Lectures on Revivals
of Religion
By
CHARLES G. FINNEY
Author of “Lecturer to Professing
Christians,”
“Sermons on Gospel Themes,” etc.
NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO
Fleming H. Revell Company
2
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year
1868, by
E. J. GOODRICH,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the
District of Ohio.
Let it be remembered, that these Lectures were delivered to my own
congregation. They were entered upon, without my having previously marked
out any plan or outline of them, and have been pursued, from week to week, as
one subject naturally introduced another, and as, from one lecture to another,
I saw the state of our people seemed to require.
I consented to have the Editor of the Evangelist report
them, upon his own responsibility, because he thought that it might excite a
deeper interest in, and extend the usefulness of, his paper. And as I am now a
Pastor, and have not sufficient health to labor as an Evangelist, and as it has
pleased the Head of the Church to give me some experience in revivals of
religion, I thought it possible that, while I was doing the work of a Pastor in
my own church, I might, in this way, be of some little service to the churches
abroad.
I found a particular inducement to this course, in
the fact that on my return from the Mediterranean, I learned, with pain, that
the spirit of revival had greatly declined in the
The peculiar circumstances of the church, and the
state of revivals, was such, as unavoidably to lead me to the discussion
of some points that I would gladly have avoided, had the omission been
consistent with my main design, to reach and arouse the church, when she was
fast settling down upon her lees.
I am far from setting up the claim of infallibility
upon this or any other subject. I have given my own views, so far as I have
gone, without pretending to have exhausted the subject, or to have spoken in
the best possible manner upon the points I have discussed.
I am too well acquainted with the state of the
church, and especially with the state of some of its ministers, to expect to
escape without censure. I have felt obliged to say some things that I fear will
not, in all instances, be received as kindly as they were intended. But
whatever may be the result of saying the truth as it respects some, I
have reason to believe, that the great body of praying people will
receive and be benefited by what I have said.
What I have said upon the subject of prayer, will
not, I am well aware, be understood and received by a certain portion of the
church and all I can say is, “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.”
4
I had not the most distant idea until recently, that
these Lectures, is this, or any other form, would ever grow into a book; but
the urgent call for their publication, in a volume, and the fact that I have
had repeated assurances that the reading of them in the Evangelist, has
been owned and blessed, to the quickening of individuals and churches, and has
resulted in the conversion of many sinners, have led me to consent to their
publication in this imperfect form.
The Reporter has succeeded, in general, in giving an outline
of the Lectures, as they were delivered. His report, however, would, in
general, make no more than a full skeleton of what was said on the
subject at the time. In justice to the Reporter, I would say, that on reading
his reports, in his paper, although there were some mistakes and
misapprehensions, yet I have been surprised that, without stenography, he could
so nearly report my meaning.
As for literary merit, they have none; nor do they
lay claim to any It was no part of my design to deliver elegant Lectures.
They were my most familiar Friday evening discourses; and my great, and I may
add my only object, was to have them understood and felt.
In correcting the Lectures for a volume, I have not
had time, nor was it thought advisable to remodel them, and change the style in
which they had been reported. I have, in some few instances, changed the
phraseology, when a thought had been very awkwardly expressed, or when the true
idea had not been given. But I have, in nearly every instance, left the
sentences as they were reported when the thought was perspicuously expressed,
although the style might have been improved by emendation. They were the
editor’s reports, and as such they must go before the public, with such little
additions and alterations, as I have had time to make. Could I have written
them out in full, I doubt not but they might have been more acceptable to many
readers. But this was impossible, and the only alternative was, to let the
public have them as they are, or refuse to let them go out in the form of a
volume at all. I am sorry they are not better Lectures, and in a more
attracting form; but I have done what I could under the circumstances; and, as
it is the wish of many whom I love, and delight to please and honor, to have
them, although in this imperfect form, they must have them.
C. G. FINNEY.
By perusing the above Preface, the reader will get a
clue to the time and circumstances that led to the delivery and
publication of these Lectures. In revising them for a new edition, I have done
little more than correct the phraseology in a few instances, add a few
foot-notes, and replace the last two Lectures by newly-written ones on the same
texts, 5and prepared especially
for this edition. These Lectures are distinct from the course I deliver to my
theological class upon the same subject. That course I may publish
before my death. These Lectures have been translated in the Welsh and French
languages, and have been very extensively circulated wherever the English or
either of those languages is understood. One house in
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
|
LECTURE I. |
|
|
What a Revival of Religion is |
9 |
|
LECTURE II. |
|
|
WHEN A REVIVAL IS TO BE EXPECTED |
22 |
|
LECTURE III. |
|
|
How to Promote a Revival |
35 |
|
LECTURE IV. |
|
|
Prevailing Prayer |
48 |
|
LECTURE V. |
|
|
The Prayer of Faith |
67 |
|
LECTURE VI. |
|
|
Spirit of Prayer |
83 |
|
LECTURE VII. |
|
|
Be Filled with the Spirit |
101 |
|
LECTURE VIII. |
|
|
Meetings for Prayer |
118 |
|
LECTURE IX. |
|
|
Means to be Used with Sinners |
134 |
|
LECTURE X. |
|
|
To Win Souls requires Wisdom |
149 |
|
LECTURE XI. |
|
|
A Wise Minister will be Successful |
166 |
|
8LECTURE
XII. |
|
|
How to Preach the Gospel |
185 |
|
LECTURE XIII. |
|
|
How Churches can Help Ministers |
213 |
|
LECTURE XIV. |
|
|
Measures to Promote Revivals |
238 |
|
LECTURE XV. |
|
|
Hinderances to Revivals |
263 |
|
LECTURE XVI. |
|
|
Necessity and Effect of |
294 |
|
LECTURE XVII. |
|
|
False Comforts for Sinners |
317 |
|
LECTURE XVIII. |
|
|
Directions to Sinners |
345 |
|
LECTURE XIX. |
|
|
Instructions to Converts |
364 |
|
LECTURE XX. |
|
|
Instruction of Young Converts |
392 |
|
LECTURE XXI. |
|
|
Backsliders in Heart |
412 |
|
LECTURE XXII. |
|
|
Growth in Grace |
428 |
9
LECTURE I.
WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS
Text.—O Lord, revive thy work
in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath
remember mercy.—Hab. iii. 2.
IT is supposed that the prophet Habakkuk was
contemporary with Jeremiah, and that this prophecy was uttered in anticipation
of the Babylonish captivity. Looking at the judgments which were speedily to
come upon his nation, the soul of the prophet was wrought up to an agony, and
he cries out in his distress, “O Lord, revive thy work.” As if he had said, “O
Lord, grant that thy judgments may not make
Religion is the work of man. It is something for man to do. It consists in
obeying God with and from the heart. It is man’s duty. It is true, God induces
him to do it. He influences him by his Spirit, because of his great wickedness
and reluctance to obey. If it were not necessary for God to influence men—if
men were disposed to obey God, there would be no occasion to pray, “O Lord,
revive thy work.” The ground of necessity for such a prayer is, that men are
wholly indisposed to obey; and unless God interpose the influence of his
Spirit, not a man on earth will ever obey the commands of God.
A “Revival of Religion” presupposes a declension.
Almost all the religion in the world has been produced by revivals. God has
found it necessary to take advantage of the 10excitability
there is in mankind, to produce powerful excitements among them, before he can
lead them to obey. Men are so spiritually sluggish, there are so many things to
lead their minds off from religion, and to oppose the influence of the Gospel,
that it is necessary to raise an excitement among them, till the tide rises so
high as to sweep away the opposing obstacles. They must be so excited that they
will break over these counteracting influences, before they will obey God. Not
that excited feeling is religion, for it is not; but it is excited desire,
appetite and feeling that prevents religion. The will is, in a sense, enslaved
by the carnal and worldly desires. Hence it is necessary to awaken men to a
sense of guilt and danger, and thus produce an excitement of counter feeling
and desire which will break the power of carnal and worldly desire and leave
the will free to obey God.
Look back at the history of the Jews, and you will
see that God used to maintain religion among them by special occasions,
when there would be a great excitement, and people would turn to the Lord. And
after they had been thus revived, it would be but a short time before there
would be so many counteracting influences brought to bear upon them, that
religion would decline, and keep on declining, till God could have time—so to
speak—to convict them of sin by his Spirit and rebuke them by his providence,
and thus so gain the attention of the masses to the great subject of salvation,
as to produce a widespread awakening of religious interest, and consequently a
revival of religion. Then the counteracting causes would again operate, and
religion would decline, and the nation would be swept away in the vortex of luxury,
idolatry, and pride.
There is so little principle in the church, so
little firmness and stability of purpose, that unless the religious feelings
are awakened and kept excited, counter worldly feeling and excitement will
prevail, and men will not obey God. They have so little knowledge, and their
principles are so weak, that unless they are excited, they will go back from
the path of duty, and do nothing to promote the glory of God. The state of the
world is still such, and probably will be till the millennium is fully come,
that religion must be mainly promoted by means of revivals. How long and how
often has the experiment been tried, to bring the church to act steadily for
God, without these periodical excitements. Many good men have supposed, and still
suppose, that the best way to promote religion, is to go along uniformly,
and gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excitement. But however sound
such reasoning 11may appear in the
abstract, facts demonstrate its futility. If the church were far enough
advanced in knowledge, and had stability of principle enough to keep awake,
such a course would do; but the church is so little enlightened, and there are
so many counteracting causes, that she will not go steadily to work without a
special interest being awakened. As the millennium advances, it is probable
that these periodical excitements will be unknown. Then the church will be
enlightened, and the counteracting causes removed, and the entire church will
be in a state of habitual and steady obedience to God. The entire church will
stand and take the infant mind, and cultivate it for God. Children will be
trained up in the way they should go, and there will be no such torrents of
worldliness, and fashion, and covetousness, to bear away the piety of the
church, as soon as the excitement of a revival is withdrawn.
It is very desirable it should be so. It is very
desirable that the church should go on steadily in a course of obedience
without these excitements. Such excitements are liable to injure the health.
Our nervous system is so strung that any powerful excitement, if long
continued, injures our health and unfits us for duty. If religion is ever to
have a pervading influence in the world, it cannot be so; this spasmodic
religion must be done away. Then it will be uncalled for. Christians will not
sleep the greater part of the time, and once in a while wake up, and rub their
eyes, and bluster about, and vociferate a little while, and then go to sleep
again. Then there will be no need that ministers should wear themselves out,
and kill themselves, by their efforts to roll back the flood of worldly
influence that sets in upon the church. But as yet the state of the Christian
world is such, that to expect to promote religion without excitements is unphilosophical
and absurd. The great political, and other worldly excitements that agitate
Christendom, are all unfriendly to religion, and divert the mind from the
interests of the soul. Now these excitements can only be counteracted by
religious excitements. And until there is religious principle in the world to
put down irreligious excitements, it is vain to try to promote religion, except
by counteracting excitements. This is true in philosophy, and it is a
historical fact.
It is altogether improbable that religion will ever
make progress among heathen nations except through the influence of
revivals. The attempt is now making to do it by education, and other cautious
and gradual improvements. But so long as the laws of mind remain what they are,
it cannot be done 12in this way. There must
be excitement sufficient to wake up the dormant moral powers, and roll back the
tide of degradation and sin. And precisely so far as our own land approximates
to heathenism, it is impossible for God or man to promote religion in such a
state of things but by powerful excitements. This is evident from the fact that
this has always been the way in which God has done it. God does not create
these excitements, and choose this method to promote religion for nothing or
without reason. Where mankind are so reluctant to obey God, they will not act
until they are excited. For instance, how many there are who know that they
ought to be religious, but they are afraid if they become pious they shall be
laughed at by their companions. Many are wedded to idols, others are
procrastinating repentance, until they are settled in life, or until they have
secured some favorite worldly interest. Such persons never will give up their
false shame, or relinquish their ambitious schemes, till they are so excited by
a sense of guilt and danger that they cannot contain themselves any longer.
These remarks are designed only as an introduction to
the discourse. I shall now proceed with the main design, to show,
I. What a revival of religion is not;
II. What it is; and,
III. The agencies employed in promoting it.
I. A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS
NOT A MIRACLE.
1. A miracle has been generally defined to be, a
Divine interference, setting aside or suspending the laws of nature. It is not
a miracle in this sense. All the laws of matter and mind remain in force. They
are neither suspended nor set aside in a revival.
2. It is not a miracle according to another
definition of the term miracle—something above the powers of nature.
There is nothing in religion beyond the ordinary powers of nature. It consists
entirely in the right exercise of the powers of nature. It is just that,
and nothing else. When mankind become religious, they are not enabled to
put forth exertions which they were unable before to put forth . They only exert
the powers they had before in a different way, and use them for the glory of
God.
3. It is not a miracle, or dependent on a miracle, in
any sense. It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the
constituted means—as much so as any other effect produced by the application of
means. There may be a miracle among 13its
antecedent causes, or there may not. The apostles employed miracles, simply as
a means by which they arrested attention to their message, and established its
divine authority. But the miracle was not the revival. The miracle was one
thing; the revival that followed it was quite another thing. The revivals in
the apostles’ days were connected with miracles, but they were not miracles.
I said that a revival is the result of the right
use of the appropriate means. The means which God has enjoined for the
production of a revival, doubtless have a natural tendency to produce a
revival. Otherwise God would not have enjoined them. But means will not produce
a revival, we all know, without the blessing of God. No more will grain. when
it is sowed, produce a crop without the blessing of God. it is impossible for
us to say that there is not as direct an influence or agency from God, to
produce a crop of grain, as there is to produce a revival. What are the laws of
nature according to which it is supposed that grain yields a crop? They are
nothing but the constituted manner of the operations of God. In the Bible, the
word of God is compared to grain, and preaching is compared to sowing seed, and
the results to the springing up and growth of the crop. And the result is just
as philosophical in the one case, as in the other, and is as naturally
connected with the cause; or, more correctly, a revival is as naturally a
result of the use of the appropriate means as a crop is of the use of its
appropriate means. It is true that religion does not properly belong to the
category of cause and effect; but although It is not caused by means, yet it
has its occasion, and may as naturally and certainly result from its occasion
as a crop does from its cause.
I wish this idea to be impressed on all your minds,
for there has long been an idea prevalent that promoting religion has something
very peculiar in it, not to be judged of by the ordinary rules of cause and
effect; in short, that there is no connection of the means with the result, and
no tendency in the means to produce the effect. No doctrine is more dangerous
than this to the prosperity of the church, and nothing more absurd.
Suppose a man were to go and preach this doctrine
among farmers, about their sowing grain. Let him tell them that God is a
sovereign, and will give them a crop only when it pleases him, and that for
them to plow and plant and labor as if they expected to raise a crop is very
wrong, and taking the work out of the hands of God, that it interferes with his
sovereignty, and is going on in their own strength: and that 14there is no connection between the means and the
result on which they can depend. And now, suppose the farmers should believe
such doctrine. Why, they would starve the world to death.
Just such results will follow from the church’s being
persuaded that promoting religion is somehow so mysteriously a subject of
Divine sovereignty, that there is no natural connection between the means and
the end. What are the results? Why, generation after generation has gone down
to hell. No doubt more than five thousand millions have gone down to hell,
while the church has been dreaming, and waiting for God to save them without
the use of means. It has been the devil’s most successful means of destroying
souls. The connection is as clear in religion as it is when the farmer sows his
grain.
There is one fact under the government of God, worthy
of universal notice, and of everlasting remembrance; which is, that the most
useful and important things are most easily and certainly obtained by the use
of the appropriate means. This is evidently a principle in the Divine
administration. Hence, all the necessaries of life are obtained with
great certainty by the use of the simplest means. The luxuries are more
difficult to obtain; the means to procure them are more intricate and less
certain in their results; while things absolutely hurtful and poisonous, such
as alcohol and the like, are often obtained only by torturing nature, and
making use of a kind of infernal sorcery to procure the death-dealing
abomination. This principle holds true in moral government, and as spiritual
blessings are of surpassing importance, we should expect their attainment to be
connected with great certainty with the use of the appropriate means; and such
we find to be the fact; and I fully believe that could facts be known, it would
be found that when the appointed means have been rightly used, spiritual
blessings have been obtained with greater uniformity than temporal ones.
II. I AM TO SHOW WHAT A
REVIVAL IS.
It is the renewal of the first love of Christians,
resulting in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God. In the popular
sense, a revival of religion in a community is the arousing, quickening, and
reclaiming of the more or less backslidden church and the more or less general
awakening of all classes, and insuring attention to the claims of God.
It presupposes that the church is sunk down in a
backslidden 15state, and a revival
consists in the return of a church from her backslidings, and in the conversion
of sinners.
I. A revival always includes conviction of sin on the
part of the church. Backslidden professors cannot wake up and begin right away
in the service of God, without deep searchings of heart. The fountains of sin
need to be broken up. In a true revival, Christians are always brought under
such convictions; they see their sins in such a light, that often they find it
impossible to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not always
go to that extent; but there are always, in a genuine revival, deep convictions
of sin, and often cases of abandoning all hope.
2. Backslidden Christians will be brought to
repentance. A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.
Just as in the case of a converted sinner, the first step is a deep repentance,
a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with deep
humility, and forsaking of sin.
3. Christians will have their faith renewed. While
they are in their backslidden state they are blind to the state of sinners.
Their hearts are as hard as marble. The truths of the Bible only appear like a
dream. They admit it to be all true; their conscience and their judgment assent
to it; but their faith does not see it standing out in bold relief, in all the
burning realities of eternity. But when they enter into a revival, they no
longer see men as trees walking, but they see things in that strong light which
will renew the love of God in their hearts. This will lead them to labor
zealously to bring others to him. They will feel grieved that others do not
love God, when they love him so much. And they will set themselves feelingly to
persuade their neighbors to give him their hearts. So their love to men will be
renewed. They will be filled with a tender and burning love for souls. They
will have a longing desire for the salvation of the whole world. They will be
in an agony for individuals whom they want to have saved—their friends,
relations, enemies. They will not only be urging them to give their hearts to
God, but they will carry them to God in the arms of faith, and with strong
crying and tears beseech God to have mercy on them, and save their souls from
endless burnings.
4. A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin
over Christians. It brings them to such vantage ground that they get a fresh
impulse towards heaven. They have a new foretaste of heaven, and new desires
after union with God; and the charm of the world is broken, and the power of
sin overcome.
16
5. When the churches are thus awakened and reformed,
the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow, going through the same
stages of conviction, repentance, and reformation. Their hearts will be broken
down and changed. Very often the most abandoned profligates are among the
subjects. Harlots, and drunkards, and infidels, and all sorts of abandoned
characters, are awakened and converted. The worst among human beings are
softened, and reclaimed, and made to appear as lovely specimens of the beauty
of holiness.
III. I AM TO CONSIDER THE
AGENCIES EMPLOYED IN CARRYING FORWARD A REVIVAL OF RELIGION.
Ordinarily, there are three agents employed in the
work of conversion, and one instrument. The agents are God,—some person who
brings the truth to bear on the mind,—and the sinner himself. The instrument is
the truth. There are always two agents, God and the sinner, employed and
active in every case of genuine conversion.
1. The agency of God is two-fold; by his
(1.) By his providential government, he so arranges
events as to bring the sinner’s mind and the truth in contact. He brings the
sinner where the truth reaches his ears or his eyes. It is often interesting to
trace the manner in which God arranges events so as to bring this about, and
how he sometimes makes every thing seem to favor a revival. The state of the
weather, and of the public health, and other circumstances concur to make every
thing just right to favor the application of truth with the greatest possible
efficacy. How he sometimes sends a minister along, just at the time he is
wanted! How he brings out a particular truth, just at the particular time when
the individual it is fitted to reach is in the way to hear!
(2.) God’s special agency by his Holy Spirit. Having
direct access to the mind, and knowing infinitely well the whole history and
state of each individual sinner, he employs that truth which is best adapted to
his particular case, and then sets it home with Divine power. He gives it such
vividness, strength, and power, that the sinner quails, and throws down his
weapons of rebellion, and turns to the Lord. Under his influence, the truth
burns and cuts its way like fire. He makes the truth stand out in such aspects,
that it crushes the proudest man down with the weight of a mountain. If men
were disposed to obey God, the truth is given with sufficient clearness 17in the Bible; and from preaching they could learn all
that is necessary for them to know. But because they are wholly disinclined
to obey it, God clears it up before their minds, and pours in a blaze of
convincing light upon their souls, which they cannot withstand, and they yield
to it, and obey God, and are saved.
2. The agency of men is commonly employed. Men are
not mere instruments in the hands of God. Truth is the instrument. The
preacher is a moral agent in the work; he acts; he is not a mere passive
instrument; he is voluntary in promoting the conversion of sinners.
3. The agency of the sinner himself. The conversion
of a sinner consists in his obeying the truth. It is therefore impossible it
should take place without his agency, for it consists in his acting
right. He is influenced to this by the agency of God, and by the agency of men.
Men act on their fellow-men, not only by language, but by their looks, their
tears, their daily deportment. See that impenitent man there, who has a pious
wife. Her very looks, her tenderness, her solemn, compassionate dignity,
softened and moulded into the image of Christ are a sermon to him all the time.
He has to turn his mind away, because it is such a reproach to him. He feels a
sermon ringing in his ears all day long.
Mankind are accustomed to read the countenances of
their neighbors. Sinners often read the state of a Christian’s mind in his
eyes. If his eyes are full of levity, or worldly anxiety and contrivance,
sinners read it. If they are full of the Spirit of God, sinners read it; and
they are often led to conviction by barely seeing the countenance of
Christians.
An individual once went into a manufactory to see the
machinery. His mind was solemn, as he had been where there was a revival. The
people who labored there all knew him by sight, and knew who he was. A young
lady who was at work saw him, and whispered some foolish remark to her
companion, and laughed. The person stopped and looked at her with a feeling of
grief. She stopped, her thread broke, and she was so much agitated she could
not join it. She looked out at the window to compose herself, and then tried again;
again and again she strove to recover her self-command. At length she sat down,
overcome with her feelings. The person then approached and spoke with her; she
soon manifested a deep sense of sin. The feeling spread through the
establishment like fire, and in a few hours almost every person employed there
was under conviction, so much so, that the owner, though a worldly man, was
astounded, and requested 18to have the works
stop and have a prayer meeting; for he said it was a great deal more important to
have these people converted than to have the works go on. And in a few days,
the owner and nearly every person employed in the establishment were hopefully
converted. The eye of this individual, his solemn countenance, his
compassionate feeling, rebuked the levity of the young woman, and brought her
under conviction of sin: and this whole revival followed, probably in a great
measure, from so small an incident.
If Christians have deep feeling on the subject of
religion themselves, they will produce deep feeling wherever they go. And if
they are cold, or light and trifling, they inevitably destroy all deep feeling,
even in awakened sinners.
I knew a case, once, of an individual who was very
anxious, but one day I was grieved to find that her convictions seemed to be
all gone. I asked her what she had been doing. She told me she had been
spending the afternoon at such a place, among some professors of religion, not
thinking that it would dissipate her convictions to spend an afternoon with
professors of religion. But they were trifling and vain, and thus her
convictions were lost. And no doubt those professors of religion, by their
folly, destroyed a soul, for her convictions did not return.
The church is required to use the means for the
conversion of sinners. Sinners cannot properly be said to use the means for
their own conversion. The church uses the means. What sinners do is to submit
to the truth, or to resist it. It is a mistake of sinners, to think they are
using means for their own conversion. The whole drift of a revival, and every
thing about it, is designed to present the truth to your mind, for your
obedience or resistance.
REMARKS.
1. Revivals were formerly regarded as miracles. And
it has been so by some even in our day. And others have ideas on the subject so
loose and unsatisfactory, that if they would only think, they would see
their absurdity. For a long time, it was supposed by the church, that a revival
was a miracle, an interposition of Divine power which they had nothing to do
with, and which they had no more agency in producing, than they had in
producing thunder, or a storm of hail, or an earthquake. It is only within a
few years that ministers generally have supposed revivals were to be promoted,
by the use of means designed and adapted specially to that object. 19Even in New England, it has been supposed that
revivals came just as showers do, sometimes in one town, and sometimes in
another, and that ministers and churches could do nothing more to produce them
than they could to make showers of rain come on their own town, when they are
falling on a neighboring town.
It used to be supposed that a revival would come
about once in fifteen years, and all would be converted that God intended to
save, and then they must wait until another crop came forward on the stage of
life. Finally, the time got shortened down to five years, and they supposed
there might be a revival about as often as that.
I have heard a fact in relation to one of these
pastors, who supposed revivals might come about once in five years. There had
been a revival in his congregation. The next year, there was a revival in a
neighboring town, and he went there to preach, and staid several days, till he
got his soul all engaged in the work. He returned home on Saturday, and went into
his study to prepare for the Sabbath. And his soul was in an agony. He thought
how many adult persons there were in his congregation at enmity with God—so
many still unconverted—so many persons die yearly—such a portion of them
unconverted—if a revival does not come under five years, so many adult heads of
families will be in hell. He put down his calculations on paper, and embodied
them in his sermon for the next day, with his heart bleeding at the dreadful
picture. As I understood it, he did not do this with any expectation of a
revival, but he felt deeply, and poured out his heart to his people. And that
sermon awakened forty heads of families, and a powerful revival
followed; and so his theory about a revival once in five years was all
exploded.
Thus God has overthrown, generally, the theory that
revivals are miracles.
2. Mistaken notions concerning the sovereignty of God
have greatly hindered revivals.
Many people have supposed God’s sovereignty to be
some thing very different from what it is. They have supposed it to be such an
arbitrary disposal of events, and particularly of the gift of his Spirit, as
precluded a rational employment of means for promoting a revival of religion.
But there is no evidence from the Bible that God exercises any such sovereignty
as that. There are no facts to prove it. But every thing goes to show that God
has connected means with the end through all the departments of his
government—in nature and in grace. There is no natural event in which
his own 20agency is not concerned.
He has not built the creation like a vast machine that will go on alone without
his further care. He has not retired from the universe, to let it work for
itself. This is mere atheism. He exercises a universal superintendence and
control. And yet every event in nature has been brought about by means. He
neither administers providence nor grace with that sort of sovereignty that
dispenses with the use of means. There is no more sovereignty in one than in
the other.
And yet some people are terribly alarmed at all
direct efforts to promote a revival, and they cry out, “You are trying to get
up a revival in your own strength. Take care, you are interfering with the
sovereignty of God. Better keep along in the usual course, and let God give a
revival when he thinks it is best. God is a sovereign, and it is very wrong for
you to attempt to get up a revival, just because you think a revival is
needed.” This is just such preaching as the devil wants. And men cannot do the
devil’s work more effectually than by preaching up the sovereignty of God, as a
reason why we should not put forth efforts to produce a revival.
3. You see the error of those who are beginning to
think that religion can be better promoted in the world without revivals, and
who are disposed to give up all efforts to produce religious awakenings.
Because there are evils arising in some instances out of great excitements on
the subject of religion, they are of opinion that it is best to dispense with
them altogether. This cannot, and must not be. True, there is danger of abuses.
In cases of great religious as well as all other excitements, more or
less incidental evils may be expected of course. But this is no reason why they
should be given up. The best things are always liable to abuses. Great and
manifold evils have originated in the providential and moral governments of
God. But these foreseen perversions and evils were not considered a
sufficient reason for giving them up. For the establishment of these
governments was on the whole the best that could be done for the production of
the greatest amount of happiness. So in revivals of religion, it is found by
experience, that in the present state of the world, religion cannot be promoted
to any considerable extent without them. The evils which are sometimes
complained of, when they are real, are incidental, and of small importance when
compared with the amount of good produced by revivals. The sentiment should not
be admitted by the church for a moment, that revivals may be given up. It is
fraught with all that is dangerous to the interests of
Finally.—I have a proposal to make to you who are here
present. I have not commenced this course of Lectures on Revivals to get up a
curious theory of my own on the subject. I would not spend my time and strength
merely to give you instructions, to gratify your curiosity, and furnish you
something to talk about. I have no idea of preaching about revivals. It is not
my design to preach so as to have you able to say at the close, “We understand
all about revivals now,” while you do nothing. But I wish to ask you a
question. What do you hear lectures on revivals for? Do you mean that whenever
you are convinced what your duty is in promoting a revival, you will go to work
and practise it?
Will you follow the instructions I shall give you
from the word of God, and put them in practise in your own lives? Will you
bring them to bear upon your families, your acquaintance, neighbors, and
through the city? Or will you spend the winter in learning about
revivals, and do nothing for them? I want you, as fast as you learn any
thing on the subject of revivals, to put it in practice, and go to work and see
if you cannot promote a revival among sinners here. If you will not do this, I
wish you to let me know at the beginning, so that I need not waste my strength.
You ought to decide now whether you will do this or not. You know that
we call sinners to decide on the spot whether they will obey the Gospel.
And we have no more authority to let you take time to deliberate whether you
will obey God, than we have to let sinners do so. We call on you to unite now
in a solemn pledge to God, that you will do your duty as fast as you learn what
it is, and to pray that He will pour out his Spirit upon this church and upon
all the city this winter.
22
LECTURE II.
WHEN A REVIVAL IS TO BE EXPECTED.
Text.—Wilt thou not revive us
again; that thy people may rejoice in thee?—Psalm
lxxxv. 6.
THIS Psalm seems to have been written soon after the
return of the people of
Last Friday evening I attempted to show what a
Revival of Religion is not; what a Revival is; and the agencies to be employed
in promoting it. The topics to which I wish to call your attention to-night,
are,
I. When a Revival of Religion is needed.
II. The importance of a Revival when it is needed.
III. When a Revival of Religion may be expected.
I. WHEN IS A REVIVAL OF
RELIGION NEEDED?
1. When there is a want of brotherly love and
Christian confidence among professors of religion, then a revival is needed.
Then there is a loud call for God to revive his work. When Christians have sunk
down into a low and backslidden state, they neither have, nor ought to have,
nor is there reason to have, the same love and confidence toward each other, as
when they are all alive, and active, and living holy lives. The love of
benevolence may be the same, but not the love of complacency. God loves all men
with the love of benevolence, but he does not feel the love of complacency
toward any but those who live holy. Christians do not and cannot love each
other with the love of complacency, only in proportion 23to their holiness. If Christian love is the love of
the image of Christ in his people, then it never can be exercised only where
that image really or apparently exists. A person must reflect the image of
Christ, and show the spirit of Christ, before other Christians can love him
with the love of complacency. It is in vain to call on Christians to love one
another with the love of complacency, as Christians, when they are sunk down in
stupidity. They see nothing in each other to produce this love. It is next to
impossible that they should feel otherwise toward each other, than they do
toward sinners. Merely knowing that they belong to the church, or seeing them
occasionally at the communion table, will not produce Christian love, unless
they see the image of Christ.
2. When there are dissensions, and jealousies, and
evil speakings among professors of religion, then there is great need of a
revival. These things show that Christians have got far from God, and it is
time to think earnestly of a revival. Religion cannot prosper with such things
in the church, and nothing can put an end to them like a revival.
3. When there is a worldly spirit in the church. It
is manifest that the church is sunk down into a low and backslidden state, when
you see Christians conform to the world in dress, equipage, parties, seeking
worldly amusements, reading novels, and other books such as the world read. It
shows that they are far from God, and that there is great need of a Revival of
Religion.
4. When the church finds its members falling into
gross and scandalous sins, then it is time for the church to awake and cry to
God for a Revival of Religion. When such things are taking place, as give the
enemies of religion an occasion for reproach, it is time for the church to ask
God, “What will become of thy great name?”
5. When there is a spirit of controversy in the
church or in the land, a revival is needful. The spirit of religion is not the
spirit of controversy. There can be no prosperity in religion, where the spirit
of controversy prevails.
6. When the wicked triumph over the church, and
revile them, it is time to seek for a Revival of Religion.
7. When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking
into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves. It is as
much the duty of the church to awake, as it is of the firemen to awake when a
fire breaks out in the night in a great city. The church ought to put out the
fires of hell which are laying hold of the wicked. Sleep! Should the firemen
sleep, and let the whole city burn down: what would be thought of 24such firemen? And yet their guilt would not compare
with the guilt of Christians who sleep while sinners around them are sinking
stupid into the fires of hell.
II. I AM TO SHOW THE
IMPORTANCE OF A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES.
1. A Revival of Religion is the only possible thing
that can wipe away the reproach which covers the church, and restore religion
to the place it ought to have in the estimation of the public. Without a
revival, this reproach will cover the church more and more, until it is
overwhelmed with universal contempt. You may do any thing else you please, and
you can change the aspects of society in some respects, but you will do no real
good; you only make it worse without a Revival of Religion. You may go and
build a splendid new house of worship, and line your seats with damask, put up
a costly pulpit, and get a magnificent organ, and every thing of that kind, to
make a show and dash, and in that way you may procure a sort of respect for
religion among the wicked, but it does no good in reality. It rather does hurt.
It misleads them as to the real nature of religion; and so far from converting
them, it carries them farther away from salvation. Look wherever they have
surrounded the altar of Christianity with splendor, and you will find that the
impression produced is contrary to the true nature of religion. There must be a
waking up of energy, on the part of Christians, and an outpouring of God’s
Spirit, or the world will laugh at the church.
2. Nothing else will restore Christian love and
confidence among church members. Nothing but a Revival of Religion can restore
it, and nothing else ought to restore it. There is no other way to wake
up that love of Christians for one another, which is sometimes felt, when they
have such love as they cannot express. You cannot have such love without
confidence; and you cannot restore confidence without such evidence of piety as
is seen in a revival. If a minister finds he has lost in any degree the
confidence of his people, he ought to labor for a revival as the only means of
regaining their confidence. I do not mean that this should be his motive
in laboring for a revival, to regain the confidence of his people, but that a
revival through his instrumentality, and ordinarily nothing else, will restore
to him the confidence of the praying part of his people. So if an elder or
private member of the church finds his brethren cold towards him, there 25is but one way to remedy it. It is by being revived
himself, and pouring out from his eyes and from his life the splendor of the
image of Christ. This spirit will catch and spread in the church, and
confidence will be renewed, and brotherly love prevail again.
3. At such a time a Revival of Religion is indispensable
to avert the judgments of God from the church. This would be strange preaching,
if revivals are only miracles, and if the church has no more agency in
producing them, than it has in making a thunder storm. To say to the church,
that unless there is a revival you may expect judgments, would then be as
ridiculous as to say, If you do not have a thunder storm, you may expect
judgments. The fact is, that Christians are more to blame for not being
revived, than sinners are for not being converted. And if they are not
awakened, they may know assuredly that God will visit them with his judgments.
How often God visited the Jewish church with judgments, because they would not
repent and be revived at the call of his prophets! How often have we seen churches,
and even whole denominations, cursed with a curse, because they would not wake
up and seek the Lord, and pray, “Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people
may rejoice in thee?”
4. Nothing but a Revival of Religion can preserve
such a church from annihilation. A church declining in this way cannot continue
to exist without a revival. If it receives new members, they will, for the most
part, be made up of ungodly persons. Without revivals there will not ordinarily
be as many persons converted as will die off in a year. There have been
churches in this country where the members have died off, and there were no
revivals to convert others in their place, till the church has run out, and the
organization has been dissolved.
A minister told me that he once labored as a
missionary in
26
5. Nothing but a Revival of Religion can prevent the
means of grace from doing a great injury to the ungodly. Without a revival,
they will grow harder and harder under preaching, and will experience a more
horrible damnation than they would if they had never heard the Gospel. Your
children and your friends will go down to a much more horrible fate in hell, in
consequence of the means of grace, if there are no revivals to convert them to
God. Better were it for them if there were no means of grace, no sanctuary, no
Bible, no preaching, and if they had never heard the Gospel, than to live and
die where there is no revival. The Gospel is the savor of death unto death, if
it is not made a savor of life unto life.
6. There is no other way in which a church can be
sanctified, grow in grace, and be fitted for heaven. What is growing in grace?
Is it hearing sermons and getting some new notions about religion? No—no
such thing. The Christian who does this, and nothing more, is getting worse and
worse, more and more hardened, and every week it is more difficult to rouse him
up to duty.
III. I AM TO SHOW WHEN A
REVIVAL OF RELIGION MAY BE EXPECTED.
1. When the providence of God indicates that a
revival is at hand. The indications of God’s providence are sometimes so plain
as to amount to a revelation of his will. There is a conspiring of events to
open the way, a preparation of circumstances to favor a revival, so that those
who are looking out can see that a revival is at hand, just as plainly as if it
had been revealed from Heaven. Cases have occurred in this country, where the
providential manifestations were so plain, that those who are careful
observers, felt no hesitation in saying that God was coming to pour out his
Spirit, and grant a revival of religion. There are various ways for God to
indicate his will to a people—sometimes by giving them peculiar means,
sometimes by peculiar and alarming events, sometimes by remarkably favoring the
employment of means, by the weather, health, etc.
2. When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and
humbles and distresses Christians. Sometimes Christians do not seem to mind any
thing about the wickedness around them. Or if they talk about it, it is in a
cold, and callous, and unfeeling way, as if they despaired of a reformation:
they are disposed to scold at sinners—not to feel the compassion of the Son of
God for them. But sometimes the conduct of the 27wicked drives Christians to prayer, and breaks them down, and makes them
sorrowful and tender-hearted, so that they can weep day and night, and instead
of scolding and reproaching them, they pray earnestly for them. Then you may
expect a revival. Indeed this is a revival begun already. Sometimes the wicked
will get up an opposition to religion. And when this drives Christians to their
knees in prayer to God, with strong crying and tears, you may be certain there
is going to be a revival. The prevalence of wickedness is no evidence at all
that there is not going to be a revival. That is often God’s time to work. When
the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard
against him. Often the first indication of a revival, is the devil’s getting up
something new in opposition. It will invariably have one of two effects. It
will either drive Christians to God, or it will drive them farther away from
God, to some carnal policy or other that will only make things worse.
Frequently the most outrageous wickedness of the ungodly is followed by a
revival. If Christians are made to feel that they have no hope but in God, and
if they have sufficient feeling left to care for the honor of God and the
salvation of the souls of the impenitent, there will certainly be a revival.
Let hell boil over if it will, and spew out as many devils as there are stones
in the pavements, if it only drives Christians to God in prayer—they cannot
hinder a revival. Let Satan get up a row, and sound his horn as loud as he
pleases; if Christians will only be humbled and pray, they shall soon see God’s
naked arm in a revival of religion. I have known instances where a revival has
broken in upon the ranks of the enemy, almost as suddenly as a clap of thunder,
and scattered them—taken the very ringleaders as trophies, and broken up their
party in an instant.
3. A revival may be expected when Christians have a
spirit of prayer for a revival. That is, when they pray as if their hearts were
set upon a revival. Sometimes Christians are not engaged in prayer for a revival,
not even when they are warm in prayer. Their minds are upon something else;
they are praying for something else—the salvation of the heathen and the
like—and not for a revival among themselves. But when they feel the want of a
revival, they pray for it; they feel for their own families and neighborhoods,
and pray for them as if they could not be denied. What constitutes a spirit of
prayer? Is it many prayers and warm words? No. Prayer is the state of the
heart. The spirit of prayer is a state of continual desire and anxiety of mind
for the salvation 28of sinners. It is something
that weighs them down. It is the same, so far as the philosophy of the mind is
concerned, as when a man is anxious for some worldly interest. A Christian who
has this spirit of prayer feels anxious for souls. It is the subject of his
thoughts all the time, and makes him look and act as if he had a load on his
mind. He thinks of it by day, and dreams of it by night. This is properly
praying without ceasing. The man’s prayers seem to flow from his heart liquid
as water—“O Lord, revive thy work.” Sometimes this feeling is very deep;
persons have been bowed down, so that they could neither stand nor sit. I can
name men in this state, of firm nerves, who stand high in character, who have
been absolutely crushed with grief for the state of sinners. They have had an
actual travail of soul for sinners, till they were as helpless as children. The
feeling is not always so great as this, but such things are much more common
than is supposed. In the great revivals in 1826, they were common. This is by
no means enthusiasm. It is just what Paul felt, when he says, “My little
children, of whom I travail in birth.” I heard of a person in this State, who
prayed for sinners, and finally got into such a state of mind, that she could
not live without prayer. She could not rest day nor night, unless there was
somebody praying. Then she would be at ease; but if they ceased, she would
shriek in agony till there was prayer again. And this continued for two days,
until she prevailed in prayer, and her soul was relieved. This travail of soul,
is that deep agony, which persons feel when they lay hold on God for such a
blessing, and will not let him go till they receive it. I do not mean to be
understood that it is essential to a spirit of prayer, that the distress should
be so great as this. But this deep, continual, earnest desire for the salvation
of sinners, is what constitutes the spirit of prayer for a revival. It is a
revival begun so far as this spirit of prayer extends.
When this feeling exists in a church, unless the Spirit
is grieved away by sin, there will infallibly be a revival of Christians
generally, and it will involve the conversion of sinners to God. This anxiety
and distress increases till the revival commences. A clergyman in W——n told me
of a revival among his people, which commenced with a zealous and devoted woman
in the church. She became anxious about sinners, and went to praying for them,
and she prayed and her distress increased; and she finally came to her
minister, and talked with him, and asked him to appoint an anxious meeting, for
she felt that one was needed. The minister 29put
her off, for he felt nothing of it. The next week she came again, and besought
him to appoint an anxious meeting; she knew there would be somebody to come,
for she felt as if God was going to pour out his Spirit. He put her off again.
And finally she said to him, “If you do not appoint an anxious meeting I shall
die, for there is certainly going to be a revival.” The next Sabbath he
appointed a meeting, and said that if there were any who wished to converse
with him about the salvation of their souls, he would meet them on such an
evening. He did not know of one, but when he went to the place, to his
astonishment he found a large number of anxious inquirers. Now do not you think
that woman knew there was going to be a revival? Call it what you please, a new
revelation, or an old revelation, or any thing else. I say it was the Spirit of
God that taught that praying woman there was going to be a revival. “The secret
of the Lord” was with her, and she knew it. She knew God had been in her heart,
and filled it so full that she could contain no longer.
Sometimes ministers have had this distress about
their congregations, so that they felt as if they could not live unless they
could see a revival. Sometimes elders and deacons, or private members of the
church, men or women, have the spirit of prayer for a revival of religion, so
that they will hold on and prevail with God, till he pours out his Spirit. The
first ray of light that broke in upon the midnight which rested on the churches
in
Generally, there are but few professors of religion
that know any thing about this spirit of prayer which prevails with God. I have
been amazed to see such accounts as are often published about revivals, as if
the revival had come 30without any
cause—nobody knew why or wherefore. I have sometimes inquired into such cases;
when it had been given out that nobody knew any thing about it until one
Sabbath they saw in the face of the congregation that God was there, or they
saw it in their conference room, or prayer meeting, and were astonished at the
mysterious sovereignty of God, in bringing in a revival without any apparent
connection with means. Now mark me. Go and inquire among the obscure members of
the church, and you will always find that somebody had been praying for a
revival, and was expecting it—some man or woman had been agonizing in prayer,
for the salvation of sinners, until they gained the blessing. It may have found
the minister and the body of the church fast asleep, and they would wake up all
of a sudden, like a man just rubbing his eyes open, and running round the room
pushing things over, and wondering where all this excitement came from. But
though few knew it, you may be sure there has been somebody on the watch-tower;
constant in prayer till the blessing came. Generally, a revival is more or less
extensive, as there are more or less persons who have the spirit of prayer. But
I will not dwell on this subject any further at present, as the subject of
prayer will come up again in this course of lectures.
4. Another sign that a revival may be expected, is
when the attention of ministers is especially directed to this particular
object, and when their preaching and other efforts are aimed particularly
at the conversion of sinners. Most of the time the labors of ministers are, it
would seem, directed to other objects. They seem to preach and labor with no
particular design to effect the immediate conversion of sinners. And
then it need not be expected that there will be a revival under their
preaching. There never will be a revival till somebody makes particular
efforts for this end. But when the attention of a minister is directed to the
state of the families in his congregation, and his heart is full of feeling of
the necessity of a revival, and when he puts forth the proper efforts for this
end, then you may be prepared to expect a revival. As I explained last week,
the connection between the right use of means for a revival, and a revival, is
as philosophically sure as between the right use of means to raise grain, and a
crop of wheat. I believe, in fact, it is more certain, and that there are fewer
instances of failure. The effect is more certain to follow. The paramount
importance of spiritual things makes it reasonable that it should be so. Take
the Bible, the nature of the case, and the history of the church 31all together, and you will find fewer failures in the
use of means for a revival, than in farming, or any other worldly business. In
worldly business there are sometimes cases where counteracting causes
annihilate all a man can do. In raising grain, for instance, there are cases
which are beyond the control of man, such as drought, hard winter, worms, and
so on. So in laboring to promote a revival, there may things occur to
counteract it, something or other turning up to divert the public attention
from religion, which may baffle every effort. But I believe there are fewer
such cases in the moral than in the natural world. I have seldom seen an
individual fail, when he used the means for promoting a revival in earnest, in
the manner pointed out in the word of God. I believe a man may enter on the
work of promoting a revival, with as reasonable an expectation of success, as
he can enter on any other work with an expectation of success; with the same
expectation as the farmer has of a crop when he sows his grain. I have
sometimes seen this tried and succeed under circumstances the most forbidding
that can be conceived.
The great revival in
5. A revival of religion may be expected when
Christians begin to confess their sins to one another. At other times, they
confess in a general manner, as if they were only half in earnest. They may do
it in eloquent language, but it does not mean any thing. But when there is an
ingenuous breaking down, and a pouring out of the heart in making a confession 32of their sins, the flood-gates will soon burst open,
and salvation will flow over the place.
6. A revival may be expected whenever Christians are
found willing to make the sacrifice necessary to carry it on. They must be
willing to sacrifice their feelings, their business, their time, to help
forward the work. Ministers must be willing to lay out their strength, and to
jeopard their health and life. They must be willing to offend the impenitent by
plain and faithful dealing, and perhaps offend many members of the church who
will not come up to the work. They must take a decided stand with the revival,
be the consequences what they may. They must be prepared to go on with the
work, even though they should lose the affections of all the impenitent, and of
all the cold part of the church. The minister must be prepared, if it is the
will of God, to be driven away from the place. He must be determined to go
straight forward, and leave the entire event with God.
I knew a minister who had a young man laboring with
him in a revival. The young man preached pretty plain, and the wicked did not
like him. They said, We like our minister, and we wish to have him
preach. They finally said so much that the minister told the young man, “Mr.
Such-a-one, that gives so much towards my support, says so and so. Mr. A. says
so, and Mr. B. says so. They think it will break up the society if you continue
to preach, and I think you had better not preach any more.” The young man went
away, but the Spirit of God immediately withdrew from the place, and the
revival stopped short. The minister, by yielding to the wicked desires of the
wicked, drove him away. He was afraid the devil would drive him away
from his people, and by undertaking to satisfy the devil, he offended God. And
God so ordered events, that in a short time he had to leave his people after
all. He undertook to go between the devil and God, and God dismissed him.
The people, also, must be willing to have a revival,
let the sacrifice be what it may. It will not do for them to say, “We are
willing to attend so many meetings, but we cannot attend any more.” Or, “We are
willing to have a revival if it will not disturb our arrangements about our
business, or prevent our making money.” I tell you, such people will never have
a revival, till they are willing to do any thing, and sacrifice any thing, that
God indicates to be their duty. Christian merchants must feel willing to lock
up their stores for six months, if it is necessary to carry on a revival. I do
not 33mean to say any such thing is called for, or that it
is their duty to do so. But if there should be such a state of feeling as to
call for it, then it would be their duty, and they ought to be willing to do
it. They ought to be willing to do it if God calls, and he can easily burn down
their stores if they do not. In fact, I should not be sorry to see such a
revival in New York, as would make every merchant in the city lock up his store
till spring, and say he had sold goods enough, and now he would give up his
whole time to lead sinners to Christ.
7. A revival may be expected when ministers and
professors are willing to have God promote it by what instruments he pleases.
Sometimes ministers are not willing to have a revival unless they can
have the management of it, or unless their agency can be conspicuous in
promoting it. They wish to prescribe to God what he shall direct and bless, and
what men he shall put forward. They will have no new measures. They cannot have
any of this new-light preaching, or of these evangelists that go about
the country preaching. They have a great deal to say about God’s being a
sovereign, and that he will have revivals come in his own way and time. But
then he must choose to have it just in their way, or they will have nothing to
do with it. Such men will sleep on till they are awakened by the judgment
trumpet, without a revival, unless they are willing that God should come in his
own way—unless they are willing to have any thing or any body employed, that
will do the most good.
8. Strictly I should say that when the foregoing
things occur, a revival, to the same extent, already exists. In truth a revival
should be expected whenever it is needed. If we need to be
revived it is our duty to be revived. If it is duty it is possible, and we
should set about being revived ourselves, and, relying on the promise of Christ
to be with us in making disciples always and everywhere, we ought to labor to
revive Christians and convert sinners, with confident expectation of success.
Therefore, whenever the church needs reviving they ought and may expect to be
revived, and to see sinners converted to Christ. When those things are seen
which are named under the foregoing heads, let Christians and ministers be
encouraged and know that a good work is already begun. Follow it up.
REMARKS.
1. Brethren, you can tell from our subject, whether
you need a revival here or not, in this church, and in this city; 34and whether you are going to have one or not. Elders
of the church, men, women, any of you, and all of you—what do you say?
Do you need a revival here?
Do you expect to have one?
Have you any reason to expect one?
You need not make any mist about it; for you know, or
can know if you will, whether you have any reason to look for a revival here.
2. You see why you have not a revival. It is only
because you do not want one. Because you are not praying for it; nor anxious
for it, nor putting forth efforts for it. I appeal to your own consciences. Are
you making these efforts now, to promote a revival? You know, brethren, what
the truth is about it. Will you stand up and say that you have made the efforts
for a revival and been disappointed—that you have cried to God, “Wilt thou not
revive us?” and God would not do it?
3. Do you wish for a revival? Will you have one? If
God should ask you this moment, by an audible voice from heaven, “Do you want a
revival?” would you dare to say, Yes? “Are you willing to make the sacrifices?”
would you answer, Yes? “When shall it begin?” would you answer, Let it begin
to-night—let it begin here—let it begin in my heart NOW? Would you dare to say
so to God, if you should hear his voice to-night?
LECTURE III.
HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL.
Text.—Break up your fallow ground; for it is
time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.—Hosea x. 12.
THE Jews were a nation of farmers, and it is
therefore a common thing in the Scriptures to refer for illustrations to their
occupation, and to the scenes with which farmers and shepherds are familiar.
The prophet Hosea addresses them as a nation of backsliders, and reproves them
for their idolatry, and threatens them with the judgments of God. I have showed
you in my first lecture what a revival is not—what it is—and the agencies to be
employed in promoting it; and in my second, when it is needed—its importance—and
when it may be expected. My design in this lecture is to show,
HOW A REVIVAL IS TO BE
PROMOTED.
A revival consists of two parts; as it respects the
church, and as it respects the ungodly. I shall speak to-night of a revival in
the church. Fallow ground is ground which has once been tilled, but which now
lies waste, and needs to be broken up and mellowed, before it is suited to
receive grain. I shall show, as it respects a revival in the church,
1. What it is to break up the fallow ground, in the
sense of the text.
2. How it is to be performed.
I. WHAT IS IT TO BREAK UP
THE FALLOW GROUND?
To break up the fallow ground, is to break up your
hearts—to prepare your minds to bring forth fruit unto God. The mind of man
is often compared in the Bible to ground, and the word of God to seed sown in
it, and the fruit represents the actions and affections of those who receive
it. To break up the fallow ground, therefore, is to bring the mind into such a
state, that it is fitted to receive the word of God. Sometimes your hearts get
matted down hard and dry, and all run to waste, till there is no such thing as
getting fruit from them till they are all broken up, and mellowed down, and
fitted to receive the word of God. It is this softening of the 36heart, so as to make it feel the truth, which the
prophet calls breaking up your fallow ground.
II. HOW IS THE FALLOW GROUND
TO BE BROKEN UP?
1. It is not by any direct efforts to feel.
People run into a mistake on this subject, from not making the laws of mind the
object of thought. There are great errors on the subject of the laws which
govern the mind. People talk about religious feeling, as if they thought they
could, by direct effort, call forth religious affection. But this is not the
way the mind acts. No man can make himself feel in this way, merely by trying
to feel. The feelings of the mind are not directly under our control. We
cannot by willing, or by direct volition, call forth religious feelings. We
might as well think to call spirits up from the deep. They are purely
involuntary states of mind. They naturally and necessarily exist in the mind
under certain circumstances calculated to excite them. But they can be
controlled indirectly. Otherwise there would be no moral character in
our feelings, if there were not a way to control them. We cannot say, “Now I
will feel so and so towards such an object.” But we can command our attention
to it, and look at it intently, till the involuntary affections arise. Let a
man who is away from his family, bring them up before his mind, and will he not
feel? But it is not by saying to himself, “Now I will feel deeply for my
family.” A man can direct his attention to any object, about which he ought to
feel and wishes to feel, and in that way he will call into existence the proper
emotions. Let a man call up his enemy before his mind, and his feelings of
enmity will rise. So if a man thinks of God, and fastens his mind on any parts
of God’s character, he will feel—emotions will come up, by the very laws of
mind. If he is a friend of God, let him contemplate God as a gracious and holy
being, and he will have emotions of friendship kindled up in his mind. If he is
an enemy of God, only let him get the true character of God before his mind,
and look at it, and fasten his attention on it, and his enmity will rise
against God, or he will break down and give his heart to God.
If you wish to break up the fallow ground of your
hearts, and make your minds feel on the subject of religion, you must go to
work just as you would to feel on any other subject. Instead of keeping your
thoughts on every thing else, and then imagine that by going to a few meetings
you will get your feelings enlisted, go the common sense way to work, as you
would on 37any other subject. It is
just as easy to make your minds feel on the subject of religion as it is on any
other subject. God has put these states of mind under your control. If people
were as unphilosophical about moving their limbs, as they are about regulating
their emotions, you would never have got here to meeting to-night.
If you mean to break up the fallow ground of your
hearts, you must begin by looking at your hearts—examine and note the state of
your minds, and see where you are. Many never seem to think about this. They
pay no attention to their own hearts, and never know whether they are doing
well in religion or not—whether they are gaining ground or going back—whether
they are fruitful, or lying waste like the fallow ground. Now you must draw off
your attention from other things, and look into this. Make a business of it. Do
not be in a hurry. Examine thoroughly the state of your hearts, and see where
you are—whether you are walking with God every day, or walking with the
devil—whether you are serving God or serving the devil most—whether you are
under the dominion of the prince of darkness, or the Lord Jesus Christ.
To do all this, you must set yourself at work to
consider your sins. You must examine yourselves. And by this I do not mean,
that you must stop and look directly within to see what is the present state of
your feelings. That is the very way to put a stop to all feeling. This is just
as absurd as it would be for a man to shut his eyes on the lamp, and try to
turn his eyes inward to find out whether there was any image painted on the
retina. The man complains that he does not see anything! And why? Because he
has turned his eyes away from the objects of sight. The truth is, our moral
feelings are as much an object of consciousness as our sensations. And the way
to excite is to go on acting, and employing our minds. Then we can tell our
moral feelings by consciousness, just as I could tell my natural feelings by
consciousness, if I should put my hand in the fire.
Self-examination consists in looking at your lives,
in considering your actions, in calling up the past, and learning its true
character. Look back over your past history. Take up your individual sins one
by one, and look at them. I do not mean that you should just cast a glance at
your past life, and see that it has been full of sins, and then go to God and
make a sort of general confession, and ask for pardon. That is not the way. You
must take them up one by one. It will be a good thing to take a pen and paper,
as you go over them, and 38write them down as
they occur to you. Go over them as carefully as a merchant goes over his books;
and as often as a sin comes before your memory, add it to the list. General
confessions of sin will never do. Your sins were committed one by one;
and as far as you can come at them, they ought to be reviewed and repented of
one by one. Now begin; and take up first what are commonly, but improperly,
called your
SINS OF OMISSION.
1. Ingratitude. Take this sin, for instance,
and write down under it all the instances you can remember, wherein you have
received favors from God, for which you have never exercised gratitude. How
many cases can you remember? Some remarkable providence, some wonderful turn of
events, that saved you from ruin. Set down the instances of God’s goodness to
you when you were in sin, before your conversion. Then the mercy of God in the
circumstances of your conversion, for which you have never been half thankful
enough. The numerous mercies you have received since. How long the catalogue of
instances, where your ingratitude is so black that you are forced to hide your
face in confusion! Now go on your knees, and confess them one by one to God,
and ask forgiveness. The very act of confession, by the laws of suggestion,
will bring up others to your memory. Put down these. Go over these three or
four times in this way, and you will find an astonishing amount of mercies, for
which you have never thanked God. Then take another sin. Let it be,
2. Want of love to God. Write that down, and
go over all the instances you can remember, when you did not give to the
blessed God that hearty love which you ought.
Think how grieved and alarmed you would be, if you
discovered any flagging of affection for you in your wife, husband, or
children; if you saw somebody else engrossing their hearts, and thoughts, and
time. Perhaps, in such a case, you would well nigh die with a just and virtuous
jealousy. Now, God styles himself a jealous God; and have you not given your
heart to other loves: played the harlot, and infinitely offended him?
3. Neglect of the Bible. Put down the cases,
when for days, and perhaps for weeks—yea, it may be, even for months together,
you had no pleasure in God’s word. Perhaps you did not read a chapter, or if
you read it, it was in a way that was 39still
more displeasing to God. Many people read over a whole chapter in such a way,
that if they were put under oath when they have done, they could not tell what
they have been reading. With so little attention do they read, that they cannot
remember where they have read from morning till evening, unless they put in a
string or turn down a leaf. This demonstrates that they did not lay to heart
what they read, that they did not make it a subject of reflection. If you were
reading a novel, or any other piece of intelligence that greatly interested
you, would you not remember what you read last? And the fact that you fold a
leaf or put in a string, demonstrates that you read rather as a task, than from
love or reverence for the word of God. The word of God is the rule of your
duty. And do you pay so little regard to it as not to remember what you read?
If so, no wonder that you live so at random, and that your religion is such a
miserable failure.
4. Unbelief. Instances in which you have
virtually charged the God of truth with lying, by your unbelief of his express
promises and declarations. God has promised to give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him. Now, have you believed this? Have you expected him to answer?
Have you not virtually said in your hearts, when you prayed for the Holy Spirit,
“I do not believe that I shall receive it?” If you have not believed nor
expected you should receive the blessing, which God has expressly promised, you
have charged him with lying.
5. Neglect of prayer. Times when you omitted
secret prayer, family prayer, and prayer meetings, or have prayed in such a way
as more grievously to offend God, than to have neglected it altogether.
6. Neglect of the means of grace. When you
have suffered trifling excuses to prevent your attending meetings, have
neglected and poured contempt upon the means of salvation, merely from
disrelish of spiritual duties.
7. The manner in which you have performed
those duties—want of feeling—want of faith—worldly frame of mind—so that your
words were nothing but the mere chattering of a wretch, that did not deserve
that God should feel the least care for him. When you have fallen down upon
your knees, and said your prayers, in such an unfeeling and careless
manner, that if you had been put under oath five minutes after you left your
closet, you could not have told what you had been praying for.
8. Your want of love for the souls of your
fellow-men. Look 40round upon your
friends and relations, and remember how little compassion you have felt for
them. You have stood by and seen them going right to hell, and it seems as
though you did not care if they did. How many days have there been, in which
you did not make their condition the subject of a single fervent prayer, or
even an ardent desire for their salvation?
9. Your want of care for the heathen. Perhaps
you have not cared enough for them to attempt to learn their condition; perhaps
not even to take a Missionary paper. Look at this, and see how much you do
really care for the heathen, and set down honestly the real amount of your
feelings for them, and your desire for their salvation. Measure your desire for
their salvation by the self-denial you practise, in giving of your substance to
send them the Gospel. Do you deny yourself even the hurtful superfluities of
life, such as tea, coffee, and tobacco? Do you retrench your style of living,
and really subject yourself to any inconvenience to save them? Do you daily
pray for them in your closet? Do you statedly attend the monthly concert? Are
you from month to month laying by something to put into the treasury of the
Lord, when you go up to pray? If you are not doing these things, and if your
soul is not agonized for the poor benighted heathen, why are you such a
hypocrite as to pretend to be a Christian? Why, your profession is an insult to
Jesus Christ!
10. Your neglect of family duties. How you
have lived before them, how you have prayed, what an example you have set
before them. What direct efforts do you habitually make for their spiritual
good? What duty have you not neglected?
11. Neglect of social duties.
12. Neglect of watchfulness over your own life.
Instances in which you have hurried over your private duties, and not taken
yourself to task, nor honestly made up your accounts with God. Where you have
entirely neglected to watch your conduct, and have been off your guard, and
have sinned before the world, and before the church, and before God.
13. Neglect to watch over your brethren. How
often have you broken your covenant, that you would watch over them in the
Lord! How little do you know or care about the state of their souls! And yet
you are under a solemn oath to watch over them. What have you done to make
yourself acquainted with them? How many of them have you interested yourself
for, to know their spiritual state? Go over the list, and wherever you find
there has been a neglect, write it down. How many times have you seen your
brethren growing cold in religion, 41and
have not spoken to them about it? You have seen them beginning to neglect one
duty after another, and you did not reprove them in a brotherly way. You have
seen them falling into sin, and you let them go on. And yet you pretend to love
them. What a hypocrite! Would you see your wife or child going into disgrace,
or into the fire, and hold your peace? No, you would not. What do you think of
yourself, then, to pretend to love Christians, and to love Christ, while you
can see them going into disgrace, and say nothing to them?
14. Neglect of self-denial. There are many
professors who are willing to do almost any thing in religion, that does not
require self-denial. But when they are called to do any thing that requires
them to deny themselves, Oh! that is too much. They think they are doing a
great deal for God, and doing about as much as he ought to ask in reason, if
they are only doing what they can do about as well as not; but they are not
willing to deny themselves any comfort or convenience whatever, for the sake of
serving the Lord. They will not willingly suffer reproach for the name of
Christ. Nor will they deny themselves the luxuries of life, to save a
world from hell. So far are they from remembering that self-denial is a condition
of discipleship, that they do not know what self-denial is. They never have
really denied themselves a riband or a pin for Christ, and for the Gospel. Oh,
how soon such professors will be in hell! Some are giving of their abundance,
and are giving much, and are ready to complain that others don’t give more;
when, in truth, they do not give any thing that they need, any thing
that they could enjoy, if they kept it. They only give of their surplus wealth;
and perhaps that poor woman, who puts in twelve and a half cents at the monthly
concert, has exercised more self-denial, than they have in giving thousands.
From these we now turn to
SINS OF COMMISSION.
1. Worldly mindedness. What has been the state
of your heart in regard to your worldly possessions? Have you looked at them as
really yours—as if you had a right to dispose of them as your own,
according to your own will? If you have, write that down. If you have loved
property, and sought after it for its own sake, or to gratify lust or ambition,
or a worldly spirit, or to lay it up for your families, you have sinned, and
must repent.
42
2. Pride. Recollect all the instances you can,
in which you have detected yourself in the exercise of pride. Vanity is a
particular form of pride. How many times have you detected yourself in
consulting vanity, about your dress and appearance? How many times have you
thought more, and taken more pains, and spent more time, about decorating your
body to go to church, than you have about preparing your mind for the worship
of God? You have gone to the house of God caring more how you appear outwardly
in the sight of mortal men, than how your soul appears in the sight of the
heart-searching God. You have in fact set up yourself to be worshipped by them,
rather than prepared to worship God yourself. You came to divide the worship of
God’s house, to draw off the attention of God’s people to look at your pretty
appearance. It is in vain to pretend now, that you don’t care any thing about
having people look at you. Be honest about it. Would you take all this pains
about your looks if every body was blind?
3. Envy. Look at the cases in which you were
envious at those who you thought were above you in any respect. Or perhaps you
have envied those who have been more talented or more useful than yourself.
Have you not so envied some, that you have been pained to hear them praised? It
has been more agreeable to you to dwell upon their faults, than upon their
virtues, upon their failures, than upon their success. Be honest with yourself,
and if you have harbored this spirit of hell, repent deeply before God, or he
will never forgive you.
4. Censoriousness. Instances in which you have
had a bitter spirit, and spoken of Christians in a manner entirely devoid of
charity and love—charity, which requires you always to hope the best the case
will admit, and to put the best construction upon any ambiguous conduct.
5. Slander. The times you have spoken behind
people’s backs of their faults, real or supposed, of members of the church or
others, unnecessarily or without good reason. This is slander. You need not lie
to be guilty of slander;—to tell the truth with the design to injure, is slander.
6. Levity. How often have you trifled before
God, as you would not have dared to trifle in the presence of an earthly
sovereign? You have either been an Atheist, and forgotten that there was a God,
or have had less respect for him, and his presence, than you would have had for
an earthly judge.
7. Lying. Understand now what lying is. Any
species of designed deception for a selfish reason is lying. If the
deception 43is not a design it is not
lying. But if you design to make an impression contrary to the naked truth, you
lie. Put down all those cases you can recollect. Don’t call them by any soft
name. God calls them LIES, and charges you with LYING, and you had better
charge yourself correctly.
How innumerable are the falsehoods perpetrated every
day in business, and in social intercourse, by words, and looks, and
actions—designed to make an impression on others contrary to the truth for
selfish reasons.
8. Cheating. Set down all the cases in which
you have dealt with an individual, and done to him that which you would not
like to have done to you. That is cheating. God has laid down a rule in
the case; “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even
so to them.” That is the rule; and now if you have not done so you are a cheat.
Mind, the rule is not that you should do what you might reasonably expect them
to do to you. That is a rule which would admit of every degree of wickedness.
But it is “As ye WOULD they should do to you.”
9. Hypocrisy. For instance, in your prayers
and confessions to God. Set down the instances in which you have prayed for
things you did not really want. And the evidence is, that when you had done
praying, you could not tell what you had prayed for. How many times have you
confessed sins that you did not mean to break off, and when you had no solemn
purpose not to repeat them? Yes, have confessed sins when you knew you as much
expected to go and repeat them as you expected to live.
10. Robbing God. Instances in which you have
misspent your time, and squandered hours which God gave you to serve him and
save souls, in vain amusements or foolish conversation, reading novels, or
doing nothing; cases where you have misapplied your talents and powers of mind;
where you have squandered money on your lusts, or spent it for things you did
not need, and which neither contributed to your health, comfort or usefulness.
Perhaps some of you who are here to-night have laid out God’s money for
TOBACCO. I will not speak of rum, for I presume there is no professor of
religion here to-night that would drink rum. I hope there is no one that uses
that filthy poison, tobacco. Think of a professor of religion, using God’s
money to poison himself with tobacco!
11. Bad temper. Perhaps you have abused your
wife, or your children, or your family, or servants, or neighbors. Write it all
down.
12. Hindering others from being useful.
Perhaps you have 44weakened their influence
by insinuations against them. You have not only robbed God of your own talents,
but tied the hands of somebody else. What a wicked servant is he that loiters
himself, and hinders the rest! This is done sometimes by taking their time
needlessly; sometimes by destroying Christian confidence in them. Thus you have
played into the hands of Satan, and not only showed yourself an idle vagabond,
but prevented others from working.
If you find you have committed a fault against an
individual, and that individual is within your reach, go and confess it
immediately, and get that out of the way. If the individual you have injured is
too far off for you to go and see him, sit down and write him a letter, and
confess the injury, pay the postage, and put it into the mail
immediately. I say, pay the postage, or otherwise you will only make the matter
worse. You will add to the former injury, by making him a bill of expense. The
man that writes a letter on his own business, and sends it to another without
paying the postage, is dishonest, and has cheated him out of so much. And if he
would cheat a man out of a sixpence or shilling, when the temptation is so
small, what would he not do were the temptation greater, if he had the prospect
of impunity? If you have defrauded any body, send the money, the full amount
and the interest.
Go thoroughly to work in all this. Go now.
Don’t put it off; that will only make the matter worse. Confess to God those
sins that have been committed against God, and to man those sins that have been
committed against man. Don’t think of getting off by going round the stumbling
blocks. Take them up out of the way. In breaking up your fallow ground, you
must remove every obstruction. Things may be left that you may think little
things, and you may wonder why you do not feel as you wish to in religion, when
the reason is that your proud and carnal mind has covered up something which
God required you to confess and remove. Break up all the ground and turn it
over. Do not balk it, as the farmers say; do not turn aside for little
difficulties; drive the plow right through them, beam deep, and turn the ground
all up, so that it may all be mellow and soft, and fit to receive the seed and
bear fruit a hundred fold.
When you have gone over your whole history in this
way, thoroughly, if you will then go over the ground the second time, and give
your solemn and fixed attention to it, you will find that the things you have
put down will suggest other things of which you have been guilty, connected
with them, or near them. Then go over it a third time, and you will 45recollect other things connected with these. And you
will find in the end that you can remember an amount of your history, and
particular actions, even in this life, which you did not think you should
remember in eternity. Unless you do take up your sins in this way, and consider
them in detail, one by one, you can form no idea of the amount of your sins.
You should go over it as thoroughly and as carefully, and as solemnly, as you
would if you were just preparing yourself for the judgment.
As you go over the catalogue of your sins, be sure to
resolve upon present and entire reformation. Wherever you find any thing wrong,
resolve at once, in the strength of God, to sin no more in that way. It will be
of no benefit to examine yourself, unless you determine to amend in every
particular that you find wrong in heart, temper, or conduct.
If you find, as you go on with this duty, that your
mind is still all dark, cast about you, and you will find there is some reason
for the Spirit of God to depart from you. You have not been faithful and
thorough. In the progress of such a work you have got to do violence to
yourself, and bring yourself as a rational being up to this work, with the
Bible before you, and try your heart till you do feel. You need not
expect that God will work a miracle for you to break up your fallow ground. It
is to be done by means. Fasten your attention to the subject of your sins. You
cannot look at your sins long and thoroughly, and see how bad they are, without
feeling, and feeling deeply. Experience abundantly proves the benefit of going
over our history in this way. Set yourself to the work now; resolve that you
never will stop till you find you can pray. You never will have the
spirit of prayer, till you examine yourself, and confess your sins, and break
up your fallow ground. You never will have the Spirit of God dwelling in you,
till you have unraveled this whole mystery of iniquity, and spread out your
sins before God. Let there be this deep work of repentance, and full
confession, this breaking down before God, and you will have as much of the
spirit of prayer as your body can bear up under. The reason why so few
Christians know any thing about the spirit of prayer, is because they never
would take the pains to examine themselves properly, and so never knew what it
was to have their hearts all broken up in this way.
You see I have only begun to lay open this subject
to-night. I want to lay it out before you, in the course of these lectures, so
that if you will begin and go on to do as I say, the results will be just as
certain as they are when the farmer breaks up 46a fallow field, and mellows it, and sows his grain. It will be so, if
you will only begin in this way, and hold on till all your hardened and callous
hearts break up.
REMARKS.
1. It will do no good to preach to you while your
hearts are in this hardened, and waste, and fallow state. The farmer might just
as well sow his grain on the rock. It will bring forth no fruit. This is the
reason why there are so many fruitless professors in the church, and why there
is so much outside machinery, and so little deep-toned feeling in the church.
Look at the Sabbath-school for instance, and see how much machinery there is,
and how little of the power of godliness. If you go on in this way, the word of
God will continue to harden you, and you will grow worse and worse, just as the
rain and snow on an old fallow field makes the turf thicker, and the clods
stronger.
2. See why so much preaching is wasted, and worse
than wasted. It is because the church will not break up their fallow ground. A
preacher may wear out his life, and do very little good, while there are so
many stony-ground hearers, who have never had their fallow ground broken up.
They are only half converted, and their religion is rather a change of opinion
than a change of the feeling of their hearts. There is mechanical religion
enough, but very little that looks like deep heart-work.
3. Professors of religion should never satisfy
themselves, or expect a revival, just by starting out of their slumbers, and
blustering about, and making a noise, and talking to sinners. They must get
their fallow ground broken up. It is utterly unphilosophical to think of
getting engaged in religion in this way. If your fallow ground is broken up, then
the way to get more feeling, is to go out and see sinners on the road to hell, and
talk to them, and guide inquiring souls, and you will get more feeling. You may
get into an excitement without this breaking up; you may show a kind of
zeal, but it will not last long, and it will not take hold of sinners, unless
your hearts are broken up. The reason is, that you go about it mechanically,
and have not broken up your fallow ground.
4. And now, finally, will you break up your fallow
ground? Will you enter upon the course now pointed out, and persevere till you
are thoroughly awake? If you fail here, if you do not do this, and get
prepared, you can go no further with me in this course of lectures. I have gone
with you as far as 47it is of any use to go,
until your fallow ground is broken up. Now, you must make thorough work upon
this point, or all I have further to say will do you little good. Nay, it will
only harden and make you worse. If, when next Friday night arrives, it finds
you with unbroken hearts, you need not expect to be benefited by what I shall
say. If you do not set about this work immediately, I shall take it for granted
that you do not mean to be revived, that you have forsaken your minister, and
mean to let him go up to battle alone. If you do not do this, I charge you with
having forsaken Christ, with refusing to repent and do your first work. But if
you will be prepared to enter upon the work, I propose, God willing, next
Friday evening, to lead you into the work of saving sinners.
LECTURE IV.
PREVAILING PRAYER.
Text.—The effectual, fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.—James v. 16.
THE last lecture referred principally to the
confession of sin. To-night my remarks will be chiefly confined to the subject
of intercession, or prayer. There are two kinds of means requisite to promote a
revival; one to influence men, the other to influence God. The truth is
employed to influence men, and prayer to move God. When I speak of moving God,
I do not mean that God’s mind is changed by prayer, or that his disposition or
character is changed. But prayer produces such a change in us and
fulfils such conditions as renders it consistent for God to do as it would not
be consistent for him to do otherwise. When a sinner repents, that state of
mind makes it proper for God to forgive him. God has always been ready to
forgive him on that condition, so that when the sinner changes his mind towards
God, it requires no change of feeling in God to pardon him. It is the sinner’s
repentance that renders his forgiveness proper, and is the occasion of God’s
acting as he does. So when Christians offer effectual prayer, their state of
mind renders it proper for God to answer them. He was always ready to bestow
the blessing, on the condition that they felt right, and offered the right kind
of prayer. Whenever this change takes place in them, and they offer the right
kind of prayer, then God, without any change in himself, can answer them. When
we offer effectual fervent prayer for others, the fact that we offer such
prayer renders it consistent for him to do what we pray for, when otherwise it
would not have been consistent.
Prayer is an essential link in the chain of causes
that lead to a revival; as much so as truth is. Some have zealously used truth
to convert men, and laid very little stress on prayer. They have preached, and
talked, and distributed tracts with great zeal, and then wondered that they had
so little success. And the reason was, that they forgot to use the other branch
of the means, effectual prayer. They overlooked the fact, that truth by itself
will never produce the effect, without the Spirit 49of God, and that Spirit is given in answer to earnest
prayer.
Sometimes it happens that those who are the most
engaged in employing truth, are not the most engaged in prayer. This is always
unhappy.—For unless they, or somebody else have the spirit of prayer, the truth
by itself will do nothing but harden men in impenitence. Probably in the day of
judgment it will be found that nothing is ever done by the truth, used ever so
zealously, unless there is a spirit of prayer somewhere in connection with the
presentation of truth.
Others err on the other side. Not that they lay too
much stress on prayer. But they overlook the fact that prayer might be offered
for ever, by itself, and nothing would be done. Because sinners are not
converted by direct contact of the Holy Ghost, but by the truth, employed as a
means. To expect the conversion of sinners by prayer alone, without the
employment of truth, is to tempt God.
The subject of discourse this evening, is
PREVAILING PRAYER.
I. I propose to show what is effectual or prevailing
prayer.
II. State some of the most essential attributes of
prevailing prayer.
III. Give some reasons why God requires this kind of
prayer.
IV. Show that such prayer will avail much.
I. I proceed to show what is prevailing prayer.
1. Effectual, prevailing prayer, does not consist in
benevolent desires merely. Benevolent desires are doubtless pleasing to God.
Such desires pervade heaven, and are found in all holy beings. But they are not
prayer. Men may have these desires as the angels and glorified spirits have
them. But this is not the effectual, prevailing prayer, spoken of in the text.
Prevailing prayer is something more than this.
2. Prevailing, or effectual prayer, is that prayer
which obtains the blessing that it seeks. It is that prayer which effectually
moves God. The very idea of effectual prayer is, that it effects its
object.
II. I will state some of the most essential
attributes of prevailing prayer. I cannot detail in full all the things that go
to make up prevailing prayer. But I will mention some things that are essential
to it; some things which a person must do in order to prevail in prayer.
1. He must pray for a definite object. He need
not expect 50to offer such prayer, if
he prays at random, without any distinct or definite object. He must have an
object distinctly before his mind. I speak now of secret prayer. Many people go
away into their closets, because they must say their prayers. The time
has come that they are in the habit of going by themselves for prayer, in the
morning, or at noon, or at whatever time of day it may be. And instead of
having any thing to say, any definite object before their mind, they fall down
on their knees, and pray for just what comes into their minds, for everything
that floats in their imagination at the time, and when they have done, they
could not tell hardly a word of what they have been praying for. This is not
effectual prayer. What should we think of any body who should try to move a
legislature so, and should say, “Now it is winter, and the legislature is in
session, and it is time to send up petitions,” and should go up to the
legislature and petition at random, without any definite object? Do you think
such petitions would move the legislature?
A man must have some definite object before his mind.
He cannot pray effectually for a variety of objects at once. The mind of man is
so constituted that it cannot fasten its desires intensely upon many things at
the same time. All the instances of effectual prayer recorded in the Bible were
of this kind. Wherever you see that the blessing sought for in prayer was
attained, you will find that the prayer which was offered was prayer for that
definite object.
2. Prayer, to be effectual, must be in accordance
with the revealed will of God. To pray for things contrary to the revealed will
of God, is to tempt God. There are three ways in which God’s will is revealed
to men for their guidance in prayer.
(1.) By express promises or predictions in the Bible,
that he will give or do certain things. Either by express promises in regard to
particular things, or promises in general terms, so that we may apply them to
particular things. For instance, there is this promise: “Whatsoever things ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
(2.) Sometimes God reveals his will by his
providence. When he makes it clear that such and such events are about to take
place, it is as much a revelation as if he had written it in his word. It would
be impossible to reveal every thing in the Bible. But God often makes it clear
to those who have spiritual discernment, that it is his will to grant such and
such blessings.
51
(3.) By his Spirit. When God’s people are at a loss
what to pray for, agreeable to his will, his Spirit often instructs them. Where
there is no particular revelation, and providence leaves it dark, and we know
not what to pray for as we ought, we are expressly told, that “the Spirit also
helpeth our infirmities,” and “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings that cannot be uttered.” A great deal has been said on the subject of
praying in faith for things not revealed. It is objected, that this doctrine
implies a new revelation. I answer, that, new or old, it is the very revelation
that Jehovah says he makes. It is just as plain here, as if it were now
revealed by a voice from heaven, that the Spirit of God helps the people of God
to pray according to the will of God, when they themselves know not what things
they ought to pray for. “And he that searcheth the heart knoweth the mind of
the Spirit,” because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God, and he leads Christians to pray for just those things, with
groanings that cannot be uttered. When neither the word nor providence enables
them to decide, then let them be filled with the Spirit, as God commands them
to be. He says, “Be ye filled with the Spirit.” And He will lead their
mind to such things as God is willing to grant.
3. To pray effectually, you must pray with submission
to the will of God. Do not confound submission with indifference. No two things
are more unlike. I once knew an individual come where there was a revival. He
himself was cold, and did not enter into the spirit of it, and had no spirit of
prayer; and when he heard the brethren pray as if they could not be denied, he
was shocked at their boldness, and kept all the time insisting on the
importance of praying with submission; when it was as plain as any thing could
be, that he confounded submission with indifference
So again, do not confound submission in prayer with a
general confidence that God will do what is right. It is proper to have this
confidence that God will do what is right in all things. But this is a
different thing from submission. What I mean by submission in prayer, is,
acquiescence in the revealed will of God. To submit to any command of God is to
obey it. Submission to some supposable or possible, but secret decree of God,
is not submission. To submit to any dispensation of
4. Effectual prayer for an object implies a desire
for that object commensurate with its importance. If a person truly
desires any blessing, his desires will bear some proportion to the greatness of
the blessing. The desires of the Lord Jesus Christ for the blessing he prayed
for, were amazingly strong, and amounted even to agony. If the desire for an
object is strong, and is a benevolent desire, and the thing not contrary to the
will and providence of God, the presumption is, that it will be granted. There
are two reasons for this presumption:
(1.) From the general benevolence of God. If it is a
desirable object; if, so far as we can see, it would be an act of benevolence
in God to grant it, his general benevolence is presumptive evidence that he
will grant it.
(2.) If you find yourself exercised with benevolent
desires for any object, there is a strong presumption that the Spirit of God is
exciting these very desires, and stirring you up to pray for that object, so
that it may be granted in answer to prayer. In such a case no degree of desire
or 53importunity in prayer is improper. A Christian may
come up, as it were, and take hold of the hand of God. See the case of Jacob,
when he exclaimed, in an agony of desire, “I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me.” Was God displeased with his boldness and importunity? Not at all;
but he granted him the very thing he prayed for. So in the case of Moses. God
said to Moses, “Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name
from under heaven, and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than
they.” What did Moses do? Did he stand aside and let God do as he said? No, his
mind runs back to the Egyptians, and he thinks how they will triumph.
“Wherefore should the Egyptians say, For mischief did he bring them out.” It
seemed as if he took hold of the uplifted hand of God, to avert the blow. Did
God rebuke him for his interference, and tell him he had no business to
interfere? No; it seemed as if he was unable to deny any thing to such
importunity, and so Moses stood in the gap, and prevailed with God.
It is said of Xavier, the missionary, that he was
once called to pray for a man who was sick, and he prayed so fervently that he
seemed as it were to do violence to heaven—so the writer expresses it. And he
prevailed, and the man recovered.
Such prayer is often offered in the present day, when
Christians have been wrought up to such a pitch of importunity and such a holy
boldness, that afterwards, when they looked back upon it, they were frightened
and amazed at themselves, to think they should dare to exercise such importunity
with God. And yet these prayers have prevailed, and obtained the blessing. And
many of these persons, that I am acquainted with, are among the holiest persons
I know in the world.
5. Prayer, to be effectual, must be offered from
right motives. Prayer should not be selfish, but dictated by a supreme regard
for the glory of God. A great deal of prayer is offered from pure selfishness.
Women sometimes pray for their husbands, that they may be converted, because
they say, “It would be so much more pleasant to have my husband go to meeting
with me,” and all that. And they seem never to lift up their thoughts above
self at all. They do not seem to think how their husbands are dishonoring God
by their sins, and how God would be glorified in their conversion. So it is
with parents very often. They cannot bear to think that their children
should be lost. They pray 54for them very
earnestly indeed. But if you go to talk with them, they are very tender, and
tell you how good their children are, how they respect religion, and they think
they are almost Christians now; and so they talk as if they were afraid you
would hurt their children if you should tell them the truth. They do not think
how such amiable and lovely children are dishonoring God by their sins; they
are only thinking what a dreadful thing it will be for them to go to hell. Ah!
unless their thoughts rise higher than this, their prayers will never prevail
with a holy God. The temptation to selfish motives is so strong, that there is
reason to fear a great many parental prayers never rise above the yearnings of
parental tenderness. And that is the reason why so many prayers are not heard,
and why so many pious, praying parents have ungodly children. Much of the
prayer for the heathen world seems to be based on no higher principle than
sympathy. Missionary agents, and others, are dwelling almost exclusively upon
the six hundred millions of heathens going to hell, while little is said of
their dishonoring God. This is a great evil; and until the church have higher
motives for prayer and missionary effort than sympathy for the heathen, their
prayers and efforts will never amount to much.
6. Prayer, to be effectual, must be by the
intercession of the Spirit. You never can expect to offer prayer according to the
will of God without the Spirit. In the first two cases, it is not because
Christians are unable to offer such prayer, where the will of God is revealed
in his word, or indicated by his providence. They are able to do it, just as
they are able to be holy. But the fact is, that they are so wicked, that they
never do offer such prayer, without they are influenced by the Spirit of God.
There must be a faith, such as produced by the effectual operation of the Holy
Ghost.
7. It must be persevering prayer. As a general thing,
Christians who have backslidden and lost the spirit of prayer, will not get at
once into the habit of persevering prayer. Their minds are not in a
right state, and they cannot fix their minds, and hold on till the blessing
comes. If their minds were in that state, that they would persevere till the
answer comes, effectual prayer might be offered at once, as well as after
praying ever so many times for an object. But they have to pray again and
again, because their thoughts are so apt to wander away, and are so easily
diverted from the object to something else. Until their minds get imbued with
the spirit of prayer, they will not keep fixed to one point, and push their
petition to an issue on the spot. Do not think you are prepared to offer prevailing
55prayer, if your feelings will let you pray once for
an object, and then leave it. Most Christians come up to prevailing prayer by a
protracted process. Their minds gradually become filled with anxiety about an
object, so that they will even go about their business, sighing out their
desires to God. Just as the mother whose child is sick, goes round her house,
sighing as if her heart would break. And if she is a praying mother, her sighs
are breathed out to God all the day long. If she goes out of the room where her
child is, her mind is still on it; and if she is asleep, still her thoughts are
on it, and she starts in her dreams, thinking it is dying. Her whole mind is
absorbed in that sick child. This is the state of mind in which Christians offer
prevailing prayer.
What was the reason that Jacob wrestled all night in
prayer with God? He knew that he had done his brother Esau a great injury, in
getting away the birthright a long time ago. And now he was informed that his
injured brother was coming to meet him, with an armed force altogether too
powerful for him to contend against. And there was great reason to suppose he
was coming with a purpose of revenge. There were two reasons then why he should
be distressed. The first was, that he had done this great injury, and had never
made any reparation. The other was, that Esau was coming with a force
sufficient to crush him. Now, what does he do? Why, he first arranges
everything in the best manner he can to meet his brother, sending his present
first, then his property, then his family, putting those he loved most farthest
behind. And by this time his mind was so exercised that he could not contain
himself. He goes away alone over the brook, and pours out his very soul in an
agony of prayer all night. And just as the day was breaking, the angel of the
covenant said, “Let me go;” and his whole being was, as it were, agonized at
the thought of giving up, and he cried out, “I will not let thee go except thou
bless me.” His soul was wrought up into an agony, and he obtained the blessing,
but he always bore the marks of it, and showed that his body had been greatly
affected by this mental struggle. This is prevailing prayer.
Now, do not deceive yourselves with thinking that you
offer effectual prayer, unless you have this intense desire for the blessing. I
do not believe in it. Prayer is not effectual unless it is offered up with an
agony of desire. The apostle Paul speaks of it as a travail of the soul. Jesus
Christ, when he was praying in the garden, was in such an agony, that he sweat
as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. I have never known
a person sweat blood; but I 56have known a
person pray till the blood started from the nose. And I have known persons pray
till they were all wet with perspiration, in the coldest weather in winter. I
have known persons pray for hours, till their strength was all exhausted with
the agony of their minds. Such prayers prevailed with God.
This agony in prayer was prevalent in President
Edwards’ day, in the revivals that then took place. It was one of the great
stumbling blocks in those days, to persons who were opposed to the revival,
that people used to pray till their bodies were overpowered with their
feelings. I will read a paragraph of what President Edwards says on the
subject, to let you see that this is not a new thing in the Church, but has
always prevailed wherever revivals prevailed with power. It is from his
Thoughts on Revivals.
“We cannot determine that God never shall give any
person so much of a discovery of himself, not only as to weaken their bodies,
but to take away their lives. It is supposed by very learned and judicious
divines, that Moses’ life was taken away after this manner; and this has also
been supposed to be the case with some other saints. Yea, I do not see any
solid, sure grounds any have to determine, that God shall never make such
strong impressions on the mind by his Spirit, that shall be an occasion of so
impairing the frame of the body, and particularly that part of the body, the
brain, that persons shall be deprived of the use of reason. As I said before,
It is too much for us to determine, that God will not bring an outward calamity
in bestowing spiritual and eternal blessings: so it is too much for us to
determine, how great an outward calamity he will bring. If God give a great
increase of discoveries of himself, and of love to him, the benefit is
infinitely greater than the calamity, though the life should presently after be
taken away; yea, though the soul should not immediately be taken to heaven, but
should lie some years in a deep sleep, and then be taken to heaven; or, which
is much the same thing, if it be deprived of the use of its faculties, and be
inactive and unserviceable, as if it lay in a deep sleep for some years, and
then should pass into glory. We cannot determine how great a calamity
distraction is, when considered with all its consequences, and all that might
have been consequent, if the distraction had not happened; nor indeed whether
(thus considered) it be any calamity at all, or whether it be not a mercy, by
preventing some great sin, or some more dreadful thing, if it had not been. It
were a great fault in us to limit a sovereign, all-wise God, 57whose judgments are a great deep, and his ways past finding
out, where he has not limited himself, and in things concerning which he has
not told us what his way shall be. It is remarkable, considering in what
multitudes of instances, and to how great a degree, the frame of the body has
been overpowered of late, that persons’ lives have, notwithstanding, been
preserved, and that the instances of those that have been deprived of reason,
have been so very few, and those, perhaps all of them, persons under the
peculiar disadvantage of a weak, vapory habit of body. A merciful and careful
Divine hand is very manifest in it, that in so many instances where the ship
has begun to sink, yet it has been upheld, and has not totally sunk. The
instances of such as have been deprived of reason are so few, that certainly they
are not enough to cause us to be in any fright, as though this work that has
been carried on in the country was like to be of baneful influence; unless we
are disposed to gather up all that we can to darken it, and set it forth in
frightful colors.
