Page images
PDF
EPUB

and the connexion of the text, plainly show that the sentence was an order to Judah, to refrain from all unnecessary commerce with idolatrous Ephraim: "Let them alone. Though Israel sin, yet let not Judah offend." It implied the danger arising from evil communication, and particular communication with those guilty of so infectious a sin as that of idolatry. It was the application of a maxim of daily use.

That God may, and sometimes does, leave men to a perverse temper, and a hardened mind, is a truth, which, however painful it may be, is too plain to be denied. But the Awakened Sinner is in a situation directly the reverse of this. His sense of danger is neither accidental nor nugatory. The Holy Spirit has appealed to him: And that appeal has startled him. In doing this, it could hardly be the intention of the Creator to remind him of his doom only to leave him to wretchedness. In a case of utter hopelessness, that deep slumber of all susceptibility, which is so portentous to the observer, would be unnoted in the mind of the subject himself, while it would prevent any discovery of his condition.

And yet this doom does not consist in the infliction of any positive evil on the part of

God; nor may it be in the withdrawal of the means of grace. For if the lost soul could, as I have elsewhere said, ascribe his perdition exclusively to an absolute divine determination, his sufferings would be mitigated, if not removed. But the very reverse of this-the consciousness of his personal guilt-will be the means of promoting his endless wretched

ness.

As

The only proof that any one is in a hopeless condition, must consist in his perverse continuance in unbelief and impenitence. long as he so remains, there is every reason for apprehension; and the more so, in proportion to the length of time, and the extent of his privileges. Should he die in this state, we have the assurance of his ruin. But the moment we have evidence of his awakening to a sense of sin, and repenting of it, our grounds of alarm are removed. And he may be satisfied that God is fully as willing to accept of him as of any sinner on earth. It is our duty to take warning from the fact that thousands die with a seared conscience, to whom'in life, every opportunity was offered. But if it be our own earnest desire to escape such a doom as justice dispenses to them, and if we adopt

the means, under God, of doing so, we may dismiss all fears of being included among their number: fully assured, as we should be, that the loss of the soul must be a fault of our own.

Once more, My Dear Sir, let me beseech you to cease harassing yourself with imaginary difficulties. Say no more with the sorrowing women who were seeking their Lord-" who shall roll us away the stone?"-The stone is already gone. No impediment is in our way to salvation, but such as we place there ourselves. The fountain of mercy is unlocked: and the path to it is as open and plain as infinite love can make it.

When you take up the Holy Volume, see that you do not render it "a snare and a trap." Let no apparent inconsistency startle you. Remember that you are not called on to reconcile its declarations, but to believe them. Once admitted into your heart, they will reconcile themselves. "Be not afraid, only believe," is the language of the blessed Redeemer himself.

I am yours, &c.

LETTER VIII.

Perplexity of reading the word of God-Complaint of the want of personal application-Natural aversion to the Bible-Mistaken expectations-An impious practice-Failure arising from listlessness in reading-Want of consideration-Forgetting that God is the author-Looking for an extraneous something-How the Spirit imparts the right meaning-Duty of becoming familiar with the Plan of Salvation-Caution relative to reading other books-Concluding advice.

MY DEAR SIR,

One of your expressions merits particular notice: "Although I am confident that the Bible is the Word of God, and that it is the ordinary means, in his hands, of relieving the spiritual wants of his Creatures, yet it appears not of the least avail to me. It meets none of my difficulties. It presents no personal application to my own mind. There is in it nothing that is suitable to my exigencies. I have thought a thousand times, that I should rejoice to see a plain delineation of myself; something in a tangible form, to fix and rivet my attention. It is of the reverse of all this I complain. Every thing appears confused and indefinite, as it regards my own situation. In

some portions of this Book, I can discover beauties which my judgment approves; and I can take some little interest in its Historical records. But although I task myself, in hopes of some development, or some discovery not yet made, I shut it again and again, as much in the dark as ever."

Sad complaint of a soul distressed with a sense of its loneliness, and sighing for an object suited to its necessities! And what a disappointment does it indicate! murmurs does it give rise!

To how many How often does

it create a wish that the Bible were not what it is! But where is the fault? Certainly not in the book itself; but in the mind of the reader. And, in evidence of this, we might mention the different impressions which may be made on the same mind, at different times, . and under différent circumstances. The Scriptures are not always the same to the Christian himself. In seasons of coldness their energy and interest are, in a great measure, lost. Conviction of their intrinsic value, and individual reference, will indeed continue. But it is conviction from past, not from present experience. And even in the mind destitute of

« PreviousContinue »