many kind friends abroad,
who are capable of serving me in various instances,
and disposed to make an obliging use of that ca-
pacity.
"Nor would I forget to acknowledge thy favor in
rendering me capable of serving others, and giving
me in any instance to know how much ' more blessed
it is to give than to receive/ Acts 20 : 35. I thank
thee for a heart which feels the sorrows of the neces-
sitous, and a mind which can make it my early care
and refreshment to contrive, according to my little
ability, for their relief; for 'this also cometh forth
from thee, 0 Lord,' Isa. 28 : 29, the great Author of
every benevolent inclination, of every prudent scheme,
of every successful attempt to spread happiness around
us, or in any instance to lessen distress.
"And surely, 0 Lord, if I thus acknowledge the
pleasures of sympathy with the afflicted, much more
must I bless thee for those of sympathy with the
happy, with those that are completely blessed. I
adore thee for the streams that water paradise, and
maintain it in ever-flourishing, ever-growing delight.
I praise thee for the rest, the joy, the transport, thou
art giving to many that were once dear to me on
earth, whose sorrows it was my labor to soothe, and
whose joys, especially in thee, it was the delight of
my heart to promote. I praise thee for the blessed-
ness of every saint, and of every angel that sur-
412 RISE AND PROGRESS.
rounds thy throne above; and I praise thee, with
accents of distinguished pleasure for that reviving
hope which thou hast implanted in my bosom, that
I shall ere long know, by clear sight, and by ever-
lasting experience, what that felicity of theirs is
which I now only discover at a distance, through
the comparatively obscure glass of faith. Even now,
through thy grace, do I feel myself borne forward
by thy supporting arm to those regions of blessed-
ness. Even now am I 'waiting for thy salvation/
Gen. 49 : 18, with that ardent desire, on the one
hand, which its sublime greatness cannot but inspire
into the believing soul, and that calm resignation on
the other, which the immutability of thy promise
establishes.
" And now, 0 my God, what shall I say unto thee ?
what but that I love thee above all the powers of
language to express. That I love thee for what thou
art to thy creatures, who are, in their various forms,
every moment deriving being, knowledge, and happi-
ness from thee, in numbers and degrees far beyond
what my narrow imagination can conceive. But 0,
I adore and love thee yet far more for what thou
art in thyself; for those stores of perfection which
creation has not diminished, and which can never be
exhausted by all the effects of it which thou impart-
est to thy creatures ; that infinite perfection which
makes thee thine own happiness, thine own end;
GRATEFUL JOY IN GOD. 4J3
amiable, infinitely amiable and venerable, were all
derived excellence and happiness forgot.
"0 -thou first, thou greatest, thou fairest of all ob-
jects— thou only great, thou only fair, possess all my
soul. And surely thou dost possess it. While I
thus feel thy sacred Spirit breathing on my heart, and
exciting these fervors of love to thee, I cannot doubt
it any more than I can doubt the reality of this ani-
mal life, while I exert the actings of it, and feel its
sensations. Surely, if ever I knew the appetite of
hunger, my soul 'hungers after righteousness,' Matt.
5:6, and longs for a greater conformity to thy blessed
nature and holy will. If ever my palate felt thirst,
'my soul thirsteth for God, even for the living God,'
Psa. 42 : 2, and panteth for the more abundant com-
munion of his favor. If ever this body, when wea-
ried with labor or journies, knew what it was to wish
for the refreshment of my bed, and rejoice to rest
there, my soul, with sweet acquiescence, rests upon
thy gracious bosom, 0 my heavenly Father, and re-
turns to its repose in the embraces of its God, * who
hath dealt so bountifully with it.' Psa. 116:7. And
if ever I saw the face of a beloved friend with com-
placency and joy, I rejoice in beholding thy face, 0
Lord, and in calling thee my Father in Christ. Such
thou art, and such thou wilt be, for time and for
eternity. What have I more to do but to commit
myself to thee for both ? leaving it to thee to ' choose
414 RISE AND PROGRESS.
my inheritance,' and to order my affairs for me, Psa.
47 : 4, while all my business is to serve thee, and all
my delight to praise thee. 'My soul follows hard
after God,' because ' his right hand upholds me.' Psa.
63 : 8. Let it still bear me up, and I shall press on
towards thee, till all my desires be accomplished in
the eternal enjoyment of thee. Amen."
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 4]5
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE ESTABLISHED CHRISTIAN URGED TO EXERT HIM-
SELF FOR PURPOSES OF USEFULNESS.
1, 2. A sincere love to God will express itself not only in
devotion, but in benevolence to men. — 3. This is the command
of God. — 4. The true Christian feels his soul wrought to a
holy conformity to it. — 5. And therefore will desire instruction
on this head. — 6. Accordingly, directions are given for the
improvement of various talents, particularly genius and learn-
ing.— 7. Power. — 8. Domestic authority. — 9. Esteem. — 10.
Riches. — 11. Several good ways of employing them hinted
at. — 12, 13. Prudence in expense urged, for the support of
charity. — 14. Divine direction in this respect to be sought.
The Christian breathing after more extensive usefulness.
1. SUCH as I have described in the former chap-
ter, I trust, are and will be the frequent exercises of
your soul before God. Thus will your love and
gratitude breathe itself forth in the divine presence,
and will, through Jesus the great Mediator, come up
before it as incense, and yield an acceptable savor.
But then, you must remember, this will not be the
only effect of that love to God which I have supposed
so warm in your heart. If it be sincere, it will not
spend itself in words alone, but will discover itself in
actions, and will produce as its genuine fruit, an un-
feigned love to your fellow-creatures, and an unwea-
ried desire and labor to do them good continually.
410 RISE AND PROGRESS.
2. "Has the great Father of mercies," will you
say, "looked upon me with so gracious an eye ; has
he not only forgiven me ten thousand offences, but
enriched me with such a variety of benefits ? 0 what
ehall I render to him for them all ? Instruct me, O
ye oracles of eternal truth. Instruct me, ye elder
brethren in the family of my heavenly Father. In-
struct me, above all, 0 thou Spirit of wisdom and
love, what I may be able to do, to express my love
to the great eternal fountain of love, and to approve
my fidelity to him who has already done so much to
engage it, and who will take so much pleasure in
owning and rewarding it."
3. This, 0 Christian, is the command which we
have heard from the beginning, and it will ever con-
tinue in uiiiinpaired force, " that he who loveth God,"
should "love his brother also," 1 John, 4 : 21, and
should express that love, "not in word and profes-
sion alone, but in deed and in truth." 1 John, 3:18.
You are to love your neighbor as yourself — to love
the whole creation of God; and, so far as your in-
fluence can extend, must endeavor to make it happy.
4. " Yes," will you not say, " and I do love it. • I
feel the golden chain of divine love encircling us all,
and binding us close to each other, joining us in one
body, and diffusing, as it were, one soul through all.
May happiness, true and sublime, perpetual and
ever-growing happiness, reign through the whole
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 417
world of God's rational and obedient creatures in
heaven and on earth. And may every revolted
creature, that is capable of being recovered and re-
stored, be made obedient. Yea, may the necessary
punishment of those who are irrecoverable, be over-
ruled by infinite wisdom and love to the good of the
whole."
5. These are right sentiments, and if they are
indeed the sentiments of your heart, 0 reader, and
not an empty form of vain words, they will be at-
tended with a serious concern to act in subordination
to this great scheme of divine Providence, according
to your abilities, in their utmost extent. And to this
purpose, they will put you on surveying the peculiar
circumstances of your life and being, that you may
discover what opportunities of usefulness they now
afford, and how those opportunities and capacities
may be improved. Enter therefore into such a sur-
vey, not that you may pride yourself in the distinc-
tions of divine Providence or grace towards you, or,
" having received, may glory as if you had not re-
ceived," 1 Cor. 4:7; but that you may deal faith-
fully with the great Proprietor, whose steward you
are, and by whom you are ^trusted with every
talent, which, with respect to any claim from your
fellow-creatures, you may call your own. And here,
" having gifts differing according to the grace that
is given to us," Jlom. 12:6, let" us hold the balance
Rise aad Prog, 27
418 RISE AND PROGRESS.
with an impartial hand, that so we may determine
what it is that God requires of us ; which is nothing
less than doing the most we can invent, contrive, and
effect, for the general good. But 0, how seldom is
this estimate faithfully made. And how much does
the world around us, and how much do our own souls
suffer for want of that fidelity.
6. Hath God given you genius and learning ? It
was not that you might amuse or deck yourself with
it, and kindle a blaze which should only serve to
attract and dazzle the eyes of men. It was intended
to be the means of leading both yourself and them
to the Father of lights. And it will be your duty,
according to the peculiar turn of that genius and
capacity, either to endeavor to improve and adorn
human life, or by a more direct application of it to
divine subjects, to plead the cause of religion, to de-
fend its truths, to enforce and recommend its practice,
to deter men from courses which would be dishonor-
able to God and fatal to themselves, and to try the
utmost efforts of all the solemnity and tenderness
with whidi you can clothe your addresses, to lead
them into the paths of virtue and happiness.
7. Has God invested you with power, whether it
be in a larger or smaller society ? Remember that
this power was given you that God might be hon-
ored, and those placed under your government,
whether domestic or public, might be made happy.