“There is one particular kind of exercise and concern
of mind, that many have been overpowered by, that has been especially stumbling
to some; and that is, the deep concern and distress that they have been in for
the souls of others. I am sorry that any put us to the trouble of doing that
which seems so needless, as defending such a thing as this. It seems like mere
trifling, in so plain a case, to enter into a formal and particular debate, in
order to determine whether there be anything in the greatness and importance of
the case that will answer and bear a proportion to the greatness of the concern
that some have manifested. Men may be allowed, from no higher a principle than
common ingenuity and humanity, to be very deeply concerned and greatly
exercised in mind at seeing others in great danger of no greater a calamity
than drowning, or being burnt up in a house on fire. And if so, then doubtless
it will be allowed to be equally reasonable, if they saw them in danger of a
calamity ten times greater, to be still much more concerned; and so much more
still, if the calamity was still vastly greater. And why, then, should it be
thought unreasonable, and looked upon with a very suspicious eye, as if it must
come from some bad cause, when persons are extremely concerned at seeing others
in very great danger of suffering the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God to
all eternity? And besides, it will doubtless be allowed that those that have
very great degrees of the Spirit of God, that is, a spirit of love, may well be
supposed to have vastly more of love and compassion to their fellow 58creatures, than those that are influenced only by
common humanity. Why should it be thought strange that those that are full of
the Spirit of Christ should be proportionably, in their love to souls, like to
Christ? who had so strong a love to them and concern for them as to be willing
to drink the dregs of the cup of God’s fury for them; and at the same time that
he offered up his blood for souls, offered up also, as their high priest, strong
crying and tears, with an extreme agony, when the soul of Christ was, as it
were, in travail for the souls of the elect; and, therefore, in saving them, he
is said to see of the travail of his soul. As such a spirit of love to and
concern for souls was the spirit of Christ, so it is the spirit of the church;
and, therefore, the church, in desiring and seeking that Christ might be
brought forth in the world and in the souls of men, is represented, Rev. xii.,
as ‘a woman crying, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.’ The
spirit of those that have been in distress for the souls of others, so far as I
can discern, seems not to be different from that of the apostle, who travailed
for souls, and was ready to wish himself accursed from Christ for others. And
that of the Psalmist, Psalm cxix. 53, ‘Horror hath taken hold upon me, because
of the wicked that forsake the law.’ And v. 136, ‘Rivers of waters run down
mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.’ And that of the prophet Jeremiah,
Jer. iv. 19, ‘My bowels! my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; My heart
maketh a noise in me: I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard. O my
soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war!’ And so, chap. ix. 1, and
xiii. 17, and Isa. xxii. 4. We read of Mordecai, when he saw his people in
danger of being destroyed with a temporal destruction, Esther iv. 1, that he
‘rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst
of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry. And why, then, should
persons be thought to be distracted, when they cannot forbear crying out at the
consideration of the misery of those that are going to eternal destruction?”[2][1]
I have read this to show that this thing was common
in the great revivals of those days. It has always been so in all great
revivals, and has been more or less common in proportion to the greatness, and
extent, and depth of the work. It was so in the great revivals in
59
9. If you mean to pray effectually, you must pray a
great deal. It was said of the apostle James, that after he was dead it was
found his knees were callous like a camel’s knees, by praying so much. Ah! here
was the secret of the success of those primitive ministers. They had callous
knees.
10. If you intend prayer to be effectual, it must be
offered in the name of Christ. You cannot come to God in your own name. You
cannot plead your own merits. But you can come in a name that is always
acceptable. You all know what it is to use the name of a man. If you
should go to the bank with a draft or note, endorsed by John Jacob Astor, that
would be giving you his name, and you know you could get the money from the
bank just as well as he could himself. Now, Jesus Christ gives you the use of
his name. And when you pray in the name of Christ, the meaning of it is, that
you can prevail just as well as he could himself, and receive just as much as
God’s well-beloved Son would if he were to pray himself for the same things.
But you must pray in faith. His name has all the virtue in your lips that it
has in his own, and God is just as free to bestow blessings upon you, when you
ask in the name of Christ, and in faith, as he would be to bestow them upon
Christ, if he should ask.
11. You cannot prevail in prayer, without renouncing
all your sins. You must not only recall them to mind, but you must actually
renounce them, and leave them off, and in the purpose of your heart renounce
them all for ever.
12. You must pray in faith. You must expect to obtain
the things you ask for. You need not look for an answer to prayer, if you pray
without an expectation of obtaining it. You are not to form such expectations
without any reason for them. In the cases I have supposed, there is a reason
for the expectation. In case the thing is revealed in God’s word, if you pray
without an expectation of receiving the blessings, you just make God a liar. If
the will of God is indicated by his providence, you ought to depend on it,
according to the clearness of the indication, so far as to expect the blessing
if you pray for it. And if you are led by his Spirit to pray for certain
things, you have just as much reason to expect the thing to be done as if God
had revealed it in his word.
But some say, “Will not this view of the leadings of
the Spirit of God lead people into fanaticism?” I answer, that I know not but
many may deceive themselves in respect to this matter. Multitudes have deceived
themselves in regard to all the other points of religion. And if some people
should think they are led by the Spirit of God, when it is nothing 60but their own imagination, is that any reason why
those who know that they are led by the Spirit should not follow? Many people
suppose themselves to be converted when they are not. Is that any reason why we
should not cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ? Suppose some people are deceived in
thinking they love God, is that any reason why the pious saint who knows he has
the love of God shed abroad in his heart, should not give vent to his feelings
in songs of praise? So I suppose some may deceive themselves in thinking they
are led by the Spirit of God. But there is no need of being deceived. If people
follow impulses, it is their own fault. I do not want you to follow impulses. I
want you to be sober minded, and follow the sober, rational leadings of the
Spirit of God. There are those who understand what I mean, and who know
very well what it is to give themselves up to the Spirit of God in prayer.
III. I will state some of the reasons why these
things are essential to effectual prayer. Why does God require such prayer,
such strong desires, such agonizing supplications?
1. These strong desires strongly illustrate the
strength of God’s feelings. They are like the real feelings of God for
impenitent sinners. When I have seen, as I sometimes have, the amazing strength
of love for souls that has been felt by Christians, I have been wonderfully
impressed with the amazing love of God, and his desires for their salvation.
The case of a certain woman, of whom I read, in a revival, made the greatest
impression on my mind. She had such an unutterable compassion and love for
souls, that she actually panted for breath almost to suffocation. What must be
the strength of the desire which God feels, when his Spirit produces in
Christians such amazing agony, such throes of soul, such travail—God has
chosen the best word to express it—it is travail—travail of the soul.
I have seen a man of as much strength of intellect and
muscle as any man in the community, fall down prostrate, absolutely overpowered
by his unutterable desires for sinners. I know this is a stumbling block to
many; and it always will be as long as there remain in the church so many blind
and stupid professors of religion. But I cannot doubt that these things are the
work of the Spirit of God. Oh that the whole church could be so filled with the
Spirit as to travail in prayer, till a nation should be born in a day!
It is said in the word of God, that as soon “as
2. These strong desires that I have described, are
the natural results of great benevolence and clear views of the danger of
sinners. It is perfectly reasonable that it should be so. If the women who are
in this house should look up there, and see a family burning to death in the
fire, and hear their shrieks, and behold their agony, they would feel
distressed, and it is very likely that many of them would faint away with
agony. And nobody would wonder at it, or say they were fools or crazy to feel
so much distressed at such an awful sight. They would think it strange if there
were not some expressions of powerful feeling. Why is it any wonder, then, if
Christians should feel as I have described, when they have clear views of the
state of sinners, and the awful danger they are in? The fact is, that those
individuals who never have felt so, have never felt much real benevolence, and
their piety must be of a very superficial character. I do not mean to judge
harshly, or to speak unkindly. But I state it as a simple matter of fact; and
people may talk about it as they please, but I know that such piety is
superficial. This is not censoriousness, but plain truth.
People sometimes wonder at Christians having such
feelings. Wonder at what? Why, at the natural, and philosophical, and necessary
results of deep piety towards God, and deep benevolence towards man, in view of
the great danger they see sinners to be in.
3. The soul of a Christian, when it is thus burdened,
must have relief. God rolls this weight upon the soul of a Christian, for the
purpose of bringing him near to himself. Christians are often so unbelieving,
that they will not exercise proper faith in God, till he rolls this burden upon
them, so heavy that they cannot live under it, and then they must go to God for
relief. It is like the case of many a convicted sinner. God is willing to
receive him at once, if he will come right to him, with faith in Jesus Christ.
But the sinner will not come. He hangs back, and struggles, and groans under
the burden of his sins, and will not throw himself upon God, till his burden of
conviction becomes so great that he can live no longer; and when he is driven
to desperation, as it were, and feels as if he was ready to sink into hell, he
makes a mighty plunge, 62and throws himself
upon God’s mercy as his only hope. It was his duty to come before. God had no
delight in his distress, for its own sake. It was only the sinner’s obstinacy
that created the necessity for all this distress. He would not come without it.
So when professors of religion get loaded down with the weight of souls, they
often pray again and again, and yet the burden is not gone, nor their distress
abated, because they have never thrown it all upon God in faith. But they
cannot get rid of the burden. So long as their benevolence continues it will remain
and increase, and unless they resist and quench the Holy Ghost they can get no
relief, until at length, when they are driven to extremity, they make a
desperate effort, roll the burden off upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and exercise
a child-like confidence in him. Then they feel relieved; then they feel as if
the soul they were praying for would be saved. The burden is gone, and God
seems in kindness to sooth down the mind to feel a sweet assurance that the
blessing will be granted. Often, after a Christian has had this struggle, this
agony in prayer, and has obtained relief in this way, you will find the
sweetest and most heavenly affections flow out—the soul rests sweetly and
gloriously in God, and rejoices, “with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
Do any of you think now, that there are no such
things in the experience of believers? I tell you, if I had time, I could show
you from President Edwards, and other approved writers, cases and descriptions
just like this. Do you ask why we never have such things here in
4. These effects of the Spirit of prayer upon the
body are themselves no part of religion. It is only that the body is 63often so weak that the feelings of the soul overpower
it. These bodily effects are not at all essential to prevailing prayer, but
only a natural or physical result of highly excited emotions of the mind. It is
not at all unusual for the body to be weakened and even overcome by any
powerful emotion of the mind, on other subjects besides religion. The
door-keeper of Congress in the time of the revolution, fell down dead on the
reception of some highly cheering intelligence. I knew a woman in
5. Doubtless one great reason why God requires the
exercise of this agonizing prayer is, that it forms such a bond of union
between Christ and the Church. It creates such a sympathy between them. It is
as if Christ came and poured the overflowings of his own benevolent heart into
his church, and led them to sympathize and to co-operate with him, as they
never do in any other way. They feel just as Christ feels—so full of compassion
for sinners that they cannot contain themselves. Thus it is often with those
ministers who are distinguished for their success in preaching to sinners; they
often have such compassion, such overflowing desires for their salvation, that
it shows itself in their speaking, and their preaching, just as though Jesus
Christ spoke through them. The words come from their lips fresh and warm, as if
from the very heart of Christ. I do not mean that he dictates their words; but
he excites the feelings that give utterance to them. Then you see a movement in
the hearers, as if Christ himself spoke through lips of clay.
6. This travailing in birth for souls creates also a
remarkable bond of union between warm-hearted Christians and the young
converts. Those who are converted appear very dear to the hearts that have had
this spirit of prayer for them. The feeling is like that of a mother for her
first-born. Paul expresses it beautifully, when he says, “My little children!”
His heart was warm and tender to them. “My little children, of whom I travail
in birth again.” They had backslidden, and he has all the agonies of a parent over
a wandering child. “I travail in birth again, till Christ be formed in you, the
hope 64of glory.” In a revival, I have often noticed how
those who have had the spirit of prayer, love the young converts. I know this
is all algebra to those who have never felt it. But to those who have
experienced the agony of wrestling, prevailing prayer, for the conversion of a
soul, you may depend upon it, that soul, after it is converted, appears as dear
as a child is to the mother who has brought it forth with pain. He has agonized
for it, and received it in answer to prayer, and can present it before the Lord
Jesus Christ, saying, “Here, Lord, am I, and the children thou hast given me.”
7. Another reason why God requires this sort of
prayer is, that it is the only way in which the church can be properly prepared
to receive great blessings without being injured by them. When the church is
thus prostrated in the dust before God, and is in the depth of agony in prayer,
the blessing does them good. While at the same time, if they had received the
blessing without this deep prostration of soul, it would have puffed them up
with pride. But as it is, it increases their holiness, their love, their
humility.
IV. I am to show that such prayer as I have described
will avail much. But time fails me to go into a particular detail of the
evidence which I intended to bring forward under this head.
Elijah the prophet mourned over the declensions of
the house of
John Knox was a man famous for his power in prayer,
so that bloody Queen Mary used to say she feared his prayers 65more than all the armies of
Take a fact which was related, in my hearing, by a
minister. He said, that in a certain town there had been no revival for many
years; the church was nearly run out, the youth were all unconverted, and
desolation reigned unbroken. There lived in a retired part of the town, an aged
man, a blacksmith by trade, and of so stammering a tongue, that it was painful
to hear him speak. On one Friday, as he was at work in his shop, alone, his
mind became greatly exercised about the state of the church, and of the
impenitent. His agony became so great, that he was induced to lay by his work,
lock the shop door, and spend the afternoon in prayer.
He prevailed, and on the Sabbath called on the
minister, and desired him to appoint a conference meeting. After some
hesitation, the minister consented, observing, however, that he feared but few
would attend. He appointed it the same evening, at a large private house. When
evening came, more assembled than could be accommodated in the house. All was
silent for a time, until one sinner broke out in tears, and said, if any one
could pray, he begged him to pray for him. Another followed, and
another, and still another, until it was found that persons from every quarter
of the town were under deep conviction. And what was remarkable was, that they
all dated their conviction at the hour when the old man was praying in his
shop. A powerful revival followed. Thus this old stammering man prevailed, and,
as a prince, had power with God. I could name multitudes of similar cases, but,
for want of time, must conclude with a few.
REMARKS.
1. A great deal of prayer is lost, and many people
never prevail in prayer, because, when they have desires for particular
blessings, they do not follow them up. They may have had desires, benevolent
and pure, which were excited by the Spirit of God; and when they have them,
they should persevere 66in prayer, for if
they turn off their attention to other objects, they will quench the Spirit. We
tell sinners not to turn off their minds from the one object, but to keep their
attention fixed there, till they are saved. When you find these holy desires in
your minds, take care of two things:
(1.) Do not quench the Spirit.
(2.) Do not be diverted to other objects.
Follow the leadings of the Spirit, till you have
offered that effectual fervent prayer that availeth much.
2. Without the spirit of prayer, ministers will do
but little good. A minister need not expect much success, unless he prays for
it. Sometimes others may have the spirit of prayer, and obtain a
blessing on his labors. Generally, however, those preachers are the most
successful who have the most of a spirit of prayer themselves.
3. Not only must ministers have the spirit of prayer,
but it is necessary that the church should unite in offering that effectual
fervent prayer which can prevail with God. You need not expect a blessing,
unless you ask for it. “For all these things will I be inquired of by the house
of
Now, my brethren, I have only to ask you, in regard
to what I have preached to-night, “Will you do it?” Have you done what I
preached to you last Friday evening? Have you gone over with your sins, and confessed
them, and got them all out of the way? Can you pray now? And will you join and
offer prevailing prayer, that the Spirit of God may come down here?
LECTURE V.
THE PRAYER OF FAITH.
Text.—“Therefore I say unto you, What things
soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them.”—Mark xi. 24.
THESE words have been by some supposed to refer
exclusively to the faith of miracles. But there is not the least evidence of
this. That the text was not designed by our Saviour to refer exclusively to the
faith of miracles, is proved by the connection in which it stands. If you read
the chapter, you will see that Christ and his apostles were at this time very
much engaged in their work, and very prayerful; and as they returned from their
places of retirement in the morning, faint and hungry, they saw a fig-tree at a
little distance. It looked very beautiful, and doubtless gave signs of having
fruit on it; but when they came nigh, they found nothing on it but leaves. And
Jesus said, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.
“And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the
fig-tree dried up from the roots.
“And Peter, calling to remembrance, saith unto him,
Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
“And Jesus answering, saith unto them, have faith in
God.
“For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall
not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith
shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
Then follow the words of the text:
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye
desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Our Saviour was desirous of giving his disciples
instructions respecting the nature and power of prayer, and the necessity of
strong faith in God. He therefore stated a very strong case, a miracle—one so
great as the removal of a mountain into the sea. And he tells them, that if
they exercise a proper faith in God, they might do such things. But his remarks
are not to be limited to faith merely in regard to working miracles, for he
goes on to say,
68
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught
against any, that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your
trespasses.
“But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father
which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Does that relate to miracles? When you pray, you must
forgive. Is that required only when a man wishes to work a miracle? There are
many other promises in the Bible nearly related to this, and speaking nearly
the same language, which have been all disposed of in this short-handed way, as
referring to the faith employed in miracles. Just as if the faith of miracles
was something different from faith in God!
In my last lecture, I dwelt upon the subject of
“prevailing prayer;” and you will recollect that I passed over the subject of faith
in prayer very briefly, because I wished to reserve it for a separate discussion.
The subject to-night is,
THE PRAYER OF FAITH.
I propose,
I. To show that faith is an indispensable condition
of prevailing prayer.
II. Show what it is that we are to believe when we
pray.
III. Show when we are bound to exercise this faith,
or to believe that we shall receive the thing that we ask for.
IV. That this kind of faith in prayer always does
obtain the blessing sought.
V. Explain how we are to come into the state of mind,
in which we can exercise such faith.
VI. Answer several objections, which are sometimes
alleged against these views of prayer.
I. That faith is an indispensable condition of
prevailing prayer, will not be seriously doubted. There is such a thing as
offering benevolent desires, which are acceptable to God as such, that do not
include the exercise of faith in regard to the actual reception of those
blessings. But such desires are not prevailing prayer, the prayer of faith. God
may see fit to grant the things desired, as an act of kindness and love, but it
would not be properly in answer to prayer. I am speaking now of the kind of
faith that insures the blessing. Do not understand me as saying that there is
nothing in prayer that is acceptable to God, or that even obtains the blessing
sometimes, without this kind of faith. But I am speaking of the faith
which secures the very blessing it seeks. To prove that faith is indispensable
to prevailing prayer, it is only necessary 69to
repeat what the apostle James expressly tells us: “If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and
it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.”
II. We are to inquire what we are to believe when
we pray.
1. We are to believe in the existence of God—“He that
cometh to God must believe that he is”—and in his willingness to answer
prayer—“that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.” There are many who believe in the existence of God, and do not believe in
the efficacy of prayer. They profess to believe in God, but deny the necessity
or influence of prayer.
2. We are to believe that we shall receive—something—what?
Not something, or anything, as it happens, but some particular thing we ask
for. We are not to think that God is such a being, that if we ask a fish, he
will give us a serpent, or if we ask bread, he will give us a stone. But he
says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.” With respect to the faith of
miracles, it is plain that they were bound to believe they should receive just
what they asked for—that the very thing itself should come to pass. That is
what they were to believe. Now what ought men to believe in regard to other
blessings? Is it a mere loose idea, that if a man prays for a specific
blessing, God will by some mysterious sovereignty give something or other to
him, or something to somebody else, somewhere? When a man prays for his
children’s conversion, is he to believe that either his children will be
converted, or somebody’s else children, and it is altogether uncertain which?
All this is utter nonsense, and highly dishonorable to God. No, we are to
believe that we shall receive the very things that we ask for.
III. When are we bound to make this prayer? When are
we bound to believe that we shall have the very things we pray for? I answer,
When we have evidence of it. Faith must always have evidence. A man cannot
believe a thing, unless he sees something which he supposes to be evidence. He
is under no obligation to believe, and has no right to believe, a thing will be
done, unless he has evidence. It is the height of fanaticism to believe without
evidence. The kinds of evidence a man may have are the following:
1. Suppose that God has especially promised
the thing. As for instance, God says he is more ready to give his Holy Spirit
to them that ask him, than parents are to give bread 70to their children. Here we are bound to believe that
we shall receive it when we pray for it. You have no right to put in an if,
and say, “Lord, if it be thy will, give us thy Holy Spirit.” This is to
insult God. To put an if into God’s promise, where God has put none, is
tantamount to charging God with being insincere. It is like saying, “O God, if
thou art in earnest in making these promises, grant us the blessing we pray
for.”
I heard of a case where a young convert was the means
of teaching a minister a solemn truth on the subject of prayer. She was from a
very wicked family, and went to live with a minister. While there, she was
hopefully converted, and appeared well. One day she came to the minister’s
study, while he was in it—a thing she was not in the habit of doing; and he
thought there must be something the matter. So he asked her to sit down, and
kindly inquired into the state of her religious feelings; she said, she was
distressed at the manner in which the old church members prayed for the Spirit.
They would pray for the Holy Spirit to come, and would seem to be very much in
earnest, and plead the promises of God, and then say, “O Lord, if it be thy
will, grant us these blessings for Christ’s sake.” She thought that saying,
“if it be thy will,” when God has expressly promised it, was questioning
whether God was sincere in his promises. The minister tried to reason her out
of it, and of course he succeeded in confounding her. But she was distressed
and filled with grief, and said, “I cannot argue the point with you, sir, but
it is impressed on my mind that it is wrong, and dishonoring God.” And she went
away weeping with anguish. The minister saw she was not satisfied, and it led
him to look at the matter again, and finally he saw that it was putting in an
if where God had put none, and where he had revealed his will expressly, and
that it was an insult to God. And he went and told his church they were bound
to believe that God was in earnest when he made them a promise. And the spirit
of prayer came down upon that church, and a most powerful revival followed.
2. Where there is a general promise in the
Scriptures which you may reasonably apply to the particular case before you. If
its real meaning includes the particular thing for which you pray, or if you
can reasonably apply the principle of the promise to the case, there you have
evidence. For instance, suppose it is a time when wickedness prevails greatly,
and you are led to pray for God’s interference? What promise have you? Why,
this one: “<scripture passage="Isaiah
59:19" parsed="|Isa|59|19|0|0" osisRef="Bible:Isa.59.19"></scripture>When the enemy shall come 71in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up
a standard against him.” Here you see is a general promise laying down a
principle of God’s administration, which you may apply to the case before you,
as a warrant for exercising faith in prayer. And if the case come up, to
inquire as to the time in which God will grant blessings in answer to
prayer, you have this promise: “While they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
There is a vast amount of general promises and
principles laid down in the Bible, which Christians might make use of, if they
would only think. Whenever you are in circumstances to which the
promises or principles apply, there you are to use them. A parent finds this
promise: “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them
that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children, to such as keep
his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.” Now,
here is a promise made to those that possess a certain character. If any parent
is conscious that this is his character, he has a rightful ground to apply it
to himself and his family. If you have this character, you are bound to make
use of this promise in prayer, and believe it, even to your children’s
children.
If I had time to-night, I could go from one end of
the Bible to the other, and produce an astonishing variety of texts that are
applicable as promises; enough to prove, that in whatever circumstances a child
of God may be placed, God has provided in the Bible some promise, either
general or particular, which he can apply, that is precisely suited to his
case. Many of God’s promises are very broad on purpose to cover much ground.
What can be broader than the promise in the text: “Whatsoever things ye desire
when ye pray?” What praying Christian is there who has not been surprised at
the length, and breadth, and fullness, of the promises of God, when the Spirit
has applied them to his heart? Who that lives a life of prayer, has not
wondered at his own blindness, in not having before seen and felt the extent of
meaning and richness of those promises, when viewed under the light of the
Spirit of God? At such times he has been astonished at his own ignorance, and
found the Spirit applying the promises and declarations of the Bible in a sense
in which he had never dreamed of their being applicable before. The manner in
which the apostles applied the promises, and prophecies, and declarations of
the Old Testament, places in a strong light the breadth of meaning, and
fullness, and richness of the word of God. He that walks in the light of God’s
countenance, and is filled with the Spirit of God as he ought 72to be, will often make an appropriation of promises
to himself, and an application of them to his own circumstances, and the
circumstances of those for whom he prays, that a blind professor of religion
would never dream of.
3. Where there is any prophetic declaration,
that the thing prayed for is agreeable to the will of God. When it is plain
from prophecy that the event is certainly to come, you are bound to believe it,
and to make it the ground for your special faith in prayer. If the time is not
specified in the Bible, and there is no evidence from other sources, you are
not bound to believe that it shall take place now, or immediately. But if the
time is specified, or if the time may be learned from the study of the
prophecies, and it appears to have arrived, then Christians are under
obligations to understand and apply it, by offering the prayer of faith. For
instance, take the case of Daniel, in regard to the return of the Jews from
captivity. What does he say? “I Daniel understood by books the number of the
years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would
accomplish seventy years in the desolations of
4. When the signs of the times, or the providence of
God, indicate that a particular blessing is about to be bestowed, we are bound
to believe it, The Lord Jesus Christ blamed the Jews, and called them
hypocrites, because they did not 73understand
the indications of Providence. They could understand the signs of the weather,
and see when it was about to rain, and when it would be fair weather; but they
could not see, from the signs of the times, that the time had come for the
Messiah to appear, and build up the house of God. There are many professors of
religion who are always stumbling and hanging back, whenever any thing is
proposed to be done. They always say, The time has not come—the time has not
come; when there are others who pay attention to the signs of the times, and
who have spiritual discernment to understand them. These pray in faith for the
blessing, and it comes.
5. When the Spirit of God is upon you, and
excites strong desires for any blessing, you are bound to pray for it in faith.
You are bound to infer, from the fact that you find yourself drawn to desire
such a thing while in the exercise of such holy affections as the Spirit of God
produces, that these desires are the work of the Spirit. People are not apt to
desire with the right kind of desires, unless they are excited by the Spirit of
God. The apostle refers to these desires, excited by the Spirit, in his epistle
to the Romans, where he says—“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities;
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that
searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.” Here, then, if you
find your self strongly drawn to desire a blessing, you are to understand it as
an intimation that God is willing to bestow that particular blessing, and so
you are bound to believe it. God does not trifle with his children. He does not
go and excite in them a desire for one blessing, to turn them off with
something else. But he excites the very desires he is willing to gratify. And
when they feel such desires, they are bound to follow them out till they get
the blessing.
IV. I will proceed to show that this kind of faith always
obtains the object. The text is plain here, to show that you shall receive
the very thing prayed for. It does not say, “Believe that ye shall receive, and
ye shall either have that or something else equivalent to it.” To prove that
this faith obtains the very blessing asked, I observe,
1. That otherwise we could never know whether our
prayers were answered. And we might continue praying and praying, long after
the prayer was answered by some other blessing equivalent to the one we ask
for.
74
2. If we are not bound to expect the very thing we
ask for, it must be that the Spirit of God deceives us. Why should he excite us
to desire a certain blessing, when he means to grant something else?
3. What is the meaning of this passage, “If a man ask
bread, will he give him a stone?” Does not our Saviour rebuke the idea that
prayer may be answered by giving something else? What encouragement have we to
pray for any thing in particular, if we are to ask for one thing and receive
another? Suppose a Christian should pray for a revival here—he would be
answered by a revival in
4. Perhaps you may feel a difficulty here about the
prayers of Jesus Christ. People may often ask, “Did not he pray in the garden
for the cup to be removed, and was his prayer answered?” I answer that this is
no difficulty at all, for the prayer was answered. The cup he prayed to be
delivered from was removed. This is what the apostle refers to, when he
says—“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, was heard in that he feared.” Now I ask, On what occasion was he
saved from death, if not on this? Was it the death of the cross he prayed to be
delivered from? Not at all. But the case was this. A short time before he was
betrayed, we hear him saying to his disciples, “My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful, even unto death.” Anguish of mind came rolling in upon him, till he was
just ready to die, and he went out into the garden to pray, and told his
disciples to watch, and then he went by himself and prayed; “O my Father,” said
he, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will,
but as thou wilt.” In his agony he rose from his knees, and walked the garden,
till he came where his disciples were, and there he saw them fast asleep. He
awaked them and said, “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” And then he
went again, for he was in such distress that he could not 75stand still, and again he poured out his soul. And
the third time he goes away and prays, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” And now the third
time of praying, there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening
him. And his mind became composed, and calm, and the cup was gone. Till
then, he had been in such an agony that his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood, but now it was all over.
Some have supposed that he was praying against the
cross, and begging to be delivered from dying on the cross! Did Christ ever
shrink from the cross? Never. He came into the world on purpose to die on the
cross, and he never shrunk from it. But he was afraid he should die in the garden
before he came to the cross. The burden on his soul was so great, and produced
such an agony, that he felt as if he was on the point of dying, His soul was
sorrowful even unto death. But after the angel appeared unto him, we hear no
more of his agony of soul. He had prayed for relief from that cup, and
his prayer was answered. He became calm, and had no more mental suffering till
just as he expired. This case, therefore, is no exception. He received the very
thing for which he asked, as he says, “I knew thou always hearest me.”
But there is another case often brought up, where the
apostle Paul prayed against the thorn in the flesh. He says, “I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” And God answered him, “My grace is
sufficient for thee.” It is the opinion of Dr. Clarke and others, that Paul’s
prayer was answered in the very thing for which he prayed. That “the thorn in
the flesh, the messenger of Satan,” of which he speaks, was a false apostle who
had distracted and perverted the church at
But admitting that Paul’s prayer was not answered by
granting the particular thing for which he prayed, in order to make out this
case as an exception to the prayer of faith, they are obliged to assume the
very thing to be proved; and that is, that the apostle prayed in faith.
There is no reason to suppose that Paul would always pray in faith, any more
than that any other Christian does. The very manner in which God answered him
shows that it was not in faith. He virtually tells him, “That thorn is
necessary for your sanctification, and to keep you from being exalted above
measure. I 76sent it upon you in love,
and in faithfulness, and you have no business to pray that I should take it
away.—LET IT ALONE.”
There is not only no evidence that he prayed in
faith, but a strong presumption that he did not. From the history it is evident
that he had nothing on which to repose faith. There was no express promise, no
general promise, that could be applicable, no providence of God, no prophecy,
no teaching of the Spirit that God would remove this thorn; but the presumption
was that God would not remove it. He had given it to him for a particular
purpose. His prayer appears to have been selfish, or at least praying against a
mere personal influence. This was not any personal suffering that retarded his
usefulness, but on the contrary it was given him to increase his usefulness by
keeping him humble; and because on some account he found it inconvenient and
mortifying, he set himself to pray out of his own heart, evidently without
being led to it by the Spirit of God. But did Paul pray in faith without
the Spirit of God, any more than any other man? And will any one undertake to
say that the Spirit of God led him to pray that this might be removed, when God
himself had given it for a particular purpose, which purpose could not be
answered only as the thorn continued with him?
Why then is this made an exception to the general
rule laid down in the text, that a man shall receive whatsoever he asks in
faith? I was once amazed and grieved at a public examination at a Theological
Seminary, to hear them darken counsel by words without knowledge on this
subject. This case of Paul, and that of Christ just adverted to, were both of
them cited as instances to prove to their students that the prayer of faith
would not be answered in the particular thing for which they prayed. Now to
teach such sentiments as these in or out of a Theological Seminary, is to
trifle with the word of God, and to break the power of the Christian ministry.
Has it come to this, that our grave doctors in our seminaries, are employed to
instruct
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5. It is evident that the prayer of faith will obtain
the blessing, from the fact that our faith rests on evidence that to grant that
thing is the will of God. Not evidence that something else will be granted, but
that this particular thing will be. But how, then, can we have evidence that this
thing will be granted, if another thing is to be granted? People often
receive more than they pray for. Solomon prayed for wisdom, and God granted him
riches and honor in addition. So a wife sometimes prays for the conversion of
her husband, and if she offers the prayer, of faith, God may not only grant
that blessing, but convert her child, and her whole family. Blessings sometimes
seem to hang together, so that if a Christian gains one he gets them all.
V. I am to show how we are to come into this state of
mind, in which we can offer such prayer. People sometimes ask, “How shall I
offer such prayer? Shall I say, Now I will pray in faith for such and such a
blessing?” No, the human mind is not moved in this way. You might just as well
say, “Now I will call up a spirit from the bottomless pit.” I answer,
1. You must first obtain evidence that God
will bestow the blessing. How did Daniel make out to offer the prayer of faith?
He searched the Scriptures. Now, you need not let your Bible lie on a shelf,
and expect God to reveal his promises to you. Search the Scriptures, and see
where you can get either a general or special promise, or a prophecy, on which
you can plant your feet when you pray. Go through the Bible, and you will find
it full of such things—precious promises, which you may plead in faith. You
never need to want for objects of prayer, if you will do as Daniel did. Persons
are staggered on this subject, because they never make a proper use of the
Bible.
A curious case occurred in one of the towns in the
western part of this state. There was a revival there. A certain clergyman came
to visit the place, and heard a great deal said about the Prayer of Faith. He
was staggered at what they said, for he had never regarded the subject in the
light they did. He inquired about it of the minister that was laboring there.
The minister requested him, in a kind spirit, to go home, and take his
Testament, look out the passages that refer to prayer, and go round to his most
praying people, and ask them how they understood these passages. He said he
would do it, for though these views were new to him, he was willing to learn.
He did it, and went to his praying men and women, and read the passages without
note or comment, and 78asked what they
thought. He found their plain common sense had led them to understand these
passages, and to believe that they mean just as they say. This affected him,
and then the fact of his going round and presenting the promises before their
minds awakened the spirit of prayer in them, and a revival followed.
I could name many individuals who have set themselves
to examine the Bible on this subject, and before they got half through with it
have been filled with the spirit of prayer. They found that God meant by his
promises just what a plain, common sense man would understand them to mean. I
advise you to try it. You have Bibles; look them over, and whenever you find a
promise that you can use, fasten it in your mind before you go on; and I
venture to predict you will not get through the book without finding out that
God’s promises mean just what they say.
2. Cherish the good desires you have. Christians very
often lose their good desires by not attending to this; and then their prayers
are mere words, without any desire or earnestness at all. The least longing of
desire must be cherished. If your body was likely to freeze, and you had even
the least spark of fire, how you would cherish it! So if you have the least
desire for a blessing, let it be ever so small, do not trifle it away. Do not
grieve the Spirit. Do not be diverted. Do not lose good desires by levity, by
censoriousness, by worldly-mindedness. Watch and pray, and follow it up, or you
will never pray the prayer of faith.
2. Entire consecration to God is indispensable to
the prayer of faith. You must live a holy life, and consecrate all to
God—your time, talents, influence—all you have, and all you are, to be his
entirely. Read the lives of pious men, and you will be struck with this fact:
that they used to set apart times to renew their covenant, and dedicate
themselves anew to God; and whenever they have done so, a blessing has always
followed immediately. If I had Edwards here to-night, I could read passages
showing how it was in his days.
4. You must persevere. You are not to pray for
a thing once, and then cease, and call that the prayer of faith. Look at
Daniel. He prayed twenty-one days, and did not cease till he had obtained the
blessing. He set his heart and his face unto the Lord, to seek by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and he held on three
weeks, and then the answer came. And why did not it come before? God sent an
5. If you would pray in faith, be sure to walk
every day with God. If you do, he will tell you what to pray for. Be filled
with his Spirit, and he will give you objects enough to pray for. He will give
you as much of the spirit of prayer as you have strength of body to bear.
Said a good man to me, “Oh, I am dying for the want
of strength to pray. My body is crushed, the world is on me, and how can I
forbear praying!” I have known that man go to bed absolutely sick, for weakness
and faintness, under the pressure. And I have known him pray as if he would do
violence to heaven, and then seen the blessing come as plainly in answer to his
prayer as if it was revealed, so that no person would doubt it any more than if
God had spoken from heaven. Shall I tell you how he died? He prayed more and
more, and he used to take the map of the world before him and pray, and look
over the different countries and pray for them, till he absolutely expired in
his room praying. Blessed man! He was the reproach of the ungodly and of carnal,
unbelieving professors, but he was the favorite of heaven, and a prevailing
prince in prayer.
VI. I will refer to some objections which are brought
forward against this doctrine.
1. “It leads to fanaticism and amounts to a new
revelation.” Why should this be a stumbling block? They must have evidence to
believe before they can offer the prayer of faith. And if God gives other
evidence besides the senses, where is the objection? True, there is a sense in
which this is a new revelation; it is making known a thing by his Spirit. But
it is the very revelation which God has promised to give. It is just the one we
are to expect, if the Bible is true; that when we know not what we ought to
pray for, according to the will of God, his Spirit helps our infirmities, and
teaches us the very thing to pray for. Shall we deny the teaching of the
Spirit?
2. It is often asked, “Is it our duty to pray the
prayer of faith for the salvation of all men?” I answer, No; for that is not a
thing according to the will of God. It is directly contrary to his revealed
will. We have no evidence that all will be saved. We should feel benevolently
to all, and, in itself considered, desire their salvation. But God has revealed
it to us that many of the human race shall be damned. And 80it cannot be a duty to believe that they shall
all be saved, in the face of a revelation to the contrary. In Christ’s prayer,
in the seventeenth chapter of John, he expressly said, “I pray not for the
world but for those thou hast given me.”
3. But say some, “If we were to offer this
prayer for all men, would not all men be saved?” I answer, Yes, and so they
would be saved, if they would all repent. But they will not. Neither will
Christians offer the prayer of faith for all, because there is no evidence on
which to ground a belief that God intends to save all men.
4. But you ask, “For whom are we to offer this
prayer? We want to know in what cases, for what persons, and places, and at
what times, etc., we are to make the prayer of faith.” I answer, as I have already
answered, When you have evidence, from promises, or prophecies, or providences,
or the leadings of the Spirit, that God will do the things you pray for.
5. “How is it that so many prayers of pious parents
for their children are not answered? Did you not say there was a promise which
pious parents may apply to their children? Why is it, then, that so many pious
praying parents have had impenitent children, that died in their sins?” Granted
that it is so, what does it prove? Let God be true, but every man a liar. Which
shall we believe, that God’s promise has failed, or that these parents did not
do their duty? Perhaps they did not believe the promise, or did not believe
there was any such thing as the prayer of faith. Wherever you find a professor
that does not believe in any such prayer, you find, as a general thing, that he
has children and domestics yet in their sins. And no wonder, unless they are
converted in answer to the prayers of somebody else.
6. “Will not these views lead to fanaticism? Will not
many people think they are offering the prayer of faith when they are not?”
That is the same objection that the Unitarians make against the doctrine of
regeneration—that many people think they have been born again when they have
not. It is an argument against all spiritual religion whatever. Some think they
have it when they have not, and are fanatics. But there are those who know
what the prayer of faith is, just as there are those who know what spiritual
experience is, though it may stumble cold-hearted professors who know it not.
Even ministers often lay themselves open to the rebuke which Christ gave to
Nicodemus: “Art thou a master in
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REMARKS.
1. Persons who have not known by experience what this
is, have great reason to doubt their piety. This is by no means uncharitable.
Let them examine themselves. It is to be feared that they understand prayer as
Nicodemus did the new birth. They have not walked with God, and you cannot
describe it to them, any more than you can describe a beautiful painting to a
blind man who cannot see colors. Many professors can understand about the
prayer of faith just as much as a blind man does of colors.
2. There is reason to believe millions are in hell
because professors have not offered the prayer of faith. When they had promises
under their eye, they have not had faith enough to use them. Thus parents let
their children, and even baptized children, go down to hell because they
would not believe the promises of God. Doubtless many women’s husbands have
gone to hell, when they might have prevailed with God in prayer and saved them.
The signs of the times and the indications of Providence were favorable,
perhaps, and the Spirit of God prompted desires for their salvation, and they had
evidence enough to believe that God was ready to grant a blessing, and if they
had only prayed in faith, God would have granted it; but God turned it away
because they would not discern the signs of the times.
3. You say, “This leaves the church under a great
load of guilt.” True, it does so; and no doubt multitudes will stand up before
God covered all over with the blood of souls that have been lost through their
want of faith. The promises of God, accumulated in their Bibles, will stare
them in the face and weigh them down to hell.
4. Many professors of religion live so far from God
that to talk to them about the prayer of faith is all unintelligible. Very
often the greatest offence possible to them is to preach about this kind of
prayer.
5. I want to ask the professors who are here a few
questions. Do you know what it is to pray in faith? Did you ever pray in this
way? Have you ever prayed till your mind was assured the blessing would
come—till you felt that rest in God, that confidence, as perfect as if you saw
God come down from heaven to give it to you? If not, you ought to examine your
foundation. How can you live without praying in faith at all? How do you live
in view of your children, while you have no assurance whatever that they will
be converted? 82One would think you would
go deranged. I knew a father at the West; he was a good man, but he had
erroneous views respecting the prayer of faith; and his whole family of
children were grown up and not one of them converted. At length his son
sickened and seemed about to die. The father prayed, but the son grew worse and
seemed sinking into the grave without hope. The father prayed till his anguish
was unutterable. He went at last and prayed—(there seemed no prospect of his
son’s life)—but he poured out his soul as if he would not be denied, till at
length he got an assurance that his son would not only live, but be converted;
and not only this one, but his whole family, would be converted to God. He came
into the house and told his family his son would not die. They were astonished
at him. “I tell you,” says he, “he won’t die. And no child of mine will ever
die in his sins.” That man’s children were all converted years ago.
What do you think of that? Was that fanaticism? If
you believe so, it is because you know nothing about the matter. Do you pray
so? Do you live in such a manner that you can offer such prayer for your
children? I know that the children of professors may sometimes be converted in
answer to the prayers of somebody else. But ought you to live so? Dare you
trust to the prayers of others when God calls you to sustain this most
important relation to your children?
Finally—See what combined effort is made to dispose
of the Bible. The wicked are for throwing away the threatenings of the Bible,
and the church the promises. And what is there left? Between them, they leave
the Bible a blank. I say it in love: What are our Bibles good for if we do not
lay hold on their precious promises, and use them as the ground of our faith
when we pray for the blessing of God? You had better send your Bibles to the
heathen, where they will do some good, if you are not going to believe and use
them. I have no evidence that there is much of this prayer now in this church
or in this city. And what will become of it? What will become of your children?
your neighbors? the wicked?
83
LECTURE VI.
THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER.
Text.—Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of
God.—Romans viii. 26, 27.
My last lecture but one was on the subject of
Effectual Prayer; in which I observed that one of the most important attributes
of effectual or prevailing prayer is Faith.
This was so extensive a subject that I reserved it for a separate discussion.
And accordingly, I lectured last Friday evening on the subject of Faith in
Prayer, or, as it is termed, the Prayer of Faith. It was my intention to
discuss the subject in a single lecture. But as I was under the necessity of
condensing so much on some points, it occurred to me, and was mentioned by
others, that there might be some questions which people would ask, that ought
to be answered more fully, especially as the subject is one on which there is
so much darkness. One grand design in preaching is to exhibit the truth in such
a way as to answer the questions which would naturally arise in the minds of
those who read the Bible with attention, and who want to know what it means, so
that they can put it in practice. In explaining the text, I propose to show,
I. What Spirit is here spoken of, “The Spirit also
helpeth our infirmities.”
II. What that Spirit does for us.
III. Why he does what the text declares him to do.
IV. How he accomplishes it.
V. The degree in which he influences the minds of
those who are under his influence.
VI. How his influences are to be distinguished from
the influences of evil spirits, or from the suggestions of our own minds.
VII. How we are to obtain this agency of the Holy
Spirit.
VIII. Who have a right to expect to enjoy his
influences in this matter—or for whom the Spirit does the things spoken of in
the text.
I. What Spirit is it that is spoken of in the text?
84
Some have supposed that the Spirit spoken of in the
text means our own spirit—our own mind. But a little attention to the text will
show plainly that this is not the meaning. “The Spirit helpeth our infirmities”
would then read, “Our own spirit helpeth the infirmities of our own
spirit,”—and “Our own spirit likewise maketh intercession for our own spirit.”
You see you can make no sense of it on that supposition. It is evident from the
manner in which the text is introduced, that the Spirit referred to is the Holy
Ghost. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father, The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God.” And the text is plainly speaking of
the same Spirit.
II. What the Spirit does.
Answer—He intercedes for the saints. “He maketh
intercession for us,” and “helpeth our infirmities,” when “we know not what to
pray for as we ought.” He helps Christians to pray according to the will of
God, or for the things that God desires them to pray for.
III. Why is the Holy Spirit thus employed?
Because of our ignorance. Because we know not what we
should pray for as we ought. We are so ignorant both of the will of God,
revealed in the Bible, and of his unrevealed will, as we ought to learn it from
his providence. Mankind are vastly ignorant both of the promises and prophecies
of the Bible, and blind to the providence of God. And they are still more in
the dark about those points of which God has said nothing but by the leadings
of his Spirit. You recollect that I named these four sources of evidence on
which to ground faith in prayer—promises, prophecies, providences, and the Holy
Spirit. When all other means fail of leading us to the knowledge of what we
ought to pray for, the Spirit does it.
IV. How does he make intercession for the saints? In
what mode does he operate, so as to help our infirmities?
Not by superseding the use of our faculties. It is
not by praying for us, while we do nothing. He prays for us, by exciting our
own faculties. Not that he immediately suggests to us words, or guides our
language. But he enlightens our minds, and makes the truth take hold of our
souls. He leads us to consider the state of the church, and the condition of 85sinners around us. The manner in which he
brings the truth before the mind, and keeps it there till it produces its
effect, we cannot tell. But we can know as much as this—that he leads us to a
deep consideration of the state of things; and the result of this, the natural
and philosophical result, is, deep feeling. When the Spirit brings the truth up
before a man’s mind, there is only one way in which he can keep from deep
feeling. That is, by turning away his thoughts, and leading his mind to think
of other things. Sinners, when the Spirit of God brings the truth before them,
must feel. They feel wrong, as long as they remain impenitent. So, if a man is
a Christian, and the Holy Spirit brings a subject into warm contact with his
heart, it is just as impossible he should not feel, as it is that your hand
should not feel if you put it into the fire. If the Spirit of God leads him to
dwell on things calculated to excite warm and overpowering feelings, and he is
not excited by them, it proves that he has no love for souls, nothing of the
Spirit of Christ, and knows nothing about Christian experience.
2. The Spirit makes the Christian feel the value of
souls, and the guilt and danger of sinners in their present condition. It is amazing
how dark and stupid Christians often are about this. Even Christian parents let
their children go right down to hell before their eyes, and scarcely seem to
exercise a single feeling, or put forth an effort to save them. And why?
Because they are so blind to what hell is, so unbelieving about the Bible, so
ignorant of the precious promises which God has made to faithful parents. They
grieve the Spirit of God away, and it is in vain to try to make them pray for
their children, while the Spirit of God is away from them.
3. He leads Christians to understand and apply the
promises of Scripture. It is wonderful that in no age have Christians been able
fully to apply the promises of Scripture to the events of life, as they go
along. This is not because the promises themselves are obscure. The promises
themselves are plain enough. But there has always been a wonderful disposition
to overlook the Scriptures, as a source of light respecting the passing events
of life. How astonished the apostles were at Christ’s application of so many
prophecies to himself! They seemed to be continually ready to exclaim,
“Astonishing! Can it be so? We never understood it before.” Who, that has
witnessed the manner in which the apostles, influenced and inspired by the Holy
Ghost, applied passages of the Old Testament to Gospel times, has not been 86amazed at the richness of meaning which they found in
the Scriptures? So it has been with many a Christian; while deeply engaged in
prayer, he has seen that passages of Scripture are appropriate which he never
thought of before, as having any such application.
I once knew an individual who was in great spiritual
darkness. He had retired for prayer, resolved that he would not desist till he
had found the Lord. He kneeled down and tried to pray. All was dark, and he
could not pray. He rose from his knees, and stood for a while, but he could not
give it up, for he had promised that he would not let the sun go down before he
had given himself to God. He knelt again, but it was all dark, and his heart
was hard as before. He was nearly in despair, and said in agony, “I have
grieved the Spirit of God away, and there is no promise for me. I am shut out
from the presence of God.” But his resolution was formed not to give over, and
again he knelt down. He had said but a few words, when this passage came into
his mind as fresh as if he had just read it; it seemed as if he had just been
reading the words, “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me
with all your heart.” Jer. xxix. 13. Though this promise was in the Old
Testament, and was addressed to the Jews, it was still as applicable to him as
to them. And it broke his heart, like the hammer of the Lord, in a moment. He
prayed, and rose up, happy in God. Thus it often happens when professors of
religion are praying for their children. Sometimes they pray, and are in
darkness and doubt, feeling as if there was no foundation for faith, and no
special promises for the children of believers. But while they are pleading,
God has shown them the full meaning of some promise, and their soul has rested
on it as on the mighty arm of God. I once heard of a widow who was greatly
exercised about her children, till this passage was brought powerfully to her
mind: “Leave thy fatherless children with me, I will preserve them alive.” She
saw it had an extended meaning, and she was enabled to lay hold on it, as it
were, with her hands; and then she prevailed in prayer, and her children were
converted. The Holy Spirit was sent into the world by the Saviour, to guide his
people and instruct them, and bring things to their remembrance, as well as
to convince the world of sin.
4. The Spirit leads Christians to desire and pray for
things of which nothing is specifically said in the word of God. Take the case
of an individual, That God is willing to save is a general truth. So it is a
general truth that he is willing 87to
answer prayer. But how shall I know the will of God respecting that individual,
whether I can pray in faith according to the will of God for the conversion and
salvation of that individual, or not? Here the agency of the Spirit comes in,
to lead the minds of God’s people to pray for those individuals, and at those
times, when God is prepared to bless them. When we know not what to pray for,
the Holy Spirit leads the mind to dwell on some object, to consider its
situation, to realize its value, and to feel for it, and pray, and travail in
birth, till the object is attained. This sort of experience I know is less
common in cities than it is in some parts of the country, because of the
infinite number of things to divert the attention and grieve the Spirit in
cities. I have had much opportunity to know how it has been in some sections. I
was acquainted with an individual who used to keep a list of persons that he
was specially concerned for; and I have had the opportunity to know a multitude
of persons for whom he became thus interested, who were immediately converted.
I have seen him pray for persons on his list, when he was literally in an agony
for them; and have sometimes known him call on some other person to help him
pray for such a one. I have known his mind to fasten on an individual of
hardened, abandoned character, and who could not be reached in any ordinary
way. In a town in the north part of this State, where there was a revival,
there was a certain individual who was a most violent and outrageous opposer.
He kept a tavern, and used to delight in swearing at a desperate rate, whenever
there were Christians within hearing, on purpose to hurt their feelings. He was
so bad, that one man said he believed he should have to sell his place, or give
it away, and move out of town, for he could not live near a man that swore so.
This good man, that I was speaking of, was passing through the town, and heard
of the case, and was very much grieved and distressed for the individual. He
took him on his praying list. The case weighed on his mind, when he was asleep
and when he was awake. He kept thinking about him, and praying for him for
days. And the first we knew of it, this ungodly man came into a meeting, and
got up and confessed his sins, and poured out his soul. His bar-room
immediately became the place where they held prayer meetings. In this manner
the Spirit of God leads individual Christians to pray for things which they
would not pray for, unless they were led by the Spirit. And thus they pray for
things according to the will of God.
By some, this may be said to be a revelation from
God. I 88do not doubt that great
evil has been done by saying that this kind of influence amounts to a new
revelation. And many people will be afraid of it if they hear it called a new
revelation, so that they will not stop to inquire what it means, or whether the
Scriptures teach it or not. They suppose it to be a complete answer to the
idea. But the plain truth of the matter is, that the Spirit leads a man to
pray. And if God leads a man to pray for an individual, the inference from the
Bible is, that God designs to save that individual. If we find by comparing our
state of mind with the Bible, that we are led by the Spirit to pray for
an individual, we have good evidence to believe that God is prepared to bless
him.
6. By giving to Christians a spiritual discernment
respecting the movements and developments of
There was a woman in
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V. In what degree are we to expect the Spirit of God
to affect the minds of believers? The text says, “The Spirit maketh
intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered.” The meaning of this I
understand to be, that the Spirit excites desires too great to be uttered
except by groans. Something that language cannot utter—making the soul too full
to utter its feelings by words, where the person can only groan them out to
God, who understands the language of the heart.
VI. How are we to know whether it is the Spirit of
God that influences our minds or not?
1. Not by feeling that some external influence or
agency is applied to us. We are not to expect to feel our minds in direct
physical contact with God. If such a thing can be, we know of no way in which
it can be made sensible. We know that we exercise our minds freely, and that
our thoughts are exercised on something that excites our feelings. But we are
not to expect a miracle to be wrought, as if we were led by the hand, sensibly,
or like something whispered in the ear, or any miraculous manifestation of the
will of God. People often grieve the Spirit away, because they do not harbor
him and cherish his influences. Sinners often do this ignorantly. They suppose
that if they were under conviction by the Spirit, they should have such and
such mysterious feelings, a shock would come upon them, which they could not
mistake. Many Christians are so ignorant of the Spirit’s influences, and have
thought so little about having his assistance in prayer, that when they have
them they do not know it, and so do not cherish, and yield to them, and
preserve them. We are conscious of nothing in the case, only the movement of
our own minds. There is nothing else that can be felt. We are merely aware that
our thoughts are intensely employed on a certain subject. Christians are often
unnecessarily misled and distressed on this point, for fear they have not the
Spirit of God. They feel intensely, but they know not what makes them feel.
They are distressed about sinners; but why should they not be distressed, when
they think of their condition? They keep thinking about them all the time, and
why shouldn’t they be distressed? Now, the truth is, that the very fact that
you are thinking upon them is evidence that the Spirit of God is leading
you. Do you not know that the greater part of the time these things do not
affect you so? The greater part of the time you do not think much about the
case of sinners. You know their salvation is always equally important. But at
other times, even when you are quite at leisure, your mind is entirely dark,
and vacant of any 90feeling for them. But
now, although you may be busy about other things, you think, you pray, and feel
intensely for them, even while you are about business that at other times would
occupy all your thoughts. Now, almost every thought you have is, “God have
mercy on them.” Why is this? Why, their case is placed in a strong light before
your mind. Do you ask what it is that leads your mind to exercise benevolence
for sinners, and to agonize in prayer for them? What can it be but the Spirit
of God? There are no devils that would lead you so. If your feelings are truly
benevolent, you are to consider it as the Holy Spirit leading you to pray for
things according to the will of God.
2. Try the spirits by the Bible. People are sometimes
led away by strange fantasies and crazy impulses. If you compare them
faithfully with the Bible, you never need be led astray. You can always know
whether your feelings are produced by the Spirit’s influences, by comparing
your desires with the spirit and temper of religion as described in the Bible.
The Bible commands you to try the spirits. “Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they be of God.” Observe not only your own
feelings in regard to your fellow-men, but also, and more especially, the
teachings of the Spirit within you respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. “Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of
Antichrist whereof ye have heart that it shall come; and even now already it is
in the world.”
VII. How shall we get this influence of the Spirit of
God?
1. It must be sought by fervent, believing prayer.
Christ says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him!” Does any one say, I have prayed for him, and he does not come?
It is because you do not pray aright. “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask
amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” You do not pray from right
motives. A professor of religion, and a principal member in a church, once
asked a minister what he thought of his case; he had been praying week after
week for the Spirit, and had not received him. The minister asked him what his
motive was in praying. He said he wanted to be happy. He knew those who had the
Spirit were happy, and he wanted to enjoy his mind as they did. Why, the devil
himself might pray so. That is mere selfishness. 91The man turned away in anger. He saw that he had never known what it was
to pray. He was convinced he was a hypocrite, and that his prayers were all
selfish, dictated only by a desire for his own happiness. David prayed that God
would uphold him by his free Spirit, that he might teach transgressors and turn
sinners to God. A Christian should pray for the Spirit that he may be the more
useful and glorify God more; not that he himself may be more happy. This man
saw clearly where he had been in error, and he was converted. Perhaps many here
have been just so. You ought to examine and see if all your prayers are not
selfish.
2. Use the means adapted to stir up your minds on the
subject, and to keep your attention fixed there. If a man prays for the Spirit,
and then diverts his mind to other objects; uses no other means, but goes right
away to worldly objects; he tempts God, he swings loose from his object, and it
would be a miracle if he should get what he prays for. How is a sinner to get
conviction? Why, by thinking of his sins. That is the way for a Christian to
obtain deep feeling, by thinking on the object. God is not going to pour these
things on you without any effort of your own. You must cherish the slightest
impressions. Take the Bible, and go over the passages that show the condition
and prospects of the world. Look at the world, look at your children, and your
neighbors, and see their condition while they remain in sin, and persevere in
prayer and effort till you obtain the blessing of the Spirit of God to dwell in
you. This was the way, doubtless, that Dr. Watts came to have the feelings
which he has described in the second Hymn of the second Book, which you would
do well to read after you go home.
<verse> <l class="t1">My thoughts on awful subjects roll,</l> <l class="t2">Damnation
and the dead:</l> <l class="t1">What horrors seize the guilty soul</l> <l class="t2">Upon
a dying bed!</l> </verse><verse> <l class="t1">Lingering about these mortal shores,</l> <l class="t2">She
makes a long delay,</l> <l class="t1">Till, like a flood, with rapid force</l> <l class="t2">Death
sweeps the wretch away.</l> </verse><verse> <l class="t1">Then, swift and dreadful, she descends</l> <l class="t2">Down
to the fiery coast,</l> <l class="t1">Amongst abominable fiends,</l> <l class="t2">Herself
a frighted ghost.</l> </verse><verse> 92 <l class="t1">There
endless crowds of sinners lie,</l> <l class="t2">And darkness makes their chains;</l> <l class="t1">Tortured
with keen despair thy cry,</l> <l class="t2">Yet wait for fiercer pains.</l> </verse><verse> <l class="t1">Not
all their anguish and their blood</l> <l class="t2">For their past guilt atones,</l> <l class="t1">Nor
the compassion of a God</l> <l class="t2">Shall hearken to their groans.</l> </verse><verse> <l class="t1">Amazing
grace, that kept my breath,</l> <l class="t2">Nor bid my soul remove,</l> <l class="t1">Till I had learned my Saviour’s death,</l> <l class="t2">And
well insured his love!</l> </verse>
Look, as it were, through a telescope that will bring
it up near to you; look into hell, and hear them groan; then turn the glass
upwards and look at heaven, and see the saints there, in their white robes,
with their harps in their hands, and hear them sing the song of redeeming love;
and ask yourself—Is it possible, that I should prevail with God to elevate the
sinner there? Do this, and if you are not a wicked man, and a stranger to God,
you will soon have as much of the spirit of prayer as your body can sustain.
3. You must watch unto prayer. You must keep a look
out, and see if God grants the blessing when you ask him. People sometimes
pray, and never look to see if the prayer is granted. Be careful also, not to
grieve the Spirit of God. Confess and forsake your sins. God will never lead
you as one of his hidden ones, and let you into his secrets, unless you confess
and forsake your sins. Not be always confessing and never forsake, but confess
and forsake too. Make redress wherever you have committed an injury. You cannot
expect to get the spirit of prayer first, and then repent. You cannot fight it
through so. Professors of religion, who are proud and unyielding, and justify
themselves, never will force God to dwell with them.
4. Aim to obey perfectly the written law. In other
words, have no fellowship with sin. Aim at being entirely above the world; “Be
ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” If you sin at all, let it
be your daily grief. The man who does not aim at this, means to live in sin.
Such a man need not expect God’s blessing, for he is not sincere in desiring to
keep all his commandments.
VIII. For whom does the Spirit intercede?
Answer—He maketh intercession for the saints, for all
93saints, for any who are saints. “Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we
ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of
the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God.”—Rom. viii. 26, 27.
REMARKS.
1. Why do you suppose it is, that so little stress is
laid on the influences of the Spirit in prayer, when so much is said about his
influences in conversion? Many people are amazingly afraid the Spirit’s
influences will be left out. They lay great stress on the Spirit’s influences
in converting sinners. But how little is said, how little is printed, about his
influence in prayer! How little complaining that people do not make enough of
the Spirit’s influences in leading Christians to pray according to the will of
God! Let it never be forgotten, that no Christian ever prays aright, unless led
by the Spirit. He has natural power to pray, and so far as the will of God is
revealed, is able to do it; but he never does, unless the Spirit of God
influences him. Just as sinners are able to repent, but never do, unless
influenced by the Spirit.
2. This subject lays open the foundation of the
difficulty felt by many persons on the subject of the Prayer of Faith. They
object to the idea that faith in prayer is a belief that we shall receive the
very things for which we ask; and insist that there can be no foundation or
evidence upon which to rest such a belief. In a sermon published a few years
since, upon this subject, the writer brings forward this difficulty, and
presents it in its full strength. I have, says he, no evidence that the thing
prayed for will be granted, until I have prayed in faith; because,
praying in faith is the condition upon which it is promised. And of course I
cannot claim the promise, until I have fulfilled the condition. Now, if the
condition is, that I am to believe I shall receive the very blessing for which
I ask, it is evident that the promise is given upon the performance of an impossible
condition, and is of course a mere nullity. The promise would amount to just
this: You shall have whatsoever you ask, upon the condition that you first
believe that you shall receive it. Now, I must fulfill the condition before I
can claim the promise. But I can have no evidence that I shall receive it until
I have believed that I shall receive it. This reduces me to the necessity of
believing that I shall receive 94it before I
have any evidence that I shall receive it—which is impossible.
The whole force of this objection arises out of the
fact, that the Spirit’s influences are entirely overlooked, which he
exerts in leading an individual to the exercise of faith. It has been supposed
that the passage in Mark xi. 22 and 24, with other kindred promises on the
subject of the Prayer of Faith, relate exclusively to miracles. But suppose
this were true. I would ask, What were the apostles to believe, when they
prayed for a miracle? Were they to believe that the precise miracle would be
performed for which they prayed? It is evident that they were. In the verses
just alluded to, Christ says, “For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall
say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and
shall not doubt in his heart, but SHALL BELIEVE THAT THESE THINGS WHICH HE
SAITH SHALL COME TO PASS, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say
unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE THAT YE RECEIVE THEM, and ye shall have them.” Here
it is evident, that the thing to be believed, and which they were not to doubt
in their heart, was, that they should have the very blessing for which they
prayed. Now the objection above stated, lies in all its force against this kind
of faith, when praying for the performance of a miracle. If it be impossible to
believe this in praying for any other blessing. it was equally so in praying
for a miracle. I might ask, Could an apostle believe that the miracle would be
wrought, before he had fulfilled the condition? inasmuch as the condition was,
that he should believe that he should receive that for which he prayed. Either
the promise is a nullity and a deception, or there is a possibility of
performing the condition.
Now, as I have said, the whole difficulty lies in the
fact that the Spirit’s influences are entirely overlooked, and that faith which
is of the operation of God, is left out of the question. If the objection is
good against praying for any object, it is as good against praying in faith for
the performance of a miracle. The fact is, that the Spirit of God could give
evidence, on which to believe that any particular miracle would be granted;
could lead the mind to a firm reliance upon God, and trust that the blessing
sought would be obtained. And so at the present day he can give the same
assurance, in praying for any blessing that we need. Neither in the one case
nor the other, are the influences of the Spirit miraculous. Praying is
the same thing, whether you pray for the conversion of a soul, or for a
miracle. Faith is the same thing in the one case as 95in the other; it only terminates on a different
object; in the one case on the conversion of a soul, and in the other on the
performance of a miracle. Nor is faith exercised in the one more than in the
other, without reference to a promise; and a general promise may with
the same propriety be applied to the conversion of a soul as to the performance
of a miracle. And it is equally true in the one case as the other, that no man
ever prays in faith without being influenced by the Spirit of God. And if the
Spirit could lead the mind of an apostle to exercise faith in regard to a
miracle, he can lead the mind of another Christian to exercise faith in regard
to receiving any other blessing, by a reference to the same general promise.
Should any one ask, “When are we under an
obligation to believe that we shall receive the blessing for which
we ask?” I answer:
(1.) When there is a particular promise, specifying
the particular blessing: as where we pray for the Holy Spirit. This blessing is
particularly named in the promise, and here we have evidence, and are bound to
believe, whether we have any Divine influence or not; just as sinners are bound
to repent whether the Spirit strives with them or not. Their obligation rests,
not upon the Spirit’s influences, but upon the powers of moral agency which
they possess; upon their ability to do their duty. And while it is true that
not one of them ever will repent without the influences of the Spirit, still
they have power to do so, and are under obligation to do so, whether the Spirit
strives with them or not. So with the Christian. He is bound to believe where
he has evidence. And although he never does believe, even where he has an
express promise, without the Spirit of God, yet his obligation to do so rests
upon his ability, and not upon the Divine influence.
(2.) Where God makes a revelation by his providence,
we are bound to believe in proportion to the clearness of the providential
indication.
(3.) So where there is a prophecy, we are bound also
to believe. But in neither of these cases do we, in fact, believe,
without the Spirit of God.
But where there is neither promise, providence, nor
prophecy, on which to repose our faith, we are under no obligation to believe,
unless, as I have shown in this discourse, the Spirit gives us evidence,
by creating desires, and by leading us to pray for a particular object. In the
case of those promises of a general nature, where we are honestly at a loss to
know in what particular cases to apply them, it may be considered 96rather as our privilege than as our duty, in
many instances, to apply them to particular cases; but whenever the Spirit of
God leads us to apply them to a particular object, then it becomes our duty
so to apply them. In this case, God explains his own promise, and shows how he
designed it should be applied. And then our obligation to make this
application, and to believe in reference to this particular object, remains in
full force.
3. Some have supposed that Paul prayed in faith for
the removal of the thorn in the flesh, and that is was not granted. But they
cannot prove that Paul prayed in faith. The presumption is all on the
other side, as I have shown in a former lecture. He had neither promise, nor
prophecy, nor providence, nor the Spirit of God, to lead him to believe. The
whole objection goes on the ground that the apostle might pray in faith without
being led by the Spirit. This is truly a shorthand method of disposing of the
Spirit’s influences in prayer. Certainly, to assume that he prayed in faith, is
to assume either that he prayed in faith without being led by the Spirit, or
that the Spirit of God led him to pray for that which was not according to the
will of God.
I have dwelt the more on this subject, because I want
to have it made so plain, that you will all be careful not to grieve the
Spirit. I want you to have high ideas of the Holy Ghost, and to feel that
nothing good will be done without his influences. No praying or preaching will
be of any avail without him. If Jesus Christ were to come down here and preach
to sinners, not one would be converted without the Spirit. Be careful then not
to grieve him away, by slighting or neglecting his heavenly influences when he
invites you to pray.
4. In praying for an object, it is necessary to
persevere till you obtain it. Oh, with what eagerness Christians sometimes
pursue a sinner in their prayers, when the Spirit of God has fixed their
desires on him! No miser pursues his gold with so fixed a determination.
5. The fear of being led by impulses has done great
injury, by not being duly considered. A person’s mind may be led by an ignis fatuus. But we do wrong if we let the fear of impulses lead
us to resist the good impulses of the Holy Ghost. No wonder Christians
do not have the spirit of prayer, if they are unwilling to take the trouble to
distinguish; and so reject or resist all impulses and all leadings of invisible
agents. A great deal has been said about fanaticism, that is very unguarded,
and that causes many minds 97to reject the
leadings of the Spirit of God. “As many as are the sons of God are led by the
Spirit of God.” And it is our duty to try the Spirits whether they be of God.
We should insist on a close scrutiny and an accurate discrimination. There must
be such a thing as being led by the Spirit. And when we are convinced it is of
God, we should be sure to follow—follow on, with full confidence that he will
not lead us wrong.
6. We see from this subject the absurdity of using
forms of prayer. The very idea of using a form rejects, of course, the
leadings of the Spirit. Nothing is more calculated to destroy the spirit of
prayer, and entirely to darken and confuse the mind, as to what constitutes
prayer, than to use forms. Forms of prayer are not only absurd in themselves,
but they are the very device of the devil to destroy the spirit and break the
power of prayer. It is of no use to say the form is a good one. Prayer does not
consist in words. And it matters not what the words are, if the heart is not
led by the Spirit of God. If the desire is not enkindled, the thoughts
directed, and the whole current of feeling produced and led by the Spirit of
God, it is not prayer. And set forms are, of all things, best calculated to
keep an individual from praying as he ought.
7. The subject furnishes a test of character. The
Spirit maketh intercession—for whom? For the saints. Those who are saints are
thus exercised. If you are saints, you know by experience what it is to be thus
exercised, or it is because you have grieved the Spirit of God, so that he will
not lead you. You live in such a manner that this Holy Comforter will not dwell
with you, nor give you the spirit of prayer. If this is so, you must repent.
Whether you are a Christian or not, do not stop to settle that, but repent, as
if you never had repented. Do your first works. Do not take it for granted that
you are a Christian, but go like a humble sinner, and pour out your heart unto
the Lord. You never can have the spirit of prayer in any other way.
8. The importance of understanding this subject.
(1.) In order to be useful. Without this spirit there
can be no such sympathy between you and God that you can either walk with God
or work with God. You need to have a strong beating of your heart with his, or
you need not expect to be greatly useful.
(2.) As important as your sanctification. Without
such a spirit you will not be sanctified, you will not understand the Bible,
you will not know how to apply it to your case. I 98want you to feel the importance of having God with
you all the time. If you live as you ought, he says he will come unto you, and
make his abode with you, and sup with you, and you with him.
9. If people know not the spirit of prayer, they are
very apt to be unbelieving in regard to the results of prayer. They do not see
what takes place, or do not see the connection, or do not see the evidence.
They are not expecting spiritual blessings. When sinners are convicted, they
think they are only frightened by such terrible preaching. And when people are
converted, they feel no confidence, and only say, “We’ll see how they turn
out.”
10. Those who have the spirit of prayer know when the
blessing comes. It was just so when Jesus Christ appeared. These ungodly
doctors did not know him. Why? Because they were not praying for the redemption
of
11. There are three classes of persons in the church
who are liable to error, or have left the truth out of view, on this subject.
(1.) Those who place great reliance on prayer, and
use no other means. They are alarmed at any special means, and talk about your
“getting up a revival.”
(2.) Over against these are those who use means, and
pray, but never think about the influences of the Spirit in prayer. They talk
about prayer for the Spirit, and feel the importance of the Spirit in the
conversion of sinners, but do not realize the importance of the Spirit in
prayer. And their prayers are all cold talk, nothing that any body can feel, or
that can take hold of God.
(3.) Those who have certain strange notions about the
sovereignty of God, and are waiting for God to convert the world without prayer
or means.
There must be in the church a deeper sense of the
need of the spirit of prayer. The fact is that, generally, those who use
means most assiduously, and make the most strenuous efforts for the salvation of
men, and who have the most correct notions of the manner in which means should
be used for converting sinners, also pray most for the Spirit of God, 99and wrestle most with God for his blessing. And what
is the result? Let facts speak, and say whether these persons do or do not
pray, and whether the Spirit of God does not testify to their prayers, and
follow their labors with his power.
12. A spirit very different from the spirit of prayer
appears to prevail in certain portions of the Presbyterian church at the
present time. Nothing will produce an excitement and opposition so quick as the
spirit of prayer. If any person should feel burdened with the case of sinners,
in prayer, so as to groan in his prayer, why, the women are nervous, and he is
visited at once with rebuke and opposition. From my soul I abhor all
affectation of feeling where there is none, and all attempts to work one’s self
up into feeling by groans. But I feel bound to defend the position that there
is such a thing as being in a state of mind in which there is but one way to
keep from groaning; and that is, by resisting the Holy Ghost. I was once
present where this subject was discussed. It was said that groaning ought to be
discountenanced. The question was asked, whether God could not produce
such a state of feeling that to abstain from groaning was impossible? and the
answer was, “Yes, but he never does.” Then the apostle Paul was egregiously
deceived when he wrote about groanings that cannot be uttered. Edwards was
deceived when he wrote his book upon revivals. Revivals are all in the dark.
Now, no man who reviews the history of the church will adopt such a sentiment.
I do not like this attempt to shut out, or stifle, or keep down, or limit the
spirit of prayer. I would sooner cut off my right hand than rebuke the spirit
of prayer, as I have heard of its being done by saying, “Do not let me hear any
more groaning.”
But then, I hardly know where to conclude this
subject. I should like to discuss it a month, and till the whole church could understand
it, so as to pray the prayer of faith. Beloved, I want to ask you if you
believe all this? Or do you wonder that I should talk so? Perhaps some of you
have had some glimpses of these things. Now, will you give yourselves up to
prayer, and live so as to have the spirit of prayer, and have the spirit with
you all the time? Oh, for a praying church! I once knew a minister who had a
revival fourteen winters in succession. I did not know how to account for it
till I saw one of his members get up in a prayer meeting and make a confession.
“Brethren,” said he, “I have been long in the habit of praying every Saturday
night till after midnight, for the descent of the Holy Ghost among us. And now,
brethren,” and he began to weep, “I confess that I 100have neglected it for two or three weeks.” The secret
was out. That minister had a praying church. Brethren, in my present state of
health, I find it impossible to pray as much as I have been in the habit of
doing, and continue to preach. It overcomes my strength. Now, shall I give
myself up to prayer, and stop preaching? That will not do. Now, will not you,
who are in health, throw yourselves into this work, and bear this burden, and
lay yourselves out in prayer, till God will pour out his blessing upon us?
LECTURE VII.
ON BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
Text.—Be filled with the Spirit.—Eph. v. 18.
SEVERAL of my last lectures have been on the subject
of prayer, and the importance of having the spirit of prayer, of the
intercession of the Holy Ghost. Whenever the necessity and importance of the
Spirit’s influences are held forth, there can be no doubt that persons are in
danger of abusing the doctrine, and perverting it to their own injury. For
instance, when you tell sinners that without the Holy Spirit they never will
repent, they are very liable to pervert the truth, and understand by it that
they cannot repent, and therefore are under no obligation to do it until
they feel the Spirit. It is often difficult to make them see that all the
“cannot” consists in their unwillingness, and not in their inability. So again,
when we tell Christians that they need the Spirit’s aid in prayer, they are
very apt to think they are under no obligation to pray the prayer of faith,
until they feel the influences of the Spirit. They overlook their obligation to
be filled with the Spirit and wait for the spirit of prayer to come upon them
without asking, and thus tempt God.
Before we come to consider the other department of
means for promoting a revival, that is, the means to be used with sinners,
I wish to show you, that if you live without the Spirit, you are without
excuse. Obligation to perform duty never rests on the condition, that we shall
first have the influence of the Spirit, but on the powers of moral agency. We,
as moral agents, have the power to obey God, and are perfectly bound to obey,
and the reason we do not is, that we are unwilling. The influences of the
Spirit are wholly a matter of grace. If they were indispensable to enable
us to perform duty, the bestowment of them would not be a gracious act, but a
mere matter of common justice. Sinners are not bound to repent because they
have the Spirit’s influence, or because they can obtain it, but because they
are moral agents, and have the powers which God requires them to exercise. So
in the case of Christians. They are not bound to pray in faith because they
have the Spirit, (except in those cases where his 102influences in begetting desire constitute the
evidence that it is God’s will to grant the object of desire,) but because they
have evidence. They are not bound to pray in faith at all, except when they
have evidence as the foundation of their faith. They must have evidence from
promises, or principle, or prophecy, or providence. And where they have
evidence independent of his influences, they are bound to exercise faith,
whether they have the Spirit’s influence or not. They are bound to see the
evidence, and to believe. The Spirit is given not to enable them to see or
believe, but because without it they will not look, nor feel, nor act,
as they ought. I purpose this evening to show from the text,
I. That Christians may be filled with the Spirit of
God.
II. That it is their duty to be filled with the
Spirit.
III. Why they are not filled with the Spirit.
IV. The guilt of those who have not the Spirit of
God, to lead their minds in duty and prayer.
V. The consequences that will follow if they are
filled with the Spirit.
VI. The consequences if they are not.
I. I am to show you that you may have the Spirit. Not
because it is a matter of justice for God to give you his Spirit, but because
he has promised to give it to those that ask. “If ye then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” If you ask [for]
the Holy Spirit, God has promised to give it.
But again, God has commanded you to have it. He says
in the text, “Be filled with the Spirit.” When God commands us to do a thing,
it is the highest possible evidence that we can do it. For God to command, is
equivalent to an oath that we can do it. He has no right to command, unless we
have power to obey. There is no stopping short of the conclusion that God is an
infinite tyrant, if he commands that which is impracticable.
II. I am to show, secondly, that it is your duty.
1. Because you have a promise of it.
2. Because God has commanded it.
3. It is essential to your own growth in grace that
you should be filled with the Spirit.
4. It is as important as it is that you should be
sanctified.
5. It is as necessary as it is that you should be
useful and do good in the world.
6. If you do not have the Spirit of God in you, you
will dishonor God, disgrace the church, and die and go to hell.
103
III. Why many do not have the Spirit. There are some,
even professors of religion, who will say, “I do not know any thing about this;
I never had any such experience; either it is not true or I am all wrong.” No
doubt you are all wrong, if you know nothing about the influence of the
Spirit. I want to present you with a few of the reasons that may prevent you
from being filled with the Spirit.
1. It may be that you live a hypocritical life. Your
prayers are not earnest and sincere. Not only is your religion a mere outside
show, without any heart, but you are insincere in your intercourse with others.
Thus you do many things to grieve the Spirit, so that he cannot dwell with you.
A minister was once boarding in a certain family, and
the lady of the house was constantly complaining that she did not enjoy her
mind, and nothing seemed to help her. One day some ladies called to see her,
and she protested that she was very much offended because they had not called
before, and pressed them to stay and spend the day, and declared she could
not consent to let them go. They excused themselves, however, and left the
house, and as soon as they were gone, she said to her servant, she wondered
these people had so little sense as to be always troubling her, and taking up
her time. The minister heard it, and immediately rebuked her, and told her she
could now see why she did not enjoy religion. It was because she was in the
daily habit of insincerity that amounted to downright lying. And the Spirit of
truth could not dwell in such a heart.
2. Others have so much levity that the Spirit will
not dwell with them. The Spirit of God is solemn, and serious, and will not
dwell with those who give way to thoughtless levity.
3. Others are so proud that they cannot have the
Spirit. They are so fond of dress, high life, equipage, fashion, etc., that it
is no wonder they are not filled with the Spirit. And yet such persons will
pretend to be at a loss to know why it is that they do not enjoy religion!
4. Some are so worldly-minded, love property so well,
and are trying so hard to get rich, that they cannot have the Spirit. How can
he dwell with them, when their thoughts are all on things of the world, and all
their powers absorbed in procuring wealth? And they hold on to it when they get
it, and they are pained if pressed by conscience to do something for the
conversion of the world. They show how much they love the world, in all their
intercourse with others. Little things show it. They will screw down a poor
man, who is doing a little piece of work for them, to the lowest penny. If 104they are dealing on a large scale, very likely they
will be liberal and fair, because it is for their advantage. But if it is a
person they care not about, a laborer, or a mechanic, or a servant, they will
grind him down to the last fraction, no matter what it is really worth; and
they actually pretend to make conscience of it, that they cannot possibly give
any more. Now they would be ashamed to deal so with people of their own rank,
because it would be known and injure their reputation. But God knows it, and
has it all written down, that they are covetous and unfair in their dealings,
and will not do right, only when it is for their interest. Now how can such
professors have the Spirit of God? It is impossible.
There are a multitude of such things, by which the
Spirit of God is grieved. People call them little sins, but God will not call
them little. I was struck with this thought, when I saw a little notice in the
Evangelist. The publishers stated that they had many thousand dollars in the
hands of subscribers, which was justly due, and that it would cost them as much
as it was worth to send an agent to collect it. I suppose it is so with all the
other religious papers, that subscribers either put the publisher to the
trouble and expense of sending an agent to collect his due, or else they cheat
him out of it. There are doubtless, I do not know how many, thousands of
dollars held back in this way by professors of religion, just because it is in
such small sums, or they are so far off that they cannot be sued. And yet these
people will pray, and appear very pious, and wonder why they cannot enjoy
religion, and have the Spirit of God! It is this looseness of moral principle,
this want of conscience about little matters, prevailing in the church, that grieves
away the Holy Ghost. Why, it would be disgraceful to God to dwell and have
communion with such persons, who will take an advantage and cheat their
neighbor out of his dues, because they can do it and not be disgraced.
5. Others do not fully confess and forsake
their sins, and so cannot enjoy the Spirit’s presence. They will confess their
sins in general terms, perhaps, and are ready always to acknowledge that they
are sinners. Or they will confess partially some particular sins. But they do
it reservedly, proudly, guardedly, as if they were afraid they should say a
little more than is necessary; that is, when they confess to men the injuries
done to them. They do it in a way which shows that, instead of bursting forth
from an ingenuous heart, the confession is wrung from them, by the hand of
conscience 105gripping them. If they
have injured any one, they will make a partial recantation, which is
hard-hearted, cruel, and hypocritical, and then they will ask, “Now, brother,
are you satisfied?” And you know it would be very difficult for a person to say
that he was not satisfied, even if the confession is cold and heartless. But I
tell you God is not satisfied. He knows whether you have gone the full length
of honest confession, and taken all the blame that belongs to you. If your
confessions have been constrained and wrung from you, do you suppose you can
cheat God? “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth
and forsaketh shall find mercy.” “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Unless you come quite down, and confess your sins honestly, and remunerate
where you have done injury, you have no right to expect the spirit of prayer.
6. Others are neglecting some known duty, and that is
the reason why they have not the Spirit. One does not pray in his family,
though he knows he ought to do it, and yet he is trying to get the spirit of
prayer! There is many a young man who feels in his heart that he ought to
prepare for the ministry, and he has not the spirit of prayer because he has some
worldly object in view, which prevents his devoting himself to the work. He has
known his duty, and refuses to do it, and now he is praying for direction from
the Spirit of God. He cannot have it. One has neglected to make a profession of
religion. He knows his duty, but he refuses to join the church. He once had the
spirit of prayer, but neglecting his duty, he grieved the Spirit away. And now
he thinks, if he could once more enjoy the light of God’s countenance, and have
his evidences renewed, he would do his duty, and join the church. And so he is
praying for it again, and trying to bring God over to his terms, to grant him
his presence. You need not expect it. You will live and die in darkness, unless
you are willing first to do your duty, before God manifests
himself as reconciled to you. It is in vain to say, you will come forward if
God will first show you the light of his countenance. He never will do
it as long as you live; he will let you die without it, if you refuse to do
your duty.
I have known women who felt that they ought to talk
to their unconverted husbands, and pray with them, but they have neglected it,
and so they get into the dark. They knew their duty and refused to do it; they
went round it, and there they lost the spirit of prayer.
If you have neglected any known duty, and thus lost
the spirit of prayer, you must yield first. God has a controversy 106with you; you have refused obedience to God, and you
must retract it. You may have forgotten it, but God has not, and you must set
yourself to recall it to mind, and repent. God never will yield nor grant you
his Spirit, till you repent. Had I an omniscient eye now, I could call the
names of the individuals in this congregation, who had neglected some known
duty, or committed some sin, that they have not repented of, and now they are
praying for the spirit of prayer, but they cannot succeed in obtaining it.
To illustrate this I will relate a case. A good man
in the western part of this State, had been a long time an engaged Christian,
and he used to talk to the sleepy church with which he was connected. By-and-by
the church was offended and got out of patience, and many told him they wished
he would let them alone, they did not think he could do them any good. He took
them at their word, and they all went to sleep together, and remained so two or
three years. By-and-by a minister came among them and a revival commenced, but
this elder seemed to have lost his spirituality. He used to be forward in a
good work, but now he held back. Everybody thought it unaccountable. Finally,
as he was going home one night, the truth of his situation flashed upon his
mind, and he went into absolute despair for a few minutes. At length his
thoughts were directed back to that sinful resolution to let the church alone
in their sins. He felt that no language could describe the blackness of that
sin. He realized that moment what it was to be lost, and to find that God had a
controversy with him. He saw that it was a bad spirit which caused the
resolution: the same that caused Moses to say, “You rebels.” He humbled himself
on the spot, and God poured out his Spirit on him. Perhaps some of you that
hear me are in just this situation. You have said something provoking or unkind
to some person. Perhaps it was peevishness to a servant that was a Christian.
Or perhaps it was speaking censoriously of a minister or some other person.
Perhaps you have been angry because your opinions have not been taken, or your
dignity has been encroached upon. Search thoroughly, and see if you cannot find
out the sin. Perhaps you have forgotten it. But God has not forgotten it, and
never will forgive your unchristian conduct until you repent. God cannot
overlook it. It would do no good if he should. What good would it do to
forgive, while the sin is rankling in your heart?
7. Perhaps you have resisted the Spirit of God.
Perhaps you are in the habit of resisting the Spirit. You resist
conviction. 107In preaching, when
something has been said that reached your case, your heart has risen up against
it and resisted. Many are willing to hear plain and searching preaching so long
as they can apply it all to others; a misanthropic spirit makes them take a
satisfaction in hearing others searched and rebuked; but if the truth touch them,
they directly cry out that it is personal and abusive. Is this your case?
8. The fact is that you do not on the whole
desire the Spirit. This is true in every case in which you do not have the
Spirit. Let me not be mistaken here. I want you should carefully discriminate.
Nothing is more common than for people to desire a thing on some accounts,
which they do not choose on the whole. A person may see an article in a
store which he desires to purchase, and he goes in and asks the price, and
thinks of it a little, and on the whole concludes not to purchase it. He
desires the article, but does not like the price, or does not like to be at the
expense, so that, upon the whole, he prefers not to purchase it. That is the
reason why he does not purchase it. So persons may desire the Spirit of God on
some accounts; from a regard to the comfort and joy of heart which it brings.
If you know what it is by former experience to commune with God, and how sweet
it is to dissolve in penitence and to be filled with the Spirit, you cannot but
desire a return of those joys. And you may set yourself to pray earnestly for
it, and to pray for a revival of religion. But on the whole you are unwilling
it should come. You have so much to do that you cannot attend to it. Or it will
require so many sacrifices, that you cannot bear to have it. There are some
things you are not willing to give up. You find that if you wish to have the
Spirit of God dwell with you, you must lead a different life, you must give up
the world, you must make sacrifices, you must break off from your worldly
associates, and makes confession of your sins. And so on the whole you do not
choose to have him come, unless he will consent to dwell with you and let you
live as you please. But that he never will do.
9. Perhaps you do not pray for the Spirit; or you
pray and use no other means, or pray and do not act consistently with your
prayers. Or you use means calculated to resist them. Or you ask, and as soon as
he comes and begins to affect your mind, you grieve him right away, and will
not walk with him.
IV. I am to show the great guilt of not having the
Spirit of God.
1. Your guilt is just as great as the authority of
God is 108great, which commands
you to be filled with the Spirit. God commands it, and it is just as much a
disobedience of God’s commands, as it is to swear profanely, or steal, or
commit adultery, or break the Sabbath. Think of that. And yet there are many
people who do not blame themselves at all for not having the Spirit. They even
think themselves quite pious Christians, because they go to prayer meetings,
and partake of the sacrament, and all that, though they live year after year
without the Spirit of God. Now, you see the same God who says, “Do not get
drunk,” says also, “Be filled with the Spirit.” You all say, if a man is an
habitual murderer, or a thief, he is no Christian. Why? Because he lives in
habitual disobedience to God. So if he swears, you have no charity for him. You
will not allow him to plead that his heart is right, and words are nothing. God
does not care anything about words. You would think it outrageous to have such
a man in church, or to have a company of such people pretend to call themselves
a
2. Your guilt is equal to all the good you might do
if you had the Spirit of God in as great a measure as it is your duty to have
it, and as you might have it. You, elders of this church! how much good you
might do, if you had the Spirit. And you, Sunday-school teachers, how much good
you might do; and you, church-members, too, if you were filled with the Spirit,
you might do vast good, infinite good. Well, your guilt is just as great. Here
is a blessing promised, and you can have it by doing your duty. You are
entirely responsible to the church and to God for all this good that you might
do. A man is responsible for all the good he can do.
3. Your guilt is further measured by all the evil
which you do in consequence of not having the Spirit. You are a dishonor to
religion. You are a stumbling block to the church, and to the world. And your
guilt is enhanced by all the various influences you exert. And it will prove so
in the day of judgment.
V. The consequences of having the Spirit.
1. You will be called eccentric; and probably you
will deserve it. Probably you will really be eccentric. I never knew a person
who was filled with the Spirit, that was not called eccentric. And the reason
is, that they are unlike other people. This is always a term of comparison.
There is therefore the 109best of reasons
why such persons should appear eccentric. They act under different influences,
take different views, are moved by different motives, led by a different
spirit. You are to expect such remarks. How often I have heard the remark
respecting such and such persons, “He is a very good man—but he is rather
eccentric.” I have sometimes asked for the particulars; in what does his
eccentricity consist? I hear the catalogue, and the amount is, that he is
spiritual. Make up your mind for this, to be eccentric. There is such a thing
as affected eccentricity. Horrible! But there is such a thing as being so
deeply imbued with the Spirit of God, that you must and will act so as to
appear strange and eccentric, to those who cannot understand the reasons of
your conduct.
2 If you have much of the Spirit of God, it is not
unlikely you will be thought deranged, by many. We judge men to be deranged
when they act differently from what we think to be prudent and according to
common sense, and when they come to conclusions for which we can see no good
reasons. Paul was accused of being deranged by those who did not understand the
views of things under which he acted. No doubt Festus thought the man was
crazy, and that much learning had made him mad. But Paul said, “I am not mad,
most noble Festus.” His conduct was so strange, so novel, that Festus thought
it must be insanity. But the truth was, he only saw the subject so clearly that
he threw his whole soul into it. They were entirely in the dark in respect to
the motive by which he was actuated. This is by no means uncommon. Multitudes
have appeared to those who had no spirituality as if they were deranged. Yet they
saw good reasons for doing as they did. God was leading their minds to act in
such a way that those who were not spiritual could not see the reasons. You
must make up your mind to this, and so much the more, as you live more above
the world and walk with God.
3. If you have the Spirit of God, you must expect to
feel great distress in view of the church and the world. Some spiritual
epicures ask for the Spirit because they think it will make them so perfectly
happy. Some people think that spiritual Christians are always very happy and
free from sorrow.
There never was a greater mistake. Read your Bibles,
and see how the prophets and apostles were always groaning and distressed in
view of the state of the church and the world. The apostle Paul says he was always
bearing about in his 110body the dying of
the Lord Jesus. I protest, says he, that I die daily. You will know what it is
to sympathize with the Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized with the baptism that
he was baptized with. Oh how he agonized in view of the state of sinners! how
he travailed in soul for their salvation! The more you have of his Spirit, the
more clearly you will see the state of sinners, and the more deeply you will be
distressed about them. Many times you will feel as if you could not live in
view of their situation; your distress will be unutterable. Paul says, Rom ix:
1-3: “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in
my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
4. You will be often grieved with the state of the
ministry. Some years since I met a woman belonging to one of the churches in
this city. I inquired of her the state of religion here. She seemed unwilling
to say much about it, made some general remarks, and then choked, and her eyes
filled, and she said, “Oh, our minister’s mind seems to be very dark.”
Spiritual Christians often feel like this, and often weep over it. I have seen
much of it, and often found Christians who wept and groaned in secret, to see
the darkness on the minds of ministers in regard to religion, their earthliness
and fear of man; but they dared not speak of it, lest they should be denounced
and threatened, and perhaps turned out of the church. I do not say these things
censoriously, to reproach my brethren, but because they are true. And ministers
ought to know that nothing is more common than for spiritual Christians to feel
burdened and distressed at the state of the ministry. I would not wake up any
wrong feeling towards ministers, but it is time it should be known that
Christians do often get spiritual views of things, and their souls are kindled
up, and then they find that their minister does not enter into their feelings,
that he is far below the standard of what he ought to be, and in spirituality
far below some of the members of his church. This is one of the most prominent
and deeply to be deplored evils of the present day. The piety of the
ministry, though real, is so superficial, in many instances, that the
spiritual part of the church feel that ministers cannot, do not, sympathize
with them. Their preaching does not meet their wants, it does not feed them, it
does not meet their experience. The minister has not depth enough of religious
experience to know 111how to search and wake
up the church; to help those under temptation, to support the weak, to direct
the strong, and lead them through all the labyrinths and mazes with which their
path may be beset. When a minister has gone with a church as far as his
experience in spiritual exercise goes, there he stops; and until he has a
renewed experience, until he is reconverted, his heart broken up afresh, and he
set forward in the divine life and Christian experience, he will help them no
more. He may preach sound doctrine, and so may an unconverted minister; but,
after all, his preaching will want that searching pungency, that practical
bearing, that unction which alone will reach the case of a spiritually-minded
Christian. It is a fact over which the church is groaning, that the piety of
young men suffers so much in the course of their education, that when they
enter the ministry, however much intellectual furniture they may possess, they
are in a state of spiritual babyhood. They want nursing, and need rather
to be fed, than to undertake to feed the
5. If you have much of the Spirit of God, you must
make up your mind to have much opposition, both in the church and the world.
Very likely the leading men in the church will oppose you. There has always
been opposition in the church. So it was when Christ was on earth. If you are
far above their state of feeling, church members will oppose you. If any man
will live godly in Christ Jesus, he must expect persecution. Often the elders,
and even the minister, will oppose you, if you are filled with the Spirit of
God.
6. You must expect very frequent and agonizing
conflicts with Satan. Satan has very little trouble with those Christians who
are not spiritual, but lukewarm, and slothful, and worldly-minded. And such do
not understand what is said about spiritual conflicts. Perhaps they will smile
when such things are mentioned. And so the devil lets them alone. They do not
disturb him, nor he them. But spiritual Christians, he understands very well,
are doing him a vast injury, and, therefore, he sets himself against them. Such
Christians often have terrible conflicts. They have temptations that they never
thought of before, blasphemous thoughts, atheism, suggestions to do deeds of
wickedness, to destroy their own lives, and the like. And if you are spiritual,
you may expect these terrible conflicts.
7. You will have greater conflicts with yourself than
you ever thought of. You will sometimes find your own corruptions making
strange headway against the Spirit. “The flesh 112lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” Such a
Christian is often thrown into consternation at the power of his own
corruptions. One of the Commodores in the United States was, as I have been
told, a spiritual man; and his pastor told me he had known that man lie on the
floor and groan a great part of the night, in conflict with his own
corruptions, and to cry to God in agony that he would break the power of the
temptation. It seemed as if the devil was determined to ruin him; and his own
feelings, for the time being, was almost in league with the devil.
8. But you will have peace with God. If the church,
and sinners, and the devil oppose you, there will be one with whom you will
have peace. Let those who are called to these trials, and conflicts, and
temptations, and who groan, and pray, and weep, and break your hearts, remember
this consideration: your peace, so far as your feelings towards God are
concerned, will flow like a river.
9. You will likewise have peace of conscience, if you
are led by the Spirit. You will not be constantly goaded and kept on the rack
by a guilty conscience. Your conscience will be calm and quiet, unruffled as
the summer’s lake.
10. If filled with the Spirit, you will be useful.
You cannot help being useful. Even if you were sick and unable to go out of
your room, or to converse, and saw nobody, you would be ten times more useful
than a hundred of those common sort of Christians who have no spirituality. To
give you an idea of this, I will relate an anecdote. A pious man in the Western
part of this State was sick with a consumption. He was a poor man, and sick for
years. An unconverted merchant in the place had a kind heart, and used to send
him now and then something for his comfort, or for his family. He felt grateful
for the kindness, but could make no return, as he wanted to do. At length he
determined that the best return he could make would be to pray for his salvation;
he began to pray, and his soul kindled, and he got hold of God. There was no
revival there, but by and by, to the astonishment of every body, this merchant
came right out on the Lord’s side. The fire kindled all over the place, and a
powerful revival followed, and multitudes were converted.
This poor man lingered in this way for several years,
and died. After his death, I visited the place, and his widow put into my hands
his diary. Among other things, he says in his diary: “I am acquainted with
about thirty ministers and churches.” He then goes on to set apart certain
hours in the day and week to pray for each of these ministers 113and churches, and also certain seasons for praying
for the different missionary stations. Then followed, under different dates,
such facts as these: “To-day,” naming the date, “I have been enabled to offer
what I call the prayer of faith for the outpouring of the Spirit on —— church,
and I trust in God there will soon be a revival there.” Under another date, “I
have to-day been able to offer what I call the prayer of faith for such a
church, and trust there will soon be a revival there.” Thus he had gone over a
great number of churches, recording the fact that he had prayed for them in
faith that a revival might soon prevail among them. Of the missionary stations,
if I recollect right, he mentions in particular the mission at
11. If you are filled with the Spirit, you will not
find yourselves distressed, and galled, and worried, when people speak against
you. When I find people irritated and fretting at any little thing that touches
them, I am sure they have not the Spirit of Christ. Jesus Christ could have
everything said against him that malice could invent, and yet not be in the
least disturbed by it. If you mean to be meek under persecution, and exemplify
the temper of the Saviour, and honor religion in this way, you need to be
filled with the Spirit.
12. You will be wise in using means for the
conversion of sinners. If the Spirit of God is in you, he will lead you to 114use means wisely, in a way adapted to the end, and to
avoid doing hurt. No man who is not filled with the Spirit of God, is fit to be
employed in directing the measures adopted in a revival. Their hands will be
all thumbs, unable to take hold, and they will act as if they had not common
sense. But a man who is led by the Spirit of God, will know how to time his
measures right, and how to apportion Divine truth, so as to make it tell to the
best advantage.
13. You will be calm under affliction; not thrown
into confusion or consternation when you see the storm coming over you. People
around will be astonished at your calmness and cheerfulness under heavy trials,
not knowing the inward supports of those who are filled with the Spirit.
14. You will be resigned in death; you will always
feel prepared to die, and not afraid to die, and after death you will be
proportionably more happy for ever in heaven.
VI. Consequences of not being filled with the Spirit.
1. You will often doubt, and reasonably doubt,
whether you are Christians. You will have doubts, and you ought to have them.
The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. And if you are not led by the
Spirit what reason have you to think you are sons? You will try to make a
little evidence go a great way to bolster up your hopes, but you cannot do it,
unless your conscience is seared as with a hot iron. You cannot help being
plunged often into painful doubt and uncertainty about your state. Rom. viii.
9.—“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
his.” 2 Cor. xiii. 5.—“Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove
your own selves: know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobate?”
2. You will always be unsettled in your views about
the prayer of faith. The prayer of faith is something so spiritual, so much a
matter of experience and not of speculation, that unless you are spiritual
yourselves, you will not understand it fully. You may talk a great deal about
the prayer of faith, and for the time get thoroughly convinced of it. But you
will never feel so settled on it as to retain the same position of mind
concerning it, and in a little while you will be all uncertainty. I knew a
curious instance in a brother minister. He told me, “When I have the Spirit of
God, and enjoy his presence, I believe firmly in the prayer of faith; but when
I have it not, I find myself doubting whether there is any such thing, and my
mind offering objections.” I know, from my 115own
experience, what this is, and when I hear persons raising objections to that
view of prayer which I have presented in these lectures, I understand very well
what their difficulty is, and have often found it impossible to satisfy their
minds, while so far from God; when at the same time they would understand it
themselves, without argument, whenever they had experienced it.
3. If you have not the Spirit, you will be very apt
to stumble at those who have. You will doubt the propriety of their conduct. If
they seem to feel a good deal more than yourself, you will be likely to call it
animal feeling. You will perhaps doubt their sincerity when they say they have
such feelings. You will say, “I do not know what to make of brother such-a-one;
he seems to be very pious, but I do not understand him, I think he has a great
deal of animal feeling.” Thus you will be trying to censure them, for the
purpose of justifying yourself.
4. You will be had in reputation with the impenitent,
and with carnal professors. They will praise you, as a rational, orthodox,
consistent Christian. You will be just in the frame of mind to walk with them,
because you are agreed.
5. You will be much troubled with fears about
fanaticism. Whenever there are revivals, you will see in them a strong tendency
to fanaticism, and will be full of fears and anxiety, or rather of opposition
to them.
6. You will be much disturbed by the measures that
are used in revivals. If any measures are adopted, that are decided and direct,
you will think they are all “new,” and will be stumbled at them just in
proportion to your want of spirituality. You do not see their appropriateness.
You will stand and cavil at the measures, because you are so blind that you
cannot see their adaptedness, while all heaven is rejoicing in them as the
means of saving souls.
7. You will be a reproach to religion. The impenitent
will sometimes praise you because you are so much like themselves, and
sometimes laugh about you because you are such a hypocrite.
8. You will know but little about the Bible.
9. If you die without the Spirit, you will fall into
hell. There can be no doubt of this. Without the Spirit you will never be
prepared for heaven.
REMARKS.
1. Christians are as guilty for not having the
Spirit, as sinners are for not repenting.
116
2. They are even more so. As they have more light,
they are so much the more guilty.
3. All beings have a right to complain of Christians
who are not filled with the Spirit. You are not doing work for God, and he has
a right to complain. He has placed his Spirit at your disposal, and if you have
it not, he has a right to look to you and to hold you responsible for all the
good you might do, did you possess it. You are sinning against all heaven, for
you ought to be adding to their happy ranks. Sinners, the church, ministers,
have a right to complain.
4. You are right in the way of the work of the Lord.
It is in vain for a minister to try to work over your head. Ministers often
groan and struggle, and wear themselves out in vain, trying to do good where
there is a church who live so that they do not have the Spirit of God. If the
Spirit is poured out at any time, the church will grieve him right away. Thus
you may tie the hands and break the heart of your minister, and break him down,
and perhaps kill him, because you will not be filled with the Spirit.
5. You see the reason why Christians need the Spirit,
and the degree of their dependence. This cannot be too strongly exhibited.
6. Do not tempt God, by waiting for his Spirit, while
using no means to procure his presence.
7. If you mean to have the Spirit, you must be
childlike, and yield to his influences—just as yielding as air. If he is
drawing you to prayer, you must quit everything to yield to his gentle
strivings. No doubt you have sometimes felt a desire to pray for some object,
and you have put it off and resisted, and God left you. If you wish him to
remain, you must yield to his softest and gentlest motions, and watch to learn
what he would have you do, and yield yourself up to his guidance.
8. Christians ought to be willing to make any
sacrifice to enjoy the presence of the Spirit. Said a woman in high life, a
professor of religion, “I must either give up hearing such a minister (naming
him) preach, or I must give up my gay company.” She gave up the preaching and
staid away. How different from another case!
A woman in the same rank of life heard the same
minister preach, and went home resolved to abandon her gay and worldly manner
of life—dismissed most of her attendants—changed her whole mode of dress, of
equipage, of living, and of conversation; so that her gay and worldly friends
were soon willing to leave her to the enjoyment of communion with God, and free
to spend her time in doing good.
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9. You see from this, that it must be very difficult
for those in fashionable life to go to heaven. What a calamity to be in such
circles! Who can enjoy the presence of God in them?
10. See how crazy those are who are scrambling to get
up to these circles, enlarging their houses, changing their style of living,
furniture, etc. It is like climbing up mast-head to be thrown off into the
ocean. To enjoy God, you must come down, not go up there. God is not there,
among all the starch and flattery of high life.
11. Many professors of religion are as ignorant of
spirituality as Nicodemus was of the new birth. They are ignorant, and I fear
unconverted. If any body talks to them about the spirit of prayer, it is all
algebra to them. The case of such professors is awful. How different was the character
of the apostles! Read the history of their lives, read their letters, and you
will see that they were always spiritual, and walked daily with God. But now
how little is there of such religion! “When the Son of Man cometh, will he find
faith on the earth?” Set some of these professors to work in a revival, and
they do not know what to do, have no energy, no skill, and make no impression.
When will professors of religion set themselves to work, filled with the
Spirit? If I could see this church filled with the Spirit, I would ask nothing
more to move this whole mighty mass of minds. Not two weeks would pass before
the revival would spread all over this city.
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LECTURE VIII.
MEETINGS FOR PRAYER.
Text.—“Again I say unto you, That if two of you
shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”—Matthew xviii. 19.
HITHERTO, in treating of the subject of Prayer, I have confined my remarks to
secret prayer. I am now to speak of social prayer, or prayer offered in
company, where two or more are united in praying. Such meetings have been
common from the time of Christ, and even hundreds of years before. And it is
probable that God’s people have always been in the habit of making united supplication,
whenever they had the privilege. The propriety of the practice will not be
questioned here. I need not dwell now on the duty of social prayer. Nor is it
my design to discuss the question, whether any two Christians agreeing to ask
any blessing, will be sure to obtain it. My object is to make some remarks on
MEETINGS FOR PRAYER.
I. The design of Prayer Meetings.
II. The manner of conducting them.
III. Mention several things that will defeat the
design of holding them.
I. THE DESIGN OF PRAYER MEETINGS.
1. One design of assembling several persons together
for united prayer, is to promote union among Christians. Nothing tends more to
cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one
another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other’s hearts in
prayer. Their spirituality begets a feeling of union and confidence, highly
important to the prosperity of the church. It is doubtful whether Christians
can ever be otherwise than united, if they are in the habit of really praying
together. And where they have had hard feelings and differences among
themselves, they are all done away, by uniting in 119prayer. The great object is gained, if you can bring
them really to unite in prayer. If this can be done, the difficulties
vanish.
2. To extend the spirit of prayer. God has so
constituted us, and such is the economy of his grace, that we are sympathetic
beings, and communicate our feelings to each other. A minister, for instance,
will often as it were breathe his own feelings into his congregation. The
Spirit of God that inspires his soul, makes use of his feelings to
influence his hearers, just as much as he makes use of the words he preaches.
So he makes use of the feelings of Christians. Nothing is more calculated to
beget a spirit of prayer, than to unite in social prayer, with one who has the
spirit himself; unless this one should be so far ahead that his prayer will
repel the rest. His prayer will awaken them, if they are not so far
behind as to revolt at it and resist it. If they are anywhere near the standard
of his feelings, his spirit will kindle, and burn, and spread all around. One
individual in a church, that obtains a spirit of prayer, will often arouse a
whole church, and extend the same spirit through the whole, and a general
revival follows.
3. Another grand design of social prayer, is to
move God. Not that it changes the mind and feelings of God. When we speak
of moving God, as I have said in a former lecture, we do not mean that it
alters the will of God. But when the right kind of prayer is offered by
Christians, they are in such a state of mind, that it becomes proper for God to
bestow a blessing. They are then prepared to receive it, and he gives because
he is always the same, and always ready and happy to show mercy. When
Christians are united, and praying as they ought, God opens the windows of
heaven, and pours out his blessings till there is not room to receive them.
4. Another important design of prayer meetings is the
conviction and conversion of sinners. When properly conducted, they are
eminently calculated to produce this effect. Sinners are apt to be solemn when
they hear Christians pray. Where there is a spirit of prayer, sinners must
feel. An ungodly man, a Universalist, once said respecting a certain minister,
“I can bear his preaching very well, but when he prays, I feel awfully; I feel
as if God was coming down upon me.” Sinners are often convicted by hearing
prayer. A young man of distinguished talents, known to many of you, said
concerning a certain minister to whom before his conversion he had been very
much opposed, “As soon as he began to pray, I 120began to be convicted, and if he had continued to pray much longer, I
should not have been able to contain myself.” Just as soon as Christians begin
to pray as they ought, sinners then know that they pray, and they feel awfully.
They do not understand what spirituality is, because they have no experience of
it. But when such prayer is offered, they know there is something in it; they
know God is in it, and it brings them near to God; it makes them feel awfully
solemn, and they cannot bear it. And not only is it calculated to impress the
minds of sinners, but when Christians pray in faith, the Spirit of God is
poured out, and sinners are melted down and converted on the spot.
II. THE MANNER OF CONDUCTING
PRAYER MEETINGS.
1. It is often well to open a prayer meeting by
reading a short portion of the word of God; especially if the person who takes
the lead of the meeting, can call to mind any portion that will be applicable
to the object or occasion, and that is impressive, and to the point. If he has
no passage that is applicable, he had better not read any at all. Do not drag
in the word of God to make up part of the meeting as a mere matter of form.
This is an insult to God. It is not well to read any more than is applicable to
the subject before the meeting, or the occasion. Some people think it always
necessary to read a whole chapter, though it may be ever so long, and have a
variety of subjects. It is just as impressive and judicious to read a whole
chapter, as it would be for a minister to take a whole chapter for his text,
when his object was to make some particular truth bear on the minds of his
audience. The design of a prayer meeting should be to bring Christians to the
point to pray for a definite object. Wandering over a large field, hinders and
destroys this design.
2. It is proper that the person who leads should make
some short and appropriate remarks, calculated to explain the nature of prayer,
and the encouragements we have to pray, and to bring the object to be prayed
for directly before the minds of the people.
A man can no more pray without having his thoughts
concentrated, than he can do anything else. The person leading, should therefore
see to this, by bringing up before their minds the object they came to pray
for. If they came to pray for any object he can do this. And if they did
not, they had better go home. It is of no use to stay there and mock 121God, by pretending to pray, when they have nothing on
earth to pray for.
After stating the object, he should bring up some
promise or some principle, as the ground of encouragement to expect an answer
to their prayers. If there is any indication of Providence, or any promise, or
any principle in the Divine government that affords a ground of faith, let him
call it to mind, and not let them be talking out of their own hearts at random,
without knowing any solid reason to expect an answer. One reason why prayer
meetings mostly accomplish so little, is because there is so little common
sense exercised about them. Instead of looking round for some solid footing on
which to repose their faith, they just come together and pour forth their words,
and neither know nor care whether they have any reason to expect an answer. If
they are going to pray about anything concerning which there can be any doubt
or any mistake, in regard to the ground of faith, they should be shown the
reason there is for believing that their prayers will be heard and answered. It
is easy to see, that unless something like this is done, three-fourths of them
will have no idea of what they are doing, or of the ground on which they should
expect to receive what they pray for.
3. In calling on persons to pray, it is always
desirable to let things take their own course wherever it is safe. If it can be
left so with safety, let those pray who are most inclined to pray. It sometimes
happens that even those who are ordinarily the most spiritual, and most proper
to be called on, are not at the time in a suitable frame; they may be cold and
worldly, and only freeze the meeting. But if you let those pray who desire to
pray, you avoid this. But often this cannot be done with safety, especially in
large cities, where a prayer meeting might be liable to be interrupted by those
who have no business to pray; some fanatic or crazy person, some hypocrite or
enemy, who would only make a noise. In most places, however, this course may be
taken with perfect safety. Give up the meeting to the Spirit of God, Those who
desire to pray, let them pray. If the leader sees any thing that needs to be
set right, let him remark, freely and kindly, and put it right, and then go on
again. Only, he should be careful to time his remarks, so as not to
interrupt the flow of feeling, or to chill the meeting, or turn off the minds
from the proper subject.
4. If it is necessary to name the individuals who are
to pray, it is best to call on those who are most spiritual first. And if you
do not know who they are, then those whom you would 122naturally suppose to be most alive. If they pray at
the outset, they will be likely to spread the spirit of prayer through the
meeting, and elevate the tone of the whole. Otherwise, if you call on those who
are cold and lifeless at the beginning, they will be likely to diffuse a chill
throughout the meeting. The only hope of having an efficient prayer meeting is
when at least a part of the church is spiritual, and they infuse their spirit
into the rest. This is the very reason why it is often best to let things take
their course, for then those who have the most feeling are apt to pray first,
and give character to the meeting.
5. The prayers should always be very short.
When individuals suffer themselves to pray long, they forget where they are,
that they are only the mouth of the congregation, and that the congregation
cannot be expected to sympathise with them, so as to go along and feel united
in prayer, if they are long and tedious, and go all around the world and pray
for every thing that they can think of. Commonly, those who pray long in
meeting, do it not because they have the spirit of prayer, but because
they have not. And they go round and round, not because they are full of
prayer. Some men will spin out a long prayer in telling God who and what he is,
or they exhort God to do so and so. Some pray out a whole system of divinity.
Some preach, some exhort the people, till every body wishes they would stop,
and God wishes so too, undoubtedly. They should keep to the point, and pray for
what they came to pray for, and not follow the imagination of their own foolish
hearts all over the universe.
6. Each one should pray for some one object.
It is well for every individual to have one object for prayer: two or more may
pray for the same thing, or each a separate object. If the meeting is convened
to pray for some specific thing, let them all pray for that. If its object is
more general, let them select their subjects, according as they feel interested
in them. If one feels particularly disposed to pray for the church, let him do
it. If the next feels disposed to pray for the church, he may do so too.
Perhaps the next will feel inclined to pray for sinners; for the youth; to
confess sin; let him do it, and as soon as he has got through let him stop.
Whenever a man has deep feeling, he always feels on some particular point, and
if he prays for that, he will speak out of the abundance of his heart, and then
he will naturally stop when he is done. Those who feel most, will be most ready
to confine their prayers to that point, and stop when they have done and not
pray all over the world.
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7. If in the progress of the meeting it becomes
necessary to change the object of prayer, let the man who leads state the fact,
and explain it in a few words. If the object is to pray for the church, or for
backsliders, or sinners, or the heathen, let him state it plainly, and then
turn it over and hold it up before them till he brings them to think and feel
deeply before they pray. Then state to them the grounds on which they may
repose their faith in regard to obtaining the blessings they pray for, if any
such statement is needed, and so lead them right up to the throne, and let them
take hold of the hand of God. This is according to the philosophy of the mind.
People always do it for themselves when they pray in secret, if they really
mean to pray to any purpose. And so it should be in prayer meetings.
8. It is important that the time should be fully
occupied, so as not to leave long seasons of silence. This always makes a
bad impression and chills the meeting. I know that sometimes churches have
seasons of silent prayer. But in those cases they should be specially requested
to pray in silence, so that all may know why they are silent. This often has a
most powerful effect, where a few moments are spent by a whole congregation in
silence, while all lift up their thoughts to God. This is very different from
having long intervals of silence because there is nobody to pray. Every one
feels that such a silence is like the cold damp of death over the meeting.
9. It is exceedingly important that he who leads the
meeting should press sinners who may be present to immediate repentance. He
should crowd this hard, and urge the Christians present to pray in such a way as
to make sinners feel that they are expected to repent immediately. This tends
to inspire Christians with compassion and love for souls. The remarks made to
sinners are often like pouring fire upon the hearts of Christians, to awaken
them to prayer and effort for their conversion. Let them see and feel the guilt
and danger of sinners right among them, and then they will pray.
III. I am to mention several things which may
defeat the design of a prayer meeting.
1. When there is an unhappy want of confidence in the
leader, there is no hope of any good. Whatever the cause may be, whether he is
to blame or not, the very fact that he leads the meeting will cast a damp over
it and prevent all good. I have witnessed it in churches, where there was some
offensive elder or deacon, perhaps justly offensive, and perhaps not, set to
lead the prayer meeting, and the meeting would all die under his influence. If
there is a want of confidence 124in regard to his
piety, or in his ability, or in his judgment, or in anything connected with the
meeting, everything he says or does will fall to the ground. The same thing
often takes place where the church have lost their confidence in the minister.
2. Where the leader lacks spirituality, there
will be a dryness and coldness in his remarks and prayers, and every thing will
indicate his want of unction, and his whole influence will be the very reverse
of what it ought to be. I have known churches where a prayer meeting could not
be sustained, and the reason was not obvious, but those who understood the
state of things knew that the leader was so notorious for his want of
spirituality, that he would inevitably freeze a prayer meeting to death. In
many Presbyterian churches the elders are so far from being spiritual men that
they always freeze a prayer meeting. And then they are often amazingly jealous
for their dignity, and cannot bear to have any body else lead the meeting. And
if any member that is spiritual takes the lead of a prayer meeting, they will
take him to task for it: “Why, you are not an elder, and ought not to lead a
prayer meeting in presence of an elder.” And thus they stand in the way, while
the whole church is suffering under their blighting influence.
A man who knows he is not in a spiritual frame of
mind has no business to conduct a prayer meeting; he will kill it. There are
two reasons: First, he will have no spiritual discernment, and will not
know what to do, or when to do it. A person who is spiritual can see the
movements of
125
And then, if the leader is not spiritual, he will
very likely be dull and dry in his remarks and in all his exercises. He
will read a long hymn in a dreamy manner, and then read a long passage of
Scripture, in a tone so cold and wintry that he will spread a wintry pall over
the meeting, and it will be dull as long as his cold heart is placed up in
front of the whole thing.
3. A want of suitable talents in the leader.
If he is wanting in that kind of talents which are fitted to make a meeting
useful, he will injure the meeting. If he can say nothing, or if his remarks
are so out of the way as to produce levity or contempt, or if they have nothing
in them that will impress the mind, or are not guided by good sense, or not
appropriate, he will injure the meeting. A man may be pious, but so weak that
his prayers do not edify, but rather disgust, the people present. When this is
so, he had better keep silence.
4. Sometimes the benefit of a prayer-meeting is
defeated by a bad spirit in the leader. For instance when there is a revival,
and great opposition, if a leader gets up in a prayer meeting and speaks of
instances of opposition, and comments upon them, and thus diverts the meeting
away from the object they come to pray for, he knows not what spirit he is of.
Its effect is always ruinous to a prayer meeting. Let a minister in a revival
come out and preach against the opposition, and he will infallibly destroy the
revival, and turn the hearts of Christians away from their proper object. Let
the man who is set to lead the church be careful to guard his own spirit, lest
he should mislead the church, and diffuse a wrong temper. The same will be
true, if any one who is called upon to speak or pray, introduces in his
remarks or prayers anything controversial, impertinent, unreasonable,
unscriptural, ridiculous or irrelevant. Any of these things will quench the
tender breathings of the spirit of prayer, and destroy the meeting.
5. Persons coming late to the meeting. This is
a very great hindrance to a prayer meeting. When people have begun to pray, and
their attention is fixed, and they have shut their eyes and closed their ears,
to keep out everything from their minds, in the midst of a prayer somebody will
come bolting in and walk up through the room. Some will look up, and all have
their minds interrupted for the moment. Then they all get fixed again, and
another comes in, and so on. Why, I suppose the devil would not care how many
Christians went to a prayer-meeting, if they will only go after the meeting is
begun. He would be glad to have ever so many go scattering along so, and
dodging in very piously after the meeting is begun.
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6. When persons make cold prayers, and cold
confessions of sin, they are sure to quench the spirit of prayer. When the
influences of the Spirit are enjoyed, in the midst of the warm expressions that
are flowing forth, let an individual come in who is cold, and pour his cold
breath out, like the damp of death, and it will make every Christian that has
any feeling want to get out of the meeting.
7. In some places it is common to begin a prayer
meeting by reading a long portion of Scripture. Then the deacon or elder gives
out a long hymn. Next, they sing it. Then he prays a long prayer, praying for
the Jews and the fullness of the Gentiles, and many other objects that have nothing
to do with the occasion of the meeting. After that perhaps he reads a long
extract from some book or magazine. Then they have another long hymn and
another long prayer, and then they go home. I once heard an elder say, they had
kept up a prayer meeting so many years, and yet there had been no revival in
the place. The truth was, that the officers of the church had been accustomed
to carry on the meetings in just such a dignified way, and their dignity would
not allow anything to be altered. No wonder there was no revival. Such prayer
meetings are enough to hinder a revival. And if ever so many revivals should
commence, the prayer meeting would destroy them. There was a prayer meeting
once in this city, as I have been told, where there appeared to be some
feeling, and some one proposed that they should have two or three prayers in
succession, without rising from their knees. One dignified man present opposed
it, and said that they never had done so, and he hoped there would be no
innovations. He did not approve of innovations. And that was the last of the
revival. Such persons have their prayer meetings stereotyped, and they are
determined not to turn out of their track, whether they have the blessing or
not. To allow any such thing would be a new measure, and they never like new
measures.
8. A great deal of singing often injures a
prayer meeting. The agonizing spirit of prayer does not lead people to
sing. There is a time for everything; a time to sing, and a time to pray. But
if I know what it is to travail in birth for souls, Christians never feel less
like singing, than when they have the spirit of prayer for sinners. Singing is
the natural expression of feelings that are joyful and cheerful. The spirit of
prayer is not a spirit of joy. It is a spirit of travail, and agony of soul,
supplicating and pleading with God with strong cryings, and groanings that
cannot be uttered. This is more like any 127thing
else than it is like singing. I have known states of feeling, where you could
not distress the people of God more than to begin to sing. It would be so
entirely different from their feelings. Why, if you knew your house was on
fire, would you first stop and sing a hymn before you put it out? How would it
look here in
When singing is introduced in a prayer-meeting, the
hymns should be short, and so selected as to bring out something solemn; some
striking words, such as the Judgment Hymn, and others calculated to produce an
effect on sinners; or something that will produce a deep impression on the
minds of Christians; but not that joyful kind of singing, that makes every body
feel comfortable, and turns off the mind from the object of the prayer meeting.
I once heard a celebrated organist produce a
remarkable effect in a protracted meeting. The organ was a powerful one, and
the double bass pipes were like thunder. The hymn was given out that has these
lines:
<verse> <l class="t1">See the storm of vengeance gathering</l> <l class="t2">O’er
the path you dare to tread;</l> <l class="t1">“Hear the awful thunder rolling,</l> <l class="t2">Loud
and louder o’er your head.”</l> </verse>
When he came to these words, we first heard the
distant roar of thunder, then it grew nearer and louder, till at the word
“louder,” there was a crash that seemed almost to overpower the whole
congregation.
Such things in their proper place do good. But common
singing dissipates feeling. It should always be such as not to take away feeling,
but to deepen it.
Often a prayer meeting is injured by calling on the
young 128converts to sing joyful hymns. This is highly
improper in a prayer meeting. It is no time for them to let feeling flow away
in joyful singing, while so many sinners around them, and their own former
companions, are going down to hell. A revival is often put down by the church
and minister all giving themselves up to singing with young converts. Thus by
stopping to rejoice, when they ought to feel more and more deeply for sinners,
they grieve away the Spirit of God, and they soon find that their agony and
travail of soul are all gone.
9. Introducing subjects of controversy into
prayer will defeat a prayer meeting. Nothing of a controversial nature should
be introduced into prayer, unless it is the object of the meeting to settle
that thing. Otherwise, let Christians come together in their
prayer-meetings, on the broad ground of offering united prayer for a common
object. And let controversies be settled somewhere else.
10. Great pains should be taken, both by the leader
and others, to watch narrowly the motions of the Spirit of God. Let them
not pray without the Spirit, but follow his leadings. Be sure not to quench the
Spirit for the sake of praying according to the regular custom. Avoid
everything calculated to divert attention away from the object. All affectation
of feeling that is not real, should be particularly guarded against. If there
is an affectation of feeling, most commonly others see and feel that it is
affectation, not reality. At any rate, the Spirit of God knows it, and will be
grieved, and leave the place. On the other hand, all resistance to the Spirit
will equally destroy the meeting. Not unfrequently it happens, that there are
some so cold that if any one should break out in the spirit of prayer, they
would call it fanaticism, and perhaps break out in opposition.
11. If individuals refuse to pray when they are
called on it injures a prayer meeting. There are some people, who always
pretend they have no gifts. Women sometimes refuse to take their turn in
prayer, and pretend they have no ability to pray. But if any one else should
say so, they would be offended. Suppose they should know that any other person
had made such a remark as this, “Do not ask her to pray; she cannot pray; she
has not talents enough;” would they like it? So with a man who pretends he has
no gifts, let any one else report that he has not talents enough to make a
decent prayer, and see if he will like it. The pretence is not sincere; it is all
a sham.
Some say they cannot pray in their families, they
have no gift. But a person could not offend them more than to say 129they cannot pray a decent prayer before their own
families. They would say, “Why, the man talks as if he thought nobody else had
any gifts but himself.” People are not apt to have such a low opinion of
themselves. I have often seen the curse of God follow such professors. They
have no excuse. God will take none. The man has got a tongue to talk to his
neighbors, and he can talk to God if he has any heart for it. You will see
their children unconverted, their son a curse, their daughter—tongue cannot
tell. God says he will pour out his fury on the families that call not on his
name. If I had time, I could mention a host of facts to show that God MARKS
those individuals with his disapprobation and curse who refuse to pray when
they ought. Until professors of religion will repent of this sin and take up
the cross (if they choose to call praying a cross!) and do their duty,
they need not expect a blessing.
12. Prayer meetings are often too long. They
should always be dismissed while Christians have feeling, and not be spun out
until all feeling is exhausted, and the Spirit is gone.
13. Heartless confessions. People confess their sins
and do not forsake them. Every week they will make the same confession over
again. A long, cold, dull, stupid confession this week, and then the next week
another just like it, without forsaking any sins. Why, they have no intention
to forsake their sins! It shows plainly that they do not mean to reform. All
their religion consists in these confessions. Instead of getting a blessing
from God by such confessions they will get only a curse.
14. When Christians spend all the time in praying for
themselves. They should have done this in their closets. When they come to a
prayer meeting, they should be prepared to offer effectual intercessions for
others. If Christians pray in their closets as they ought, they will feel like
praying for sinners. If they pray exclusively in their closets for
themselves, they will not get the spirit of prayer. I have known men shut
themselves up for days to pray for themselves, and never get any life, because
their prayers are all selfish. But if they will just forget themselves, and throw
their hearts abroad, and pray for others, it will wake up such a feeling, that
they can pour forth their hearts. And then they can go to work for souls. I
knew an individual in a revival, who shut himself up seventeen days, and prayed
as if he would have God come to his terms, but it would not do, and then he
went out to work, and immediately he had the Spirit of God in his soul. It is
well for Christians to pray for themselves, and confess 130their sins, and then throw their hearts abroad, till
they feel as they ought.
15. Prayer meetings are often defeated by the want
of appropriate remarks. The things are not said which are calculated to
lead them to pray. Perhaps the leader has not prepared himself; or perhaps he
has not the requisite talents, to lead the church out in prayer, or he does not
lead their minds to dwell on the appropriate topics of prayer.
16. When individuals who are justly obnoxious for any
cause, are forward in speaking and praying. Such persons are sometimes very
much set upon taking a part. They say it is their duty to get up and testify
for God on all occasions. They will say, they know they are not able to edify
the church, but nobody else can do their duty, and they wish to testify.
Perhaps the only place they ever did testify for God was in a prayer
meeting; all their lives, out of the meeting, testify against God. They had
better keep still.
17. Where persons take a part who are so illiterate
that it is impossible persons of taste should not be disgusted. Persons of
intelligence cannot follow them, and their minds are unavoidably diverted. I do
not mean that it is necessary a person should have a liberal education in order
to lead in prayer. All persons of common education, especially if they are in
the habit of praying, can lead in prayer, if they have the spirit of prayer.
But there are some persons who use such absurd and illiterate expressions, as
cannot but disgust every intelligent mind. They cannot help being disgusted.
The feeling of disgust is an involuntary thing, and when a disgusting object is
before the mind, the feeling is irresistible. Piety will not keep a person from
feeling it. The only way is to take away the object. If such persons mean to do
good, they had better remain silent, Some of them may feel grieved at not being
called to take a part. But it is better that they should be kindly told the
reason than to have the prayer meeting regularly injured, and rendered
ridiculous by their performances.
18. A want of union in prayer. When one leads the
others do not follow, but are thinking of something else. Their hearts do not
unite, do not say, Amen. It is as bad as if one should make a petition and
another remonstrate against it. One asks God to do a thing, and the others ask
him not to do it, or to do something else.
Neglect of secret prayer. Christians who do not pray
in secret, cannot unite with power in a prayer meeting, and cannot have the
spirit of prayer.
131
REMARKS.
1. An illy conducted prayer meeting often does more
hurt than good. In many churches, the general manner of conducting prayer
meetings is such that Christians have not the least idea of the design or the
power of such meetings. It is such as tends to keep down rather than to promote
pious feeling and the spirit of prayer.
2. A prayer meeting is an index to the state of
religion in a church. If the church neglect the prayer meetings, or come and
have not the spirit of prayer, you know of course that religion is low. Let me
go into the prayer meeting, and I can always see the state of religion there.
3. Every minister ought to know that if the prayer
meetings are neglected, all his labors are in vain. Unless he can get
Christians to attend the prayer meetings, all he can do will not bring up the
true religion.
4. A great responsibility rests on him who leads a
prayer meeting. If the prayer meeting be not what it ought to be, if it does
not elevate the state of religion, he should go seriously to work and see what
is the matter, and get the spirit of prayer, and prepare himself to make such
remarks as are calculated to do good and set things right. A leader has no
business to lead prayer meetings, if he is not prepared, both in head and
heart, to do this. I wish you, who lead the district prayer meetings of this
church, to notice this point.
5. Prayer meetings are the most difficult meetings to
sustain as they ought to be. They are so spiritual, that unless the leader be
peculiarly prepared, both in heart and mind, they will dwindle. It is in vain
for the leader to complain that members of the church do not attend. In nine
cases out of ten, it is the leader’s fault, that they do not attend. If he felt
as he ought, they would find the meetings so interesting, that they would
attend of course. If he is so cold, and dull, and without spirituality, as to
freeze every thing, no wonder people do not come to the meeting. Church
officers often complain and scold because people do not come to the prayer
meeting, when the truth is, they themselves are so cold that they freeze every
body to death that comes.
6. Prayer meetings are most important meetings for
the church. It is highly important for Christians to sustain the prayer
meetings:—
(1.) To promote union.
(2.) To increase brotherly love.
132
(3.) To cultivate Christian confidence.
(4.) To promote their own growth in grace.
(5.) To cherish and advance spirituality.
7. Prayer meetings should be so numerous in the
church, and be so arranged, as to exercise the gifts of every individual member
of the church—male and female. Every one should have the opportunity to pray,
and to express the feelings of his heart, if he has any. The sectional prayer
meetings of this church are designed to do this. And if they are too large for
this, let them be divided, so as to bring the entire mass into the work, to
exercise all gifts, and diffuse union, confidence, and brotherly love through
the whole.
8. It is important that impenitent sinners should
always attend prayer meetings. If none come of their own accord, go out and
invite them. Christians ought to take great pains to induce their impenitent
friends and neighbors to come to prayer meetings. They can pray better for
impenitent sinners when they have them right before their eyes. I have know
female prayer meetings exclude sinners from the meeting. And the reason was,
they were so proud they were ashamed to pray before sinners. What a spirit!
Such prayers will do no good. They insult God. You have not done enough, by any
means, when you have gone to the prayer meeting yourself. You cannot pray, if
you have invited no sinner to go. If all the church have neglected their duty
so, and have gone to the prayer meeting, and taken no sinners along with them,
no subjects of prayer—what have they come for?
9. The great object of all the means of grace is to
aim directly at the conversion of sinners. You should pray that they may be
converted there. Not pray that they may be awakened and convicted, but
pray that they may be converted on the spot. No one should either pray or make
any remarks, as if he expected a single sinner would go away without giving his
heart to God. You should all make the impression on his mind, that NOW he must
submit. And if you do this, while you are yet speaking God will hear. If
Christians make it manifest that they have really set their hearts on the
conversions of sinners, and are bent upon it, and pray as they ought, there
would rarely be a prayer meeting held without souls being converted, and
sometimes every sinner in the room. That is the very time, if ever, that
sinners should be converted in answer to those prayers. I do not doubt but that
you may have sinners converted in every sectional 133prayer meeting, if you do your duty. Take them there,
take your families, your friends, or your neighbors there with that design,
give them the proper instruction, if they need instruction, and pray for them
as you ought, and you will save their souls. Rely upon it, if you do your duty,
in a right manner, God will not keep back his blessing, and the work will be
done.
MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS.
Text.—Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and
my servant whom I have chosen.—Isaiah
xliii: 10.
IN the text it is affirmed of the children of God,
that they are his witnesses. In several preceding lectures I have been dwelling
on the subject of Prayer, or that department of means for the promotion of a
revival, which is intended to move God to pour out his Spirit. I am now to
commence the other department:
MEANS TO BE USED FOR THE
CONVICTION AND CONVERSION OF SINNERS.
It is true, in general, that persons are affected by
the subject of religion, in proportion to their conviction of its truth.
Inattention to religion is the great reason why so little is felt concerning
it. No being can look at the great truths of religion, as truths, and
not feel deeply concerning them. The devil cannot. He believes and trembles.
Angels in heaven feel in view of these things. God feels. An intellectual conviction
of truth is always accompanied with feeling of some kind.
One grand design of God in leaving Christians in the
world after their conversion, is that they may be witnesses for God. It
is that they may call the attention of the thoughtless multitude to the
subject, and make them see the difference in the character and destiny of those
who believe and those who reject the Gospel. This inattention is the grand
difficulty in the way of promoting religion. And what the Spirit of God does is
to awaken the attention of men to the subject of their sin and the plan of
salvation. Miracles have sometimes been employed to arrest the attention of
sinners. And in this way, miracles may become instrumental in conversion,
although conversion is not itself a miracle, nor do miracles themselves ever
convert any body. They may be the means of awakening. Miracles are not always
effectual even in that. And if continued or made common, they would soon lose
their power. What is wanted in the world is something that can be a sort 135of omnipresent miracle, able not only to arrest
attention but to fix it, and keep the mind in warm contact with the truth, till
it yields.
Hence we see why God has scattered his children
everywhere, in families and among the nations. He never would suffer them to be
all together in one place, however agreeable it might be to their feelings. He
wishes them scattered. When the church at Jerusalem herded together, neglecting
to go forth as Christ had commanded, to spread the Gospel all over the world,
God let loose a persecution upon them and scattered them abroad, and then “they
went every where preaching the Gospel.” In examining the text, I propose to
inquire.
I. To what particular points Christians are to
testify for God.
II. The manner in which they are to testify.
I. To what points are the children of God required to
testify?
Generally,
they are to testify to the truth of the Bible. They are competent witnesses to
this, for they have experience of its truth. The experimental Christian has no
more need of external evidence to prove the truth of the Bible to his mind,
than he has to prove his own existence. The whole plan of salvation is so fully
spread out and settled in his conviction, that to undertake to reason him out
of his belief in the Bible would be a thing as impracticable as to reason him
out of the belief in his own existence. Men have tried to awaken a doubt of the
existence of the material world. But they cannot succeed. No man can doubt the
existence of a material world. To doubt it, is against his own consciousness.
You may use arguments that he cannot answer, and may puzzle and perplex him,
and shut up his mouth; he may be no logician or philosopher, and unable to
detect your fallacies. But what he knows he knows.
So it is in religion. The Christian is conscious that
the Bible is true. The veriest child in religion knows by his experience the
truth of the Bible. He may hear objections from infidels, that he never thought
of, and that he cannot answer, and he may be confounded, but he cannot be
driven from his ground. He will say, “I cannot answer you, but I know the Bible
is true.”
As if a man should look in a mirror, and say, “That’s
my face.” How do you know it is your face? “Why, by its looks.” So when a
Christian sees himself drawn and pictured forth in the Bible, he sees the
likeness to be so exact, that he 136knows
it is true. But more particularly, Christians are to testify—
1. To the immortality of the soul. This is clearly
revealed in the Bible.
2. The vanity and unsatisfying nature of all earthly
good.
3. The satisfying nature and glorious sufficiency of
religion.
4. The guilt and danger of sinners. On this point
they can speak from experience as well as the word of God. They have seen their
own sins, and they understand more of the nature of sin, and the guilt and
danger of sinners.
5. The reality of hell, as a place of eternal
punishment for the wicked.
6. The love of Christ for sinners.
7. The necessity of a holy life, if we think of ever
getting to heaven.
8. The necessity of self-denial, and living above the
world.
9. The necessity of meekness, heavenly-mindedness,
humility, and integrity.
10. The necessity of an entire renovation of
character and life, for all who would enter heaven. These are the subjects on
which they are to be witnesses for God. And they are bound to testify in such a
way as to constrain men to believe the truth.
II. How are they to testify?
By precept and example, on every proper
occasion, by their lips, but mainly by their lives. Christians have no right to
be silent with their lips; they should rebuke, exhort, and entreat with all
long-suffering and doctrine. But their main influence as witnesses is by their
example.
They are required to be witnesses in this way,
because example teaches with so much greater force than precept. This is
universally known. Actions speak louder than words. But where both precept and
example are brought to bear, it brings the greatest amount of influence to bear
upon the mind. As to the manner in which they are to testify; the way in which
they should bear witness to the truth of the points specified; in general—they
should live in their daily walk and conversation, as if they believed the
Bible.
1. As if they believed the soul to be immortal, and
as if they believed that death was not the termination of their existence, but
the entrance into an unchanging state. They ought to live so as to make this
impression full upon all around them. It is easy to see that precept without
example on this point will do no good. All the arguments in the world will not
convince mankind that you really believe this, unless you live as if you 137believed it. Your reasoning may be unanswerable, but
if you do not live accordingly, your practice will defeat your arguments. They
will say you are an ingenious sophist, or an acute reasoner, and perhaps admit
that they cannot answer you; but then they will say, it is evident that your
reasoning is all false, and that you know it is false, because your life
contradicts your theory. Or that, if it is true, you do not believe it, at any
rate. And so all the influence of your testimony goes to the other side.
2. The vanity and unsatisfying nature of the things
of this world. You are to testify this by your life. The failure in this is the
great stumbling block in the way of mankind. Here the testimony of God’s
children is needed more than any where else. Men are so struck with the objects
of sense, and so constantly occupied with them, that they are very apt to shut
out eternity from their minds. A small object, that is held close to the eye,
may shut out the distant ocean. So the things of the world, that are near,
magnify so in their minds, that they overlook every thing else. One important
design in keeping Christians in the world is to teach people on this point,
practically, not to labor for the meat that perisheth. But suppose professors
of religion teach the vanity of earthly things by precept, and contradict it in
practice. Suppose the women are just as fond of dress, and just as particular
in observing all the fashions, and the men as eager to have fine houses and
equipage, as the people of the world. Who does not see that it would be quite
ridiculous for them to testify with their lips, that this world is all vanity,
and its joys unsatisfying and empty? People feel this absurdity, and it is this
that shuts up the lips of Christians. They are ashamed to speak to their
neighbors, while they cumber themselves with these gewgaws, because their daily
conduct testifies to every body the very reverse. How it would look for some of
the church members in this city, male or female, to go about among the common
people, and talk to them about the vanity of the world! Who would believe what
they say?
3. The satisfying nature of religion. Christians are
bound to show by their conduct, that they are actually satisfied with
the enjoyments of religion, without the pomps and vanities of the world; that the
joys of religion and communion with God keep them above the world. They are to
manifest that this world is not their home. Their profession is, that heaven is
a reality, and that they expect to dwell there for ever. But suppose they
contradict this by their conduct, and live in such a way as to prove that they
cannot be happy unless they have a 138full
share of the fashion and show of the world, and that as for going to heaven,
they had much rather remain on earth, than to die and go there! What do the world
think, when they see a profession of religion just as much afraid to die as an
infidel? Such Christians perjure themselves—they swear to a lie, for they
testify that there is nothing in religion for which a person can afford to live
above the world.
4. The guilt and danger of sinners. Christians are
bound to warn sinners of their awful condition, and exhort them to flee from
the wrath to come, and lay hold on everlasting life. But who does not know that
the manner of doing this is every thing? Sinners are often struck under
conviction by the very manner of doing a thing. There was a man once very much
opposed to a certain preacher. On being asked to specify some reason, he
replied, “I cannot bear to hear him, for he says the word HELL in such a way that
it rings in my ears a long time afterwards.” He was displeased with the very
thing that constituted the power of speaking that word. The manner may be such
as to convey an idea directly opposite to the meaning of the words. A man may
tell you that your house is on fire in such a way as to make directly
the opposite impression, and you will take for granted that it is not your
house that is on fire. The watchman might sing out FIRE, FIRE, in such a way that every body would think he was
either asleep or drunk. A certain manner is so usually connected with the
announcement of certain things that they cannot be expressed without that
manner. The words themselves never alone convey the meaning, because the idea
can only be fully expressed by a particular manner of speaking. Go to a sinner,
and talk with him about his guilt and danger; and if in your manner you make an
impression that does not correspond, you in effect bear testimony the other
way, and tell him he is in no danger of hell. If the sinner believes at all
that he is in danger of hell, it is wholly on other grounds than your saying
so. If you live in such a way as to show that you do not feel compassion for
sinners around you; if you show no tenderness, by your eyes, your features,
your voice; if your manner is not solemn and earnest, how can they believe you
are sincere?
Woman, suppose you tell your converted husband, in an
easy, laughing way, “My dear, I believe you are going to hell;” will he believe
you? If your life is gay and trifling, you show that either you do not believe
there is a hell, or that you wish to have him go there, and are trying to keep
off every serious impression from his mind. Have you children 139that are unconverted? Suppose you never say any thing
to them about religion, or when you do talk to them it is in such a cold, hard,
dry way as shows you have no feeling; do you suppose they believe you? They
don’t see the same coldness in you in regard to other things. They are in the
habit of seeing all the mother in your eye, and in the tones of your voice,
your emphasis, and the like, and feeling the warmth of a mother’s heart as it
flows out from your lips on all that concerns them. If, then, when you talk to
them on the subject of religion, you are cold and trifling, can they suppose
you believe it? If your deportment holds up before your child this careless,
heartless, prayerless spirit, and then you talk to him about the importance of
religion, the child will go away and laugh, to think you should try to persuade
him there is a hell.
5. The love of Christ. You are to bear witness to the
reality of the love of Christ, by the regard you show for his precepts, his
honor, his kingdom. You should act as if you believed that he died for the sins
of the whole world, and as if you blamed sinners for rejecting his great
salvation. This is the only legitimate way in which you can impress sinners
with the love of Christ. Christians, instead of this, often live so as to make
the impression on sinners that Christ is so compassionate that they have very
little to fear from him. I have been amazed to see how a certain class of
professors want ministers to be always preaching about the love of
Christ. If a minister preaches up duty, and urges Christians to be holy, and to
labor for Christ, they call it all legal preaching. They say they want to hear
the Gospel. Well, suppose you present the love of Christ. How will they bear
testimony in their lives? How will they show that they believe it? Why, by
conformity to the world, they will testify point blank, that they do not
believe a word of it, and that they care nothing at all for the love of Christ,
only to have it for a cloak, that they can talk about it, and so cover up their
sins. They have no sympathy with his compassion, and no belief in it as a reality,
and no concern for the feelings of Christ, which fill his mind when he sees the
condition of sinners.
6. The necessity of holiness in order to enter
heaven. It will not do to depend on talking about this. They must live holy,
and thus testify that men need not expect to be saved, unless they are holy.
The idea has so long prevailed that we cannot be perfect here, that many
professors do not so much as seriously aim at a sinless life. They cannot
honestly say that 140they ever so much as
really meant to live without sin. They drift along before the tide, in a loose,
sinful, unhappy and abominable manner, at which, doubtless, the devil laughs,
because it is, of all others, the surest way to hell.
7. The necessity of self-denial, humility, and
heavenly-mindedness. Christians ought to show by their own example what the
religion is which is expected of men. That is the most powerful preaching,
after all, and the most likely to have influence on the impenitent, by showing
them the great difference between them and Christians. Many people are
trying to make men Christians by a different course, by copying as near as
possible their present manner of life, and conforming to them as much as will
possibly do. They seem to think they can make men fall in with religion best by
bringing religion down to their standard. As if the nearer you bring religion
to the world, the more likely the world would be to embrace it. Now all this is
as wide as the poles from the true philosophy of making Christians. But it is
always the policy of carnal professors. And they think they are displaying
wonderful sagacity and prudence by taking so much pains not to scare people at
the mighty strictness and holiness of the Gospel. They argue that if you
exhibit religion to mankind as requiring such a great change in their manner of
life, such innovations upon their habits, such a separation from their old
associates, why, you will drive them all away. This seems plausible at first
sight. But it is not true. Let professors live in this lax and easy way, and
sinners say, “Why, I do not see but I am about right, or at least so near
right, that it is impossible God should send me to hell for the difference
between me and these professors. It is true, they do a little more than I do,
they go to the communion table, and pray in their families, and a few such like
little things, but they cannot make any such great difference as heaven and
hell.” No, the true way is, to exhibit religion and the world in strong
contrast, or you never can make sinners feel the necessity of a change. Until
the necessity of this fundamental change is embodied and held forth in a strong
light by example, how can you make men believe they are going to be sent to
hell if they are not wholly transformed in heart and life?
This is not only true in philosophy, but it has been
proved by the history of the world. Look at the missions of the Jesuits in
8. Meekness, humility, and heavenly-mindedness. The
people of God should always show a temper like the Son of God, who when he was
reviled, reviled not again. If a professor of religion is irritable, and ready
to resent an injury, and fly in a passion, and take the same measures as the
world do to get redress, by going to law and the like, how is he to make people
believe there is any reality in a change of heart? They cannot recommend
religion while they have such a spirit. If you are in the habit of resenting
injurious conduct; if you do not bear it meekly, and put the best construction
that can be on it, you contradict the Gospel. Some people always show a bad
spirit, ever ready to put the worst construction on what is done, and take fire
at any little thing. This shows a great want of that charity which “hopeth all
things, believeth all things, endureth all things,” But if a man 142always shows meekness under injuries, it will
confound gainsaying. Nothing makes so solemn an impression upon sinners, and
bears down with such a tremendous weight on their consciences, as to see a
Christian, Christ-like bearing affronts and injuries with the meekness of a
lamb. It cuts like a two-edged sword.
I will mention a case to show this. A young man
abused a minister to his face, and reviled him in an unprecedented manner. The
minister possessed his soul in patience, and spoke mildly in reply, telling him
the truth pointedly, but yet in a very kind manner. This only made him the more
angry, and at length he went away in a rage, declaring that he was not going to
stay and bear this vituperation. As if it was the minister, instead of himself,
that had been scolding. The sinner went away, but with the arrows of the
Almighty in his heart, and in less than half an hour he followed the minister
to his lodgings in intolerable agony, wept, and begged forgiveness, and broke
down before God, and yielded up his heart to Christ. This calm and mild manner
was more overwhelming to him than a thousand arguments. Now if that minister
had been thrown off his guard, and answered harshly, no doubt he would have
ruined the soul of that young man. How many of you have defeated every future
effort you may make with your impenitent friends or neighbors, in some such way
as this. On some occasion you have showed yourself so irascible, that you have
sealed up your own lips, and laid a stumbling block over which that sinner will
stumble into hell. If you have done it in any instance, do not sleep till you
have done all you can to retrieve the mischief; till you have confessed the sin
and done every thing to counteract it as far as possible.
9. The necessity of entire honesty in a Christian. Oh
what a field opens here for remark! But I cannot go over it fully now. It
extends to all the departments of life. Christians need to show the strictest
regard to integrity in every department of business, and in all their
intercourse with their fellow-men. If every Christian would pay a scrupulous
regard to honesty, and always be conscientious to do exactly right, it would
make a powerful impression on the minds of people of the reality of religious
principle.
A lady was once buying some eggs in a store, and the
clerk made a miscount and gave her one more than the number. She saw it at the
time, but said nothing, and after she got home it troubled her. She felt that
she had acted wrong, soon hurried back to the young man and confessed it and 143paid the difference. The impression of her
conscientious integrity went to his heart like a sword. It was a great sin in
her to conceal the miscount, because the temptation was so small; for if she
would cheat him out of an egg, it showed that she would cheat him out of his
whole store, if she could do it and not be found out. But her prompt and humble
confession showed an honest conscience.
I am happy to say, there are some men who deal on
this principle of integrity. And the wicked hate them for it. They rail against
them, and vociferate in bar-rooms, that they never will buy goods of such and
such individuals, that such a hypocrite shall never touch a dollar of their
money, and all that, and then they will go right away and buy of them, because
they know they shall be honestly dealt with. This is a testimony to the truth
of religion, that is heard from
And if Christians will do the same in politics,
they will sway the destinies of nations, without involving themselves at all in
the base and corrupting strife of parties. Only let Christians generally
determine to vote for no man for any office, that is not an honest man and a
man of pure morals, and let it be known that Christians are united in this,
whatever may be their difference in political sentiments, and no man would be
put up who is not such a character. In three years it would be talked about in
taverns and published in newspapers, when any man is set up as a candidate for
office, “What a good man he is, how moral, how pious!” and the like. And any
political party would no more set up a known Sabbath-breaker, or a gambler, or
a profane swearer, or a whoremonger, or a rum-seller, as their candidate for
office, than they would set up the devil himself for president. The carnal
policy of many professors, who undertake to correct politics by such means as
wicked men employ, and who are 144determined to
vote with a party, let the candidate be ever so profligate, is all wrong—wrong
in principle, contrary to philosophy and common sense, and ruinous to the best
interests of mankind. The dishonesty of the church is cursing the world. I am
not going to preach a political sermon, I assure you. But I want to show you,
that if you mean in impress men favorably to your religion by your lives, you
must be honest, strictly honest, in business, politics, and every thing you do.
What do you suppose those ungodly politicians, who know themselves to be
playing a dishonest game in carrying an election, think of your religion when
they see you uniting with them? They know you are a hypocrite!
REMARKS.
1. It is unreasonable for professors of religion to
wonder at the thoughtlessness of sinners.—Every thing considered, the
carelessness of sinners is not wonderful. We are affected by testimony, and
only by that testimony which is received by our minds. Sinners are so taken up
with business, pleasure, and the things of the world, that they will not
examine the Bible to find out what religion is. Their feelings are excited only
on worldly subjects, because these only are brought into warm contact with
their minds. The things of the world make therefore a strong impression. But
there is so little to make an impression on their minds in respect to eternity,
and to bring religion home to them, that they do not feel on the subject. If
they examined the subject they would feel. But they do not examine it, nor
think upon it, nor care for it. And they never will, unless God’s witnesses
rise up and testify. But inasmuch as the great body of Christians in fact live
so as to testify on the other side by their conduct, how can we expect
that sinners will feel right on the subject? Nearly all the testimony and all
the influence that comes to their minds tends to make them feel the other way.
God has left his cause here before the human race, and left his witnesses to
testify in his behalf, and behold, they turn round and testify the other way!
Is it any wonder that sinners are careless?
2. We see why it is that preaching does so little
good; and how it is that so many sinners get Gospel-hardened. Sinners that live
under the Gospel are often supposed to be Gospel-hardened; but only let the
church wake up, and act consistently, and they will feel. If the church were to
live only one week as if they believed the Bible, sinners 145would melt down before them. Suppose I were a lawyer,
and should go into court and spread out my client’s case, the issue is joined,
and I make my statements, and tell what I expect to prove, and then call in my
witnesses. The first witness takes his oath, and then rises up and contradicts
me to my face. What good will all my pleading do? I might address the jury a
month, and be as eloquent as
Yet there are ministers who will go on in this way
for years, preaching over the heads of such a people, that by their lives
contradict every word they say, and they think it their duty to do so. Duty! To
preach to a church that are undoing all his work, and contradicting all his
testimony, and that will not alter! No. Let him shake off the dust from his
feet for a testimony, and go to the heathen, or to the new settlements. The man
is wasting his energies, and wearing out his life, and just rocking the cradle
for a sleepy church, all testifying to sinners, there is no danger. Their whole
lives are a practical testimony that the Bible is not true. Shall ministers
continue to wear themselves out so? Probably not less than
ninety-nine-hundredths of the preaching in this country is lost, because it is
contradicted by the church. Not one truth in a hundred that is preached takes
effect, because the lives of professors testify that it is not so.
3. It is evident that the standard of Christian
living must be raised, or the world will never be converted. If we had as many
church members now as there are families, and scattered all over the world, and
a minister to every five hundred souls, and every child in a Sabbath-school,
and every young person in a Bible-class, you would have all the machinery you want,
but if the church contradict the truth by their lives, it never would produce a
revival.
146
They never will have a revival in any place while the
whole church in effect testify against the minister. Often it is the case that
where there is the most preaching, there is the least religion, because the
church contradict the preaching. I never knew means fail of a revival where
Christians live consistently. One of the first things is to raise the standard
of religion, so as to embody and hang out in the sight of all men, the truth of
the Gospel. Unless ministers can get the church to wake up and act as if
religion was true, and back their testimony by their lives, in vain will they
attempt to promote a revival.
Many churches are depending on their minister to do
everything. When he preaches, they will say, “What a great sermon that was.
He’s an excellent minister. Such preaching must do good. We shall have a
revival soon, I do not doubt.” And all the while they are contradicting the
preaching by their lives. I tell you, if they are depending on preaching alone
to carry on the work, they must fail. If Jesus Christ were to come and preach,
and the church contradict it, he would fail. It has been tried once. Let an
apostle rise from the dead, or an angel come down from heaven and preach,
without the church to witness for God, and it would have no effect. The novelty
might produce a certain kind of effect for a time, but as soon as the novelty
was gone, the preaching would have no saving effect, while contradicted by the
witnesses.
4. Every Christian makes an impression by his
conduct, and witnesses either for one side or the other. His looks, dress,
whole demeanor, make a constant impression on one side or the other. He cannot
help testifying for or against religion. He is either gathering with Christ, or
scattering abroad. Every step you take, you tread on chords that will vibrate
to all eternity. Every time you move, you touch keys whose sound will re-echo
over all the hills and dales in heaven, and through all the dark caverns and
vaults of hell. Every movement of your lives, you are exerting a tremendous
influence, that will tell on the immortal interests of souls all around you.
Are you asleep, while all your conduct is exerting such an influence?
Are you going to walk in the street? Take care how
you dress. What is that on your head? What does that gaudy ribbon, and those
ornaments upon your dress, say to every one that meets you? It makes the
impression that you wish to be thought pretty. Take care! You might just as
well write on your clothes, “NO TRUTH IN RELIGION.” It 147says, “GIVE ME DRESS, GIVE ME FASHION, GIVE ME
FLATTERY, AND I AM HAPPY.” The world understand this testimony as you walk the
streets. You are “living epistles, known and read of all men.” If you show
pride, levity, bad temper, and the like, it is like tearing open the wounds of
the Saviour. How Christ might weep to see professors of religion going about
hanging up his cause to contempt at the comers of streets. Only “let the women
adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with
broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but (which becometh women
professing godliness) with good works;” only let them act consistently, and
their conduct will tell on the world, heaven will rejoice and hell groan at
their influence. But oh, let them display vanity, try to be pretty, bow down to
the goddess of fashion, fill their ears with ornaments, and their fingers with
rings. Let them put feathers in their hats, and clasps upon their arms, lace
themselves up till they can hardly breathe. Let them put on their “round tires
and walk mincing as they go,” and their influence is reversed. Heaven puts on
the robes of mourning, and hell may hold a jubilee.
5. It is easy to see why revivals do not prevail in a
great city. How can they? Just look at God’s witnesses, and see what they are
testifying to. They seem to be agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord,
and lie to the Holy Ghost. They make their vows to God, to consecrate
themselves wholly to him, and then go bowing down at the shrine of fashion, and
then wonder there are no revivals. It would be more than a miracle to have a
revival under such circumstances. How can a revival prevail in this church? Do
you suppose I have such a vain imagination of my own ability, as to think I can
promote a revival by preaching over your heads, while you live on as some of
you do? Do you not know that so far as your influence goes, many of you are
right in the way of a revival? Your spirit and deportment produce an influence
on the world against religion. How shall the world believe religion, when the
witnesses are not agreed among themselves? You contradict yourselves, you
contradict one another, and you contradict your minister, and the sum of the
whole testimony is, there is no need of being pious.
Do you believe the things I have been preaching are
true, or are they the ravings of a disturbed mind? If they are true, do you
recognize the fact that they have reference to you? You say, perhaps, “I
wish some of the rich churches 148could hear it!”
Why, I am not preaching to them, I am preaching to you. My responsibility is to
you, and my fruits must come from you. Now are you contradicting it? What is
the testimony on the leaf of the record that is now sealed for the judgment
concerning this day? Have you manifested a sympathy with the Son of God,
when his heart is bleeding in view of the desolations of
Finally.—I must close by remarking, that God and all moral
beings have great reason to complain of this false testimony. There is ground
to complain that God’s witnesses turn and testify point-blank against him. They
declare by their conduct that there is no truth in the Gospel. Heaven might
weep and hell rejoice to see this. Oh, how guilty! Here you are, going to the
judgment, red all over with blood. Sinners are to meet you there, those who
have seen how you live, many of them already dead, and many others you will
never see again. What an influence you have exerted! Perhaps hundreds of souls
will meet you in the judgment, and curse you (if they are allowed to speak) for
leading them to hell, by practically denying the truth of the Gospel. What will
become of this city, and of the world, when the church is united in practically
testifying that God is a liar? They testify by their lives, that if they make a
profession and live a moral life, that is religion enough. Oh, what a doctrine
of devils is that! Enough to ruin the whole human race.
TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM.
Text.—He that winneth souls is wise.—Proverbs xi. 30.
THE most common definition of wisdom is, that it is
the choice of the best end and the selection of the most appropriate means for
the accomplishment of that end—the best adaptation of means to secure a desired
end. “He that winneth souls,” God says, “is wise.” The object of this evening’s
lecture is to direct Christians in the use of means for accomplishing their
infinitely desirable end, the salvation of souls. To-night I shall confine my
attention to the private efforts of individuals for the conversion and
salvation of men. On another occasion, perhaps I shall use the same text in
speaking of what is wise in the public preaching of the Gospel, and the labors
of ministers. In giving some directions to aid private Christians in this work,
I propose,
I. To show Christians how they should deal with careless
sinners.
II. How they should deal with awakened
sinners.
III. How they should deal with convicted
sinners.
I. The manner of dealing with careless sinners.
1. In regard to the time. It is important that
you should select a proper time to try to make a serious impression on
the mind of a careless sinner. Much depends on timing your efforts right. For
if you fail of selecting the most proper time, very probably you will be
defeated. True, you may say, it is your duty at all times to warn sinners, and
try to awaken them to think of their souls. And so it is; yet if you do not pay
due regard to the time and opportunity, your hope of success may be very
doubtful.
(1.) It is desirable, if possible, to address a
person that is careless, when he is disengaged from other employments.
In proportion as his attention is taken up with something else, it will be
difficult to awaken him to religion. People who are careless and indifferent to
religion are often offended, rather than benefited, by being called off from
important and lawful business. For instance, a minister perhaps goes to visit
the family of a merchant, or mechanic, or farmer, and finds the 150man absorbed in his business; perhaps he calls him
off from his work when it is urgent, and the man is uneasy and irritable, and
feels as if it was an intrusion. In such a case, there is little room to expect
any good. Notwithstanding it is true that religion is infinitely more important
than all his worldly business, and he ought to postpone everything to the
salvation of his soul, yet he does not feel it, for if he did he would no
longer be a careless sinner, and therefore he regards it as unjustifiable, and
gets offended. You must take him as you find him, a careless, impenitent
sinner, and deal with him accordingly. He is absorbed in other things, and very
apt to be offended if you take such a time to interfere and call his attention
to religion.
(2.) It is important to take a person, if possible,
at a time when he is not strongly excited with any other subject. If that
is the case, he is in an unfit frame to be addressed on the subject of
religion. In proportion to the strength of that excitement, would be the
probability that you would do no good. You may possibly reach him; persons have
had their minds arrested and turned to religion in the midst of a powerful
excitement on other subjects. But it is not likely.
(3.) Be sure that the person is perfectly sober.
It used to be more common that it is now for people to drink spirits every day,
and become more or less intoxicated. Precisely in proportion as they are so,
they are rendered unfit to be approached on the subject of religion. If they
have been drinking beer, or cider, or wine, so that you can smell their breath,
you may know there is but little chance of producing any lasting effect on
them. I have had professors of religion bring persons to me, pretending they
were under conviction; for you know that people in liquor are often very fond
of talking upon religion; but as soon as I came near them, so as to smell their
breath, I have asked, Why do you bring this drunken man to me? Why, they say,
he is not drunk, he has only drank a little. Well, that little has made him a
little drunk. He is drunk if you can smell his breath, The cases are
exceedingly rare where a person has been truly convicted, who had any
intoxicating liquor in him.
(4.) If possible, where you wish to converse with a
man on the subject of salvation, take him when he is in a good temper.
If you find him out of humor, very probably he will get angry and abuse you.
Better let him alone for that time, or you will be likely to quench the Spirit.
It is possible you may be able to talk in such a way as to cool his temper, but
it is not likely. The truth is, men hate God, and though their hatred may be 151dormant, it is easily excited, and if you bring God
fully before their minds when they are already excited with anger, it will be
so much the easier to arouse their enmity to open violence.
(5.) If possible, always take an opportunity to
converse with careless sinners when they are alone. Most men are too
proud to be conversed with freely respecting themselves in the presence of
others, even their own family. A man in such circumstances will brace up all
his powers to defend himself, while if he was alone he would melt down under
the truth. He will resist the truth, or try to laugh it off, for fear that if
he should manifest any feeling somebody will go and report that he is serious.
In visiting families, instead of calling the family
together at the same time to be talked to, the better way is to see them all, one
at a time. There was a case of this kind. Several young ladies, of a proud,
gay, and fashionable character, lived together in a fashionable family. Two men
were strongly desirous to get the subject of religion before them, but were at
a loss how to accomplish it, for fear they would all combine, and counteract or
resist every serious impression. At length they took this course. They called
and sent up their card to one of the young ladies by name. She came down and
they conversed with her on the subject of her salvation, and as she was alone,
she not only treated them politely, but seemed to receive the truth with
seriousness. A day or two after, they called in like manner on another, and
then another, and so on, till they had conversed with every one separately. In
a little time they were all, I believe, every one, hopefully converted. This
was as it should be, for then they could not keep each other in countenance.
And then the impression made on one was followed up with the others, so that
one was not left to exert a bad influence over the rest.
There was a pious woman who kept a boarding house for
young gentlemen; she had twenty-one or two of them in her family, and at length
she became very anxious for their salvation; she made it a subject of prayer,
but saw no seriousness among them. At length she saw that there must be
something done besides praying, and yet she did not know what to do. One
morning after breakfast, as they were retiring, she asked one of them to stop a
few minutes. She took him to her room, and conversed with him tenderly on the
subject of religion, and prayed with him. She followed up the impression made,
and pretty soon he was hopefully converted. Then there were two, and they addressed
another, and prayed with him, and soon he was prepared to join them. Then
another, 152and so on, taking one at
a time, and letting none of the rest know what was going on, so as not to alarm
them, till every one of these young men was converted to God. Now if she had
brought the subject before the whole of them together, very likely they would
have turned it all into ridicule; or perhaps they would have been offended and
left the house, and then she could have had no further influence over them. But
taking one alone, and treating him respectfully and kindly, he had no such
motive for resistance as arises out of the presence of others.
(6.) Try to seize an opportunity to converse with a
careless sinner, when the events of
(7.) Seize the earliest opportunity to
converse with those around you who are careless. Do not put it off from day to
day, thinking a better opportunity will come. You must seek an opportunity, and
if none offers make one. Appoint a time and place, and get an interview
with your friend or neighbor, where you can speak to him freely. Send him a
note, go to him on purpose, make it look like a matter of business, as if you
were in earnest in endeavoring to promote his soul’s salvation. Then he will
feel that it is a matter of importance, at least in your eyes. Follow it up
till you succeed, or become convinced nothing can now be done.
(8.) If you have any feeling for a particular
individual, take an opportunity to converse with that individual while this
feeling continues. If it is a truly benevolent feeling, you have reason to
believe the Spirit of God is moving you to desire the salvation of his soul,
and that God is ready to bless your efforts for his conversion. In such a case,
make it the subject of special and importunate prayer, and seek an early
opportunity to pour out all your heart to him and bring him to Christ.
2. In regard to the manner of doing all this.
(1.) When you approach a careless individual to
endeavor to awaken him to his soul’s concerns, be sure to treat him kindly.
Let him see that you address him, not because you seek a quarrel with
him, but because you love his soul, and desire his best good in time and
eternity. If you are harsh and overbearing in your manner, you will probably
offend him and drive him farther off from the way of life.
(2.) Be solemn. Avoid all lightness of manner
or language. Levity will produce any thing but a right impression. You ought to
feel that you are engaged in a very solemn work, 153which is going to affect the character of your friend or neighbor, and
probably determine his destiny for eternity. Who could trifle and use levity in
such circumstances if his heart was sincere?
(3.) Be respectful. Some seem to suppose it
necessary to be abrupt, and rude, and coarse in their intercourse with the
careless and impenitent. Nothing can be a greater mistake. The Apostle Paul has
given us a better rule on the subject, where he says, “Be pitiful, be
courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but
contrariwise blessing.” A rude and coarse address is only calculated to give an
unfavorable opinion both of you and your religion.
(4.) Be sure to be very plain. Do not suffer
yourself to cover up any circumstance of the person’s character, and his
relations to God. Lay it all open, not for the purpose of offending or wounding
him, but because it is necessary. Before you can cure a wound, you must probe
it to the bottom. Keep back none of the truth, but let it come out plainly
before him.
(5.) Be sure to address his conscience. In
public addresses, ministers often get hold of the feelings only, and thus
awaken the mind. But in private conversation you cannot do so. You cannot pour
out the truth in an impassioned and rousing manner. And unless you address the
conscience pointedly, you get no hold of the mind at all.
(6.) Bring the great and fundamental truths to
bear upon the person’s mind. Sinners are very apt to run off upon some pretext
or some subordinate point, especially some point of sectarianism. For instance,
if the man is a Presbyterian, he will try to turn the conversation on the
points of difference between Presbyterians and Methodists. Or he will fall foul
of old school divinity. Do not yield to him, or talk with him on any such
point; it will do more hurt than good. Tell him the present business is to save
his soul, and not to settle controverted questions in theology. Hold him to the
great fundamental points, by which he must be saved or lost.
(7.) Be very patient. If he has a real
difficulty in his mind, be very patient till you find out what it is, and then
clear it up. If what he alleges is a mere cavil, make him see that it is a
cavil. Do not try to answer it by argument, but show him that he is not sincere
in advancing it. It is not worth while to spend your time in arguing against a
cavil, but make him feel that he is committing sin to plead it, and thus enlist
his conscience on your side.
(8.) Be careful to guard your own spirit.
There are many 154people who have not good
temper enough to converse with those who are much opposed to religion. And such
a person wants no better triumph than to see you angry. He will go away
exulting because he has made one of these saints mad.
(9.) If the sinner is inclined to intrench himself
against God, be careful not to take his part in anything. If he says he
cannot do his duty, do not take sides with him, or say any thing to countenance
his falsehood. Do not tell him he cannot, or help him maintain himself in the
controversy against his Maker. Sometimes a careless sinner will go to finding
fault with Christians. Do not take his part or side with him against
Christians. Just tell him he has not got their sins to answer for, and he had
better see to his own concerns. If you fall in with him, he feels that he has
you on his side. Show him that it is a censorious and wicked spirit that
prompts him to make these remarks, and not a regard for the honor of religion
or the laws of Jesus Christ.
(10.) Bring up the individual’s particular sins.
Talking in general terms against sin will produce no results. You must make a
man feel that you mean him. A minister who cannot make his hearers feel
that he means them, cannot expect to accomplish much. Some people are very
careful to avoid mentioning the particular sins of which they know the
individual to be guilty, for fear of hurting his feelings. This is wrong. If
you know his history, bring up his particular sins, kindly but plainly, not to
give offence, but to awaken conscience, and give full force to the truth.
(11.) It is generally best to be short, and
not spin out what we have to say. Get the attention as soon as you can to the
very point, say a few things and press them home, and bring the matter to an
issue. If possible, get them to repent and give themselves to Christ at the
time. This is the proper issue. Carefully avoid making an impression that you
do not expect them to repent NOW.
(12.) If possible, when you converse with sinners, be
sure to pray with them. If you converse with them, and leave them without
praying, you leave your work undone.
II. The manner of dealing with awakened sinners.
1. You should be careful to distinguish between an awakened
sinner, and one who is under conviction. When you find a person who feels a
little on the subject of religion, do not take it for granted that he is convicted
of sin, and thus omit to use means to show him his sin. Persons are often awakened
by some providential circumstance, as sickness, a thunderstorm, pestilence,
death in the family, disappointment, 155or
the like, or by the Spirit of God, so that their ears are open, and they are
ready to hear on the subject of religion with attention and seriousness, and
some feeling. If you find a person awakened, no matter by what means, lose no
time in pouring light upon his mind, Do not be afraid, but show him the breadth
of the Divine law, and the exceeding strictness of its precepts. Make him see
how it condemns his thoughts and life. Search out his heart, find what is
there, and bring it up before his mind, as far as you can. If possible, melt
him down on the spot. When once you have got a sinner’s attention, very often
his conviction and conversion is the work of a few moments. You can sometimes
do more in five minutes, than in years or a whole life while he is careless or
indifferent.
I have been amazed at the conduct of those cruel
parents, and other heads of families, who will let an awakened sinner be in
their families for days and weeks, and not say a word to him on the subject.
Why, they say, if the Spirit of God has begun a work in him, he will certainly
carry it on! Perhaps the person is anxious to converse, and puts himself in the
way of Christians, as often as possible, expecting they will converse with him,
and they do not say a word. Amazing! Such a person ought to be looked out
immediately, as soon as he is awakened, and let a blaze of light be poured into
his mind without delay. Whenever you have reason to believe that a person
within your reach is awakened, do not sleep till you have poured in the light
upon his mind, and tried to bring him to immediate repentance. Then is the time
to press the subject with effect. If that favorable moment is lost, it can
never be recovered.
I have often seen Christians in revivals, who were
constantly on the look-out to see if any persons appeared to be awakened. And
as soon as they saw any one begin to manifest feeling under preaching, they
would mark him, and as soon as the meeting was out, invite him to a room and
converse and pray with him, and if possible not leave him till he was
converted. A remarkable case of this kind occurred in a town at the West. A
merchant came to the place from a distance to buy goods. It was a time of
powerful revival, but he was determined to keep out of its influence, and so he
would not go to any meeting at all. At length he found everybody so much
engaged in religion that it met him at every turn, and he got vexed, and swore he
would go home. There was so much religion there, he said, he could not do any
business, and he would not stay. Accordingly he took 156his seat for the stage, which was to leave at four
o’clock the next morning. As he spoke of going away, a gentleman belonging to
the house, who was one of the young converts, asked him if he would not go to a
meeting once before he left town. He finally consented, and went to the
meeting. The sermon took hold of his mind, but not with sufficient power to
bring him into the kingdom. He returned to his lodgings, and called the
landlord to pay his bill. The landlord, who had himself recently experienced
religion, saw that he was agitated. He accordingly spoke to him on the subject
of religion, and the man burst into tears. The landlord immediately called in
three or four young converts, and they prayed and exhorted him, and at four
o’clock in the morning, when the stage called, he went on his way rejoicing
in God! When he got home, he called his family together, confessed to them
his past sins, and avowed his determination to live differently, and prayed
with them for the first time. It was so unexpected that it was soon noised
abroad, people began to inquire, and a revival broke out in the place. Now,
suppose these Christians had done as some do, been careless, and let the man go
off, slightly impressed? It is not probable he ever could have been saved. Such
opportunities are often lost for ever, when once the favorable moment is
passed.
III. The manner of dealing with convicted sinners.
By a convicted sinner I mean one who feels
himself condemned by the law of God, as a guilty sinner. He has so much
instruction as to understand something of the extent of God’s law, and he sees
and feels his guilty state, and knows what his remedy is. To deal with these
often requires great wisdom. There are some most trying cases occur, when it is
extremely difficult to know what to do with them.
1. When a person is convicted and not converted,
but remains in an anxious state, there is generally some specific reason for
it. In such cases, it does no good to exhort him to repent, or to explain the
law to him. He knows all that, he understands all these general points. But
still he does not repent. Now there must be some particular difficulty to overcome.
You may preach and pray, and exhort till doomsday, and not gain anything.
You must then set yourself to inquire what is that
particular difficulty. A physician, when he is called to a patient, and finds
him sick with a particular disease, first administers the general remedies that
are applicable to that disease. If they produce no effect, and the disease
still continues, he must examine the case, and learn the constitution of the
individual, 157and his habits, diet,
manner of living, etc., and see what the matter is that the medicine does not
take effect. So it is with the case of a sinner convicted but not converted. If
your ordinary instructions and exhortations fail, there must be a difficulty.
The particular difficulty is often known to the individual himself, though he
keeps it concealed. Sometimes it is something that has escaped even his own
observations.
(1.) Sometimes the individual has some idol,
something which he loves more than God, which prevents him from giving himself
up. You must search out and see what it is that he will not give up. Perhaps it
is wealth, perhaps some earthly friend, perhaps gay dress, or gay company, or
some favorite amusement. At any rate there is something on which his heart is
so set that he will not yield to God.
(2.) Perhaps he has done an injury to some
individual, that calls for redress, and he is unwilling to confess it or to
make a just recompense. Now, until he will confess and forsake this sin, he can
find no mercy. If he has injured the person in properly, or character, or has
abused him, he must make it up. If you can it find out, tell him plainly and
frankly, that there is no hope for him till he is willing to confess it, and to
do what is right.
(3.) Sometimes there is some particular sin,
which he will not forsake. He pretends it is only a small one, or tries to
persuade himself it is no sin. No matter how small it is, he can never get into
the
But God knows nothing about small sins in such a
case. What is the sin? Why it is injuring your health, setting a bad example,
and taking God’s money, which you are bound to employ in his service, and
spending it for tobacco. What would a merchant say, if he found one of his
clerks in the habit of going to the money drawer, and taking money enough to
keep him in cigars? Would he call it a small offence? No, he would say he
deserved to be sent to the State prison. I mention this particular sin, because
I have found it to be one of the things to which men who are convicted will
hold on when they know it is wrong, and then wonder why they do not find peace.
(4.) See if there is not some work of remuneration,
which he is bound to do. Perhaps he has defrauded somebody in trade, or taken
some unfair advantage, contrary to the golden 158rule of doing as you would be done by, and is unwilling to make
satisfaction. This is a very common sin among merchants and men of business. I
have known many melancholy instances, where men have grieved away the Spirit of
God, or else have been driven well nigh to absolute despair because they were
unwilling to give satisfaction where they have done such things. Now it is
plain that such persons never can have forgiveness until they do it.
(5.) They may have intrenched themselves
somewhere, and fortified their minds in regard to some particular point, which
they are determined not to yield. For instance, they may have taken strong
ground that they will not do a particular thing. I knew a man who was
determined not to go into a certain grove to pray. Several other persons during
the revival had gone into the grove, and there, by prayer and meditation, given
themselves to God. His own clerk had been converted there. The lawyer himself
was awakened, but he was determined that he would not go into the grove. He had
powerful convictions, and went on for weeks in this way, with no relief. He
tried to make God believe that it was not pride that kept him from Christ; and
so, when he was going home from meeting, he would kneel down in the street and
pray. And not only that, but he would look round for a mud-puddle in the
street, in which he might kneel, to show that he was not proud. He once prayed all
night in his parlor, but he would not go into the grove. His distress was
so great, and he was so angry with God, that he was strongly tempted to make
way with himself, and actually threw away his knife for fear he should cut his
throat. At length he concluded he would go into the grove and pray, and as soon
as he got there he was converted, and went and poured out his full heart to
God.
So individuals are sometimes intrenched in a
determination that they will not go to a particular meeting, perhaps the
inquiry meeting, or some prayer meeting, or they will not have a certain person
pray with them, or they will not take a particular seat, such as the anxious
seat. They say that they can be converted just as well without yielding this
point, for religion does not consist in this, going to a particular meeting, or
taking a particular attitude in prayer, or a particular seat. This is true, but
by taking this ground they make it the material point. And so long as they are
intrenched there, and determined to bring God to their terms, they never can be
converted. Sinners will often yield any thing else, and do any thing in the
world, but yield the point upon which they 159have
committed themselves, and taken a stand against God. They cannot be humbled
until they yield this point, whatever it is. And if without yielding it they
get a hope, it will be a false hope.
(6.) Perhaps he has a prejudice against some one, a
member of the church perhaps, on account of some faithful dealing with his
soul, or something in his business that he did not like, and he hangs on this
and will never be converted till he gives it up. Whatever it be, you should
search it out and tell him the truth plainly and faithfully.
(7.) He may feel ill will towards some one, or be
angry, and cherish strong feelings of resentment, which prevent him from
obtaining mercy from God. “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught
against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
But, if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive
your trespasses.”
(8.) Perhaps he entertains some errors in doctrine,
or some wrong notions respecting the thing to be done, or the way of
doing it, which may be keeping him out of the kingdom. Perhaps he is waiting
for God. He is convinced that he deserves to go to hell, and that unless he is
converted he must go there, but he is waiting for God to do something to him
before he submits. He is in fact waiting for God to do for him what he has
required the sinner to do.
He may be waiting for more conviction. People often
do not know what conviction is, and think they are not under conviction, when
in fact they are under powerful conviction. They often think nothing is conviction
unless they have great fears of hell. But the fact is, individuals often have
strong convictions, who have very little fear of hell. Show them what is the
truth, and let them see they have no need to wait.
Perhaps he may be waiting for certain feelings, which
somebody else has had before he obtained mercy. This is very common in
revivals, where some one of the first converts has told of remarkable
experiences. Others who are awakened are very apt to think they must wait for
just such feelings. I knew a young man thus awakened; his companion had been
converted in a remarkable way, and this one was waiting for just such feelings.
He said he was using the means, and praying for them, but finally found that he
was a Christian, although he had not been through the course of feeling he
expected.
Sinners often lay out a plan of the way they expect
to feel, and how they expect to be converted and in fact lay out the 160work for God, determined that they will go in that
path or not at all. Tell them this is all wrong, they must not lay out any such
path beforehand, but let God lead them as he sees to be best. God always leads
the blind by a way they know not. There never was a sinner brought into the
kingdom through such a course of feeling as he expected. Very often they are
amazed to find that they are in, and have had no such exercises as they
expected.
It is very common for persons to be waiting to be
made subjects of prayer, or for some particular means to be used, or to see if
they cannot make themselves better. They are so wicked, they say, that they
cannot come to Christ. They want to try, by humiliation, and suffering, and
prayer, to fit themselves to come. You will have to hunt them out of all these
refuges. It is astonishing into how many corners they will often run before
they will go to Christ. I have known persons almost deranged for the want of a
little correct instruction.
Sometimes such people think their sins are too great
to be forgiven, or that they have grieved the Spirit of God away, when that Spirit
is all the while convicting them. They pretend their sins are greater than
Christ’s mercies, thus actually insulting the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes sinners get the idea that they are given up
of God, and that now they cannot be saved. It is often very difficult to beat
persons off from this ground. Many of the most distressing cases I have ever
met with have been of this character, where persons would insist upon it that
they were given up and nothing would change them.
In a place where I was laboring in a revival I went
one day into the meeting, and before the exercises commenced I heard a low
moaning, distressing, unearthly noise. I looked and saw several women gathered
round the person who made it. They said it was a woman in despair. She had been
a long time in that state. Her husband was a drunkard. He had brought her to
meeting and gone himself to the tavern. I conversed with her and saw her state,
and that it was very difficult to reach her case. As I was going away to
commence the exercises she said she must go out, for she could not hear praying
or singing. I told her she must not go, and told the ladies to detain her, if
necessary, by force. I felt that if the devil had hold of her, God was stronger
than the devil, and could deliver her. The exercises began, and she made some
noise at first. But by and by she looked up. The subject was chosen with
special reference to her case, and as it proceeded, 161her attention was gained, her eyes were fixed—I never
shall forget how she looked—her eyes and mouth open, her head up, and she
almost rose from her seat as the truth poured in upon her mind. Finally, as the
truth knocked away every foundation on which her despair had rested, she
shrieked out, put her head down, and sat perfectly still till the meeting was
out. I went to her, and found her perfectly calm and happy in God. I saw her
long afterwards, and she remained so. Thus
Sometimes persons will strenuously maintain that they
have committed the unpardonable sin. When they get that idea into their minds,
they will turn every thing you say against themselves. In some such cases, it
is a good way to take them on their own ground, and reason with them in this
way; “Suppose you have committed the unpardonable sin, what then? It is
reasonable that you should submit to God, and be sorry for your sins, and break
off from them, and do all the good you can, even if God will not forgive you.
Even if you go to hell you ought to do this.” Press this thought and turn it
over until you find they understand and consent to it,
It is common for persons in such cases to keep their
eyes on themselves; they will shut themselves up and keep looking at their own
darkness, instead of looking away to Christ. Now if you can take their minds
off from themselves, and get them to think of Christ, you may draw them away
from brooding over their own present feelings, and get them to lay hold on the
hope set before them in the Gospel.
2. Be careful, in conversing with convicted sinners,
not to make any compromise with them on any point where they have a
difficulty. If you do, they will be sure to take advantage of it, and thus get
a false hope. Convicted sinners often get into a difficulty, in regard to
giving up some darling sin, or yielding some point where conscience and the
Holy Ghost are at war with them. And if they come across an individual who will
yield the point, they feel better and are happy, and think they are converted.
The young man who came to Christ was of this character. He had one difficulty,
and Jesus Christ knew just what it was. He knew he loved his money, and instead
of compromising the matter and thus trying to comfort him, he just put his
finger on the very place and told him, “Go sell all that thou hast, and give to
the poor, and 162come follow me.” What
was the effect? Why the young man went away sorrowful. Very likely, if Christ
had told him to do any thing else, he would have felt relieved, and would have
got a hope; would have professed himself a disciple, joined the church, and
gone to hell.
People are often amazingly anxious to make a
compromise. They will ask such questions as this, Whether you do not think a
person may be a Christian and yet do such and such things; or if he may not be
a Christian and not do such and such things? Now, do not yield an inch to any
such questions. These questions themselves may often show you the very point
that is laboring in their minds. They will show you that it is pride, or love
of the world, or something of the kind, which prevents their becoming
Christians.
Be careful to make thorough work on this point, the
love of the world. I believe there have been more false hopes built on wrong
instructions here, than in any other way. I once heard a Doctor of Divinity
trying to persuade his hearers to give up the world; and he told them “if they
would only give it up, God would give it right back to them again. He is
willing you should enjoy the world.” Miserable! God never gives back the world
to the Christian, in the same sense that he requires a convicted sinner to give
it up. He requires us to give up the ownership of everything to him, so
that we shall never again for a moment consider it as our own. A man
must not think he has a right to judge for himself how much of his property he
shall lay out for God. One man thinks he may spend twenty thousand dollars a
year to support his family; he has a right to do it, because he has the means
of his own. Another thinks he may lay up five hundred thousand dollars. One man
said the other day, that he had promised he never would give any of his
property to educate young men for the ministry. When he is applied to, he just
answers, “I have said I never will give to any such object, and I never will.”
Man! did Jesus Christ ever tell you to do so with his money? Has he laid
down any such rule? Remember it is his money you are talking about, and if he
wants it to educate ministers, you withhold it at your peril. That man has yet
to learn the first principle of religion, that he is not his own, and that the
money which he possesses is Jesus Christ’s.
Here is the great reason why the church is so full of
false hopes. Men have been left to suppose they could be Christians while
holding on to their money. And this has served as a clog to every enterprise.