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 419
Be concerned, therefore, that whether you be in-
trusted with the rod or the sword, it may " not be
borne in vain." Rom. 13 : 4. Are you a magis-
trate ? Have you any share in the great and tre-
mendous charge of enacting laws ? Reverence the
authority of the supreme Legislator, the great Guar-
dian of society : promote none, consent to none,
which you do not in your own conscience esteem,
in present circumstances, an intimation of his will,
and in the establishment of which you do not firmly
believe you shall be " his minister for good." Rom.
13:4. Have you the charge of executing laws ?
Put life into them by a vigorous and strenuous exe-
cution, according to the nature of the particular office
you bear. Retain not an empty name of authority.
Permit not yourself, as it were, to fall asleep on the
tribunal. Be active, be wakeful, be observant of
what passes around you. Protect the upright and
the innocent. Break in pieces the power of the op-
pressor. Unveil every dishonest heart. Disgrace
as well as defeat the wretch that makes his distin-
guished abilities the disguise or protection of the
wickedness which he ought rather to endeavor to
expose, and to drive out of the world with abhor-
rence.
8. Are you placed only at the head of a private
family ? Rule it for God. Administer the concerns
of that little kingdom with the same views, and on
420 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the same principles, which I have been inculcating
on the powerful and the great, if, by any unexpected
accident, any of them should suffer their eyes to
glance upon the passage above. Your children and
servants are your natural subjects. Let good order
be established among them, and keep them under a
regular discipline. Let them be instructed in the
principles of religion, that they may know how rea-
sonable such a discipline is ; and let them be ac-
customed to act accordingly. You cannot indeed
change their hearts, but you may very much influ-
ence their conduct, and by that means may preserve
them from many snares, may do a great deal to
make them good members of society; and may set
them, as it were, "in the way of God's steps,"
Psalm 85 : 13, if peradventure passing by ne may
bless them with the riches of his grace. And fail
not to do your utmost to* convince them of their
need of those blessings ; labor to engage them to a
high esteem of them, and to an earnest desire of
them, as incomparably more valuable than anything
else.
9. Again, has God been pleased to raise you to
esteem among your fellow-creatures, which is not
always in proportion to a man's rank or possession
in human life ? Are your counsels heard with atten-
tion ? Is your company sought ? Does God give
you good acceptance in the eyes of men, so that they
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 421
do not only put the fairest constructions on your
words, but overlook faults of which you are conscious
to yourself, and consider your actions and perform-
ances in the most indulgent and favorable light ?
You ought to regard this, not only as a favor of
Providence, and as an encouragement to you cheer-
fully to pursue your duty, in the several branches of
it, for the time to come, but also, as giving you much
greater opportunities of usefulness than in your pres-
ent station you could otherwise have had. If your
character has any weight in the world, throw it into
the right scale. Endeavor to keep virtue and good-
ness in countenance. Affectionately give your hand
to modest worth, where it seems to be depressed or
overlooked ; though shining, when viewed in its
proper light, with a lustre which you may think
much superior to your own. Be an advocate for
truth ; be a counsellor of peace ; be an example of
candor ; and do all you can to reconcile the hearts
of men, especially of good men, to each other, how-
ever they may differ in their opinions about matters
which it is possible for good men to dispute. And
let the caution and humility of your behavior, in
circumstances of such superior eminence, and amidst
so many tokens of general esteem, silently reprove
the rashness and haughtiness of those who perhaps
are remarkable for little else ; or who, if their abili-
ties were indeed considerable, must be despised, and
422 RISE AND PROGRESS.
whose talents must be in a great measure lost to the
public, till that rashness and haughtiness of spirit
be subdued. Nor suffer yourself to be interrupted
in this generous and worthy course, by the little
attacks of envy and calumny which you may meet.
Be still attentive to the general good, and steadily
resolute in your efforts to promote it ; and leave it
to Providence to guard or to rescue your character
from the base assaults of malice and falsehood, which
will often, without your labor, confute themselves,
and heap upon the authors greater shame, or if they
are inaccessible to that, greater infamy than your
humanity will allow you to wish them.
10. Once more, has God blessed you with riches ?
Has he placed you in such circumstances that you
have more than you absolutely need for the subsist-
ence of yourself and your family ? Remember your
approaching account. Remember what an incum-
brance these things often prove to men in the way
of their salvation, and how often, according to our
Lord's express declaration, they render it " as difficult
to enter into the kingdom of God, as it is for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle." Matt. 19 : 24.
Let it therefore be your immediate, your earnest, and
your daily prayer, that riches may not be a snare
and a shame to you, as they are to by far the greater
part of their possessors. Appropriate, I beseech you,
some certain part and proportion of your estate and
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 423
revenue to charitable uses ; with a provisional in-
crease, as God shall prosper you, in any extraordinary
instance. By this means you will always have a
fund of charity at hand ; and you will probably be
more ready to communicate, when you look upon
what is so deposited as not in any sense your own,
but as already actually given away to those uses,
though not yet affixed to particular objects. It is
not for me to say what that proportion ought to be.
To those who have large revenues, and no children,
perhaps a third or one half may be too little ; to
those whose incomes are small, and their charge con-
siderable, though they have something more than is
absolutely necessary, it is possible a tenth may be
too much. But pray -that God would guide your
mind ; make a trial for one year, on such terms as
in your conscience you think will be most pleasing
to him ; and let your observations on that teach you
to fix your proportion for the next : always remem-
bering, that he requires justice in the first place, and
alms-deeds only so far as may consist with that.
Yet, at the same time, take heed of that treacherous,
delusive, and, in many instances, destructive imag-
ination, " that justice to your own family requires
that you should leave your children very rich ; which
has perhaps cost some parsimonious parents the lives
of those darlings for whom they laid up the portion
of the poor ; and what fatal consequences of divine
424 RISE AND PROGRESS.
displeasure may attend it to those that yet survive,
God only knows ; and I heartily pray that you or
yours may never learn by experience.
11. And that your heart may be yet more opened,
and that your charity may be directed to the best
purposes, let me briefly mention a variety of good
uses which may call for the consideration of those
whom God has in this respect distinguished by an
ability to do good. To assist the hints I am to offer,
look round on the neighborhood in which you live.
Think how many honest and industrious, perhaps
too I might add, religious people, are making very
hard shifts to struggle through life. Think what a
comfort that would be to them, which you might
without any inconvenience spare from that abun-
dance which God hath given you. Hearken also to
any extraordinary calls of charity which may happen,
especially those of a public nature, and help them
forward with your example, and your interest in
them, which perhaps may be of much greater im-
portance than the sum which you contribute, con-
sidered in itself. Have a tongue to plead for the
necessitous, as well as a hand to relieve them ; and
endeavor to discountenance those poor shameful ex-
cuses, which covetousness often dictates to those
whose art may indeed set some varnish on what
they suggest, but so slight a one, that the coarse
ground will appear through it. See how many poor
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 425
children are wandering naked and ignorant about
the streets, and in the way to all kinds of vice and
misery ; and consider what can be done towards
clothing some of them at least, and instructing them
in the principles of religion. Would every thriving
family in a town, who are able to afford help on such
occasions, cast a pitying eye on one poor family in its
neighborhood, and take it under their patronage, to
assist in feeding, and clothing, and teaching the chil-
dren, in supporting it in affliction, in defending it
from wrongs, and in advising those that have the
management of it, as circumstances might require,
how great a difference would soon be produced in the
character and circumstances of the community !
Observe who are sick, that if there be no public
infirmary at hand to which you can introduce them,
where your contribution will yield the largest in-
crease, you may do something towards relieving them
at home, and supplying them with advice and medi-
cines, as well as with proper diet and attendance.
Consider also the spiritual necessities of men : in
providing for which, I would particularly recommend
to you the very important and noble charity of as-
sisting young persons of genius and piety with what
is necessary to support the expense of their education
for the ministry, in the proper course of grammatical
or academical studies. And grudge not some proper-*
tion of what God hath given you to those who, re-
426 RISE AND PROGRESS.
signing all temporal views to minister to you the
Gospel of Christ, have surely an equitable claim to
be supported by you, in a capacity of rendering you
those services, however laborious, to which, for your
sakes, and that of our common Lord, they have de-
voted their lives. And while you are so abundantly
" satisfied with the goodness of God's house, even of
his holy temple," Psalm 65 : 4, have compassion on
those who dwell in a desert land ; and rejoice to do
something towards sending among the distant nations
of the heathen world, that glorious Gospel which
hath so long continued unknown to multitudes,
though the knowledge of it, with becoming regard,
be life everlasting. These are a few important char-
ities which I would point out to those whom Provi-
dence has enriched with its peculiar bounties ; and
it renders gold more precious than it could appear in
any other light, that it is capable of being employed
for such purposes. But if you should not have gold
to spare for them, contribute your silver; or, as a
farthing or a mite is not overlooked by* God, when it
is given from a truly generous and charitable heart,
Mark 12 : 42, 43, let that be cheerfully dropped into
the treasury, where richer offerings cannot be af-
forded.