It is an undoubted fact that 163the church has
funds enough to supply the world with Bibles, and tracts, and missionaries,
immediately. But the truth is, that professors of religion do not believe that
the “earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” Every man supposes he has
a right to decide what appropriation he shall make of his own money. And they
have no idea that Jesus Christ shall dictate to them on the subject.
Be sure to deal thoroughly on this point. The church
is now filled up with hypocrites, because they were never made to give up the
world. They never were made to see that unless they made an entire consecration
of all to Christ, all their time, all their talents, all their influence, all
their possessions, they would never get to heaven. Many think they can be
Christians, and yet dream along through life, and use all their time and
property for themselves, only giving a little now and then, to save
appearances, when they can do it with perfect convenience. But it is a sad
mistake, and they will find it so, if they do not employ their energies for
God. And when they die, instead of finding heaven at the end of the path they
are pursuing, they will find hell there.
In dealing with a convicted sinner, be sure to drive
him away from every refuge, and not leave him an inch of ground to stand on, so
long as he resists God. This need not take a long time to do. When the Spirit
of God is at work striving with a sinner, it is easy to drive him from his
refuges. You will find the truth will be like a hammer, crushing wherever it
strikes. Make clean work with it, so that he shall give up all for God.
Make the sinner see clearly the nature and extent of
the Divine law, and press the main question of entire submission to God.
Bear down on that point as soon as you have made him clearly understand what
you aim at, and do not turn off upon anything else.
Be careful in illustrating the subject, not to
mislead the mind so as to leave the impression that a selfish submission will
answer, or a selfish acceptance of the atonement, or a selfish giving up to Christ
and receiving him, as if a man was making a good bargain, giving up his sins
and receiving salvation in exchange. This is mere barter, and not
submission to God. Leave no ground in your explanations or illustrations, for
such a view of the matter. Man’s selfish heart will eagerly seize such a view
of religion, if it be presented, and very likely close in with it, and thus get
a false hope.
Another time I shall call your attention to certain
things that are to be avoided in dealing with sinners.
164
REMARKS.
1. Make it an object of constant study and of
daily reflection and prayer, to learn how to deal with sinners, so as to
promote their conversion. It is the great business on earth of every Christian,
to save souls. People often complain that they do not know how to take hold of
this matter. Why, the reason is plain enough; they have never studied it. They
never took the proper pains to qualify themselves for the work of saving souls.
If people made it no more a matter of attention and thought to qualify
themselves for their worldly business, than they do to save souls, how do you
think they would succeed? Now, if you are thus neglecting the main business of
life, what are you living for? If you do not make it a matter of study, how you
may most successfully act in building up the
2. Many professors of religion do more hurt than
good, when they attempt to talk to impenitent sinners. They have so little
knowledge and skill, that their remarks rather divert attention than increase
it.
3. Be careful to find the point where the Spirit
of God is pressing a sinner, and press the same point in all your remarks.
If you divert his attention from that point, you will be in great danger of
destroying his convictions. Take pains to learn the state of his mind, what he
is thinking of, how he feels, and what he feels most deeply upon, and then
press that thoroughly, and do not divert his mind by talking about anything
else. Do not fear to press that point, for fear of driving him to distraction.
Some people fear to press a point to which the mind is tremblingly alive, lest
they should injure the mind, notwithstanding the Spirit of God is evidently
debating that point with the sinner. This is an attempt to be wiser than God.
You should clear up the point, throw the light of truth all around it, and
bring the soul to yield, and then the mind is at rest.
4. Great evils have arisen, and many false hopes have
been created, by not discriminating between an awakened and a convicted
sinner. For the want of this, persons who are only awakened are immediately
pressed to submit; “you must repent,” “submit to God,” when they are not in
fact convinced of their guilt, nor instructed so far as even to know what
submission means. This is one way in which revivals have been greatly injured
by indiscriminate exhortations to repent, unaccompanied with proper
instruction.
165
5. Anxious sinners are to be regarded as being in a
very solemn and critical state. They have in fact come to a turning
point. It is a time when their destiny is likely to be settled for ever. The
Spirit of God will not strive always. Christians ought to feel deeply for them.
In many respects their circumstances are more solemn than the judgment day. Here
their destiny is settled. The judgment day reveals it. And the
particular time when it is done is when the Spirit is striving with them.
Christians should remember their awful responsibility at such times. The
physician, if he knows any thing of his duty, sometimes feels himself under a
very solemn responsibility. His patient is in a critical state, where a little
error will destroy life, and he hangs quivering between life and death. If such
responsibility is felt in relation to the body, what awful responsibility
should be felt in relation to the soul, when it is seen to hang trembling on a
point, and its destiny is now to be decided. One false impression, one
indiscreet remark, one sentence misunderstood, a slight diversion of mind may
wear him the wrong way, and his soul is lost. Never was an angel employed in a
more solemn work than that of dealing with sinners who are under conviction.
How solemnly and carefully then should Christians walk, how wisely and
skillfully work, if they do not mean to be the means of damning a soul!
Finally.—If there is a sinner in this house, let me say to
him, Abandon all your excuses. You have been told to-night that they are all
vain. To-night it will be told in hell, and told in heaven, and echoed from the
ends of the universe, what you decide to do. This very hour may seal your
eternal destiny. Will you submit to God to-night—NOW?
LECTURE XI.
A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.
Text.—He that winneth souls is wise.—Proverbs xi. 30.
I PREACHED
last Friday evening from the same text, on the method of dealing with sinners
by private Christians. My object at this time is to take up the more public
means of grace, with particular reference to the
DUTIES OF MINISTERS.
As I observed in my last lecture, wisdom is the
choice and pursuit of the best end by the most appropriate means. The great end
for which the
I. That a right discharge of the duties of a minister
requires great wisdom.
II. That the amount of success in the discharge of
his duties (other things being equal) decides the amount of wisdom
employed by him in the exercise of his office.
I. I am to show that a right discharge of the duties
of a minister requires great wisdom.
1. On account of the opposition it encounters.
The very end for which the ministry is appointed is one against which is
arrayed the most powerful opposition of sinners themselves. If men were willing
to receive the Gospel, and there were nothing needed to be done but to tell the
story of redemption, a child might convey the news. But men are opposed to the
Gospel. They are opposed to their own salvation, in this way. Their opposition
is often violent and determined. I once saw a maniac who had formed designs
against his own life, and he would exercise the utmost sagacity and cunning to
effect his purpose. He would be as artful and make his keepers believe he had
no such design, that he had given it all up, and would appear as mild and
sober, and at the instant the keeper was off his guard he would lay hands on
himself. So sinners often exercise great cunning in evading all the efforts 167that are made to save them. And to meet this dreadful
cunning, and overcome it so as to save men, ministers need a great amount of
wisdom.
2. The particular means appointed to be employed in
the work show the necessity of great wisdom in ministers. If men were converted
by an act of physical omnipotence, creating some new taste, or something like
that, and if sanctification were nothing but the same physical omnipotence
rooting out the remaining roots of sin from the soul, it would not require so
much sagacity and skill to win souls. Nor would there then be any meaning in
the text. But the truth is that regeneration and sanctification are to be
effected by moral means—by argument and not by force. There never was and never
will be any one saved by any thing but truth as the means. Truth is the outward
means, the outward motive, presented first by man and then by the Holy Spirit.
Take into view the opposition of the sinner himself, and you see that nothing,
after all, short of the wisdom of God and the moral power of the Holy Spirit,
can break down this opposition, and bring him to submit to God. Still the means
are to be used by men, and means adapted to the end, skillfully used. God has
provided that the work of conversion and sanctification shall in all cases be
done by means of that kind of truth, applied in that connection and relation,
which is fitted to produce such a result.
3. He has the powers of earth and hell to overcome,
and that calls for wisdom. The devil is constantly at work, trying to prevent
the success of ministers, laboring to divert the attention from the subject of
religion, and to get the sinner away from God and lead him down to hell. The
whole framework of society, almost, is hostile to religion. Nearly all the
influences which surround a man from his cradle to his grave, in the present
state of society, are calculated to defeat the design of the ministry. Does not
a minister then need great wisdom to conflict with the powers of darkness, and
the whole influence of the world, in addition to the sinner’s own opposition?
4. The same is seen from the infinite importance of
the end itself. The end of the ministry is the salvation of the soul. When we
consider the importance of the end, and the difficulties of the work, who will
not say with the apostle, “Who is sufficient for these things?”
5. He must understand how to wake up the church, and
get them out of the way of the conversion of sinners. This is often the most
difficult part of a minister’s work, and requires 168more wisdom and patience than any thing else. Indeed,
to do this successfully, is a most rare qualification in the Christian
ministry. It is a point where almost all ministers fail. They know not how to
wake up the church, and raise the tone of piety to a high standard, and thus
clear the way for the work of conversion. Many ministers can preach to sinners
very well, but gain little success, while the counteracting influence of the
church resists it all, and they have not skill enough to remove the difficulty.
There is only here and there a minister in the country who knows how to probe
the church when they are in a cold, backslidden state, so as effectually to
wake them up and keep them awake. The members of the church sin against
such light, that when they become cold it is very difficult to rouse them up.
They have a form of piety which wards off the truth, while at the same time it
is just that kind of piety which has no power nor efficiency. Such professors
are the most difficult individuals to arouse from their slumbers. I do not mean
that they are always more wicked than the impenitent. They are often employed
about the machinery of religion, and pass for very good Christians, but are of
no use in a revival.
I know ministers are sometimes amazed to hear it said
that churches are not awake. No wonder such ministers do not know how to wake a
sleeping church. There was a young licentiate heard brother Foote the other
day, in this city, pouring out truth, and trying to wake up the churches, and
he knew so little about it that he thought it was abusing the churches. So
perfectly blind was he that he really thought the churches in
Here is the great difficulty in keeping up revivals,
to keep the church thoroughly awake and engaged. It is one thing for a church
to get up in their sleep and bluster about and 169run over each other, and a widely different thing for them to have their
eyes open, and their senses about them, and be wide awake, so as to know how to
find God and how to work for Christ.
5. He must know how to set the church to work when
they are awake. If a minister attempts to go to work alone, calculating to
do it all himself, it is like attempting to roll a great stone up a hill alone.
The church can do much to help forward a revival. Churches have sometimes had
powerful revivals without any minister. But when a minister has a church who
are awake, and knows how to set them to work, and how to sit at the helm and
guide them, he may feel strong, and oftentimes may find that they do more than
he does himself, in the conversion of sinners.
6. In order to be successful, a minister needs great
wisdom to know how to keep the church to the work. Often the church seem
just like children. You set children to work, and they appear to be all
engaged, but as soon as your back is turned they will stop and go to play. The
great difficulty in continuing a revival lies here. And to meet it
requires great wisdom. To know how to break them down again, when their heart
gets lifted up because they have had such a great revival; to wake them up
afresh when their zeal begins to flag; to keep their hearts full of zeal for
the work; these are some of the most difficult things in the world. Yet if a
minister would be successful in winning souls, he must know when they first
begin to grow proud, or to lose the spirit of prayer, and when to probe them
and how to search them over again, how to keep the church in the field
gathering the harvest of the Lord.
7. He must understand the Gospel. But you will
ask, Do not all ministers understand the Gospel? I answer, that they certainly
do not all understand it alike, for they do not all preach alike.
8. He must know how to divide it, so as to
bring forward the particular truths, in that order, and to make them bear upon
those points and at such times as are calculated to produce a given result. A
minister should understand the philosophy of the human mind, so as to know how
to plan and arrange his labors wisely. Truth, when brought to bear upon the
mind, is in itself calculated to produce corresponding feelings. The minister
must know what feelings he wishes to produce, and how to bring such truth to
bear as is calculated to produce these feelings. He must know how to present
truth calculated to humble Christians, or to make them feel for sinners, or to
awaken sinners, or to convert them.
170
Often, when sinners are awakened, the ground is lost
for the want of wisdom in following up the blow. Perhaps a rousing sermon is
preached, Christians are moved, and sinners begin to feel, and the next Sabbath
something will be brought forward that has no connection with the state of
feeling in the congregation, and that is not calculated to lead the mind on to
the exercise of repentance, faith or love. It shows how important it is that a
minister should understand how to produce a given impression, at what time it
may and should be done, and by what truth, and how to follow it up, till the
sinner is broken down and brought in.
A great many good sermons preached are all lost for
the want of a little wisdom here. They are good sermons, and calculated, if
well timed, to do great good; but they have so little connection with the
actual state of feeling in the congregation, that it would be more than a
miracle if they should produce a revival. A minister may preach in this random
way till he has preached himself to death, and never produce any great results.
He may convert here and there a scattering soul; but he will not move the mass
of the congregation unless he knows how to follow up his impressions, to carry
out a plan of operations and execute it, so as to carry on the work when it is
begun. He must not only be able to blow the trumpet so loud as to start the
sinner from his lethargy, but when he is waked, he must lead him by the
shortest way to Jesus Christ. And not as soon as sinners are roused by a
sermon, immediately begin to preach about some remote subject that has no
tendency to carry on the work.
10. To reach different classes of sinners
successfully requires great wisdom on the part of a minister. For instance,
a sermon on a particular subject may start a particular class of persons among
his hearers. Perhaps they will begin to look serious, or perhaps talk about it,
or perhaps they will begin to cavil about it. Now, if the minister is wise, he
will know how to observe those indications, and to follow right on with sermons
adapted to this class, until he leads them into the
11. A minister needs great wisdom to get sinners away
from their present refuges of lies, without forming new hiding places for
them. I once sat under the ministry of a man who had contracted a great
alarm about heresies, and was constantly employed in confuting them. And he
used to bring up many such heresies as his people never heard of. He got his
ideas chiefly from books, and mingled very little among the people to know what
they thought. And the result of his labors often was, that the people would be
taken with the heresy, more than with the argument against it. The novelty of
the error attracted their attention so much that they forgot the answer. And in
that way he gave many of his people new objections against religion, such as
they never thought of before. If a man does not mingle enough with mankind to
know how people think now-a-days he cannot expect to be wise to meet
their objections and difficulties.
I have heard a great deal of preaching against
Universalists, that did more hurt than good, because the preachers did not
understand how Universalists of the present day reason. They have never mingled
with Universalists, and know not what they believe and how they argue, now,
but have got all they know of Universalism from books that were written long
ago, and are now out of date among Universalists themselves. And the
consequence is that when they attempt to preach against Universalism they
oppose a man of straw, and not Universalist sentiments as they are now found in
the community. And people either laugh at them, or say it is all lies, for they
know Universalists do not hold such sentiments as are ascribed to them by the
preacher.
When ministers undertake to oppose a present heresy,
they ought to know what it is at present. For instance, almost all those who
write and preach against Universalism think they are called upon to oppose the
idea that God is all mercy. They suppose Universalists hold the doctrine that
God is all mercy, and that when they have refuted this doctrine, they have got
Universalists down. But this is not true. They do not hold such doctrine. They
deny it altogether. They reject the idea of mercy in the salvation of
men, for they hold that every man is punished in full according to his just
deserts. Of what use is it, then, to argue against Universalists, that God is a
God of justice and not a God all mercy, when they hold to the justice of God
alone as the ground of salvation, and do not admit the idea of mercy at all? In
like manner, 172I have heard men preach
against the idea that men are saved in their sins, and they supposed they were
preaching down Universalist doctrine. Universalists believe no such thing. They
believe that all men will be made holy and saved in that way. This shows the
importance of knowing what people actually hold, before you try to reason them
out of their errors. It is of no use to misrepresent a man’s doctrines to his
face, and then try to reason him out of them. You must state his doctrine just
as he holds it, and state his arguments fairly. Otherwise, if you state
them wrong, you either make him angry, or he laughs in his sleeve at the
advantage you give him. He will say, That man cannot argue with me on fair
grounds; he has to misrepresent our doctrines in order to confute me. Great
hurt is done in this way. Ministers do not intend to misrepresent their
opponents; but the effect of it is, that the poor miserable creatures who hold
these errors go to hell because ministers do not take care to inform themselves
what are their real errors. Errors are never torn away by such a process. I
mention these cases to show how much wisdom a minister must have to meet the
cases that occur. He must be acquainted with the real views of men in order to
meet them, and do away their errors and mistakes.
12. Ministers ought to know what measures are
best calculated to aid in accomplishing the great end of their office, the
salvation of souls. Some measures are plainly necessary. By measures, I mean
what things should be done to get the attention of the people and bring them to
listen to the truth. Building houses for worship, and visiting from house to
house, etc., are all “measures,” the object of which is to get the attention of
people to the Gospel. Much wisdom is requisite to devise and carry forward all
the various measures that are adapted to favor the success of the Gospel.
What do the politicians do? They get up meetings;
circulate handbills and pamphlets; blaze away in the newspapers; send their
ships about the streets on wheels with flags and sailors; send coaches all over
town, with handbills, to bring people up to the polls—all to gain attention to
their cause and elect their candidate. All these are their “measures,” and for
their end they are wisely calculated. The object is to get up an
excitement, and bring the people out. They know that unless there can be an
excitement it is in vain to push their end, I do not mean to say that their
measures are pious, or right, but only that they are wise, in the sense that
they are the appropriate application of means to the end.
173
The object of the ministry is to get all the people to
feel that the devil has no right to rule this world, but that they ought all to
give themselves to God, and vote in the Lord Jesus Christ as the governor of
the universe. Now what shall be done? What measures shall we take? Says one,
“Be sure and have nothing that is new.” Strange! The object of our measures is
to gain attention, and you must have something new. As sure as the effect of a
measure becomes stereotyped, it ceases to gain attention, and then you must try
something new. You need not make innovations in everything. But whenever the
state of things is such that anything more is needed, it must be
something new, otherwise it will fail. A minister should never introduce
innovations that are not called for. If he does they will embarrass him. He cannot
alter the Gospel; that remains the same. But new measures are necessary, from
time to time, to awaken attention and bring the Gospel to bear upon the public
mind. And then a minister ought to know how to introduce new things, so as to
create the least possible resistance or reaction. Mankind are fond of form
in religion. They love to have their religious duties stereotyped, so as to
leave them at ease; and they are therefore inclined to resist any new movement
designed to rouse them up to action and feeling. Hence it is all-important to
introduce new things wisely, so as not to give needless occasion or apology for
resistance.
13. Not a little wisdom is sometimes needed by a
minister to know when to put a stop to new measures. When a measure has
novelty enough to secure attention to the truth, ordinarily no other new
measure should be introduced. You have secured the great object of novelty.
Anything more will be in danger of diverting the public mind away from
the great object, and fixing it on the measures themselves. And then, if you
introduce novelties when they are not called for, you will go over so large a
field, that by and by when you really want something new, you will have nothing
else to introduce, without doing something that will give too great a shock to
the public mind. The Bible has laid down no specific course of measures to
promote revivals of religion, but has left it to ministers to adopt such as are
wisely calculated to secure the end. And the more sparing we are of our new
things, the longer we can use them, to keep public attention awake to the great
subject of religion. By a wise course this may undoubtedly be done for a long
series of years, until our present measures will by and by have
sufficient novelty in them 174again to attract
and fix public attention. And so we shall never want for something new.
14. A minister, to win souls, must know how to deal
with careless, with awakened, and with anxious sinners, so
as to lead them right to Christ in the shortest and most direct way. It is
amazing to see how many ministers there are who do not know how to deal with
sinners, or what to say to them in their various states of mind. A good woman
in
A minister once appointed an anxious meeting, and
went to attend it, and instead of going round to the individuals, he began to
ask them the catechism, “Wherein doth Christ execute the office of a priest?”
About as much in point to a great many of their minds as anything else.
I know a minister who held an anxious meeting, and went
to attend it with a written discourse which he had prepared for the
occasion. Just as wise as it would be if a physician, going out to visit his
patients, should sit down at leisure and write all the prescriptions before he
had seen them. A minister needs to know the state of mind of the individuals,
before he can know what truth will be proper and useful to administer. I say
these things, not because I love to do it, but because truth, and the object
before me, requires them to be said. And such instances as I have mentioned are
by no means rare.
A minister should know how to apply truth to all the
situations in which he may find dying sinners going down to hell. He should
know how to preach, how to pray, how to conduct prayer-meetings, and how to use
all the means for bringing the truth of God to bear upon the kingdom of
darkness. Does not this require wisdom? And who is sufficient for these things?
II. The amount of a minister’s success in winning
souls (other things being equal) invariably decides the amount of wisdom
he has exercised in the discharge of his office.
1. This is plainly asserted in the text. “He that
winneth souls is wise.” That is, if a man wins souls, he does skillfully
175adapt means to the end, which is, to exercise wisdom.
He is the more wise, by how much the greater is the number of sinners that he
saves. A blockhead may, indeed, now and then stumble on such truth or such a
manner of exhibiting it, as to save a soul. It would be a wonder indeed if any
minister did not sometimes have something in his sermons that would meet the
case of some individual. But the amount of wisdom is to be decided, “other
things being equal,” by the number of cases in which he is successful in
converting sinners.
Take the case of a physician. The greatest quack in
2. This principle is not only asserted in the text,
but it is a matter of fact, a historical truth, that “He that winneth
souls is wise.” He has actually employed means adapted to the end, in such a
way as to secure the end.
3. Success in saving souls is evidence that a man
understands the Gospel, and understands human nature, that he knows how to
adapt means to his end, that he has common sense, and that he has that kind of
tact, that practical discernment, to know how to get at people. And if his
success is extensive, it shows that he knows how to deal with a great variety
of characters, in a great variety of circumstances, who are yet all the enemies
of God, and to bring them to Christ. To do this requires great wisdom. And the
minister who does it shows that he is wise.
4. Success in winning souls shows that a minister not
only knows how to labor wisely for that end, but also that he knows where
his dependence is. You know that fears are often expressed respecting those
ministers who are aiming most directly and earnestly at the conversion of
sinners. People say, “Why, this man is going to work in his own strength; one
would imagine he thinks he can convert himself.” How often has the event showed
that the man knows what he is about, very well, and knows where his strength is
too. He went to work to convert sinners so earnestly, just as if he could do it
all himself; but that was the very way he should 176do. He ought to reason with sinners, and plead with them, as
faithfully and fully as if he did not expect any interposition of the Spirit of
God, or as if he knew there was no Holy Ghost. But whenever a man does this
successfully, it shows that, after all, he knows he must depend on the Spirit
of God alone for success.
Objection.—There are many who feel an objection against this
subject, arising out of the view they have taken of the ministry of Jesus
Christ. They ask us, “What will you say about the ministry of Jesus Christ, was
not he wise?” I answer, Yes, infinitely wise. But in regard to his alleged want
of success in the conversion of sinners, you will observe the following things:
(1.) That his ministry was vastly more successful
than is generally supposed. We read in one of the sacred writers, that after
his resurrection and before his ascension “he was seen by above five hundred
brethren at once.” If so many as five hundred brethren were found assembled
together at one place, we see there must have been a vast number of them
scattered over the country.
(2.) Another circumstance to be observed is, that his
public ministry was very short, less than three years.
(3.) Consider the peculiar design of his
ministry. His main object was to make atonement for the sins of the world. It
was not aimed so much at promoting revivals. The “dispensation of the Spirit”
was not yet given. He did not preach the Gospel so fully as his apostles did
afterwards. The prejudices of the people were so fixed and violent that they
would not bear it. That he did not, is plain from the fact that even his
apostles, who were constantly with him, did not understand the atonement. They
did not get the idea that he was going to die, and consequently, when they
heard he was actually dead, they were driven to despair, and thought the thing
was all gone by, and their hopes blown to the winds. The fact was, that he had
another object in view, to which every thing else was made to yield, and the
perverted state of the public mind, and the obstinate prejudices prevailing,
showed why results were not seen any more in the conversion of sinners. The state
of public opinion was such, that they finally murdered him for what he did
preach.
Many ministers who have little or no success, are
hiding themselves behind the ministry of Jesus Christ, as if he was an
unsuccessful preacher. Whereas, in fact, he was eminently successful,
considering the circumstances in which he labored. This is the last place in
all the world where a minister who has no success should think of hiding
himself.
177
REMARKS.
1. A minister may be very learned and not wise.
There are many ministers possessed of great learning; they understand all the
sciences, physical, moral, and theological; they may know the dead languages,
and possess all learning, and yet not be wise, in relation to the great end
about which they are chiefly employed. Facts clearly demonstrate this. “He that
winneth souls is wise.”
2. An unsuccessful minister may be pious as
well as learned, and yet not wise. It is unfair to infer because a minister is
unsuccessful, that therefore he is a hypocrite. There may be something
defective in his education, or in his mode of viewing a subject, or of
exhibiting it, or such a want of common sense, as will defeat his
labors, and prevent his success in winning souls, while he himself may be
saved—“yet so as by fire.”
3. A minister may be very wise, though he is not
learned. He may not understand the dead languages, or theology in its
common acceptation; and yet he may know just what a minister of the Gospel
wants most to know, without knowing many other things. A learned minister and a
wise minister are different things. Facts in the history of the church in all
ages prove this. It is very common for churches, when looking out for a
minister, to aim at getting a very learned man. Do not understand me to
disparage learning. The more learning the better, if he is also wise in the
great matter he is employed about. If a minister knows how to win souls, the
more learning he has the better. But if he has any other kind of learning, and not
this, he will infallibly fail of the end of his ministry.
4. Want of success in a minister (other things
being equal) proves, (1.) either that he was never called to preach, and
has taken it up out of his own head; or (2.) that he was badly educated, and
was never taught the very things he wants most to know; or (3.) if he was
called to preach, and knows how to do his duty, he is too indolent and too
wicked to do it.
5. Those are the best educated ministers, who
win the most souls. Ministers are sometimes looked down upon, and called very
ignorant, because they do not know sciences and languages; although they are
very far from being ignorant of the great thing for which the ministry
is appointed. This is wrong. Learning is important, and always useful. But
after all, a minister may know how to win souls to Christ, 178without great learning, and he has the best
education for a minister, who can win the most souls to Christ.
6. There is evidently a great defect in the present
mode of educating ministers. This is a SOLEMN FACT, to which the attention of
the whole church should be distinctly called; that the great mass of young
ministers who are educated accomplish very little.
When young men come out from the seminaries, are they
fit to go into a revival? Look at a place where there has been a revival in
progress, and a minister is wanted. Let them send to a theological seminary for
a minister. Will he enter into the work, and sustain it, and carry it on?
Seldom. Like David with Saul’s armor, he comes in with such a load of
theological trumpery, that he knows nothing what to do. Leave him there for two
weeks, and the revival is at an end. The churches know and feel, that the
greater part of these young men do not know how to do anything that needs
to be done for a revival, and they are complaining that the young ministers are
so far behind the church. You may send all over the
There is a grand defect in educating ministers.
Education ought to be such, as to prepare young men for the peculiar work to
which they are destined. But instead of this, they are educated for any
thing else. The grand mistake is this. They direct the mind too much to
irrelevant matters, which are not necessary to be attended to. In their
courses of study, they carry the mind over too wide a field, which diverts
their attention from the main thing, and so they get cold in religion, and when
they get through, instead of being fitted for their work, they are unfitted
for it. Under pretence of disciplining the mind, they in fact scatter the
attention, so that when they come to their work, they are awkward, and know
nothing how to take hold, or how to act, to win souls. This is not universally
the case, but too often it is so.
It is common for people to talk loudly and largely
about an educated ministry. God forbid that I should say a word against an
educated ministry. But what do we mean by an education for the ministry? Do we
mean that they should be so educated, as to be fitted for the work? If they are
so educated, the more education the better. Let education be of the right kind,
teaching a young man the things he needs to know, and not the very things he
does not need to know. Let them be educated for the work. Do not let
education be 179such, that when young
men come out, after spending six, eight, or ten years in study, they are not
worth half as much as they were before they went. I have known young men come
out after what they call “a thorough course,” who were not fit to take charge
of a prayer meeting, and who could not manage a prayer meeting, so as to make
it profitable or interesting. An elder of a church in a neighboring city,
informed me recently of a case in point. A young man, before he went to the seminary,
had labored as a layman with them, conducted their prayer meetings, and had
been exceedingly useful among them. After he had been to the seminary, they
sent for him and desired his help; but oh, how changed! he was so completely
transformed, that he made no impression; the church soon began to complain that
they should die under his influences, and he left, because he was not prepared
for the work.
It is common for those ministers who have been to the
seminaries, and are now useful, to affirm that their course of studies there
did them little or no good, and that they had to unlearn what they had
there learned, before they could effect much. I do not say this censoriously,
but it is a solemn fact, and I must say it in love.
Suppose you were going to make a man a surgeon in the
navy. Instead of sending him to the medical school to learn surgery, would you
send him to the nautical school to learn navigation? In this way, you might
qualify him to navigate a ship, but he is no surgeon. Ministers should be educated
to know what the Bible is, and what the human mind is, and know how to bring
one to bear on the other. They should be brought into contact with mind, and
made familiar with all the aspects of society. They should have the Bible in
one hand, and the map of the human mind in the other, and know how to use the
truth for the salvation of men.
7. A want of common sense often defeats the
ends of the Christian ministry. There are many good men in the ministry, who
have learning, and talents of a certain sort, but they have no common sense to
win souls.
8. We see one great defect in our theological
schools.—Young men are shut up in their schools, confined to books and shut out
from intercourse with the common people, or contact with the common mind, Hence
they are not familiar with the mode in which common people think. This accounts
for the fact that some plain men, that have been brought up to business, and
acquainted with human nature, are ten times better qualified to win souls than
those who are educated 180on the present
principle, and are in fact ten times as well acquainted with the proper
business of the ministry. These are called “uneducated men.” This is a grand
mistake. They are not learned in science, but they are learned in the very
things which they need to know as ministers. They are not ignorant ministers,
for they know exactly how to reach the mind with truth. They understand the
minds of men, and how to adapt the Gospel to their case. They are better
furnished for their work, than if they had all the machinery of the
schools.
I wish to be understood. I do not say that I would
not have a young man go to school. Nor would I discourage him from going over
the field of science. The more the better, if together with it he learns also the
things that the minister needs to know, in order to win souls—if he
understands his Bible, and understands human nature, and knows how to bring the
truth to bear, and how to guide and manage minds, and to lead them away from
sin and lead them to God.
9. The success of any measure designed to promote a
revival of religion, demonstrates its wisdom with the following exceptions:
(1.) A measure may be introduced for effect to
produce excitement, and be such that when it is looked back upon afterwards, it
will look nonsensical, and appear to have been a mere trick. In that case, it
will react, and its introduction will do more hurt than good.
(2.) Measures may be introduced, and the revival be
very powerful, and the success be attributed to the measures, when in fact
other things made the revival powerful, and these very measures may have been a
hinderance. The prayers of Christians, and the preaching, and other things may
have been so well calculated to carry on the work, that it has succeded in
spite of these measures.
But when the blessing evidently follows the
introduction of the measure itself, the proof is unanswerable, that the
measure is wise. It is profane to say that such a measure will do more hurt
than good. God knows about that. His object is, to do the greatest amount
of good possible. And of course he will not add his blessing to a measure that
will do more hurt than good. He may sometimes withhold his blessing from a
measure that is calculated to do some good because it will be at the expense of
a greater good. But he never will bless a pernicious proceeding. There is no
such thing as deceiving God in the matter. He knows whether a given
measure is, on the whole, wise, or not. He may bless 181a course of labours notwithstanding some unwise or
injurious measures. But if he blesses the measure itself, it is rebuking
God to pronounce it unwise. He who undertakes to do this, let him look to the
matter.
10. It is evident that much fault has been found with
measures, which have been pre-eminently and continually blessed of God
for the promotion of revivals. We know it is said that the horrid oaths of a
profane swearer have been the means of awakening another less hardened sinner.
But this is a rare case. God does not usually make such a use of profanity. But
if a measure is continually or usually blessed, let the man who thinks
he is wiser than God, call it in question. TAKE CARE how you find fault with
God!
11. Christians should pray for ministers.
Brethren, if you felt how much ministers need wisdom to perform the duties of
their great office with success, and how ignorant they all are, and how
insufficient they are of themselves, to think anything as of themselves, you
would pray for them a great deal more than you do; that is, if you cared
anything for the success of their labors. People often find fault with
ministers, when they do not pray for them. Brethren, this is tempting God, for
you ought not to expect any better ministers, unless you pray for them. And you
ought not to expect a blessing on the labors of your minister, or to have your
families converted by his preaching, where you do not pray for him. And so for
others, the waste places, and the heathen, instead of praying all the time,
only that God would sent out more laborers, you have need to pray that
God would make ministers wise to win souls, and that those he sends out
may be properly educated, so that they shall be scribes well instructed in the
kingdom of God.
12. Those laymen in the church who know how to
win souls are to be counted wise. They should not be called “Ignorant laymen.”
And those church members who do not know how to convert sinners, and who cannot
win souls, should not be called wise—as Christians. They are not wise
Christians; only “he that winneth souls is wise.” They may be learned in politics,
in all sciences, or they may be skilled in the management of business, or other
things, and they may look down on those who win souls, as nothing but plain,
simple-hearted and ignorant men. If any of you are inclined to do this, and to
undervalue those brethren who win souls, as being not so wise and cunning as
you are, you deceive yourselves. They may not know some things which you know.
But they know those things which a Christian is most concerned to know,
and you do not.
182
It may be illustrated by the case of a minister that
goes to sea. He may be learned in science, but he knows nothing how to sail a
ship. And he begins to ask the sailors about this thing and that, and what is
this rope for, and the like. “Why,” say the sailors, “these are not ropes,
we have only one rope in a ship, these are the rigging, the man talks like a
fool.” And so this learned man becomes a laughing-stock, perhaps, to the
sailors, because he does not know how to sail a ship. But if he were to tell
them one half of what he knows about science, perhaps they would think him a
conjurer, to know so much. So learned students may understand their hic, hæc, hoc, very well, and may laugh at the humble Christian,
and call him ignorant, although he may know how to win more souls than five
hundred of them.
I was once distressed and grieved at hearing a
minister bearing down upon a young preacher, who had been converted under
remarkable circumstances, and who was licensed to preach without pursuing a
regular course of study. This minister, who was never, or at least rarely,
known to convert a soul, bore down upon the young man in a very lordly,
censorious manner, depreciating him because he had not had the advantage of a
liberal education, when in fact he was instrumental in converting more souls
than any five hundred ministers like himself.
I would say nothing to undervalue, or lead you to
undervalue a thorough education for ministers. But I do not call that a thorough
education, which they get in our colleges and seminaries. It does not fit
them for their work. I appeal to all experience, whether our young men
in seminaries are thoroughly educated for the purpose of winning souls. Do THEY DO IT? Everybody knows they do
not. Look at the reports of the Home Missionary Society. If I recollect right,
in 1830, the number of conversions in connection with the labors of the
missionaries of that society did not exceed five to each missionary. I believe
the number has increased since, but is still exceedingly small to what it would
have been had they been fitted by a right course of training for their work. I
do not say this to reproach them, for from my heart I pity them, and I pity the
church for being under the necessity of supporting ministers so trained, or
none at all. They are the best men the Missionary Society can obtain. I
suppose, of course, that I shall be reproached for saying this. But it is too
true and too painful to be concealed. Those fathers who have the training of
our young ministers are good men, but they are ancient men, men of another age 183and stamp, from what is needed in these days of
excitement, when the church and world are rising to new thought and action.
Those dear fathers will not, I suppose, see this; and will perhaps think hard
of me for saying it; but it is the cause of Christ. Some of them are getting
back toward second childhood, and ought to resign, and give place to younger
men, who are not rendered physically incapable, by age, of keeping pace with
the onward movements of the church. And here I would say, that to my own mind,
it appears evident, that unless our theological professors preach a good deal,
mingle much with the church, and sympathize with her in all her movements, it
is morally, if not naturally, impossible, that they should succeed in training
young men to the spirit of the age. It is a shame and a sin, that theological
professors, who preach but seldom, who are withdrawn from the active duties of
the ministry, should sit in their studies and write their letters, advisory, or
dictatorial, to ministers and churches who are in the field, and who are in
circumstances to judge what needs to be done. The men who spend all or at least
a portion of their time in the active duties of the ministry, are the only men
who are able to judge of what is expedient or inexpedient, prudent or
imprudent, as to measures from time to time. It is as dangerous and ridiculous
for our theological professors, who are withdrawn from the field of conflict,
to be allowed to dictate, in regard to the measures and movements of the
church, as it would be for a general to sit in his bed-chamber and attempt to
order a battle.[3][1]
Two ministers were one day conversing about another
minister whose labors were greatly blessed in the conversion of some thousands
of souls. One of them said, “That man ought not to preach any more; he should
stop and go to” a particular theological seminary which he named, “and go
through a regular course of study.” He said the man had “a good mind, and if he
was thoroughly educated, he might be very useful,” The other replied, “Do you
think he would be more useful for going to that seminary? I challenge you to
show by facts that any are more useful who have been there. No, sir, the fact
is, that since this man has been in the ministry, he has been instrumental in
converting more souls than all the young men who have come from that seminary
in the time.” This is logic! Stop, and go to a seminary, 184to prepare himself for converting souls, when he is
now converting more than all who come from the seminary!
Finally.—I wish to ask you, before I sit down, who among you
can lay any claim to the possession of this Divine wisdom? Who among you,
laymen? Who among you, ministers? Can any of you? Can I? Are we at work,
wisely, to win souls? Or are we trying to make ourselves believe that success
is no criterion of wisdom? It is a criterion. It is a safe criterion for
every minister to try himself by. The amount of his success, other things
being equal, measures the amount of wisdom he has exercised in the
discharge of his office.
How few of you have ever had wisdom enough to convert
so much as a single sinner!
Do not say now, “I cannot convert sinners; how can I
convert sinners? God alone can convert sinners.” Look at the text, “He that
winneth souls is wise,” and do not think you can escape the sentence. It is
true that God converts sinners. But there is a sense, too, in which ministers
convert them. And you have something to do; something that requires wisdom;
something which, if you do it wisely, will insure the conversion of sinners in
proportion to the wisdom employed. If you never have done this, it is high time
to think about yourselves, and see whether you have wisdom enough to save even
your own souls.
Men—women—you are bound to be wise in winning souls.
Perhaps already souls have perished; perhaps a friend, or a child is in hell,
because you have not put forth the wisdom which you might, in saving them. The
city is going to hell. Yes, the world is going to hell, and must go on, till
the church finds out what to do, to win souls. Politicians are wise. The
children of this world are wise, they know what to do to accomplish their ends,
while we are prosing about, not knowing what to do, or where to take hold of
the work, and sinners are going to hell.
185
LECTURE XII.
HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.
Text.—He that winneth souls is wise.—Proverbs xi. 30.
ONE of the last remarks in my last lecture, was this,
that the text ascribes conversion to men. Winning souls is converting men. This
evening I design to show,
I. That several passages of Scripture ascribe
conversion to men.
II. That this is consistent with other passages which
ascribe conversion to God.
III. I purpose to discuss several further particulars
which are deemed important, in regard to the preaching of the Gospel, and which
show that great practical wisdom is necessary to win souls to Christ.
I. I am to show that the Bible ascribes conversion to
men.
There are many passages which represent the
conversion of sinners as the work of men. In Daniel xii. 3, it is said, “And
they that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they
that turn many to righteousness as stars for ever and ever.” Here the work is
ascribed to men. So also in 1 Cor. iv. 15. “For though ye have ten thousand
instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have
begotten you through the Gospel.” Here the apostle explicitly tells the
Corinthians that he made them Christians, with the Gospel or truth which he
preached. Again, in James, v. 19, 20, we are taught the same thing. “Brethren,
if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know that he
which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” I might quote many other passages,
equally explicit. But these are sufficient abundantly to establish the fact,
that the Bible does actually ascribe conversion to men.
II. I proceed to show that this is not inconsistent
with those passages in which conversion is ascribed to God.
And here let me remark, that to my mind it often
appears very strange that men should ever suppose there was an inconsistency
here, or that they should ever have overlooked 186the plain common sense of the matter. How easy it is to see, that there
is a sense in which God converts them, and another sense in which men
convert them.
The Scriptures ascribe the conversion of a sinner to
four different agencies—to men, to God, to the truth, and
to the sinner himself. The passages which ascribe it to the truth are the
largest class. That men should ever have overlooked this distinction, and
should have regarded conversion as a work performed exclusively by God, is
surprising. So it is that any difficulty should ever have been felt on the
subject, or that people should ever have professed themselves unable to
reconcile these several classes of passages.
Why, the Bible speaks on this subject, precisely as
we speak on common subjects. There is a man who has been very sick. How natural
it is for him to say of his physician, “That man saved my life.” Does he mean
to say that the physician saved his life without reference to God? Certainly
not, unless he is an infidel. God made the physician, and he made the medicine
too. And it never can be shown but that the agency of God is just as truly
concerned in making the medicine take effect to save life, as it is in making
the truth take effect to save a soul. To affirm the contrary is downright
atheism. It is true then, that the physician saved him, and it is also true
that God saved him. It is equally true that the medicine saved his life, and
that he saved his own life by taking the medicine; for the medicine would have
done no good if he had not voluntarily taken it, or yielded his body to its
power.
In the conversion of a sinner, it is true that God
gives the truth efficiency to turn the sinner to God. He is an active,
voluntary, powerful agent in changing the mind. But he is not the only agent.
The one that brings the truth to his notice is also an agent. We are apt to
speak of ministers and other men as only instruments in converting
sinners. This is not exactly correct. Man is something more than an instrument.
Truth is the mere unconscious instrument. But man is more, he is a voluntary,
responsible agent in the business. In my printed sermon, No. 1., which some of
you may have seen, I have illustrated this idea by the case of an individual
standing on the banks of
“Suppose yourself to be standing on the banks of the
Not only does the preacher cry, Stop, but
through the living voice of the preacher, the Spirit cries, Stop. The
preacher cries, “Turn ye, why will ye die.” The Spirit pours the expostulation
home with such power, that the sinner turns. Now in speaking of this change, it
is perfectly proper to say, that the Spirit turned him, just as you would say
of a man, who had persuaded another to change his mind on the subject of
politics, that he had converted him, and brought him over. It is also proper to
say that the truth converted him; as in a case when the political sentiments of
a man were changed by a certain argument, we should say that argument brought
him over. So also with perfect propriety may we ascribe the change to the living
preacher, or to him who had presented the motives; just as we should say of a
lawyer who had prevailed in his argument with a jury; he has got his case, he
has converted the jury. It is also with the same propriety ascribed to the
individual himself whose heart 188is changed; we
should say that he had changed his mind, he has come over, he has repented. Now
it is strictly true, and true in the most absolute and highest sense; the act
is his own act, the turning is his own turning, while God by the truth has
induced him to turn; still it is strictly true that he has turned and has done
it himself. Thus you see the sense in which it is the work of God, and also the
sense in which it is the sinner’s own work. The Spirit of God, by the truth,
influences the sinner to change, and in this sense is the efficient cause of
the change. But the sinner actually changes, and is therefore himself, in the
most proper sense, the author of the change. There are some who, on reading
their Bibles, fasten their eyes upon those passages that ascribe the work to
the Spirit of God, and seem to overlook those that ascribe it to man, and speak
of it as the sinner’s own act. When they have quoted Scripture to prove it is
the work of God, they seem to think they have proved that it is that in which
man is passive, and that it can in no sense be the work of man. Some months
since a tract was written, the title of which was, “Regeneration, the effect of
Divine Power.” The writer goes on to prove that the work is wrought by the
Spirit of God, and there stops. Now it had been just as true, just as
philosophical, and just as scriptural, if he had said, that conversion was the
work of man. It was easy to prove that it was the work of God, in the sense in
which I have explained it. The writer, therefore, tells the truth, so far as he
goes; but he has told only half the truth. For while there is a sense in which
it is the work of God, as he has shown, there is also a sense in which it is
the work of man, as we have just seen. The very title to this tract is a
stumbling block. It tells the truth, but it does not tell the whole truth. And
a tract might be written upon this proposition, that “Conversion or
regeneration is the work of man;” which would be just as true, just as
scriptural, and just as philosophical, as the one to which I have alluded. Thus
the writer, in his zeal to recognise and honor God as concerned in this work,
by leaving out the fact that a change of heart is the sinner’s own act, has
left the sinner strongly intrenched, with his weapons in his rebellious hands,
stoutly resisting the claims of his Maker, and waiting passively for God to
make him a new heart. Thus you see the consistency between the requirement of
the text, and the declared fact that God is the author of the new heart. God
commands you to make you a new heart, expects you to do it, and if it ever is
done, you must do it.
And let me tell you, sinner, if you do not do it you
will go 189to hell, and to all
eternity you will feel that you deserved to be sent there for not having done
it.
III. As proposed, I shall now advert to several
important particulars growing out of this subject, as connected with preaching
the Gospel, and which show that great practical wisdom is indispensable to win
souls to Christ.
And FIRST,
in regard to the MATTER OF PREACHING.
1. All preaching should be practical.
The proper end of all doctrine is practice. Anything
brought forward as doctrine, which cannot be made use of as practical, is not
preaching the Gospel. There is none of that sort of preaching in the Bible.
That is all practical. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto
all good works.” A vast deal of preaching in the present day, as well as in
past ages, is called doctrinal, as opposed to practical
preaching. The very idea of making this distinction is a device of the devil.
And a more abominable device Satan himself never devised. You sometimes hear
certain men tell a wonderful deal about the necessity of “indoctrinating the
people.” By which they mean something different from practical preaching;
teaching them certain doctrines, as abstract truths, without any particular reference
to practice. And I have known a minister in the midst of a revival, while
surrounded with anxious sinners, leave off laboring to convert souls, for the
purpose of “Indoctrinating” the young converts, for fear somebody else should
indoctrinate them before him. And there the revival stops! Either his doctrine
was not true, or it was not preached in the right way. To preach doctrines in
an abstract way, and not in reference to practice, is absurd. God always brings
in doctrine to regulate practice. To bring forward doctrinal views for any
other object is not only nonsense, but it is wicked.
Some people are opposed to doctrinal
preaching. If they have been used to hear doctrines preached in a cold,
abstract way, no wonder they are opposed to it. They ought to be opposed to
such preaching. But what can a man preach, who preaches no doctrine? If he
preaches no doctrine, he preaches no Gospel. And if he does not preach it in a
practical way, he does not preach the Gospel. All preaching should be
doctrinal, and all preaching should be practical. The very design of doctrine
is to regulate 190practice. Any preaching
that has not this tendency is not the Gospel. A loose, exhortatory style of
preaching may affect the passions, and may produce excitement, but will never
sufficiently instruct the people to secure sound conversions. On the other
hand, preaching doctrine in an abstract manner, may fill the head with notions,
but will never sanctify the heart or life.
2. Preaching should be direct. The Gospel
should be preached to men, and not about them. The minister must address
his hearers. He must preach to them about themselves, and not
leave the impression that he is preaching to them about others. He will never
do them any good, farther than he succeeds in convincing each individual that
he means him. Many preachers seem very much afraid of making the impression
that they mean any body in particular. They are preaching against certain sins,
not that have anything to do with the sinner. It is the sin, and
not the sinner, that they are rebuking; and they would by no means speak
as if they supposed any of their hearers were guilty of these abominable
practices. Now this is anything but preaching the Gospel. Thus did not the
prophets, nor Christ, nor the apostles. Nor do those ministers do this, who are
successful in winning souls to Christ.
3. Another very important thing to be regarded in
preaching is, that the minister should hunt after sinners and Christians,
wherever they may have intrenched themselves in inaction. It is not the design
of preaching, to make men easy and quiet, but to make them ACT. It is not the
design of calling in a physician to have him give opiates, and so cover up the
disease and let it run on till it works death; but to search out the disease wherever
it may be hidden, and to remove it. So if a professor of religion has
backslidden, and is full of doubts and fears, it is not the minister’s duty to
quiet him in his sins, and comfort him, but to hunt him out of his errors and
backslidings, and show him just where he stands, and what it is that makes him
full of doubts and fears.
A minister ought to know the religious opinions of
every sinner in his congregation. Indeed, a minister in the country is
generally inexcusable if he does not.
He has no excuse for not knowing the religious views of all his congregation,
and of all that may come under his influence if he has had opportunity to know
them. How otherwise can he preach to them? How can he know how to bring forth
things new and old, and adapt truth to their case? How can he hunt 191them out unless he knows where they hide themselves?
He may ring changes on a few fundamental doctrines, Repentance and Faith, and
Faith and Repentance, till the day of judgment, and never make any impression
on many minds. Every sinner has some hiding-place, some intrenchment where he
lingers. He is in possession of some darling LIE, with which he is quieting
himself. Let the minister find it out and get it away, either in the pulpit or
in private, or the man will go to hell in his sins, and his blood will be found
in the minister’s skirts.
4. Another important thing to observe is, that a
minister should dwell most on those particular points which are most needed. I
will explain what I mean.
Sometimes he may find a people who have been led to
place great reliance on their own resolutions. They think they can consult
their own convenience, and by and by they will repent, when they get ready,
without any concern about the Spirit of God. Let him take up these notions, and
show that they are entirely contrary to the Scriptures. Let him show that if
the Spirit of God is grieved away, however able he may be, it is certain
he never will repent, and that by and by, when it shall be convenient for
him to do it, he will have no inclination. The minister who finds these errors
prevailing, should expose them. He should hunt them out, and understand just
how they are held, and then preach the class of truths which will show the
fallacy, the folly, and the danger of these notions.
So on the other hand. He may find a people who have
got such views of Election and Sovereignty, as to think they have nothing to do
but to wait for the moving of the waters. Let him go right over against them,
and crowd upon them their ability to obey God, and to show their obligation and
duty, and press them with that until he brings them to submit and be saved.
They have got behind a perverted view of these doctrines, and there is no way
to drive them out of the hiding-place but to set them right on these points.
Wherever a sinner is intrenched, unless you pour light upon him there,
you will never move him. It is of no use to press him with those truths which
he admits, however plainly they may in fact contradict his wrong notions. He
supposes them to be perfectly consistent, and does not see the
inconsistency, and therefore it will not move him, or bring him to repentance.
I have been informed of a minister in
I have been in many places in times of revival, and I
have never been able to employ precisely the same course of preaching in one as
in another. Some are intrenched behind one refuge, and some behind another. In
one place, the church will need to be instructed, in another, sinners. In one
place, one set of truths, in another, another set. A minister must find out
where they are, and preach accordingly. I believe this is the experience of all
preachers who are called to labor from field to field.
5. If a minister means to promote a revival, he
should be very careful not to introduce controversy. He will grieve away the
Spirit of God. In this way probably more revivals are put down, than in any
other. Look back upon the history of the church from the beginning, and you
will see that ministers are generally responsible for grieving away the Spirit
and causing declensions by controversy. It is the ministers who bring forward
controversial subjects for discussion, and by 193and by they get very zealous on the subject, and then get the church
into a controversial spirit, and so the Spirit of God is grieved away.
If I had time to go over the history of the church
from the days of the Apostles, I could show that all the controversies that
have taken place, and all the great declensions in religion, too, were
chargeable upon ministers. I believe the ministers of the present day are
responsible for the present state of the church, and it will be seen to be true
at the judgment. Who does not know that ministers have been crying out
“Heresy,” and “New Measures,” and talking about the “Evils of Revivals,” until
they have got the church all in confusion? Look at the poor Presbyterian
church, and see ministers getting up their Act and Testimony, and keeping up a
continual war! O God, have mercy on ministers. They talk about their days of
fasting and prayer, but are these the men to call on others to fast and pray?
They ought to fast and pray themselves. It is time that ministers should assemble
together, and fast and pray over the evil of controversy, for they have caused
it. The church itself never would get into a controversial spirit unless led
into it by ministers. The body of the church are always averse to controversy,
and will keep out of it, only as they are dragged into it by ministers. When
Christians are revived they are not inclined to meddle with controversy, either
to read or hear it. But they may be told of such and such “damnable heresies,”
that are afloat, till they get their feelings enlisted in controversy, and then
farewell to the revival. If a minister, in preaching, finds it necessary to
discuss particular points, about which Christians differ in opinion, let him BY
ALL MEANS avoid a controversial spirit and manner of doing it.[4][1]
6. The Gospel should be preached in those
proportions, that the whole Gospel may be brought before the minds
of the people, and produce its proper influence. If too much stress is laid on
one class of truths, the Christian character will not have its due proportions.
Its symmetry will not be perfect. If that class of truths be almost exclusively
dwelt upon, that requires great exertion of intellect, without being brought
home to the heart and conscience, it will be found that the church will be indoctrinated
in those views, will have their heads filled with notions, but will not
be awake, and active, and efficient in the promotion of religion. If, on the
other hand, the preaching be loose, indefinite, exhortatory, and highly
impassioned, 194the church will be like
a ship, with too much sail for her ballast. It will be in danger of being swept
away by a tempest of feeling, where there is not sufficient knowledge to
prevent their being carried away with every wind of doctrine. If election and
sovereignty are too much preached, there will be Antinomianism in the church,
and sinners will hide themselves behind the delusion that they can do nothing.
If the other doctrines of ability and obligation are too prominent, they will
produce Arminianism in the church, and sinners will be blustering and
self-confident.
When I entered the ministry, there had been so much
said about the doctrine of election and sovereignty, that I found it was the
universal hiding place, both of sinners and of the church, that they could not
do anything, or could not obey the Gospel. And wherever I went, I found it
indispensable to demolish these refuges of lies. And a revival would in no way
be produced or carried on, but by dwelling on that class of truths, which holds
up man’s ability, and obligation, and responsibility. This was the only class
of truths that would bring sinners to submission.
It was not so in the days when President Edwards and
Whitefield labored. Then the churches in
Now, and for years past, ministers have been engaged
in hunting them out from these refuges. And here it is all important for the
ministers of this day to bear in mind, that if they dwell exclusively on
ability and obligation, they will get their hearers back on the old Arminian
ground, and then they will cease to promote revivals. Here are a body of
ministers who have preached a great deal of truth, and have had great revivals,
under God. Now let it be known and remarked, that the reason is, they have
hunted sinners out from their hiding places. But if they continue to dwell on the
same class of truths till sinners hide themselves behind their preaching, 195another class of truths must be preached. And then if
they do not change their mode, another pall will hang over the church, until
another class of ministers shall arise and hunt sinners out of those new
retreats.
A right view of both classes of truths, election and
free-agency, will do no hurt. They are eminently calculated to convert sinners
and strengthen saints. It is a perverted view which chills the heart of the
church, and closes the eyes of sinners in sleep, till they sink down to hell.
If I had time I would remark on the manner in which I have sometimes heard the
doctrines of Divine sovereignty, election, and ability preached. They have been
exhibited in irreconcilable contradiction, the one against the other. Such
exhibitions are anything but the Gospel, and are calculated to make a sinner
feel anything else rather than his responsibility to God.
By preaching truth in proper proportions, I do not
mean mingling all things together in the same sermon, in such a way that
sinners will not see their connection or consistency. A minister once asked
another, Why do you not preach the doctrine of election? Because, said the
other, I find sinners here are intrenched behind inability. The first
then said he once knew a minister who used to preach election in the forenoon,
and repentance in the afternoon. Marvellous grace it must be, that would
produce a revival under such preaching! What connection is there in this?
Instead of exhibiting to the sinner his sins in the morning, and then and in
the afternoon calling on him to repent, he is first turned to the doctrine of
election, and then commanded to repent. What is he to repent of? The doctrine
of election? This is not what I mean by preaching truth in its proportion.
Bringing things together, that only confound the sinner’s mind, and overwhelm
him with a fog of metaphysics, is not wise preaching. When talking of election,
the preacher is not talking of the sinner’s duty. It has no relation to the
sinner’s duty. Election belongs to the government of God. It is a part of the
exceeding richness of the grace of God. It shows the love of God, not the duty
of the sinner. And to bring election and repentance together in this way is
diverting the sinner’s mind away from his duty. It has been customary, in many
places, for a long time, to bring the doctrine of election into every sermon.
Sinners have been commanded to repent, and told that they could not repent, in
the same sermon. A great deal of ingenuity has been exercised in endeavoring to
reconcile a sinner’s “inability” with his obligation to obey God. Election,
predestination, 196free-agency, inability,
and duty, have all been thrown together in one promiscuous jumble. And with
regard to many sermons, it has been too true, as has been objected, that
ministers have preached, “You can and you can’t, You shall and you sha’n’t, You
will and you won’t, And you’ll be damned if you don’t.” Such a mixture of truth
and error, of light and darkness, has confounded the congregation, and been the
fruitful source of Universalism and every species of infidelity and error.
7. It is of great importance that the sinner should
be made to feel his guilt, and not left to the impression that he is unfortunate.
I think this is a very prevailing fault, particularly with printed books on the
subject. They are calculated to make the sinner think more of his sorrows than
of his sins, and feel that his state is rather unfortunate than criminal.
Perhaps most of you have seen a very lovely little book recently published,
entitled “Todd’s Lectures to Children.” It is very fine, exquisitely fine, and
happy in some of its illustrations of truth. But it has one very serious fault.
Many of its illustrations, I may say most of them, are not calculated to make a
correct impression respecting the guilt of sinners, or to make them feel
how much they have been to blame. This is very unfortunate. If the
writer had guarded his illustrations on this point, so as to make them impress
sinners with a sense of their guilt, I do not see how a child could read
through that book and not be converted.
Multitudes of the books written for children, and for
adults too, within the last twenty years, have run into this mistake to an
alarming degree. Mrs. Sherwood’s writings have this fault standing out upon
almost every page. They are not calculated to make the sinner blame and condemn
himself. Until you can do this, the Gospel will never take effect.
8. A prime object with the preacher must be to make present
obligation felt. I have talked, I suppose, with many thousands of anxious
sinners. And I have found that they had never before felt the pressure
of present obligation. The impression is not commonly made by ministers in
their preaching that sinners are expected to repent NOW. And if ministers
suppose they make this impression, they deceive themselves. Most commonly any
other impression is made upon the minds of sinners by the preacher, than that
they are expected now to submit. But what sort of a Gospel is this? Does God
authorize such an impression? Is this according to the preaching of Jesus
Christ? Does the Holy Spirit, when striving with the sinner, make the
impression upon his 197mind that he is
not expected to obey now?—Was any such impression produced by the preaching of
the apostles? How does it happen that so many ministers now preach, so as in
fact to make an impression on their hearers, that they are not expected to
repent now? Until the sinner’s conscience is reached on this subject, you
preach to him in vain. And until ministers learn how to preach so as to make the
right impression, the world never can be converted. Oh, to what an alarming
extent does the impression now prevail among the impenitent, that they are not
expected to repent now, but must wait God’s time!
9. Sinners ought to be made to feel that they have something
to do, and that is to repent; that it is something which no other
being can do for them, neither God nor man, and something which they can do,
and do now. Religion is something to do, not something to wait for.
And they must do it now, or they are in danger of eternal death.
10. Ministers should never rest satisfied, until they
have ANNIHILATED every excuse of sinners. The plea of “inability” is the worst
of all excuses. It slanders God so, charging him with infinite tyranny, in
commanding men to do that which they have no power to do. Make the sinner see
and feel that this is the very nature of his excuse. Make the sinner see that all
pleas in excuse for not submitting to God, are an act of rebellion against him.
Tear away the last LIE which he grasps in his hand, and make him feel that he
is absolutely condemned before God.
11. Sinners should be made to feel that if they now
grieve away the Spirit of God, it is very probable that they will be lost
for ever. There is infinite danger of this. They should be made to
understand why they are dependent on the Spirit, and that it is not
because they cannot do what God commands, but because they are unwilling;
but that they are so unwilling that it is just as certain they will not repent
without the Holy Ghost, as if they were now in hell, or as if they were
actually unable. They are so opposed and so unwilling, that they never will
repent in the world, unless God sends his Holy Spirit upon them.
Show them, too, that a sinner under the Gospel, who
hears the truth preached, if converted at all, is generally converted young.
And if not converted while young, he is commonly given up of God. Where the
truth is preached, sinners are either Gospel-hardened or converted. I know some
old sinners are converted, but they are rather exceptions, and by no means
common.
198
I wish now, SECONDLY,
to make a few remarks on the MANNER OF
PREACHING.
1. It should be conversational. Preaching, to be
understood, should be colloquial in its style. A minister must preach just as
he would talk, if he wishes to be fully understood. Nothing is more calculated
to make a sinner feel that religion is some mysterious thing that he cannot
understand, than this mouthing, formal, lofty style of speaking, so generally
employed in the pulpit. The minister ought to do as the lawyer does when he
wants to make a jury understand him perfectly. He uses a style perfectly
colloquial. This lofty, swelling style will do no good. The Gospel will never
produce any great effects, until ministers talk to their hearers, in the
pulpit, as they talk in private conversation.
2. It must be in the language of common life.
Not only should it be colloquial in its style, but the words should be
such as are in common use. Otherwise they will not be understood. In the New
Testament you will observe that Jesus Christ invariably uses words of the most
common kind. You scarcely find a word of his instructions, that any child
cannot understand. The language of the Gospels is the plainest, simplest, and
most easily understood of any language in the world.
For a minister to neglect this principle, is wicked.
Some ministers use language that is purely technical in preaching. They
think to avoid the mischief by explaining the meaning fully at the outset; but
this will not answer. It will not effect the object in making the people
understand what he means. If he uses a word that is not in common use, and that
people do not understand, his explanation may be very full, but the difficulty
is that people will forget his explanations and then his words are all Greek to
them. Or if he uses a word in common use, but employs it in an uncommon
sense, giving his special explanations, it is no better; for the people will
soon forget his special explanations, and then the impression actually conveyed
to their minds will be according to their common understanding of the
word. And thus he will never convey the right idea to his congregation. It is
amazing how many men of thinking minds there are in congregations, who do not
understand the most common technical expressions employed by ministers, such as
regeneration, sanctification, etc.
Use words that can be perfectly understood. Do not,
for fear of appearing unlearned, use language half Latin and half Greek, which
the people do not understand. The apostle says the man is a barbarian, who uses
language that the people 199do not
understand. And “if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare
himself for the battle?” In the apostles’ days there were some preachers, who
were marvellously proud of displaying their command of language, and showing
off the variety of tongues they could speak, which the common people could not
understand. The apostle rebukes this spirit sharply, and says, “I had rather
speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others
also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.”
I have sometimes heard ministers preach, even when
there was a revival, when I have wondered what that part of the congregation
would do, who had no dictionary. So many phrases were brought in, manifestly to
adorn the discourse, rather than to instruct the people, that I have felt as if
I wanted to tell the man, “Sit down, and not confound the people’s minds with
your barbarian preaching, that they cannot understand.”
3. Preaching should be parabolical. That is,
illustrations should be constantly used, drawn from incidents, real or
supposed. Jesus Christ constantly illustrated his instructions in this way. He
would either advance a principle and then illustrate it by a parable, that is,
a short story of some event real or imaginary, or else he would bring out the
principle in the parable. There are millions of facts that can be used to advantage,
and yet very few ministers dare to use them, for fear somebody will
reproach them. “Oh,” says somebody, “he tells stories.” Tells stories! Why,
that is the way Jesus Christ preached. And it is the only way to preach. Facts,
real or supposed, should be used to show the truth. Truths not illustrated, are
generally just as well calculated to convert sinners as a mathematical
demonstration. Is it always to be so? Shall it always be matter of reproach,
that ministers follow the example of Jesus Christ, in illustrating
truths by facts? Let them do it, and let fools reproach them as story-telling
ministers. They have Jesus Christ and common sense on their side.
4. The illustrations should be drawn from common
life, and the common business of society. I once heard a minister
illustrate his ideas by the manner in which merchants transact business in
their stores. Another minister who was present made some remarks to him
afterwards. He objected to this illustration particularly, because, he said, it
was too familiar, and was letting down the dignity of the pulpit. He said all
illustrations in preaching should be drawn from ancient 200history, or from some elevated source, that would
keep up the dignity of the pulpit. Dignity indeed! Just the language of the
devil. He rejoices in it. Why, the object of an illustration is, to make people
see the truth, not to bolster up pulpit dignity. A minister whose heart
is in the work, does not use an illustration to make people stare, but to make
them see the truth. If he brought forward his illustrations from ancient
history, it could not make the people see, it would not illustrate anything.
The novelty of the thing might awaken their attention, but then they would lose
the truth itself. For if the illustration itself be a novelty, the attention
will be directed to this fact as a matter of history, and the truth itself,
which it was designed to illustrate, will be lost sight of. The illustration
should, if possible, be a matter of common occurrence, and the more
common the occurrence the more sure it will be, not to fix attention upon itself,
but it serves as a medium through which the truth is conveyed. I have
been pained at the very heart, at hearing illustrations drawn from ancient
history, of which not one in a hundred of the congregation had ever heard. The
very manner in which they were adverted to, was strongly tinctured, to say the
least, with the appearance of vanity, and an attempt to surprise the people
with an exhibition of learning.
The Saviour always illustrated his instructions by
things that were taking place among the people to whom he preached, and with
which their minds were familiar. He descended often very far below what is now
supposed to be essential to support the dignity of the pulpit. He talked about
the hens and chickens, and children in market-places, and sheep and lambs,
shepherds and farmers, and husbandmen and merchants. And when he talked about
kings, as in the marriage of the king’s son, and the nobleman that went into a
far country to receive a kingdom, he had reference to historical facts, that
were well known among the people at the time. The illustration should always be
drawn from things so common that the illustration itself will not attract
attention away from the subject, but that people may see through it the
truth illustrated.
5. Preaching should be repetitious. If a
minister wishes to preach with effect, he must not be afraid of repeating
whatever he sees is not perfectly understood by his hearers. Here is the evil
of using notes. The preacher preaches right along just as he has it written
down, and cannot observe whether he is understood or not. If he interrupts his
reading, and attempts to catch the countenances of his audience, 201and to explain where he sees they do not understand,
he gets lost and confused, and gives it up. If a minister has his eyes on the
people he is preaching to, he can commonly tell by their looks whether they
understand him. And if he sees they do not understand any particular point, let
him stop and illustrate it. If they do not understand one illustration, let him
give another, and make it all clear to their minds, before he goes on. But
those who write their sermons go right on, in a regular consecutive train, just
as in any essay or a book, and do not repeat their thoughts till the audience
fully comprehend them.
I was conversing with one of the first advocates in
this country. He said the difficulty which preachers find in making themselves
understood, is, that they do not repeat enough, Says he, “In addressing a jury,
I always expect that whatever I wish to impress upon their minds, I shall have
to repeat at least twice, and often I repeat it three or four times, and even
as many times as there are jurymen before me. Otherwise, I do not carry their
minds along with me, so that they can feel the force of what comes afterwards.”
If a jury under oath, called to decide on the common affairs of this world,
cannot apprehend an argument unless there is so much repetition, how is it to
be expected that men will understand the preaching of the Gospel without it.
In like manner the minister ought to turn an
important thought over and over before his audience, till even the children
understand it perfectly. Do not say that so much repetition will create disgust
in cultivated minds. It will not disgust. This is not what disgusts thinking
men. They are not weary of the efforts a minister makes to be understood. The
fact is, the more simple a preacher’s illustrations are, and the more plain he
makes everything, the more men of mind are interested. I know that men of the
first minds often get ideas they never had before, from illustrations which
were designed to bring the Gospel down to the comprehension of a child. Such
men are commonly so occupied with the affairs of this world, that they do not think
much on the subject of religion, and they therefore need the plainest
preaching, and they will like it.
6. A minister should always feel deeply his subject,
and then he will suit the action to the word and the word to the action, so as
to make the full impression which the truth is calculated to make. He should be
in solemn earnest in what he says. I heard lately a most judicious criticism on
this subject. “How important it is that a minister should feel 202what he says. Then his actions will of course
correspond to his words. If he undertakes to make gestures, his arms may
go like a windmill, and yet make no impression.” It requires the utmost stretch
of art on the stage for the actors to make their hearers feel. The design of
elocution is to teach this skill. But if a man feels his subject fully,
he will naturally do it. He will naturally do the very thing that
elocution laboriously teaches. See any common man in the streets, who is
earnest in talking. See with what force he gestures. See a woman or a child in
earnest. How natural. To gesture with their hands is as natural as it is to
move their tongue and lips. It is the perfection of eloquence.
Let a minister, then, only feel what he says, and not
be tied to his notes, to read an essay, or to speak a piece, like a school-boy,
first on one foot and then on the other, put out first one hand and then the
other. Let him speak as he feels, and act as he feels, and he will be eloquent.
No wonder that a great deal of preaching produces so
little effect. Gestures are of more importance than is generally supposed. Mere
words will never express the full meaning of the Gospel. The manner of
saying it is almost everything. Suppose one of you, that is a mother, goes home
to-night, and as soon as you get into the door, the nurse comes rushing up to
you, with her whole soul in her countenance, and tells you that your child is
burnt to death. You would believe it, and you would feel it too, at once. But
suppose she comes and tells it in a cold and careless manner. Would that arouse
you? No. It is the earnestness of her manner, and the distress of her looks,
that tells the story. You know something is the matter, before she
speaks a word.
I once heard a remark made, respecting a young
minister’s preaching, which was instructive. He was uneducated, in the common
sense of the term, but well educated to win souls. It was said of him, “The
manner in which he comes in, and sits in the pulpit, and rises to speak, is a
sermon of itself. It shows that he has something to say that is important and
solemn.” That man’s manner of saying some things I have known to move the
feelings of a whole congregation, when the same things said in a prosing way
would have produced no effect at all.
A fact which was stated by one of the most
distinguished professors of elocution in the
I have mentioned this to show how universal it is,
that men will gesture right if they feel right. The only thing in the way of
ministers being natural speakers is, that they do not DEEPLY FEEL. How can they
be natural in elocution, when they do not feel?
7. A minister should aim to convert his
congregation. But you will ask, Does not all preaching aim at this? No. A
minister always has some aim in preaching, but most sermons were never
aimed at converting sinners. And if sinners were converted under them, the
preacher himself would be amazed. I once heard a fact on this point. There were
two young ministers who had entered the ministry at the same time. One of them
had great success in converting sinners, the other none. The latter inquired of
the other, one day, what was the reason of this difference. “Why,” replied the
other, “the reason is, that I aim at a different end from you, in
preaching. My object is to convert sinners, but you aim at no such thing. And
then you go and lay it to sovereignty in God, that you do not produce the same
effect, when you never aim at it. Here, take one of my sermons, and preach it
to your people, and see what the effect will be.” The man did so, and preached
the sermon, and it did produce effect. He was frightened when sinners began to
weep; and when one came to him after meeting to ask what he should do, the
minister apologized to him, and said, “I did not aim to wound you, I am sorry
if I have hurt your feelings.” Oh, horrible!
8. A minister must anticipate the objections
of sinners, and answer them. What does the lawyer do when pleading before a
jury? Oh, how differently is the cause of Jesus Christ 204pleaded from human causes! It was remarked by a
lawyer, that the cause of Jesus Christ had the fewest able advocates of any
cause in the world. And I partly believe it. Does a lawyer go along in his
argument in a regular train, and not explain any thing obscure, or anticipate
the arguments of his antagonist? If he did so, he would lose his case to a
certainty. But, no. The lawyer, who is pleading for money, anticipates every
objection, which may be made by his antagonist, and carefully removes or
explains them, so as to leave the ground all clear as he goes along, that the
jury may be settled on every point. But ministers often leave one difficulty
and another untouched. Sinners who hear them feel the difficulty, and it is
never got over in their minds, and they never know how to remove it, and
perhaps the minister never takes the trouble to know that such difficulties
exist, and yet he wonders why his congregation is not converted, and why there
is no revival. How can he wonder at it, when he has never hunted up the difficulties
and objections that sinners feel, and removed them?
9. If a minister means to preach the Gospel with
effect he must be sure not to be monotonous. If he preaches in a
monotonous way, he will preach the people to sleep. Any monotonous sound, great
or small, if continued, disposes people to sleep. The
10. A minister should address the feelings enough to
secure attention, and then deal with the conscience, and probe to the
quick. Appeals to the feelings alone will never convert sinners. If the
preacher deals too much in these, he may get up an excitement, and have wave
after wave of feeling flow over the congregation, and people may be carried
away as with a flood, and rest in false hopes. The only way to secure sound
conversions is to deal faithfully with the conscience. If attention flags at
any time, appeal to the feelings again, and rouse it up; but do your work
with conscience.
11. If he can, it is desirable that a minister should
learn the effect of one sermon, before he preaches another. Let him learn if it
is understood, if it has produced any impression, if any difficulties are felt
in regard to the subject which need clearing up, if any objections are raised,
and the like. When he knows it all, then he knows what to preach next, What
would be thought of the physician who should give medicine 205to his patient, and then give it again and again,
without trying to learn the effect of the first, or whether it had produced any
effect or not? A minister never will be able to deal with sinners as he ought,
till he can find out whether his instruction has been received and understood,
and whether the difficulties in sinners’ minds are cleared away, and their path
open to the Saviour, so that they need not stumble and stumble till their souls
are lost.
I had designed to notice several other points, but
time does not admit. I wish to close with a few
REMARKS.
1. We see why so few of the leading minds in
many communities are converted.
Until the late revivals, professional men were rarely
reached by preaching, and they were almost all infidels at heart. People almost
understood the Bible to warrant the idea, that they could not be converted. The
reason is obvious. The Gospel had not been commended to the consciences of such
men. Ministers had not grappled with mind, and reasoned so as to make
that class of mind see the truth of the Gospel, and feel its power, and
consequently such persons had come to regard religion as something unworthy
their notice.
But of late years the case is altered, and in some
places there have been more of this class of persons converted, in proportion
to their numbers, than of any others. That is because they were made to
understand the claims of the Gospel. The preacher grappled with their minds,
and showed them the reasonableness of religion. And when this is done, it is
found that that class of minds are more easily converted than any other. They
have so much better capacity to receive an argument, and are so much more in
the habit of yielding to the force of reason, that as soon as the Gospel gets a
fair hold of their minds, it breaks them right down, and melts them at the feet
of Christ.
2. Before the Gospel can take general effect, we must
have a class of extempore preachers, for the following reasons:
(1.) No set of men can stand the labor of writing
sermons and doing all the preaching which will be requisite.
(2.) Written preaching is not calculated to produce
the requisite effect. Such preaching does not present truth in the right shape.
(3.) It is impossible for a man who writes his
sermons to arrange his matter, and turn and choose his thoughts, so as 206to produce the same effect as when he addresses the
people directly, and makes them feel that he means them. Writing sermons
had its origin in times of political difficulty. The practice was unknown in
the apostles’ days. No doubt written sermons have done a great deal of good,
but they can never give to the Gospel its great power. Perhaps many ministers
have been so long trained in the use of notes, that they had better not throw
them away. Perhaps they would make bad work without them. The difficulty would
not be for the want of mind, but from wrong training. The bad habit is begun
with the school boy, who is called to “speak his piece.” Instead of being set
to express his own thoughts and feelings in his own language, and with his own
natural manner, such as nature herself prompts, he is made to commit another
person’s writing to memory, and then mouths it out in a stiff and formal
way. And so when he goes to college, and to the seminary, instead of being
trained to extempore speaking, he is set to writing his piece, and
commit it to memory. I would pursue the opposite course from the beginning. I
would give him a subject, and let him first think, and then speak
his thoughts. Perhaps he will make mistakes. Very well, that is to be
expected—in a beginner. But he will learn. Suppose he is not eloquent, at
first. Very well, he can improve. And he is in the very way to improve. This
kind of training alone will ever raise up a class of ministers who can convert
the world.
But it is objected to extemporaneous preaching, that
if ministers do not write, they will not think. This objection
will have weight with those men whose habit has always been to write down their
thoughts. But to a man of a different habit, it will have no weight at all.
Writing is not thinking. And if I should judge from many of the written sermons
I have heard preached, the makers of them had been doing anything rather than thinking.
The mechanical labor of writing is really a hinderance to close and rapid
thought. It is true that some extempore preachers have not been men of thought.
And so it is true that many men who write sermons, are not men of thought. A
man whose habits have always been such, that he has thought only when he has
put his mind on the end of his pen, will of course, if he lays aside his pen,
at first find it difficult to think; and if he attempts to preach without
writing, will, until his habits are thoroughly changed, find it difficult to
throw into his sermons the same amount of thought, as if he conformed to his
old habits of writing. But it should be remembered that this is 207only on account of his having been trained to
write, and having always habituated himself to it. It is the training and habit
that renders it so difficult for him to think without writing. Will any body
pretend to say that lawyers are not men of thought? That their arguments before
a court and jury, are not profound and well digested? And yet every one knows
that they do not write their speeches. It should be understood, too, that in
college, they have the same training with ministers, and have the same
disadvantage of having been trained to write their thoughts; and it is only
after they enter upon their profession, that they change their habit. Were they
educated, as they should be, to extempore habits in the schools, they
would be vastly more eloquent and powerful in argument than they are.
I have heard much of this objection to extempore
preaching ever since I entered the ministry. It was often said to me then, in
answer to my views of extempore preaching, that ministers who preached
extemporaneously, would not instruct the churches, that there would be a
great deal of sameness in their preaching, and they would soon become insipid
and repetitious for want of thought. But every year’s experience has ripened
the conviction on my mind, that the reverse of this objection is true.
The man who writes least may, if he pleases, think most, and will say
what he does think in a manner that will be better understood than if it were
written; and that, just in the proportion that he lays aside the labor of
writing, his body will be left free to exercise, and his mind to vigorous and
consecutive thought.
The great reason why it is supposed that extempore
preachers more frequently repeat the same thoughts in their preaching, is
because what they say is, in a general way, more perfectly remembered by the
congregation, than if it had been read. I have often known preachers, who could
repeat their written sermons once in a few months, without its being recognised
by the congregation. But the manner in which extempore sermons are
generally delivered is so much more impressive, that the thoughts cannot in
general be soon repeated, without being remembered. We shall never have a set
of men in our halls of legislation, in our courts of justice, and in our
pulpits, that are powerful and overwhelming speakers, and can carry the world
before them, till our system of education teaches them to think,
closely, rapidly, consecutively, and till all their habits of speaking in the
schools are extemporaneous. The very style of communicating thought, in what is
commonly called a good style of writing, 208is
not calculated to leave a deep impression on the mind, or to communicate
thought in a clear and impressive manner. It is not laconic, direct, pertinent.
It is not the language of nature. It is impossible that gestures should be suited
to the common style of writing. And consequently, when they attempt to gesture
in reading an essay, or delivering a written sermon, their gestures are a
burlesque upon all public speaking.
In delivering a sermon in this essay style of
writing, it is impossible that nearly all the fire of meaning and power of
gesture, and looks, and attitude, and emphasis should not be lost. We can never
have the full meaning of the Gospel, till we throw away our notes.
3. A minister’s course of study and training for his
work should be exclusively theological.
I mean just as I say. I am not now going to discuss
the question whether all education ought not to be theological. But I say
education for the ministry should be exclusively so. But you will ask, Should
not a minister understand science? I would answer, Yes, the more the better. I
would that ministers might understand all science. But it should all be in
connection with theology. Studying science is studying the works of God. And
studying theology is studying God.
Let a scholar be asked, for instance, this question:
“Is there a God?” To answer it, let him ransack the universe, let him go out
into every department of science, to find the proofs of design, and in
this way to learn the existence of God. Let him next inquire how many gods
there are, and let him again ransack creation to see whether there is such a unity
of design as evinces that there is one God. In like manner, let him
inquire concerning the attributes of God, and his character. He will learn
science here, but will learn it as a part of theology. Let him search every field
of knowledge, to bring forward his proofs. What was the design of this plan?
What was the end of that arrangement? See whether everything you find in the
universe is not calculated to produce happiness, unless perverted.
Would the student’s heart get hard and cold in study,
as cold and hard as the college walls, if science was pursued in this way?
Every lesson brings him right up before God, and is in fact communion with God,
and warms his heart, and makes him more pious, more solemn, more holy. The very
distinction between classical and theological study is a curse to the church,
and a curse to the world. The student spends four years in college at classical
studies, and no God in them, 209and then three
years in the seminary, at theological studies; and what then? Poor young
man. Set him to work, and you will find that he is not educated for the
ministry at all. The church groans under his preaching, because he does not
preach with unction, nor with power. He has been spoiled in training.
4. We learn what is revival preaching. All
ministers should be revival ministers, and all preaching should be revival
preaching; that is, it should be calculated to promote holiness. People say,
“It is very well to have some men in the church, who are revival preachers, and
who can go about and promote revivals; but then you must have others to indoctrinate
the church.” Strange! Do they not know that a revival indoctrinates the church
faster than anything else! And a minister will never produce a revival, if he
does not indoctrinate his hearers. The preaching I have described, is full of
doctrine, but it is doctrine to be practised. And that is revival
preaching.
5. There are two objections sometimes brought
against the kind of preaching which I have recommended.
(1.) That it is letting down the dignity of
the pulpit to preach in this colloquial, lawyer-like style. They are shocked at
it. But it is only on account of its novelty, and not for any impropriety there
is in the thing itself. I heard a remark made by a leading layman in the centre
of this State, in regard to the preaching of a certain minister. He said it was
the first preaching he ever heard, that he understood, and the first minister
he ever heard that spoke as if he believed his own doctrine, or meant what he
said. And when he first heard him preach as if he was saying something that he
meant, he thought he was crazy. But eventually, he was made to see that it was
all true, and he submitted to the truth, as the power of God for the salvation
of his soul.
What is the dignity of the pulpit? To see a minister
go into the pulpit to sustain its dignity! Alas, alas! During my foreign tour,
I heard an English missionary preach exactly in that way. I believe he was a
good man, and out of the pulpit he would talk like a man that meant what he
said. But no sooner was he in the pulpit, than he appeared like a perfect
automaton—swelling, mouthing, and singing, enough to put all the people to
sleep. And the difficulty seemed to be, that he wanted to maintain the dignity
of the pulpit.
(2.) It is objected that this preaching is theatrical.
The bishop of London once asked Garrick, the celebrated play-actor, why it was
that actors, in representing a mere fiction, 210should move an assembly, even to tears, while ministers, in representing
the most solemn realities, could scarcely obtain a hearing. The philosophical
Garrick well replied, “It is because we represent fiction as reality, and you
represent reality as a fiction.” This is telling the whole story. Now what is
the design of the actor in a theatrical representation? It is so to throw
himself into the spirit and meaning of the writer, as to adopt his sentiments,
make them his own, feel them, embody them, throw them out upon the audience as
living reality. And now, what is the objection to all this in preaching? The
actor suits the action to the word, and the word to the action. His looks, his
hands, his attitudes, and everything are designed to express the full
meaning of the writer. Now this should be the aim of the preacher. And if
by “theatrical” be meant the strongest possible representation of the
sentiments expressed, then the more theatrical a sermon is, the better. And if
ministers are too stiff, and the people too fastidious, to learn even from an
actor, or from the stage, the best method of swaying mind, of enforcing
sentiment, and diffusing the warmth of burning thought over a congregation,
then they must go on with their prosing, and reading, and sanctimonious starch.
But let them remember, that while they are thus turning away and decrying the
art of the actor, and attempting to support “the dignity of the pulpit,” the
theatres can be thronged every night. The common-sense people will be
entertained with that manner of speaking, and sinners will go down to hell.
6. A congregation may learn how to choose a minister.
When a vacant church are looking out for a minister,
there are two leading points on which they commonly fix their attention. (1.)
That he should be popular. (2.) That he should be learned. That
is very well. But this point should be the first in their inquiries—“Is he wise
to win souls?” No matter how eloquent a minister is, or how learned. No
matter how pleasing and popular in his manners. If it is a matter of fact that
sinners are not converted under his preaching, it shows that he has not this
wisdom, and your children and neighbors will go down to hell under his
preaching.
I am happy to know that many churches will ask this
question about ministers. And if they find that a minister is destitute of this
vital quality, they will not have him. And if ministers can be found who are
wise to win souls, the churches will have such ministers. It is in vain
to contend against it, or to pretend that they are not well educated, or not
learned, or the like. It is in vain for the schools to try to force down 211the throats of the churches a race of ministers who
are learned in everything but what they most need to know. The churches have
pronounced them not made right, and they will not sustain that which is
notoriously so inadequate as the present system of theological education.
It is very difficult to say what needs to be said on
this subject, without being in danger of begetting a wrong spirit in the
church, towards ministers. Many professors of religion are ready to find fault
with ministers when they have no reason; insomuch, that it becomes very
difficult to say of ministers what is true, and what needs to be said, without
its being perverted and abused by this class of professors. I would not for the
world say anything to injure the influence of a minister of Christ, who is
really endeavoring to do good. I would that they deserved a hundred times more
influence than they now deserve or have. But, to tell the truth will not injure
the influence of those ministers, who by their lives and preaching give
evidence to the church, that their object is to do good, and win souls to
Christ. This class of ministers will recognise the truth of all that I
have said, or wish to say. They see it all, and deplore it. But if there be
ministers who are doing no good, who are feeding themselves and not the flock,
such ministers deserve no influence. If they are doing no good, it is
time for them to betake themselves to some other profession. They are but
leeches on the very vitals of the church, sucking out its heart’s blood. They
are useless, and worse than useless. And the sooner they are laid aside, and
their places filled with those who will exert themselves for Christ the
better.
Finally—It is the duty of the church to pray for us,
ministers. Not one of us is such as we ought to be. Like Paul, we can say, “Who
is sufficient for these things?” But who of us is like Paul? Where will you
find such a minister as Paul? They are not here. We have been wrongly educated,
all of us. Pray for the schools, and colleges, and seminaries. And pray for
young men who are preparing for the ministry. Pray for ministers, that God
would give them this wisdom to win souls. And pray that God would bestow upon
the church the wisdom and the means to educate a generation of ministers who
will go forward and convert the world. The church must travail in
prayer, and groan and agonize for this. This is now the pearl of price to the
church, to have a supply of the right sort of ministers. The coming of
the millennium depends on having a different sort of ministers, who are more
thoroughly educated for their work. And this we shall have so 212sure as the promise of the Lord holds good. Such a
ministry as is now in the church will never convert the world. But the world is
to be converted, and therefore God intends to have ministers who will do
it. “Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth
laborers into his harvest.”
LECTURE XIII.
HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS.
Text.—And it came to pass, when Moses held up
his hand, that
You who read your Bibles will recollect the
connection in which these verses stand. The people of God in subduing their
enemies came to battle against the Amalekites, and these incidents took place.
It is difficult to conceive why importance should be attached to the
circumstance of Moses holding up his hands, unless the expression is understood
to denote the attitude of prayer. And then his holding up his hands, and the
success attending it, will teach us the importance of prayer to God, for his
aid in all our conflicts with the enemies of God. The co-operation and support
of Aaron and Hur have been generally understood to represent the duty of
churches to sustain and assist ministers in their work, and the importance of
this co-operation to the success of the preached Gospel. I shall make this use
of it on the present occasion. As I have spoken of the duty of ministers to
labor for revivals, I shall now consider,
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
CO-OPERATION OF THE CHURCH IN PRODUCING AND CARRYING ON A REVIVAL.
There are a number of things whose importance in
promoting a revival has not been duly considered by churches and ministers,
which if not attended to will make it impossible that revivals should extend,
or even continue for any considerable time. In my last two lectures, I have
been dwelling on the duties of ministers, as it was impossible for me to preach
a course of lectures on revivals without entering more or less extensively into
that department of means. I have not done with that part of the subject, but
have thought it important here to step aside and discuss some points in which
the church must stand by and aid their minister, if 214they expect to enjoy a revival. In discussing the
subject, I propose,
I. To mention several things which Christians must avoid,
if they would support ministers.
II. Some things to which they must attend.
I. I am to mention several things that must be
avoided.
1. By all means keep clear of the idea, both in
theory and practice, that a minister is to promote revivals alone. Many
people are inclined to take a passive attitude on this subject, and feel as if
they had nothing to do. They have employed a minister and paid him, to feed
them with instruction and comfort, and now they have nothing to do but to sit
and swallow the food he gives. They are to pay his salary, and attend on his
preaching, and they think that is doing a great deal. And he on his part is
expected to preach good, sound, comfortable doctrine, to bolster them up, and
make them feel comfortable, and so they expect to go to heaven. I tell you,
THEY WILL GO TO HELL, if this is their religion. That is not the way to heaven.
Rest assured that where this spirit prevails in the
church, however good the minister may be, the church have taken the course to
prevent a revival. If he is ever so faithful, ever so much engaged, ever so
talented and eloquent, he may wear himself out, and perhaps destroy his life,
but he will have little or no revival.
Where there is no church, or very few members in the
church, a revival may be promoted without any organized effort of the church,
because it is not there, and in such a case, God accommodates his grace to the
circumstances, as he did when the apostles went out, single-handed, to plant
the Gospel in the world. I have seen instances of powerful revivals where such
was the case. But where there are means, God will have them used. I had rather
have no church in a place, than attempt to promote a revival in a place where
there is a church which will not work. God will be inquired of by his people to
bestow blessings. The counteracting influence of a church that will not work is
worse than infidelity. There is no possibility of occupying neutral ground, in
regard to a revival, though some professors imagine they are neutral. If a
professor will not lay himself out in the work, he opposes it. Let such a one attempt
to take middle ground, and say he is going to wait and see how they come
out—why, that is the very ground the devil wants him to take. Professors can in
this way do his work a great deal more effectually than by open opposition. If
they take 215open ground in
opposition, everybody will say they have no religion. But by this middle course
they retain their influence, and thus do the devil’s work more effectually.
In employing a minister, a church must remember that
they have only employed a leader to lead them on to action in the cause
of Christ. People would think it strange if any body should propose to support
a general and then let him go and fight alone! This is no more absurd, or
destructive, than for a minister to attempt to go forward alone. The church
misconceive the design of the ministry, if they leave their minister to work
alone. It is not enough that they should hear the sermons. That is only the
word of command, which the church are bound to follow.
2. Do not complain of your minister because
there is no revival, if you are not doing your duty. It is of no use to
complain of there being no revival, if you are not doing your duty. That
alone is a sufficient reason why there should be no revival. It is a most
cruel and abominable thing for a church to complain of their minister, when
they themselves are fast asleep. It is very common for professors of religion
to take great credit to themselves, and quiet their own consciences by
complaining of their ministers. And when the importance of ministers being
awake is spoken of, this sort of people are ready to say, We never shall have a
revival with such a minister, when the fact is that their minister is much more
awake than they are themselves.
Another thing is true in regard to this point, and worthy
of notice. When the church is sunk down in a low state, professors of religion
are very apt to complain of the church, and of the low state of religion among
them. That intangible and irresponsible being, the “church,” is greatly
complained of by them, for being asleep. Their complaints of the low state of
religion, and of the coldness of the church or of the minister, are poured out
dolefully, without their seeming to realize that the church is composed of
individuals, and that until each one will take his own case in hand,
complain of himself, and humble himself before God, and repent, and wake
up, the church can never have any efficiency, and there never can be a revival.
If instead of complaining of your minister, or of the church, you would wake up
as individuals, and not complain of him or them until you can say you are pure
from the blood of all men, and are doing your duty to save sinners, he would be
apt to feel the justice of your complaints, and if he would not God would, and
would either wake him up or remove him.
216
3. Do not let your minister kill himself by
attempting to carry on the work alone, while you refuse to help him. It
sometimes happens that a minister finds the ark of the Lord will not move
unless he lays out his utmost strength, and he has been so desirous of a
revival that he has done this, and has died. And he was willing to die for it.
I could mention some cases in this State, where ministers have died, and no
doubt in consequence of their labors to promote a revival where the church hung
back from the work.
I will mention one case. A minister, some years
since, was laboring where there was a revival; and was visited by an elder of a
church at some distance who wanted him to go and preach there. There was no
revival there, and never had been, and the elder complained about their state,
said they had had two excellent ministers, one had worn himself completely out
and died, and the other had exhausted himself, and got discouraged, and left
them, and they were a poor and feeble church, and their prospects very dark
unless they could have a revival, and so he begged this minister to go and help
them. He seemed to be very sorrowful, and the minister heard his whining, and
at last replied by asking, Why did you never have a revival? I do not know,
said the elder. Our minister labored hard, but the church did not seem to wake
up, and somehow there seemed to be no revival. “Well, now,” said the minister,
“I see what you want; you have killed one of God’s ministers, and broke down
another so that he had to leave you, and now you want to get another there and
kill him, and the devil has sent you here to get me to go and rock your cradle
for you. You had one good minister to preach to you, but you slept on, and he
exerted himself till he absolutely died in the work. Then the Lord let you have
another, and still you lay and slept, and would not wake up to your duty. And
now you have come here in despair, and want another minister, do you? God
forbid that you should ever have another while you do as you have done. God
forbid that you should ever have a minister, till the church will wake up to
duty.” The elder was affected, for he was a good man. The tears came in his
eyes, and he said it was no more than they deserved. “And now,” said the minister,
“will you be faithful, and go home and tell the church what I say? If you will,
and they will be faithful and wake up to duty, they shall have a minister, I
will warrant them that.” The elder said he would, and he was true to his word;
he went home and told the church how cruel it was for them to ask another
minister to come among them, unless they would wake up. They felt it, 217and confessed their sins, and waked up to duty, and a
minister was sent to them, and a precious and powerful revival followed.
Churches do not realize how often their coldness and
backwardness may be absolutely the cause of the death of ministers. The state
of the people, and of sinners, rests upon their mind, they travail in soul
night and day, and they labor in season and out of season, beyond the power of
the human constitution to bear, till they wear out and die. The church know not
the agony of a minister’s heart, when he travails for souls, and labors to wake
up the church to help, and still sees them in the slumbers of death. Perhaps
sometimes they will rouse up to spasmodic effort for a few days, and then all
is cold again. And so many a faithful minister wears himself out and dies, and
then these heartless professors are the first to blame him for doing so much.
I recollect a case of a good minister, who went to a
place where there was a revival, and while there heard a pointed sermon to
ministers. He received it like a man of God; he did not rebel against God’s
truth, but he vowed to God that he never would rest until he saw a revival
among his people. He returned home and went to work; the church would not wake
up, except a few members, and the Lord blessed them, and poured out his Spirit,
but the minister laid himself down on his bed and died, in the midst of the revival.
4. Be careful not to complain of plain, pointed
preaching, even when its reproofs fasten on yourselves. Churches are apt
to forget that a minister is responsible only to God. They want to make rules
for a minister to preach by, so as not to have it fit them. If he bears
down on the church, and exposes the sins that prevail among them, they call it
personal, and rebel against the truth. Or they say, he should not preach so
plainly to the church before the world; it exposes religion, they say,
and he ought to take them by themselves and preach to the church alone, and not
tell sinners how bad Christians are. But there are cases where a minister can
do no less than to show the house of Jacob their sins. If you ask, Why not do
it when we are by ourselves? I answer, Just as if sinners did not know you did
wrong. I will preach to you by yourselves, about your own sins, when you will
get together by yourselves to sin. But as the Lord liveth, if you sin before
the world, you shall be rebuked before the world. Is it not a fact that sinners
do know how you live, and that they stumble over you into hell? Then do not
blame ministers, when they see it their duty to rebuke the church 218openly, before the world. If you are so proud you
cannot bear this, you need not expect a revival. Do not call preaching too
plain because it exposes the faults of the church. There is no such thing as
preaching too plain.
5. Sometimes professors take alarm, lest the minister
should offend the ungodly by plain preaching. And they will begin to
caution him against it, and ask him if he had not better alter a little to
avoid giving offence, and the like. This fear is excited especially if some of
the more wealthy and influential members of the congregation are offended, lest
they should withdraw their support from the church, and no longer give their
money to help to pay the minister’s salary, and so the burden will come the
heavier on the church. They never can have a revival in such a church. Why, the
church ought to pray, above all things, that the truth may come on the ungodly
like fire. What if they are offended? Christ can get along very well without
their money. Do not blame your minister, nor ask him to change his mode of
preaching to please and conciliate the ungodly. It is of no use for a minister
to preach to the impenitent, unless he can preach the truth to them. And it
will do no good for them to pay for the support of the Gospel, unless it is
preached in such a way that they may be searched and saved.
Sometimes church members will talk among
themselves about the minister’s imprudence, and create a party, and get
into a very wrong spirit, because the wicked are displeased. There was a place
where there was a powerful revival, and great opposition. The church were
alarmed, for fear that if the minister was not less plain and pointed, some of
the impenitent would go and join some other congregation. And one of the
leading men in the church was appointed to go to the minister and ask him not
to preach quite so hard, for if he continued to do so, such and such persons
would leave the congregation. The minister asked, Is not the preaching true?
“Yes.” Does not God bless it? “Yes.” Did you ever see the like of this work
before in this place? “No, I never did.” “Get thee behind me, Satan, the devil
has sent you here on this errand; you see God is blessing the preaching, the
work is going on, and sinners are converted every day, and now you come to get
me to let down the tone of preaching, so as to ease the minds of the ungodly.”
The man felt the rebuke, and took it like a Christian; he saw his error and
submitted, and never again was heard to find fault with the plainness of
preaching.
219
In another town, where there was a revival, a woman
who had some influence, (not pious), complained very much about plain, pointed,
personal preaching, as she called it. But by and by she herself became a
subject of the work. After this some of her impenitent friends reminded her of
what she used to say against the preacher for “preaching it out so hot.” She
now said her views were altered, and she did not care how hot the truth was
preached, if it was red hot.
6. Do not take part with the wicked in any
way. If you do it at all, you will strengthen their hands. If the wicked accuse
the minister of being imprudent, or of being personal, and if the church
members, without admitting that the minister does so, only admit that personal
preaching is wrong, and talk about the impropriety of personal preaching, the
wicked will feel themselves strengthened by such remarks. Do not unite with
them at all, for they will feel that they have you on their side against their
minister. You adopt their principles, and use their language, and are
understood as sympathizing with them. What is personal preaching? No individual
is ever benefited by preaching unless he is made to feel that it means him.
Now such preaching is always personal. It often appears so personal, to wicked
men, that they feel as if they were just going to be called out by name before
the congregation. A minister was once preaching to a congregation, and when
describing certain characters, he said, “If I was omniscient, I could call out
by name the very persons that answer to this picture.” A man cried out, “Name
me!” and he looked as if he was going to sink into the earth. He afterwards
said that he had no idea of speaking out, but the minister described him so
perfectly, that he really thought he was going to call him by name. The
minister did not know there was such a man in the world. It is common for men to
think their own conduct is described, and they complain, “Who has been telling
him about me? Somebody has been talking to him about me, and getting him to
preach at me.” I suppose I have heard of five hundred or a thousand just such
cases. Now if the church members will just admit that it is wrong for a
minister to mean anybody in his preaching, how can he do any good If you
are not willing your minister should mean anybody, or preach to anybody, you
had better dismiss him. Whom must he preach to, if not to the persons, the
individuals before him? And how can he preach to them, when he does not mean
them?
7. If you wish to stand by your minister in promoting
a 220revival, do not by your lives contradict his
preaching. If he preaches that sinners are going to hell, do not give the lie
to it, and smile it all away, by your levity and unconcern. I have heard
sinners speak of the effect produced on their minds, by levity in Christians,
after a solemn and searching discourse. They feel solemn and tender, and
begin to be alarmed at their condition, and they see these professors, instead
of weeping over them, all light and easy, as much as to say, “Do not be afraid,
sinners, it is not so bad, after all; keep cool and you will do well; do you
think we would laugh and joke if you were going to hell so fast? We should not
laugh if only your house was on fire, still less if we saw you burning in it.”
Of what use is it for a minister to preach to sinners, in such a state of
things?
8. Do not needlessly take up the time of your
minister. Ministers often lose a great deal of time by individuals calling on
them to talk, when they have nothing of importance to talk about, and no
particular errand. The minister of course is glad to see his friends, and often
too willing to spend time in conversation with his people, as he loves and
esteems them. Professors of religion should remember that a minister’s time is
worth more than gold, for it can be employed in that which gold can never buy.
If the minister is kept from his knees, or from his Bible, or his study, that
they may indulge themselves in his conversation, they do a great injury. When
you have a good reason for it, you should never be backward to call on
him, and even take up all the time that is necessary. But if you have nothing
in particular to say that is important, keep away. I knew a man in one of our
cities, who was out of business, and he used to take up months of the
minister’s time. He would come to his study, and sit for three hours at a time,
and talk, because he had nothing else to do, till finally, the minister had to
rebuke him plainly, and tell him how much sin he was committing.
9. Be sure not to sanction any thing that is
calculated to divert public attention from the subject of religion. Often when
it comes the time of year to work, when the evenings are long, and business is
light, and the very time to make an extra effort, at this moment, somebody in
the church will give a party, and invite some Christian friends, so as
to have it a religious party. And then some other family must do the
same, to return the compliment. Then another and another, till it grows into an
organized system of parties, that consume the whole winter. Abominable! This is
the grand device of the devil, because it appears so innocent, and so 221proper, to promote good feeling, and increase the
acquaintance of Christians with each other. And so, instead of prayer meetings
they will have these parties.
The evils of these parties are very great. They are
often got up at great expense, and the most abominable gluttony is practised in
them. It is said that the expense is from one hundred to two thousand dollars.
I have been told that in some instances, professed Christians have given great
parties, and made great entertainments, and excused their ungodly prodigality
in the use of Jesus Christ’s money, by giving what was left, after the feast
was ended, to the poor! Thus making it a virtue to feast and riot, even
to surfeiting, on the bounties of God’s providence, under pretence of
benefiting the poor. This is the same in principle, with a splendid ball which
was given some years since, in a neighboring city. The ball was got up for the
benefit of the poor, and each gentleman was to pay a certain sum, and after the
ball was ended, whatever remained of the funds thus raised, was to be given to
the poor. Truly this is strange charity, to eat and drink and dance, and when
they have rioted and feasted until they can enjoy it no longer, they deal out
to the poor the crumbs that have fallen from the table. I do not see why such a
ball is not quite as pious as such Christian parties. The evil of balls does
not consist simply in the exercise of dancing, but in the dissipation, and
surfeiting, and temptations connected with them.
But it is said they are Christian parties, and
that they are all, or nearly all, professors of religion who attend them. And
furthermore, that they are concluded, often, with prayer. Now I regard this as
one of the worst features about them; that after the waste of time and money, the
excess in eating and drinking, the vain conversation, and nameless fooleries,
with which such a season is filled up, an attempt should be made to sanctify
it, and palm it off upon God, by concluding it with prayer. Say what you will,
it would not be more absurd or incongruous, or impious, to close a ball, or a
theatre, or a card party with prayer.
Has it come to this, that professors of religion,
professing to desire the salvation of the world, when such calls are made upon
them, from the four winds of heaven, to send the Gospel, to furnish Bibles, and
tracts, and missionaries, to save the world from death, that they should spend
hundreds of dollars in an evening, and then go to the monthly concert and pray
for the heathen!
In some instances, I have been told, they find a
salve for 222their consciences, in
the fact that their minister attends their parties. This, of course,
would give weight to such an example, and if one professor of religion made a
party and invited their minister, others must do the same. The next step they
take may be for each to give a ball, and appoint their minister a manager! Why
not? And perhaps, by and by, he will do them the favor to play the fiddle. In
my estimation he might quite as well do it, as to go and conclude such a party
with prayer.
I have heard with pain, that a circle of parties, I
know not to what extent, has been held in
Professors of religion should never get up anything
that may divert public attention from religion, without first having
consulted their minister, and made it a subject of special prayer. And if they
find it will have this effect, they ought never to do it. Subjects will often
come up before the public which have this tendency; some course of lectures, or
show, or the like. Professors ought to be wise, and understand what they are
about, and not give countenance to any such thing, until they see what
influence it will have, and whether it will hinder a revival. If it will do that,
let them have nothing to do with it. Every such thing should be estimated by
its bearing upon Christ’s kingdom.
In relation to parties, say what you please about
their being an innocent recreation, I appeal to any of you who have ever
attended them, to say whether they fit you for prayer, or increase your
spirituality, or whether sinners are ever converted in them, or Christians made
to agonize in prayer for souls?
II. I am to mention several things which churches
must DO, if they would promote a revival and aid their minister.
1. They must attend to his temporal wants. A
minister, who gives himself wholly to the work, cannot be engaged in worldly
employments, and of course is entirely dependent on his people for the
supply of his temporal wants, including the support of his family. I need not
argue this point here, for 223you all
understand this perfectly. It is the command of God, that “they which preach
the Gospel should live of the Gospel.” But now look around and see how many
churches do in this matter. For instance, when they want a minister, they will
cast about and see how cheap they can get one. They will calculate to a
farthing how much his salt will cost, and how much his meal, and then set his
salary so low as to subject him to extreme inconvenience to get along and keep
his family. A minister must have his mind at ease, to study and labor with
effect, and he cannot screw down prices, and banter, and look out for the best
chances to buy to advantage what he needs. If he is obliged to do this, his mind
is embarrassed. Unless his temporal wants are so supplied, that his thoughts
may be abstracted from them, how can he do his duty?
2. Be honest with your minister.
Do not measure out and calculate with how much salt
and how many bushels of grain he can possibly get along. Remember, you are
dealing with Christ. And he calls you to place his ministers in such a
situation that with ordinary prudence temporal embarrassment is out of the
question.
3. Be punctual with him.
Sometimes churches, when they are about settling a
minister, have a great deal of pride about giving a salary, and they will get
up a subscription, and make out an amount which they never pay, and very likely
never expected to pay. And so, after one, two, three, or four years, the
society gets three or four hundred dollars in arrears to their minister, and
then they expect he will give it to them. And all the while they wonder why
there is no revival! This may be the very reason, because the church have LIED;
they have faithfully promised to pay so much, and have not done it. God cannot
consistently pour out his Spirit on such a church.
4. Pay him his salary without asking.
Nothing is so embarrassing, often, to a minister as
to be obliged to dun his people for his salary. Often he gets enemies, and
gives offence, by being obliged to call, and call, and call for his
money, and then not get it as they promised. They would have paid it if their credit
had been at stake, but when it is nothing but conscience and the
blessing of God, they let it lie along. if any one of them had a note at the
bank, you would see him careful and prompt to be on the ground before three
o’clock. That is because the note will be protested, and they shall lose their
character. But they know the minister will not sue them for his salary,
and they 224are careless and let it
run along, and he must suffer the inconvenience. This is not so common in the
city as it is in the country. But in the country, I have known some
heart-rending cases of distress and misery, by the negligence and cruelty of
congregations in WITHHOLDING that
which is due. Churches live in habitual lying and cheating, and then wonder why
they have no revival. How can they wonder?
5. Pray for your minister.
I mean something by this. And what do you suppose I mean?
Even the apostles used to urge the churches to pray for them. This is more
important than you imagine. Ministers do not ask people to pray for them simply
as men, nor that they may be filled with an abundance of the Spirit’s
influences, merely to promote their personal enjoyment. But they know that
unless the church greatly desires a blessing upon the labors of a minister, it
is tempting God for him to expect it. How often does a minister go into his
pulpit, feeling that his heart is ready to break for the blessing of God, while
he also feels that there is no room to expect it, for there is no reason to
believe the church desire it! Perhaps he has been two hours on his knees in
supplication, and yet because that the church do not desire a blessing, he feels
as if his words would bound back in his face.
I have seen Christians who would be in an agony, when
the minister was going into the pulpit, for fear his mind should be in a cloud,
or his heart cold, or he should have no unction, and so a blessing should not
come. I have labored with a man of this sort. He would pray until he got
assurance in his mind that God would be with me in preaching, and sometimes he
would pray himself sick. I have known the time, when he has been in darkness
for a season, while the people were gathering, and his mind was full of
anxiety, and he would go again and again to pray, till finally he would come
into the room with a placid face, and say, “The Lord has come, and he will be
with us.” And I do not know that I ever found him mistaken.
I have known a church bear their minister on their
arms in prayer from day to day, and watch with anxiety unutterable, to see that
he has the Holy Ghost with him in his labors! When they feel and pray thus, Oh,
what feelings and what looks are manifest in the congregation! They have felt
anxiety unutterable to have the word come with power, and take effect, and when
they see their prayer answered, and they hear a word or a sentence come WARM
from the heart, and taking effect among the people, you can see their whole 225souls look out of their eyes. How different is the
case, where the church feel that the minister is praying, and so there
is no need of their praying! They are mistaken. The church must desire and pray
for the blessing. God says he will be inquired of by the house of
I have seen cases in revivals, where the church was
kept in the back ground in regard to prayer, and persons from abroad were
called on to pray in all the meetings. This is always unhappy, even if there
should be a revival, for the revival must be less powerful and less salutary in
its influences upon the church. I do not know but I have sometimes offended
Christians and ministers from abroad, by continuing to call on members of the
church in the place to pray, and not on those from abroad. It was not from any
disrespect to them, but because the object was to get that church which
was chiefly concerned, to desire, and pray, and agonize for a blessing.
In a certain place, a protracted meeting was held,
with no good results, and great evils produced. I was led to make inquiry for
the reason. And it came out, that in all their meetings, not one member of
their own church was called on to pray, but all the prayers were made by
persons from abroad. No wonder there was no good done. The church was not
interested. The leader of the meeting meant well, but he undertook to promote a
revival without getting the church there into the work. He let a lazy church
lie still and do nothing, and so there could be no good.
Churches should pray for ministers as the agents of
breaking down sinners with the word of truth. Prayer for a minister is often
done in a set and formal way, and confined to the prayer meetings. They will say
their prayers in the old way, as they have always done: “Lord, bless thy
ministering servant, whom thou hast stationed on this part of
I knew a case of a minister in ill health, who became
226depressed and sunk down in his mind, and was very
much in darkness, so that he did not feel as if he could preach any longer. An
individual of the church was waked up to feel for the minister’s situation, and
to pray that he might have the Holy Ghost to attend his preaching. One Sabbath
morning, this person’s mind was very much exercised, and he began to pray as
soon as it was light, and prayed again and again for a blessing that day.
And the Lord in some way directed the minister within hearing of his prayer.
The person was telling the Lord just what he thought of the minister’s
situation and state of mind, and pleading, as if he would not be denied, for a
blessing. The minister went into the pulpit and preached, and the light broke
in upon him, and the word was with power, and a revival commenced that very
day.
6. A minister should be provided for by the church,
and his support guarranteed, irrespective of the ungodly. Otherwise he
may be obliged either to starve his family, or to keep back a part of the truth
so as not to offend sinners. I once expostulated with a minister who I found
was afraid to come out fully with the truth. I told him I was surprised he did
not bear down on certain points. He told me he was so situated that he must please
certain men, who would be touched there. It was the ungodly that chiefly
supported him, and that made him dependent and temporizing. And yet perhaps
that very church which left their minister dependent on the ungodly for his
bread, will turn round and abuse him for his want of faith, and his fear of
men. The church ought always to say to their minister, “We will support you; go
to work; let the truth pour down on the people, and we will stand by you.”
7. See that everything is so arranged, that people can
sit comfortably in meeting. If people do not sit easy, it is difficult
to get or to keep their attention. And if they are not attentive, they can not
be converted. They have come to hear for their lives, and they ought to be so
situated that they can hear with all their souls, and have nothing in their
bodily position to call for attention. Churches do not realize how important it
is that the place of meeting should be made comfortable. I do not mean showy.
All your glare and glory of rich chandeliers, and rich carpets, and splendid
pulpits, is the opposite extreme, and takes off the attention just as badly,
and defeats every object for which a sinner should come to meeting. You need
not expect a revival there.
8. See that the house of God is kept cleanly.
The house of God should be kept as clean as you would want your own 227house to be kept. Churches are often kept excessively
slovenly. I have seen them, where people used so much tobacco, and took so
little care about neatness, that it was impossible to preach with comfort. Once
in a protracted meeting, the thing was charged upon the church, and they had to
acknowledge it, that they paid more money for tobacco than they did for the
cause of missions. They could not kneel in their pews, and ladies could not sit
without all the time watching their clothes, and they had to be careful where
they stepped, because the house was so dirty, and there was so much tobacco
juice running all about the floor. If people cannot go where they can hear
without being annoyed with offensive sights and smells, and where they can
kneel in prayer, what good will a protracted meeting do? There is an importance
in these things, which is not realized. See that man! What is he doing? I am
preaching to him about eternal life, and he is thinking about the dirty pew.
And that woman is asking for a footstool to keep her feet out of the tobacco
juice. Shame!
9. It is important that the house should be just warm
enough, and not too warm. Suppose a minister comes into a house, and finds it cold;
he sees as soon as he gets in, that he might as well have staid home; the
people are shivering, their feet cold, they feel as if they should take cold,
they are uneasy, and he wishes he was at home, for he knows he cannot do
anything, but he must preach, or they will be disappointed.
Or he may find the house too warm, and the people,
instead of listening to the truth, are fanning, and panting for breath, and by
and by a woman faints, and makes a stir, and the train of thought and feeling
is all lost, and so a whole sermon is wasted to no good end. These little
things take off the attention of people from the words of eternal life. And
very often it is so, that if you drop a single link in the chain of argument,
you lose the whole, and the people are damned, just because the careless church
do not see to the proper regulation of these little matters.
10. The house should be well ventilated. Of
all houses, a church should be the most perfectly ventilated. If there is no
change of the air, it passes through so many lungs it becomes bad, and its
vitality is exhausted, and the people pant, they know not why, and feel an
almost irresistible desire to sleep, and the minister preaches in vain. The
sermon is lost, and worse than lost. I have often wondered that this matter
should be so little the subject of thought. The elders and trustees will sit
and hear a whole sermon, while the people are all but ready to die for the want
of air, and the minister is wasting 228his
strength in preaching where the room is just like an exhausted receiver, and
there they sit and never think to do any thing to help the matter. They should
take it upon themselves to see that this is regulated right, that the house is
just warm enough, and the air kept pure. How important it is that the church
should be awake to this subject, that the minister may labor to the best
advantage, and the people give their undivided attention to the truth, which is
to save their souls.
It is very common, when things are wrong, to have it
all laid to the sexton. This is not so. Often the sexton is not to blame. If
the house is cold and uncomfortable, very often it is because the fuel is not
good, or the stoves not suitable, or the house is so open it cannot be warmed.
If it is too warm, perhaps somebody has intermeddled when he was out, and
heaped on fuel without discretion. Or, if the sexton is in fault, perhaps it is
because the church do not pay him enough for his services, and he cannot afford
to give the attention necessary to keep the church in order. Churches sometimes
screw down the sexton’s salary, to the lowest point, so that he is obliged to
slight his work. Or they will select one who is incompetent, for the sake of
getting him cheap, and then the thing is not done. The fault is in the church.
Let them give an adequate compensation for the work, and it can be done, and
done faithfully. If one sexton will not do right, another will, and the church
are bound to see it done right, or else let them dismiss their minister, and
not keep him, and at the same time have other things in a state so out of order
that he loses all his work. What economy! To pay the minister’s salary, and
then for the want of fifty dollars added to the sexton’s wages, every thing is
so out of order that the minister’s labors are all lost, souls are lost, and
your children and neighbors go down to hell!
Sometimes this uncleanliness, and negligence, and
confusion are chargeable to the minister. Perhaps he uses tobacco, and sets the
example of defiling the house of God. Perhaps the pulpit will be the filthiest
place in the house. I have sometimes been in pulpits that were to loathesome to
be occupied by human beings. If a minister has no more piety and decency than
this, no wonder things are at loose ends in the congregation. And generally it
is even so.
11. People should leave their dogs, and very young
children at home. I have often known contentions arise among dogs, and children
to cry, just at that stage of the services, that would most effectually destroy
the effect of the meeting. 229If children are
present and weep, they should instantly be removed. I have sometimes
known a mother or a nurse sit and toss her child, while its cries were
diverting the attention of the whole congregation. This is cruel. And as for
dogs, they had infinitely better be dead, than to divert attention from the
word of God. See that deacon; perhaps his dog has in this way destroyed more
souls than the deacon will ever be instrumental in saving.
12. The members of the church should aid the minister
by visiting from house to house, and trying to save souls. Do not leave
all this to the minister. It is impossible he should do it, even if he gives
all his time, and neglects his study and his closet. Church members should take
pains and qualify themselves for this duty, so that they can be useful in it.
13. They should hold Bible classes. Suitable
individuals should be selected to hold Bible classes, for the instruction of
the young people, and where those who are awakened or affected by the
preaching, can be received and be converted. As soon as any one is seen to be
touched, let them be invited to join the Bible class, where they will be
properly treated, and probably they will be converted. The church should select
the best men for this service, and should all be on the look out to fill up the
Bible classes. It has been done in this congregation, and it is a very common
thing, when persons are impressed, that they are observed by somebody, and
invited to join the Bible class, and they will do it, and there they are
converted. I do not mean that we are doing all we ought to do in this way, or
all we might do. We want more teachers, able and willing to take charge of such
classes.
14. Churches should sustain Sabbath schools,
and in this way aid their ministers in saving souls, How can a minister attend
to this and preach? Unless the church will take off these responsibilities, and
cares, and labors, he must either neglect them, or be crushed. Let the church
be WIDE AWAKE, watch and bring in children to the school, and teach them
faithfully, and lay themselves out to promote a revival in the school.
15. They should watch over the members of the
church. They should visit each other, in order to stir each other up, know
each other’s spiritual state, and provoke one another to love and good works.
The minister cannot do it, he has not time; it is impossible he should study
and prepare sermons, and at the same time visit every member of the church as
often as it needs to be done to keep them advancing. The church are bound to do
it. They are under oath to 230watch
over each other’s spiritual welfare. But how is this done? Many do not know
each other. They meet and pass each other as strangers, and never ask about
their spiritual condition. But if they hear anything bad of one, they go and
tell it to others. Instead of watching over each other for their good, they
watch for their halting. How can they watch for good when they are not even
acquainted with each other?
16. The church should watch for the effect of
preaching. If they are praying for the success of the preached word,
they will watch for it of course. They should keep a look out, and when any in
the congregation give evidence that the word of God has taken hold of them,
they should follow it up. Wherever there are any exhibitions of feeling, those
persons should be attended to instantly, and not left till their impressions
wear off. They should talk to them, or get them visited, or get them into the
anxious meeting, or into the Bible class, or bring them to the minister. If the
members of the church do not attend to this, they neglect their duty. If they
attend to it, they may do incalculable good.
There was a pious young woman, who lived in a very
cold and wicked place. She alone had the spirit of prayer, and she had been
praying for a blessing upon the word. At length she saw one individual in the
congregation who seemed to be affected by the preaching, and as soon as the
minister came from the pulpit, she came forward, agitated and trembling, and
begged him to go and converse with the person immediately. He did so, and the
individual was soon converted, and a revival followed. Now one of your stupid
professors would not have seen that individual awakened, and would have
stumbled over half a dozen of them without notice, and let them go to hell.
Professors should watch every sermon, and see how it affects the congregation.
I do not mean that they should be stretching their necks and staring about the
house, but they should observe, as they may, and if they find any person
affected by preaching, throw themselves in his way, and guide him to the
Saviour.
17. Beware and not give away all the preaching
to others. If you do not take your portion, you will starve, and become like
spiritual skeletons. Christians should take their portion to themselves. If the
word should be quite searching to them, they should make the honest
application, and lay it along side their heart and practise it, and live by it.
Otherwise preaching will do them no good.
18. Be ready to aid your minister in effecting his
plans for 231doing good. When the minister is wise to devise plans for
usefulness, and the church ready to execute them, they may carry all before
them. But when the church hang back from every enterprise until they are
actually dragged into it, when they are opposing every proposal, because it
will cost something, they are a dead weight upon a minister. If stoves
are needed, Oh, no, they will cost something. If lamps are called for, to
prevent preaching in the dark, Oh, no, they will cost something. And so they
will stick up candles on the posts, or do without evening meetings altogether.
If they stick up candles, it soon comes to pass that they either give no light,
or some one must run round and snuff them. And so the whole congregation are
disturbed by the candle-snuffer, their attention taken off, and the sermon
lost.
I was once attending a protracted meeting, where we
were embarrassed because there were no lamps to the house. I urged the people
to get them, but they thought it would cost too much. I then proposed to get
them myself, and was about to do it, but found it would give offence, and we
went on without. But the blessing did not come, to any great extent. How could
it? The church began by calculating to a cent how much it would cost, and they
would not go beyond, to save souls from hell.
So where a minister appoints a meeting, such people
cannot have it, because it will cost something. If they can offer unto the Lord
that which costs nothing, they will do it. Miserable helpers they are! Such a
church can have no revival. A minister might as well have a millstone about his
neck as such a church. He had better leave them, if he cannot learn them
better, and go where he will not be so hampered.
19. Church members should make it a point to attend prayer
meetings, and attend in time. Some church members will always attend
on preaching, because there they have nothing to do, but to sit and hear, and
be entertained, but they will not attend prayer meetings, for fear they shall
be called on to do something. Such members tie up the hands of the minister,
and discourage his heart. Why do they employ a minister? Is it to amuse them by
preaching? or is it that he may teach them the will of God that they may do it?
There are many other points which I noted, and
intended to touch upon, but there is not time. I could write a book as big as
this Bible, in detailing the various particulars that ought to be attended to.
I must close with a few
REMARKS.
1. You see that a minister’s want of success may not
be wholly on account of a want of wisdom in the exercise of his office. I am
not going to plead for negligent ministers. I never will spare ministers from
the naked truth, nor apply flattering tides to men. If they are blameworthy,
let them be blamed. And no doubt they are always more or less to blame when the
word produces no effect. But it is far from being true that they are always the
principal persons to blame. Sometimes the church is much more to blame
than the minister, and if an apostle or an angel from heaven were to preach, he
could not produce a revival of religion in that church. Perhaps they are
dishonest to their minister, or covetous, or careless about the conveniences of
public worship. Alas! what a state many country churches are in, where, for the
want of a hundred dollars, everything is inconvenient and uncomfortable, and the
labors of the preacher are lost. They live in ceiled houses themselves, and let
the house of God lie waste. Or the church counteract all the influence of
preaching by their ungodly lives. Or perhaps their parties, their worldly show,
as in most of the churches in this city, annihilate the influence of the
Gospel.
2. Churches should remember that they are exceedingly
guilty to employ a minister, and then not aid him in his work. The Lord Jesus
Christ has sent an ambassador to sinners, to turn them from their evil ways,
and he fails of his errand, because the church refuse to do their duty. Instead
of recommending his message, and seconding his entreaties, and holding up his
hands in all the ways that are proper, they stand right in the way, and
contradict his message, and counteract his influence, and souls perish. No
doubt in most of the congregations in the United States, the minister is often
hindered so much that he might as well be on a foreign mission a great part of
the time, as to be there, for any effect of his preaching in the conversion of
sinners, while he has to preach over the heads of an inactive, stupid church.
And yet these very churches are not willing to have
their 233minister absent a few days to attend a protracted
meeting. “We cannot spare him; why he is our minister, and we like to
have our minister here;” while at the same time they hinder all he can do. If
he could, he would tear himself right away, and go where there is no minister,
and where the people would be willing to receive the Gospel. But there he must
stay, though he cannot get the church into a state to have a revival once in
three years, to last three months at a time. It might be well for him to say to
the church, “Whenever you are determined to take one of these long naps, I wish
you to let me know it, so that I can go and labor somewhere else in the mean
time, till you are ready to wake again.”
3. Many churches cannot be blessed with a revival,
because they are spunging out of other churches, and out of the treasury
of the Lord for the support of their minister, when they are abundantly able to
support him themselves. Perhaps they are depending on the Home Missionary
Society, or on other churches, while they are not exercising any self-denial
for the sake of the Gospel. I have been amazed to see how some churches live.
One church that I was acquainted with actually confessed that they spent more
money for tobacco than they gave for missions. And yet they had no minister, because
they were not able to support one. And they have none now. And yet there is
one man in that church who is able to support a minister. And still they
have no minister, and no preaching.
The churches have not been instructed in their duty
on this subject. I stopped in one place last summer, where there was no
preaching. I inquired of an elder in the church why it was so, and he said it
was because they were so poor. I asked him how much he was worth. He did not
give me a direct answer, but said that another elder’s income was about $5,000
a year, and I finally found out that this man’s was about the same. Here, said
I, are two elders, each of you able to support a minister, and because you
cannot get help from abroad, you have no preaching. Why, if you had preaching,
it would not be blessed, while you were thus spunging out of the Lord’s
treasury. Finally, he confessed that he was able to support a minister, and the
two together agreed that they would do it.
It is common for churches to ask help, when in fact
they do not need any help, and when it would be a great deal better for them to
support their own minister. If they get funds from the Home Missionary Society,
when they ought to raise 234them themselves,
they may expect the curse of the Lord upon them, and this will be a sufficient
reason for the Gospel’s proving to them a curse rather than a blessing. Of how
many churches might it be said, “Ye have robbed God, even this whole church.”
I know a church who employed a minister but half the
time, and felt unable to pay his salary for that. A female working society in a
neighboring town appropriated their funds to this object, and assisted this
church in paying their minister’s salary. The result was as might be expected.
He did them little or no good. They had no revival under his preaching, nor
could they ever expect any, while acting on such a principle. There was one man
in that congregation who could support a minister all the time. I was informed
by a member that the church members were supposed to be worth TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. Now if
this is true, here is a church with an income, at seven per cent., of $14,000 a
year, who felt themselves too poor to pay $200 for support of a minister to
preach half the time, and would suffer the females of a neighboring town to
work with their own hands to aid them in paying this sum. Among the elders of
this church, I found that several of them used tobacco, and two of them who
lived together signed a covenant written on the blank leaf of their Bible, in
which they pledged themselves to abandon that sin for ever.
It was in a great measure for want of right
instruction that this church was pursuing such a course. For when the subject
was taken up, and their duty laid before them, the wealthy man of whom I am
speaking said that he would pay the whole salary himself, if he thought it
would not be resented by the congregation, and do more hurt than good; and that
if the church would procure a minister, and go ahead and raise a part of his
salary, he would make up the remainder. They can now not only support a minister
half the time, but all the time, and pay his salary themselves. And they will
find it good and profitable to do so.
As I have gone from place to place laboring in
revivals, I have always found that churches were blessed in proportion to their
liberality. Where they have manifested a disposition to support the Gospel, and
to pour their substance liberally into the treasury of the Lord, they have been
blessed both in spiritual and temporal things. But where they have been
parsimonious, and let the minister preach for them for little or nothing, these
churches have been cursed instead of blessed. And as a general thing, in
revivals of religion, I 235have found it to
be true that young converts are most inclined to join those churches which are
most liberal in making efforts to support the Gospel.
The churches are very much in the dark on this
subject. They have not been taught their duty. I have, in many instances, found
an exceeding readiness to do it when the subject was laid before them. I knew
an elder in a church who was talking about getting a minister for half the
time, because the church were poor, although his own income was considerable. I
asked him if his income was not sufficient to support a minister all the
time himself. He said it was. And on being asked what other use he could make
of the Lord’s money which he possessed, that would prove so beneficial to the
interest of Christ’s kingdom, as to employ a minister not only half but all the
time in his own town, he concluded to set himself about it. A minister has been
accordingly obtained, and I believe they find no difficulty in paying him his
full salary.
The fact is, that a minister can do but little by
preaching only half the time. If on one Sabbath an impression is made, it is
lost before a fortnight comes round. As a matter of economy, a church should
lay themselves out to support the Gospel all the time. If they get the right
sort of a minister, and keep him steadily at work, they may have a revival, and
thus the ungodly will be converted and come in and help them. And thus in one
year they may have a great accession to their strength. But if they employ a
minister but half the time, year after year may roll away, while sinners are
going to hell, and no accession is made to their strength from the ranks of the
ungodly.
The fact is, that professors of religion have not
been made to feel that all their possessions are the Lord’s. Hence they have
talked about giving their property for the support of the Gospel. As if
the Lord Jesus Christ was a beggar, and they called upon to support his Gospel
as an act of almsgiving! A merchant in one of the towns in this State, was
paying a large part of his minister’s salary. One of the members of the church
was relating the fact to a minister from abroad, and speaking of the sacrifice
which this merchant was making. At this moment the merchant came in. “Brother,”
said the minister, “you are a merchant. Suppose you employ a clerk to sell
goods, and a schoolmaster to teach your children. You order your clerk to pay
your schoolmaster out of the store such an amount, for his services in
teaching. Now suppose your clerk should give out that he had to pay 236this schoolmaster his salary, and should speak of the
sacrifices that he was making to do it, what would you say to this?”
“Why,” said the merchant, “I should say it was ridiculous.” “Well,” says the
minister, “God employs you to sell goods as his clerk, and your minister he
employs to teach his children, and requires you to pay his salary out of the
income of the store. Now, do you call this your sacrifice, and say that you are
making a great sacrifice, to pay this minister’s salary? No, you are just as
much bound to sell goods for God as he is to preach for God. You have no more
right to sell goods for the purpose of laying up money, than he has to preach
the Gospel for the same purpose. You are bound to be just as pious, and to aim as
singly at the glory of God, in selling goods, as he is in preaching the
Gospel. And thus you are as absolutely to give up your whole time for the
service of God as he does. You and your family may lawfully live out of the
avails of this store, and so may the minister and his family, just as lawfully.
If you sell goods from these motives, selling goods is just as much serving God
as preaching. And a man who sells goods upon these principles, and acts in
conformity to them, is just as pious, just as much in the service of God, as he
is who preaches the Gospel. Every man is bound to serve God in his calling,
the minister by teaching, the merchant by selling goods, the farmer by tilling
his fields, the lawyer and physician by plying the duties of their profession.
“It is equally unlawful for any one of these
to labor for the meat that perisheth. All they do is to be for God, and all
they can earn, after comfortably supporting their families, is to be dedicated
to the spread of the Gospel and the salvation of the world.”
It has long enough been supposed that ministers must
be more pious than other men, that they must not love the world, that they
must labor for God: they must live as frugally as possible, and lay out their
whole time, and health, and strength, and life, to build up the kingdom of
Jesus Christ. This is true. But although other men are not called to labor in
the same field, and to give up their time to public instruction, yet they are
just as absolutely bound to consider their whole time as God’s, and have
no more right to love the world, or accumulate wealth, or lay it up for their
children, or spend it upon their lusts, than ministers have.
It is high time the church was acquainted with these
principles; and the Home Missionary Society may labor till the day of judgment
to convert the people, and they will never 237succeed,
till the churches are led to understand and feel their duty in this respect.
Why, the very fact that they are asking and receiving aid in supporting their
minister from the Home Missionary Society while they are able to support him
themselves, is probably the very reason why his labors among them are not more
blessed.
I would that the American Home Missionary Society
possessed a hundred times the means that it now does, of aiding feeble
churches, that are unable to help themselves. But it is neither good economy
nor piety, to give their funds to those who are able but unwilling to support
the Gospel. For it is in vain to attempt to help them, while they are able but
unwilling to help themselves.
If the Missionary Society had a ton of gold, it would
be no charity to give it to such a church. But let the church bring in all the
tithes to God’s storehouse, and God will open the windows of heaven and pour
down a blessing. But let the churches know assuredly that if they are unwilling
to help themselves to the extent of their ability, they will know the reason
why such small success attends the labors of their ministers. Here they are
spunging their support from the Lord’s treasury. How many churches are laying
out their money for tea and coffee and tobacco, and then come and ask aid from
the Home Missionary Society! I will protest against aiding a church who use tea
and tobacco, and live without the least self-denial, and who want to offer God
only that which costs nothing.
Finally—If they mean to be blessed, let them do their duty,
do all their duty, put shoulder to the wheel, gird on the Gospel armor, and
come up to the work. Then, if the church is in the field, the car
of salvation will move on, though all hell oppose, and sinners will be
converted and saved. But if a church will give up all the labor to the minister,
and sit still and look on, while he is laboring, and themselves do nothing but
complain of him, they will not only fail of a revival of religion, but if they
continue slothful and censorious, will by and by find themselves in hell for
their disobedience and unprofitableness in the service of Christ.
LECTURE XIV.
MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS.
Text.—These men, being Jews, do exceedingly
trouble our city and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive,
neither to observe, being Romans.—Acts
xvi. 20, 21.
“THESE men,” here
spoken of, were Paul and Silas, who went to
In discoursing from these words I design to show,
I. That under the Gospel dispensation, God has established
no particular system of measures to be employed and invariably adhered to
in promoting religion.
II. To show that our present forms of public worship,
and everything, so far as measures are concerned, have been arrived at
by degrees, and by a succession of New Measures.
I. I am to show that under the Gospel, God has
established no particular measures to be used.
Under the Jewish dispensation, there were
particular forms enjoined and prescribed by God himself, from which it was not
lawful to depart. But these forms were all typical, and were designed to
shadow forth Christ, or something connected with the new dispensation that
Christ was to introduce. And therefore they were fixed, and all their details
particularly prescribed by Divine authority. But it was never so under the
Gospel. When Christ came, the ceremonial or typical dispensation was abrogated,
because the design of those forms was fulfilled, and therefore themselves of no
further use. He, being the anti-type, the types were of course done away at his
coming. THE GOSPEL was then preached as the appointed means of promoting
religion; and it was left to the discretion of the church to determine, from
time to time, what measures shall be adopted, and what forms pursued, in
giving the Gospel its power. We are left in the 239dark as to the measures which were pursued by the apostles and primitive
preachers, except so far as we can gather it from occasional hints in the book
of Acts. We do not know how many times they sung and how many times they prayed
in public worship, nor even whether they sung or prayed at all in their
ordinary meetings for preaching. When Jesus Christ was on earth, laboring among
his disciples, he had nothing to do with forms or measures. He did from time to
time in this respect just as it would be natural for any man to do in such
cases, without anything like a set form or mode of doing it. The Jews accused
him of disregarding their forms. His object was to preach and teach mankind the
true religion. And when the apostles preached afterwards, with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven, we hear nothing about their having a particular system
of measures to carry on their work, or one apostle doing a thing in a
particular way because others did it in that way. Their commission was, “Go and
preach the Gospel, and disciple all nations.” It did not prescribe any forms.
It did not admit any. No person can pretend to get any set of forms or
particular directions as to measures, out of this commission. Do it—the best
way you can—ask wisdom from God—use the faculties he has given you—seek the
direction of the Holy Ghost—go forward and do it. This was their commission.
And their object was to make known the Gospel in the most effectual way,
to make the truth stand out strikingly, so as to obtain the attention and
secure the obedience of the greatest number possible. No person can find any form
of doing this laid down in the Bible. It is preaching the Gospel that
stands out prominently there as the great thing. The form is left out of the
question.
It is manifest, that, in preaching the Gospel, there
must be some kind of measures adopted. The Gospel must be gotten before the
minds of the people, and measures must be taken so that they can hear it, and
to induce them to attend to it. This is done by building churches, holding
stated or other meetings, and so on. Without some measures, it can never be
made to take effect among men.
II. I am to show that our present forms of public
worship, and everything, so far as measures are concerned, have been
arrived at by degrees, and by a succession of New Measures.
1. I will mention some things in regard to the ministry.
Many years ago, ministers were accustomed to wear a peculiar
habit. It is so now in Catholic countries. It used to be so here. Ministers
had a peculiar dress as much as soldiers. 240They
used to wear a cocked hat, and bands instead of a cravat or stock, and small
clothes, and a wig. No matter how much hair a man had on his head, he must cut
it off and wear a wig. And then he must wear a gown. All these things were
customary, and every clergyman was held bound to wear them, and it was not
considered proper for him to officiate without them. All these had doubtless
been introduced by a succession of innovations, for we have no good reason for
believing that the apostles and primitive ministers dressed differently from
other men.
But now all these things have been given up, one by
one, by a succession of innovations or new measures, until now in many churches
a minister can go into the pulpit and preach without being noticed, although
dressed like any other man. And when it was done in regard to each one of them,
the church complained as much as if it had been a Divine institution given up.
It was denounced as an innovation. When ministers began to lay aside
their cocked hats, and wear hats like other men, it grieved the elderly people
very much; it looked so “undignified,” they said, for a minister to wear a
round hat. When, in 1827 I wore a fur cap, a minister said, “that was too bad
for a minister.”
When ministers first began, a few years since, to
wear white hats, it was thought by many to be a sad and very undignified
innovation. And even now, they are so bigoted in some places, that a clergyman
told me but a few days since, in travelling through
So, in like manner, when ministers laid aside their bands,
and wore cravats or stocks, it was said they were becoming secular, and many
found fault. Even now, in some places, a minister would not dare to be seen in
the pulpit in a cravat or stock. The people would feel as if they had no
clergyman, if he had no bands. A minister in this city asked another, but a few
days since, if it would do to wear a black stock in 241the pulpit. He wore one in his ordinary intercourse
with his people, but doubted whether it would do to wear it in the pulpit.
So in regard to short clothes; they used to be thought
essential to the ministerial character. Even now, in Catholic countries, every
priest wears small clothes. Even the little boys there, who are training for
the priest’s office, wear their cocked hats, and black stockings, and small
clothes. This would look ridiculous amongst us. But it used to be practised in
this country. The time was when good people would have been shocked if a
minister had gone into the pulpit with pantaloons on. They would have thought
he was certainly going to ruin the church by his innovations. I have been told
that some years ago, in New England, a certain elderly clergyman was so opposed
to the new measure of a minister’s wearing pantaloons, that he would on no
account allow them in his pulpit. A young man was going to preach for him, who
had no small clothes, and the old minister would not let him officiate in
pantaloons. “Why,” said he, “my people would think I had brought a fop into the
pulpit, to see a man there with pantaloons on, and it would produce an
excitement among them.” And so, finally, the young man was obliged to borrow a
pair of the old gentleman’s clothes, and they were too short for him, and made
a ridiculous figure enough. But any thing was better than such a terrible
innovation as preaching in pantaloons. But reason has triumphed.
Just so it was in regard to wigs. I remember
one minister, who, though quite a young man, used to wear an enormous white
wig. And the people talked as if there was a divine right about it, and it was
as hard to give it up, almost, as to give up the Bible itself. Gowns
also were considered essential to the ministerial character. And even now, in
many congregations in this country, the people will not tolerate a minister in
the pulpit, unless he has a flowing silk gown, with enormous sleeves as big as
his body. Even in some of the Congregational Churches in
2. In regard to the order of public worship.
The same difficulties have been met in effecting every
change, because the church have felt as if God had established just the mode
which they were used to.
(1.) Psalm Books. Formerly it was customary to
sing David’s Psalms. By and by there was introduced a version of the Psalms in
rhyme. This was very bad, to be sure. When ministers tried to introduce them,
the churches were distracted, people violently opposed, and great trouble was
created by the innovation. But the new measure triumphed.
Afterwards another version was brought forward in a
better style of poetry, and its introduction was opposed with much contention,
as a new measure. And finally Watt’s version, which is still opposed in many
churches. No longer ago than 1828, when I was in Philadelphia, I was told that
a minister there was preaching a course of lectures on psalmody to his
congregation, for the purpose of bringing them to use a better version of
psalms and hymns than the one they were accustomed to. And even now, in a great
many congregations, there are people who will go out of church, if a psalm or
hymn is given out from a new book. And if Watt’s Psalms should be adopted, they
would secede and form a new congregation, rather than tolerate such an
innovation. The same sort of feeling has been excited by introducing the
“Village Hymns” in prayer meetings. In one Presbyterian congregation in this
city, within a few years, the minister’s wife wished to introduce the Village
Hymns into the female prayer meetings, not daring to go any further. She
thought she was going to succeed. But some of the careful souls found out that
is was made in
(2.) Lining the Hymns. Formerly, when there
were but few books, it was the custom to line the hymns, as it was called. The
deacon used to stand up before the pulpit, and read off the psalm or hymn, a
line at a time, or two lines at a 243time,
and then sing, and the rest would all fall in. By and by, they began to
introduce books, and let every one sing from his book. And what an innovation!
Alas, what confusion and disorder it made! How could the good people worship
God in singing, without having the deacon to line off the hymn in his holy
tone, for the holiness of it seemed to consist very much in the tone, which was
such that you could hardly tell whether he was reading or singing.
(3.) Choirs. Afterwards another innovation was
carried. It was thought best to have a select choir of singers sit by
themselves and sing, so as to give an opportunity to improve the music. But
this was bitterly opposed. Oh, how many congregations were torn and rent in
sunder, by the desire of ministers and some leading individuals to bring about
an improvement in the cultivation of music, by forming choirs of singers.
People talked about innovations and new measures, and thought great evils were
coming to the churches, because the singers were seated by themselves, and
cultivated music, and learned new tunes that the old people could not sing. It
did not use to be so when they were young, and they would not tolerate such new
lights and novelties in the church.
(4.) Pitchpipes. When music was cultivated,
and choirs seated together, then the singers wanted a pitchpipe. Formerly, when
the lines were given out by the deacon or clerk, he would strike off into the
tune, and the rest would follow as well as they could. But when the leaders of
choirs begun to use pitchpipes for the purpose of pitching all their voices on
precisely the same key, what vast confusion it made! I heard a clergyman say
that an elder in the town where he used to live, would get up and leave the
house whenever he heard the chorister blow his pipe. “Away with your whistle,”
said he. “What! whistle in the house of God!” He thought it a profanation.
(5.) Instrumental Music. By and by, in some
congregations, various instruments were introduced for the purpose of aiding
the singers, and improving the music. When the bass viol was first introduced,
it made a great commotion. People insisted they might just as well have a fiddle
in the house of God. “Why, it is a fiddle, it is made just like a
fiddle, only a little larger, and who can worship where there is a fiddle? By
and by you will want to dance in the meeting house.” Who has not heard these
things talked of, as matters of the most vital importance to the cause of
religion and the purity of the church? Ministers, in grave ecclesiastical
assemblies, have spent days in discussing them. In a synod in the Presbyterian 244church, only a few years ago, it was seriously talked
of by some, as a matter worthy of discipline in a certain church, that they had
an organ in the house of God. This within a few years. And there are many
churches now who would not tolerate an organ. They would not be half so much
excited to be told that sinners are going to hell, as to be told that there is
going to be an organ in the meeting house. Oh, in how many places can you get
the church to do anything else, easier than to come along in an easy and
natural way to do what is needed, and wisest, and best, for promoting religion
and saving souls! They act as if they had a “Thus saith the Lord,” for every
custom and practice that has been handed down to them, or that they have long
followed themselves, however absurd or injurious.
(6.) Extemporary Prayers. How many people are
there, who talk just as if the Prayer Book was of divine institution! And I
suppose multitudes believe it is. And in some parts of the church a man would
not be allowed to pray without his book before him.
(7.) Preaching without notes. A few years
since, a lady in
(8.) Kneeling in Prayer. This has made a great
disturbance in many parts of the country. The time has been in the
Congregational churches in
245
3. Labors of Laymen.
(1.) Lay Prayers. Much objection was formerly
made against allowing any man to pray or to take a part in managing a prayer
meeting, unless he was a clergyman. It used to be said that for a layman to
pray in public, was interfering with the dignity of ministers, and was not to
be tolerated. A minister in
Ministers and many others have very extensively
objected against a layman’s praying in public, and especially in the
presence of a minister. That would let down the authority of the clergy,
and was not to be tolerated. At a synod held in this State, there was a
synodical prayer meeting appointed. The committee of arrangements, as it was to
be a formal thing, designated beforehand the persons who were to take part, and
named two clergymen and one layman. The layman was a man of talents and
information equal to most ministers. But one doctor of divinity got up and
seriously objected to a layman’s being asked to pray before that synod. It was
not usual, he said; it infringed upon the rights of the clergy, and he wished
no innovations. What a state of things!
(2.) Lay exhortation. This has been made a
question of vast importance, one which has agitated all
But now, all these things are gone by, in most
places, and laymen can pray and exhort without the least objection. The evils
that were feared, from the labors of laymen, have not been realized, and many
ministers are glad to have them exercise their gifts in doing good.
4. Female Prayer Meetings. Within the last few
years, 246female prayer meetings
have been extensively opposed in this State. What dreadful things! A minister,
now dead, said that when he first attempted to establish these meetings, he had
all the clergy around opposed to him. “Set women to praying? Why, the next
thing, I suppose, will be to set them to preaching.” And serious apprehensions
were entertained for the safety of
So it has been in regard to all the active movements
of the church. Missions, Sunday Schools, and everything of the kind, have been
opposed, and have gained their present hold in the church only by a succession
of struggles and a series of innovations. A Baptist Association in
5. I will mention several men who have in
Divine providence been set forward as prominent in introducing these
innovations.
(1.) The apostles were great innovators, as
you all know. After the resurrection, and after the Holy Spirit was poured out
upon them, they set out to remodel the church. They broke down the Jewish
system of measures and rooted it out, so as to leave scarcely a vestige.
(2.) Luther and the Reformers. You all know
what difficulties they had to contend with, and the reason was, that they were
trying to introduce new measures—new modes of performing the public duties of
religion, and new expedients to bring the Gospel with power to the hearts of
men. All the strange and ridiculous things of the Roman Catholics were held to
in the church with pertinacious obstinacy, as if they were of Divine authority.
And such an excitement was raised by the attempt to change them, as well nigh
involved all
(3.) Wesley and his coadjutors. Wesley did not
at first tear 247off from the Established
Church in
Whitefield was a man of the same school, and like
Wesley was an innovator. I believe he and several individuals of his associates
were expelled from college for getting up such a new measure, as a social
prayer meeting. They would pray together and expound the Scriptures, and this
was such a daring novelty that it could not be borne. When Whitefield came to
this country, what an astonishing opposition was raised! Often he well nigh
lost his life, and barely escaped by the skin of his teeth. Now, everybody
looks upon him as the glory of the age in which he lived. And many of our own
denomination have so far divested themselves of prejudice as to think Wesley
not only a good but a wise and pre-eminently useful man. Then almost the entire
church viewed them with animosity, fearing that the innovations he introduced
would destroy the church.
(4.) President Edwards. This great man was
famous in his day for new measures. Among other innovations, he refused to
baptize the children of impenitent parents. The practice of baptizing the
children of the ungodly had been introduced in the New England churches in the
preceding century, and had become nearly universal, President Edwards saw that
the practice was wrong, and he refused to do it, and the refusal shook all the
churches of
The General Association of Connecticut refused to
countenance Whitefield, he was such an innovator. “Why, he will preach out of
doors and anywhere!” Awful! What a terrible thing, that a man should preach in
the fields or in the streets. Cast him out.
All these were devoted men, seeking out ways to do
good and save souls. And precisely the same kind of opposition was experienced
by all the ecclesiastical bodies, obstructing their path and trying to destroy
their character and influence. A book, now extant, was written in
President Edwards’ time, by a doctor of 248divinity,
and signed by a multitude of ministers, against Whitefield and Edwards, their
associates and their measures. A letter was published in this city by a
minister against Whitefield, which brought up the same objections against
innovations that we hear now. In the time of the late opposition to revivals in
the State of
6. In the present generation, many things have
been introduced which have proved useful, but have been opposed on the ground that
they were innovations. And as many are still unsettled in regard to them, I
have thought it best to make some remarks concerning them. There are three
things in particular which have chiefly attracted remark, and therefore I shall
speak of them. They are Anxious Meetings, Protracted Meetings,
and the Anxious Seat. These are all opposed, and are called new measures.
(1.) Anxious Meetings. The first that I ever
heard of under that name, was in
(a.) By spending a few moments in personal
conversation and learning the state of mind of each individual, and then in a
address to the whole, take up all their errors and remove their difficulties
together.
(b.) By going round to each, and taking up
each individual case, and going over the whole ground with each one separately,
and getting them to promise to give up their hearts to God. Either way they are
important, and have been found most successful in practice. But multitudes have
objected to them because they were new.
(2.) Protracted Meetings. These are not new,
but have always been practised, in some form or other, ever since there was a
church on earth. The Jewish festivals were nothing else but protracted
meetings. In regard to the manner, they 249were conducted differently from what they are now. But the design
was the same, to devote a series of days to religious services, in order to
make a more powerful impression of divine things upon the minds of the people.
All denominations of Christians, when religion prospers among them, hold
protracted meetings. In
(a.) In appointing them, regard should be had to
the circumstances of the people; whether the church are able to give their
attention and devote their time to carry on the meeting. In some instances this
rule has been neglected. Some have thought it right to break in upon the
necessary business of the community. In the country, they would appoint the
meeting in harvest time, and in the city in the height of the business season,
when all the men were necessarily occupied and pressed with their
temporal labors. In defence of this course it is said that our business
should always be made to yield to God’s business; that eternal things
are of so much more importance than temporal things, that worldly business of
any kind, and at any time, should be made to yield and give place to a
protracted meeting. But the worldly business in which we are engaged is not our
business. It is as much God’s business, and as much our duty, as our
prayers and protracted meetings are. If we do not consider our business in this
light, we have not yet taken the first lesson in religion; we have not learned
to do all things to the glory of God. With this view of the subject, separating
our business from religion, we are living six days for ourselves, and the
seventh for God. Real duties never
interfere with each other. Week days have their appropriate
duties, and the Sabbath its appropriate duties, and we are to be equally
pious on every day in the week, and in the performance of the duties of every
day. We are to plough, and sow, and sell our goods, and attend to our various
callings, with the same singleness of view to the glory of God, that we go to
church on the Sabbath, and pray in our families, and read our Bibles. This is a
first principle in religion. He that does not know and act on this principle
has not learned the 250A B C of piety as
yet. Now there are particular seasons of the year in which God in his
providence calls upon men to attend to business, because worldly business at
the time is particularly urgent, and must be done at that season, if done at
all; seed time and harvest for the farmer, and the business seasons for the
merchant. And we have no right to say, in those particular seasons, that we
will quit our business and have a protracted meeting. The fact is, the business
is not ours. And unless God, by some special indication of his
providence, shown it to be his pleasure that we should turn aside and have a
protracted meeting at such times, I look upon it as tempting God to appoint
them. It is saying, “O God, this worldly business is our business, and
we are willing to lay it aside for thy business.” Unless God has
indicated it to be his pleasure to pour out his Spirit, and revive his work at
such a season, and has thus called upon his people to quit, for the time
being, their ordinary employments, and attend especially to a protracted
meeting, it appears to me that God might say to us in such circumstances, “Who
hath required this of your hand?”
God has a right to dispose of our time as he pleases,
to require us to give up any portion of our time, or all our time, to duties of
instruction and devotion. And when circumstances plainly call for it, it is our
duty to lay aside every other business, and make direct and continuous efforts
for the salvation of souls. If we transact our business upon right principles,
and from right motives, and wholly for the glory of God, we shall never object
to go aside to attend a protracted meeting whenever there appears to be a call
for it in the providence of God. A man who considers himself a steward or a
clerk, does not consider it a hardship to rest from his labors on the Sabbath,
but a privilege. The selfish owner may feel unwilling to suspend his
business on the Sabbath. But the clerk, who transacts business not for
himself but for his employer, considers it a privilege to rest upon the
Sabbath. So we, if we do our business for God, shall not think it hard if he
makes it our duty to suspend our worldly business and attend a protracted
meeting. We should rather consider it in the light of a holiday. Whenever,
therefore, you hear a man pleading that he cannot leave his business to attend
a protracted meeting—that it is his duty to attend to business, there is reason
to fear that he considers the business as his own, and the meeting as God’s
business. If he felt that the business of the store or farm was as much God’s
business as attending a protracted meeting, he would doubtless 251be very willing to rest from his worldly toils, and
go up to the house of God and be refreshed whenever there was an indication, on
the part of God, that the community was called to that work. It is highly
worthy of remark, that the Jewish festivals were appointed at those seasons of
the year when there was the least pressure of indispensable worldly business.
In some instances, such meetings have been appointed
in the very pressure of the business seasons, and have been followed with no
good results, evidently for the want of attention to the rule here laid down.
In other cases, meetings have been appointed in seasons when there was a great
pressure of worldly business, and have been signally blessed. But in those
cases the blessing followed because the meeting was appointed in obedience to
the indications of the will of God, by those who had spiritual discernment, and
understood the signs of the times. And in many cases, doubtless, individuals
have attended who really supposed themselves to be giving up their
own business, to attend to God’s business, and in such cases they made what
they supposed to be a real sacrifice, and God in mercy granted them the
blessing.
(b.) Ordinarily, a protracted meeting should
be conducted through, and the labor chiefly performed by, the same minister,
if possible. Sometimes protracted meetings have been held and dependence placed
on ministers coming in from day to day. And they would have no blessing. And
the reason was obvious. They did not come in a state of mind to enter into the
work, and they did not know the state of people’s minds, so as to know what to
preach. Suppose a person who was sick should call in a different physician
every day. He would not know what the symptoms had been, nor what was the
course of the disease or of the treatment, nor what remedies had been tried,
nor what the patient could bear. Why, he would certainly kill the patient. Just
so in a protracted meeting, carried on by a succession of ministers. None of
them get into the spirit of it, and generally they do more hurt than good.
A protracted meeting should not, ordinarily, be
appointed, unless they can secure the right kind of help, and get a minister or
two who will agree to stay on the ground till the meeting is done. Then they
will probably secure a rich blessing.
(c.) There should not be so many public
meetings as to interfere with the duties of the closet and of the family.
Otherwise 252Christians will lose
their spirituality and let go their hold of God, and the meeting will run down.
(d.) Families should not put themselves
out so much in entertaining strangers as to neglect prayer and other duties.
It is often the case that when a protracted meeting is held, some of the
principal families in the church, I mean those who are principally relied on to
sustain the meetings, do not get into the work at all. And the reason is, that
they are encumbered with much serving. They often take needless trouble to
provide for guests who come from a distance to the meeting, and lay themselves
out very foolishly to make an entertainment, not only comfortable but
sumptuous. It should always be understood that it is the duty of families to
have as little working and parade as possible, and to get along with their
hospitality in the easiest way, so that they may all have time to pray, and go
to the meeting, and to attend to the things of the kingdom.
(e.) By all means guard against unnecessarily
keeping late hours. If people keep late hours, night after night, they will
inevitably wear out the body, and their health will fail, and there will be a
reaction. They sometimes allow themselves to get so excited as to lose their
sleep, and become irregular in their meals, till they break down, and a
reaction must come. Unless there is the greatest pains taken to keep regular,
the excitement will get so great that nature will give way, and they run down,
and the work stops.
(f.) All sectarianism should be
carefully avoided. If a sectarian spirit breaks out either in the preaching, or
praying, or conversation, it will counteract all the good of the meeting.
(g.) Be watchful against placing dependence
on a protracted meeting, as if that of itself would produce a revival.
This is a point of great danger, and has always been so. This is the great
reason why the church in successive generations has always had to give up her
measures—because Christians had come to rely on them for success. So it has
been in some places, in regard to Protracted Meetings. They have been so
blessed that in some places the people have thought that if they should only
have a protracted meeting, they would have a blessing, and sinners would be
converted of course. And so they have appointed their meeting, without
any preparation in the church, and just sent abroad for some minister of note,
and set him to preaching, as if that would convert sinners. It is obvious that
the blessing would be withheld from a meeting got up in this way.
253
(h.) Avoid adopting the idea that a revival
cannot be enjoyed without a Protracted Meeting. Some churches have got
into a morbid state of feeling on this subject. Their zeal has become all
spasmodic and feverish, so that they never think of doing anything to promote a
revival, only in that way. When a protracted meeting is held, they will seem to
be wonderfully zealous, and then sink down to a torpid state till another
protracted meeting produces another spasm. And now multitudes in the church
think it is necessary to give up protracted meetings because they are abused in
this way. This ought to be guarded against, in every church, so that they may
not be driven to give them up, and lose all the benefits that protracted
meetings are calculated to produce.
(3.) The Anxious Seat.
By this I mean the appointment of some particular
seat in the place of meeting, where the anxious may come and be addressed
particularly, and be made subjects of prayer, and sometimes be conversed with
individually. Of late this measure has met with more opposition than any of the
others. What is the great objection? I cannot see it. The design of the
anxious seat is undoubtedly philosophical, and according to the laws of mind.
It has two bearings:
1. When a person is seriously troubled in mind,
everybody knows that there is a powerful tendency to conceal it. When a person
is borne down with a sense of his condition, if you can get him willing to have
it known, if you can get him to break away from the chains of pride, you have
gained an important point towards his conversion. This is agreeable to the
philosophy of the human mind. How many thousands are there who will bless God
to eternity, that when pressed by the truth they were ever brought to take this
step, by which they threw off the idea that it was a dreadful thing to have
anybody know that they were serious about their souls.
2. Another bearing of the anxious seat, is to detect
deception and delusion, and thus prevent false hopes. It has been opposed on
the ground, that it was calculated to create delusion and false hopes. But this
objection is unreasonable. The truth is the other way. Suppose I were preaching
on the subject of Temperance, and that I should first show the evils of
intemperance, and bring up the drunkard and his family, and show the various
evils produced, till every heart 254is
beating with emotion. Then I portray the great danger of moderate drinking, and
show how it leads to intoxication and ruin, and that there is no safety but in
TOTAL ABSTINENCE, till a hundred hearts are ready to say, “I will never drink
another drop of ardent spirit in the world; if I do, I shall expect to find a
drunkard’s grave.” Now, I stop short, and let the pledge be circulated, and
everyone that is fully resolved is ready to sign it. But how many will begin to
draw back and hesitate, when you begin to call on them to sign a pledge
of total abstinence. One says to himself “Shall I sign it, or not? I thought my
mind was made up, but this signing a pledge never to drink again, I do
not know about that.” Thus you see that when a person is called upon to give a
pledge, if he is found not to be decided, he makes it manifest that he was not
sincere. That is, he never came to that resolution on the subject, which could
be relied on to control his future life. Just so with the awakened sinner.
Preach to him, and at the moment he thinks he is willing to do anything; he
thinks he is determined to serve the Lord; but bring him to the test, call on
him to do one thing, to take one step that shall identify him with the people
of God, or cross his pride—his pride comes up, and he refuses; his delusion is
brought out, and he finds himself a lost sinner still; whereas, if you had not
done it, he might have gone away flattering himself that he was a Christian. If
you say to him, “There is the anxious seat, come out and avow your
determination to be on the Lord’s side,” and if he is not willing to do so
small a thing as that, then he is not willing to do anything, and there
he is, brought out before his own conscience. It uncovers the delusion of the
human heart, and prevents a great many spurious conversions, by showing those
who might otherwise imagine themselves willing to do anything for Christ, that
in fact they are willing to do nothing.
The church has always felt it necessary to have
something of the kind to answer this very purpose. In the days of the apostles baptism
answered this purpose. The Gospel was preached to the people, and then all
those who were willing to be on the side of Christ were called on to be baptized.
It held the precise place that the anxious seat does now, as a public
manifestation of their determination to be Christians. And in modern times,
those who have been violently opposed to the anxious seat have been obliged to
adopt some substitute, or they could not get along in promoting a revival. Some
have adopted the expedient of inviting the people who were 255anxious for their souls to stay for conversation
after the rest of the congregation had retired. But what is the difference?
This is as much setting up a test as the other. Others, who would be much
ashamed to employ the anxious seat, have asked those who have any feeling on
the subject to sit still in their seats when the rest retire. Others have called
the anxious to retire into the lecture room. The object of all these is the
same, and the principle is the same, to bring people out from the refuge of
false shame. One man I heard of who was very far gone in his opposition to new
measures, in one of his meetings requested all those who were willing to submit
to God, or desired to be made subjects of prayer, to signify it by leaning
forward and putting their heads down upon the pew before them. Who does not see
that this was a mere evasion of the anxious seat, and that it was designed to
answer the purpose in its place, and he adopted this because he felt that
something of the kind was important?
Now what objection is there against taking a
particular seat, or rising up, or going into the lecture-room? They all mean
the same thing, when properly conducted. And they are not novelties in
principle at all. The thing has always been done in substance. In Joshua’s day,
he called on the people to decide what they would do, and they spoke right out
in the meeting, “We will serve the Lord; the Lord our God will we serve, and
his voice will we obey.”
REMARKS.
1. If we examine the history of the church we shall
find that there never has been an extensive reformation, except by new
measures. Whenever the churches get settled down into a form of doing
things, they soon get to rely upon the outward doing of it, and so retain the
form of religion while they lose the substance. And then it has always been
found impossible to arouse them so as to bring about a reformation of the
evils, and produce a revival of religion, by simply pursuing that established
form. Perhaps it is not too much to say, that it is impossible for God himself
to bring about reformations but by new measures. At least, it is a fact that
God has always chosen this way, as the wisest and best that he could devise or
adopt. And although it has always been the case, that the very measures which
God has chosen to employ, and which he has blessed in reviving his work, have
been opposed as new measures, and have been denounced, yet he has continued to
act upon the same principle. When 256he
has found that a certain mode has lost its influence by having become a form,
he brings up some new measure, which will BREAK IN upon their lazy habits, and
WAKE UP a slumbering church. And great good has resulted.
2. The same distinctions, in substance, that now
exist, have always existed, in all seasons of reformation and revival of
religion. There have always been those who particularly adhered to their forms
and notions, and precise way of doing things, as if they had a “Thus saith the
Lord” for every one of them. They have called those that differed from them,
who were trying to roll the ark of salvation forward, Methodists, New Lights,
Radicals,
(1.) The Old School, or Old Measure party, have
persevered in their opposition, and eagerly seized hold of any real or apparent
indiscretion in the friends of the work.
In such cases, the churches have gradually lost their
confidence in the opposition to new measures, and the cry of “New Divinity,”
and “Innovation” has ceased to alarm them. They see that the blessing of God is
with those that are thus accused of new measures and innovation, and the
continued opposition of the Old School, together with the continued success of
the New School, have destroyed their confidence in the opposition, and they get
tired of hearing the incessant cry of “New Lights,” and “New Divinity,” and
“New Measures.” Thus the scale has turned, and the churches have pronounced a
verdict in favor of the
(2.) But now, mark me: right here in this state of
things, the devil has, again and again, taken the advantage, and individuals
have risen up, and being sustained by the confidence of the churches in the New
Measure party, and finding them sick of opposition, and ready to do anything
that would promote the interests of Christ’s kingdom, they have driven headlong
themselves, and in some instances have carried the churches into the very
vortex of those difficulties which have been predicted by their opposers.
Thus, when the battle had been fought, and the victory gained, the rash zeal of
some well-meaning but headlong individuals, has brought about a reaction that
has spread a pall over the churches for years. This was the case, as is well
known, in the days of President Edwards. Here is a rock, upon which a
light-house is now 257built, and upon which if
the church now run aground, both parties are entirely without excuse. It is now
well known, or ought to be known, that the declension which followed the
revivals in those days, together with the declensions which have repeatedly
occurred, were owing to the combined influence of the continued and
pertinacious opposition of the Old School, and the ultimate bad spirit and
recklessness of some individuals of the New School.
And here the note of alarm should be distinctly
sounded to both parties, lest the devil should prevail against us, at the very
point, and under the very circumstances, where he has so often prevailed. Shall
the church never learn wisdom from experience? How often, Oh, how often must
these scenes be acted over before the millennium shall come! When will it once
be, that the church may be revived, and religion prevail, without exciting such
opposition in the church, as eventually to bring about a reaction?
3. The present cry against new measures is highly
ridiculous, when we consider the quarter from which it comes, and all the
circumstances in the case. It is truly astonishing that grave ministers should
really feel alarmed at the new measures of the present day, as if new measures
were something new under the sun, and as if the present form and manner of
doing things had descended from the apostles, and were established by a “Thus
saith the Lord:” when the truth is, that every step of the church’s advance from
the gross darkness of Popery, has been through the introduction of one new
measure after another. We now look with astonishment, and are inclined to look
almost with contempt, upon the cry of “Innovation,” that has preceded our day;
and as we review the fears that multitudes in the church have entertained in
by-gone days with respect to innovation, we find it difficult to account for
what appear to us the groundless and absurd, at least, if not ridiculous
objections and difficulties which they made. But, my hearers, is it not
wonderful, that at this late day, after the church has had so much experience
in these matters, that grave and pious men should seriously feel alarmed at the
introduction of the simple, the philosophical, and greatly prospered measures
of the last ten years? As if new measures were something not to be tolerated,
of highly disastrous tendency, and that should wake the notes and echoes of
alarm in every nook and corner of the church.
4. We see why it is that those who have been making the
ado about new measures have not been successful in promoting revivals.
258
They have been taken up with the evils, real
or imaginary, which have attended this great and blessed work of God. That
there have been evils, no one will pretend to deny. But I do believe, that no
revival ever existed since the world began, of so great power and extent as the
one that has prevailed for the last ten years, which has not been attended with
as great or greater evils. Still a large portion of the church have been frightening
themselves and others, by giving constant attention to the evils of
revivals. One of the professors in a Presbyterian Theological Seminary, felt it
his duty to write a series of letters to Presbyterians, which were extensively
circulated, the object of which seemed to be to sound the note of alarm
throughout all the borders of the church, in regard to the evils attending
revivals. While men are taken up with the evils instead of the excellencies of
a blessed work of God, how can it be expected that they will be useful in
promoting it? I would say all this in great kindness, but still it is a point
upon which I must not be silent.
5. Without new measures it is impossible that the
church should succeed in gaining the attention of the world to religion. There
are so many exciting subjects constantly brought before the public mind, such a
running to and fro, so many that cry “Lo here,” and “Lo there,” that the church
cannot maintain her ground, cannot command attention, without very exciting
preaching, and sufficient novelty in measures, to get the public ear. The
measures of politicians, of infidels and heretics, the scrambling after wealth,
the increase of luxury, and the ten thousand exciting and counteracting
influences that bear upon the church and upon the world, will gain their
attention and turn all men away from the sanctuary and from the altars of the
Lord, unless we increase in wisdom and piety, and wisely adopt such new
measures as are calculated to get the attention of men to the Gospel of Christ.
I have already said, in the course of these lectures, that novelties should be
introduced no faster than they are really called for. They should be introduced
with the greatest wisdom, and caution, and prayerfulness, and in a manner
calculated to excite as little opposition as possible. But new measures we must
have. And may God prevent the church from settling down in any set
of forms, and getting the present or any other edition of her measures stereotyped.
6. It is evident that we must have more exciting
preaching, to meet the character and wants of the age. Ministers are generally
beginning to find this out. And some of them 259complain of it, and suppose it to be owing to new measures, as they call
them. They say that such ministers as our fathers would have been glad to hear,
now cannot be heard, cannot get a settlement, nor collect an audience. And they
think that new measures have perverted the taste of the people. But this is not
the difficulty. The character of the age is changed, and these men have not
conformed to it, but retain the same stiff, dry, prosing style of preaching
that answered half a century ago.
Look at the Methodists. Many of their ministers are
unlearned, in the common sense of the term, many of them taken right from the
shop or the farm, and yet they have gathered congregations, and pushed their
way, and won souls everywhere. Wherever the Methodists have gone, their plain,
pointed and simple, but warm and animated mode of preaching has always gathered
congregations. Few Presbyterian ministers have gathered so large assemblies, or
won so many souls. Now are we to be told that we must pursue the same old,
formal mode of doing things, amidst all these changes? As well might the
7. We see the importance of having young ministers
obtain right views of revivals. In a multitude of cases, I have seen that
great pains are taken to frighten our young men, who are preparing for the
ministry, about the evils of revivals, new measures, and the like. Young men in
some theological seminaries are taught to look upon new measures as if they
were the very inventions of the devil. How can such men have revivals. So when
they come out, they look about, and watch, and start, as if the devil was
there. Some young men 260in
If I had a voice so loud as to be heard at
Shall it be so always? Must we educate young men for
the ministry, and have them come out frightened to death about new measures, as
if there had never been any such thing as new measures. They ought to know that
new measures are no new thing in the church. Let them GO ALONG, and keep at
work themselves, and not be frightened about new measures. I have been pained
to see that some men, in giving accounts of revivals, have evidently felt
themselves obliged to be particular in detailing the measures used, to avoid
the inference that new measures were introduced; evidently feeling that
even the church would undervalue the revival unless it appeared to have been
promoted without new measures. Besides, this caution in detailing the measures
to demonstrate that there was nothing new, looks like admitting that new
measures are wrong because they are new, and that a revival is more valuable
because it was not promoted by new measures. In this way, I apprehend that much
evil has been done, already, and if the practice is to continue, it must come
to this, that a revival must be judged of, by the fact that it occurred in
connection with new or old measures. I never will countenance such a spirit,
nor condescend to guard an account of a revival against the imputation of new
or old measures. I believe new measures are right, that is, that it is
no objection to a measure that it is new or old.
Let a minister enter fully into his work, and pour
out his heart to God for a blessing, and whenever he sees the want of any
measure to bring the truth more powerfully before the minds of the people, let
him adopt it and not be afraid, and God will not withhold his blessing. If
ministers will not go forward, and will not preach the Gospel with power 261and earnestness, and will not turn out of their
tracks to do anything new for the purpose of saving souls, they will grieve the
Holy Spirit away, and God will visit them with his curse, and raise up other
ministers to do work in the world.
8. It is the right and duty of ministers to adopt
new measures for promoting revivals. In some places the church have opposed
their minister when he has attempted to employ those measures which God has
blessed for a revival, and have gone so far as to give up their prayer
meetings, and give up laboring to save souls, and stand aloof from everything,
because their minister has adopted what they call new measures. No matter how
reasonable the measures are in themselves, nor how seasonable, nor how much God
may bless them. It is enough that they are called new measures, and they will
not have anything to do with new measures, nor tolerate them among the people.
And thus they fall out by the way, and grieve away the Spirit of God, and put a
stop to the revival, when the world around them is going to hell.
Finally.—This zealous adherence to particular forms and
modes of doing things, which has led the church to resist innovations in
measures, savors strongly of fanaticism. And what is not a little singular,
is that fanatics of this stamp are always the first to cry out “fanaticism.”
What is that but fanaticism in the Roman Catholic Church, that causes them to
adhere with such pertinacity to their particular modes, and forms, and
ceremonies, and fooleries? They act as if all these things were established by
divine authority; as if there were a “Thus saith the Lord” for every one of
them. Now we justly style this a spirit of fanaticism, and esteem it worthy of
rebuke. But it is just as absolutely fanatical, for the Presbyterian Church, or
any other church, to be sticklish for her particular forms, and to act as if they
were established by divine authority. The fact is, that God has established, in
no church, any particular form, or manner of worship, for promoting the
interests of religion. The scriptures are entirely silent on these subjects,
under the Gospel dispensation, and the church is left to exercise her own
discretion in relation to all such matters. And I hope it will not be thought
unkind, when I say again, that to me it appears, that the unkind, angry zeal
for a certain mode and manner of doing things, and the overbearing,
exterminating cry against new measures, SAVORS
STRONGLY OF FANATICISM.
The only thing insisted upon under the Gospel
dispensation, in regard to measures, is that there should be decency and
order. “Let all things be done decently and in order.” 262We are required to guard against all confusion and
disorderly conduct. But what is decency and order? Will it be pretended that an
anxious meeting, or a protracted meeting, or an anxious seat, is inconsistent
with decency and order? I should most sincerely deprecate, and most firmly
resist whatever was indecent and disorderly in the worship of God’s house. But
I do not suppose that by “order” we are to understand any particular set mode,
in which any church may have been accustomed to perform their service.
HINDRANCES TO REVIVALS.
Text.—I am doing a great work, so that I cannot
come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to
you.”—Nehemiah vi. 3.
THIS servant of God had come down from
It has always been the case, whenever any of the
servants of God do anything in his cause, and there appears to be a
probability that they will succeed, that Satan by his agents regularly
attempts to divert their minds and nullify their labors. So it has been during
the last ten years, in which there have been such remarkable revivals through
the length and breadth of the land. These revivals have been very great and
powerful, and extensive. It has been estimated that not less than TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND persons have been
converted to God in that time.
And the devil has been busy in his devices to divert
and 264distract the people of God, and turn off their
energies from pushing forward the great work of salvation. In remarking on the
subject, I propose to show.
I. That a Revival of Religion is a great work.
II. To mention several things which may put a stop to
it.
III. Endeavor to show what must be done for the
continuance of this great revival.
I. I am to show that a Revival of Religion is a
great work.
It is a great work, because in it are great
interests involved. In a Revival of Religion are involved both the glory of
God, so far as it respects the government of this world, and the salvation of
men. Two things that are of infinite importance are involved in it. The
greatness of a work is to be estimated by the greatness of the consequences
depending on it. And this is the measure of its importance.
II. I am to mention several things which may put a
stop to a revival.
Some have talked very foolishly on this subject, as
if nothing could injure a genuine revival. They say, “If your revival is a work
of God, it cannot be stopped; can any created being stop God?” Now I ask if
this is common sense? Formerly, it used to be the established belief that a
revival could not be stopped, because it was the work of God. And so they
supposed it would go on, whatever might be done to hinder it, in the church or
out of it. But the farmer might just as well reason so, and think he could go
and cut down his wheat and not hurt the crop, because it is God that makes
grain grow. A revival is the work of God, and so is a crop of wheat; and God is
as much dependent on the use of means in one case as the other. And therefore a
revival is as liable to be injured as a wheat-field.
1. A revival will stop whenever the church believe
it is going to cease. The church are the instruments with which God carries
on this work, and they are to work in it voluntarily and with their hearts.
Nothing is more fatal to a revival than for its friends to predict that it is
going to stop. No matter what the enemies of the work may say about it,
predicting that it will all run out and come to nothing, and the like. They
cannot stop it in this way; but the friends must labor and pray in faith to
carry it on. It is a contradiction to say they are laboring and praying in
faith to carry on the work, and yet believe that it is going to stop. If they
lose their faith, it will stop, of course. Whenever the friends of revivals
begin to prophecy that the revival is going to stop, they should be instantly
rebuked, in the name of the Lord. 265If
the idea once begins to prevail, and if you cannot counteract it and root it
out, the revival will infallibly cease; for it is indispensable to the work,
that Christians should labor and pray in faith to promote it, and it is a
contradiction to say that they can labor in faith for its continuance, while
they believe that it is about to cease.
2. A revival will cease when Christians consent
that it should cease. Sometimes Christians see that the revival is in
danger of ceasing, and that if something effectual is not done, it will come to
a stand. If this fact distresses them, and drives them to prayer, and to fresh
efforts, the work will not cease. When Christians love the work of God and the
salvation of souls so well that they are distressed at the mere apprehension of
a decline, it will drive them to an agony of prayer and effort. If it does not
drive them to agony and effort to prevent its ceasing; if they see the danger,
and do not try to avert it, or to renew the work, THEY CONSENT THAT IT SHOULD STOP. There are at this time many
people, all over the country, who see revivals declining, and that they are in
great danger of ceasing altogether, and yet they manifest but little distress,
and seem to care but little about it. Whole churches see their condition, and
see what is coming unless there can be a waking up, and yet they are at ease,
and do not groan and agonize in prayer, that God would revive his work. Some
are even predicting that there is now going to be a great reaction, and a great
dearth come over the church, as there did after Whitefield’s and Edwards’ day.
And yet they are not startled at their own forebodings; they are cool about it,
and turn directly off to other things. THEY CONSENT TO IT. It seems as if they
were the devil’s trumpeters, sent out to scatter dismay throughout the ranks of
God’s elect.
3. A revival will cease whenever Christians become
mechanical in their attempts to promote it. When their faith is strong, and
their hearts are warm and mellow, and their prayers full of holy emotion, and
their words with power, then the work goes on. But when their prayers begin to
be cold and without emotion, and their deep-toned feeling is gone, and they
begin to labor mechanically, and to use words without feeling, then the revival
will cease.
4. The revival will cease whenever Christians get the
idea that the work will go on without their aid. The church are
co-workers with God in promoting a revival, and the work can be carried on just
as far as the church will carry it on, and no farther. God has been for one
thousand eight hundred 266years trying to
get the church into the work. He has been calling and urging, commanding,
entreating, pressing and encouraging, to get them to take hold. He has stood
all this while ready to make bare his arm to carry on the work with
them. But the church have been unwilling to do their part. They seem determined
to leave it to God alone to convert the world, and say, “If he wants the world
converted, let him do it.” They ought to know that this is impossible. So far
as we know, neither God nor man can convert the world without the co-operation
of the church. Sinners cannot be converted without their own agency, for
conversion consists in their voluntary turning to God. No more can
sinners be converted without the appropriate moral influences to turn them;
that is, without truth and the reality of things brought full before their
minds either by direct revelation or by men. God cannot convert the
world by physical omnipotence, but he is dependent on the moral influence of
the church.
5. The work will cease when the church prefer to
attend to their own concerns rather than God’s business. I do not admit that
men have any business which is properly their own, but they think
so, and in fact prefer what they consider as their own, rather than to work for
God. They begin to think they cannot afford sufficient time from their
worldly employments to carry on a revival. And they pretend they are obliged to
give up attending to religion, and let their hearts go out again after the
world. And the work must cease, of course.
6. When Christians get proud of their great revival,
it will cease. I mean those Christians who have before been instrumental in promoting
it. It is almost always the case in a revival, that a part of the church are
too proud or too worldly to take any part in the work. They are determined to
stand aloof, and wait, and see what it will come to, and see how it will come
out. The pride of this part of the church cannot stop the revival, for the
revival never rested on them. It begun without them, and it can go on without
them. They may fold their arms and do nothing but look on and find fault; and
still the work may go on. But when that part of the church who work,
begin to think what a great revival they have had, and how they have labored
and prayed, and how bold and how zealous they have been, and how much good they
have done, then the work will be likely to decline. Perhaps it has been
published in the papers what a revival there has been in the church, and how
much engaged the members 267have been, and
they think how high they shall stand in the estimation of other churches, all
over the land, because they have had such a great revival. And so they get
puffed up, and vain, and then they can no longer enjoy the presence of God, and
the Spirit withdraws from them, and the revival ceases.
7. The revival will stop when the church gets
exhausted by labor. Multitudes of Christians commit a great mistake here in
time of revival. They are so thoughtless, and have so little judgment, that
they will break up all their habits of living, neglect to eat and sleep at the
proper hours, and let the excitement run away with them, so that they overdo their
bodies, and are so imprudent that they soon become exhausted, and it is
impossible for them to continue in the work. Revivals often cease, and
declension follows, from negligence and imprudence, in this respect, on the
part of those engaged in carrying them on.
8. A revival will cease when the church begins to
speculate about abstract doctrines, which have nothing to do with practice.
If the church turn off their attention from the things of salvation, and go to
studying or disputing about abstract points, the revival will cease, of course.
9. When Christians begin to proselyte. When
the Baptists are so opposed to the Presbyterians, or the Presbyterians to the
Baptists, or both against the Methodists, or Episcopalians against the rest,
that they begin to make efforts to get the converts to join their church, you
soon see the last of the revival. Perhaps a revival will go on for a time, and
all sectarian difficulties are banished, till somebody circulates a book,
privately, to gain proselytes. Perhaps some over-zealous deacon, or some
mischief-making woman, or some proselyting minister, cannot keep still any
longer, and begins to work the work of the devil, by attempting to gain
proselytes, and so stirs up bitterness, and raising a selfish strife, grieves away
the Spirit, and drives Christians all into parties. No more revival there.
10. When Christians refuse to render to the Lord
according to the benefits received. This is a fruitful source of religious
declensions. God has opened the windows of heaven to a church, and poured them
out a blessing, and then he reasonably expects them to bring in the tithes into
his store-house, and devise and execute liberal things for
11. When the church, in any way, grieve the Holy
Spirit.
(1.) When they do not feel their dependence on the
Spirit. Whenever Christians get strong in their own strength, God curses
their blessings. In many instances, Christians sin against their own mercies,
because they get lifted up with their success, and take the credit to
themselves, and do not give to God all the glory. As he says, “If ye will not
hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the
Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and, I will curse your
blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.”
There has been a great deal of this in this country, undoubtedly. I have seen
many things that looked like it, in the papers, where there seemed a
disposition in men to take credit for success in promoting revivals. There is
doubtless a great temptation to this, and it requires the utmost watchfulness,
on the part of ministers and churches, to guard against it, and not grieve the
Spirit away by vain-glorying in men.
(2.) The Spirit may be grieved by a spirit of
boasting of the revival. Sometimes, as soon as a revival commences, you
will see it blazed out in the newspapers. And most commonly this will kill the
revival. There was a case in a neighboring State, where a revival commenced,
and instantly there came out a letter from the pastor, telling that he had a
revival. I saw the letter and said to myself, That is the last we shall hear of
this revival. And so it was. In a few days, the work totally ceased. And such
things are not uncommon. I could mention cases and places, where persons have
published such things as to puff up the church, and make them so proud that
little or nothing more could be done for the revival.
Some, under pretence of publishing things to the
praise and glory of God, have published things that savored so strongly of a
disposition to exalt themselves, have made their own agency to stand out so
conspicuously, as was evidently calculated to make an unhappy impression. At
the protracted meeting held in this church, a year ago last fall, there were
five hundred hopefully converted, whose names and places of 269residence we knew. A considerable number of them
joined this church. Many of them united with other churches. Nothing was said
of this in the papers. I have several times been asked why we were so silent
upon the subject. I could only reply, that there was such a tendency to
self-exaltation in the churches, that I was afraid to publish anything on the
subject. Perhaps I erred. But I have so often seen mischief done by premature
publications, that I thought it best to say nothing about it. In the revival in
this city, four years ago, so much was said in the papers, that appeared like
self-exaltation, that I was afraid to publish. I am not speaking against the practice
itself, of publishing accounts of revivals. But the manner of doing
it is of vast importance. If it is done so as to excite vanity, it is always
fatal to the revival.
(3.) So the Spirit is grieved by saying or
publishing things that are calculated to undervalue the work of God.
When a blessed work of God is spoken lightly of, not rendering to God the glory
due to his name, the Spirit is grieved. If anything is said about a revival,
give only the plain and naked facts just as they are, and let them pass
for what they are worth.
12. A revival may be expected to cease, when
Christians lose the spirit of brotherly love. Jesus Christ will not
continue with people in a revival any longer than they continue in the exercise
of brotherly love. When Christians are in the spirit of a revival, they feel
this love, and then you will hear them call each other brother and sister, very
affectionately. But when they begin to get cold, they lose this warmth and glow
of affection for one another, and then this calling brother and sister will
seem silly and contemptible and they will leave it off. In some churches they
never call each other so, but where there is a revival, Christians naturally do
it. I never saw a revival, and probably there never was one, in which they did
not do it. But as soon as this begins to cease, the Spirit of God is grieved,
and departs from among them.