12. And that, amidst so many pressing demands
for charity, you may be better furnished to answei
them, seriously reflect on your manner of living. I
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 427
say not that God requires you should become one of
the many poor relieved out of your income. The
support of society, as at present established, will not
only permit, but require, that some persons should
allow themselves in the elegances and delights of
life ; by furnishing which, multitudes of poor families
are much more creditably and comfortably subsisted,
with greater advantage to themselves and safety to
the public, than they could be, if the price of their
labors, or of the commodities in which they deal,
were to be given them as alms ; nor can I imagine
it grateful to God, that his gifts should be refused, as
if they were meant for snares &nd curses rather than
benefits. This were to frustrate the benevolent pur-
poses of the gracious Father of mankind, and if car-
ried to its rigor, would be a sort of conspiracy against
the whole system of nature. Let the bounties of
Providence be used ; but let us carefully see to it,
that it be in a moderate and prudent manner, lest by
our own folly, "that which should have been for our
welfare, become a trap." Psalm 69 : 22. Let con-
science say, my dear reader, with regard to yourself,
what proportion of the good things you possess your
heavenly Father intends for yourself, and what for
your brethren ; and live not as if you had no breth-
ren— as if pleasing yourself in all the magnificence
and luxury you can devise, were the end for which
you were sent into the world. I fear this is the ex
428 RISE AND PROGRESS.
cess of the present age, and not an excess of rigor and
mortification. Examine, therefore, your expenses,
and compare them with your income. That may
be shamefully extravagant in you, which may not
only be pardonable, but commendable in another of
superior estate. Nor can you be sure that you do
not exceed, merely because you do not plunge your-
self into debt, nor render yourself incapable of laying
up any thing for your family. If you be disabled
from doing any thing for the poor, or any thing pro-
portionable to your rank in life, by that genteel and
elegant way of living which you affect, God must
disapprove of such a conduct ; and you ought, as you
will answer, to him, to retrench it. And though the
divine indulgence will undoubtedly be exercised to
those in whom there is a sincere principle of faith
in Christ, and undissembled love to God and man,
though it act not to that height of beneficence and
usefulness which might have been attained ; yet be
assured of this, that he, who rendereth to every one
according to his works, will have a strict regard to
the degrees of goodness in the distribution of final
rewards ; so that every neglected opportunity draws
after it an irreparable loss, which will go into eter-
nity along with you. And let me add, too, that
every instance of negligence indulged, renders the
mind still more and more indolent and weak, and
consequently more indisposed to recover the ground
ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 429
which has been lost, or even to maintain that which
has been hitherto kept.
13. Complain not that this is imposing hard things
upon you. I am only directing your pleasures into a
nobler channel ; and indeed that frugality which is
the source of such a generosity, far from being at all
injurious to your reputation, will rather, among wise
and good men, greatly promote it. But you have
far nobler motives before you than those which arise
from their regards. I speak to you as to a child of
God, and a member of Christ ; as joined, therefore,
by the most intimate union, to all the poorest of
those that believe in him. I speak to you as to an
heir of eternal glory, who ought therefore to have
sentiments great and sublime, in some proportion to
that expected inheritance.
14. Cast about, therefore, in your thoughts what
good is to be done, and what you can do, either in
your own person, or by your interest with others ;
and go about it with resolution, as in the name and
presence of the Lord. And as " the Lord giveth
xvisdom, and out of his mouth cometh knowledge
and understanding,'* Prov. 2:6, go to the footstool
of his throne, and there seek that guidance and that
grace which may suit your present circumstances,
and may be effectual to produce the fruits of holiness
and usefulness, to his more abundant glory, and to
the honor of your Christian profession.
430 RISE AND PROGRESS.
THE ESTABLISHED CHRISTIAN BREATHING AFTER MORE
EXTENSIVE USEFULNESS.
" 0 bountiful Father, and sovereign Author of all
good, whether natural or spiritual, I bless thee for
the various talents with which thou hast enriched so
undeserving a creature as I must acknowledge my-
self to be. My soul is in the deepest confusion before
thee, when I consider to how little purpose I have
hitherto improved them. Alas, what have I done,
in proportion to what thou mightest reasonably have
expected, with the gifts of nature which thou hast
bestowed upon me, with my capacities of life, with
my time, with my talents, with my possessions, with
my influence over others. Alas, through my own
negligence and folly, I look back on a barren wilder-
ness, where I might have seen a fruitful field, and a
springing harvest. Justly do I indeed deserve to be
stripped of all, to be brought to an immediate ac-
count for all ; to be condemned, as in many respects
unfaithful to thee, and to the world, and to my own
soul ; and, in consequence of that condemnation, to
be cast into the prison of eternal darkness. But
thou, Lord, hast freely forgiven the dreadful debt of
ten thousand talents. Adored be thy name for it.
Accept, 0 Lord, accept that renewed surrender which
I would now make of myself, and of all I have, unto
thy service. I acknowledge that it is ' of thine own
that I give thee.' 1 Chron. 29 : 14. Make me; I
PRAYER TO BE USEFUL, 431
beseech th.ee, a faithful steward for my great Lord ;
and may I think of no separate interest of my own,
in opposition to thine.
" I adore thee, 0 thou God of all grace, if while I
am thus "speaking to thee, I feel the love of thy crea-
tures arising in my soul ; if I feel my heart opening
to embrace my brethren of mankind. 0 make me
thy faithful almoner, in distributing to them all that
thou hast lodged in mine hand for their relief. And
in determining what is my own share, may I hold
the balance with an equal hand, and judge impar-
tially between myself and them. The proportion
thou allowest, may I thankfully take for myself and
those who are immediately mine. The rest may I
distribute with wisdom, and fidelity, and cheerful-
ness. Guide my hand, 0 ever-merciful Father, while
thou dost me the honor to make me thine instrument
in dealing out a few of thy bounties, that I may be-
stow them where they are most needed, and where
they will answer the best end. And if it be thy gra-
cious will, do thou ' multiply the seed sown,' 2 Cor.
9:10; prosper me in my worldly affairs, that I may
have more to impart to them that need it ; and thus
lead me on to the region of everlasting plenty, and
everlasting benevolence. There may I meet with
many to whom I have been an affectionate benefac-
tor on earth ; and if it be thy blessed will, with
many whom I have also been the means of conduct-
432 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ing into the path to that blissful abode. There may
they entertain me in their habitations of glory. And
in time and eternity, do thou, Lord, accept the praise
of all, through Jesus Christ, at whose feet I would
bow, and at whose feet, after the most useful course,
I would at last die, with as much humility as if I
were then exerting the first act of faith upon him,
and had never had any opportunity, by one tribute
of obedience and gratitude in the services of life, to
approve its sincerity. "
DEATH WELCOMED. 433
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE CHRISTIAN REJOICING IN THE VIEWS OF DEATH
AND JUDGMENT.
1. Death and judgment are near ; but the Christian has rea-
son to welcome both. — 2. Yet nature recoils from the solem-
nity of them. — 3. An attempt to reconcile the mind to the
prospect of death. — 4. From the consideration of the many
evils that surround us in this mortal life. — 5. Of the remainder
of sin which we feel within us. — 6, 7. And of the happiness
which is immediately to succeed death. — 8. All which might
make the Christian willing to die, in the most agreeable cir-
cumstances of human life. — 9. The Christian has reason to
rejoice in the prospect of judgment. — 10. Since, however awful
it may be, Christ will then come to vindicate his honor, to dis-
play his glory, and to triumph over his enemies. — 11. As also
to complete the happiness of every believer. — 12, 13. And of
the whole church. — The meditation of a Christian whose heart
is warmed with these prospects.
1 . WHEN the visions of the Lord were closing upon
John, the beloved disciple, in the island of Patmos,
it is observable that he who gave him that revela-
tion, even Jesus, the faithful and true witness, con-
cludes with these lively and important words : " He
who testifieth these things saith, Surely I come
quickly ;" and John answered with the greatest
readiness and pleasure, "Amen ; even so, come, Lord
Jesus." Come, as thou hast said, surely and quickly.
Rise and Prog. 28
434 RISE AND PROGRESS.
And remember, 0 Christian, whoever you are, that
are now reading these words, your divine Lord speaks
in the same language to you, " Behold, I come
quickly." Yes, very quickly will he come by death,
to turn the key, to open the door of the grave for
thine admittance thither, and to lead thee through,
it into the now unknown regions of the invisible,
world. Nor is it long before " the Judge who stand-
eth at the door," James 5 : 9, will appear also for
universal judgment ; and though, perhaps, not only
scores, but hundreds of years will lie between that
period and the present moment, yet it is but a very
small point of time to Him who views at once all
the immeasurable ages of a past and future eternity.
"A thousand years are with him but as one day,
and one day as a thousand years." 2 Pet. 3:8. In
both these senses, then, does he come quickly. And
I trust you can answer, with a glad Amen, that the
warning is not terrible or unpleasant to your ears ;
but rather that his coming, his certain, his speedy
coming, is the object of your delightful hope, and of
your longing expectation.
2. I am sure it is reasonable it should be so ; and
yet perhaps nature, fond of life, and unwilling to part
with a long known abode, to enter on a state to which
it is entirely a stranger, may recoil from the thoughts
of dying ; or, struck with the awful pomp of an ex-
piring and dissolving world, may look on the judg-
DEATH WELCOMED. 435
ment-day with some mixture of terror. And there-
fore, my dear brother in the Lord, for such I can
now esteem you, I would reason with you a little on
this head, and would entreat you to look more atten-
tively on this solemn subject ; which will, I trust,
grow less disagreeable to you, as it is more familiarly
viewed. Nay, I hope, that instead of starting back
from it, you will rather spring forward towards ifc
with joy and delight.
3. Think, 0 Christian, when Christ comes to call
you away by death, he comes to set you at liberty
from your present sorrows, to deliver you from your
struggles with remaining corruption, and to receive
you to dwell with himself in complete holiness and
joy. You shall " be absent from the body, and be
present with the Lord." 2 Cor. 5 : 8.
4. He will indeed call you away from this world ;
but 0, what is this world, that you should be fond
of it, and cling to it with so much eagerness ? How
low are all those enjoyments that are peculiar to it,
and how many its vexations, its snares, and its sor-
rows. Review your pilgrimage thus far ; and though
you must acknowledge that "goodness and mercy
have followed you all the days of your life," Psalm
23 : 6, yet has not that very mercy itself planted
some thorns in your path, and given you some wise
and necessary, yet painful intimations, that " this/is
not your rest?" Mic, 2:10 Review the monu-
436 RISE AND PROGRESS.
ments of your withered joys, of your blasted hopes, if
there be yet any monuments of them remaining more
than a mournful remembrance they have left behind
in your afflicted heart. Look upon the graves that
have swallowed up many of your dearest and most
amiable friends, perhaps in the very bloom of life,
and in the greatest intimacy of your converse with
them, and reflect, that if you continue a few years
more, death will renew his conquests at your expense,
and devour the most precious of those that yet sur-
vive. View the living as well as the dead — behold
the state of human nature under the many grievous
marks of its apostasy from God, and say whether a
wise and good man would wish to continue always
here. Methinks, were I myself secure from being
reached by any of the arrows that fly around me, I
could not but mourn to see the wounds that are given
by them, and to hear the groans of those that are
continually falling under them. The diseases and
calamities of mankind are so many, and, which is
most grievous of all, the distempers of their minds
are so various, and so threatening, that the world
appears like a hospital ; and a man whose heart is
tender, is ready to feel his spirits broken as he walks
through it and surveys the sad scene ; especially when
he sees how little he can do for the recovery of those
whom he pities. Are you a Christian, and does it
not pierce your heart to see how human nature is
DEATH WELCOMED. 437
sunk in vice and in shame ; to see with what amaz-
ing insolence some are making themselves openly
vile, and how the name of Christ is dishonored by
too many that call themselves his people ; to see
the unlawful deeds and filthy practices of them that
live ungodly ; and to behold, at the same time, the
infirmities at least, and irregularities of those con-
cerning whom we have better hopes ? And do you
not wish to escape from such a world, where a right-
eous and compassionate soul must be vexed from day
to day by so many spectacles of sin and misery ? 2
Peter, 2:8.
5. Yea, to come nearer home, do you not feel
something within you which you long to quit, and
which would imbitter even paradise itself; some-
thing which, were it to continue, would grieve and
distress you even in the society of the blessed ? Do
you not feel a remainder of indwelling sin, the sad
consequence of the original revolt of our nature from
God ? Are you not struggling every day with .some
residue of corruption, or at least mourning on account
of the weakness of your graces ? Do you not often
find your spirits dull and languid, when you would
desire to raise them to the greatest fervor in the ser-
vice of God ? Do you not find your heart too often
insensible of the richest instances of his love, and
your hands feeble in his service, even when " to will
Is present with you ?" Rom. 7:18, Does not your
438 RISE AND PROGRESS.
life, in its best days and hours, appear a low, unprof-
itable thing, when compared with what you are sen-
sible it ought to be, and with what you wish that it
were ? Are you not frequently, as it were, " stretch-
ing the pinions of the mind," and saying, " 0 that I
had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and be
at rest?" Psalm 55 : 6.
6. Should you not then rejoice in the thought, that
Jesus comes to deliver you from these complaints ;
that he comes to answer your wishes, and to fulfil
the largest desires of your hearts — those desires that
he himself has inspired ; that he comes to open upon
you a world of purity and joy — of active, exalted,
and unwearied services ?
7. 0 Christian, how often have you cast a longing
eye towards those happy shores, and wished to pass
the sea, the boisterous, unpleasant, dangerous sea,
that separates you from them. When -your Lord
has condescended to make you a short visit in his
ordinances on earth, how have you blessed the time
and the place, and pronounced it, amidst many other
disadvantages of situation, to be " the very gate of
heaven." Gen. 28 : 17. And is it so delightful to
behold tliis gate ; and will it not be much more so
to enter into it ? Is it so delightful to receive the
visits of Jesus for an hour ; and will it not be infi-
nitely more so to dwell with him for ever ? " Lord,"
may you well say, " when I dwell with thee, I shall
DEATH WELCOMED. 439
dwell in holiness, for tho-u thyself art holiness ; in
love, for thou thyself art love : I shall dwell in joy,
for thou art the fountain of joy, as thou art in the
Father, and the Father in thee." John 17 : 21. Bid
welcome to his approach, therefore, to take you at
your word, and to fulfil to you that saying of his on
which your soul has so often rested with heavenly
peace and pleasure : " Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given
me." John 17 : 24.
8. Surely you may say in this view, " The sooner
Christ comes the better." What though the residue
of your days be cut off in the midst ? What though
you leave many expected pleasures in life untasted,
and many schemes unaccomplished ? Is it not enough,
that what is taken from a mortal life, shall be added
to a glorious eternity ; and that you shall spend those
days and years in the presence and service of Christ
in heaven, which you might otherwise have spent
with him and for him, in the imperfect enjoyment
and labors of earth ?
9. But your prospects reach not only beyond death,
but beyond the separate state. For with regard to
his final appearance to judgment, our Lord says,
" Surely I come quickly," in the sense illustrated be-
fore ; and so it will appear to us, if we compare this
interval of time with the blissful eternity which is to
440 RISE AND PROGRESS.
succeed it ; and probably, if we compare it with those
ages which have already passed since the sun began
to measure out to earth its days and its years. And
will you not here also sing your part in the joyful
anthem, "Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus?"
1C. It is true, Christian, it is an awful day ; a day
in which nature shall be thrown into a confusion as
yet unknown. No earthquake, no eruption of burn-
ing mountains, no desolation of cities by devouring
flames, or of countries by overflowing rivers or seas,
can give any just emblem of that dreadful day, when
" the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved ; the
earth also, and all that is therein, shall be burnt up,"
2 Peter, 3 : 10-12 ; when all nature shall flee away
in amazement " before the face of the universal
Judge," Rev. 20 : 11 ; and there shall be a great cry,
far beyond what was known " in the land of Egypt,
when there was not a house in which there was not
one dead." Exod. 12 : 30. Your flesh may be ready
to tremble at the view ; yet your spirit must surely
"rejoice in God your Saviour." Luke 1 :47. You
may justly say, " Let this illustrious day come, even
with all its horrors." Yea, like the Christians de-
scribed by the apostle, 2 Peter, 3 : 12, you may be
looking for, and hastening to that day of terrible
brightness and universal doom. For your Lord will
then come to vindicate the justice of those proceed-
ings which have been in many instances so much
DE\TH WELCOMED. 441
obscured, and because they have been obscured, have
been also blasphemed. He will come to display his
magnificence, descending from heaven " with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of
God," 1 Thess. 4:16, taking his seat upon a throne
infinitely exceeding that of earthly, or even of celes-
tial princes, clothed with " his Father's glory and his
own," Luke 9 : 26, surrounded with a numberless
host of shining attendants, " when coming to be glo-
rified in his saints, and admired in all them that be-
lieve." 2 Thess. 1:10. His enemies shall also be
produced to grace his triumph. The serpent shall
be seen there rolling in the dust, and trodden under
foot by him and by all his servants : those who once
condemned him shall tremble at his presence ; and
those who bowed the knee before him in profane
mockery, shall, in wild despair, "call to the moun-
tains to fall upon them, and to the rocks to hide
them from the face of that Lamb of God," Rev. 6:16,
whom they once led away to the most inhuman
slaughter.
11. 0 Christian, does not your loyal heart bound
at the thought ? And are you not ready, even while
leading these lines, to begin the victorious shout in
which you are then to join ? He justly expects that
your thoughts, should be greatly elevated and im-
pressed with the views of his triumph ; but at the
same time he permits you to remember your own
442 RISE AND PROGRESS.
personal share in the joy and glory of that blessed
day , and even now he has the view before him of
what his power and love shall then accomplish for
your salvation. And what shall it not accomplish ?