13. A revival will decline and cease, unless Christians
are frequently re-converted. By this I mean, that Christians, in order to
keep in the spirit of a revival, commonly need to be frequently convicted, and
humbled, and broken down before God, and re-converted. This is something which
many do not understand, when we talk about a Christian’s being re-converted.
But the fact is that in a revival the Christian’s heart is liable to get
crusted over, and lose its exquisite relish for divine things; his unction and
prevalence in prayer abates, and then he must be converted over again. It is impossible
to keep him in such a state as not to do injury to the work, 270unless he pass through such a process every few days.
I have never labored in revivals in company with any one who would keep in the
work and be fit to manage a revival continually, who did not pass through this
process of breaking down as often as once in two or three weeks. Revivals
decline, commonly, because it is found impossible to make the church feel their
guilt and their dependence, so as to break down before God. It is important
that ministers should understand this, and learn how to break down the church,
and break down themselves when they need it, or else Christians will soon
become mechanical in their work, and lose their fervor and their power of
prevailing with God. This was the process through which Peter passed, when he
had denied the Saviour, and by which breaking down, the Lord prepared him for
the great work on the day of Pentecost. I was surprised, a few years since, to
find that the phrase “breaking down” was a stumbling block to certain
ministers and professors of religion. They laid themselves open to the rebuke
administered to Nicodemus, “Art thou a master in
14. A revival cannot continue when Christians will
not practice self-denial. When the church have enjoyed a revival and begin
to grow fat upon it, and run into self-indulgence, the revival will soon cease,
Unless they sympathize with the Son of God, who gave up all to save sinners;
unless they are willing to give up their luxuries, and their ease, and lay
themselves out in the work, they need not expect the Spirit of God will be
poured out upon them. This is undoubtedly one of the principal causes of
personal declension. Let Christians in a revival BEWARE, when they first find
an inclination creeping upon them, to shrink from self-denial, and to give in
to one form of self-indulgence after another. It is the device of Satan, to
bait them off from the work of God, and make them dull and gross, and lazy, and
fearful, and useless, and sensual, and drive away the Spirit and destroy the
revival.
15. A revival will be stopped by controversies
about new measures. Nothing is more certain to overthrow a revival than
this. But as my last lecture was on the subject of new measures, I need not
dwell longer on the subject now.
16. Revivals can be put down by the continued
opposition of the Old School, combined with a bad spirit in the
In one place where there was a revival, certain
ministers formed a combination against the pastor of the church, and a plan was
set on foot to ruin him, and they actually got him prosecuted before his
Presbytery, and had a trial that lasted six weeks, right in the midst of the
revival, and the work still went on. The praying members of the church laid
themselves out so in the work, that it continued triumphantly throughout the
whole scene. The pastor was called off, to attend his trial, but there was
another minister that labored among the people, and the members did not even go
to the trial, generally, but kept praying and laboring for souls, and the
revival rode out the storm. In many other places, opposition has risen up in
the church, but a few humble souls have kept at their work, and a gracious God
has stretched out his naked arm and made the revival go forward in spite of all
opposition.
But whenever those who are actively engaged in
promoting a revival get excited at the unreasonableness and pertinacity of the
opposition, and feel as if they could not have it so, and they lose their
patience, and feel as if they must answer their cavils and refute their
slanders, then they get down into the plains of Ono, and the work must cease.
17. Any diversion of the public mind will
hinder a revival. Anything that succeeds in diverting public attention,
will put a stop to a revival. In the case I have specified, where the minister
was put on trial before his Presbytery, the reason why it did not ruin the
revival was, that the praying members of the church would not suffer
themselves to be diverted. They did not even attend the trial, but kept praying
and laboring for souls, and so public attention was kept to the subject, in
spite of all the efforts of the devil.
But whenever he succeeds in absorbing public
attention on 272any other subject, he
will put an end to the revival. No matter what the subject is. If an angel from
heaven were to come down, and preach, or pass about the streets, it might be
the worst thing in the world for a revival, for it would turn sinners all off
from their own sins, and turn the church off from praying for souls, to follow
this glorious being, and gaze upon him, and the revival would cease.
18. Resistance to the Temperance Reformation
will put a stop to revivals in a church. The time has come that it can no
longer be innocent in a church to stand aloof from this glorious reformation.
The time was when this could be done ignorantly. The time has been when
ministers and Christians could enjoy revivals, notwithstanding ardent spirit
was used among them. But since light has been thrown upon the subject, and it
has been found that the use is only injurious, no church member or minister can
be innocent and stand neutral in the cause. They must speak out and take sides.
And if they do not take ground on one side, their influence is on the other.
Show me a minister that has taken ground against the temperance reformation who
has had a revival. Show me one who now stands aloof from it who has a revival.
Show me one who now temporizes upon this point who does not come out and take a
stand in favor of temperance who has a revival? It did not use to be so. But
now the subject has come up, and has been discussed, and is understood, no man
can shut his eyes upon the truth. The man’s hands are RED WITH BLOOD who stands
aloof from the temperance cause. And can he have a revival?
19. Revivals are hindered when ministers and churches
take wrong ground in regard to any question involving human rights. Take
the subject of SLAVERY, for instance. The time was when this subject was not
before the public mind. John Newton continued in the slave trade after his
conversion. And so had his mind been perverted, and so completely was his
conscience seared, in regard to this most nefarious traffic, that the
sinfulness of it never occurred to his thoughts until some time after he became
a child of God. Had light been poured upon his mind previously to his
conversion, he never could have been converted without previously abandoning
this sin. And after his conversion, when convinced of its iniquity, he could no
longer enjoy the presence of God, without abandoning the sin for ever. So,
doubtless, many slave dealers and slave holders in our own country have been
converted, notwithstanding their participation in this abomination, because the
sinfulness of it was not apparent to their 273minds.
So ministers and churches, to a great extent throughout the land, have held
their peace, and borne no testimony against this abominable abomination,
existing in the church and in the nation. But recently, the subject has come up
for discussion, and the providence of God has brought it distinctly before the
eyes of all men. Light is now shed upon this subject, as it has been upon the
cause of temperance. Facts are exhibited, and principles established, and light
thrown in upon the minds of men, and this monster is dragged from his horrid
den, and exhibited before the church, and it is demanded of them, “IS THIS
SIN?” Their testimony must be given on this subject. They are God’s witnesses.
They are sworn to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
It is impossible that their testimony should not be given, on one side or the
other. Their silence can no longer be accounted for upon the principle of
ignorance, and that they have never had their attention turned to the subject.
Consequently, the silence of Christians upon the subject is virtually saying that
they do not consider slavery as a sin. The truth is, it is a subject upon
which they cannot be silent without guilt. The time has come, in the providence
of God, when every southern breeze is loaded down with the cries of
lamentation, mourning and wo. Two millions of degraded heathen in our own land
stretch their hands, all shackled and bleeding, and send forth to the
It is in vain for the churches to resist it for fear
of distraction, contention, and strife. It is in vain to account it an act of piety
to turn away the ear from hearing this cry of distress.
The church must testify, and testify “the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” on this subject, or she is perjured,
and the Spirit of God departs from her. She is under oath to testify, and
ministers and churches who do not pronounce it sin bear false testimony for
God. It is doubtless true that one of the reasons for the low state of religion
at the present time is that many churches have taken the wrong side on the
subject of slavery, have suffered prejudice to prevail over principle, and have
feared to call this abomination by its true name.
274
20. Another thing that hinders revivals is neglecting
the claims of missions. If Christians do not feel for the heathen, neglect
the monthly concert, and confine their attention to their own church, do not
even read the Missionary Herald, or use any other means to inform themselves on
the subject of the claims of the world, and reject the light which God is
throwing before them, and will not do what God calls them to do in this cause,
the Spirit of God will depart from them.
21. When a church rejects the calls of God upon
them for educating young men for the ministry, they will hinder and destroy
a revival. Look at the Presbyterian church, look at the 200,000 souls converted
within ten years, and means enough to fill the world with ministers, and yet
the ministry is not increasing so fast as the population of our own country,
and unless something more can be done to provide ministers, we shall become
heathen ourselves. The churches do not press upon young men the duty of going
into the ministry. God pours his Spirit on the churches, and converts hundreds
of thousands of souls, and if then the laborers do not come forth into the
harvest, what can be expected but that the curse of God will come upon the
churches, and his Spirit will be withdrawn, and revivals will cease. Upon this
subject no minister, no church should be silent or inactive.
22. Slandering revivals will often put them
down. The great revival in the days of President Edwards suffered greatly by
the conduct of the church in this respect. It is to be expected that the
enemies of God will revile, misrepresent and slander revivals. But when the
church herself engages in this work, and many of her most influential
members are aiding and abetting in calumniating and misrepresenting a glorious
work of God, it is reasonable that the Spirit should be grieved away. It cannot
be denied that this has been done, to a grievous and God-dishonoring extent. It
has been estimated that in one year, since this revival commenced, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SOULS were
converted to God in the
But how has this blessed work of God been treated?
Admitting all the evils complained of to be real, which is far from being true,
they would only be like spots upon the disc of the glorious sun; things hardly
to be thought of, in comparison of the infinite greatness and excellence of the
work. And yet how have a great portion of the Presbyterian church, received and
treated this blessed work of God? At the General Assembly, that grave body of
men that represent the Presbyterian church in the midst of this great work,
instead of appointing a day of thanksgiving, instead of praising and glorifying
God for the greatness of his work, we hear from them the voice of rebuke. From
the reports that were given of the speeches made there, it appears that the
house was filled with complainings. Instead of devising measures to forward the
work, their attention seemed to be taken up with the comparatively trifling
evils that were incidental to it. And after much complaining, they absolutely
appointed a committee, and sent forth a “Pastoral Letter” to the churches,
calculated to excite suspicions, quench the zeal of God’s people, and turn them
off from giving glory to God for the greatness of the blessing, to finding
fault and carping about the evils. When I heard what was done at that General
Assembly, when I read their speeches, when I saw their pastoral letter, my soul
was sick, an unutterable feeling of distress came over my mind, and I felt that
God would “visit” the Presbyterian church for conduct like this. And ever
since, the glory has been departing, and revivals have been becoming less and less
frequent—less and less powerful.[6][1]
And now I wish it could be known, whether those
ministers who poured out those complainings on the floor of the General
Assembly, and who were instrumental in getting up that pastoral letter, have
since been blest in promoting revivals of religion—whether the Spirit of God
has been upon them, 276and whether their
churches can witness that they have an unction from the Holy One.
23. Ecclesiastical difficulties are calculated
to grieve away the Spirit, and destroy revivals. It has always been the policy
of the devil to turn off the attention of ministers from the work of the Lord
to disputes and ecclesiastical litigations. President Edwards was obliged to be
taken up for a long time in disputes before ecclesiastical councils; and in our
days, and in the midst of these great revivals of religion, these difficulties
have been alarmingly and shamefully multiplied. Some of the most efficient
ministers in the church have been called off from their direct efforts to win
souls to Christ, to attend day after day, and in some instances week after
week, to charges preferred against them, or their fellow-laborers in the
ministry, which could never be sustained.
Look at
24. Another thing by which revivals may be hindered
is censoriousness on either side, and especially in those who have been
engaged in carrying forward a revival. It is to be expected that the
opposers of the work will watch for the halting of its friends, and be sure to
censure them for all that is wrong, and not unfrequently for that which is
right in their conduct. Especially is it to be expected that many censorious
and unchristian remarks will be made about those that are the most prominent
instruments in promoting the work. This censoriousness on the part of the opposers
of the work, whether in or out of the church, will not, however, of itself 277put a stop to the revival. While its promoters keep
humble, and in a prayerful spirit, while they do not retaliate, but possess
their souls in patience, while they do not suffer themselves to be diverted, to
recriminate, and grieve away the spirit of prayer, the work will go forward; as
in the case referred to, where a minister was on trial for six weeks in the
midst of a revival. There the people kept in the dust, and prayed, not so much
for their minister, for they had left him with God, but with strong crying and
tears pleading with God for sinners. And God heard and blessed them, and the
work went on. Censoriousness in those who are opposed to the work is but little
to be dreaded, for they have not the Spirit, and nothing depends on them, and
they can hinder the work only just so far as they themselves have influence
personally. But the others have the power of the Holy Spirit, and the work
depends on their keeping in a right temper. If they get wrong and grieve away
the Spirit, there is no help, the work must cease. Whatever provocation,
therefore, the promoters of this blessed work may have had, if it ceases, the
responsibility be theirs. And one of the most alarming facts, in regard to this
matter, is that in many instances, those who have been engaged in carrying
forward the work, appear to have lost the Spirit. They are becoming diverted,
are beginning to think that the opposition is no longer to be tolerated, and
that they must come out and reply in the newspapers to what they say. It should
be known and universally understood, that whenever the friends and promoters of
this greatest of revivals suffer themselves to be called off to newspaper
janglings, to attempt to defend themselves, and reply to those who write
against them, the Spirit of Prayer will be entirely grieved away, and the work
will cease. Nothing is more detrimental to revivals of religion, and so it has
always been found, than for the promoters of it to listen to the opposition,
and begin to reply. This was found to be true in the days of President Edwards,
as you who are acquainted with his book on Revivals are well aware.
III. I proceed to mention some things which ought
to be done, to continue this great and glorious revival of religion, which
has been in progress for the last ten years.
1. There should be great and deep repentings on
the part of ministers. WE, my brethren, must humble ourselves before God.
It will not do for us to suppose that it is enough to call on the people to
repent. We must repent, we must take the lead in repentance, and then call on
the churches to follow.
278
Especially must those repent who have taken the lead
in producing the feelings of opposition and distrust in regard to revivals.
Some ministers have confined their opposition against revivals and revival
measures to their own congregations, and created such suspicions among their
own people as to prevent the work from spreading and prevailing among them.
Such ministers would do well to consider the remarks of President Edwards on
this subject.
“If ministers preach never so good doctrine, and are
never so painful and laborious in their work, yet, if at such a day as this,
they show to their people, that they are not well-affected to this work, but
are very doubtful and suspicious of it, they will be very likely to do their
people a great deal more hurt than good; for the very fame of such a great and
extraordinary work of God, if their people were suffered to believe it to be
his work, and the example of other towns, together with what preaching they
might hear occasionally, would be likely to have a much greater influence upon
the minds of their people, to awaken and animate them in religion, than all
their labors with them: and besides their minister’s opinion would not only
beget in them a suspicion of the work they hear of abroad, whereby the mighty
hand of God that appears in it, loses its influence upon their minds, but it
will also tend to create a suspicion of everything of the like nature, that
shall appear among themselves, as being something of the same distemper that is
become so epidemical in the land, and that is, in effect, to create a suspicion
of all vital religion, and to put the people upon talking against it, and
discouraging it, wherever it appears, and knocking it in the head as fast as it
rises. And we that are ministers, by looking on this work, from year to year,
with a displeased countenance, shall effectually keep the sheep from their
pasture, instead of doing the part of shepherds to them, by feeding them; and
our people had a great deal better be without any settled minister at all at
such a day as this.”
Others have been more public, and aimed at exerting a
wider influence. Some have written pieces for the public papers. Some men in
high standing in the church have circulated letters which never were printed.
Others have had their letters printed and circulated. There seems to have been
a system of letter-writing about the country calculated to create distrust. In
the days of President Edwards, substantially the same course was pursued, in
view of which he says in his work on revivals:
279
“Great care should be taken that the press should be
improved to no purpose contrary to the interest of this work. We read that when
God fought against Sisera, for the deliverance of his oppressed church, they
that handle the pen of the writer came to the help of the Lord in that
affair.—Judges v. 14. Whatever sort of men in Israel they were that were
intended, yet as the words were indited by a Spirit that had a perfect view of
all events to the end of the world, and had a special eye in this song, to that
great event of the deliverance of God’s church, in the latter days, of which
this deliverance of Israel was a type, it is not unlikely that they have
respect to authors, those that should fight against the kingdom of Satan with
their pens. Those therefore that publish pamphlets to the disadvantage of this
work, and tending either directly or indirectly to bring it under suspicion,
and to discourage or hinder it, would do well thoroughly to consider whether
this be not indeed the work of God, and whether, if it be, it is not likely
that God will go forth as fire, to consume all that stand in his way, and so
burn up those pamphlets; and whether there be not danger that the fire that is
kindled in them will scorch the authors.”
All these must repent. God never will forgive them,
nor will they ever enjoy his blessing on their preaching, or be honored to
labor in revivals till they repent. This duty President Edwards pressed upon
ministers in his day, in the most forcible terms. There doubtless have been
now, as there were then, faults on both sides. And there must be deep
repentance, and mutual confessions of faults on both sides.
“There must be a great deal done at confessing of
faults, on both sides; for undoubtedly many and great are the faults that have
been committed, in the jangling and confusions, and mixtures of light and
darkness, that have been of late. There is hardly any duty more contrary to our
corrupt dispositions, and mortifying to the pride of man; but it must be done.
Repentance of faults is, in a peculiar manner, a proper duty, when the kingdom
of heaven is at hand, or when we especially expect or desire that it should
come, as appears by John the Baptist’s preaching. And if God does now loudly
call upon us to repent, then he also calls upon us to make proper
manifestations of our repentance. I am persuaded that those that have openly
opposed this work, or have from time to time spoken lightly of it, cannot be
excused in the sight of God, without openly confessing their fault therein,
especially if they be ministers. If they 280have
any way, either directly or indirectly, opposed the work, or have so behaved in
their public performances or private conversation, as has prejudiced the minds
of their people against the work, if hereafter they shall be convinced of the
goodness and divinity of what they have opposed, they ought by no means to
palliate the matter, and excuse themselves, and pretend that they always
thought so, and that it was only such and such imprudences that they objected
against, but they ought openly to declare their conviction, and condemn
themselves for what they have done; for it is Christ that they have spoken
against, in speaking lightly of, and prejudicing others against this work; yea,
worse than that, it is the Holy Ghost. And though they have done it ignorantly,
and in unbelief, yet when they find out who it is that they have opposed,
undoubtedly God will hold them bound publicly to confess it.
“And on the other side, if those that have been
zealous to promote the work, have in any of the forementioned instances openly
gone much out of the way, and done that which is contrary to Christian rules,
whereby they have openly injured others, or greatly violated good order, and so
done that which has wounded religion, they must publicly confess it, and humble
themselves, as they would gather out the stones, and prepare the way of God’s
people. They who have laid great stumbling blocks in others’ way, by their open
transgression, are bound to remove them, by their open repentance.”
There are ministers in our day, I say it not in
unkindness but in faithfulness, and I would that I had them all here before me
while I say it, who seem to have been engaged much of their time for years in
doing little else than acting and talking and writing in such a way as to
create suspicion in regard to revivals. And I cannot doubt that their churches
would, as President Edwards says, be better with no minister at all, unless
they will repent, and regain his blessing.
2. Those churches which have opposed revivals
must humble themselves and repent. Churches which have stood aloof or hindered
the work must repent of their sin, or God will not go with them. Look at those
churches now, who have been throwing suspicion upon revivals. Do they enjoy
revivals? Does the Holy Ghost descend upon them, to enlarge them and build them
up? There is one of the churches in this city, where the session have been
publishing in the newspapers what they call their “Act and Testimony,”
calculated to excite an unreasonable and groundless suspicion against many
ministers who are laboring successfully to promote revivals.” 281And what is the state of that church? Have they had a
revival? Why it appears from the official report to the General Assembly, that
it has dwindled in one year twenty-seven per cent. And all such churches will
continue to dwindle, in spite of everything else that can be done, unless they
repent and have a revival. They may pretend to be mighty pious, and jealous for
the honor of God, but God will not believe they are sincere. And he will
manifest his displeasure, by not pouring out his Spirit. If I had a voice loud
enough, I should like to make every one of these churches and ministers that
have slandered revivals, hear me, when I say, that I believe they have helped
to bring the pall of death over the church, and that the curse of God is on
them already, and will remain unless they repent. God has already sent leanness
into their souls, and many of them know it.
3. Those who have been engaged in promoting the
work must also repent. Whatever they have done that was wrong must be
repented of, or revivals will not return as in days past. Whenever a wrong
spirit has been manifested, or they have got irritated and provoked at the
opposition, and lost their temper, or mistaken Christian faithfulness for hard
words and a wrong spirit, they must repent. Those who are opposed could never
stop a revival alone, unless those who promote it get wrong. So we must repent
if we have said things that were censorious, or proud, or arrogant, or severe.
Such a time as this is no time to stand justifying ourselves. Our first call is
to repent. Let each one repent of his own sins, and not fall out, and quarrel
about who is most to blame.
4. The church must take right ground in regard to
politics. Do not suppose, now, that I am going to preach a political
sermon, or that I wish to have you join and get up a Christian party in
politics. No, I do not believe in that. But the time has come that Christians
must vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics, or the Lord
will curse them. They must be honest men themselves, and instead of voting for
a man because he belongs to their party, Bank or Anti-Bank,
5. The churches must take right ground on the
subject of slavery. And here the question arises, what is right ground? And
FIRST I will state some things that should be avoided.
(1.) First of all, a bad spirit should be
avoided. Nothing is more calculated to injure religion, and to injure the
slaves themselves, than for Christians to get into an angry controversy on the
subject. It is a subject upon which there needs to be no angry controversy
among Christians. Slave-holding professors, like rum-selling professors, may
endeavor to justify themselves, and may be angry with those who press their
consciences, and call upon them to give up their sins. Those proud professors
of religion who think a man to blame, or think it is a shame to have a black
skin, may allow their prejudices so far to prevail, as to shut their ears, and
be disposed to quarrel with those who urge the subject upon them. But I repeat
it, the subject of slavery is a subject upon which Christians, praying men, need
not and must not differ.
(2.) Another thing to be avoided is an attempt to
take neutral ground on this subject. Christians can no more take neutral
ground on this subject, since it has come up for discussion, than they can take
neutral ground on the subject of the sanctification of the Sabbath. It is a
great national sin. It is a sin of the church. The churches by their silence,
and by permitting slaveholders to belong to their communion, have been
consenting to it. All denominations have been more or less guilty, although the
Quakers have of late years washed their hands of it. It is in vain for the
churches to pretend it is merely a political sin. I repeat it, it is the sin of
the church, to which all denominations have consented. 283They have virtually declared that it is lawful. The
very fact of suffering slaveholders quietly to remain in good standing in their
churches, is the strongest and most public expression of their views that it is
not sin. For the church, therefore, to pretend to take neutral ground on the
subject, is perfectly absurd. The fact is that she is not on neutral ground at
all. While she tolerates slaveholders in her communion SHE JUSTIFIES THE
PRACTICE. And as well might an enemy of God pretend that he was neither saint
nor sinner, that he was going to take neutral ground, and pray “good Lord and
good devil,” because he did not know which side would be the most popular.
(3.) Great care should be taken to avoid a
censorious spirit on both sides. It is a subject on which there has been,
and probably will be for some time to come, a difference of opinion among
Christians, as to the best method of disposing of the question. And it ought to
be treated with great forbearance on both sides. A denunciatory spirit,
impeaching each other’s motives, is unchristian, calculated to grieve the
Spirit of God, and to put down revivals, and is alike injurious to the church, and
to the slaves themselves.
In the SECOND
place, I will mention several things, that in my judgment the church are
imperatively called upon to do, on this subject:
(1.) Christians of all denominations, should lay
aside prejudice and inform themselves on this subject, without any
delay. Vast multitudes of professors of religion have indulged prejudice to
such a degree, as to be unwilling to read and hear, and come to a right
understanding of the subject. But Christians cannot pray in this state of mind.
I defy any one to possess the spirit of prayer, while he is too prejudiced to
examine this, or any other question of duty. If the light did not shine,
Christians might remain in the dark upon this point, and still possess the
spirit of prayer. But if they refuse to come to the light, they cannot
pray. Now I call upon all you who are here present, and who have not examined
this subject because you were indisposed to examine it, to say whether you have
the spirit of prayer. Where ministers, individual Christians, or whole
churches, resist truth upon this point now, when it is so extensively
diffused and before the public mind, I do not believe they will or can enjoy a
revival of religion.
(2.) Writings, containing temperate and judicious
discussions on this subject, and such developments of facts as are before the
public, should be quietly and extensively circulated, 284and should be carefully and prayerfully examined by
the whole church. I do not mean by this, that the attention of the church
should be so absorbed by this, as to neglect the main question, of saving souls
in the midst of them. I do not mean that such premature movements on this
subject should be made, as to astound the Christian community, and involve them
in a broil; but that praying men should act judiciously, and that, as soon as
sufficient information can be diffused through the community, the churches
should meekly, but FIRMLY take
decided ground on the subject, and express before the whole nation and the
world, their abhorrence of this sin.
The anti-masonic excitement which prevailed a few
years since, made such desolations in the churches, and produced for a time so
much alienation of feeling and ill will among ministers and people, and the
first introduction of this subject has been attended with such
commotions, that many good ministers, who are themselves entirely opposed to
slavery, dread to introduce the subject among their people, through fear that
their churches have not religion enough to take it up, and consider it calmly,
and decide upon it in the spirit of the Gospel. I know there is danger of this.
But still the subject must be presented to the churches. And if introduced with
discretion, and with great prayer, there are very few churches that have
enjoyed revivals, and that are at the present time anywhere near a revival
spirit, which may not be brought to receive the truth on this subject. Let
there be no mistake here. William Morgan’s exposé of freemasonry was published
in 1826. The consequent excitement and discussion continued until 1830. In the
meantime the churches had very generally borne their testimony against
freemasonry, and resolved that they could not fellowship adhering masons. As a
consequence the Masonic Lodges generally disbanded and gave up their charters.
There was a general stampede of professed Christians from the lodges. This
prepared the way, and in 1830, the greatest revival the world had then ever
seen commenced in the center of the anti-masonic region, and spread over the
whole field where the church action had been taken until its converts numbered
100,000 souls.
Perhaps no church in this country has had a more
severe trial upon this subject than this. They were a church of young and for
the most part inexperienced Christians. And many circumstances conspired, in my
absence, to produce confusion and wrong feeling among them. But so far as I am
now acquainted with the state of feeling in this church, I 285know of no ill will among them on this subject. The
Lord has blessed us, the Spirit has been distilled upon us, and considerable
numbers added to our communion every month since my return. There are doubtless
in this church those who feel on this subject in very different degrees. And
yet I can honestly say that I am not aware of the least difference in
sentiment among them. We have from the beginning, previous to my
going on my foreign tour, taken the same ground on the subject of slavery that
we have on temperance. We have excluded slaveholders and all concerned in the
traffic from our communion. By some out of this church this course has been
censured as unwarrantable and uncharitable, and I would by no means make my own
judgment, or the example of this church, a rule for the government of other
ministers and churches. Still, I conscientiously believe that the time is not
far distant when the churches will be united in this expression of abhorrence
against this sin. If I do not baptize slavery by some soft and Christian name,
if I call it SIN, both consistency and conscience conduct to the inevitable
conclusion, that while the sin is persevered in, it perpetrators cannot be fit
subjects for Christian communion and fellowship.
To this it is objected, that there are many
ministers in the Presbyterian church who are slaveholders. And it is said
to be very inconsistent that we should refuse to suffer a slaveholder to come
to our communion, and yet belong to the same church with them, sit with them in
ecclesiastical bodies, and acknowledge them as ministers. To this I answer,
that I have not the power to deal with those ministers, and certainly I am not
to withdraw from the church because some of its ministers or members are
slaveholders. My duty is to belong to the church, even if the devil belong to
it. Where I have authority, I exclude slaveholders from the communion,
and I always will as long as I live. But where I have no authority, if the
table of Christ is spread, I will sit down to it, in obedience to his
commandment, whoever else may sit down or stay away.
I do not mean, by any means, to denounce all those
slaveholding ministers and professors as hypocrites, and to say that they are
not Christians. But this I say, that while they continue in that attitude, the
cause of Christ and of humanity demands, that they should not be recognized as
such, unless we mean to be partakers of other men’s sins. It is no more
inconsistent to exclude slaveholders because they belong to the Presbyterian
church, than it is to exclude 286persons who drink
or sell ardent spirits. For there are a great many rum-sellers belonging to the
Presbyterian church.
I believe the time has come, and although I am no
prophet, I believe it will be found to have come, that the revival in the
It is the church that mainly supports this sin. Her united
testimony upon this subject would settle the question. Let Christians of all
denominations meekly but firmly come forth, and pronounce their verdict; let
them clear their communions, and wash their hands of this thing; let them give
forth and write on the head and front of this great abomination, SIN! and in
three years a public sentiment would be formed that would carry all before it,
and there would not be a shackled slave, nor a bristling, cruel slave-driver in
this land.
Still it may be said, that in many churches, this
subject cannot be introduced without creating confusion and ill-will.
This may be. It has been so upon the subject of temperance, and upon the
subject of revivals too. In some churches, neither temperance nor revivals can
be introduced without producing dissension. Sabbath-schools, and missionary
operations, and everything of the kind have been opposed, and have produced
dissensions in many churches. But is this a sufficient reason for excluding
these subjects? And where churches have excluded these subjects for fear of
contention, have they been blessed with revivals? Every 287body knows that they have not. But where churches
have taken firm ground on these subjects, although individuals and sometimes
numbers have opposed, still they have been blessed with revivals. Where any of
these subjects are carefully and prayerfully introduced; where they are brought
forward with a right spirit, and the true relative importance is attached to
each one of them; if in such cases, there are those who will make disturbance
and resist, let the blame fall where it ought. There are some
individuals, who are themselves disposed to quarrel with this subject,
who are always ready to exclaim, “Do not introduce these things into the
church, they will create opposition.” And if the minister and praying people
feel it their duty to bring the matter forward, they will themselves create a
disturbance, and then say, “There, I told you so; now see what your introducing
this subject has done; it will tear the church all to pieces.” And while they
are themselves doing all they can to create division, they are charging the
division upon the subject, and not upon themselves. There are some such people
in many of our churches. And neither sabbath-schools, nor missions, nor
revivals, nor anti-slavery, nor anything else that honors God or benefits the
souls of men, will be carried in the churches, without these careful souls
being offended by it.
These things, however, have been introduced, and
carried, one by one, in some churches with more, and others with less
opposition, and perhaps in some churches with no opposition at all. And as true
as God is the God of the church, as certain as that the world must be
converted, this subject must be considered and pronounced sin by the church.
There might, infinitely better, be no church in the world, than that she should
attempt to remain neutral or give a false testimony on a subject of such
importance as slavery, especially since the subject has come up, and it is
impossible from the nature of the case, that her testimony should not be in the
scale, on the one side or the other.
Do you ask, “What shall be done—shall we make it the
all-absorbing topic of conversation, and divert attention from the
all-important subject of the salvation of souls in the midst of us?” I answer,
No. Let a church express her opinion upon the subject, and be at peace. So far
as I know, we are entirely at peace upon this subject. We have expressed our
opinion; we have closed our communion against slaveholders, and are attending
to other things. I am not aware of the least unhealthy excitement among us 288on this subject. And where it has become an absorbing
topic of conversation in a place, in most instances I believe it has been owing
to the pertinacious and unreasonable opposition of a few individuals against
even granting the subject a hearing.
6. If the church wishes to promote revivals, she
must sanctify the Sabbath. There is a vast deal of Sabbath-breaking in the
land. Merchants break it, travellers break it, the Government breaks it. A few
years ago an attempt was made in the western part of this State, to establish
and sustain a Sabbath-keeping line of boats and stages. But it was found that
the church would not sustain the enterprise. Many professors of religion
would not travel in these stages, and would not have their goods forwarded in
canal-boats that would be detained from travelling on the Sabbath. At one time,
Christians were much engaged in petitioning Congress to suspend the Sabbath
mails, and now they seem to be ashamed of it. But one thing is most certain,
that unless something is done, and done speedily, and done effectually, to
promote the sanctification of the Sabbath by the church, the Sabbath will go by
the board, and we shall not only have our mails running on the Sabbath, and
post offices open, but by and by our courts of justice and halls of legislation
will be kept open on the Sabbath. And what can the church do, what will this
nation do, WITHOUT ANY SABBATH?
7. The church must take right ground on the subject
of Temperance and Moral Reform, and all the subject of practical morality which
come up for decision from time to time.
There are those in the churches who are standing
aloof from the subject of Moral Reform, and who are afraid to have anything
said in the pulpit against lewdness. On this subject the church need not expect
to be permitted to take neutral ground. In the providence of God, it is up for
discussion. The evils have been exhibited, the call has been made for reform. And
what is to reform mankind but the truth? And who shall present the truth if not
the church and the ministry? Away with the idea that Christians can remain
neutral and keep still, and yet enjoy the approbation and blessing of God.
In all such cases, the minister who holds his peace
is counted among those on the other side. Everybody knows that it is so in a
revival. It is not necessary for a person to rail out against the work. If he
only keeps still and takes neutral ground, the enemies of the revival will all
consider him as on their side. So on the subject of temperance. It 289is not needful that a person should rail at the
cold-water society, in order to be on the best terms with drunkards and
moderate drinkers. Only let him plead for the moderate use of wine, only let
him continue to drink it as a luxury, and all the drunkards account him on
their side. If he refuses to give his influence to the temperance cause, he is
claimed of course by the other side as a friend. On all these subjects, when
they come up, the churches and ministers must take the right ground, and take
it openly and stand to it, and carry it through, if they expect to enjoy the
blessing of God in revivals. They must cast out from their communions such
members, as in contempt of the light that is shed upon them, continue to drink
or traffic in ardent spirits.
8. There must be more done for all the great
objects of Christian benevolence. There must be much greater efforts for
the cause of missions, and education, and the Bible, and all the other branches
of religious enterprise, or the church will displease God. Look at it. Think of
the mercies we have received, of the wealth, numbers and prosperity of the
church. Have we rendered unto God according to the benefits we have received,
so as to show that the church is bountiful and willing to give their money and
to work for God? No. Far from it. Have we multiplied our means and enlarged our
plans, in proportion as the church has increased? Is God satisfied with what
has been done, or has he reason to be? Such a revival as has been enjoyed by
the churches of
9. If Christians in the
If not, and if revivals do cease in this land, the
ministers and churches will be guilty of all the blood of all the souls that
shall go to hell in consequence of it. There is no need that the work should
cease. If the church will do all her duty, the millennium may come in this
country in three years. But if this writing letters is to be kept up, filling
the country with suspicions and jealousies, if it is to be always so, that
two-thirds of the church will hang back and do nothing but find fault in time
of revival, the curse of God will be on this nation, and that before long.
REMARKS.
1. It is high time there should be great
searchings of heart among Christians and ministers. Brethren, this is no
time to resist the truth, or to cavil and find fault because the truth is
spoken out plainly. It is no time to recriminate or to strive, but we must
search our own hearts, and humble ourselves before God.
2. We must repent and forsake our sins, and amend our
ways and our doings, or the revival will cease. Our ecclesiastical difficulties
MUST CEASE, and all minor differences must be laid aside and given up, to unite
in promoting the great interests of religion. If not, revivals will cease from
among us, and the blood of lost millions will be found in our skirts.
If the church would do all her duty, she would soon
complete the triumph of religion in the world. But if this Act and Testimony
warfare is to be kept up, and this system of espionage, and insinuation and
denunciation, not only will revivals cease, but the blood of millions who will
go to hell before the church will get over the shock, will be found in the
skirts of the men who have got up and carried on this dreadful contention.
291
4. Those who have circulated slanderous reports in
regard to revivals, must repent. A great deal has been said about heresy, and
about some men’s denying the Spirit’s influence, which is wholly groundless,
and has been made up out of nothing. And those who have made up the reports,
and those who have circulated them against their brethren, must repent and pray
to God that they may receive his forgiveness.
5. We see the constant tendency there is in
Christians to declension and backsliding. This is true in all converts of all
revivals. Look at the revival in President Edwards’ day. The work went on till
30,000 souls had been converted, and by this time so many ministers and
Christians got in such a state, by writing books and pamphlets, on one side and
the other, that they carried all by the board, and the revival ceased. Those
who had opposed the work grew obstinate and violent, and those who promoted it
lost their meekness, and got ill-tempered, and were then driven into the very
evils that had been falsely charged upon them.
And now, what shall we do? This great and glorious
work of God seems to be indicating a decline. The revival is not dead—blessed
be God for that—it is not dead! No, we hear from all parts of the land that
Christians are reading on the subject and inquiring about the revival. In some
places there are now powerful revivals. And what shall we do, to lift up the
standard, to move this entire nation and turn all this great people to the
Lord? We must DO RIGHT. We must all have a better spirit, we must get down in
the dust, we must act unitedly, we must take hold of this great work with all
our hearts, and then God will bless us, and the work will go on.
What is the condition of this nation? No doubt, God
is holding the rod of WAR over the heads of this nation. He is waiting before he
lets loose his judgments, to see whether the church will do right. The nation
is under his displeasure, because the church has conducted in such a manner
with respect to revivals. And now suppose war should come, where would be our
revivals? How quickly would war swallow up the revival spirit. The spirit of
war is anything but the spirit of revivals. Who will attend to the claims of
religion, when the public mind is engrossed by the all-absorbing topic of war.
See now, how this nation is, all at once, brought upon the brink of war.
God brandishes his blazing sword over our heads. Will the church repent? It is
THE CHURCH that God chiefly has in view. How shall we avoid the curse of war?
Only by a reformation in the church. It is in vain 292to look to politicians to avert war. Perhaps they
would generally be in favor of war. Very likely the things they would do to
avert it would run us right into it. If the church will not feel, will not
awake, will not act, where shall we look for help? If the church absolutely will
not move, will not tremble in view of the just judgments of God hanging
over our heads, we are certainly nigh unto cursing, as a nation.
6. Whatever is done must be done quickly. The
scale is on a poise. If we do not go forward, we must go back. Things cannot
remain as they are. If the church do not come up, if we do not have a more
powerful revival than we have had, very soon we shall have none at all. We have
had such a great revival, that now small revivals do not interest the public
mind. You must act as individuals. Do your own duty. You have a
responsibility. Repent quickly. Do not wait till another year. Who but God
knows what will be the state of these churches, if things go on another year
without a great and general revival of religion?
7. It is common, when things get all wrong in the
church, for each individual to find fault with the church, and with his
brethren, and overlook his own share of the blame. Do not let any one spend his
time in finding fault with that abstract thing, “The Church.” But as individual
members of the
Since these lectures were delivered great progress
has been made in all benevolent enterprises in this country. Time has settled
the question of the purity and inestimable value of those revivals, against
which so much mistaken opposition existed in the Presbyterian church. It is now
known that the great and disastrous reaction predicted by opposers has not been
witnessed. It must now be admitted that the converts of those revivals have
composed the strength of the churches, and that their Christian influence has
been felt throughout the land. No revivals have ever existed the power and
purity of which have been more thoroughly established by time and experience,
than that great and blessed work of God, against which such a storm of
opposition was raised. The opposition was evidently a great mistake. Let it not
be said that 293the opposition was
demanded by the great evils attending that work, and that those evils and
errors were arrested and corrected by the opposition. The fact is that the
supposed errors and evils that were made the justification of the opposition,
never existed to any such extent as to justify alarm or opposition. I have
written a narrative of those revivals in which I have considered the question
more fully. The churches did take hold of temperance and other branches of
reform to such an extent as to avoid those evils against which they were
warned. Upon the question of slavery the church was too late in her testimony
to avoid the war. But the slaveholders were much alarmed and exasperated by the
constantly growing opposition to their institution throughout all that region
of the north where revival influences had been felt. They took up arms to
defend and perpetuate the abomination, and by so doing abolished it.
LECTURE XVI.
THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF
Text.—Again I say unto you, That if two of you
shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them of my Father which is in heaven.—Matthew xviii. 19.
SOME weeks since, I used this text, in preaching on
the subject of prayer meetings. At present I design to enter more into the
spirit and meaning of the text. The evident design of our Lord in this text was
to teach the importance and influence of union in prayer and effort to promote
religion. He states the strongest possible case by taking the number two, as
the least number between whom there can be an agreement, and says that “where two
of you are agreed on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall
be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” It is the fact of their agreement,
upon which he lays the stress, and mentioning the number two, appears to have
been designed merely to afford encouragement to the smallest number between
whom there can be an agreement. But what are we to understand “being it agreed
as touching” the things we shall ask? I will answer this question under the two
following heads:
I. By showing that we are to be “agreed” in prayer.
II. We are to agree in everything that is essential
to obtaining the blessing that we seek.
I. In order to come within this promise, we are to be
agreed in prayer. This is particularly taught in the text. That is,
1. We should agree in our desires for the
object, It is necessary to have desires for the object, and to be agreed
in those desires. Very often individuals pray in words for the same thing,
when they are by no means agreed in desiring that thing. Nay, perhaps some of
them, in their hearts desire the very opposite. People are called on to pray
for an object, and they all pray for it in words, but God knows they often do
not desire it, and perhaps he sees that the hearts of some may, all the while,
be resisting the prayer.
2. We must agree in the motive from which we
desire the 295object. It is not enough
that our desires for an object should be the same, but the reason why
must be the same. An individual may desire a revival, for the glory of God and
the salvation of sinners. Another member of the church may also desire a
revival, but from very different motives. Some, perhaps, desire a revival in
order to have the congregation built up and strengthened, so as to make it more
easy for them to pay their expenses in supporting the Gospel. Another desires a
revival for the sake of having the church increased so as to be more numerous
and more respectable. Others desire a revival because they have been opposed or
evil spoken of, and they wish to have their enemies know that whatever they
may think or say, God blesses them. Sometimes people desire a revival
from mere natural affection, so as to have their friends converted and saved.
If they mean to be so united in prayer as to obtain a blessing, they must not
only desire the blessing, and be agreed in desiring it, but they must also
agree in desiring it for the same reasons.
3. We must be agreed in desiring it for good
reasons. These desires must not only be united, and from the same motives,
but they must be from good motives. The supreme motive must be to
honor and glorify God. People may even desire a revival, and agree in
desiring it, and agree in the motives, and yet if these motives are not good,
God will not grant their desires. Thus parents may be agreed in prayer for the
conversion of their children, and may have the same feelings and the same
motives, and yet if they have no higher motives than because they are their
children, their prayers will not be granted. They are agreed in the reason,
but it is not the right reason.
In like manner, any number of persons might be agreed
in their desires and motives, but if their motives are selfish, their being agreed
in them will only make them more offensive to God. “How is it that ye have agreed
together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” I have seen a great deal of
this, where churches have been engaged in prayer for an object, and their
motives were evidently selfish. Sometimes they are engaged in praying for a
revival, and you would think by their earnestness and union that they would
certainly move God to grant the blessing, till you find out the reason. And
what is it? Why, they see their congregation is about to be broken up,
unless something can be done. Or they see some other denomination gaining
ground, and there is no way to counteract them but by having a revival in their
church. And all their praying is only an attempt to get the Almighty in 296to help them out of their difficulty, and is purely
selfish and offensive to God. A woman in
I have had a multitude of letters and requests that I
should visit such and such places, and endeavor to promote a revival, and many
reasons have been urged why I should go, but when I came to weigh their
reasons, I have sometimes found every one of them selfish. And God would look
upon every one with abhorrence.
In prayer meetings, how often do we hear people offer
such reasons why they desire such and such blessings, as are not right in the
sight of God. Such reasons, that if they are the true ones, and if Christians
are actually excited by those reasons, it would render their prayers not
acceptable to God, because their motive was not right.
There are a great many things often said in favor of
the cause of missions, which are of this character, appealing to wrong motives.
How often are we told of six hundred millions of heathens, who are in danger
of going to hell, and how little is said of the guilt of six hundred
millions engaged and banded together as rebels against God, or of the dishonor
and contempt poured upon God our Maker by such a world of outlaws. Now I know
that God refers to those motives which appeal to our mere natural sympathies,
and compassion, and uses them, but always in subordination to his glory. If
these lower motives are placed foremost, it must always produce a defective
piety and zeal, and a great deal that is false. Until the church will look at
the dishonor done to God, little will be done. It is this which must be made to
stand out before the world, it is this which must be deeply felt by the church,
it is this which must be fully exhibited to sinners, before the world can ever
be converted.
Parents never agree in praying for the conversion of
their children in such a way as to have their prayers answered, until they feel
that their children are rebels. Parents often pray very earnestly for their
children because they wish God to save them, and they almost think hard of God
if he does not save their children. But if they would have their prayers
prevail, they must come to take God’s part against their children, 297even though for their perverseness and incorrigible
wickedness he should be obliged to send them to hell. I knew a woman who was
very anxious for the salvation of her son, and she used to pray for him with
agony, but still he remained impenitent, until at length she became convinced
that her prayers and agonies had been nothing but the fond yearnings of
parental feeling, and were not dictated at all by a just view of her son’s
character as a wilful and wicked rebel against God. And there was never any
impression made on his mind until she was made to take strong ground against
him as a rebel, and to look on him as deserving to be sent to hell. And then he
was converted. The reason was, she never before was influenced by the right
motive in prayer, desiring his salvation with a supreme regard to the glory of
God.
4. If we would be so united as to prevail in prayer, we
must agree in faith. That is, we must concur in expecting the blessing
prayed for. We must understand the reason why it is to be expected, we must see
the evidence on which faith ought to rest, and must absolutely believe
that the blessing will come, or we do not bring ourselves within the promise.
Faith is always understood as an indispensable condition of prevailing prayer.
If it is not expressed in any particular case, it is always implied, for no
prayer can be effectual but that which is offered in faith. And in order that united
prayer may prevail, there must be united faith.
5. So, again, we must be agreed as to the time
when we desire the blessing to come. If two or more agree in desiring a
particular blessing, and one of them desires to have it come now, while others
are not ready to have it quite yet, it is plain they are not agreed. They are
not united in regard to one essential point. If the blessing is to come in
answer to their united prayer, it must come as they prayed for it. And if it
comes, it must be at some time. But if they disagree as to the time when
they will have it, plainly it can never come in answer to their prayer.
Suppose a church should undertake to pray for a
revival, and should be all agreed in desiring a revival, but not as to the time
when it shall be. Suppose some wish to have the revival come now, and are all
prepared, and their hearts waiting for the Spirit of God to come down, and are
willing to give time and attention and labor to it NOW; but others are not
quite ready, they have something else to attend to at present, some worldly
object which they want to accomplish, some piece of business in hand and want
just to finish this thing, and then—but they cannot possibly find time
to attend 298to it now, they are not
prepared to humble themselves, to search their hearts and break up their fallow
ground, and put themselves in a posture to receive the blessing. Is it not
plain that here is no real union, for they are not agreed in that which is
essential? While one part are praying that the revival may come now, the others
are praying with equal earnestness that it may not come now.
Suppose the question were now put to this
church, whether you are agreed in praying for a revival of religion here? Do
you all desire a revival, and would you all like to have it come now? Would you
be heartily agreed now to break down in the dust, and open your hearts to the
Holy Ghost if he should come to-night? I do not ask what you would say, if I
should propose the question. Perhaps if I should put it to you now, you would
all rise up and vote that you were agreed in desiring a revival, and agreed to
have it now, You know how you ought to feel and what you ought to say, and you
know you ought to be ready for a revival now. But, I ask, would GOD see
it to be so in your hearts, that you are agreed on this point? Has there been a
time, since I came back from the country, that this church were all agreed in desiring
and praying for a revival, and in wishing to have it come now? Have any two
of you agreed on this point, and prayed accordingly? If not, when will you be
agreed to pray for a revival? And if this church cannot be agreed among
yourselves, how can you expect a revival? It is of no use for you to take the
outward attitude, and stand up here and say you are agreed, when God
reads the heart, and sees that you are not agreed. Here is the promise—“Again I
say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in
heaven.” Now this is either true, or it is false. Which ground will you take?
If it is true, then it is true that you are not agreed, and never have been, except
in those cases where you have had a revival.
But we must agree not only upon a time, but it
must be the present time, or we are not agreed in everything essential
to the work. Unless we agree to have the revival now, we shall not now use the
means. But until the means are used, it cannot come. It is plain, then, that we
must be agreed upon the present time, that is, we are not agreed in the sense
of the text, until we agree that now we will have the blessing, and
conduct accordingly. To agree upon a future time is of no use, for when that
future time comes, we must then be agreed upon that present time,
and use means accordingly, 299so that you see
you are never properly agreed until you agree that now is the time.
II. We are to agree in everything that is essential
to obtaining the blessing that we seek.
You see the language of the text, “If two of you
shall agree as touching anything that they shall ask.” Many people seem
to read it as if it referred merely to an agreement in asking, and they
understand it to promise, that whenever two are agreed in asking for any
blessing, it shall be given, But Christ says there must be an agreement “as
touching” the thing prayed for. That is, the agreement or union must comprise
everything that is essential to the bestowment and reception of the blessing.
1. If Christians would enjoy the benefits of this
promise in praying for a revival, they must be agreed in believing revivals
of religion to be a reality. There are many individuals, even in the
church, who do not in their hearts believe that the revivals which take place
are the work of God. Some of them may pray in words for an outpouring of the
Spirit and a revival of religion, while in their hearts they doubt whether
there are any such things known in modern times. In united prayer there must be
no hypocrisy.
2. They must agree in feeling the necessity of
revivals. There are some who believe in the reality of revivals, as a work
of God, while at the same time they are unsettled as to the necessity of having
them in order to the success of the Gospel. They think there is a real work of
God in revivals, but after all, perhaps it is quite as well to have sinners
converted and brought into the church in a more quiet and gradual way, and
without so much excitement. Whenever revivals are abroad in the land, and
prevail, and are popular, they may appear in favor of them, and may put up
their cold prayers for a revival, while at the same time they would be sorry on
the whole to have a revival come among them. They think it so much safer and
better to indoctrinate the people, and spread the matter before them in a calm
way, and to bring them in gradually, and not run the risk of having animal
feeling or wild-fire in their congregations.
3. They must be agreed in regard to the importance
of revivals. Men are not blessed with revivals, in answer to prayers that
are not half in earnest. They must feel the infinite importance of a revival
before they will pray so as to prevail. Blessings of this kind are not granted
but in answer to such prayers as arise from a sense of their importance. As I
have shown before, when preaching on the subject of prevailing 300prayer, it is when men desire the blessing with
UNUTTERABLE AGONY, that they offer such prayer as will infallibly prevail with
God. Those who feel less of the importance of a revival may pray for it in
words, but they will never have the blessing. But when a church has been united
in prayer, and really felt the importance of a revival, they never have failed
of having one. I do not believe a case can be found of such a church being
turned empty away. Such an agreement, when sincere, will secure an agreement
also on all other subjects that are indispensable.
4. They must be agreed also, in having correct
scriptural notions about several things connected with revivals.
(1.) The necessity of divine agency to produce
a revival. It is not enough that they all hold this in theory, and pray for it
in words. They must fully understand and deeply feel this necessity, they must
realize their entire dependence on the Spirit of God, or the whole will fail.
(2.) Why divine agency is necessary. There
must be an agreement on correct principles in regard to the reason that divine
agency is so indispensable. If they get wrong ideas on this point, they will be
hindered. If Christians get the idea that this necessity of divine influence
lies in the inability of sinners, or if they feel as if God was under
obligation to give the Holy Spirit, in order to make sinners able to
obey the Gospel, they insult God, and their prayers will not avail. For in that
case they must feel that it is a mere matter of common justice for God to pour
out his Spirit, before he can justly require Christians to work, or sinners to
repent.
Suppose a church get the idea that sinners are poor,
unfortunate creatures, who come into the world with such a nature that they
cannot help sinning, and that sinners are just as unable to repent and believe
the Gospel as they are to fly to the moon, how can they feel that the sinner is
a rebel against God, and that he deserves to be sent to hell? How can they feel
that the sinner is to blame? And how can they take God’s part when they
pray? If they do not take God’s part against the sinner, they cannot expect God
will regard their prayers, for they do not pray with right motives. No doubt
one great reason why so many prayers are not answered, is that those who pray
do in fact take the sinner’s part against God. They pray as if the sinner was a
poor unfortunate being, to be pitied, rather than as if he was a guilty wretch,
to be blamed. And the reason is that they do not believe sinners are able to
obey God. If a person does not believe that sinners are able to obey
their Maker, and really believes that the Spirit’s influences 301are necessary to make him able, it is
impossible, with these views, to offer acceptable and prevailing prayer for the
sinner, and it is not wonderful that persons with these views should not
prevail with God, and should doubt about the efficacy of the prayer of faith.
How often do you hear people pray for sinners in this
style, “O Lord, help this poor soul to do what he is required to do—O
Lord, enable him to do so and so.” Now this language implies that they
take the sinner’s part, and not God’s. If it was understood by those who use
it, as it is sometimes explained, and if people meant by it what they ought to
mean when they plead for sinners, I would not find so much fault with it, But
the truth is, that when people use this language, they often mean just what the
language itself would be naturally at first sight, understood to mean, which is
just as if they should pray, “Lord, thou commandest these poor sinners to
repent, when, O Lord, thou knowest they cannot repent unless thou givest them
thy Spirit, to enable them to do it, though thou hast declared that thou
wilt send them to hell if they do not, whether they ever receive the Spirit or
not, and now, Lord, this seems very hard, and we pray thee to have pity upon
these poor creatures, and do not deal so hardly with them, for Christ’s sake.”
Who does not see that such a prayer, or a prayer which means this, whatever
language it may be couched in, is an insult to God, charging him with infinite
injustice, if he continues to exact from sinners a duty which they are unable
to perform without that aid which he will not grant. People may pray in this
way till the day of judgment, and never obtain a blessing, because they take
the sinners part against God. They cannot pray successfully, until they
understand that the sinner is a rebel, and obstinate in his rebellion—so
obstinate that he never will, without the Holy Spirit, do what he might do as
well as not, instantly, and this obstinacy is the reason, and the only reason,
why he needs the influence of the Holy Spirit for his conversion. The only
ground on which the sinner needs divine agency is to overcome his obstinacy,
and make him willing to do what he can do, and what God justly requires him to
do. And a church are never in an attitude in which God will hear their united
prayers, unless they are agreed in so understanding their dependence on God, as
to feel it in perfect consistency with the sinner’s blame. If it is the other
way, they are agreed in understanding it wrong, and their prayers for divine
help to the unfortunate instead of divine favor to make a rebel submit, are
wide of the mark, are an insult to God, and they never will obtain favor in
heaven.
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(3.) They must be agreed in understanding that revivals
are not miracles, but that they are brought about by the use of means like
other events. No wonder revivals formerly came so seldom and continued so short
a time, when people generally regarded them as miracles, or like a mere shower
of rain, that will come on a place and continue a little while, and then blow
over; that is, as something over which we have no control. For what can people
do to get a shower of rain? Or how can they make it rain any longer than it
does rain? It is necessary that those who pray should be agreed in
understanding a revival as something to be brought about by means, or they
never will be agreed in using them.
(4.) They must be agreed in understanding that human
agency is just as indispensable to a revival as divine agency. Such a thing
as a revival of religion, I venture to say, never did occur without divine
agency, and never did occur without human agency. How often do people say, “God
can, if he pleases, carry on the work without means.” But I have
no faith in it, for there is no evidence of it. What is religion? Obedience to
God’s law. But the law cannot be obeyed unless it is known. And how can God
make sinners obey but by making known his commandments? And how can he make
them known but by revealing them himself, or sending them by others—that is, by
bringing THE TRUTH to bear upon the person’s mind till he obeys it. God never
did and never can convert a sinner except with the truth. What is conversion?
Obeying the truth. He may communicate it himself, directly to the sinner. But
then, the sinner’s own agency is indispensable, for conversion consists in the
right employment of the sinner’s own agency. And ordinarily, he employs the
agency of others also, in printing, writing, conversation, and preaching. God
has put the Gospel treasure in earthen vessels. He has seen fit to employ men
in preaching the word. That is, he has seen that human agency is that which he
can best employ in saving sinners. And if there ever was a case, of which we
have no evidence, there is not one in a thousand, if one in a million,
converted in any other way than through the truth, made known and urged by
human instrumentality. And as the church must be united in using those means,
it is plainly necessary that they should be united in understanding the true
reason why means are to be used, and the true principles on which they are to
be governed and applied.
5. It is important that there should be union in
regard to the measures essential to the promotion of a revival. Let
individuals 303agree to do anything
whatever, and if they are not agreed in their measures, they will run into
confusion, and counteract one another. Set them to sail a ship, and they never
can get along without agreement. If they attempt to do business as merchants
when they are not agreed in their measures, what will they do? Why, they will
only undo each other’s work, and thwart the whole business of the concern. All
this is pre-eminently true in regard to the work of promoting a revival.
Otherwise the members of the church will counteract each other’s influence, and
they need not expect a revival.
(1.) The church must be agreed in regard to the
meetings which are held, as to what meeting shall be held, and how many,
and where, and when they shall be held. Some people always desire to multiply
meetings in a revival, as if the more meetings they had, the more religion.
Others are always opposed to any new meetings in a revival. Some are
always for having a protracted meeting, and others are never ready to hold a
protracted meeting at all. Whatever difference there may be, it is essential
that the church should come to a good understanding on the subject, so that
they can go on together in harmony, and labor with zeal and effect.
(2.) They must be agreed as to the manner of
conducting meetings. It is necessary that the church should be united and
cordial on this subject, if they expect to offer united prayer with effect.
Sometimes there are individuals who want to adopt every new thing they can hear
of or imagine, while others are totally unwilling to have anything altered in
regard to the management of the meeting, but would have everything done
precisely as they are accustomed to. They ought to be agreed in some
way, either to have the meetings altered, or to keep them on in the old way.
The best possible way is, for the church to agree in this, that they will let
the meetings go on and take their course, just as the Spirit of God shapes
them, and not even attempt to make two meetings just alike. The church never
will give the fullest effect to the truth, until they are agreed in this
principle,—that in promoting a revival they will accommodate their measures to
circumstances, and not attempt to interrupt the natural course which pious
feeling and sound judgment indicate, but cast themselves entirely upon the
guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, introducing any measure, at any
time, that shall seem called for in the Providence of God, without laying any
stress upon its being new or old.
6. They must be agreed in the manner of dealing
with impenitent 304sinners. This is a point immensely important, that the
church should be agreed in their treatment of sinners. Suppose that they are
not agreed, and one will tell a sinner one thing and another another. What
confusion! How can they agree in prayer, when it is plain that they are not
agreed as to the things they shall pray for. Go among such a church, and hear
them pray for sinners. Attend a prayer meeting and listen. Here is one man
prays that the sinners present may repent. Another prays that they may be
convicted, and perhaps, if he is very much engaged, will go so far as to pray
that they may be deeply convicted. Another prays that sinners may go
home solemn, and pensive, and silent, meditating upon the truths they have
heard. Another prays in such a manner, that you can see he is afraid to have
them converted now. Another prays very solemnly that they may not attempt to do
anything in their own strength. And so on. How easy it is to see that the
church are not agreed as touching the things they ask for, and of course
they have no interest in the promise.
If you set them to talk with sinners, their courses
would be just as discordant, for it is plain that they are not agreed, and have
no clear views in regard to what a sinner must do to be saved, or of what ought
to be said to sinners, to bring them to repent. And the consequence is, that
sinners who are awakened and anxious, presently get confounded, and do not know
what to do, and perhaps give it all up in despair, or conclude there is in
reality nothing rational or consistent in religion. One will tell the sinner he
must repent, immediately. Another will give him a book,
Doddridge’s Rise and Progress perhaps, and tell him to read that book. Another
will tell him he must pray and persevere, and in God’s time he will obtain the
blessing. A revival can never go on for any length of time amidst such
difficulties. If it begins, it must soon run out; unless, perhaps, the body of
the church will keep still and say nothing at all, and let others carry on the
work. And there the work will suffer materially for want of their co-operation
and support. A church ought to be agreed. Every Christian ought to have a clear
understanding of this subject, and all speak the same thing, and give the same
directions. And then the sinner will find no one to take his part, and can get
no relief or comfort till he repents.
7. They must be agreed in removing the impediments
to a revival. If a church expect a revival, they must take up the stumbling
blocks out of the way.
305
(1.) In the exercise of discipline. If there
are rotten members in the church, they should be removed, and the church should
all agree to cut them off. If they remain in the church, they are such a
reproach to religion, as to hinder a revival. Sometimes when an attempt is made
to cast them out, this creates division, and thus the work is stopped.
Sometimes the offenders are persons of influence, or they have family friends
who will take their part, and make a party, and thus create a bad spirit, and
prevent a revival.
(2.) In mutual confessions. Whenever wrong has
been done to any, there should be a full confession. I do not mean a cold and
forced acknowledgment, such as saying, “If I have done wrong, I am sorry
for it.” But a hearty confession, going the full length of the wrong, and
showing that it comes out of a broken heart.
(3.) Forgiveness of enemies. A great
obstruction to revivals is often found in the fact that active and leading
individuals harbor a revengeful and unforgiving spirit towards those who have
injured them, which destroys their spirituality, makes them harsh and
disagreeable in their manner, and prevents them from enjoying either communion
with God in prayer, or the blessing of God to give them success in labor. But
let the members of a church be truly agreed in breaking down and confessing their
own faults, and in cherishing a tender, merciful, forgiving, Christ-like spirit
toward those who they think have done them wrong, and then the Spirit will come
down upon them not by measure.
8. They must be agreed in making all the necessary
preparations for a revival. They should be agreed in having all necessary
preparation made, and agreed in bearing their part of the labor or expense of
making it. There should be an equality, and not let a few be burdened and the
rest do little or nothing, but every one his proportion, according to his
several ability. Then there will be no envying nor jealousy, nor any of those
mutual recriminations and altercations and disrespectful remarks about one
another, which are so inconsistent with brotherly love, and such a stumbling
block in the way of sinners.
9. They must be agreed in doing heartily whatever
is necessary to be done for the promotion of the revival. Sometimes a
slight disagreement about a very little thing will be allowed to break in and
destroy a revival. A minister told me that he once went to labor in a place as
an evangelist, and the Spirit of God was evidently present, and sinners began
to inquire, and things looked quite favorable, until some of the 306members in the church began to agitate the inquiry
how they should pay him for his services. They said “If he stays among us any
longer, he will expect we should give him something,” and they did not see how
they could afford to do it. And they talked about it until the minds of the
brethren got distracted and divided, and the minister went away. Look at it.
There God stood in the door of that church, with his hands full of mercies but
these parsimonious and wicked professors thought it would cost something to
have a revival, and their expenses were about as much as they felt willing or
able to bear. And so they let him depart and the work ceased. The minister
would not have left at the time, whether they gave him anything or not, for
what he should receive, or whether he should receive anything from them, was a
question about which he felt no concern. But the church by their parsimonious
spirit got into such a state as to grieve the Spirit, and he saw that to stay
longer with them would do no good. Oh, how will those professors feel when they
meet sinners from that town in judgment, when it will all come out, that God
was ready and waiting to grant them a blessing, but they allowed themselves to
get agitated and divided by inquiring how much they should have to pay!
10. They must be agreed in laboring to carry on
the work. It is not enough that they should agree to pray for a revival,
but they should agree also in laboring to promote it. They should set
themselves to it systematically, and as a matter of business, to visit and
converse and pray with their neighbors, to look out for opportunities of doing
good; to watch the effect of the word, and watch the signs of the times, that
they may know when anything needs to be done, and do it.
(1.) They should be agreed to labor.
(2.) They should be agreed how to labor.
(3.) They should be agreed to live accordingly.
11. They must agree in a determination to
persevere. It will not answer for some members of the church to-day to
begin to move and bluster about, and then, as soon as the least thing turns up
unfavorable, to get discouraged, and faint, and one-half of them give over.
They should be all united and agree to persevere, and labor, and pray, and hold
on, until the blessing comes.
In a word, if Christians expect to unite in prayer
and effort, so as to prevail with God, they must be agreed in speaking and
doing the same things, in walking by the same rule, and maintaining the same
principles, and in persevering till they obtain the blessing, so as not to
hinder or thwart 307each other’s efforts.
All this is evidently implied in being agreed as touching the things for which
they are praying.
REMARKS.
1. We see why it is that so many of the children of
professing parents are not converted.
It is because the parents have not been agreed as
touching the things they should pray for in behalf of their children.
Perhaps they never had any kind of agreement respecting them. Perhaps they were
never agreed even as to what was the very best thing they could ask
them. Sometimes parents are not agreed in anything, but their opinions clash,
and they are perpetually disagreeing, and their children see it, and then no
wonder they are not converted.
Or perhaps they may not be agreed as touching the
salvation of their children. Are they sincere in desiring it? Do they agree
to desire and agree from right motives? Do they agree in regard to the
importance of it? Are they agreed how their children ought to be dealt with, to
effect their conversion—what shall be said to them—how it shall be said—when—by
whom. Alas! in how many cases is it evident they are not agreed. Probably few
cases will be found, where children remain unconverted, but what it will prove
that the parents were never truly agreed as touching the things they should ask
for the salvation of their children.
Often there is such disagreement that we could not
expect any good to result, or anything but ruin to the children. The husband
and wife often disagree entirely and fundamentally in regard to the manner of
bringing up their children. Perhaps the wife is fond of dress, and display, and
visiting, while the husband is plain and humble, and is grieved and distressed,
and mourns and prays to see how his children are puffed up with vanity. Or it
may be that the father is ambitious, and wants to have his daughters
fashionably educated and make a display, and his sons become great men, and so
he will send his daughters to a polite boarding-school, where they may learn
anything but their duty to God, and will be all the time pushing his sons
forward, and goading their ambition, while the mother grieves and weeps in
secret to see her dear children hurried on to destruction, and all her own
influence counteracted, and her sons and daughters trained up to serve the god
of this world, and go to hell.
2. We see the hypocrisy of those who profess to be
praying 308for a revival while they
are doing nothing to promote it. There are many who appear to be very zealous
in praying for a revival, while they are not doing anything at
all for one. What do they mean? Are they agreed as touching the things
they ask for? Certainly not. They cannot be agreed in offering acceptable
prayer for a revival until they are prepared TO DO what God requires them to do
to promote it. What would you think of the farmer who should pray for a crop,
and not plough or sow? Would you think such prayers pious, or an insult to God?
3. We see why so many prayers offered in the church
are never answered. It is because those who offered them never were agreed as
touching the things they asked for. Perhaps the minister never laid the
subject before them, never explained what it is to be agreed, nor showed them
its importance, nor set before them the great encouragement which the promise
before us affords to churches that will agree. Perhaps the members of the
church have never conferred together, and compared their views, to see whether
they understood the subject alike, whether they were agreed in regard to the
motives, grounds, and importance of being united in prayer and labor for a
revival. Suppose you were to go through the churches in this city, and learn
the precise views and feelings of the members on this subject. How many would
you find who were agreed even in regard to the essential and indispensable
things, concerning which it is necessary Christians should be agreed in order
to unite in prevailing prayer? Perhaps no two could be found who are agreed,
and if two were found whose views and desires were alike, it would probably be
ascertained that they are unacquainted with each other, and of course neither
act nor pray together.
4. We see why it is that this text has been generally
understood to mean something different from what it says. People have first
read it wrong. They have read it as if it was, “If any two of you shall agree to
ask anything, it shall be done.” And as they have often agreed to ask for
things, and the things were not done, they have said, “The literal meaning of
the text cannot be true, for we have tried it and know it is not true. How many
prayer meetings have we held, and how many petitions have we put up, in which
we have perfectly agreed in asking for blessings, and yet they have not been
granted?” Now the fact is, that they have never yet understood what it is to be
agreed as touching the things they are to ask for. I am sure this is no
strained construction of the text, but is its true and obvious meaning, 309as a plain, pious reader would understand it, if he
inquired seriously and earnestly the true import. They must be agreed not only in
asking, but in everything else that is indispensable to the existence of
the thing prayed for. Suppose two of you were agreed in desiring to go to
5. We may ordinarily expect a revival of religion to
prevail and extend among those without the church, just in proportion to the
union of prayer and effort within. If there is a general union within the
church, the revival will be general. If the union continues, the revival will
continue. If anything begins to break in upon this perfect union in prayer and
effort, it will begin to limit the revival. How great and powerful would be the
revival in this city, if all the churches in the city were thus united in
promoting it!
There is another fact which I have witnessed, worthy
of notice. I have observed, that a revival will prevail out of the church,
among persons in that class of society, amongst whom it prevails in the
church. If the females in the church are most awake and prayerful, the work may
ordinarily be expected to prevail mostly among females out of the church, and
more women will be converted than men. If the youth of either, or of both
sexes, in the church are most awake, the work is most likely to prevail among
youth, male or female, or both, as the work may be in the church, in this
respect. If the heads of families and the principal men in the church are
awake, the revival is, I have observed, more likely to prevail among that class
out of the church. I have known a revival mostly confined to females, and few
males converted, apparently because the male part of the church did not take
hold and work. Again I have repeatedly known the greatest number of converts
among men, owing apparently to the fact that the male part of the church
were most engaged. When the revival does not reach a particular class of the
impenitent, pains should be taken to arouse that portion of the church who are
of their own age and standing, to make more direct efforts for their
conversion. There seems to be a philosophy in this fact, which has often been
witnessed. Different classes of professors naturally feel a sympathy for 310the impenitent of their own sex and age
and rank, and more naturally pray for them, and have more intercourse
with them, and more influence over them, and this seems to be at least one of
the reasons why revivals are apt to be the most powerful and general in that
class without the church, who are the most awake in the church. Christians
should understand this, and feel their responsibility. One great reason why so
few of the principal men are sometimes converted in revivals, doubtless is,
that that class in the church are often so worldly, they cannot be aroused. The
revival will generally prevail mostly in those families where the professors
belonging to them are awake, and the impenitent belonging to those families
where the professors are not awake, are apt to be left unconverted. One
principal reason, obviously is, that when the professors in a family or
neighborhood are awake, there is not only prayer offered for sinners in the
midst of them, but there are corresponding influences acting upon the
impenitent among them. If they are awake, their looks and lives and warnings,
all tend to promote the conversion of their impenitent friends. But if they are
asleep, all their influences tend to prevent their conversion. Their coldness
grieves the Spirit, their worldliness contradicts the Gospel, and all their
intercourse with their impenitent friends is in favor of impenitence, and
calculated to perpetuate it.
6. We see why different denominations have been
suffered to spring up in the church, and under the government of God.
Christians often see and deplore the evils that have
arisen to the
7. We see why God sometimes suffers churches to be
divided. It is because he finds that the members are so much at variance that
they will not pray and labor together with effect. Sometimes churches
that are in such a state, will still keep together from worldly considerations
and worldly policy, because it is so much easier for the whole to support
public worship. Perhaps both parties want to keep the meeting-house, or both
want to retain the minister, and they cannot agree which shall go off, and so
they continue along, jealous and jangling for years, accomplishing little or
nothing for the salvation of sinners. In such cases, God has often let
something turn up among them, that would tear them asunder, and then
each party would go to work in their own way, and perhaps both would prosper.
While they were in the same church, they were always making each other trouble,
as they did not think nor feel alike, but as soon as they were separated, every
thing settled down in peace, and made it evident that it was better they should
divide. I have known some cases in this State, where this has been done with
the happiest results, and both churches have been speedily blessed with
revivals.
8. It is evident that many more churches need to be
divided. How many churches there are, who are holding together, and yet are
doing no good, for the simple reason that they are not sufficiently agreed.
They do not think alike nor feel alike on the subjects connected with revivals,
and while this is so, they never can work together. Unless they can be brought
to such a change of views and feelings on the subject as will unite them, they
are only a hindrance to each other and to the work of God. In many cases they
see and feel that it is so, and yet they keep together, conscientiously, for
fear a division should dishonor religion, when in fact the division that now
exists may be making religion a by-word and a reproach. Far better would it be
if they would just agree to divide amicably, like Abraham and
9. We see why a few individuals, who are perfectly
united 312may be successful in
gathering and building up a new church, and may do so much better than a much
larger number who are not agreed among themselves. If I were going to gather a
new church in this city, I should rather have five persons, or three, or even
two that were perfectly agreed as touching the things they were to pray
for, and the manner in which they should labor for them, and in all that is
essential to the prosperity of a church, and who would stand by me, and stand
by each other, than to have a church to begin with, or five hundred members who
were not agreed.
10. We see what glorious things may be expected for
11. There is vast ignorance in the churches on the
subject of revivals. After all the revivals that have been enjoyed, and all
that has been said and written and printed concerning revivals, there are very
few who have any real, consistent knowledge on the subject. And when
there is a revival, how few are there who can take hold to labor and promote it
as if they understood what they were about. How few persons are to be found,
who have ever taken up revivals of religion as a subject to be studied and
understood. Every body knows, that in a revival Christians must pray, and must
do some things which they have not been in the habit of doing. But multitudes
know nothing of the REASON WHY they should do this, or why one thing is better
than another, and of course they have no principles to guide them, and when
anything occurs which they did not expect, they are all at a fault and know
nothing what to do. If men should go to work to build a house of worship, and
know as little how to proceed as many ministers and professors know how to
build the spiritual
12. There is vast ignorance among ministers upon this
subject, and one great reason of this ignorance is, that many get the idea that
they already understand all about revivals, when in reality they know next to
nothing about them. I once knew a minister come in where there was a powerful
revival, and bluster about and found fault with many things, speaking of his
knowledge of revivals, that he had been in seventeen of them and so on, when it
was evident that he knew nothing as he ought to know of revivals.
13. How important it is that the church should be
trained and instructed, so as to know what to do in a revival. They should be
trained and disciplined like an army; each one having a place to fill, and
something to do, and knowing where he belongs, and what he has to do, and how
to do it. Instead of this, how often do you see a church in a time of revival
take hold of the work to promote it, just like a parcel of children taking hold
to build a house. How few are there that really know how to do—what?—Why, the
very thing for which God suffers Christians to live in this world, the very
thing for which ALONE he would ever let them remain away from heaven a day, is
the very thing of all others that they do not study and do not try to
understand.
14. We see why revivals are often so short, and why
they so often produce a reaction. It is because the church do not understand
the subject. Revivals are short, because professors have been stirred up to a
spasmodical kind of action. They have gone to work by impulse rather than from
deliberate conviction of duty, and have been guided by their feelings rather
than by a sound understanding of what they ought to do. The church did not know
what to do, what they could do, and what they could not, nor how to husband
their strength, nor what the state of things would bear, and perhaps their zeal
led them into some indiscretions, and they lost their hold on God, and so the
enemy prevailed. The church ought to be so trained as to know what to do, so as
never to fail, and never to suffer defeat or reaction, when they attempt to
promote a revival. They should understand 314all
the tactics of the devil, and know where to guard against his devices, so that
they may know him when they see him, and not mistake him for an angel of light
come to give them lessons of wisdom in promoting the revival, and so that they
can co-operate wisely with the minister, and with one another, and with the
Holy Ghost, in carrying on the work. No person who has been conversant in
revivals can overlook the fact, that the ignorance of professors of religion
concerning revivals, and their stupid blunders are among the most common things
that put revivals down, and bring back a fearful reaction upon the church.
Brethren, How long shall this be so? It ought not to be so, it need not be so,
shall it always be so?
15. We see that every church is justly responsible
for the souls that are among them. If God has given such a promise, and if it
is true that where so many as two are agreed, as touching the things
they ask for, it shall be done, then certainly Christians are responsible, and
if sinners are lost, their blood will be found upon the church. If the churches
can have what they ask, as soon as they are agreed as touching it, then
certainly the damnation of the world will be required at the hands of the
church.
16. We see the guilt of ministers, in not informing
themselves, and rightly and speedily instructing the churches upon this
momentous subject. Why, what is the end of the Christian ministry! What have
they to do, but to instruct and marshal the sacramental host, and lead them on
to conquest. What! let the church remain in ignorance upon the very subject, and
the only point of duty, for the performance of which they are in the world, the
salvation of sinners. Some ministers have acted as mysteriously about
revivals, as if they thought Christians were either incapable of understanding
how to promote them, or that is was of no importance that they should know. But
this is all wrong. No minister has yet begun to understand, or do his duty, if
he has neglected to teach his church to work for God in the promotion of
revivals. What is he about? What does he mean? Why is he a minister? To what
end has he taken the sacred office? Is it that he “may eat a piece of bread?”
17. We see that pious parents can render the
salvation of their children certain. Only let them pray in faith, and be agreed
as touching the things they shall ask for, and God has promised them the desire
of their hearts. Who can be agreed so well as parents? Let them be agreed in
prayer, and agreed what to do, and agreed in doing all their duty; 315let them thus train up their children in the way they
should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.
And now, brethren, do you believe you are agreed,
according to the meaning of this promise? I know that where a few individuals
may be agreed in some things, they may produce some effect. But while the body
of the church are not agreed, there will always be so many things to
counteract, that they will accomplish but little. THE CHURCH MUST BE AGREED.
Oh, if we could find one church that were perfectly and heartily agreed in all
these points, so that they could pray and labor together, all as one, what good
would be done! But now, while things are as they are, we see colony after
colony peopling hell, because the church are not agreed. Oh, what do Christians
think, how can they keep still, when God has brought down his blessings so that
if any two were agreed, as touching the things they ask for, it would be done.
Alas! alas! how bitter will be the remembrance of these janglings in the
church, when Christians come to see the crowds of lost souls that have gone
down to hell, because we were not agreed to labor and pray for their salvation.
Finally.—In the light of this promise we see the awful guilt
of the church. God has given it to be the precious inheritance of his people at
all times, and in all places. If his people agree, their prayers will be
answered. We see the awful guilt of this church, who come here and
listen to lectures about revivals and then go away and have no revival, and
also the guilt of members of other churches who hear these lectures and go home
and refuse to do their duty. How can you meet the thousands of
impenitent sinners around you, at the bar of God, and see them sink away into
everlasting burnings? Have you been united in heart to pray for them? If you
have not, why have you disagreed? Why have you not prayed with this promise
until you have prevailed?
You will now either be agreed, and pray for the Holy
Ghost, and receive him before you leave the house, or the anger of the Lord
will be upon you. Should you now agree to pray in the sense of this promise,
for the Spirit of God to come down on this city, the heavenly dove would fly
through the city in the midst of the night and would rouse the consciences and
break up the guilty slumbers of the wicked. What then is the crimson guilt of
those professors of religion who are sleeping in sight of such a promise?
They seem to have skipped over, or to have entirely forgotten it. Multitudes 316of sinners going to hell in all directions, and yet
this blessed promise is neglected; yea, more, is practically despised by the
church. There it stands in the solemn record, and the church might take
hold of it in such a manner that vast numbers might be saved, but they are not
agreed. Therefore souls will perish. And where is the responsibility? Who can
take this promise and look the perishing in the face at the day of judgment?
These lectures were greatly instrumental in reviving
religion in the church to which they were preached, and their publication in
this country and in
LECTURE XVII.
FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS.
Text.—How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in
your answers there remaineth falsehood.—Job
xxi. 34.
JOB’S three friends insisted on it that the
afflictions which he suffered were sent as a punishment for his sins, and were
evidence conclusive that he was a hypocrite, and not a good man as he professed
to be. A lengthy argument ensued, in which job referred to all past experience,
to prove that men are not dealt with in this world according to their
character; that the distinction is not observed in the allotments of
My present purpose is, to make some remarks upon the
various methods employed in comforting anxious sinners, and I design:
I. To notice briefly the necessity and design of
instructing anxious sinners.
II. To show that anxious sinners are always seeking
comfort. Their supreme object is to get comfort in their distress.
318
III. To notice some of the false comforts often
administered.
I. The necessity and design of instructing anxious
sinners.
The very idea of anxiety implies some instruction. A
sinner would not be anxious at all about his future state, unless he had light
enough to know that he is a sinner, and that he is in danger of punishment and
needs forgiveness. But men are to be converted, not by physical force, or by a
change wrought in their nature or constitution by creative power, but by the
truth made effectual by the Holy Spirit. Conversion is yielding to the truth.
And therefore, the more truth can be brought to bear upon the mind, other
things being equal, so much the more probable is it that the individual
will be converted. Unless the truth is brought to bear upon him, it is certain
he will not be converted. If it is brought to bear, it is not absolutely
certain that it will be effectual, but the probability is in proportion to the
extent to which the truth is brought to bear. The great design of dealing with
an anxious sinner is to clear up all his difficulties and darkness, and do away
all his errors, and sap the foundation of his self-righteous hopes, and sweep
away every vestige of comfort that he could find in himself. There is often
much difficulty in this, and much instruction is required. Sinners often cling
with a death grasp to their false dependences. The last place to which a sinner
ever betakes himself for relief is to Jesus Christ. Sinners had rather be saved
in any other way in the world. They had rather make any sacrifice, go to any
expense, or endure any suffering, than just to throw themselves as guilty and
lost rebels upon Christ alone for salvation. This is the very last way in which
they are ever willing to be saved. It cuts up all their self-righteousness, and
annihilates their pride and self-satisfaction so completely, that they are
exceedingly unwilling to adopt it. But it is as true in philosophy as it is in
fact, that this is, after all, the only way in which a sinner could find
relief. If God should attempt to relieve sinners, and save them without
humbling their pride and turning them from their sins, he could not do it. Now
the object of instructing an anxious sinner should be to lead him by the
shortest possible way to do this. It is to bring his mind, by the shortest
route, to the practical conclusion that there is, in fact, no other way in
which he can be relieved and saved, but to renounce himself and rest in Christ
alone. To do this with effect requires great skill. It requires a thorough
knowledge of the human heart, a clear understanding of the plan of salvation,
and a 319precise and definite idea of the very thing that a
sinner MUST DO in order to be saved. To know how to do this effectually is one
of the rarest qualifications in the ministry at the present day. It is
distressing to see how few ministers, and how few professors of religion there
are who have in their own minds that distinct idea of the thing to be done,
that they can go to an anxious sinner and tell him exactly what he has to do,
and how to do it, and can show him clearly that there is no possible way for
him to be saved but by doing that very thing which they tell him, and can make
him feel the certainty that he must do it, and that unless he does that
very thing, he will be damned.
II. I am to show that anxious sinners are always
seeking comfort.
Sinners often imagine they are seeking Jesus
Christ, and seeking religion, but this is a mistake, No person ever
sought religion, and yet remained irreligious. What is religion? It is obeying
God. Seeking religion is seeking to obey God. The soul that hungers and thirsts
after righteousness is the soul of a Christian. To say that a person can seek
to obey God, and yet not obey him, is absurd. For if he is seeking religion
he is not an impenitent sinner. To seek religion, implies a willingness
to obey God, and a willingness to obey God is religion. It Is a contradiction
to say that an impenitent sinner is seeking religion. It is the same as to say,
that he seeks and actually longs to obey God, and God will not let him, or that
he longs to embrace Jesus Christ, and Christ will not let him come. The fact
is, the anxious sinner is seeking a hope, he is seeking pardon, and comfort,
and deliverance from hell. He is anxiously looking for some one to comfort him,
and make him feel better, without being obliged to conform to such humiliating
conditions as those of the Gospel. And his anxiety and distress continue, only
because he will not yield to the terms. Unfortunately, anxious sinners find
comforters enough to their liking. Miserable comforters they all are, too,
“seeing in their answers there remaineth falsehood.” No doubt, millions and
millions are now in hell, because there were those around them who gave them
false comfort, who had so much false pity, or were themselves so much in the
dark, that they would not let them remain in anxiety till they had submitted
their hearts to God, but administered falsehood, and relieved their distress in
this way, and now their souls are lost.
III. I am to notice several of the ways in which
false comfort is given to anxious sinners.
320
I might almost say, there is an endless variety of
ways in which this is done. The more experience I have, and the more I observe
the ways in which even good people deal with anxious sinners, the more I feel
grieved at the endless fooleries and falsehoods with which they attempt to
comfort their anxious friends, and thus, in fact, deceive them and beguile them
out of their salvation. It often reminds me of the manner in which people act
when any one is sick. Let any one of you be sick, with almost any disease in
the world, and you will find that every person you meet with has a remedy for
that disorder, a certain cure, a specific, a panacea; and you will find such a
world of quackery all around you, that if you do not take care and SHUT IT ALL
OUT, you will certainly lose your life. A man must exercise his own judgment,
for he will find as many remedies as he has friends, and each one is tenacious
of his own medicine, and perhaps will think hard if it is not taken. And no
doubt this miserable system of quackery kills a great many people.
This is true to no greater extent respecting the
diseases of the body than respecting the diseases of the mind. People have
their specifics and their catholicons and their panaceas to comfort distressed
souls, and whenever they begin to talk with an anxious sinner, they will bring
in their false comforts, so much that if he does not TAKE CARE, and mind the
word of God, he will infallibly be deceived to his own destruction. I propose
to mention a few of the falsehoods that are often brought forward in attempting
to comfort anxious sinners. Time would fail me, even to name them all.
The direct object of many persons is to comfort
sinners, and they are often so intent upon this that they do not stick at means
or kind of comfort. They see their friends distressed, and they pity them, they
feel very compassionate, “Oh, oh, I cannot bear to see them so distressed, I
must comfort them somehow,” and so they try one way, and another, and all to comfort
them! Now, God desires they should be comforted. He is benevolent, and has kind
feelings, and his heart yearns over them, when he sees them so distressed. But
he sees that there is only one way to give a sinner real comfort. He has
more benevolence and compassion than all men, and wishes to comfort them. But
he has fixed the terms as unyielding as his throne, on which he will give a
sinner relief. And he will not alter. He knows that nothing else will do the
sinner effectual good, for nothing can make him happy, until he repents of his
sins and forsakes them, and turns to God. And 321therefore God will not yield. Our object should be the same as that of
God. We should feel compassion and benevolence, just as he does, and be as ready
to give comfort, but be sure that it be of the right kind. The fact is, our
prime object should be to induce the sinner to obey God. His comfort
ought to be with us, and with him, but a secondary object, and while we are
more anxious to relieve his distress than to have him cease to
abuse, and dishonor God, we are not likely, by our instructions, to do him any
real good. This is a fundamental distinction, in dealing with anxious sinners,
but it is evidently overlooked by many, who seem to have no higher motives,
than sympathy or compassion for the sinner. If in preaching the Gospel, or
instructing the anxious, we are not actuated by a high regard to the honor of
God, and rise no higher, than to desire to relieve the distressed; this is
going no farther than a constitutional sympathy, or compassion, would carry us.
Overlooking this principle, has often misled professors of religion, and when
they have heard others dealing faithfully with anxious sinners, they have
accused them of cruelty. I have often had professors bring anxious sinners to
me, and beg me to comfort them, and, when I have probed their
consciences to the quick, they have shuddered, and sometimes taken the sinners’
part. It is sometimes impossible to deal effectually with youth who are anxious,
in the presence of their parents, because they have so much more compassion for
their children, than regard to the honor of God. This is all wrong, and with
such views and feelings you had better hold your tongue, than to say anything
to the anxious.
1. One of the ways in which people give false comfort
to distressed sinners, is, by asking them “What have you done? you are not so
bad.” They see them distressed, and cry out, “Why, what have you done?” as if
they had never done anything wicked, and had in reality no occasion to feel
distressed at all. I have before mentioned the case of a fashionable lady, who
was awakened in this city, and was going to see a minister to converse with
him, when she was met by a friend, who turned her back, and drove off her
anxiety, by the cry, “What have you done, to make you feel so? I am sure you
have never committed any sin, that need to make you feel so.”[7][1]
I have often met with cases of this kind. A mother
will tell her son, who is anxious, what an obedient child he has 322always been, how good and how kind, and she begs him
not to take on so. So a husband will tell his wife, or a wife her husband, how
good they are, and ask, “What have you done?” When they see them in great
distress, they begin to comfort them, “Why you are not so bad. You have been to
hear that frightful minister, that frightens people, and you have got excited.
Be comforted, for I am sure you have not been bad enough to feel so much
distressed.” When the truth is, they have been a great deal worse than they
think they have. No sinner ever had an idea that his sins were greater than
they are. No sinner ever had an adequate idea of how great a sinner he is. It
is not probable that any man could live under the full sight of his sins. God
has, in mercy, spared all his creatures on earth that worst of sights, a naked
human heart. The sinner’s guilt is much more deep and damning than he thinks,
and his danger is much greater than he thinks it is, and if he should
see them as they are, probably he would not live a moment. A sinner may have
some false notions on the subject, that creates distress, which have no
foundation. He may think he has committed the unpardonable sin, or that he has
grieved away the Spirit, or sinned away his day of grace. But to tell the most
moral and naturally amiable person in the world that he is good enough, or that
he is not so bad as he thinks he is, is not giving him rational comfort, but is
deceiving him, and ruining his soul. Let those who do it, take care.
2. Others tell awakened sinners that “Conversion is a
progressive work,” and in this way ease their anxiety. When a man is
distressed, because he sees himself to be such a sinner, and that unless he
turns to God, he will be damned; it is a great relief to have some friend hold
out the idea that he can get better by degrees, and that he is now
coming on, by little and little, They tell him, “Why you cannot expect to get
along all at once; I do not believe in these sudden conversions, you
must wait and let it work, you have begun well, and by and by you will get
comfort.” All this is false as the bottomless pit. The truth is, Regeneration,
or conversion, is not a progressive work. What is regeneration? What is
it but the beginning of obedience to God? And is the beginning of a thing
progressive? It is the first act of genuine obedience to God—the first
voluntary action of the mind that is what God approves, or that can be regarded
as obedience to God. That is conversion. When persons talk about conversion as
a progressive work, it is absurd. They show that they know just as much
about regeneration or conversion, as 323Nicodemus
did. They know nothing about it, as they ought to know, and are no more fit to
conduct an anxious meeting, or to advise or instruct anxious sinners, than Nicodemus
was.
3. Another way in which anxious sinners are deceived
with false comfort, is by being advised to dismiss the subject for the
present.
Men who are supposed to be wise and good, have
assumed to be so much wiser than God, that when God is dealing with a sinner,
by his Spirit, and endeavoring to bring him to an immediate decision;
they think God is crowding too hard, and that it is necessary for them to
interfere; and they will advise the person to take a ride, or go into company,
or engage in business, or something that will relieve his mind a little, at
least for the present. They might just as well say to God, in plain words, “O
God, you are too hard, you go too fast, you will make him crazy, or kill him,
he cannot stand it; poor creature, if he is so pressed, he will die.” Just so
they takes sides against God, and do the same as to tell the sinner himself,
“God will make you crazy if you do not dismiss the subject, and resist the
Spirit, and drive him away from your mind.”
Such advice, if it be truly conviction of sin that
distresses the sinner, is in no case, either safe or lawful. The strivings of
the Spirit, to bring a sinner to himself, will never hurt him, nor drive him
crazy. He may make himself deranged by resisting, but it is blasphemous, to
think, that the blessed, wise and benevolent Spirit of God, would ever conduct
with so little care, as to derange and destroy the soul he came to sanctify and
save. The proper course to take with a sinner, when the striving of the Spirit
throws him into distress, is, to instruct him, to clear up his views, correct
his mistakes, and make the way of salvation so plain that he can see it right
before him. Not to dismiss the subject, but fall in with the Spirit, and thus
hush all those dreadful agonies which are produced by resisting the Holy Ghost.