He shall come to break the bars of the grave, and to
reanimate your sleeping clay. Your bodies must
indeed be laid in dust, and be lodged there as a tes-
timony of God's displeasure against sin — against the
first sin that ever was committed ; from the sad con-
sequences of which the dearest of his children cannot
be exempted. But you shall then have an ear to
hear the voice of the Son of God, and an eye to be-
hold the lustre of his appearance ; and shall " shine
forth like the sun" arising in the clear heaven,
"which is as a bridegroom coming out of his cham-
' ber." Psalm 19:5. Your soul shall be new dressed
to grace this high solemnity, and be clothed, not with
rags of mortality, but with the robes of glory ; for he
" shall change this vile body, to fashion it like his
own glorious body." Phil. 3:21. And when you
are thus royally arrayed, he shall confer public hon-
ors on you, and on all his people, before the assem-
bled world. You may now perhaps be loaded with
infamy, called by reproachful names, and charged
with crimes, or with views which your very soul
abhors ; but he will " then bring forth your right-
eousness as the light," Psalm 37 : 6, " and your salva-
tion as a lamp that burneth." Isa. 62 : 1. Though
DEATH WELCOMED. 443
you have been dishonored by men, you shall be ac-
knowledged by God ; and though treated " as the
filth of the world, and the ofFscouring of all things,"
I Cor. 4 : 13, he will show that he regards you "as
his treasure, in the day that he makes up his jewels."
Mai. 3:17. When he shall "put away all the
wicked of the earth like dross," Psalm 119 : 119, you
shall be pronounced righteous in that full assembly ;
and though indeed you have broken the divine law,
and might in strict justice have been condemned, yet
being clothed with the righteousness of the great
Redeemer, even " that righteousness which is of tht>
great God by faith," Phil. 3:9, justice itself shall
acquit you, and join with mercy in " bestowing upon
you a crown of life." 2 Tim. 4:8. Christ will
"confess you before men and angels," Luke 12 : 8,
will pronounce you good and faithful servants, and
call you to " enter into the joy of your Lord," Matt.
25 : 21 i he will speak of you with endearment as
his brethren, and will acknowledge the kindnesses
which have been shown to you, as if he had " re-
ceived them in his own person." Matt. 25 : 40. Yea,
then shall you, 0 Christians, "who may perhaps
have sat in some of the lowest places in. our as-
semblies, to whom, it may be, none of the rich and
great of the earth would condescend to speak — then
shall you be called to be assessors with Christ on
his judgment-seat, and to join with him in the sen-
444 RISE AND PROGRESS.
tence he shall pass on wicked men and rebellious
angels.
12. Nor is it merely one day of glory and triumph.
But when the Judge arises, and ascends to his Fa-
ther's court, all the blessed shall ascend with him,
and you among the rest ; you shall ascend together
with your Saviour, "to his Father and your Father,
to his God and your God." John 20 : 17. You shal]
go to make your appearance in the New Jerusalem,
in those new shining forms that you have received,
which will no doubt be attended with a correspondent
improvement of mind, and take up your perpetual
abode in that fulness of joy with which you shall
be filled and satisfied "in the presence of God," Psa.
16 : 11, upon the consummation of that happiness
which the saints in the intermediate state have been
wishing and waiting for. You shall go from the
ruins of a dissolving world, to " the new heavens and
new earth, wherein righteousness for ever dwells."
2 Pet. 3 : 13. There all the number of God's elect
shall be accomplished, and the happiness of each shall
be completed. The whole society shall be " presented
before God, as the bride, the Lamb's wife," Rev. 21:9,
whom the eye of its celestial Bridegroom shall survey
with unutterable delight, and confess to be "without
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," Eph. 5 : 27 ; its
character and state being just what he originally de-
signed it to be, when he first engaged to "give him-
DEATH WELCOMED. 445
self for it; to redeem it to God by his blood." Rev.
5:9. "So shall you ever be" with each other, and
"with the Lord," 1 Thess. 4 : 17 ; and immortal ages
shall roll away, and find you still unchanged — your
happiness always the same, and your relish for it the
same, or rather ever growing, as your souls are ap-
proaching nearer and nearer to Him who is the source
of happiness, and the centre of infinite perfection.
13. And now, look round about upon earth, and
single out, if you can, the enjoyments or the hopes,
for the sake of which you would say, Lord, delay
thy coming — or for the sake of which you any more
should hesitate to express your longing for it, and to
cry, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly."
THE MEDITATION OR PRAYER OF A CHRISTIAN WHOSE
HEART IS WARMED WITH THESE PROSPECTS.
" 0 blessed Lord, my soul is enkindled with these
views, and rises to thee in a flame. Judg. 13 : 20.
Thou hast testified thou comest quickly ; and I re-
peat my joyful assent, 'Amen; even so, come, Lord
Jesus.' Rev. 22 : 20. Come, for I long to have
done with this low life — to have done with its bur-
dens, its sorrows, and its snares. Come, for I long
to ascend into thy presence, and to see the court thou
art holding above.
" Blessed Jesus, death is transformed, when I view
it in this light. The king of terrors is seen no more
446 RISE AND PROGRESS.
as such, so near the King of glory and of grace. I
hear with pleasure the sound of thy feet approaching
still nearer and nearer. Draw aside the veil when-
ever thou pleasest. Open the bars of my prison, that
my eager soul may spring forth 'to thee, and cast
itself at thy feet ' — at the feet of that Jesus, ' whom,
having not seen, I love,' and ' in whom, though now
I see thee not, yet believing, I rejoice with joy un-
speakable and full of glory.' 1 Pet. 1 : 8. Thou,
Lord, 'shalt show me the path of life;' thine hand
shalt guide me to thy blissful abode, where 'there
is fulness of joy, and rivers of everlasting pleasure.*
Psa. 16 : 11. Thou shalt assign me a habitation with
thy faithful servants, whose separate spirits are now
living with thee, while their bodies sleep in the dust.
Many of them have been my companions in thy la-
borious work, and in the 'patience and tribulation of
thy kingdom,' Rev. 1:9, my dear companions, and
my brethren. 0 show me, blessed Saviour, how glo-
rious and how happy thou hast made them. Show
me to what new forms of better life thou hast con-
ducted them whom we call the dead ; in what no-
bler and more extensive services thou hast employed
them ; that I may praise thee better than I now
can, for thy goodness to them. And 0, give me to
share with them in their blessings and their services,
and to raise a song of grateful love, like that which
they are breathing forth before thee.
DEATH WELCOMED. 447
"Yet, 0 my blessed Redeemer, even there will my
soul be aspiring to yet a nobler and more glorious
hope ; and from this as yet unknown splendor and
felicity shall I be drawing new arguments to look
and long for the day of thy final appearance. There
shall I long more ardently than I now do, to see thy
conduct vindicated, and thy triumph displayed ; to
see the dust of thy servants reanimated, and 'death,
the last of their enemies and of thine, swallowed up
in victory.' 1 Cor. 15 : 26, 54. I shall long for that
superior honor that thou intendest me, and that com-
plete bliss to which the whole body of thy people shall
be conducted. 'Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,'
will mingle itself with the songs of paradise, and
sound from the tongues of all the millions of thy
saints whom thy grace hath transplanted thither.
" In the meantime, 0 my divine Master, accept
the homage which a grateful heart now pays thee,
in a sense of the glorious hopes with which thou hast
inspired it. It is thou that hast put this joy into it,
and hast raised my soul to this glorious ambition ;
whereas I might otherwise have now been grovelling
in the lowest trifles of time and sense, and been look-
ing with horror on that hour which is now the object
of my most ardent wishes.
" 0 be with me always, even to the end of this
mortal life. And give me, while waiting for thy sal-
vation, to be doing thy commandments. May ' my
448 RISE AND PROGRESS.
loins be girded about, and my lamp burning,' Luke
12 : 35, and my ears be still watchful for the blessed
signal of thine arrival; that my glowing soul may
with pleasure spring to meet thee, and be strength-
ened by death to bear those visions of glory, under
the ecstasies of which feeble mortality would now
expire."
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 440
CHAPTER XXX.
THE CHRISTIAN HONORING GOD BY HIS DYING BEHAVIOR.
1. Reflections on the sincerity with which the preceding
counsel has been given. — 2, 3. The author is desirous that, if
Providence permit, he may assist the Christian to die honora-
bly and comfortably. — 4. With this view, it is advised, To rid
the mind of all earthly cares. — 5. To renew the humiliation
of the soul before God, and its application to the blood of
Christ. — 6. To exercise patience under bodily pains and sor-
rows.— 7. At leaving the world, to bear an honorable testi-
mony to religion. — 8. To give a solemn charge to surviving
friends. — 9. Especially recommending faith in Christ. — 10, 11.
To keep the promises of God in view. — 12. And to commit
the departing spirit to God, in the genuine exercises of grati-
tude and repentance, faith and charity, which are exemplified
hi the concluding meditation and prayer.
1. THUS, my dear reader, I have endeavored to
lead you through a variety of circumstances, and
those not fancied or imaginary, but such as do in-
deed occur in the human and Christian life. And I
can truly and cheerfully say, that I have marked out
to you the path which I myself have trod, an$ in
which it is my desire still to go on. I have ventured
my own everlasting interests on that foundation on
which I have directed you to adventure yours. What
I have recommended as the grand business of your
life, I desire to make the business of my own; and
RiM tnd Prof. 29
450 RISE AND PROGRESS.
the most considerable enjoyments which I expect or
desire in the remaining days of my pilgrimage on
earth, are such as I have directed you to seek, and
endeavored to assist you in attaining. Such love to
God, such constant activity in his service, such pleas-
urable views of what lies beyond the grave, appear
tome — God is my witness — a felicity incomparably
beyond any thing else which can offer itself to our
affection and pursuit ; and I would not for ten thou-
sand worlds resign my share in them, or consent even
to the suspension of the delights which they afford,
during the remainder of my abode here.
2. I would humbly hope, through the divine bless-
ing, that the hours you have spent in the review of
these plain things, may have turned to some profita-
ble account; and that, in consequence of what you
have read, you have been either brought into the
way of life and peace, or been induced to quicken
your pace in it. Most heartily should I rejoice in
being further useful to you, and that even to the last.
Now there is one scene remaining, a scene through
which you must infallibly pass, which has something
in it so awful, that I cannot but attempt doing a
little to assist you in it: I mean the dark valley of
the shadow of death. I could earnestly wish, that
for the credit of your profession, the comfort of your
own soul, and the joy and edification of your sur-
viving friends, you might die not only safely, but
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 451
honorably too ; and therefore I would offer you some
parting advice. I am sensible, indeed, that Provi-
dence may determine the circumstances of your death
in such a manner, as that you may have no oppor-
tunity of acting upon the hints I now give you. Some
unexpected accident from without, or from within,
may, as it were, whirl you to heaven before you are
aware ; and you may find yourself so suddenly there,
that it may seem a translation rather than a death.
Or it is possible the force of a distemper may affect
your understanding in such a manner, that you may
be quite insensible of the circumstances in which
you are ; and so your dissolution, though others may
see it visibly and certainly approaching, may be as
grea-t a surprise to you as if you had died in full
health.
3. But as it is, on the whole, probable you may
have a more sensible passage out of time into eter-
nity, and as much may, in various respects, depend
on your dying behavior, give me leave to propose
some plain directions with relation to it, to be prac-
tised, if God give you opportunity, and remind you of
them. It may not be improper to look over the twen-
ty-ninth chapter again, when you find the symptoms of
any threatening disorder. And I the rather hope that
what I say may be useful to you, as methinks I find
myself disposed to address, you with something of
that peculiar tenderness which we feel for a dying
452 RISE AND PROGRESS.
friend ; to whom, as we expect that we shall speak
to him no more, we send out, as it were, all our hearts
in every word.
4. I would advise, then, in the first place, "that,
as soon as possible, you would endeavor to get rid of
all further care with regard to your temporal con-
cerns, by settling them in time, in as reasonable and
Christian a manner as you can." I could wish there
may be nothing of that kind to hurry your mind
when you are least able to bear it, or to distress or
divide those who come after you. Do that which in
the presence of God you judge most equitable, and
which you verily believe will be most pleasing to
him. Do it in as prudent arid effectual a manner as
you can ; and then consider the world as a place you
have quite done with, and its aflairs as nothing fur-
ther to you, more than to one actually dead, unless
as you may do any good to its inhabitants while yet
you continue among them, and may, by any circum-
stance in your last actions or words in life, leave a
blessing behind you to those who have been your
friends and fellow-travellers, while you have been
despatching that journey through it which you are
now finishing.
5. That you may be the more at leisure, and the
better prepared for this, " enter into some serious
review of your own state, and endeavor to put your
soul into as fit a posture as possible for your solemn
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 453
appearance before God." For a solemn thing indeed
it is, to go into his immediate presence ; to stand
before him, not as a supplicant at the throne of his
grace, but at his bar as a separate spirit, whose time
of probation is over, and whose eternal state is to be
immediately determined. Renew your humiliation
before God for the imperfections of your life, though
it has, in the main, been devoted to his service. Re-
new your application to the mercies of God as prom-
ised in the covenant of grace, and to the blood of
Christ as the blessed channel in which they flow.
Resign yourself entirely to the divine disposal and
conduct, as willing to serve God, either in this world
or the other, as he shall see fit. And sensible of your
sinfulness on the one hand, and of the divine wisdom
and goodness on the other, summon up all the forti-
tude of your soul to bear, as well as you can, what-
ever his afflicting hand may further lay upon you,
and to receive the last stroke of it as one who would
maintain the most entire subjection to the great and
good Father of spirits.
6. "Whatever you suffer, endeavor to show " your-
self an example of patience." Let that amiable grace
" have its perfect work," James 1:4; and since it
has so little more to do, let it close the scene nobly.
Let there not be a murmuring word ; and that there
may not, watch against every repining thought. And
when you feel any thing of that kind arising, look by
454 RISE AND PROGRESS.
faith upon a dying Saviour, and ask your own heart,
" Was not his cross much more painful than the bed
on which I lie ? Was not his situation, among blood-
thirsty enemies, infinitely more terrible than mine
amidst the tenderness and care of so many affection-
ate friends ? Did not the heavy load of my sins press
him in a much more overwhelming manner than I
am pressed by the load of these afflictions ? And
yet he bore all, ' as a lamb that is brought to the
slaughter.' " Isaiah 53 : 7. Let the remembrance
of his sufferings be a means to sweeten yours ; yea,
let it cause you to rejoice, when you are called to
bear the cross for a little while, before you wear the
crown. Count it all joy, that you have an opportu-
nity yet once more of honoring God by your patience,
which is now acting its last part, and will, in a few
days, and perhaps in a few hours, be superseded by
complete, everlasting blessedness. And I am willing
to hope, that in these views you will not only sup-
press all passionate complaints, but that your mouth
will be filled with the praises of God ; and that you
will be speaking to those who are about you, not
only of his justice, but of his goodness too. So that
you will be enabled to communicate your inward
joys in such a manner as may be a lively and edify-
ing comment upon those words of the apostle, " Trib-
ulation worketh patience, and patience experience,
and experience hope, even a hope which maketh
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 455
not ashamed ; while the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto
us." Rom. 5:3-5
7. And now, my dear friend, " now is the time,
when it is especially expected from you, that you
bear an honorable testimony to religion." Tell those
that are about you, as well as you can — for you will
never be able fully to express it — what comfort and
support you have found in it. Tell them how it has
brightened the darkest circumstances of your life ;
tell them how it now reconciles you to the near views
of death. Your words will carry with them a pecu-
liar weight at such a season : there will be a kind
of eloquence, even in the infirmities with which you
are struggling, while you give them utterance ; and
you will be heard with attention, with tenderness,
with credit. And therefore, when the time of your
departure is at hand, with unaffected freedom breathe
out your joy, if you then feel, as I hope you will, a
holy joy and delight in God. Breathe out, however,
your inward peace and serenity of mind, if you be
then peaceful and serene : others will mark it, and
be encouraged to tread the steps which lead to so
happy an end. Tell them what you feel of the van-
ity of the world, and they may learn to regard it less.
Tell them what you feel of the substantial supports
of the Gospel, and they may learn to value it more ;
for they cannot but know that they must lie down
156 RISE AND PROGRESS.
on a dying bed too, and must then need all the relief
which the Gospel itself can give them.
8. And to enforce the conviction the more, " give
a solemn charge to those that are about you, that
they spend their lives in the service of God, and
govern themselves by the principles of real relig-
ion." You may remember that Joshua and David
and other good men did so, when they perceived that
the days drew near in which they should die. And
you know not how the admonitions of a dying friend,
or, as it may be with respect to some, of a dying par-
ent, may impress those who may have disregarded
what you and others may have said to them before.
At least, make the trial, and die laboring to glorify
God, to save souls, and generously to sow the seeds
of goodness and happiness in a world where you have
no more harvests to reap. Perhaps they may spring
up in a plentiful crop, when the clods of the valley
are covering your body : but if not, God will approve
it ; and the angels that wait around your bed to
receive your departing soul, will look upon each other
with marks of approbation in their countenance, and
own that this is to expire like a Christian, and to
make a glorious improvement of mortality.
9. And in this last address to your fellow-mortals,
whoever they are that Providence brings near you,
" be sure that you tell them how entirely and how
cheerfully your hopes and dependence, in this season
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 457
of the last extremity, are fixed, not upon your own
merits and obedience, but on what the great Re-
deemer has done and has suffered for sinners." Let
them see that you die, as it were, at the foot of the
cross : nothing will be so comfortable to yourself,
nothing so edifying to them. Let the name of Jesus,
therefore, be in your mouth while you are able to
speak ; and when you can speak no longer, let it be
in your heart ; and endeavor that the last act of your
soul, while it continues in the body, may be an act
of humble faith in Christ. Come unto God by him ;
enter into that which is within the veil, as with the
blood of sprinkling fresh upon you. It is an awful
thing for such a sinner, as you, my Christian friend,
with all the virtues the world may have admired,
know yourself to be, to stand before that infinitely
pure and holy Being who has seen all your ways and
all your heart, and has a perfect knowledge of every
mixture of imperfection which has attended the best
of your duties : but venture in that way, and you
will find it both safe and pleasant.
10. Once more, " to give you comfort in a dying
hour, and to support your feeble steps while you are
travelling through this dark and painful way, take
the word of God as a staff in your hand." Let
books, and mortal friends, now do their last office for
you. Call, if you can, some experienced Christian,
who has felt the power of the word of God upon his
458 RISE AND PROGRESS.
own heart ; and let him bring the Scripture, and
turn you to some of those precious promises which
have been the food and rejoicing of his own soul. It
is with this view, that I may carry the good office I
am now engaged in as far as possible, that I shall
here give you a collection of a few such admirable
scriptures, each of them " infinitely more valuable
than thousands of gold and silver." Psalm 119 : 72.