REMEMBER, if an awakened sinner voluntarily dismiss the subject once, probably
he will never take it up again.
4. Sometimes an awakened sinner is comforted by being
told that religion does not consist in feeling bad. I once heard of a
Doctor of Divinity, giving an anxious sinner such counsel, when he was actually
writhing under the arrows of the Almighty. Said he, “Religion is cheerful,
religion is not gloomy, do not be distressed, be comforted, dismiss your fears,
you should not feel so bad,” and such like miserable comforts, when, in fact,
the man had infinite reason to be distressed, 324for he was resisting the Holy Ghost, and in danger of grieving him away
for ever.
It is true, religion does not consist in feeling bad.
But the sinner has reason to be distressed, because he has no religion.
If he had religion, he would not feel so. Were he a Christian, he would
rejoice. But to tell an impenitent sinner to be cheerful! why, you might as
well preach this doctrine in hell, and tell them there, “Cheer up here, cheer
up, do not feel so bad.”
The sinner is on the very verge of hell, he is in
rebellion against God, and his danger is infinitely greater than he imagines.
Oh, what a doctrine of devils! to tell a rebel against heaven not to be
distressed. What is all his distress but rebellion itself? He is not comforted,
because he refuses to be comforted. God is ready to comfort him. You need not
think to be more compassionate than God. He will fill him with comfort, in an instant,
if he will submit. But there he stands, struggling against God, and against the
Holy Ghost, and against conscience, until he is distressed almost to death, and
still he will not yield; and now some one comes in, “Oh, I hate to see you feel
so bad, do not be so distressed, cheer up, cheer up, religion do not consist in
being gloomy, be comforted.” Horrid!
5. Whatever involves the subject of religion in
mystery, is calculated to give a sinner false comfort.
When a sinner is anxious on the subject of religion,
very often, if you becloud it in mystery, he will feel relieved. The sinner’s
distress arises from the pressure of present obligation. Enlighten him on this
point, and clear it up, and if he will not yield, it will only increase his
distress. But tell him that regeneration is all a mystery, something he cannot
understand; and leave him all in a fog of darkness, and you relieve his
anxiety. It is his clear view of the nature and duty of repentance, that
produces his distress. It is the light that brings agony to his mind, while he
refuses to obey. It is that, which will make up the pains of hell. And it will
almost make hell in the sinner’s breast here, if only made clear enough. But
only cover up this light, and his anxiety will immediately become far less
acute and thrilling. But if you lift up a certain and clear light, and flash it
broad upon his soul, and if he will not yield, you kindle up to the tortures of
hell in his bosom.
6. Whatever relieves the sinner from a sense of
blame, is calculated to give him false comfort.
The more a man feels himself to blame, the deeper is
his 325distress. But anything that lessons his sense of
blame, of course lessons his distress, but it is a comfort full of death. If
anything will help him divide the blame, and throw off a part of it upon God,
it will afford comfort, but it is a relief that will destroy his soul.
7. To tell him of his inability, is false
comfort. Tell an anxious sinner “What can you do? you are a poor, feeble
creature, you can do nothing.” You will make him feel a kind of despondency.
But it is not that keen agony of remorse, with which God wrings the soul, when
he is laboring to cut him down and bring him to repentance.
If you tell him he is unable to comply with the
Gospel, he naturally falls in with it as a relief. He says to himself, “Yes, I
am unable, I am a poor, feeble creature, I cannot do this, and certainly God
cannot send me to hell for not doing what I cannot do.” Why, if I believed that
the sinner was unable, I would tell him plainly, “Do not be afraid, you are not
to blame for not complying with the call of the Gospel: for you are unable, and
God will never send you to hell for not doing what you have no strength to do.
“Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I know it is not common for
those who talk about the sinner’s being unable, to be so consistent, and carry
out their theory. But the sinner infers all this, and so he feels
relieved. It is all false, and all the comfort derived from it, is only
treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.
8. Whatever makes the impression on a sinner’s mind
that he is to be passive in religion, is calculated to give him false
comfort.
Give him the idea he has nothing to do but to wait
God’s time; tell him conversion is the work of God, and he ought to leave it to
him; and that he must be careful, not to try to take the work out of God’s
hand; and he will infer, as before, that he is not to blame, and will
feel relieved. If he is only to hold still, and let God do the work, just as a
man holds still to have his arm amputated, he feels relieved. But such
instruction as this, is all wrong. If the sinner is thus to hold still and let
God do it, he instantly infers that he is not to blame for not doing it
himself. And the inference is not only natural but legitimate, for he is not to
blame,
It is true that there is a sense in which conversion
is the work of God. But it is false, as it is often represented. It is also
true that there is a sense, in which conversion is the sinner’s own act. It is
ridiculous, therefore, to say, that a sinner is passive in regeneration, or
passive in being converted, 326for conversion is
his own act. The thing to be done is that which cannot be done for him. It is
something which he must do, or it will never be done.
9. Telling a sinner to wait God’s time.
Some years ago, I met a woman in
Here is the sinner in rebellion. God comes with
pardon in one hand, and a sword in the other, and tells the sinner to repent
and receive pardon, or refuse and perish. And now here comes a minister of the
Gospel, and tells the sinner to “wait God’s time.” Virtually he says, that God
is not ready to have him repent now, and is not ready to pardon him now,
and thus, in fact, throws off the blame of his impenitence upon God. Instead of
pointing out the sinner’s guilt, in not submitting at once to God, he
points out God’s insincerity in making the offer, when, in fact, he was not ready
to grant the blessing.
I have often thought such teachers needed the rebuke
of Elijah when he met the priests of Baal. “Cry aloud, for he is a God; either
he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey; or peradventure he
sleepeth, and must be awaked.” The minister who ventures to intimate that God
is not ready, and that tells the sinner to wait God’s time, might almost as
well tell him, that now God is asleep, or gone on a journey, and cannot attend
to him at present. Miserable comforters indeed! It is little less than
outrageous blasphemy of God. How many have gone to the judgment, red all over
with the blood of souls, that they have deceived and destroyed, by telling them
God was not ready to save them, and they must wait God’s time. No doubt, such a
doctrine is exceedingly calculated to afford present relief to an anxious
sinner. It warrants him to say, “Oh, yes, God is not ready, I must wait God’s
time and so I can live in sin, and take it out a while longer, till he gets
ready to attend to me, and then I will get religion.”
327
10. It is false comfort to tell an anxious sinner to
do any thing for relief, which he can do, and not submit his heart to God.
An anxious sinner is often willing to do anything
else, but the very thing which God requires him to do. He is willing to go to
the ends of the earth, or to pay his money, or to endure suffering, or
anything, but full and instantaneous submission to God. Now, if you will
compromise the matter with him, and tell him of something else that he may do,
and yet evade that point, he will be very much comforted. He likes that
instruction. He says, “Oh, yes, I will do that, I like that minister, he is not
so severe as others, he seems to understand my particular case, and knows how
to make allowances.”
It often reminds me of the conduct of a patient who
is very sick, but has a great dislike for a certain physician and a particular
medicine; but that is the very physician who alone understands treating his
disease, and that the only remedy for it. Now the patient is willing to do
anything else, and call in any other physician; and he is anxious and in
distress, and is asking all his friends if they cannot tell him what he shall
do, and he will take all the nostrums and quack medicines in the country, before
he will submit to the only course that can bring him relief. By and by,
after he has tried everything without any benefit, if he does not die in the
experiment, he gives up his unreasonable opposition, calls in the physician,
takes the proper medicine, and is cured. Just so it is with sinners. They will
eagerly do anything, if you will let them off from this intolerable pressure of
present obligation to submit to God. I will mention a few of the things which
sinners are told to do.
(1.) Telling a sinner he must use the means.
Tell an anxious sinner this—You must use the means, and he is relieved. “Oh,
yes, I will do that, if that is all. I thought that God required me to repent
and submit to him now. But if using the means will answer, I will do that with
all my heart.” He was distressed before, because he was cornered up, and did
not know which way to turn. Conscience had beset him, like a wall of fire, and
urged him to repent now. But this relieves him at once, and he feels better,
and is very thankful, he says, that he found such a good adviser in his
distress. But he may use the means, as he calls it, till the day of judgment,
and not be a particle the better for it, but will only hasten his way to death.
What is the sinner’s use of means, but rebellion against God? God uses means.
The church 328uses means to convert
and save sinners, to bear down upon them, and bring them to submission. But
what has the sinner to do with using means? Will you set him to use means back
upon God, and so make an offset in the matter? Or is he to use means to make
himself submit to God? How shall he go to work with his means to make himself
submit? It is just telling the sinner, “You need not submit to God now, but
just use the means awhile, and see if you cannot melt God’s heart down to you,
so that he will yield this point of unconditional submission.” It is a mere
cavil to evade the duty of immediate submission to God. It is true that
sinners, actuated by a regard to their own happiness, often give attention to
the subject of religion, attend meetings, and pray, and read, and many such
things. But in all this, they have no regard to the honor of God, nor do they
so much as mean to obey him. Their design, is not obedience, for if it were,
they would not be impenitent sinners. They are not, therefore, using means to
be Christians, but to obtain pardon, and a hope. It is absurd to say
that an impenitent sinner is using means to repent, for this is the same as to
say that he is willing to repent, or in other words, that he does repent, and
is not an impenitent sinner. So, to say that an unconverted sinner uses means
with design to become a Christian, is a contradiction, for it is saying, that
he is willing to be a Christian, which is the same as to say that he is a
Christian already.
(2.) Telling the sinner to pray for a new heart.
I once heard a celebrated Sunday-school teacher do this. He was almost the
father of Sunday-schools in this country. He called a little girl up to him,
and began to talk to her. “My little daughter, are you a Christian?” No, sir.
“Well, you cannot be a Christian, yourself, can you?” No, sir. “No, you cannot
be a Christian, you cannot change your heart yourself, but you must pray for a
new heart, that is all you can do, pray to God, God will give you a new heart.”
He was an aged and venerable man, but I felt almost disposed to rebuke him
openly in the name of the Lord, I could not bear to hear him deceive that
child, telling her she could not be a Christian. Does God say “Pray for a new
heart?” Never. He says, “Make you a new heart.” And the sinner is not to be
told to pray to God to do his duty for him, but to go and do it himself. I know
the Psalmist, a good man, prayed. “Create in me a clean heart, and renew
a right spirit within me.” He had faith and prayed in faith. But that is
a very different thing from setting an obstinate rebel to pray for a new heart.
No doubt, an anxious sinner will be delighted 329with such instruction. “Why, I knew I needed a new heart, and that I
ought to repent, but I thought I must do it myself, I am very willing to ask
God to do it, I hated to do it myself, but have no objection that God should do
it, if he will, and I will pray for it, if that is all that is required.”
(3.) Telling the sinner to persevere. And
suppose he does persevere. He is as certain to be damned as if he had been in
hell ever since the foundation of the world. His anxiety arises only from his
resistance, and if he would submit, it would cease. And now, will you tell him
to persevere in the very thing that causes his distress? Suppose my child
should, in a fit of passion, throw a book or something on the floor. I tell him
“Take it up,” and instead of minding what I say, he runs off and plays. “Take
it up!” He sees I am in earnest, and begins to look serious. “Take it up, or I
shall get a rod.” And I put up my arm to get the rod. He stands still. “Take it
up, or you must be whipped.” He comes slowly along to the place, and then
begins to weep. “Take it up, my child, or you will certainly be punished.” Now he
is in distress, and sobs and sighs as if his bosom would burst, but still
remains as stubborn as if he knew I could not punish him. Now I begin to press
him with motives to submit and obey, but there he stands, in agony, and at
length bursts out, “Oh, father, I do feel so bad, I think I am growing better.”
And now, suppose a neighbor to come in, and see the child standing there, in
all this agony of stubbornness. The neighbor asks him what he is standing there
for, and what he is doing. “Oh, I am using means to pick up that book.” If this
neighbor should tell the child, “Persevere, persevere, my boy, you will get it
by and by,” what should I do? Why, I would turn him out of the house. What does
he mean by encouraging my child in his rebellion.
Now, God calls the sinner to repent, he threatens
him, he draws the glittering sword, he persuades him, he uses motives, and the
sinner is distressed to agony, for he sees himself driven to the dreadful
alternative of giving up his sins or going to hell. He ought instantly to lay
down his weapons, and break his heart at once. But he resists, and struggles
against conviction, and that creates his distress. Now will you tell him to
persevere? Persevere in what? In struggling against God! That is just the
direction the devil would give. All the devil wants is to see him persevere in
just the way he is going on, and his destruction is sure. Satan may go to
sleep.
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(4.) Telling the sinner to press forward. That
is, “You are in a good way, only press forward, and you will get to heaven.”
This is on the supposition that his face is towards heaven, when in fact his
face is towards hell, and he is pressing forward, and never more rapidly than
now, while he is resisting the Holy Ghost. Often have I heard this direction
given, when the sinner was in as bad a way as he could be. What you ought to
tell him is, “STOP—sinner, stop, do not take another step that way, it leads to
hell.” God tells him to stop, and because he does not wish to stop, he is
distressed. Now, why should you attempt to comfort him in this way?
(5.) Tell a sinner that he must try to repent and
give his heart to God. “Oh, yes,” says the sinner, “I am willing to try. I
have often tried to do it, and I will try again.” Ah, does God tell you to try
to repent? All the world would be willing to try to repent, in their way.
Giving this direction implies that it is very difficult to repent, and perhaps
impossible, and that the best thing a sinner can do is to try and see
whether he can do it or not. What is this but substituting your own commandment
in the place of God’s. God requires nothing short of repentance and a holy
heart. Anything short of that is comforting him in vain, “seeing in your
answers there remaineth falsehood.”
(6.) To tell him to pray for repentance. “Oh
yes, I will pray for repentance, if that is all. I was distressed because I
thought God required me to repent, but if he will do it, I can wait.” And so he
feels relieved, and is quite comfortable.
(7.) To tell a sinner to pray for conviction, or
pray for the Holy Ghost to show him his sins, or to labor to get more
light on the subject of his guilt, in order to increase his conviction.
All this is just what the sinner wants, because it
lets him off from the pressure of present obligation. He wants just a
little more time. Anything that will defer that present pressure
of obligation to repent immediately is a relief. What does he want more
conviction for? Does God give any such direction to an impenitent sinner? God
takes it for granted that he has conviction enough already. And so he has. Do
you say he cannot realize all his sins? If he can realize only one of
them, let him repent of that one, and he is a Christian. Suppose he could see
them all, what reason is there to think he would repent of them all, any more
than that he would repent of that one that he does see? All this is comforting
the sinner by setting him to do that which he can do and will not submit his
heart to God.
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11. Another way in which false comfort is given to
anxious sinners, is to tell them God is trying their faith by keeping them
in the furnace, and they must wait patiently upon the Lord. Just as if God
was in fault, or stood in the way, of his being a Christian. Or as if an
impenitent sinner had faith! What an abomination! Suppose somebody should tell
my child, while he was standing by the book as I have described, “Wait
patiently, boy, your father is trying your faith.” No. The sinner is trying the
patience and forbearance of God. God is not setting himself to torture a sinner,
and teach him a lesson of patience. But he is waiting upon him, and laboring to
bring him at once into such a state of mind as will render it consistent
to fill his soul with the peace of heaven. And shall the sinner be encouraged
to resist by the idea that God is bantering? TAKE CARE. God has said his Spirit
shall not always strive.
12. Another false comfort is telling a sinner, Do
your duty, and leave your conversion with God.
I once heard an elder of a church say to an anxious
sinner, “Do your duty, and leave your conversion to God, he will do it in his
own time and way.” That was just the same as telling him that it was not his
duty to be converted now. He did not say, Do your duty, and leave your
salvation with God. That would have been proper enough, for it would have been
simply telling him to submit to God, and would have included conversion as the
first duty of all. But he told him to leave his conversion to God. And
this elder, that gave such advice, was a man of liberal education too. How
absurd! Just as if he could do his duty and not be converted. Just as if God
was going to convert a sinner and let the sinner sit calmly under it in the use
of means. Horrible! No. God has required him to make him a new heart, and do
you beware how you comfort him with an answer of falsehood.
13. Sometimes professors of religion will try to
comfort a sinner, by telling him, “Do not be discouraged; I was a long time
in this way before I found comfort.” They will tell him, “I was under
conviction so many weeks—or perhaps so many months, or sometimes years, and
have gone through with all this, and know just how you feel, your experience is
the same with mine, precisely, and after so long a time I found relief, and I
do not doubt you will find it by and by. Do not despair, God will comfort you
soon.” Tell a sinner to take courage in his rebellion! Oh, horrible. Such
professors ought to be ashamed. Suppose you were under conviction 332so many weeks, and afterwards found relief, it is the
very last thing you ought to tell to an anxious sinner. What is it but
encouraging him to hold on, when his business is to submit. Did you hold out so
many weeks while the Spirit was striving with you. You only deserved so much
the more to be damned, for your obstinacy and stupidity.
Sinner! it is no sign God will spare you so
long, or that his Spirit will remain with you to be resisted. And remember, if
the Spirit is taken away, you will be sent to hell.
14. “I have faith to believe you will be converted.”
You have faith to believe! On what does your faith
rest? On the promise of God? On the influences of the Holy Ghost? Then you are
counteracting your own faith. The very design and object of the Spirit of God,
is, to tear away from the sinner his last vestige of a hope, while remaining in
sin; to annihilate every crag and twig he may cling to. And the object of your
instruction should be the same. You should fall in with the plan of God. It is
only in this way that you can ever do any good, by crowding him right up to the
work, to submit at once and leave his soul in the hands of God. But when one
that he thinks is a Christian tells him, “I have faith to believe you will be
converted,” it upholds him in his false expectation. Instead of tearing him
away from his false hopes, and throwing him upon Christ, you just turn him off
to hang upon your faith, and find comfort because you have faith for him. This
is all false comfort, that worketh death.
15. “I will pray for you.” Sometimes professors of
religion try to comfort an anxious sinner in this way, by telling him, “I will
pray for you.” This is false comfort, for it leads the sinner to trust in those
prayers, instead of trusting in Christ. The sinner says, “He is a good man, and
God hears the prayers of good men, no doubt his prayers will prevail some time,
and I shall be converted, I do not think I shall be lost.” And his anxiety, his
agony, is all gone. A woman said to a minister, “I have no hope now, but I have
faith in your prayers.” Just such faith, this is, as the devil wants them to have—faith
in prayers instead of faith in Christ.
16. “I rejoice to see you in this way, and I hope you
will be faithful, and hold out.” What is that but rejoicing to see him in
rebellion against God? For that is precisely the ground on which he stands. He
is resisting conviction, and resisting conscience, and resisting the Holy
Ghost, and yet you rejoice to see him in this way, and hope he will be faithful
and hold out. There is a sense, indeed, in which it may 333be said that his situation is more hopeful than when
he was in stupidity. For God has convinced him, and may succeed in turning and
subduing him. But that is not the sense in which the sinner himself will
understand it. He will suppose that you think him in a hopeful way, because he
is doing better than formerly. When his guilt and danger are, in fact, greater
than they ever were before. And instead of rejoicing, you ought to be
distressed and in agony, to see him thus resisting the Holy Ghost, for every
moment he does this, he is in danger of being left of God, and given up to
hardness of heart and to despair.
17. “You will have your pay for this, by and by, God
will reward you.” Yes, sinners, God will reward you, if you continue in this
way, he will put you in the fires of hell. Reward for all this distress! Yes,
if you are ever rewarded for it, it will be in hell. I once heard a sinner say,
“I feel very bad, I have strong hopes that I shall get my reward.” But that
individual afterwards said, “Nowhere can there be found so black a sinner as I
am, and no sin of my life seems so black, and damning as that expression.” He
was overwhelmed with contrition, that he should ever have had such an idea, as
to think God would reward him for suffering so much distress, when he brought
it all upon himself, needlessly, by his wicked resistance to the truth, The
truth is, what such people want, is to comfort the sinner, and being all
in the dark themselves on the subject of religion, they of course give him
false comfort.
18. Another false comfort, is to tell the sinner he
has not repented enough. The truth is, he has nor repented at all. God
always comforts the sinner as soon as he repents. This direction implies that
his feelings are right as far as they go. To imply that he has any repentance,
is to tell him a lie, and cheat him out of his soul.
19. People sometimes comfort a sinner by telling him
“If you are elected, you will be brought in.” I once heard of a case where a
person under great distress of mind was sent to converse with a neighboring
minister, They conversed a long time. As the person went away, the minister
said to him, “I should like to write a line by you, to your father.” His father
was a pious man. The minister wrote the letter, and forgot to seal it. As the
sinner was going home, he saw that the letter was not sealed, and he thought to
himself, that probably the minister had written about him, and his curiosity at
length led him to open and read it. And there he found it written to this
purport: “Dear sir. I find your 334son under
conviction, and in great distress, and it seems not easy to say anything to
give him relief. But, if he is one of the elect, he will surely be brought in.”
He wanted to say something to comfort the father. But now, mark. That letter
had well-nigh ruined his soul. He settled down on the doctrine of election—“If
I am elected, I shall be brought in,” and his conviction was all gone. Years
afterwards he was awakened and converted, but only after a great struggle, and
never until that false impression was obliterated from his mind, and he was
made to see that he had nothing at all to do with the doctrine of election, but
if he did not repent, he would be damned.
20. It is very common for some people to tell an
awakened sinner, “You are in a very prosperous way, I am glad to see you so,
and feel encouraged about you.” It sometimes seems as if the church was in
league with the devil to help sinners resist the Holy Ghost. The thing that the
Holy Ghost wants to make the sinner feel, is, that all his ways are wrong, and
that they lead to hell. And everybody is conspiring to make the opposite
impression. The Spirit is trying to discourage him, and they are trying to
encourage him; the Spirit to distress, by showing him he is all wrong, and they
to comfort him by saying he is doing well. Has it come to this, that the worst
counteraction to the truth, and the greatest obstacle to the Spirit shall
spring from the church? Sinner! Do not believe any such thing. You are not in a
hopeful way. You are not doing well, but ill; as ill as you can, while
resisting the Holy Ghost.
21. Another very fatal way, in which false comfort is
given to sinners, is by applying to them certain Scripture promises,
which were designed only for saints. This is a grand device of the devil. It is
much practised by the Universalists. But Christians often do it. For example:
(1.) “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted.” How often has this passage been applied to anxious sinners, who
were in distress because they would not submit to God; blessed are ye that
mourn. Indeed! That is true, where they mourn with godly sorrow. But what is
this sinner mourning about? He is mourning because God’s law is holy and his
terms of salvation so fixed that he cannot bring them down to his mind. Tell
such a rebel—Blessed are they that mourn! You might just as well apply it to
those that are in hell. There is mourning there too. The sinner is mourning
because there is no other way of salvation, because God is so holy that he
requires him to give up all 335his sins, and he
feels, that the time has come, that he must either give them up, or be damned.
Shall we tell him, he shall be comforted? Go and tell the devil, “Poor devil,
you mourn now, but the Bible says you are blessed if you mourn, and you shall
be comforted by and by.”
(2.) “They that seek shall find.” This is said to
sinners in such a way as to imply that the anxious sinner is seeking religion.
This promise was made in reference to Christians, who ask in faith, and seek to
do the will of God, and is not applicable to those who are seeking hope or
comfort; but to holy seeking. To apply it to an impenitent sinner, is only to
deceive him, for his seeking is not of this character. To tell him “You are
seeking, are you? Well, seek, and you shall find,” is to cherish a fatal
delusion. While he remains impenitent, he has not a desire, which the devil
might not have, and remain a devil still.
If he had desire to do his duty, if he was seeking to
do the will of God, and give up his sins, he would be a Christian. But to
comfort an impenitent sinner, with such a promise, you might just as well
comfort Satan.
(3.) “Be not weary in well doing, for in due time you
shall reap if you faint not.” To apply this to a sinner for comfort, is absurd.
Just as if he was doing something to please God. He has never done well, and
never has done more ill, than now. Suppose my neighbor, who came in while I was
trying to subdue my child, should say to the child, “In due time you shall
reap, if you faint not,” what should I say? “Reap, yes, you shall reap, if you
do not give up your obstinacy, you shall reap indeed, for I will apply the
rod.” So the struggling sinner shall reap the damnation of hell, if he does not
give up his sins.
22. Some professors of religion, when they attempt to
converse with awakened sinners, are very fond of saying, “I will tell you my
experience.” This is a dangerous snare, and often gives the devil a handle to
lead him to hell, by trying to copy your experience. If you tell it to him, and
he thinks it is a Christian experience, he will almost infallibly be trying to
imitate it, and instead of following the Gospel, or the leadings of the Spirit
in his own soul, he is following your example. This is absurd as well as
dangerous. He never will have just such feelings as you had. No two persons
were ever exercised just alike. Men’s experiences are as much unlike as their
countenances. Such a course is very likely to mislead him. The design, is
often, nothing but to encourage him, at the very point where he ought not to be
encouraged, 336 before he has
submitted to God, And it is calculated to impede the work of God in his soul.
23. How many times will people tell an awakened
sinner that God has begun a good work in him, and he will carry it on. I
have known parents talk so with their children, and as soon as they saw their
children awakened, give up all former anxiety about them, and settle down at
their ease, thinking that now God had begun a good work in their children, he
would carry it on. It would be just as rational for a farmer to say so about
his grain, and as soon as it comes up out of the ground, say, “Well, God has
begun a good work in my field, and he will carry it on.” What would be thought
of a farmer who should neglect to put up his fence, because God had begun the
work of giving him a crop of grain? If you tell a sinner so, and he believes
you, it will certainly be his destruction, for it will prevent his doing that
which is absolutely indispensable to his being saved. If, as soon as the sinner
is awakened, he is taught that now God has begun a good work, that only needs
to be carried on, and that God will surely carry it on, he sees that he has no
further occasion to be anxious, for, in fact, he has nothing more to do. And so
he will be relieved from that intolerable pressure of present obligation, to
repent and submit to God. And if he is relieved from his sense of obligation to
do it, he will never do it.
24. Some will tell the sinner, “Well, you have broken
off your sins, have you?” “Oh, yes,” says the sinner. When it is all false, he
has never forsaken his sins for a moment, he has only exchanged one form of sin
for another; only placed himself in a new attitude of resistance. And to tell
him, he has broken them off, is to give him false comfort.
25. Sometimes this direction is given for the purpose
of relieving the agony of an anxious sinner, “Do what you can, and God will do
the rest,” or “Do what you can, and God will help you.” This is the same as
telling a sinner, “You cannot do what God requires you to do, but if you
will do what you can, God will help you, as to the rest.” Now sinners often get
the idea that they have done all they can, when, in fact, they have done
nothing at all, only resisted God with all their might. I have often heard them
say, “I have done all I can, and I get no relief, what can I do more?” Now, you
can see how comforting it must be to such a one to have a professor of religion
come in and say, “If you will do what you can, God will help you.” It relieves
all his keen distress at once. He may be uneasy, and unhappy, but his agony is
gone.
337
26. Again they say, “You should be thankful for what
you have, and hope for more.” If the sinner is convicted, they tell him he
should be thankful for conviction, and hope for conversion. If he has any
feeling, he should be thankful for what feeling he has, just as if his feeling
was religious feeling, when he has no more religion, than Satan. He has
reason to be thankful, indeed; thankful that he is out of hell, and thankful
that God is yet waiting on him. But it is ridiculous to tell him he should be
thankful in regard to the state of his mind, when he is all the while resisting
his Maker with all his might.
ERRORS IN PRAYING FOR
SINNERS.
I will here mention a few errors in praying for
sinners in their presence, by which an unhappy impression is made on their
minds, in consequence of which, they often obtain false comfort in their
distress.
1. People sometimes pray for sinners, as if they
deserved TO BE PITIED more than BLAMED. They pray for them as MOURNERS. “Lord help these pensive
mourners,” as if they were just mourning, like one that had lost a friend, or
met some other calamity, and they could not help it, and were very sorry for
it, but death would come, and so they were greatly to be pitied, as they were
sitting there, sad, pensive, and sighing. The Bible never talks so. It pities
sinners, but it pities them as mad and guilty rebels, guilty, and deserving to
go to hell, not as poor pensive mourners, that cannot help it, that want to be
relieved, but can do nothing but sit and mourn.
2. Praying for them as poor sinners. Does the
Bible ever use any such language as this? The Bible never speaks of them as
“poor sinners,” as if they deserved to be pitied more than blamed. Christ
pities sinners in his heart. And so does God pity them. He feels in his heart,
all the gushings of compassion for them, when he sees them going on, obstinate
and wilful in gratifying their own lusts, at the peril of his eternal wrath.
But he never lets an expression escape from him, as if the sinner was just a
“poor creature” to be pitied, as if he could not help it. The idea that he is
poor, rather than wicked, unfortunate, rather than guilty, relieves the sinner
greatly. I have seen the sinner writhe with agony under the truth, in a
meeting, until somebody begun to pray for him as a poor creature. And then he
would gush out into tears, and weep profusely, and think he was greatly
benefited 338by such a prayer. “Oh,
what a good prayer that was.” If you go now and converse with that
sinner, you will find he is pitying himself as a poor unfortunate creature,
perhaps weeping over his unhappy condition, but his CONVICTIONS OF SIN, his deep impressions of AWFUL GUILT, are all gone.
3. Praying that God would help the sinner to
repent. “O Lord, enable this poor sinner to repent now.” This
conveys the idea to the sinner’s mind, that he is now trying with all his might
to repent, and that he cannot do it, and therefore Christians are calling on
God to help him, and enable him to do it. Most professors of religion pray for
sinners, not that God would make them WILLING
to repent, but that he would ENABLE
them, or make them able. No wonder their prayers are not heard. They relieve
the sinner of his sense of responsibility, and that relieves his distress. But
it is an insult to God, as if God had commanded a sinner to do what he could
not do.
4. People sometimes pray: “Lord, these sinners are seeking
thee, sorrowing.” This language is an allusion to what took place at the
time when Jesus was a little boy, and went into the temple to talk with the
rabbis and doctors. His parents, you recollect, went a day’s journey towards
home, before they missed him, and then they turned back, and after looking all
around, they found the little Jesus standing in the temple and disputing with
the learned men, and his mother said to him, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt
with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” And so
this prayer represents sinners as seeking Jesus, and he hides himself from
them, and they look all around, and hunt, and try to find him, and wonder where
Jesus is, and say, “Lord, we have sought Jesus these three days sorrowing.” It
is a LIE. No sinner ever sought Jesus with all his heart three days, or three
minutes, and could not find him. There Jesus stands at his door and knocks,
there he is right before him pleading with him, and facing him down with all
his false pretences. Seeking him! The sinner may whine and cry, “Oh, how I am
sorrowing, and seeking Jesus.” It is no such thing; Jesus is seeking you. And
yet how many oppressed consciences are relieved and comforted by hearing one of
these prayers.
5. “Lord, have mercy on these sinners, who are seeking
thy love to know.” This is a favorite expression with many, as if sinners
were seeking to know the love of Christ, and could not. No such thing. They are
not seeking the love of Christ, but seeking to get to heaven without Jesus
Christ. 339Just as if they were
seeking it, and he was so hard-hearted that he would not let them have it.
6. “Lord, have mercy on these penitent souls;”
calling anxious sinners penitent souls. If they are penitent, they are
Christians. To make an impression on an unconverted sinner that he is penitent,
is to make him believe a lie. But it is very comforting to the sinner, and he
likes to take it up, and pray it over again, “O Lord, I am a poor penitent
soul, I am very penitent, I am so distressed, Lord have mercy on a poor
penitent.” Dreadful delusion!
7. Sometimes people pray for anxious sinners as humble
souls. “O Lord, these sinners have humbled themselves.” Why, that is not
true, they have not humbled themselves; if they had, the Lord would have raised
them up and comforted them, as he has promised. There is a hymn of this
character, that has done great mischief. It begins,
<verse> <l class="t1">“Come HUMBLE
sinner in whose breast</l> <l class="t2">A thousand thoughts revolve.”</l> </verse>
This hymn was once given by a minister to an awakened
sinner, as one applicable to his case. He began to read, “Come humble sinner.”
He stopped, “Humble sinner, that is not applicable to me, I am not a humble
sinner.” Ah, how well was it for him that the Holy Ghost had taught him better
than the hymn. If the hymn had said, Come anxious sinner, or guilty
sinner, or trembling sinner, it would have been well enough, but to call
him a humble sinner would not do. There are a vast many hymns of the
same character. It is very common to find sinners quoting the false sentiments
of some hymn, to excuse themselves in rebellion against God.
A minister told me he heard a prayer, quite lately,
in these words, “O Lord, these sinners have humbled themselves, and come to
thee as well as they know how. If they knew any better, they would do better,
but O Lord, as they have come to thee, in the best manner they can, we pray
thee accept them and shew mercy.” Horrible!
8. Many pray, “Father, forgive them, they know not
what they do.” This is the prayer which Christ made for his murderers. And, in
that case, it was true, they did not know what they were doing, for they did
not believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. But it cannot be said of sinners
under the Gospel, they do not know what they are doing. They do know
what they are doing. They do not see the full extent of it, but they do know
that they are sinning against God, and rejecting Christ, and the difficulty is,
that they are 340unwilling to submit to
God. But such a prayer is calculated to make him feel relieved, and make him
say, “Lord, how can you blame me so, I am a poor ignorant creature, I do not
know how to do what is required of me. If I knew how, I would do it.”
9. Another expression is, “Lord, direct these
sinners, who are inquiring the way to
10. People pray that sinners may have more
conviction. Or, they pray that sinners may go home solemn and
tender, and take the subject into consideration, instead of praying that they
may repent now. Or, they pray as if they supposed the sinner was
willing to do what is required. All such prayers, are just such prayers as
the devil wants. He wishes to have such prayers, and I dare say he does not
care how many such are offered.
Sometimes I have seen in an anxious meeting, or when
sinners have been called to the anxious seats, and the minister has made the
way of salvation all plain to them, and taken away all the stumbling blocks out
of their path, and removed the darkness of their minds on the several points,
and when they are just ready to YIELD,
some one will be called on to pray, and instead of praying that they may repent
now, he begins to pray, “O Lord, we pray, that these sinners may be solemn,
that they may have a deep sense of their sinfulness, that they may go home
impressed with their lost condition, that they may attempt nothing in their own
strength, that they may not lose their convictions, and that, in thine own time
and way, they may be brought out into the glorious light and liberty of the
sons of God.”
Instead of bringing them right up to the point of IMMEDIATE submission, on the spot, it
gives them time to breathe, it lets off all the pressure of conviction, and he
breathes freely again and feels relieved, and sits down at his ease. Thus, when
the sinner is brought up, as it were, and stands at the gate of heaven, such a
prayer, instead of pushing him in, sets him away back again,—“There, poor
thing, sit there till God helps you.”
11. Christians sometimes pray in such a manner as to
make the impression that CHRIST IS THE
SINNER’s FRIEND, in a different 341sense
from what God the Father is. They pray to him, “O, thou friend of sinners,” as
if God was full of wrath, and stern vengeance, just going to crush the poor
wretch, till Jesus Christ comes in and takes his part, and delivers him. Now
this is all wrong. The Father and the Son are perfectly agreed, their feelings
are all the same, and both are equally disposed to have sinners saved. And to
make such an impression, deceives the sinner, and leads to wrong feelings towards
God. To represent God the Father as standing over him, with the sword of
justice in his hand, eager to strike the blow, till Christ interposes, is not
true. The Father is as much the sinner’s friend as the Son. His compassion is
equal. But if the sinner gets this unfavorable idea of God the Father, how is
he ever to love him with all his heart, so as to say “Abba, Father.”
12. The impression is often made by the manner of
praying, that you do not expect sinners to repent NOW, or that you expect God to do THEIR duty, or that you wish to encourage them to trust in
your prayers. And so, sinners are ruined. Never pray so as to make the
impression on sinners, that you secretly hope they are Christians already, or
that you feel a strong confidence they will be, by and by, or that you half
believe they are converted now. This is always unhappy. Multitudes are deceived
with false comfort, in this way, and prevented, just at the critical point,
from making the final surrender of themselves to God.
Brethren, I find this field so broad that I cannot
possibly mention all I wished to say. There are many other things that I
intended to touch upon this evening, but the time is too far spent. I must
close with a few brief
REMARKS.
1. Many persons who deal in this way with anxious
sinners, do it from false pity. They feel so much sympathy and compassion that
they cannot bear to tell them the truth, which is necessary to save them. As
well might a surgeon, when he sees that a man’s arm must be amputated, or he
will die, indulge this feeling of false pity, and just put on a plaster, and
give him an opiate. There is no benevolence in that. True benevolence would
lead the surgeon to hide his feelings, and to be cool and calm, and with a keen
knife, cut the limb off, and save the life. It is false tenderness to do
anything short of that. I once saw a woman under distress of mind, who had been
well nigh driven to despair for months. Her friends 342had tried all these false comforts without effect,
and they brought her to see a minister, She was emaciated, and worn out with
agony. The minister set his eye upon her, and poured in the truth upon her
mind, and rebuked her in a most pointed manner. The woman who was with her
interfered, she thought it cruel, and said, “Oh, do comfort her, she is so
distressed, do not trouble her any more, she cannot bear it.” He turned, and
rebuked her, and sent her away, and then poured in the truth upon the
anxious sinner like fire, and in five minutes she was converted, and went home
full of joy. The plain truth swept all her false notions away, and in a few
moments she was joyful in God.
2. This treatment of anxious sinners, administering
their false comfort, is, in fact, cruelty. It is cruel as the grave, as
cruel as hell, for it is calculated to send the sinner down to its burning
abyss. Christians feel compassion for the anxious, and so they ought. But the
last thing they ought to do, is to flinch just at the point where it comes to a
crisis. They should feel compassion, but they should show it just as the
surgeon does, when he deliberately goes to work, in the right and best way, and
cuts off the man’s arm, and thus cures him and saves his life. just so
Christians should let the sinner see their compassion and tenderness, but they
should take God’s part, fully and decidedly. They should lay open to the
sinner, the worst of his case, expose his guilt and danger, and then lead him
right up to the cross, and insist on instant submission. They must have
firmness enough to do this work thoroughly, and if they see the sinner
distressed and in agony, still they must press him right on, and not give way
in the least, however much he may be in agony, but still press on till he
yield.
To do this often requires nerve. I have often been
placed in circumstances, to know this by experience. I have found myself
surrounded by anxious sinners, in such distress, as to make every nerve
tremble, some overcome with emotion and lying on the floor, some applying
camphor to prevent their fainting, others shrieking out as if they were just
going to hell. Now, suppose any one should give false comfort in such a case as
this. Suppose he had not nerve enough to bring them right up to the point of
instant and absolute submission. How unfit is such a man to be trusted in a
case like this.
3. Sometimes sinners become deranged through despair
and anguish of mind. Where this is the case, it is almost always because those
who deal with them try to encourage them with false comfort, and thus lead them
to such a conflict 343with the Holy Ghost.
They try to hold them up, while God is trying to break them down. And by and
by, the sinner’s mind gets confused with this contrariety of influences, and he
either goes deranged, or is driven to despair.
4. If you are going to deal with sinners, remember
that you are soon to meet them in judgment, and be sure to treat them in such a
way that if they are lost, it will be their own fault. Do not try to comfort
them with false notions now, and have them reproach you with it then. Better
suppress your false sympathy, and let the naked truth cleave them asunder,
joints and marrow, than to sooth them with false comfort, and beguile them away
from God.
4. Sinner! if you converse with any Christians, and
they tell you to do anything, first ask, “If I do that, shall I be
saved?” You may be anxious, and not be saved. You may pray, and not be saved.
You may read your Bible, and not be saved. You may use means, in your way, and
not be saved. Whatever they tell you to do, if you can do it and not be saved,
do not attend to such instructions. They are calculated to give you false
comfort, and divert your attention from the main thing to be done, and beguile
you down to hell. Do not follow any such directions, lest you should die while
doing it, and then there is no retrieve.
Finally, never tell a sinner anything, or give him
any direction, that will lead him to stop short, or that does not include
absolute submission to God. To let him stop at any point short of this, is
infinitely dangerous. Suppose you are at an anxious meeting, or a prayer
meeting, and tell a sinner to pray, or to read a book, or anything short of
saving repentance, and he should fall and break his neck that night, of whom
would his blood be required? A youth in
Oh, it is enough to make one’s heart bleed, to see so
many miserable comforters for anxious sinners, in whose answers there remaineth
falsehood. What a vast amount of spiritual quackery there is in the world, and
how many “forgers of lies” there are, “physicians of no value,” who know no
better than to comfort sinners with false hopes, and delude them 344with their “old wives’ fables,” and nonsense, or who
give way to false tenderness and sympathy, till they have not firmness enough
to see the sword of the Spirit applied, to cut men to the soul, and lay open
the sinner’s naked heart. Alas! that so many are ever put into the ministry,
who have not skill enough to stand by and see the Spirit of God do its work, in
breaking up the old foundations, and crushing all the rotten hopes of a sinner,
and breaking him all down at the feet of Jesus.
LECTURE XVIII.
DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS.
Text—What shall I do to be saved.—Acts xvi. 30.
THESE are the words of the jailor at
Thus, they thought they had put down the excitement.
But at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises, and the prisoners heard
them. This old prison that had so long echoed to the voice of blasphemy and
oaths, now resounded with the praises of God, and these walls, that had stood
so firm, now trembled under the power of prayer. The stocks were unloosed, the
gates thrown open, and every one’s bands broken. The jailor was aroused from
his sleep, and when he saw the prison doors opened, as he knew that if the
prisoners had escaped he must pay for it with his life, he drew his sword, and
was about to kill himself. But Paul, who had no notion of escaping
clandestinely, cried out to him instantly. “Do thyself no harm, for we are all
here.” And the Jailor called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling,
and fell down before his prisoners, Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and
said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
In my last lecture, I dwelt at some length on the
false instructions given to sinners under conviction, and the false comforts
too often administered, and the erroneous instructions which such persons
receive. It is my design, to-night, to show what are the instructions
that should be given to anxious sinners in order to their speedy and effectual
conversion. Or, in other words, to explain to you, what answer should be given
to those who make the inquiry, “What must I do to be saved?” In doing it, I
propose,
I. To show what is not a proper direction to
be given to sinners, when they make the inquiry in the text.
II. Show what is a proper answer to the
inquiry. And,
III. To specify several errors, which anxious
sinners are apt to fall into.
I. I am to show what are not proper directions
to be given to anxious sinners.
No more important inquiry was ever made than this,
“What must I do to be saved?” Mankind are apt enough to inquire “What shall I
eat, and what shall I drink,” and the question may be answered in various ways,
with little danger. But when a sinner asks in earnest, “What must I do to be
saved?” it is of infinite importance that he should receive the right answer.
It is my desire, to-night, to tell you, professors of religion, what to answer
to this inquiry, and to tell you, who are sinners, what you must do to be
saved.
347
1. No direction should be given to a sinner, that will
leave him still in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. No
answer is proper to be given, with which, if he complies, he would not go to
heaven, if he should die the next moment.
2. No direction should be given, that does not
include a change of heart, or a right heart, or hearty obedience to Christ. In
other words, nothing is proper, which does not imply actually becoming a
Christian. Any direction that falls short of this, is of no use. It will not
bring him any nearer to the kingdom, it will do no good, but will only lead him
to defer the very thing which he must do, in order to be saved. The
sinner should be told plainly, at once, what he must do, or die; and he should
be told nothing that does not include a right state of heart. Whatever you may
do, sinner, that does not include a right heart, is sin. Whether you read the
Bible or not, it is sin, so long as you remain in rebellion. Whether you go to
meeting, or stay away, whether you pray or not, it is nothing but rebellion,
every moment. It is surprising, that a sinner should suppose himself doing
God’s services, when he prays, and reads his Bible. Should a rebel against this
government, read the statute book, while he continues in rebellion, and has no
design to obey; should he ask for pardon, while he holds on to his weapons of
resistance and warfare, would you think him doing his country a service, and
laying them under obligations to show him favor. No, you would say that all his
reading and praying, were only an insult to the majesty both of the lawgiver
and the law. So you, sinner, while you remain in impenitence, are insulting God
and setting him at defiance, whether you read his word and pray or let it
alone. No matter what place or what attitude your body is in, on your knees, or
in the house of God, so long as your heart is not right, so long as you resist
the Holy Ghost, and reject Christ, you are a rebel against your Maker.
II. I am to show what is a proper answer to
this inquiry. “What must I do to be saved?”
And, generally, you may give the sinner any
direction, or tell him to do anything, that includes a right heart, and if you
make him understand it, and do it, he will be saved. The Spirit of God, in
striving with sinners, suits his strivings to the state of mind in which he
finds them. His great object in striving with them, is, to dislodge them from
their hiding-places, and bring them to submit to God, at once. Now these objections,
and difficulties, and states of mind, are as various 348as the circumstances of mankind, as many as there are
individuals. The characters of individuals affords an endless diversity. What
is to be done with each one, and how he is to be converted, depends on his
particular errors. It is necessary to ascertain his errors, to find out what he
understands, and what he needs to be taught more perfectly, to see what points
the Spirit of God is pressing upon his conscience, and to press the same things
and thus bring him to Christ. The most common directions are the following:
1. It is generally in point, and a safe and suitable
direction, to tell a sinner to repent. I say, generally. For
sometimes the Spirit of God seems not so much to direct the sinner’s attention
to his own sins as to some other thing. In the days of the apostles, the
minds of the people seem to have been agitated mainly on the question, whether
Jesus was the true Messiah. And so the apostles directed much of their
instructions to this point, to prove that he was the Christ. And whenever
anxious sinners asked them what they must do, they most commonly exhorted them
to “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” They bore down on this point, because
here was where the Spirit of God was striving with them, and this was the
subject that especially agitated people’s minds, and, consequently, this would
probably be the first thing a person would do on submitting to God. It was the
grand point at issue between God and the Jew and Gentile of those days, whether
Jesus Christ was the son of God. It was the point in dispute. To bring a sinner
to yield this controverted question, was the way the most effectually to humble
him.
At other times, it will be found, that the Spirit of
God is dealing with sinners chiefly in reference to their own sins. Sometimes
he deals with them in regard to a particular duty, as prayer, perhaps family
prayer. The sinner will be found to be contesting that point with God, whether
it is right for him to pray, or whether he ought to pray in his family. I have
known striking cases of this kind, where the individual was struggling on this
point, and as soon as he fell on his knees to pray, he yielded his heart,
showing that this was the very point which the Spirit of God was contesting, and
the hinge on which his controversy with God all turned. That was conversion.
The direction to repent is always proper, but
will not always be effectual, for there may be some other thing that the sinner
needs to be told also. And where it is the pertinent direction, sinners need
not only to be told to repent, but to have it explained to them what repentance
is. Since there 349has been so much
mysticism, and false philosophy and false theology, thrown around the subject,
it has become necessary to tell sinners not only what you mean by repentance,
but also to tell them what you do not mean. Words that used to be plain
and easily understood have now become so perverted that they need to be
explained to sinners, or they will often convey a wrong impression to their
minds. This is the case with the word repentance. Many suppose that remorse,
or a sense of guilt, is repentance. Then hell is full of repentance, for it is
full of remorse, unutterable and eternal. Others feel regret that they
have done such a thing, and they call that repenting of it. But they only
regret that they have sinned, because of the consequences, and not because they
abhor sin. This is not repentance. Others suppose that convictions of sin and
strong fears of hell are repentance. Others consider the remonstrances of
conscience as repentance; they say, “I never do anything wrong but that I
repent; that I always feel sorry I did it.” Others regard repentance as a
feeling of sorrow for sin. But repentance is not an involuntary feeling of any
kind or degree. Sinners must be shown that all these things are not repentance.
They are not only consistent with the utmost wickedness, but the devil might
have them all, and doubtless has them all, and yet remains a devil. Repentance
is a change of mind, as regards God and towards sin itself. It is not only a
change of views, but a change of the ultimate preference or choice of the soul.
It is a voluntary change, and by consequence involves a change of feeling
and of action toward God and toward sin. It is what is naturally
understood by a change of mind on any subject of interest and importance. We
hear that such a man has changed his mind on the subject of Abolition, for
instance, or that he has changed his views in politics. Everybody understands
that he has undergone a change in his views, his feelings, and his conduct.
This is repentance, on that subject, it is a change of mind, but not towards
God. Evangelical repentance is a change of willing, of feeling, and of life,
in respect to God.
Repentance always implies abhorrence of sin. It is
willing and feeling as God does in respect to sin. It of course involves the
love of God, and an abhorrence of sin. It always implies forsaking sin. Sinners
should be made to understand this. The sinner that repents does not feel as
impenitent sinners think they should feel, at giving up their sins if they
should become religious. Impenitent sinners look upon religion just like this,
that if they become pious, they shall be obliged to stay away from balls
and parties, and 350obliged to give up
theatres, or gambling, or other things that they now take delight in. And they
see not how they could ever enjoy themselves, if they should break off from all
those things. But this is very far from being a correct view of the matter.
Religion does not make them unhappy, by shutting them out from things in which
they delight, because the first step in it is to repent, to change their mind
in regard to all these things. They do not seem to realize that the person who
has repented has no disposition for these things, he has given them up, and
turned their mind away from them. Sinners feel as if they should want to go to
such places, and want to mingle in such scenes, just as much as they do now,
and that it will be such a continued sacrifice as to make them unhappy. This is
a great mistake.
I know there are some professors who would be very
glad to betake themselves to their former practices, were it not that they feel
constrained, by fear of losing their character, or the like. Now, mark me. If
they feel so, it is because they have no religion, they do not hate sin. If
they desire their former ways, they have no religion, they have never repented,
for repentance always consists in a change of choice of views and feelings. If
they were really converted, instead of choosing such things, they would turn
away from them with loathing. Instead of lusting after the flesh-pots of
2. Sinners should be told to believe the
Gospel. Here, also, they need to have it explained to them, and to be told what
is not faith, and what is. Nothing is more common than for a sinner,
when told to believe the Gospel, to say, “I do believe it.” The fact is, he has
been brought up to admit the fact, that the Gospel is true, but he does not
believe it, he knows nothing about the evidence of it, and all his faith is a
mere admission without evidence. He holds it to be true, in a kind of loose,
indefinite sense, so that he is always ready to say, “I do believe the Bible.”
It is strange they do not see that they are deceived in thinking that they
believe, for they must see that they have never acted upon these truths, as
they do upon those things that they do believe. Yet it is often quite difficult
to convince them that they do not believe.
But the fact is, that the careless sinner does not
believe the Gospel at all. The idea that the careless sinner is an intellectual
believer, is absurd. The devil is an intellectual believer, 351and that is what makes him tremble. What makes a
sinner anxious is, that he begins to be an intellectual believer, and that
makes him feel. No being in heaven, earth, or hell, can intellectually believe
the truths of the Gospel, and not feel on the subject. The anxious sinner has
faith of the same kind with devils, but he has not so much of it, and,
therefore, he does not feel so much. The man that does not feel nor act at all,
on the subject of religion is an infidel, let his professions be what they may.
He that feels nothing and does nothing, believes nothing. This is a
philosophical fact.
Faith does not consist in an intellectual conviction
that Christ died for you in particular, nor in a belief that you are a Christian,
or that you ever shall be, or that your sins are forgiven. But faith is that
trust or confidence in God, and in Christ, that commits the whole soul to him
in all his relations to us. It is a voluntary trust in his person, his
veracity, his word. This was the faith of Abraham. He had that confidence in
what God said, which led him to act as if it were true. This is the way the
apostle illustrates it in the eleventh of Hebrews. “Faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And he goes on to
illustrate it by various examples. “Through faith we understand that the worlds
were made,” that is, we believe this, and act accordingly. Take the case of
Noah. Noah was warned of God of things not seen as yet, that is, he was assured
that God was going to drown the world, and he believed it, and acted
accordingly; he prepared an ark to save his family, and by so doing, he
condemned the world that would not believe; his actions gave evidence that he
was sincere. Abraham, too, was called of God to leave his country, with the
promise that he should be the gainer by it, and he obeyed and went out, without
knowing where he should go. Read the whole chapter and you will find many
instances of the same kind. The whole design of the chapter is to illustrate
the nature of faith, and to show that it invariably results in action. The
sinner should have it explained to him, and be made to see that the
faith which the Gospel requires is just that confidence in Christ which leads
him to act on what he says as a certain fact. This is believing in Christ,
3. Another direction proper to be given to the sinner
is that he should give his heart to God. God says, “My son, give me
thine heart.” But here also there needs to be explanation, to make him
understand what it is. It is amazing that there should be any darkness here. It
is the language of common 352life, in
everybody’s mouth, and everybody understands just what it means, when we use it
in regard to any thing else. But when it comes to religion, they seem to be all
in the dark. Ask a sinner, no matter what may be his age, or education, what it
means to give the heart to God, and, strange as it may appear, he is at a loss
for an answer. Ask a woman what it is to give her heart to her husband, or a
man what it is to give his heart to his wife, and they understand it. But then
they are totally blind as to giving their hearts to God. I suppose I have asked
more than a thousand anxious sinners this question. When I have told them they
must give their hearts to God, they would always say they were willing to do
it, and, sometimes, that they were anxious to do it, and even seem to be in an
agony of desire about it. Then I have asked them what they understood to be
giving their hearts to God, as they were so willing to do it. And very seldom
have I received a correct or rational answer from a sinner of any age. I have
sometimes had the strangest answers that can be imagined—anything but what they
ought to say. Now, to give your heart to God is the same thing as to give your
heart to anybody else; the same as for a woman to give her heart to her
husband. Ask that woman if she understands this? “Oh, yes, that is plain
enough, it is to place my affections on him, and strive to please him in
everything.” Very well, place your affections on God, and strive to please him
in everything. But alas, when they come to the subject of religion, people
suppose there is some wonderful mystery about it. Some talk as if they supposed
it was to take out this bundle of muscles, or fleshy organ, in their bosom, and
give it to God. Sinner, what God asks of you is, that you should love him
supremely.
3. Submit to God, is also a proper direction
to anxious sinners. And, Oh, how dark sinners are here too. Scarcely a sinner
can be found, who will not tell you he is willing to submit to God. But they do
not understand it. They need to be told what true submission is. Sometimes they
think it means that they should be willing to be damned. Sometimes they place
themselves in this attitude, and call it submission; they say, if they are
elected, they shall be saved, and if not, they shall be damned. This is not
submission. True submission, is yielding obedience to God. Suppose a rebel, in
arms against the government, was called on to submit. What would he understand
by it? Why, that he should yield the point, and lay down his arms, and obey the
laws. That is just what it means, for a sinner to submit to God. He must cease
his strife and conflict against his Maker, 353and
take the attitude of a willing and obedient child, willing to be and do
whatever God requires. “Here, Lord, am I; Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
Suppose a company of soldiers had rebelled, and
Government had an army to put them down, and had driven them into a strong
hold, where they were out of provisions, and had no way to escape, and they
should not know what to do. Suppose the rebels to have met in this extremity,
to consider what is to be done? and one rises up, and says, “Well, comrades, I
am convinced we are all wrong from the beginning, and now the reward of our
deeds is like to overtake us, and we cannot escape, and as for remaining here
to die, I am resolved not to do it. I am going to throw myself on the mercy of
the commander-in-chief.” That man submits. He ceases, from that moment, to be a
rebel in his heart, just as soon as he comes to this conclusion. So it is with
the sinner when he yields the point, and consents in his heart to do, and be,
whatever God shall require. The sinner may be in doubt what to do, and may feel
afraid to put himself in God’s hands, thinking that if he does, perhaps God
will send him down to hell, as he deserves. But it is his business to leave all
that question with God, and not resist his Maker any longer, but give all up to
God, make no conditions, and trust it wholly to God’s benevolence and wisdom to
decide what shall be done, and to appoint his future condition. Until you do
this, sinner, you have done nothing to the purpose.
5. Another proper direction to be given to sinners,
is to confess and forsake your sins. This means that they should both
confess and forsake them. They must confess to God their sins against God, and
confess to men their sins against men, and forsake them all. A man does not
forsake his sins till he has made all the reparation in his power. If he has
stolen money, or defrauded his neighbor out of property, he does not forsake
his sins by merely resolving not to steal any more, or not to cheat again; he
must make reparation to the extent of his power. So, if he has slandered any
one, he does not forsake his sin by merely saying he will not do so again. He
must make reparation. So, in like manner, if he has robbed God, as all sinners
have, he must make reparation, as far as he has the power. Suppose a man has
made money in rebellion against God, and has withheld from him his time,
talents and service, has lived and rioted upon the bounties of his providence,
and refused to lay himself out for the salvation of the world; he has robbed
God. Now, if he should die feeling that this money was his own, and
should he 354leave it to his heirs
without consulting the will of God—why, he is just as certain to go to hell as
the highway robber. He has never made any satisfaction to God. With all his
whining and pious talk, he has never confessed HIS SIN to God, nor forsaken his
sin, for he has never felt nor acknowledged himself to be the steward of God.
If he refuses to hold the property in his possession, as the steward of God; if
he accounts it his own, and as such gives it to his children, he says, in
effect, to God. “That property is not yours, it is mine, and I will give it to
my children.” He has continued to persevere in his sin, for he does not
relinquish the ownership of that of which he has robbed God.
What would a merchant think, if his hired clerk
should take all the capital and set up a store of his own, and die with it in
his hands? Will such a man go to heaven? “No,” you say, every one of you, “If
such a man does not go to hell, there might just as well be no hell.” God would
prove himself infinitely unjust, to let such a character go unpunished. What,
then, shall we say of the man who has robbed God all his life? Here God set him
to be his clerk, to manage some of his affairs, and he has gone and stolen all
the money, and says it is his, and he keeps it, and dies, and gives it to his
children, as if it was all his own lawful property. Is that man going to
heaven? Has that man forsaken sin? I tell you, no. If he has not surrendered
himself and all to God, he has not taken the first step in the way to heaven.
6. Another proper direction to be given to sinners
is, “Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.” Under the Old Testament
dispensation, this or something equivalent to it, was the most common direction
given. It was not common to call on men to believe in Christ until the
days of John the Baptist. He baptized those who came to him, with the baptism
of repentance, and directed them to believe on him who should come after him.
Under Joshua, the text was something which the people all understood more
easily than they would a call to believe on the distant Messiah; it was “Choose
ye, this day, whom ye will serve.” On another occasion, Moses said to them, “I
call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou
and thy seed may live.” The direction was accommodated to the people’s
knowledge. And it is good now, as it was then. Sinners are called upon to
choose—what? Whether they will serve God or the world—whether they will follow
holiness or sin. Let them be made to understand what is meant 355by choosing, and what is to be chosen, and then if
the thing is done from the heart, they will be saved.
Any of these directions, if complied with, will
constitute true conversion. The particular exercises may vary in different
cases. Sometimes the first exercise in conversion, is submission to God,
sometimes repentance, sometimes faith, sometimes the choice of God and his
service, in short, whatever their thoughts are taken up with at the time. If
their thoughts are directed to Christ at the moment, the first exercise will be
faith. If to sin, the first exercise will be repentance. If to their future
course of life, it is choosing the service of God. If to the Divine government,
it is submission. It is important to find out just where the Holy Spirit is
pressing the sinner at the time, and then take care to push that point. If it
is in regard to Christ, press that; if it is in regard to his future course of
life, push him right up to an immediate choice of obedience to God.
It is a great error to suppose that any one
particular exercise is always foremost in conversion, or, that every sinner
must have faith first, or submission first. It is not true, either in
philosophy or in fact. There is a great variety in people’s exercises. Whatever
point is taken hold of, between God and the sinner, when the sinner YIELDS
that, he is converted. Whatever the particular exercise may be, if it includes obedience
of heart to God on any point, it is true conversion. When he yields one
point to God’s authority, he is ready to yield all. When he changes his
mind, and obeys in one thing, because it is God’s will, he will obey in
other things, so far as he sees it to be God’s will. Where there is this right
choice, then, whenever the mind is directed to any one point of duty, he is
ready to follow. It matters very little which of these directions is given, if
it is only made plain, and if it is to the point, so as to serve as a test of
obedience to God. If it is to the point that the Spirit of God is debating
with the sinner’s mind, so as to fall in with the Spirit’s work, and not to
divert the sinner’s attention from the very point in controversy, let it be
made perfectly clear, and then pressed till the sinner yields, and he will be
saved.
III. I am to mention several errors which anxious
sinners are apt to fall into, respecting this great inquiry.
1. The first error is, in supposing that they must
make themselves better, or prepare themselves, so as in some way to recommend
themselves to the mercy of God. It is marvelous, that sinners will not
understand, that all they have to do is to accept salvation from God,
all prepared to their 356hands. But they
all, learned or unlearned, at first, betake themselves to a legal course to get
relief. This is one principal reason why they will not become Christians at
once, just as soon as they begin to attend to the subject. They imagine that
they must be, in some way or other, prepared to come. They must change
their dress, and make themselves look a little better; they are not willing to
come just as they are, in their rags and poverty. They must have something more
on, before they can approach to God. They should be shown, at once, that it is
impossible they should be any better, until they do what God requires. Every
pulse that beats, every breath they draw, they are growing worse, because they
are standing out in rebellion against God, so long as they do not do the
very thing which God requires of them as the first thing to be done.
2. Another error is, in supposing that they must suffer
a considerable time under conviction, as a kind of punishment, before they
are ready properly to come to Christ. And so they will pray for conviction. And
they think, that if they are ground down to the earth, with distress, for a
sufficient time, then God will pity them, and be more ready to help them, when
he sees them so very miserable. They should be made to understand clearly, that
they are thus unhappy and miserable, merely because they refuse to
accept the relief which God offers. Take the case of the stubborn child, when
his parent stands over him with the rod, and the child shudders and screams.
Should that child imagine he is gaining anything by his agony? His distress
arises from his conviction, and shall he pray for more conviction? Does that
make him any better? Does his father pity him any more, because he stands out?
Who does not see that he is all the while growing worse?
3. Sometimes sinners imagine that they must wait
for different feelings, before they submit to God. They say, “I do not
think I feel right yet, to accept of Christ; I do not think I am prepared to be
converted yet.” They ought to be made to see what God requires of them is to will
right. If they obey and submit with the will the feelings will
adjust themselves in due time. It is not a question of feeling, but of willing
and acting.
The feelings are involuntary, and have no
moral character except what they derive from the action of the will, with which
action they sympathize. Before the will is right, the feelings will not be, of
course. The sinner should come to Christ by accepting him at once; and this he
must do, not 357in obedience to his feelings,
but in obedience to his conscience. Obey, submit, trust. Give up all instantly,
and your feelings will come right. Do not wait for better feelings, but commit
your whole being to God at once, and this will soon result in the feelings for
which you are waiting. What God requires of you, is the present act of your own
mind, in turning from sin to holiness, and from the service of Satan to the
service of the living God.
4. Another error of sinners, is to suppose they must
wait till their hearts are changed. “What?” say they, “am I to
believe in Christ before my heart is changed? Do you mean that I am to repent
before my heart is changed?” Now, the simple answer to all this is, that the
change of heart is the very thing in question. God requires sinners to love
him. That is to change their heart. God requires the sinner to believe
the Gospel. That is to change his heart. God requires him to repent. That
is to change his heart. God does not tell him to wait till his heart is
changed, and then repent and believe, and love God. The very word itself, repent,
signifies a change of mind or heart. To do either of these things, is to change
your heart, and to make you a new heart, just as God requires.
5. Sinners often get the idea that they are perfectly
willing to do what God requires. Tell them to do this thing, or that, to
repent, or believe, or give God their hearts, and they say, “Oh, yes, I am
perfectly willing to do that, I wish I could do it, I would give anything if I
could do it.” They ought to understand, that, being truly willing is
doing it, but there is a difference between willing and desiring. People often desire
to be Christians, when they are wholly unwilling to be so. When we see
anything which appears to us to be a good, we are so constituted that we desire
it. We necessarily desire it when it is before our minds. We cannot help
desiring it in proportion as its goodness is presented to our minds. But yet we
may not be willing to have it, under all the circumstances. It may be
that we prefer, upon the whole, that the present possessor should continue to
possess it still. Or that we choose to have our friend or child possess it,
instead of ourselves. A man may desire to go to
6. The sinner will sometimes say, that he offers
to give God his heart, but he intimates that God is unwilling. But this is
absurd. What does God ask? Why, that you should love him. Now, for you to say
you are willing to give God your heart, but God is unwilling, is the same as
saying that you are willing to love God, but God is not willing to be loved by
you, and will not suffer you to love him. It is important to clear up all these
points in the sinner’s mind, that he may have no dark and mysterious comer to
rest in, where the truth will not reach him.
7. Sinners sometimes get the idea that they repent,
when they are only convicted. Whenever the sinner is found resting in any LIE,
let the truth sweep it away, however much it may pain and distress him. If he
has any error of this kind, you must tear it away from him, if you do not mean
that he shall stumble into the depths of hell.
8. Sinners are often wholly taken up with looking
at themselves, to see if they cannot find something there, some kind of
feeling or other, that will recommend them to God. Evidently, for want of
proper instruction, David Brainard was a long time taken up with his state
of mind, looking for some feelings that would recommend him to God.
Sometimes he imagined that he had such feelings, and would tell God in prayer,
that now he felt as he ought, to receive his mercy; and then he would see that
he had been all wrong, and be ashamed that he had told God that he felt right.
Thus, the poor man, for want of correct instruction, was driven almost to
despair, and it is easy to see that his Christian exercises through life were
greatly modified, and his comfort and usefulness much impaired by the false
philosophy he had adopted on this point. You must turn the sinner away from
himself to something else. Suppose he keeps poring over himself, until he is
going into a state of despair. The proper course then is, to turn off his
attention from looking at himself, and make him look at some duty to be
performed, or make him look at Christ, and, perhaps, before he is aware, he
will find that he has submitted to God. His attention was diverted away from
himself, to contemplate the reasonableness of God’s requirements, or the
sufficiency of Christ’s atonement, or something of this kind, and as he dwelt
upon it, he just gave up his heart, and the agony was over.
359
REMARKS.
1. The labor of ministers is greatly increased, and
the difficulties in the way of salvation are greatly multiplied, by the false
instructions that have been given to sinners. The consequence has been, that
directions which used to be plain are now obscure. People have been taught so
long, that there is something awfully mysterious and unintelligible about
conversion, that they do not try to understand it. Sinners have been taught
these false notions, till now they are every where entrenched behind these
sentiments, such as “cannot repent,” “must wait for God,” and the like. It was
once sufficient, as we learn from the Bible, to tell sinners to repent, or to
tell them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But now faith has been talked
about as a principle, instead of an act, and repentance as something put
into the mind, instead of an exercise of the mind, and sinners are perplexed.
Ministers are charged with preaching heresy, because they presume to teach that
faith is an exercise, and not a principle, and that sin is an act, and not a
part of the constitution of man. And sinners have become so sophisticated, that
you have to be at great pains in explaining not only what you do not mean, but
what you do mean, otherwise they will be almost sure to misunderstand you, and
either gain a false relief from their anxiety, by throwing their duty off upon
God, or else run into despair from the supposed impracticability of doing what
is requisite for their salvation. It is often the greatest difficulty to lead
them out of these theological labyrinths and mazes, into which they have been
deluded, and to lead them along the straight and simple way of the Gospel. It
seems as if the greatest ingenuity had been employed to mystify the minds of
people and weave a most subtle web of false theology, calculated to involve a
sinner in endless darkness.
Who that has been in revivals, has not encountered
that endless train of fooleries, which have been inculcated, till it has become
necessary to be as plain as A B C, and the best educated have to be talked to
just like children. So much has been done to mystify and befool people’s minds,
in the plainest matters. Tell a sinner to believe, and he turns round to
you, and stares, “Why, how you talk; is not faith a principle implanted in the
soul, and how am I to believe until I get this principle?” So, if a minister
tells a sinner the very words that the apostles used, in the great revival at
the day of pentecost, “Repent and be converted, every one of you,” 360and they reply as they have been taught, “Oh, I guess
you are an Arminian; I do not want any of your Arminian teaching for me; do not
you deny the Spirit’s influences?” It is enough to make humanity weep to see
the fog and darkness that have been thrown around the plain directions of the
Gospel, till many generations have been emptied into hell.
2. These false instructions to sinners are infinitely
worse than none. The Lord Jesus Christ found it more difficult to get the
people to yield up their false notions of theology than anything else. This has
been the great difficulty with the Jews to this day, that they have received
false notions in theology, have perverted the truth on certain points, and you
cannot make them understand the plainest points in the Gospel. So it is with
sinners, the most difficult thing to be done is to get away these refuges of
lies, which they have gotten from false theology. They are so fond of holding
on to these refuges, because they are called orthodox, and because they excuse
the sinner, and condemn God, that it is found to be the most perplexing, and
difficult, and discouraging part of a minister’s labor to drive them away.
3. No wonder the Gospel has taken so little effect,
encumbered as it has been with these strange dogmas. The truth is, that very
little of the Gospel has come out upon the world, for these hundreds of years,
without being clogged and obscured by false theology. People have been told
that they must repent, and, in the same breath, told that they could not repent
until the truth itself has been all mixed up with error, so as to produce the
same practical effect with error, and the Gospel that is preached has been
another Gospel, or no Gospel at all.
4. You can understand what is meant by healing
slightly the hurt of the daughter of God’s people, and the danger of doing it.
It is very easy when sinners are under conviction, to say something that shall
smooth over the case, and relieve their anxiety, so that they will either get a
false hope, or will be converted with their views so obscure, that they will
always be poor, feeble, wavering, doubting, inefficient Christians.
5. Much depends on the manner in which a person is
dealt with, when under conviction. Much of his future comfort and usefulness
depends on the clearness, and strength, and firmness, with which the directions
of the Gospel are given, when he is under conviction. If those who deal with
him are afraid to use the probe thoroughly, he will always be a poor, sickly,
doubting Christian. If converted at all, he will never do much good. The true
mode, is to deal thoroughly and 361plainly with a
sinner, to tear away every excuse he can get up, and show him plainly what he
is, and what he ought to be, and he will bless God to all eternity, that he
fell in with those who would be so faithful to his soul. For the want of this
thorough and searching management, many are converted who seem to be stillborn.
And the reason is, they never were faithfully dealt with. We may charitably
hope they are Christians, but still it is uncertain and doubtful. Their
conversion seems rather a change of opinion, than a change of heart. But if,
when a sinner is under conviction, you pour in the truth, put in the probe,
break up the old foundations, and sweep away his refuges of lies, and use the word
of God, like fire and like a hammer, you will find that they will come out with
clear views, and strong faith, and firm principles, not doubting, halting,
irresolute Christians, but such as follow the Lord wholly. This is the way to
make strong Christians. This has been eminently the case in many revivals of
modern days. I have heard old Christians say of the converts, “These converts
were born men and women, full grown, they never were children, but have,
at the very outset, all the clearness of view, and strength of faith, of old
Christians. They seem to understand the doctrines of religion, and to know what
to do, and how to take hold, to promote revivals, better than one in a hundred
of the old members in the church.”
I once knew a young man who was converted, away from
home. The place where he lived had no minister, and no preaching, and no
religion. He went home in three days after he was converted, and immediately
set himself to work, to labor for a revival. He set up meetings in his
neighborhood, and prayed and labored, and a revival broke out, of which he had
the principal management through a powerful work, which converted most of the
principal men of the place. The truth was, he had been so dealt with, that he
knew what he was about. He understood the subject, and knew where he stood
himself. He was not all the while troubled with doubts, whether he was himself
a Christian. He knew that he was serving God, and that God was with him, and so
he went boldly and resolutely forward to his object. But if you undertake to
make converts, without cutting up all their errors, and tearing away their
false hopes, you may make a host of hypocrites, or of puny, dwarfish
Christians, always doubting, and easily turned back from a revival spirit, and
worth nothing. The way is, to bring them right out to the light. When a man is
converted in this way, you can depend on him, and know where to find him.
362
7. Protracted seasons of conviction are generally
owing to defective instruction. Wherever clear and faithful instructions are
given to sinners, there you will generally find that convictions are deep
and pungent, but short.
8. Where clear and discriminating instructions are
given to convicted sinners, if they do not soon submit, their convictions will
generally leave them. Convictions in such cases are generally short. Where
sinners are deceived by false views, they may be kept along for weeks, and
perhaps months, and sometimes for years, in a languishing state, and at last,
perhaps, be crowded into the kingdom and saved. But where the truth is made
perfectly clear to the sinner’s mind, and all his errors are torn away, if he
does not soon submit, his case is hopeless. Where the truth is brought to bear
upon his mind, and he directly resists the very truth that must convert him,
there is nothing more to be done. The Spirit will soon leave him, for the very
weapons he uses are resisted. Where instructions are not clear, and are mixed
up with errors, the Spirit may strive even for years, in great mercy, to get
sinners through the fog of false instruction. But not so, where their duty is
clearly explained to them, and they are brought right up to the single point of
immediate submission, and have all their false pretences exposed, and the path
of duty made perfectly plain. Then, if they do not submit, the Spirit of God
forsakes them, and their state is well nigh hopeless.
If there be sinners in this house, and you see your
duty clearly, TAKE CARE how you delay. If you do not submit, you may expect the
Spirit of God will forsake you, and you are LOST.
8. A vast deal of the direction given to anxious
sinners amounts to little less than the popish doctrine of indulgences. The
pope used to sell indulgences to sin, and this led to the reformation under
Luther. Sometimes people would purchase an indulgence to sin for a certain
time, or to commit some particular sin, or a number of sins. Now, there is a
vast deal in Protestant churches, which is little less than the same thing.
What does it differ from this, to tell a sinner to wait? The amount of it is,
telling him to continue in sin a while longer, while he is waiting for God to
convert him. And what is that but an indulgence to commit sin? Any direction
given to sinners that does not require them immediately to obey God, is
an indulgence to sin. It is in effect, giving them liberty to continue in sin
against God. Such directions are not only wicked, but ruinous and cruel. If
they do not destroy the 363soul, as no doubt
they often do, they defer, at all events, the sinner’s enjoyment of God
and of Christ, and he stands a great chance of being lost for ever, while
listening to such instructions. Oh, how dangerous it is, to give a sinner
reason to think he may wait a moment, before giving his heart to God.
9. So far as I have had opportunity to observe, those
conversions which are most sudden have commonly turned out to be the best
Christians. I know the reverse of this has often been held and maintained. But
I am satisfied there is no reason for it, although multitudes, even now, regard
it as a suspicious circumstance, if a man has been converted very suddenly. But
the Bible gives no warrant for this supposition. There is not a case of
protracted conviction recorded in the whole Bible. All the conversions recorded
there, are sudden conversions. And I am persuaded there never would have been
such multitudes of tedious convictions, and often ending in nothing after all,
if it had not been for those theological perversions which have filled the
world with cannot-ism. In Bible days, they told sinners to repent, and
they did it then. Cannot-ism had not been broached in that day. It is
this speculation, about the inability of sinners to obey God, that lays the
foundation for all the protracted anguish and distress, and perhaps ruin,
through which so many are led. Where a sinner is brought to see what he has to
do, and he takes his stand at once, AND DOES IT, he generally does so
afterwards, and you generally find that such a person will hold out so, and
prove a decided character. You will not find him one of those that you always
have to warp up to duty, like a ship, against wind and tide. Look at
those professors who always have to be dragged forward in duty, and you will
generally find that they had not clear and consistent directions when they were
converted, and most likely they will be very much “afraid of these sudden
conversions.”
Afraid of sudden conversions! Some of the best
Christians of my acquaintance were convicted and converted in the space of a
few minutes. In one quarter of the time that I have been speaking, many of them
were awakened, and came right out on the Lord’s side, and have been shining
lights in the church ever since, and have generally manifested the same
decision of character in religion, that they did when they first came out and
took a stand on the Lord’s side.
LECTURE XIX.
INSTRUCTIONS TO CONVERTS.
Text.—Feed my lambs.—John xxi. 15.
YOU, who read your Bibles, recollect the connection
in which these words are found, and by whom they were spoken. They were
addressed by the Lord Jesus Christ to Peter, after he had denied his Lord, and
had professed repentance. Probably one of the designs which Christ had in view,
in suffering Peter to sin so awfully as to deny his master, was to produce a
deeper work of grace in him, and thus fit him for the peculiar duty to which he
intended to call him, in laying the foundations of the Christian Church, and
watching over the spiritual interests of the converts. It needed a peculiar
work of grace in his soul, to fit him to lead others through those scenes of
trial and temptation to which the early Christians, in particular, were
exposed.
It is evident, that, though Peter had special natural
qualifications for such a work, yet he was quite a superficial saint. He
was probably converted before this, but he was weak, and there was left so much
of his natural roughness and turbulence of temper, that he was still ready to
bristle up on any occasion, and take offence at everything that crossed him, so
that he was still quite unfit for that particular work to which he was
destined. Christ designed him for such a peculiar service, that it seems
something was indispensable to fit him for it, and make him such a saint, that
future opposition would not irritate him, nor difficulties dishearten him, nor
success and honor spoil him, by lifting up his heart with pride. And,
therefore, Christ takes the effectual method recorded before us, of dealing
with him once for all, to secure a thorough work in his soul.
He asked him this question, to remind him, in an
affecting manner, at once of his sin and of the love of Christ, “Simon, son of
Jona, lovest thou 365me more than these?”
Strongly implying a doubt whether he did love him. Peter answers, “Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee.” He said unto him, “Feed my lambs.” He then
repeated the question, as if he would read his inmost soul, “Simon, son of
Jona, lovest thou me?” Peter was still firm, and promptly answers again, “Yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.” Jesus still asked him the question again,
the third time, emphatically. He seemed to urge the point, as if he would
search his inmost thoughts, to see whether Peter would ever deny him again.
Peter was touched, he was grieved, it is said; he did not fly into a passion—he
did not boast, as he did on a former occasion, “Though I should die with thee,
yet would I not deny thee,” but he was grieved, he was subdued, he spoke
tenderly, he appealed to the Saviour himself, as if he would implore him
not to doubt his sincerity any longer, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou
knowest that I love thee.” Christ then gave him his final charge, “Feed my
sheep.”
By the terms sheep and lambs here, the Saviour
undoubtedly designated Christians,—members of his church; the lambs probably
represent young converts, those that have but little experience and but little
knowledge of religion, and therefore, need to have special attention and pains
taken with them, to guard from harm, and to train them for future usefulness.
And when our Saviour told Peter to feed his sheep, he doubtless referred to the
important part which Peter was to perform in watching over the newly formed
churches in different parts of the world, and in training the young converts,
and leading them along to usefulness and happiness.
My last lecture was on the subject of giving right
instruction to anxious sinners. And this naturally brings me along, in this
Course of Lectures, to consider the manner in which young converts should be
treated and the instructions that should be given to them.
INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG
CONVERTS.
In speaking on this subject, it is my design,
I. To state several things that ought to be
considered, in regard to the hopes of young converts.
II. Several things respecting their making a
profession of religion, and joining the church.
III. The importance of having correct instruction
given to young converts.
IV. What should not be taught to young converts.
V. What particular things are specially necessary to
be taught to young converts.
VI. How young converts should be treated by church members.
366
I. I am to state several matters in regard to the
hopes of young converts.
1. Nothing should be said to them to create a hope.
Nothing should ordinarily be intimated to persons under conviction, calculated
to make them think they have experienced religion, till they find it out
themselves. I do not like this term, “experienced religion,” and I use it only
because it is a phrase in common use. It is an absurdity in itself. What is
religion? Obedience to God. Suppose you should hear a good citizen say he had
experienced obedience to the government of the country. You see it is nonsense.
Or suppose a child should talk about experiencing obedience to his father. If
he knew what he was saying, he would say he had obeyed his father, just
as the apostle Paul says to the Roman believers, “Ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”
What I mean to say is, that ordinarily, it is best to
let their hope or belief that they are converted spring up spontaneously in
their own minds. Sometimes it will happen that persons may be really converted,
but owing to some notions which they have been taught about religion, they do
not realize it. Their views of what religion is, and its effect upon the mind,
are so entirely wide of the truth, that they do not think that they have it. I
will give you an illustration of this point.
Some years since, I labored in a place where a
revival was in progress, and there was in the place a young lady from
The next morning she came to my room, as she had
promised. I saw as soon as she came in that her countenance was changed, but I
said nothing about it. “Oh,” said she, “I have changed my mind, as to what I
said last night about God, I do not think he has done me any wrong, and I think
I shall get religion sometime, for now I love to think about God. I have been
all wrong; the reason why I had never known my enmity before, was, that I would
not. I used to read the Bible, but I always passed over the passages that would
make me feel as if I was a lost sinner, and those passages that spoke of Jesus
Christ as God, I passed over without consideration, and now I see that it was
my fault, not God’s fault, that I did not know any more about myself; I have
changed my mind now.” She had no idea that this was religion, but she was
encouraged now to expect religion at some future time, because she loved God so
much. I said nothing to make her imagine that I thought her a Christian, but
left her to find it out. And, for a time, her mind was so entirely occupied
with thinking about God, that she never seemed to ask whether this is religion
or not.
It is a great evil, ordinarily, to encourage persons
to hope they are Christians. Very likely you may judge prematurely. Or if not,
it is better they should find it out for themselves, suppose they do not see it
at once. They may break down lower than ever, and then they will come out so
clear and decided, that they will know where they are.
2 When you see persons expressing a hope, and yet
they express doubts too, it is generally because the work is not thorough. It
they are convicted, they need breaking up. 368They
are still lingering around the world, or they have not broken off effectually
from their sins, and they need to be pushed back, rather than urged forward. If
you see reason to doubt, or if you find that they have doubts, most probably
there is some good reason to doubt. Sometimes persons express a hope in Christ,
and afterwards remember some sin, that needs to be confessed to men, or some
case where they have slandered, or defrauded, where it is necessary to make satisfaction,
and where either their character, or their purse, is so deeply implicated that
they hesitate, and refuse to perform their duty. This grieves the Spirit,
brings darkness over their minds of course, and justly leads them to doubt
whether they are truly converted. If a soul is truly converted, it will
generally be found when there are doubts, that on some point they are
neglecting duty. They should be searched as with a lighted candle, and brought
up to the performance of duty, and not suffered to hope until they do it. Ordinarily
it is proper just there to throw in some plain and searching truth, that will
go through them, something that will wither their hopes like a moth. Do it
while the Spirit of God is dealing with them, and do it in the right way, and
there is no danger of its doing harm.
To illustrate this: I knew a person, who was a member
of the church, but an abominable hypocrite, proved to be so by her conduct, and
afterwards fully confessed to be so. In a revival of religion she was awakened
and deeply convicted, and after a while she got a hope. She came to a minister
to talk with him about her hope, and he poured in the truth to her mind in such
a manner as to annihilate all her hopes. She then remained under conviction
many days, and at last she broke out in hope again. The minister knew her
temperament, and knew what she needed, and he tore away her hope again. And
then she broke down, clear to the ground, so that she could not stand or go. So
deeply did the Spirit of God PROBE her heart, that, for a time, it took away
all her bodily strength. And then she came out subdued. Before, she had been
one of the proudest rebels against God’s government that ever was, but now she
became humbled, and was one of the most modest, tender, lovely of Christians.
No doubt that was just the way to deal with her. It was just the treatment that
her case required.
It is often useful to deal with individuals in this
way. Some persons are naturally unamiable in their temper, and unlovely
in their deportment. And it is particularly important that such persons should
be dealt with most thoroughly whenever 369they
first begin to express hope in Christ. Unless the work with them, is, in the
first place, uncommonly deep and thorough, they will be vastly less useful, and
interesting, and happy, than they would have been, had the probe been
thoroughly and skilfully applied to their heart. If they are encouraged at
first, without being thoroughly dealt with, if they are left to go right along,
and not sufficiently probed and broken down, these unlovely traits of character
will remain unsubdued, and will be always breaking out to the great injury,
both of their personal peace, and their general influence and usefulness as
Christians.
It is important to take advantage of such characters
while they are just in these peculiar circumstances, so that they can be
moulded into proper form. Do not spare, though it should be a child, or a
brother, or a husband, or a wife. Let it be a thorough work. If they express a
hope, and you find they bear the image of Christ, they are Christians. But if
that appears doubtful—if they do not appear to be fully changed, just tear away
their hope, by searching them with the most discriminating truth, and leave the
Spirit to do the work more deeply. If still the image is not perfect, do it
again—break them down into a child-like spirit, and then let them hope. They
will then be clear and thorough Christians. By such a mode of treatment, I have
often known people of the crookedest and hatefulest natural character, so
transformed in a few days, that they appear like different beings. You would
think the work of a whole life of Christian cultivation had been done at once.
Doubtless this was the intent of our Saviour’s dealing with Peter. He had been
converted, but became puffed up with spiritual pride and self-confidence, and
then he fell. After that, Christ broke him down again, by three times searching
him with the inquiry, “Simon, son of Jona, lovest thou me?” after which, he
seems to have been a stable and devoted saint the rest of his days.
3. There is no need of young converts having or
expressing doubts as to their conversion. There is no more need of a person
doubting whether he is now in favor of God’s government, than there is for a
man to doubt whether he is in favor of our government or another. It is, in
fact, on the face of it, absurd, for a person to talk of doubting on such a
point, if he is intelligent and understands what he is talking about. It has
long been supposed to be a virtue, and a mark of humility, for a person to
doubt whether he is a Christian, and this notion that there is virtue in
doubting is a device of the devil. “I say, neighbor, are you in favor of our
government, 370or do you prefer that of
Ordinarily, the very idea of a person’s expressing
doubts, renders his piety truly doubtful. A real Christian has no need to
doubt. And when one is full of doubts, ordinarily you ought to doubt for him
and help him doubt. Affection to God is as much a matter of consciousness as
any other affection. A woman knows she loves her child. How? By
consciousness. She is conscious of the exercise of this affection. And, then,
she sees it carried out into action every day. In the same way a Christian may
know that he loves God, by his consciousness of this affection, and by seeing
that it influences his daily conduct.
In the case of young converts, truly such, these
doubts generally arise from their having been wrongly dealt with, and not
sufficiently taught, or not thoroughly humbled. In any case, they should never
be left in such a state, but should be brought, if possible, to such a thorough
change, that they will doubt no longer. It is inconsistent with the greatest
usefulness, for a Christian to be always entertaining doubts. It not only makes
him gloomy. but it renders his religion a stumbling block to sinners. What do
sinners think of such religion? They say, “These converts are always afraid to
think they have got any thing real. They are always trembling, and doubting
whether it is a reality, and they ought to know whether there is anything in it
or not; for if it is any thing, these people seem to have it, and I am inclined
to think it rather doubtful. At any rate, I will let it pass for the present;
for I do not believe God will damn me for not attending to what appears so
uncertain.” No, a cheerful, settled hope in Christ, is indispensable to
usefulness, and therefore you should deal so with young converts, as to lead
them to a consistent, well-grounded, stable hope. Ordinarily this may be done,
if pursued wisely, at the proper time, and that is at the commencement of their
religious life. And they should not be left till it is done.
371
I know there are some exceptions; there are cases
where the best instructions will be ineffectual, but these generally depend on
the state of the health, and the condition of the nervous system. Sometimes you
find a person incapable of reasoning on a certain topic, and so their errors
will not yield to instruction. But most commonly they mistake the state of
their own hearts, because they judge under the influence of a physical disease.
Sometimes persons under a nervous depression will go almost into despair. I
will not take time now to show the connection, but persons who are acquainted
with physiology will easily explain the matter, and this will make it plain
that the only way to deal with such cases is first to recruit their health, and
get their nervous system in a proper tone, and thus remove the physical cause
of their gloom and depression, and then they will be able to receive and apply
your instructions to the state of their minds. But if you cannot remove their
gloom and doubts and fears in this way, you can at least avoid doing any
positive harm, by giving them wrong instructions. I have known even experienced
Christians to have the error fastened upon them, thinking it was necessary, or
was virtuous, or a mark of humility to be always in doubt, and Satan would take
advantage of it, and of the state of their health, to drive them almost into
despair. You ought to guard against this, by avoiding the error in teaching
young converts. Teach them that instead of there being any virtue in doubting,
it is a sin to have any reason to doubt, and a sin if they doubt without any
reason, and a sin to be gloomy, and disgust sinners with their despondency. And
if you teach them thoroughly what religion is, and make them SEE CLEARLY what
God wishes to have them do, and lead them to do it promptly and decidedly,
ordinarily they will not be harassed with doubts and fears, but will be clear,
open-hearted, cheerful and growing Christians, an honor to the religion they
profess, and a blessing to the church and the world.
II. I proceed to mention some things worthy of
consideration in regard to their making a profession of religion, or joining
the church.
1. Young converts should, ordinarily, offer
themselves for admission to some
While I say it is the duty of young converts to offer
themselves to the church immediately, I do not say that they should, in all
cases, be received immediately. But the church may, and have an
undoubted right to assume the responsibility of receiving them immediately or
not. If the church are not satisfied in the case, they have the power to bid
candidates wait till they can make inquiries, or in any other way obtain
satisfaction, as to their character and their sincerity. This is more necessary
in large cities than it is in the country, because the church is liable to
receive so many applications from persons that are entire strangers, where it
is necessary to make inquiries before admitting them to communion. But if the
church think it necessary to postpone an applicant, the responsibility is not
his. He has not postponed obedience to the dying command of Christ, and
so he has not grieved the Spirit away, and so he may not be essentially injured
if he is faithful in other respects. Whereas, if he had neglected the
duty voluntarily, he would soon get into the dark, and very likely backslide.
If there is no particular reason for delay,
ordinarily the church ought to receive them when they apply. If they are
sufficiently instructed on the subject of religion to know what they are doing,
and if their general character is such that they can be trusted as to their
sincerity and honesty in making a profession, I see no reason why they should
delay. But if there are sufficient reasons, in the view of the church, for
making them wait a reasonable time, let them do it, on their responsibility to
Jesus Christ. They should, however, remember, what is the responsibility they
assume, and that if they keep those out of the church who ought to be in it,
they sin, and grieve the Holy Spirit.
It is impossible to lay down particular rules on this
subject, applicable to all cases. There is so great a variety of reasons which
may warrant keeping persons back, that no general rules can reach them all. Our
practice, in this church, is to propound persons for a month after they make
application, before they are received to full communion. The reason of this is,
that the Session may have opportunity to inquire respecting 373individuals who offer themselves, as so many of them
are strangers. But in the country, where there are regular congregations, and
all the people have been instructed from their youth in the doctrines of
religion, and where everybody is perfectly known, the case is different, and
ordinarily I see no reason why persons of fair character should not be admitted
immediately. If a person has not been a drunkard, or otherwise of bad
character, let him be admitted at once, as soon as he can give a rational and
satisfactory account of the hope that is in him.