And to convince you of the degree in which I esteem
them, I will take the freedom to add, that I desire
they may, if God give an opportunity, be read over
to me as I lie on my dying bed, with short intervals
between them, that I may pause upon each, and
renew something of that delightful relish which, I
bless God, I have often found in them. May your
soul and mine be then composed to a sacred silence,
whatever be the commotion of animal nature, while
the voice of God speaks to us in the language which
he spoke to his servants of old, or in which he in-
structed them how they should speak to him in cir-
cumstances of the greatest extremity.
11. Can any more encouragement be wanting,
when he says, " Fear not, for I am with thee ; be
not dismayed, for I am thy God : I will strengthen
thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee
with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah
41 : 10. And " He is not man, that he should lie ; or
the son of man, that he should repent. Hath he said.
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 459
and shall he not do it ? Or hath he spoken, and
shall he not make it good ?" Numb. 23 : 19. " The
Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall I
fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom
shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1. " This God is
our God for ever and ever : he will be our guide even
unto death." Psalm 48 : 14. Therefore, ''though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 1
will fear no evil ; for thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me." Psalm 23 : 4. "I have
waited for thy salvation, 0 Lord." Gen. 49 : 18.
" 0 continue thy loving-kindness unto them that
know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in
heart. For with thee is the fountain of life ; in thy
light shall we see light." Psalm 36 : 9, 10. "Thou
wilt show me the path of life : in thy presence is ful-
ness of joy ; at thy right hand there are pleasures for
evermore." Psalm 16:11. "As for me, I shall
behold thy face in righteousness : I shall- be satisfied,
when I awake, with thy likeness. Psalm 17 : 15.
" For I know in whom I have believed, and am per-
suaded that he is able to keep what I have committed
to him until that day." 2 Tim. 1 : 12. " Therefore
my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth ; my flesh
also shall rest in hope." Psalm 16 : 9. "For if
we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, those
also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
I Thess. 4:14. "I give unto my sheep eternal
460 RISE AND PROGRESS.
life," said Jesus, the good Shepherd ; " and they shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my
hand." John 10 :.28. " This is the will of him that
sent me, that every one that believeth on me should
have everlasting life ; and I will raise him up at the
last day." John 6 : 40. " Let not your heart be
troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In
my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also." John
14 : 1—3. " Go tell my brethren, I ascend unto my
Father and your Father, and to my God and your
God." John 20 : 17. " Father, I will that they
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory which thou hast
given me ; that the love wherewith thou hast loved
me, may be -in them, and I in them." John 17 : 24,
26. " He that testifieth these things saith, Surely
I come quickly. Amen: even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Rev. 22 : 20. " 0 death, where is thy sting? 0
grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be to God,
who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus
Christ." 1 Cor. 15:55, 57.
12. Thus may that God who "knows the souls
of his children in all their adversities," Psalm 31:7,
and in " whose sight the death of his saints is pre-
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 461
cious,*' Psalm 116 : 15, cheer and support you and
me in those last extremities of nature. May he add
us to the happy number of those who have been
more than conquerors in death. And may he give
us those supplies of his Spirit which may enable us
to pour out our departing souls in such sentiments
as those I would now suggest, though we should be
no longer able to utter words, or to understand them
if they were read to us. Let us, at least, review
them with all proper affections now, and lay up one
prayer more for that awful moment. 0 that this,
and all we have ever offered with regard to it, may
then " come to remembrance before God." Acts
10 :4, 31.
A MEDITATION, OR PRAYER, SUITED TO THE CASE OF
A DYING CHRISTIAN.
" 0 thou supreme Ruler of the visible and invisi-
ble worlds, thou Sovereign of life and of death, of
earth and of heaven, blessed be thy name, I have
often been taught to seek thee. And now once more
do I pour out my soul, my departing soul unto thee.
' Bow down thy gracious ear, 0 God, and let my cry
come before thee with acceptance.'
" The hour is come, when thou wilt separate me
from this world, with which I have been so long
and so familiarly acquainted, and lead me to another,
as yet unknown. Enable me, I beseech thee, to
462 RISE AND PROGRESS.
make the exchange as becomes a child of Abraham,
who being ' called of thee to receive an inheritance,
obeyed and went out/ though he knew not particu-
larly whither he went, Heb. 11:8; as becomes a
child of God, who knows that, through sovereign
grace, ' it is his Father's good pleasure to give him
the kingdom.' Luke 12 : 32.
" I acknowledge, 0 Lord, the justice of that sen-
tence by which I am expiring, and own thy wisdom
and goodness in appointing my journey through this
gloomy vale which is now before me. Help me to
turn it into the happy occasion of honoring thee, and
adorning my profession, and I will bless the pangs
by which thou art glorified, and this mortal and sin-
ful part of my nature dissolved.
" Gracious Father, I would not quit this earth of
thine, and this house of clay, in which I have so-
journed during my abode upon the face of it, without
my grateful acknowledgments to thee for all that
abundant goodness which thou hast caused to pass
before me here, Exodus 33 : 19 : with my dying
breath I bear witness to thy faithful care ; I have
4 wanted no good thing.' Psalm 34 : 10. I thank
thee, 0 my God, that this guilty, forfeited, unprofit-
able life, was so long spared ; that it hath still been
maintained by such a rich variety of thy bounty. I
thank thee, that thou hast made this beginning of
my existence so pleasant to me. I thank thee for
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 4{33
the mercies of my days and nights, of my months
and years, which are now come to their period ; T
thank thee for the mercies of my infancy, and foi
those of my riper age; for all the agreeable friends
which thou hast given me in this house of my pil-
grimage, * the living and the dead ;' for all the help
I have received from others, and for all opportunities
which thou hast given me of being helpful to the
bodies and souls of my brethren of mankind. ' Surely
goodness and mercy have followed me all the days
of my life,' Psalm 23 : 6, and I have reason to rise a
thankful guest from the various and pleasant enter-
tainments with which my table has been furnished
by thee. Nor shall I have reason to repine, or to
grieve at quitting them ; for 0, my God, are thy
bounties exhausted ? I know that they are not I
will not wrong thy goodness and thy faithfulness,
so much as to imagine, that because I am going
from this earth, I am going from happiness. I adore
thy mercy, that thou hast taught me to entertain
nobler views through Jesus thy Son. I bless thee
with all the powers of my nature, that I ever heard
his name, and heard of his death ; and would fain
exert a more vigorous act of thankful adoration than
in this broken state I am capable of, while I am ex-
tolling thee for the riches of thy grace manifested in
him. for his instructions and his example, for his
blood and his righteousness, and for that blessed
464 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Spirit of thine which thou hast given me, to turn
my sinful heart unto thyself, and to bring me * into
the bonds of thy covenant,' of that covenant which
' is ordered in all things and sure,' 2 Sam. 23 : 5,
and which this death, though now separating my
soul from my body, shall never be able to dissolve.
" I bless thee, 0 Lord, that I am not dying in an
unregenerate and impenitent state ; but that thou
didst graciously awaken and convince me, that thou
didst renew and sanctify my heart, and didst, by thy
good Spirit, work in it an unfeigned faith, a real re-
pentance, and the beginning of a divine life. I thank
thee for faithful ministers and for gospel ordinances ;
1 thank thee for my Sabbaths and seasons of com-
munion at the table of my Lord ; and for the weekly
and monthly refreshments which they gave me. 1
jthank thee for the fruits of Canaan which were sent
me in the wilderness, and are now sent me on the
brink of Jordan. I thank thee for thy blessed word,
and for those exceeding rich and precious promises
of it, which now lie as a cordial warm at my heart
in this chilling hour ; promises of support in death,
and of glory beyond it, and of the resurrection of my
body to everlasting life. 0 my God, I firmly believe
them all, great and wonderful as they are, and am
waiting for the accomplishment of them through
Jesus Christ ; ' in whom they are all Yea and Amen.'
2 Corinthians, 1 : 20. ' Remember thy word unto thy
THE DVING CHRISTIAN. 465
servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope."
Psalm 119: 49. I covenanted with thee, not for
worldly enjoyments, which thy love taught me com-
paratively to despise, but for eternal life, as 'the
gift of thy free grace through Jesus Christ my Lord/
Rom. 6 : 23 ; and now permit me, in his name, to
enter my humble claim to it. Permit me to consign
' this departing spirit to thine hand ; for thou hast
redeemed it, 0 Lord God of truth.' Psalm 31:5.
* I am thine ; save me,' and make me happy. Psalm
119 :94.
" But may I indeed presume to say I am thine ?
0 God, now I am standing on the borders of both
worlds, now I view things as in the light of thy
presence and of eternity, how unworthy do I appear
that I should be taken to dwell with thy angels and
saints in glory. Alas, I have reason to look back
with deep humiliation on a poor, unprofitable, sinful
life, in which I have daily been deserving to be cast
into hell. But I have this one comfortable reflec-
tion, that I have fled to the cross of Christ ; and 1
now renew my application to it. To think of ap-
pearing before God in such an imperfect righteous-
ness as my own, were ten thousand times worse than
death. No, Lord, I come unto thee as a sinner ; but
as a sinner who has believed in. thy Son for pardon
and life : I fall down before thee as a guilty, polluted
wretch ; but thou hast made him to be unto thy
Ris« and Prof. 30
1(36 RISE AND PROGRESS.
people for ' wisdom and righteousness, for sangtifica-
tion and redemption.' 1 Cor. 1 : 30. Let me have
my lot among the followers of Jesus. Treat me as
thou treatest those who are his friends and his breth-
ren. For thou knowest my soul has loved him and
trusted in him, and solemnly ventured itself on the
security of his gospel. And ' I know in whom I
have believed.' 2 Tim. 1:12. The infernal lion
may attempt to dismay me in the awful passage ;
but I rejoice that I am ' in the hands of the good
Shepherd,' John 10 : 11, 28, and I defy all my spir-
itual enemies, in a cheerful dependence on his faith-
ful care. I lift up my eyes and my heart to him,
who ' was dead, and is alive again ; and behold, he
liveth for evermore, and hath the keys of death and
of the unseen world.' Rev. 1 : 18. Blessed Jesus,
I die by thine hand, and I fear no harm from the
hand of a Saviour. I fear not that death which is
allotted to me by the hand of my dearest Lord, who
himself died to make it safe and happy. I come,
Lord, I come not only with a willing, but with a
joyful consent. I thank thee, that thou rememberest
me for good ; that thou art breaking my "chains, and
calling me to ' the glorious liberty of the children of
God.' Rom. 8 : 21. I thank thee, that thou wilt
no longer permit me to live at a distance from thine
arms ; but after this long absence, wilt have me at
home, at home for ever.
THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 467
" My feeble nature faints in the view of that glory
which is now dawning upon me ; but thou knowest,
gracious Lord, how to let it in upon my soul by just
degrees, and to ' make thy strength perfect in my
weakness.' 2 Cor. 12:9. Once more, for the last
time, would I look down on this poor world which I
arn going to quit, and breathe out my dying prayer
for its prosperity, and that of thy church in it. I
have loved it, 0 Lord, as a living member of the
body ; and I love it to the last. I humbly beseech
thee, therefore, that thou wilt guard it, and purify
it, and unite it more and more. Send down more of
thy blessed Spirit upon it, even the Spirit of wisdom,
of holiness, and of love ; till in due time ' the wilder-
ness be turned into the garden of the Lord/ Isaiah
51:3, and ' all flesh shall see thy salvation.' Luke
3:6.
" As for me, bear me, 0 my heavenly Father, on
the wings of everlasting love, to that peaceful, that
holy, that joyous abode, which thy mercy has pre-
pared for me, and which the blood of my Redeemer
has purchased. Bear me ' to the general assembly
and church of the first-born, to the innumerable
company of angels, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect.' Heb. 12 : 22, 23. And whatever
this flesh may suffer, let my steady soul be delight-
fully fixed on that glory to which it is rising. Let
faith perform its last office in an honorable manner.
468 RISE AND PROGRESS.
Let my few remaining moments on earth be spent
for thy glory, and so let me ascend, with love in my
heart, and praise on my faltering tongue, to the
world where love and praise shall be complete. Be
this my last song on earth, which I am going to tune
in heaven : * Blessing, and honor, and glory, and
power, be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and
to the Lamb for ever and ever.* Amen."
PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY.
D'Aubigne's History of
Memoir of Dr. Payson. j-Dibble's Thoughts on
the Reformation, a
Memoir of Mrs. H. L.
Missions.
new translation, re-
Winslow.
Morison's Counsels to
vised by the Author,
Memoir of J.B.Taylor.
Young Men.
4 vols., each 450 pp.,
Memoir of Rev. Dr. Bu-
Songs of Zion.
cloth extra, $1 75.
chanan.
James' Anx. Inquirer.
Family Testament5with
Elegant Narratives, se-
Mason's Self- Know-
Notes.
lect Tracts illustrated.
ledge.
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Pro-
Guide to Y'ng Disciples.
Sherman's Guide to Ac-
gress, large type.
Bunyan's Pil. Progress.
quaintance with God.
Baxters Saints' Rest,
Elijah the Tishbite.
Divine Law of Benefi-
large type.
Baxter s Treatise on
Volume on Infidelity.
Doddridge's Rise and
cence.
Zaccheus, or Scriptural
Conversion.
Progress.
Plan of Benevolence.
Life of Jas. Milnor, D.D.
Life of Martyn. .
James' Young Man from
Flavel's Fount, of Life.
Edwards' History of Re-
Home.
Flavel'sMeth.of Grace.
demption.
Henry on Meekness.
Flavel's Knocking at
Pike's Persuasives to
Baxter's Call to the Un-
the Door.
Early Piety.
converted.
Mason's Spir. Treasury.
Hall's Scrip. History.
Practical Piety, by Han-
nah More.
Do. Dying Thoughts.
Do. Life, chiefly by
Riches of Bunyan.
Anecdotes for the Fam-
himself.
Gregory's Letters on In-
ily Circle.
Considerations for Y'ng
fidelity.
Spirit of Popery.
Men.
Hopkins on Ten Com-
Wilberforce's Practical
Alleine's Alarm.
mandments.
View.
Keith's Evidences of
Memoir of Mrs. Graham.
Life of David Brainerd.
Prophecy.
Venn's Complete Duty
of Man.
Melvill's Bib.Thoughts.
Mammon, or Covetous-
Who are the Happy?
Fuller's Backslider.
Alleine's Heav. Opened.
ness the Sin of the
Flavel on Keeping the
Owen on Forgiveness of
Church. By Harris.
Heart.
Sin, Psalm 130.
Life of Samuel Pearce.
Flavel's Touchstone.
Memoir of Mrs. Sarah
Edwards on Affections.
Letters on Universalism.
L. H. Smith.
Life of John Newton.
Self-Deception.
Nelson on Infidelity.
Memoir of H. Page.
The Bible True.
Dr. Spring's Bible Not
of Man.
Nevins' Prac. Thoughts.
Abbott's Moth. at Home.
Scudder's Appeal to
Mothers.
Afflicted Man's Com-
Abbott's Child at Home.
Social Hymns, (large
panion, by Willison.
Youth's Book of Natural
32mo.)
Baxter's Ref'd Pastor.
Theology.
Hymns to Sacred Songs,
Memoir of Summerfield. ' Religion and Eter. Life.
(large 32mo.)
BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.
Peep of Day.
Charlotte Elizabeth.
Pictorial Tract Primer.
Line upon Line.
Mem'r of Car. E . Smelt.
Great Truths.
Precept upon Precept.
John D. Lockwood.
Jessie Little.
Memoir of Anzonetta
Martha T. Sharp.
Isabel.
R. Peters.
Gallaudet's Child's B'k
Walker's Faith Ex
The Night of Toil.
Advice to a Y. Christian.
on the Soul.
Tales ab't the Heathen.
plained.
Walker's Repentance
Hannah More's Reposi-
The Dairyman's Daugh-
Explained.
tory Tracts.
ter, etc. j Margaret and Henrietta.
Mary Lundie Duncan.
The Withered Branch Bartimeus.
Fletcher's Lectures to
Revived.
With n umerous similar
Children.
Scripture Lessons.
works.
ALSO, upwards of 1.000 Tracts and Children's Tracts, separate, bound,
or in packets, adapted for convenient sale by merchants and traders, many
of them with beautiful engravings — in English, German, French, Span-
ish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish. Swediih, and Welsh.
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. 469
DR. DODDRIDGE was born in London, June 26, 1702. He
was of a consumptive habit from infancy, was brought up in
the. early knowledge of religion, and was left an orphan before
he arrived at the age of fourteen. At sixteen he made a pro-
fession of religion ; at twenty commenced preaching the gos-
pel ; and at twenty-one was settled over a small congregation,
in an obscure village, where he devoted himself to the acquisi-
tion of useful knowledge with indefatigable zeal. At twenty-
seven he was removed to the pastoral care of the church in
Northampton, where for twenty-two years, amidst other diver-
sified labors, he acted as an instructor of youth preparing for
the ministry, having had under his charge, during that period,
upwards of two hundred young men. At the age of thirty-
seven and thirty-eight he published two volumes of his Family
Expositor ; and about the age of forty-three wrote " The Rise
and Progress of Religion in the Soul" At forty-six he pub-
lished the third volume of the Family Expositor, and two Dis-
sertations : 1. On Sir Isaac Newton's System of the Harmony,
2. On the Inspiration of the New Testament. In December,
1750, in the forty-ninth year of his age, he went to St. Albans
and preached the funeral sermon of his early patron and bene-
factor Dr. Clark, in which journey he contracted a cold that
laid the foundation for his death. In July, 1751, he addressed
his flock for the last time from the pulpit ; and having found
all medical aid ineffectual, embarked, in October, for Lisbon,
as the last resort in so threatening a disorder, at which place
he died on the 26th of October, aged forty-nine years.
He was not handsome in person ; was very thin and slender,
in stature somewhat above the middle size, with a stoop in his
shoulders ; but when engaged in conversation, or employed in
the pulpit, there was a remarkable sprightliness in his coun-
tenance and manner, which commanded general attrition.
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