That is evidently the way the apostles did. There is
not the least evidence in the New Testament, that they ever put off a person
that wanted to be baptized and join the church. I know this does not satisfy
some people, because they think the case is different. But I do not see it so.
They say the apostles were inspired. That is true; but it does not follow that
they were inspired to read the characters of men, so as to prevent their making
mistakes in this matter. On the other hand, we know they were not inspired
in this way, for we know they did make mistakes, just as ministers may do now,
and, therefore, it is not true that their being inspired men alters the case on
this point. Simon Magus was supposed to be a Christian, and was baptised and
admitted to the communion, and remained in good standing till he undertook to
purchase the Holy Ghost with money. The apostles used to admit converts from
Heathenism immediately, and without delay. If they could receive persons who,
perhaps, never heard more than one Gospel sermon, and who never had a Bible,
nor attended a Sabbath-school or Bible-class in their lives, surely it is not
necessary to wake up such an outcry and alarm, if a church thinks proper to
receive persons of fair character who have had the Bible all their lives, and
been trained in the Sabbath-school, and sat under the preaching of the Gospel,
and who, therefore, may be supposed to understand what they are about, and not
to profess what they do not feel.
I know it may be said that persons who make a
profession of religion now, are not obliged to make such sacrifices for their
religion as the early believers were, and, consequently, people may be more
ready to play the hypocrite. And, to some extent, that is true. But then, on
the other hand, it should be remembered, that, with the instructions which they
have on the subject of religion, they are not so easily led to deceive
themselves, as those who were converted without the previous advantages of a
religious education. They may be strongly tempted to deceive others, but I
insist upon it, that, 374with the
instructions which they have received, the converts of these great revivals are
not half so liable to deceive themselves, and take up with a false hope, as
they were in the days of the Apostles. And on this ground I believe that those
churches who are faithful in dealing with young converts, and who exhibit
habitually the power of religion, are not likely to receive so many unconverted
persons, as the Apostles did.
It is important that the churches should act wisely
on this point. Great evil has been done by this practice of keeping persons out
of the church a long time to see if they were Christians. This is almost as
absurd as it would be to throw out a young child into the street, to see
whether it will live; to say, if it lives and promises to be a healthy child,
we will take care of it, when that is the very time it wants nursing, and
taking care of, at the moment when the scale is turning, whether it shall live
or die. Is that the way to deal with young converts? Should the church throw
her new-born children out to the winds, and say, if they live there, let them
be raised; but if they die, they ought to die. I have not a doubt that
thousands of converts, in consequence of this treatment, have gone through
life, and never have joined any church, but have lingered along, full of
doubts, and fears, and darkness, and in this way have spent their days, and
gone to the grave without the comforts or the usefulness which they might have
enjoyed, simply because the church, in her folly, has suffered them to wait
outside of the pale, to see whether they would grow and thrive, without those
ordinances which Jesus Christ established particularly for their benefit.
Jesus Christ says to his church, “Here, take these
lambs, and feed them, and shelter them and watch over them, and protect them:”
and what does the church do? Why, turn them out alone upon the cold mountains,
among the wild beasts, to starve or perish, to see whether they are alive or
not. This whole system is as unphilosophical as it is unscriptural. Did Jesus
Christ tell his churches to do so? Did God of Abraham teach any such doctrine
as this, in regard to the children of Abraham? Never. He never taught us to
treat young converts in such a barbarous manner. It is the very best way that
could be taken to render it doubtful whether they are converts. The very way to
lead them into doubts and darkness, is to keep them away from the church, from
its fellowship, and its ordinances.
I have understood there is a church, not very far
from here, who have passed a resolution that no young converts shall be
admitted till they have had a hope for at least six months. 375Where did they get any such rule? Not from the Bible,
nor the example of the early churches.
3. In examining young converts for admission to the
church, their consciences should not be ensnared by examining them too
extensively or minutely on doctrinal points. From the manner in which
examinations are conducted in some churches, it would seem as if they expected
that young converts would be all at once acquainted with the whole system of
divinity, and able to answer every puzzling question in theology. The effect of
it is, that young converts are perplexed and confused, and give their assent to
things they do not understand, and thus their conscience is ensnared, and
consequently weakened. Why, one great design of receiving young converts into
the church, is to teach them doctrines, but if they are to be kept out of the
church till they understand the whole system of doctrines, this end is
defeated. Will you keep them out till one main design of receiving them is accomplished
by other means? It is absurd. There are certain cardinal doctrines of
Christianity, which are embraced in the experience of every true convert. And
these, young converts will testify to, on their examination, if they are
questioned in such a way as to draw out their knowledge, and not in such a way
as to puzzle and confound them. The questions should be such, as are calculated
to draw out from them what they have learned by experience, and not what they
may have got in theory before or since their conversion. The object is, not to
find out how much they know, or how good scholars they are in divinity, as you
would examine a school, or a number of young men striving for a premium. It is
to find out whether they have a change of heart, to learn whether they
have experienced the great truths of religion by their power in their own
souls. You see therefore how absurd, and injurious too, it must be, to examine
as is sometimes done, like a lawyer at the bar, cross-examining a suspicious
witness. It should rather be like a faithful physician anxious to find out his
patient’s true condition, and therefore leading his mind, by inquiries and
hints, to disclose the real symptoms of his case.
You will always find, if you put your questions
right, that real converts will see clearly those great fundamental points, the
divine authority of the scriptures, the necessity of the influences of the Holy
Spirit, the divinity of Christ, the doctrine of total depravity and
regeneration, the necessity of the atonement, justification by faith, and the
justice of the eternal punishment of the wicked. By a proper course of
inquiries you will find all these points come out, as a part of their
experience, 376if you put your
questions in such a way that they understand them.
A church session in this city have, as we are
informed, passed a vote, that no person shall join that church till he will
give his assent to the whole Presbyterian Confession of Faith, and adopt it as
his “rule of faith and practice and Christian obedience.” That is, they must
read the book through, which is about three times as large as this hymn-book,
and must understand it, and agree to it all, before they can be admitted to the
church, before they can make a profession of religion, or obey the command of
Christ. By what authority does a church say that no one shall join their
communion till he understands all the points and technicalities of this long
confession of faith? Is that their charity, to cram this whole confession of
faith down the throat of a young convert, before they let him so much as come
to the communion? He says, “I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and wish to obey his
command.” “Very well, but do you understand and adopt the confession of Faith?”
He says, “I do not know, for I never read that, but I have read the Bible, and
I love that, and wish to follow the directions in it, and to come to the table
of the Lord.” “Do you love the confession of faith? If not, YOU SHALL NOT COME,” is the reply of
this charitable session, “you shall not sit down at the Lord’s table, till you
have adopted all this confession of faith.” Did Jesus Christ ever authorise a
church session to say this—to tell that child of God, who stands there with
tears, and asks permission to obey his Lord, and who understands the grounds of
his faith, and can give a satisfactory reason of his hope, to tell him he
cannot join the church till he understands the confession of faith? No doubt,
Jesus Christ is angry with such a church, and he will show his displeasure in a
way that admits of no mistake, if they do not repent. Shut the door against
young converts till they swallow the confession of faith! And will such a
church prosper? Never.
No church on earth has a right to impose its extended
confession of faith on a young convert, who admits the fundamentals of
religion. They may let the young convert know their own faith on ever so many
points, and they may examine him, if they think it necessary, as to his belief;
but suppose he has doubts on some points not essential to Christian experience,
as the doctrine of Infant Baptism, or of Election, or the Perseverance of the
Saints, and suppose he honestly and frankly tells you he has not made up his
mind concerning these points. Has any minister or church a right to say, he 377shall not come to the Lord’s table till he has
finished all his researches into these subjects? That he shall not obey Jesus
Christ till he has fully made up his mind on every such point on which
Christians, and devoted ones too, differ among themselves? I would sooner cut off
my right hand than debar a convert under such circumstances. I would teach a
young convert as well as I could in the time before he made his application,
and I would examine him candidly as to his views, and after he was in the
church, I would endeavor to make him grow in knowledge as he grows in grace.
And by just as much confidence as I have that my own doctrines are the
doctrines of God, I should expect to make him adopt them, if I could have a
fair hearing before his mind. But I never would bid one, whom I charitably
believed to be a child of God, to stay away from his Father’s table, because he
did not see all I see, or believe all I believe, through the whole system of
divinity. The thing is utterly irrational, ridiculous and wicked.
4. Sometimes persons who are known to entertain a
hope dare not make a profession of religion for fear they should be
deceived. I would always deal decidedly with such cases. A hope that will not
warrant a profession of religion is manifestly worse than no hope, and the
sooner it is torn away the better. Shall a man hope he loves God, and yet not
dare obey Jesus Christ? Preposterous. Such a hope had better be given up at
once.
5. Sometimes persons professing to be converts will
make an excuse for not joining the church, that they can enjoy religion just
as well without it. This is always suspicious. I should look out for such
characters. It is almost certain they have no religion. Ordinarily, if a person
does not desire to be associated with the people of God, he is rotten at the
bottom. It is because he wants to keep out of the responsibilities of a public
profession. He has a feeling within him that he had rather be free, so that he
can by and by go back to the world again if he likes, without the reproach of
instability or hypocrisy. Enjoy religion just as well without obeying Jesus
Christ! It is false on the face of it. He overlooks the fact that religion consists
in obeying Jesus Christ.
III. I am to consider the importance of giving right
instruction to young converts.
Ordinarily, their Christian character through life is
moulded and fashioned according to the manner in which they are dealt with when
first converted. There are many who have been poorly taught at first, but have
been afterwards re-converted, 378and
if they are then dealt with properly, they may be made something of. But
the proper time to do this is when they are first brought in, when their
minds are soft and tender, and easily yield to the truth. Then they may be led
with a hair, if they think it is the truth of God. And whatever notions in
religion they get then they are apt to cleave to for ever afterwards. It is
almost impossible to get away a man’s notions that he got when he was a young
convert. You may reason him down, but he cleaves to them. How often is it the
case where persons have been taught certain things when first converted, that
if they afterwards get a new minister, who teaches somewhat differently, they
will rise up against him, as if he was going to subvert the faith and carry
away the church to error, and throw everything into confusion. Thus you see
that young converts are thrown into the hands of the church, and it depends on
the church to mould them, and form them into Christians of the right stamp.
Much of their future comfort and usefulness depends on the manner in which they
are instructed at the outset. The future character of the church, the progress
of revivals, the coming of the millennium, depend on having right instruction
given, and a right direction of thought and life to those who are young
converts.
IV. I am to mention some things which should not
be taught to young converts.
1. “You will not always feel as you do now.” When the
young convert is rejoicing in his Saviour, and calculating to live for the
glory of God and the good of mankind, how often is he met with this reply, “You
will not always feel so.” Thus preparing his mind to expect that he shall
backslide, and not to be much surprised when he does. This is just the way the
devil wants young converts dealt with, to have old Christians tell them, your
feelings will not last, and that by and by you will be as cold as we are. It
has made my heart bleed to see it. When the young convert has been pouring out
his warm heart to some old professor, and expecting to meet the warm burstings
of a kindred spirit responding to his own, what does he meet with? This cold
answer, coming like a northern blast over his soul, “You will not always feel
so.” SHAME! Just preparing the young convert to expect that he shall backslide
as a matter of course; so that when he begins to decline, as under the very
influences of this instruction it is most likely he will, it produces no
surprise or alarm in his mind, but he looks at it just as a thing of course,
doing as every body else does.
379
I have heard it preached as well as prayed, that
seasons of backsliding are necessary to test the church. They say, “when it
rains, you can find water anywhere: it is only in seasons of drought that you
can tell where the deep springs are.” Wonderful logic! And so you would teach
that Christians must get cold and stupid, and backslide from God, and for what
reason? Why forsooth, to show that they are not hypocrites. Amazing! You would
prove that they are hypocrites in order to show that they are not.
Such doctrine as this is the very last that should be
taught to young converts. They should be told that now they have only begun the
Christian life, and that their religion is to consist in going on in it.
They should be taught to go forward all the time, and grow in grace
continually. Do not teach them to taper off their religion, let it grow smaller
and smaller till it comes to a point. God says, “The path of the just is as the
shining light, that shineth more and more to the perfect day.” Now whose path
is that which grows dimmer and dimmer until the perfect night? They should be
brought to such a state of mind that the first indications of decay in
spirituality or zeal will alarm them and spur them up to duty. There is no need
that young converts should backslide as they do. Paul did not backslide. And I
do not doubt that this very doctrine, “You will not always feel so,” is one of
the grand devices of Satan to bring about the result which it predicts.
2. “Learn to walk by faith and not by sight.” This is
sometimes said to young converts in reference to their continuing to exhibit
the power of religion, and is a manifest perversion of scripture. If they begin
to lose their faith and zeal, and to get into darkness, some old professor will
tell them, “Ah, you cannot expect to have the Saviour always with you, you have
been walking by sight, you must learn to walk by faith and not by sight.” That
is, you must learn to get as cold as death, and then hang on to the doctrine of
the Saints’ Perseverance, as your only ground of hope that you shall be saved.
And that is walking by faith. Cease to persevere, and then hold on to the
doctrine of perseverance. “One of guilt’s blunders, and the loudest laugh
of hell.” And living in the enjoyment of God’s favor and the comforts of the
Holy Ghost, they call walking by sight! Do you suppose young converts see
the Saviour at the time they believe on him? When they are so full of the
enjoyments of heaven, do you suppose they see heaven, and so walk by sight? It
is absurd on the face of it. It is not faith, it is presumption, 380that makes a backslider hold on to the doctrine of
perseverance, as if that would save him, without any sensible exercise of
godliness in his soul. Those who attempt to walk by faith in this way had
better take care, or they will walk into hell with their faith. Faith indeed!
Faith without works is dead. Can dead faith make the soul live?
3. “Wait till you see whether you can hold out.” When
a young convert feels zealous and warm-hearted, and wants to lay himself out
for God, some prudent old professor will caution him not to go too fast.
“You had better not be too forward in religion, till you see whether you can
hold out; for if you take this high ground and then fall, you will disgrace
religion.” That is, in plain English, “Do not do anything that constitutes
religion, till you see whether you have religion.” Religion consists in obeying
God. Now these wise teachers tell a young convert, “Do not obey God till you
see”—what?—till you see whether you have obeyed him—or, till you see whether
you have gotten that substance, that mysterious thing which they imagine is
created and put into a man, like a lump of new flesh, and called religion. This
waiting system is all alike, and all wrong. There is no scripture warrant for
telling a person to wait, when the command of God is upon him and the path of
duty before him. Let him go along.
Young converts should be fully taught that this is
the only consistent way to find out whether they have any religion.—The only
evidence they can have is to find that they are heartily engaged in doing
the will of God. To tell him to wait, therefore, before he does these
things, till he gets his evidence, is reversing the matter, and is absurd.
4. “Wait till you get strength, before you take up
the cross.” This is applied to various religious duties. Sometimes it is
applied to prayer, just as if prayer was a cross. But I have known young
converts advised not to attempt to pray in their families, or not to attempt
quite yet to pray in meetings and social circles. “Wait till you get strength.”
Just as if they would get strength without exercise. Strength comes by
exercise. You cannot get strength by lying still. Let a child lie in the cradle
all his life, and he would never have any strength, he might grow in size, but
he never could be any thing more than a great baby. This is a law of nature.
There is no substitute for exercise in producing strength. The body as every
one knows, can be strengthened only by exercise. It is so in the nature of things.
And it is just so with the mind. It is so with the affections, so with the
judgment, 381so with conscience. All
the powers of the soul are strengthened by exercise. I need not now enter into
the philosophy of this. Every body knows it is so. If the mind is not
exercised, the brain will not grow, and the man will become an idiot. If the
affections are not exercised he will become a stoic. To talk to a convert about
neglecting Christian action till he gets strength, is absurd. If he wants to
gain strength, let him go to work.
5. Young converts should not be made sectarian
in their feelings. They should not be taught to dwell upon sectarian
distinctions, or to be sticklish about sectarian points. They ought to examine
these points, at a proper time, and in a proper way, and make up their minds
for themselves, according to their importance. But they should not be taught to
dwell upon them, or to make much of them in the outset of their religious life.
Otherwise there is great danger that their whole religion will run into
sectarianism. I have seen some most sad and melancholy exhibitions of the
effects of this upon young converts. And whenever I see professed converts
taking a strong hold of sectarian peculiarities, no matter of what denomination
of Christians, I always feel in doubt about them. When I hear them asking, “Do
you believe in the doctrine of election?” or, “Do you believe in sprinkling?”
or, “Do you believe in plunging?” I feel sad. I never knew such converts to be
worth much. Their sectarian zeal soon sours their feelings, eats out all the
heart of their religion, and moulds their whole character into sinful sectarian
bigotry. They generally become mighty zealous for the traditions of the elders,
and very little concerned for the salvation of souls.
V. I proceed to mention some of the things which it
is important should be taught to young converts.
1. One of the first things young converts should be
taught is to distinguish between emotion and principle in religion. Do you
understand me? I am going to explain what I mean, but I want you to get hold of
the words, and have them fixed in your mind. What I want is to have you
distinguish between emotion and principle.
By emotion, I mean that state of mind of which we are
conscious, and which we call feeling, an involuntary state of mind, that
arises of course when we are in certain circumstances or under certain
influences. There may be high-wrought feelings, or they may subside into
tranquillity, or disappear entirely. But these emotions should be carefully
distinguished from religious principle. By principle I do not 382mean any substance or root or seed or sprout
implanted in the soul. But I mean the voluntary decision of the mind, the firm
determination to act out duty and to obey the will of God, by which a Christian
should always be governed. When a man is fully determined to obey God, because
it is RIGHT that he should obey God, I call that principle. Whether he feels
any lively religious emotion at the time or not, he will do his duty cheerfully,
and readily, and heartily, whatever may be the state of his feelings. This is
acting upon principle, and not from emotion. Many young converts have mistaken
views upon this subject, and depend almost entirely upon the state of their
feelings to go forward in duty. Some will not lead in a prayer meeting, unless
they feel as if they could make an eloquent prayer. Multitudes are influenced
almost entirely by their emotions, and they give way to this, as if they
thought themselves under no obligation to duty unless urged on by some strong
emotion. They will be very zealous in religion when they feel like it, when
their emotions are warm and lively, but they will not act out religion
consistently, and carry it into all the concerns of life. They are religious only
as they are impelled by a gush of feeling. But this is not true religion.
Young converts should be carefully taught, when duty
is before them to do it. However dull their feelings may be, if duty
calls, DO IT. Do not wait for
feeling, but DO IT. Most likely the very emotions for which you would wait will
be called into exercise when you begin to do your duty. If the duty is prayer,
for instance, and you have not the feelings you would wish, do not wait for
emotions before you pray, but pray, and open your mouth wide. And in doing it,
you are most likely to have the emotions for which you were inclined to wait,
and which constitute the conscious happiness of religion.
2. Young converts should be taught that they have renounced
the ownership of all their possessions, and of themselves, or if they have not
done this they are not Christians. They should not be left to think that
any thing is their own, their time, property, influence, faculties, bodies or
souls. “Ye are not your own;” all belongs to God; and when they submitted to
God they made a free surrender of all to him, to be ruled and disposed of at
his pleasure. They have no right to spend one hour as if their time was their
own. No right to go any where, or do anything, for themselves, but should hold
all at the disposal of God, and employ all for the glory of God. If they do
not, they ought not to call themselves Christians, for 383the very idea of being a Christian is to renounce
self and become entirely consecrated to God. A man has no more right to
withhold anything from God, than he has to rob or steal. It is robbery in the
highest sense of the term. It is an infinitely higher crime than it would be
for a clerk in a store to go and take the money of his employer, and spend it
on his own lusts and pleasures. I mean, that for a man to withhold from God, is
a higher crime against HIM, than a man can commit against his fellow man,
inasmuch as God is the owner of all things in an infinitely higher sense than
man can be the owner of any thing. If God calls on them to employ anything they
have, their money, or their time, or to give their children, or to dedicate
themselves, in advancing his kingdom, and they refuse, because they want to use
them in their own way, or prefer to do something else, it is vastly more
blamable than for a clerk or an agent to go and embezzle the money that is
intrusted to him by his employer, and spend it for his family, or lay it out in
bank stock or in speculation for himself.
God is, in an infinitely higher sense, the owner
of all, than any employer can be said to be the owner of what he has. And the
church of Christ never will take high ground, never will be disentangled from
the world, never will be able to go forward without these continual declensions
and backslidings, until Christians, and the churches generally, take the
ground, and hold to it, that it is just as much a matter of discipline for a
church member practically to deny his stewardship as to deny the divinity of
Christ, and that covetousness fairly proved shall just as certainly exclude a
man from communion as adultery.
The church is mighty orthodox in notions, but
very heretical in practice, but the time must come when the church will be just
as vigilant in guarding orthodoxy in practice as orthodoxy in doctrine, and
just as prompt to turn out heretics in practice as heretics that corrupt the
doctrines of the Gospel. In fact, it is vastly more important. The only design
of doctrine is to produce practice, and it does not seem to be understood by
the church, that true faith “works by love and purifies the heart,” that
heresy in practice, is proof conclusive of heresy in sentiment. The
church are very sticklish for correct doctrine and very careless about correct
living. This is preposterous. Has it come to this, that the
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It is high time these matters were set right. And the
only way to set them right, is to begin right with those who are just entering
upon religion. Young converts must be told that they are just as worthy of
damnation, and that the church cannot and will not hold fellowship with them,
if they show a covetous spirit, and turn a deaf ear when the whole world is
calling for help, as if they were living in adultery, or in the daily worship
of idols.
3. Teach them how to cultivate a tender conscience.
I have often been amazed to find how little conscience there is, even among
those who we hope are Christians. And here we see the reason of it. Their
consciences were never cultivated. They never were taught and told how to
cultivate a tender conscience. They have not even a natural conscience. They
have dealt so rudely with their conscience, and resisted it so often, that it
has got blunted, and does not act. The usefulness of a Christian, greatly
depends on his knowing how to cultivate his conscience. Young converts should
be taught to keep their conscience just as tender as the apple of the eye. They
should watch their conduct and their motives, and let their motives be so pure
and their conduct so disinterested as not to offend or injure or stifle
conscience. They should maintain such a habit of listening to conscience, that
it will be always ready to give forth a stern verdict on all occasions. It is
astonishing to see how much the conscience may be cultivated by a proper
course. If rightly attended to, it may be made so pure, and so powerful, that
it will always respond exactly to the word of God. Present any duty to such a
Christian, or any self-denial, or suffering, and only show him the word of God
and he will do it without a word. In a few months, if properly taught and
attended to, young converts may have a conscience so delicately poised that the
weight of a feather will turn them. Only bring a “Thus saith the Lord,” and
they will be always ready to do that, be it what it may.
4. Young converts should be taught to pray without
ceasing. That is, they should always keep up a watch over their minds, and
be all the time in a prayerful spirit. They should be taught to pray always,
whatever may take place. For the want of right instruction on this point many
young converts suffer loss and get far away from God. For instance, sometimes
it happens that a young convert will fall into some sin, and then he feels as
if he could not pray, and instead of overcoming this he feels so distressed
that he waits for the keen edge of his distress to pass away. Instead 385of going right to Jesus Christ in the midst of his
agony, and confessing his sin out of the fulness of his heart and getting a
renewed pardon and peace restored, he waits till all the keenness of his
feelings have subsided, and then his repentance, if he does repent, is cold and
half-hearted. Let me tell you, beloved, never to do this, but when your
conscience presses you, go then right to Christ, confess your sin fully, and
pour out your heart to God.
Sometimes people will neglect to pray because they
are in the dark, and feel no desire to pray. But that is the very time when
they need prayer. That is the very reason why they ought to pray. You should go
right to God and confess your coldness and darkness of mind. Tell him just how
you feel, Tell him, “O Lord, I have no desire to pray, but I know I ought to
pray.” And the first you will know, the Spirit may come, and lead your heart
out in prayer, and all the dark clouds will pass away.
5. Young converts should be faithfully warned against
adopting a false standard in religion. They should not be left to fall
in behind old professors, and keep them before their minds as a standard of
holy living. They should always look at Christ as their model. Not aim at being
as good Christians as the old church members, and not think they are doing
pretty well because they are as much awake as the old members of the church.
But they should aim at being holy, and not rest satisfied till they are as
perfect as God. The church has been greatly injured for the want of attention
to this matter. Young converts have come forward, and their hearts were warm
and their zeal ardent enough to aim at a high standard, but they were not
directed properly, and so they soon settle down into the notion that what is
good enough for others is good enough for them, and therefore they never aim
higher than those who are before them. And in this way the church instead of
rising with every revival, higher and higher in holiness, is kept nearly
stationary.
6. Young converts should be taught to do all their
duty. They should never make a compromise with duty, nor think of saying “I
will do this as an offset for neglecting that.” They should never
rest satisfied till they have done their duty of every kind, in relation to
their families, the church, Sabbath Schools, the impenitent around them, the disposal
of their property, the conversion of the world. Let them do their duty, as they
feel it when their hearts are warm; and never attempt to pick and choose among
the commandments of God.
386
7. They should be made to feel that they have no
separate interest. It is time Christians were made actually to feel that
they have no interest whatever, separate from the interest of Jesus Christ and
his kingdom. They should understand that they are incorporated into the family
of Jesus Christ, as members in full, so that their whole interest is identified
with his. They are embarked with him, they have gone on board, and taken them
all. And henceforth they have nothing to do, or nothing to say, except as it is
connected with this interest and bears on the cause and
8. They should be taught to maintain singleness of
motive. Young converts should not begin to have a double mind, on any
subject, or let selfish motives mingle in with good motives in anything they
do. But this can never be, so long as Christians are allowed to hold a separate
interest of their own, distinct from the interest of Jesus Christ. If they feel
that they have a separate interest, it is impossible to keep them from regarding
it, and having an eye to it as well as to Christ’s interest, in many things
that they do. It is only by becoming entirely consecrated to God, and giving up
all to his service, that they can ever keep their eye single and their motives
pure.
9. They should set out with a determination to aim
at being useful in the highest degree possible. They should not rest
satisfied with merely being useful, or remaining in a situation where they can
do some good. But if they see an opportunity where they can do more
good, they must embrace it, whatever may be the sacrifice to themselves. No
matter what it may cost them, no matter what danger or what suffering, no
matter what change in their outward circumstances, or habits, or employments it
may lead to. If they are satisfied that they will on the whole do more good, they
should not even hesitate. How else can they be like God? How can they think to
bear the image of Jesus Christ, if they are not prepared to do all the good
that is in their power? When a man is converted he comes into a new world, and
should consider himself as a new man. If he finds he can do the most good by
remaining in his old employment, let it be so. But if he can do more good in
some other way, he is bound to change. It is for the want of attention to this
subject, in the outset, that Christians have got such low ideas on the subject
of duty. And that is the reason why there are so many useless members in our
churches.
10. They must be taught not to aim at comfort but
usefulness 387in religion. There are a great many spiritual epicures in the
churches, who are all the while seeking to be happy in religion, while they
take very little pains to be useful. They had much rather spend their time in
singing joyful hymns, and in pouring out their happy feelings in a gushing tide
of exultation and triumph, than to spend it in agonizing prayer for sinners, or
in going about and pulling dying men out of the fire. They seem to feel as if
they were born to enjoy themselves. But I do not think such Christians show
such fruits as to make their example one to be imitated. Such was not the
temper of the apostles. They travailed for souls, and laboured in weariness and
painfulness, and in deaths oft, to save sinners. Nor is it safe. Ordinarily,
Christians are not qualified to drink deep at the fountain of joy. In ordinary
cases, a deep agony of prayer for souls is more profitable than high flights of
joy. Let young converts be taught, plainly, not to calculate upon a life of joy
and triumph. They may be called to go through fiery trials. Satan may sift them
like wheat. But they must go forward, not calculating so much to be happy as to
be useful, not talking about comfort but duty, not desiring flights of joy and
triumph, but hungering and thirsting after righteousness, not studying how to
create new flights of rapture, but how to know the will of God, and do it. They
will be happy enough in heaven. There they may sing the song of Moses and the
Lamb. And they will in fact enjoy a more solid and rational happiness here, by
thinking nothing about it, but patiently devoting themselves to do the will of
God.
11. They should be taught to have moral courage,
and not to be afraid of going forward in duty. The Bible insists fully on
Christian boldness and courage in action as a duty. I do not mean that they
should indulge in their bravadoes, like Peter, telling what they will do, and
boasting of their courage. The boaster is generally a coward at heart. But I
mean moral courage, a humble and fixed decision of purpose, that will go
forward in any duty, unangered and unawed, with the meekness and firmness of
the Son of God.
12. They should be so instructed as to be sound in
the faith. That is, they should be early made, as far as possible, complete
and correct in regard to their doctrinal belief. As soon as may be, without
turning their minds off from their practical duties, in promoting the glory of
God and the salvation of men, they should be taught fully and plainly, all the
leading doctrines of the Bible. Doctrinal knowledge is indispensable to growth
in grace. Knowledge is the food of 388the
mind. “That the soul be without knowledge,” says the Wise Man, “It is not
good.” The mind cannot grow without knowledge, any more than the body without
food. And therefore it is important that young converts should be thoroughly
indoctrinated, and made to understand the Bible. By indoctrinating I do not
mean teaching the catechism, but teaching them to draw knowledge from the
fountain head. Create in their minds such an appetite for knowledge that they
will eat the Bible up, will devour it, will love it and love it all. All
scripture is profitable, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works.
13. Great pains should be taken to guard young
converts against censoriousness. Young converts, when they first come out
on the Lord’s side, and are all warm and zealous, sometimes find old professors
so cold and dead that they are strongly tempted to be censorious. This should
be corrected immediately, otherwise the habit will poison their minds and
destroy their religion.
14. They must learn to say, No. This is a very
difficult lesson to many. See that young woman. Formerly she loved the gay
circle, and took delight in its pleasures. She joined the church, and then
found herself aloof from all her old associates. They ask her not now to their
balls and parties, because they know she will not join them, and perhaps they
keep entirely away for a time, for fear she should converse with them about
their souls. But by and by they grow a little bold, and some of them venture to
ask her just to take a ride with a few friends. She does not like to say, No.
They are her old friends, only a few of them are going, and surely a ride is so
innocent a recreation, that she accepts the invitation. But now she has begun
to comply, the ice is broken, and they have her again as one of them. It goes
on, and she begins to attend their social visits—“only a few friends,” you
know, till by and by the carpet is taken up for a dance, and the next thing,
perhaps, she is gone to a sleigh ride, on Saturday night, and comes home after
midnight, and then sleeps all the forenoon on the Sabbath to make up for it,
perhaps communion Sabbath too. All for the want of learning to say, No.
See that young man. For a time he was always in his
place, in the Sabbath school and in the prayer meeting. But by and by his old
friends begin to treat him with attention again, and they draw him along step
by step. Every one seems a very small thing, and it would look like rudeness to
deny so small a thing. He reasons that if he refuses to go 389with them in things that are innocent, he will lose
his influence with them. And so he goes on, till prayer meeting, Bible class,
and even Bible and closet are neglected. Ah, young man, stop there! Go only a
little farther without learning to say, No, and you are gone. If you do not
wish to hang up the cause of Christ to scorn and contempt, learn to resist the
beginnings of temptation. Otherwise it will come upon you, by and by, like the
letting out of water.
15. They should be taught what is and what is not
Christian experience. It is necessary, both for their comfort and their
usefulness, that they should understand this, so that they need not run
themselves into needless distress for the want of that which is by no means
essential to Christian experience, nor flatter themselves that they have more
religion than they really exercise. But I cannot dwell on this topic to-night.
16. Teach them not to count anything a sacrifice
which they do for God. Some persons are always telling about the sacrifices
they make in religion. I have no confidence in such piety. Why keep telling
about their sacrifices, as if everything they did for God was a sacrifice. If
they loved God they would not talk so. If they considered their own interests
and the interest of Christ identical, they would not talk of making sacrifices
for Christ; it would be like talking of making sacrifices for themselves.
17. It is of great importance that young converts
should be taught to be strictly honest. I mean more by this than perhaps
you would think. It is a great thing to be strictly honest. It is being very
different from the world at large, and very different even from the great body
of professors of religion. The holiest man I ever knew, and one who had been
many years a Christian and a minister, once made the remark to me, “Brother, it
is a great thing to be strictly honest, upright, straight in everything, so
that God’s pure eye can see that the mind is perfectly upright.”
It is of the utmost importance that young converts
should understand what it is to be strictly honest in everything, so
that they can maintain a conscience void of offence, both towards God and
towards men. Alas, alas! how little conscience there is. How little of that
real honesty, that pure, simple uprightness, which ought to mark the life of a
child of God. How little do many regard even an express promise. I heard the
other day of a number of individuals who subscribed to the Anti-Slavery
Society, and not half of them will pay their subscriptions. The plea is, that
they signed when 390they were under
excitement, and they do not choose to pay. Just as if their being excited
released them from the obligation to keep their promise. Why it is just as
dishonest as it would be to refuse payment of a note of hand. They promised,
signed their names, did they, and now will not pay? And they call that honesty!
I have heard that there are a number of men in the
city who have signed hundreds of dollars for the Oneida Institute, promising to
pay the money when called on; and when they were called on they refused to pay
the money. And the reason was, they had all turned abolitionist in the
Institute. Very well. Suppose they have. Does that alter your promise? Did you
sign on the condition that if they got Abolitionism introduced there you should
be clear? If you did, then you are clear. But if you gave your promise without
any condition, it is just as dishonest to refuse as if you had given a note of
hand. And yet some of you might be almost angry if anybody should charge you
with refusing to pay money when you promised it.
Look at this seriously. Who does God say will go to
heaven? Read the 15th Psalm, and see. “He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth
not.” What do you think of that? If a man has promised anything, except
it be to commit sin, let him keep his promise, if he means to be honest or
to go to heaven. But here these people will make promises, and because they
cannot be prosecuted, will break them as easily as if they were nothing. They
would not let a note be protested at the bank. Why? Because they would lose
credit, and would be sued. But the Oneida Institute, and the Anti-Slavery
Society, and other societies, will not sue for the money, and therefore these
people take some offence at something, and refuse to pay. Is this honest? Will
such honesty as this get them admitted to heaven? What? Break your promises,
and go up and carry a lie in your hand before God? If you refuse or neglect to
fulfill your promise you are a liar, and if you persist in this, you shall
have your part in the lake that bums with fire and brimstone. I would not, for
ten thousand worlds, die with money in my hands, that I had unrighteously
withheld from any other object to which I had promised it. Such money will “eat
like a canker.”
If you are not able to pay the money, that is
a good excuse. But then say so. But if you refuse to pay what you have
promised, because you have altered your mind, rely upon it, you are guilty. You
cannot pray till you pay that money. What will you pray? “O Lord, I promised to
give that 391money, but I altered my
mind, and broke my promise; but still, O Lord, I pray thee to bless me, and
forgive my sin, although I keep my money, and make me happy in thy love.” Will
such prayers be heard? Never.
But, brethren, I find it impossible to touch upon all
the points I intended to speak upon, and so I will break off here, and finish
this subject another time.
392
LECTURE XX.
INSTRUCTIONS TO CONVERTS.
Text.—Feed my lambs.—John xxi. 15.
I REMARKED
on this text in my last lecture, and was obliged, for want of time, to omit
many of the points which I wished to present in regard to the
INSTRUCTION OF YOUNG
CONVERTS.
To-night I propose to continue the subject by
noticing,
I. Several other points upon which young converts
ought to be instructed.
II. To show the manner in which young converts should
be treated by the church.
III. Mention some of the evils which naturally result
from defective instructions given in that stage of Christian experience.
I. I shall pursue the subject, taking it up where I
left off, by mentioning some further instructions which it is important should
be given to young converts.
1. It is of great importance that young converts
should early be made to understand what religion consists in. Perhaps
you will be surprised at my mentioning this. “What! Are they converts, and do
they not know what religion consists in?” I answer, They would know, if they
had had no instruction but such as is drawn from the Bible. But multitudes of
people have imbibed such notions about religion, that not only young
converts, but a great part of the church do not know what religion consists in,
so as to have a clear and distinct idea of it. There are many ministers who do
not. I do not mean to say that they have no religion, for it may be charitably
believed they have; but what I mean is, that they do not discriminate as to
what it consists in, and cannot give a correct statement of what does and what
does not constitute real religion. It is important that young converts should
be taught.
Negatively, what religion does not consist in
(1.) Not in doctrinal knowledge. Knowledge is
essential to 393religion, but it is not
religion. The devil has doctrinal knowledge, but he has no religion. A man may
have doctrinal knowledge to any extent without a particle of religion. Yet some
people have very strange ideas on this subject, as though having doctrinal
knowledge indicated an increase of piety. I once heard a remark of this kind:
in a certain instance, where some young converts had made rapid progress in
doctrinal knowledge, a person who saw it said, “How these young converts grow
in grace.” Here he confounded improvement in knowledge with improvement in
piety. The truth was, that he had no means of judging of their growth in grace,
and it was no evidence of it because they were making progress in doctrinal
knowledge.
(2.) They should be taught that religion is not a
substance. It is not any root, or sprout, or seed, or anything else in the
mind, as a part of the mind itself. Persons often speak of religion as
if it was something that may be covered up in the mind, just as a spark of fire
may be covered up in the ashes, which does not show itself, and which produces
no effects, but yet lives and is ready to act as soon as it is uncovered. And in
like manner they think they may have religion, as something remaining in them,
although they do not manifest it by obeying God. But they should be taught that
this is not the nature of religion. It is no part of the mind itself, or of the
body, nor is it a root, or seed, or spark, that can exist and yet be hid and
produce no effects.
(3.) Teach them that religion does not consist in
raptures, or ecstacies, or high flights of feeling. There may be a great deal
of these where there is religion. But it ought to be understood that
they are all involuntary emotions, and may exist in full power where there is no
religion. They may be the mere workings of the imagination, without any truly
religious affection at all. Persons may have them to such a degree as actually
to swoon away with ecstacy, even on the subject of religion, without having any
religion. I have known one person almost carried away with rapture, by a mere
view of the natural attributes of God, his power and wisdom, as displayed in
the starry heavens, and yet the person had no religion. Religion is obedience
to God, the voluntary submission of the soul to the will of God.
(4.) Neither does religion consist in going to
meeting or reading the Bible, or praying, or any other of what are commonly
called religious duties. The very phrase, “religious duties,” ought to
be stricken out of the vocabulary of young converts. They should be made to
know that these acts are 394not religion.
Many become very strict in performing certain things, which they call religious
duties, and suppose that is being religious; while they are careless about the
ordinary duties of life, which in fact constitute A LIFE OF PIETY. Prayer may
be an expression and an act of piety, or it may not be. Going to church or to a
prayer meeting, may be considered either as a means, an act, or an expression
of pious sentiment; but the performance of these does not constitute a man a
Christian, and there may be great strictness and zeal in these, without a
particle of religion. If young converts are not taught to discriminate, they
may be led to think there is something peculiar in what are called religious
duties, and to imagine they have a great deal of religion because they abound
in certain actions that are commonly called religious duties, although they may
at the same time be very deficient in honesty or faithfulness or punctuality,
or temperance, or any other of what they choose to call their common duties.
They may be very punctilious in some things, may tithe mint, anise and cummin,
and yet neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice and the love of God.
(5.) Religion does not consist in desires to do
good actions. Desires that do not result in choice and action are not
virtuous. Nor are such desires necessarily vicious. They may arise
involuntarily in the mind, in view of certain objects, but while they produce
no voluntary act, they are no more virtuous or vicious than the beating of the
pulse, except in cases where we have indirectly willed them into existence, by
voluntarily putting ourselves under circumstances to excite them. The wickedest
man on earth may have strong desires after holiness. Did you ever think of
that? He may see clearly that holiness is the only and indispensable means of
happiness, he naturally desires it. It is to be feared, that multitudes are
deceiving themselves with the supposition, that a desire for holiness, as a
means of happiness, is religion. Many, doubtless, give themselves great credit
for desires that never result in choosing right. They feel desires to do their
duty, but do not choose to do it, because upon the whole they have still
stronger desires not to do it. In such desires, there is no virtue. An action
or desire to be virtuous in the sight of God, must be an act of the will.
People often talk most absurdly on this subject, as though their desires had
anything good, while they remain mere desires. “I think I desire to do so and
so.” But do you do it? “Oh, no, but I often feel a desire to do it.” This is
practical Atheism.
395
Whatever desires a person may have, if they are not
carried out into actual choice and action, they are not virtuous. And no
degree of desire is itself virtuous. If this idea could be made prominent, and
fully riveted in the minds of men, it would probably annihilate the hopes of
half the church, who are living on their good desires, while doing nothing for
God.
(6.) They should be made to understand that nothing
which is selfish, is religion. Whatever desires they may have, and whatever
choices and actions they may put forth, if after all the reason of them is
selfish, there is no religion in them. A man may just as well commit sin in
praying, or reading the Bible, or going to meeting, as in anything else, if his
motive is selfish. Suppose a man prays simply with a view to promote his own
happiness. Is that religion? What is it, but attempting to make God his
almighty servant? It is nothing else but to attempt a great speculation, and
put the universe, God and all, under contribution to make him happy. It is the
sublime degree of wickedness. It is so far from being piety, that it is in fact
superlative wickedness.
(7.) Nothing is acceptable to God, as religion,
unless it be performed heartily, to please God. No outward action has anything
good, or anything that God approves, unless it is performed from right motives,
and from the heart.
(a) Young converts should be taught fully and
positively that all religion consists in obeying God from the heart. All
religion consists in voluntary action. All that is holy, all that is lovely in
the sight of God, all that is properly called religion, consists in voluntary
action, in voluntarily obeying the will of God from the heart.
2. Young converts should be taught that the duty of self-denial
is one of the leading features of the Gospel. They should understand that they
are not pious at all, any farther than they are willing to take up the cross
daily, and deny themselves, for Christ. There is but very little self-denial in
the church, and the reason is, that the duty is so much lost sight of, in
giving instruction to young converts. How seldom are they told that self-denial
is the leading feature of Christianity. In pleading for benevolent objects, how
often will you find, that ministers and agents do not even ask Christians to deny
themselves for the sake of promoting the object. They only ask them to give
what they can spare as well as not, or in other words, to offer unto the Lord
that which costs them nothing. What an abomination! They only ask for the
surplus, for what they do not want, for what they can give 396just as well as not. There is no religion in this
kind of giving. A man may give to a benevolent object, a hundred thousand
dollars, and there would be no religion in it, if he could give it as well as
not, and there was no self-denial in it. Jesus Christ exercised self-denial to
save sinners. So has God the Father exercised self-denial in giving his Son to
die for us, and in sparing us, and in bearing with our perverseness. The Holy
Ghost exercises self-denial, in condescending to strive with such unholy beings
to bring them to God. The angels exercise self-denial, in watching over this
world. The apostles planted the Christian religion among the nations by the
exercise of self-denial. And are we to think of being religious without any
self-denial? Are we to call ourselves Christians, the followers of Christ, the
temples of the Holy Ghost, and to claim fellowship with the apostles, when we
have never deprived ourselves of anything that would promote our personal
enjoyment for the sake of promoting Christ’s kingdom? Young converts should be
made to see that unless they are willing to lay themselves out for God and
ready to sacrifice life and everything else for Christ, they have not the
spirit of Christ, and are none of his.
3. They must be taught what sanctification is.
“What!” you will say, “do not all who are Christians know what sanctification
is?” No, many do not. Multitudes would be as much at a loss to tell
intelligibly what sanctification is, as they would be to tell what religion is.
If the question were asked of every professor of religion in this city, What is
sanctification? I doubt if one in ten would give a right answer. They would
blunder just as they do when they undertake to tell what religion is, and speak
of it as something dormant in the soul, something that is put in, and lies
there, something that may be practised or not, and still be in them. So they
speak of sanctification as if it were a sort of washing off of some defilement,
or a purging out of some physical impurity. Or they will speak of it as if the
faculties were steeped in sin, and sanctification is taking out the stains.
This is the reason why some people will pray for sanctification, and practise
sin, evidently supposing that sanctification is something that precedes
obedience. They should be taught that sanctification is not something that precedes
obedience, some change in the nature or the constitution of the soul. But
sanctification is obedience, and, as a progressive thing, consists in
obeying God more and more perfectly and perpetually.
4. Young converts should be taught so as to
understand 397 what perseverance is.
It is astonishing how people talk about perseverance. As if the doctrine of
perseverance was “Once in grace, always in grace,” or “Once converted, sure to
go to heaven.” This is not the idea of perseverance. The true idea is, that if
a man is truly converted, HE WILL CONTINUE
TO OBEY GOD. And as a consequence,
he will surely go to heaven. But if a person gets the idea, that because he is converted,
therefore he will assuredly go to heaven, that man will almost assuredly
go to hell.
5. Young converts should be taught to be religious
in everything. They should aim to be religious in every department of life
and in all that they do. If they do not aim at this, they should understand
that they have no religion at all. If they do not intend and aim to keep all
the commandments of God, what pretence can they make to piety? Whosoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. He is
justly subject to the whole penalty. If he disobeys God habitually in one
particular, he does not in fact obey him in any particular. Obedience to God consists
in the state of the heart. It is being willing to obey God; willing that God should
rule in all things. But if a man habitually disobeys God, in any one
particular, he is in a state of mind that renders obedience in anything else
impossible. To say that in some things a man obeys God, out of respect to his
authority, and that in some other things he refuses obedience, is absurd. The
fact is that obedience to God consists in an obedient state of heart, a
preference of God’s authority and commandments to everything else. If,
therefore, an individual appears to obey in some things, and yet perseveringly
and knowingly disobeys in any one thing, he is deceived. He offends in one
point, and this proves that he is guilty of all; in other words, that he does
not, from the heart, obey at all. A man may pray half of the time and
have no religion; if he does not keep the commandments of God, his very prayer
will be hateful to God. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer shall be abomination.” Do you hear that? If a man
refuses to obey God’s law, if he refuses to comply with any one duty, he cannot
pray, he has no religion, his very devotions are hateful.
6. Young converts, by proper instructions, are easily
brought to be “temperate in all things.” Yet this is a subject greatly
neglected in regard to young converts, and almost lost sight of in the
churches. There is a vast deal of intemperance in the churches. I do not mean
intemperate drinking, in particular, but intemperance in eating, and in living 398generally. There is in fact but little conscience
about it in the churches. And therefore the progress of reform in the matter is
so slow. Nothing but an enlightened conscience can carry forward a permanent
reform. Ten years ago, most ministers used ardent spirit, and kept it in their
houses to treat their friends and their ministering brethren with. And the
great body of the members in the churches did the same. Now there are but few
of either, who are not actual drunkards, that will do it. But still there are
many that indulge without scruple in the use of wine. There are some ministers,
and many professors, who will drink down wine that has as much spirit in it as
brandy and water. This is intemperance. Chewing and smoking tobacco are mere
acts of intemperance. If they use these mere stimulants when there is no
necessity for it, what is that but intemperance? That is not being temperate in
all things. Until Christians shall have a conscience on this subject, and be
made to feel that they have no right to be intemperate in anything, they will
make but little progress in religion. It is well known, or ought to be, that
TEA AND COFFEE have no nutriment in them. They are mere stimulants. They go
through the system without being digested. The milk and sugar you put in them
are nourishing. And so they would be just as much so if you mixed them with
rum, and made milk punch. But the tea and the coffee afford no nourishment. And
yet I dare say, that a majority of the families in this city give more in a
year for their tea and coffee, than they do to save the world from hell. Probably
this is true respecting entire churches. Even agents of benevolent societies
will dare to go through the churches soliciting funds for the support of
missionary and other institutions, and yet use tea, coffee, and in some cases
tobacco. Strange! There is now in this city an agent employed in soliciting
funds, who uses all three of these worse than useless stimulants. And he is,
moreover, a minister of the Gospel! No doubt many are giving five times
as much for mere intemperance as they give for every effort to save the world.
If the church could be made to know how much they spend for what are mere
poisons, and nothing else, they would be amazed. Sit down and talk with many
persons, and they will strenuously maintain that they cannot get along without
these stimulants, these poisons, and they cannot give them up—no, not to redeem
the world from eternal damnation. And very often they will absolutely show
anger if argued with, just as soon as the argument begins to pinch their
consciences. Oh, how long shall the church show her hypocritical 399face at the Monthly Concert, and pray God to save the
world, while she is actually throwing away five times as much for sheer
intemperance, as she will give to save the world. Some of you may think these
are little things, and that it is quite beneath the dignity of the pulpit to
lecture against tea and coffee. But I tell you it is a great mistake of yours,
if you think these are little things, when they make the church odious in the
sight of God, by exposing her hypocrisy and lust. Here is an individual who
pretends he has given himself up to serve Jesus Christ, and yet he refuses to
deny himself any darling lust, and then he will go and pray, “O Lord, save the
world; O Lord, thy kingdom come.” I tell you it is hypocrisy. Shall such
prayers be heard? Unless men are willing to deny themselves, I would not give a
groat for the prayers of as many such professors as would cover the whole
These things must be taught to young converts. It
must come to this point in the church, that men shall not be called Christians,
unless they will cut off the right hand, and pluck out the right eye, and deny
themselves for Christ’s sake. A little thing? See it poison the spirit of
prayer? See it debase and sensualize the soul! Is that a trifle beneath the
dignity of the pulpit? When these intemperate indulgences of one kind and
another, cost the church five times if not fifty times more than all they do
for the salvation of the world.
An estimate has recently been made, showing, that the
United States consume seven millions of dollars worth of coffee yearly; and who
does not know that a great part of this is consumed by the church.
And yet, grave ministers and members of Christian churches are not ashamed to
be seen countenancing this enormous waste of money; while at the same time the
poor heathen are sending upon every wind of heaven their agonizing wail for
help. Heaven calls from above, “go preach the Gospel to every creature.” Hell
groans from beneath, and ten thousand voices cry out from heaven, earth and
hell, “Do something to save the world!” Do it now! Oh, NOW, or millions more are in hell
through your neglect. And Oh, tell it not in Gath, the church, the ministry,
will not deny even their lusts to save a world. Is this Christianity? What
business have you to use Christ’s money for such a purpose? Are you a steward?
Who gave you this liberty? Look to it, lest it should be found at last that you
have preferred self-gratification to obedience, and made a “god of your belly.”
The time to teach these things with effect is when
they are 400young converts. If they
are not properly taught then, if they get a wrong habit, and begin with an
easy, self-indulgent mode of living, it is rare that they are ever thoroughly
reformed. I have conversed with old professors on these subjects, and have been
astonished at their pertinacious obstinacy in indulging their lusts. And I am
satisfied that the church never can rise out of this sloth until young converts
are faithfully taught in the outset of their religious course to be temperate in
all things.
7. They should be taught to have just as much
religion in all their business, as they have in prayer, or in going to
meeting. They should be just as holy, just as watchful, aim just as singly at
the glory of God, be just as sincere and solemn in all their daily employments,
as when they come to the throne of grace. If they are not, their Sabbath
performances will be an abomination.
8. They should be taught that it is necessary for
them to be just as holy as they think ministers ought to be. There has
for a long time been an idea that ministers are bound to be holy and practice
self-denial. And so they are. But it is strange they should suppose that
ministers are bound to be any more holy than other people. They would be
shocked to see a minister show levity, or running after the fashions, or
getting out of temper, or living in a fine house, or riding in a coach. Oh,
that is dreadful. It does not look well in a minister. Indeed! For a minister’s
wife to wear such a fine bonnet, or such a silk shawl. Oh, no. But they think
nothing of all this in a layman or a layman’s wife. That is no offence at all.
I am not saying that these things do look well in a minister; I know they do
not. But they look, in God’s eyes, just as well in a minister as they do in a
layman. You have no more right to indulge in vanity and folly and pride than a
minister. Can you go to heaven without being sanctified? Can you be holy
without living for God, and doing all that you do to his glory? I have heard
professedly good men speak against ministers having large salaries, and living
in an expensive style, when they themselves were actually spending a great deal
more money for the support of their families than any ministers. What would be
thought of a minister living in the style in which many professors of religion
and elders of churches are living in this city? Why everybody would say that
they were hypocrites. But, it is just as much an evidence of hypocrisy in a
layman to spend God’s money to gratify his lusts, or to please the world, or
his family, as it is for a minister to do the same. It is distressing to hear
some 401of our foremost laymen talk of its being dishonorable
to religion to give ministers a large salary, and let them live in an expensive
style, when it is a fact that their own expenses are, for the number of
their families and the company they have, far above that of any minister. All
this arises out of fundamentally wrong notions imbibed while they were young
converts. Young converts have been taught to expect that ministers will have
all the religion, especially all the self-denial, and so long as this continues
there can be no hope that the church will ever do much for the glory of God, or
for the conversion of the world. There is nothing of all this in the Bible.
Where has God said, “You, ministers, love God with all your heart and soul and
mind and strength,” or “You, ministers, do all that you do to the glory of
God?” This is said to all alike, and he who attempts to excuse himself from any
duty or self-denial, from any watchfulness or sobriety, by putting it off upon
ministers, or who ventures to adopt a lower scale of holy living for himself
than he thinks is proper for a minister, is in great danger of proving
himself a hypocrite, and paying the forfeit of his foolishness in hell.
Much depends on the instructions given to young
converts. If they once get into the habit of supposing that they may indulge in
things which they would condemn in a minister, it is ten to one if they ever
get out of it.
8. They should aim at being perfect. Every
young convert should be taught that if it is not his purpose to live
without sin, he has not yet begun to be religious. What is religion, but a
supreme love to God and a supreme purpose of heart or disposition to obey God.
If there is not this, there is no religion at all. It is one thing to profess
to be perfect, and another thing to profess and feel that you ought to
be perfect. It is one thing to say that men ought to be perfect, and can be
if they are so disposed, and another thing to say that they are perfect.
If any are prepared to say that they are perfect, all I have to say is, Let
them prove it. If they are so, I hope they will show it by their actions,
otherwise we can never believe they are perfect.
But it is the duty of all to be perfect and to
purpose entire, perpetual and universal obedience to God. It should be their
constant purpose to live wholly to God, and obey all his commandments. They
should live so that if they should sin it would be an inconsistency, an
exception, an individual case, in which they act contrary to the fixed and
general purpose and tenor of their lives. They ought not to sin at all;
they are bound to be as holy as God is, and young converts should 402be taught to set out in the right course, or they
will never be right.
9. They should be taught to exhibit their light.
If the young convert does not exhibit his light, and
hold it up to the world, it will go out. If he does not bestir himself, and go
forth and try to enlighten those around him, his light will go out, and his own
soul will soon be in darkness. Sometimes young converts seem disposed to be
still and not do anything in public till they get a great deal of light, or a
great deal of religion. But this is not the way. Let the convert use what he
has; let him hold up his little twinkling rush-light boldly and honestly, and then
God will pour in the oil and make him like a blazing torch. But God will not
take the trouble to keep a light burning that is hid. Why should he? Where is
the use?
This is the reason why so many people enjoy so little
in religion, They do not exert themselves to honor God. They keep what little
they do enjoy so entirely to themselves, that there is no good reason why God
should bestow blessings and benefits on them.
10. They should be taught how to win souls to
Christ. Young converts should be taught particularly what to do for this,
and how to do it, and then taught to live for this end as the great leading
object of life. How strange has been the course sometimes pursued. These
persons have been converted, and there they are. They get into the church, and
then they are left to go along in their business just as they did before; they
do nothing and are taught to do nothing for Christ, and the only change is that
they go more regularly to church on the Sabbath, and let the minister feed
them, as it is called. But suppose he does feed them, they do not grow
strong, for they cannot digest it, because they take no exercise. They become
spiritual dyspeptics. Now the great object for which Christians are converted
and left in this world, is to pull sinners out of the fire. If they do not
effect this, they had better be dead. And young converts should be taught this
as soon as they are born into the kingdom. The first thing they do should be to
go to work for this end, to save sinners.
II. I am to show how young converts should be treated
by the church.
1. Old professors ought to be able to give
young converts a great deal of instruction, and they ought to give it.
The truth is, however, that the great body of professors in the churches do not
know how to give good instruction to young converts, 403and if they attempt to give them instruction, give
only that which is false. The church ought to be able to teach her children;
and when she receives them, she ought to be as busy in training them to act, as
mothers are in teaching their little children such things as they will need to
know and do hereafter. But this is far enough from being the case generally.
And we can never expect to see young converts habitually taking right hold of
duty, and going straight forward without declension and backsliding, until
young converts shall be intelligently trained by the church.
2. Young converts should not be kept back behind the
rest of the church. How often is it found that the old professor will keep the
young converts back behind the rest of the church, and prevent them from taking
any active part in religion, for fear they should become spiritually proud.
Young converts in such churches are rarely or never called on to take a part in
meetings, or set to any active duty, or the like, for fear they should become
lifted up with spiritual pride. Thus the church become the modest
keepers of their humility, and teach them to file in behind the old, stiff,
dry, cold members and elders, for fear that if they are allowed to do anything
for Christ, it will make them proud. Whereas, the very way to make young
converts humble and keep them so, is to put them to their work and keep them
there. That is the way to keep God with them, and as long as God is with them, He
will take care of their humility. Keep them constantly engaged in religion, and
then the Spirit of God will dwell with them, and then they will be kept humble
by the most effectual process. But if young converts are left to fall in behind
the old professors, where they never can do anything, they will never know what
spirit they are of, and this is the very way to run them into danger of the worst
species of spiritual pride.
3. They should be watched over by the church, and
warned of their dangers, just as a tender mother watches over her young
children. Young converts do not know at all the dangers by which they are
surrounded. The devices of the devil, the temptations of the world, the power
of their own passions and habits, and the thousand forms of danger they do not
know; and if not properly watched and warned, they will run right into danger.
See that mother watching her little child. Does she let it put its little hand
in the candle, or allow it to creep where it will fall, because its own
blindness and ignorance does not prevent it from desiring to do so? The church
should watch over and care for her 404young
children, just as mothers watch their little children in this great city, for
fear the carts may run over them, or they may stray away and be lost; or as
they watch them while growing up, for fear they may be drawn into the
whirlpools of iniquity. The church should watch over all the interests of her
young members, know where they are, and what are their habits, temptations,
dangers, privileges, state of religion in their hearts, spirit of prayer. Look
at that anxious mother, when she sees paleness gather round the little brow of
her child. “What is the matter with you, my child? Have you eaten something
improper? Have you taken cold? What ails you?” Oh, how different it is with the
children of the church, the lambs that the Saviour has committed to the care of
his churches. Alas! Instead of restraining her children, and taking care of
them, the church lets them go anywhere, and look out for themselves. What
should we say of a mother who should knowingly let her little child totter
along to the edge of a precipice? Should we not say she was horribly guilty for
doing so, and that if the child should fall and be killed, its blood would rest
on the mother’s head? What then is the guilt of the church, in knowingly
neglecting her young converts? I have known churches where young converts were
first totally neglected, and regarded with suspicion and jealousy; nobody went
near them to strengthen or encourage or counsel them; nothing was done to lead
them to usefulness, to teach them what to do, or how to do it, or open to them
a field of labor. And then—what then? Why, when they find that young converts
cannot stand everything, and find them growing cold and backward under their
own treatment, they just turn round and abuse them because they did not hold
out.
4. Be tender in reproving them. When Christians
find it necessary to reprove young converts, they should be exceedingly careful
of their manner in doing it. Young converts should be faithfully watched over
by the elder members of the church, and when they begin to lose ground, or to
turn aside, they should be promptly admonished, and if necessary, reproved. But
to do it in a wrong manner is worse than not to do it. It is sometimes done in
a manner that is abrupt, harsh, coarse, and apparently censorious, more like
scolding than like brotherly admonition. Such a manner, instead of inspiring
confidence, or leading to reformation, is just calculated to harden the heart
of the young convert, and confirm him in his wrong courses, while at the same
time it closes his mind against the influence of 405such censorious guardians. The heart of a young convert is tender, and
easily grieved, and sometimes a single unkind look will set them into such a
state of mind as will fasten his errors upon him and make him grow worse and
worse.
You who are parents know how important it is when you
reprove your children, that they should see that you do it from the best of
motives, for their benefit, because you wish them to be good, and not because
you are angry. Otherwise they will soon come to regard you as a tyrant, rather
than a friend. just so with young converts. Kindness and tenderness, even in
reproof, will win their confidence, and attach them to you, and give an
influence to your brotherly instructions and counsels, so that you can mould
them into finished Christians. Instead of this, if you are severe and critical
in your manner, that is the way to make them think you wish to lord it over
them. Many persons, under pretence of being faithful, as they call it,
often hurt young converts in such a severe and overbearing manner as to drive
them away, or perhaps crush them into despondency and apathy. Young converts
have but little experience, and are easily thrown down. They are just like a
little child when it first begins to walk. You see it tottering along, and
there it stumbles over a straw. You see the mother take up everything from the
floor, when her little one is going to try to walk. just so with young
converts. The church ought to take up every stumbling block, and treat them in
such a way as to make them see that if they are reproved, Christ is in it, and
then they will receive it as it is meant, and it will do them good.
5. Kindly point out things that are faulty in the
young convert which he does not see. He is but a child, and knows but
little about religion, and will of course have a great many things that he
needs to learn, and a great many that he ought to mend. Whatever there is that
is wrong in spirit, or unlovely in his deportment, or uncultivated in manner,
that will impede his usefulness or impair his influence as a Christian, ought
to be kindly pointed out and corrected. To do this in the right way, however,
requires great wisdom. Christians ought to make it a subject of much prayer and
reflection, that they may do it right, so as not to do more hurt than good. If
you rebuke him merely for the things that he did not see, or did not know to be
improper, it will grieve and disgust him. Such instruction should be carefully
timed; often it is well to take the opportunity after you have been praying
together, or after 406a kind conversation of
religious subjects, calculated to make him feel that you love him, and seek his
good, and earnestly desire to promote his sanctification, his usefulness, and
his happiness. Then a mere hint will often do the work. Just suggest that “Such
a thing in your prayer” or “your conduct so and so, did not strike me
pleasantly. Had you not better think of it, and perhaps you will judge better
to avoid the same thing again.” Do it right, and you will help and do him good.
Do it wrong and you will do ten times more hurt than good. Often young converts
will err, through ignorance; their judgment is unripe, and they need time to
think and make up an enlightened judgment, on some point that at first appears
to them doubtful. In such cases the church should treat them with great
kindness and forbearance. Should kindly instruct them and not denounce them at
once for not seeing, at first, what perhaps they did not themselves understand,
for years after they were converted.
6. Do not speak of the faults of young
converts, behind their backs. This is quite too common among old professors,
and by and by they hear of it; and what an influence it must have to destroy
the confidence of young converts in their elder brethren, to grieve their
hearts and discourage them, and perhaps drive them away from the good influence
of the church.
III. I am to mention some of the evils of defective
instruction to young converts.
1. If not fully instructed, they never will be fully
grounded in right principles. If they have right fundamental principles, this
will lead them to adopt a right course of conduct in all particular cases. In
forming a Christian character, a great deal depends on establishing those
fundamental principles which are correct on all subjects. If you look at the
Bible you will see there, that God teaches right principles which we can carry
out in detail in right conduct. If the education of young converts is
defective, either in kind or degree, you will see it in their character all
their lives. This is the philosophical result, just what might be expected, and
must be always so. It could be shown, if I had time, that almost all the
practical errors that have prevailed in the church, are the natural results of
certain false dogmas, which have been taught to young converts, and which they
have been made to swallow as the truth of God, at a time when they were so
ignorant as not to know any better.
2. If the instruction given to young converts is not
correct and full, they will not grow in grace, but their religion will dwindle
away and decay. Their course instead of being like 407the path of the just, growing brighter and brighter
to the perfect day, will grow dimmer and dimmer, and decay and finally perhaps
go out in darkness. Wherever you see young converts let their religion taper
off till it comes to nothing, you may understand that it is the proper result
of defective instruction. The philosophical result of teaching young converts
the truth, and the whole truth, is that they grow stronger and stronger. Truth
is the food for the mind—it is what gives the mind strength. And where
religious character grows feeble, rely upon it, in nine cases out of ten it is
owing to their being neglected, or falsely instructed, when they were young
converts.
3. They will be left justly in doubt whether they are
Christians. If their early instruction is false, or defective, there will be so
much inconsistency in their lives, and so little real evidence of real piety,
that they themselves will finally doubt whether they have any. Probably they
will live and die in doubt. You cannot make a little evidence go a great way.
If they do not see clearly they will not live consistently, if they do not live
consistently they can have but little evidence, and if they have not evidence
they must doubt, or live in presumption.
4. If young converts are rightly instructed and
trained, it will generally be seen that they will take the right side on all
great subjects that come before the church. Subjects are continually coming up
before the churches, on which they have to take ground, and on many of them
there is often no little difficulty to make all the church take right ground.
Take the subject of Tracts, or Missions, or Sabbath schools, or Temperance, for
instance, and what cavils and objections, and resistance, and opposition, have
been encountered from members of the church in different places. Go through the
churches, and where you find young converts have been well taught, you never
find them making difficulty, or raising objections, or putting forth
cavils. I do not hesitate to charge it upon pastors and older members of
churches, that there are so many who have to be dragged up to the right ground
on all such subjects. If they had grounded them well in the principles of the Gospel
at the outset, when they were first converted, they would have seen the
application of their principles to all these things. It is curious to see, and
I have had great opportunity to see, how ready young converts are to take right
ground on any subject that may be proposed. See what they are willing to do for
the education of ministers, for missions, for moral reform, for the slaves. If
the great body of 408young converts from the
late revivals had been well grounded in Gospel principles, you would have found
in them, throughout the church, but one heart and one soul in regard to every
question of duty that occurs. Let their early education be right, and you have
got a body of Christians that you can depend on. If it had been general in the
church, Oh, how much more strength there would have been in all her great
movements for the salvation of the world.
5. If young converts are not well instructed they
will inevitably backslide. If their instruction is defective, they will
probably live in such a way as to disgrace religion. The truth, kept steadily
before the mind of a young convert, in proper proportions, has a natural
tendency to make him grow up into the fulness of the stature of a
perfect man in Christ Jesus. If any one point is made too prominent in the
instruction given, there will probably be just that disproportion in his
character. If he is fully instructed on some points and not in others, you will
find a corresponding defect in his life and character.
If the instruction of young converts is greatly
defective, they will press on in religion no further than they are strongly
propelled by the emotions of their first conversion. As soon as that is spent
they will come to a stand, and then they will decline and backslide. And ever
after you will find that they will go forward only when aroused by some
powerful excitement. These are your periodical Christians, that are so apt to
wake up in a time of revival, and bluster about as if they had the zeal of an
angel, a few days, and then die away as dead and cold as a northern winter. Oh
how desirable, how infinitely important it is, that young converts should be so
taught, that their religion will not depend on impulses and excitements, but
that they will go steadily onward in the Christian course, advancing from
strength to strength, giving forth a clear and safe and steady light all
around.
REMARKS.
1. The church is verily guilty for her past neglect,
in regard to the instruction of young converts.
Instead of bringing up their young converts to be
working Christians, the churches have generally acted as if they did not know
how to employ young converts, or what use to make of them. They have acted like
a mother, who has a great family of daughters, and knows nothing how to set
them to work, and so suffers them to grow up idle and untaught, 409useless and despised, and to be the easy prey of
every designing villain.
If the church had only done her duty in training up
young converts to work, and labor for Christ, the world would have been
converted long ago. But instead of this, how many churches even oppose young
converts, when they attempt to set themselves at work for Christ. Multitudes of
old professors look with suspicion upon every movement of young converts, and
talk against them, and say, “They are too forward, they ought not to put
themselves forward, but wait for those who are older.” There is waiting
again. Instead of bidding young converts “God speed,” and cheering them on when
they take hold with warm hearts and strong hands, very often they hinder them
and perhaps put them down. How often have young converts been stopped from
going forward, and turned in behind a formal, lazy, inefficient church. till
their spirit is crushed, and their zeal extinguished, and after a few
ineffectual struggles to throw off the cords, they conclude to sit down with
the rest and WAIT. In many places, young converts cannot even attempt to hold a
prayer meeting by themselves, but what the pastor, or some of the deacons,
rebukes them for being so forward, and charge them with spiritual pride. “Oh,
ho! you are young converts, are you? and so you want to get together and
call all the neighbors together to look at you, because you are young
converts.” You had better turn preachers at once. A celebrated Doctor of
Divinity in New England boasted at a public table of his success in keeping all
his converts still. He had great difficulty, he said, for they were in a
terrible fever to do something, to talk, or pray, or get up meetings, but by
the greatest vigilance he had kept it all down, and now his church was just as
quiet as it was before the revival. Wonderful achievement for a minister of
Jesus Christ! Was that what the blessed Saviour meant when he told Peter, “Feed
my lambs?”
2. Young converts should be trained to labor,
just as carefully as young recruits in an army are trained for war.
Suppose a captain in the army should get his company
enlisted, and then take no more pains to teach and train and discipline them,
than is taken by many pastors to train and lead forward their young converts.
Why, the enemy would laugh at such an army. Call them soldiers! Why, as to any
effective service, they are in a mere state of babyhood, they know nothing what
to do or how to do it, and if you bring them up to the CHARGE, where are they?
Such an army would resemble the church that does not train her young 410converts. Instead of being trained to stand shoulder
to shoulder in the onset, they feel no practical confidence in their leaders,
no confidence in their neighbors, no confidence in themselves, and they scatter
at the first shock of battle. Look at the church now. Ministers are not agreed
as to what shall be done, and many of them will turn and fight back against
their brethren, quarreling about New Measures, or the Act and Testimony, or
something. And as to the members, they cannot feel confidence when they see
their leaders so divided. And then if they attempt to do anything—Alas! alas!
what ignorance, what awkwardness, what discord, what weakness, what miserable
work they make of it. And so it must continue, until the church shall train up
young converts to be intelligent, single-hearted, self-denying, working
Christians. Here is an enterprise now going on in this city, which I rejoice to
see. I mean the Tract enterprise—a blessed work. And the plan is to train up a
body of devoted Christians to do—what?—why to do what all the church ought to
have been trained to do long ago, to know how to pray, and how to converse with
people about their soul’s salvation, and how to attend anxious meetings, and
how to deal with inquirers, and how to SAVE SOULS.
3. The church has entirely mistaken the manner in
which she is to be sanctified.
The experiment has been carried on long enough, of
trying to sanctify the church, without finding anything for them to do. But
holiness consists in obeying God. And sanctification, as a process, means
obeying him more and more perfectly. And the way to promote it in the church,
is to give every one something to do. Look at these great churches, where they
have 500 or 700 members, and get a minister to feed them from Sabbath to
Sabbath, while there are so many of them together that the great part have
nothing at all to do, are never trained to make any direct efforts for the
salvation of souls. And in that way they are expecting to be sanctified and
prepared for heaven. They never will be sanctified so. That is not the
way God has appointed. Jesus Christ has made his people co-workers with him in
saving sinners, for this very reason, because sanctification consists in
doing those things which are required to promote this work. This is one reason
why he has not employed angels in the work, or carried it on by direct
revelation of truth to the minds of men. It is because it is necessary as a
means of sanctification, that the church should sympathize with Christ in his
feelings and his labors for the conversion of sinners. 411And in this way the entire church must move, before
the world will be converted. When the day comes, that the whole church shall
realize that they are here on earth as a body of missionaries, and shall live
and labor accordingly, then will the day of man’s redemption draw nigh.
Christian! if you cannot go abroad to labor why are
you not a missionary in your own family? If you are too feeble even to leave your
room, be a missionary there in your bed-chamber. How many unconverted servants
have you in your house? Call in your unconverted servants, and your unconverted
children, and be a missionary to them. Think of your physician, perhaps, who is
laying himself out to save your body, while he is losing his own soul, and you
receive his kindness and never make him the greatest return in your power.
It is necessary that the church should take hold of
her young converts at the outset, and set them to work, and set them to work
right. The hope of the church is in the young converts.
4. We see what a responsibility rests on ministers,
and elders, and all who have opportunity to assist in training young converts.
How distressing is the picture which often forces itself upon the mind, where
multitudes are converted, and yet so little pains taken with the young
converts, that in a single year you cannot tell the young converts from the
rest of the church. And then to see the old church members turn round and
complain of these young converts, and perhaps slander them, when in truth these
old professors themselves are most to blame. Oh, it is too bad. This reaction
that people talk so much about after a revival, (as if reaction was the
necessary effect of a revival,) would never come, young converts never would
backslide as they do, if the church were prompt and faithful in attending to
their instruction. If they are truly converted, they can be made
thorough and energetic Christians. And if they are not such, Jesus Christ will
require it at the hands of the church.
412
LECTURE XXI.
THE BACKSLIDER IN HEART.
Text.—The backslider in heart shall be filled
with his own ways.—Prov. xiv. 14.
I CANNOT
conclude this course of lectures, without warning converts against backsliding.
In discussing this subject, I will state,
I. What backsliding in heart is not.
II. What backsliding in heart is.
III. What are evidences of backsliding in heart.
IV. Show what are consequences of backsliding in
heart.
V. How to recover from this state.
I. What backsliding in heart is not.
1. It does not consist in the subsidence of highly
excited religious emotions. The subsidence of religious feeling may be an evidence
of a backslidden heart, but it does not consist in the cooling off of religious
feeling.
II. What backsliding in heart is.
1. It consists in taking back that consecration to
God and his service, that constitutes true conversion.
2. It is the leaving, by a Christian, of his first
love.
3. It consists in the Christian’s withdrawing himself
from that state of entire and universal devotion to God, which constitutes true
religion, and coming again under the control of a self-pleasing spirit.
4. The text implies that there may be a
backslidden heart, when the form of religion and obedience to God are
maintained. As we know from consciousness that men perform the same, or similar
acts from widely different, and often from opposite motives, we are certain
that men may keep up all the outward forms and appearances of religion,
when in fact, they are backslidden in heart. There is no doubt, that the most
intense selfishness often takes on a religious type, and there are many
considerations, that might lead a backslider in heart, to keep up the forms,
while he had lost the power of godliness in his soul
III. What are evidences of a backslidden heart.
1. Manifest formality in religious exercises. A
stereotyped 413formal way of saying and
doing things, that is clearly the result of habit, rather than the outgushing
of the religious life. This formality will be emotionless and cold as an
iceberg, and will evince a total want of earnestness in the performance of
religious duty. In prayer and in religious exercises the backslider in heart
will pray or praise, or confess, or give thanks with his lips, so that all can hear
him, perhaps, but in such a way that no one can feel him. Such a
formality would be impossible where there existed a present, living faith and
love, and religious zeal.
2. A want of religious enjoyment is evidence of a
backslidden heart. We always enjoy the saying and doing of those things that
please those whom we most love; furthermore, when the heart is not
backslidden, communion with God is kept up, and therefore all religious duties
are not only performed with pleasure, but the communion with God involved in
them, is a source of rich and continual enjoyment. If we do not enjoy
the service of God, it is because we do not truly serve him. If we love
Him supremely, it is impossible that we should not enjoy His service at every
step. Always remember then, whenever you lose your religious enjoyment, or the
enjoyment of serving God, you may know that you are not serving Him right.
3. Religious bondage is another evidence of a
backslidden heart. God has no slaves. He does not accept the service of bondmen,
who serve him because they must. He accepts none but a love service. A
backslider in heart, finds his religious duties a burden to him. He has
promised to serve the Lord. He dare not wholly break off from the form
of service, and he tries to be dutiful, while he has no heart in prayer, in
praise, in worship, in closet duties, or in any of those exercises which are so
spontaneous and delightful, where there is true love to God. The backslider in
heart is often like a dutiful, but unloving wife. She tries to do
her duty to her husband, but fails utterly because she does not love him
Her painstaking to please her husband is constrained, not the spontaneous
outburst of a loving heart, and her relation, and her duties, become the burden
of her life. She goes about complaining of the weight of care that is upon her,
and will not be likely to advise young ladies to marry. She is committed for
life, and must therefore perform the duties of married life, but oh, it
is such a bondage! Just so with religious bondage. The professor must
perform his duty. He drags painfully about it, and you will hear him naturally
sing backslider’s hymns.
414
<verse> <l class="t1">“Reason I hear, her counsels weigh,</l> <l class="t2">And
all her words approve;</l> <l class="t1">And yet I find it hard to obey,</l> <l class="t2">And
harder still, to love.”</l> </verse>
4. An ungoverned temper.
While the heart is full of love, the temper will
naturally be chastened and sweet, or at any rate, the will will keep it
under, and not suffer it to break out in outrageous abuse, or if at any time,
it should so far escape from the control of the will as to break loose in
hateful words, it will soon be brought under, and by no means suffered to take
the control and manifest itself to the annoyance of others. Especially will a
loving heart confess and break down, if at any time bad temper gets the
control. Wherever, therefore, there is an irritable, uncontrolled temper
allowed to manifest itself to those around one, you may know there is a backslidden
heart.
5. A spirit of uncharitableness is evidence of a
backslidden heart. By this, I mean a want of that disposition that puts the
best construction upon every one’s conduct that can be reasonable—a want of
confidence in the good intentions and professions of others. We naturally
credit the good professions of those whom we love. We naturally attribute to
them right motives, and put the best allowable construction upon their words
and deeds. Where there is a want of this there is evidence conclusive of a
backslidden or unloving heart.
6. A censorious spirit is conclusive evidence of a
backslidden heart. This is a spirit of fault-finding, of impugning the motives
of others, when their conduct admits of a charitable construction. It is a
disposition to fasten blame upon others, and judge them harshly. It is a spirit
of distrust of Christian character and professions. It is a state of mind that
reveals itself in harsh judgments, harsh sayings, and the manifestation of
uncomfortable feelings toward individuals. This state of mind is entirely
incompatible with a loving heart, and wherever a censorious spirit is
manifested by a professor of religion, you may know there is a backslidden
heart.
7. A want of interest in God’s word, is also an
evidence of a backslidden heart. Perhaps nothing more conclusively proves that
a professor has a backslidden heart, than his losing his interest in the Bible.
While the heart is full of love, no book in the world is so precious as the
Bible. But when the love is gone, the Bible becomes not only uninteresting but
often repulsive. There is no faith to accept its promises, but 415conviction enough left to dread its threatenings. But
in general the backslider in heart is apathetic as to the Bible. He does not
read it much, and when he does read it, he has not interest enough to
understand it. Its pages become dark and uninteresting, and therefore it is
neglected.
8. A want of interest in secret prayer is also an
evidence of a backslidden heart.
Young Christian! If you find yourself losing your
interest in the Bible and in secret prayer, stop short, return to God, and give
yourself no rest, till you enjoy the light of his countenance. If you feel
disinclined to pray, or read your Bible, if when you pray and read your Bible,
you have no heart in it, no enjoyment, if you are inclined to make your secret
devotions short, or, are easily induced to neglect them, if your thoughts,
affections and emotions wander, and your closet duties become a burden, you may
know that you are a backslider in heart, and your first business is, to break
down, and see that your love and zeal are renewed.
9. A want of interest in the conversion of souls and
in efforts to promote revivals of religion. This of course reveals a
backslidden heart. There is nothing in which a loving heart takes more interest
than in the conversion of souls in revivals of religion, and in efforts to
promote them.
10. A want of interest in published accounts or
narratives of revivals of religion, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart.
While one retains his interest in the conversion of souls, and in revivals of
religion he will, of course, be interested in all accounts of revivals of
religion anywhere. If you find yourself, therefore, disinclined to read such
accounts, or find yourself not interested in them, take it for granted that you
are backslidden in heart
11. The same is true of missions, and missionary work
and operations. If you lose your interest in the work, and in the conversion of
the heathen, and do not delight to read and hear of the success of missions,
you may know that you an backslidden in heart.
12. The loss of interest in benevolent enterprises
generally is an evidence of a backslidden heart. I say the loss of interest,
for surely, if you were ever converted to Christ, you have had an interest in
all benevolent enterprises that came within your knowledge. Religion consists
in disinterested benevolence. Of course, a converted soul takes the deepest
interest in all benevolent efforts to reform and save mankind. In good
government, in Christian education, in the cause of temperance, in the
abolition of slavery, in provisions for the 416poor,
and in short, in every good word and work, just In proportion as you
have lost your interest in these, you have evidence that you are backslidden in
heart.
13. The loss of interest in truly spiritual
conversation is another evidence of a backslidden heart. “Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh.” This our Lord Jesus Christ announced as a law
of our nature. No conversation is so sweet to a truly loving heart, as that
which relates to Christ, and to our living Christian experience. If you find
yourself losing interest in conversing of heart religion, and of the various
and wonderful experiences of Christians, if you ever knew what the true love of
God is, you have fallen from it, and are a backslider in heart.
14. A loss of interest in the conversation and
society of highly spiritual people, is an evidence of a backslidden heart. We
take the greatest delight in the society of those who are most interested in
the things that are most dear to us. Hence, a loving Christian heart will
always seek the society of those who are most spiritually-minded, and whose
conversation is most evangelical and spiritual. If you find yourself wanting in
this respect, know for certain that you are backslidden in heart.
15. The loss of interest in the question of
sanctification is an evidence of a backslidden heart. I say again, the loss of
interest, for, if you ever truly knew the love of God, you must have had a
great interest in the question of entire consecration to God, or of entire
sanctification. If you are a Christian, you have felt that sin was an
abomination to your soul. You have had inexpressible longings to be rid of it
forever, and everything that could throw light upon that question of agonizing
importance, was most intensely interesting to you. If this question has been
dismissed, and you no longer take an interest in it, it is because you are
backslidden in heart.
16. The loss of interest in those newly converted, is
also an evidence of a backslidden heart. The Psalmist says, “All who fear thee
will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in thy word.” This he puts
into the month of a convert, and who does not know that this is true? Why,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner that
repenteth, and is there not joy among the saints on earth, over those that come
to Christ, and are as babes newly born into the kingdom of heaven. Show me a
professor of religion, who does not manifest an absorbing interest in converts
to Christ, and I will show you a backslider in heart, and a hypocrite; he
professes religion, and has none.
417
17. An uncharitable state of mind in regard to
professed converts, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. Charity or
love, hopeth all things, and believeth all things, and is very ready to judge
kindly and favorably of those who profess to be converted to Christ, will
naturally watch over them with interest, pray for them, instruct them, and have
as much confidence in them as it is reasonable to have. A disposition
therefore, to pick at, criticise, and censure them, is an evidence of a
backslidden heart.
18. The want of the spirit of prayer is
evidence of a backslidden heart. While the love of Christ remains fresh in the
soul, the indwelling spirit of Christ will reveal himself as the spirit of
grace and supplication. He will beget strong desires in the soul for the
salvation of sinners and the sanctification of saints. He will often make
intercessions in them, with great longings, strong crying and tears, and with
groanings that cannot be uttered in words, for those things that are according
to the will of God, or to express it in Scripture language, according to Paul,
Romans viii. 26 and 27, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself, maketh
intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.” If the spirit of
prayer departs, it is a sure indication of a backslidden heart, for while the
first love of a Christian continues he is sure to be drawn by the Holy Spirit
to wrestle much in prayer.
19. A backslidden heart often reveals itself by the
manner in which people pray. For example, praying as if one was in a state of
self-condemnation, or very much like a convicted sinner, is an evidence of a
backslidden heart. Such an one will reveal the fact, that he is not at peace
with God. His confessions and self-accusations will show to others what perhaps
he does not well understand himself. His manner of praying will reveal the
fact, that he has not communion with God; that instead of being filled with
faith and love, he is more or less convicted of sin, and conscious that he is
not in a state of acceptance with God. He will naturally pray more like a
convicted sinner, than like a Christian. It will be seen by his prayer that he
is not in a state of Christian liberty—that he is having a 7th of Romans
experience, instead of that which is described in the 8th of Romans.
20. A backslidden heart will further reveal itself in
praying almost exclusively for self, and for those friends that are regarded 418as parts of self. It is often very striking and even
shocking to attend a backslider’s prayer meeting, and I am very sorry to say
that many prayer meetings of the church are little else. Their prayers are
timid and hesitating, and reveal the fact that they have little or no faith.
Instead of surrounding the throne of grace and pouring their hearts out for a
blessing on those around them, they have to be urged up to duty, to take up
their cross. Their hearts do not, will not, spontaneously gush out to God in
prayer. They have very little concern for others, and when they do, as they
say, take up their cross and do their duty, and pretend to lead in prayer, it
will be observed that they pray just like a company of convicted sinners,
almost altogether for themselves. They will pray for that, which, should they
obtain it, would be religion, just as a convicted sinner would pray for a new
heart, and praying for religion as they do, manifests that they have none, in
their present state of mind. Ask them to pray for the conversion of sinners,
and they will either wholly forget it, or just mention them in such a way as
will show that they have no heart to pray for them. I have known professed
Christian parents to get into such a state that they had no heart to pray for
the conversion of their own children, even when those children were under
conviction. They would keep up family prayer, and attend a weekly prayer
meeting, and never get out of the old rut, of praying round and round for
themselves. A few years since, I was laboring in a revival in a Presbyterian
church. At the close of the evening sermon, I found that the daughter of one of
the elders of the church, was in great distress of mind. I observed her
convictions were very deep. We had been holding a meeting with inquirers in the
vestry, and I had just dismissed the inquirers, when this young lady, came to
me in great agitation, and begged me to pray for her. The people had mostly
gone, except a few that were waiting in the body of the church for those
friends to be dismissed that had attended the meeting of inquiry. I called the
father of this young lady into the vestry that he might see the very anxious
state of his daughter’s mind. After a short personal conversation with her in
the presence of her father, I called on him to pray for her, and said that I
would follow him, and urged her to give her heart to Christ. We all knelt, and
he went through with his prayer, kneeling by the side of his sobbing daughter,
without ever mentioning her case. His prayer revealed that he had no more
religion than she had, and that he was very much in her state of mind—under an
awful sense of condemnation. 419He had kept up
the appearance of religion. As an elder of the church, he was obliged to keep
up appearances. He had gone round and round upon the tread-mill of his duties,
while his heart was utterly backslidden. It is often almost nauseating to
attend a prayer meeting of the backslidden in heart. They will go round, round,
one after the other, in reality praying for their own conversion. They do not
so express it, but that is the real import of the prayer. They could not render
it more evident that they are backsliders in heart, if they were every one to
take his oath of it.
21. Absence from stated prayer meetings for slight
reasons is a sure indication of a backslidden heart. No meeting is more
interesting to a wakeful Christian than the prayer meeting, and while they have
any heart to pray, they will not be absent from prayer meeting unless prevented
from attending by the providence of God. If a call from a friend at the hour of
meeting, can prevent their attendance, unless the call be made under very
peculiar circumstances, it is strong evidence that they do not wish to
attend, and hence, that they are backsliders in heart. A call at such a time
would not prevent their attending a wedding, a party, a pic-nic, or an amusing
lecture. The fact is, it is hypocrisy for them to pretend that they really want
to go, while they can be kept away for slight reasons. If it were any place
where they much desired to go, they would excuse themselves, and say, “I was
just going to ride,” or, “I was just going to such a place,” and away they
would go.
22. The same is true of the neglect of family prayer,
for slight reasons.
While the heart is engaged in religion, Christians
will not readily omit family devotions, and whenever they are ready to find an
excuse for the omission, it is a sure evidence that they are backslidden in
heart.
23. When secret prayer is regarded more as a duty
than as a privilege, it is because the heart is backslidden. It has always
appeared to me almost ridiculous, to hear Christians speak of prayer as a duty.
It is one of the greatest of earthly privileges. What should we think of a child’s
coming to its parent for its dinner, not because it was hungry, but as a duty.
How would it strike us to hear a beggar speak of the duty of asking alms of us.
It is an infinite privilege to be allowed to come to God, and ask for the
supply of all our wants. But to pray because we must, rather than because we may,
seems unnatural. To ask for what we want, and because we want it, and because
God has encouraged 420us to ask, and has
promised to answer our request, is natural and reasonable. But to pray as a
duty and as if we were obliging God by our prayer, is quite ridiculous, and is
a certain indication of a backslidden heart.
24. Pleading for worldly amusements, is also an
indication of a backslidden heart. The most grateful amusements possible, to a
truly spiritual mind, are those engagements that bring the soul into the most
direct communion with God. While the heart is full of love and faith, an hour,
or an evening spent alone, in communion with God, is more delightful than all
the amusements which the world can offer. A loving heart is jealous of
everything that will break up or interfere with its communion with God. For
mere worldly amusements it has no relish. When the soul does not find more
delight in God than in all worldly things, the heart is sadly backslidden.
25. Spiritual blindness is another evidence of a
backslidden heart. While the eye is single the whole body will be full of
spiritual light, but if the eye be evil, (which is a backslidden heart) the
whole body will be full of darkness.
Spiritual blindness reveals itself in a want of
interest in God’s word, and in religious truth generally. It will also manifest
a want of spiritual discrimination, and will be easily imposed upon by the
insinuations of Satan. A backslidden heart will lead to the adoption of lax
principles of morality. It does not discern the spirituality of God’s law, and
of His requirements generally. When this spiritual blindness is manifest it is
a sure indication that the heart is backslidden.
26. Religious apathy, with worldly wakefulness
and sensibility, is a sure indication of a backslidden heart. We sometimes see
persons who feel deeply and quickly on worldly subjects, but who cannot be made
to feel deeply on religious subjects. This clearly indicates a backslidden state
of mind.
27. A self-indulgent spirit is a sure indication of a
backslidden heart. By self-indulgence, I mean a disposition to gratify the
appetites, passions and propensities, “to fulfill the desires of the flesh and
of the mind.”
This, in the Bible, is represented as a state of
spiritual death. I am satisfied that the most common occasion of backsliding in
heart, is to be found in the clamor for indulgence of the various appetites and
propensities. The appetite for food is frequently, and perhaps more frequently
than any other, the occasion of backsliding. Few Christians, I 421fear, apprehend any danger in this direction. God’s
injunction is, “Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God.” Christians forget this, and eat and drink to please
themselves—consult their appetites, instead of the laws of life and health.
More persons are ensnared by their tables than the church is aware of. The
table is a snare of death to multitudes that no man can number. A great many
people who avoid alcoholic drinks altogether, will indulge in tea and coffee,
and even tobacco, and in food, both in quantity and quality that violates every
law of health. They seem to have no other law, than that of appetite, and this
they so deprave by abuse that, to indulge it, is to ruin body and soul
together. Show me a gluttonous professor, and I will show you a backslider.
28. A seared conscience is also an evidence of a
backslidden heart. While the soul is wakeful and loving, the conscience is as
tender as the apple of the eye. But when the heart is backslidden, the
conscience is silent and seared, on many subjects. Such an one will tell you
that he is not violating his conscience, in eating or drinking, or in
self-indulgence of any kind. You will find a backslider has but little
conscience. The same will be true in regard to sins of omission very generally.
Multitudes of duties may be neglected and a seared conscience will remain
silent. Where conscience is not awake, the heart is surely backslidden.
29. Loose moral principles are a sure indication of a
backslidden heart, A backslider in heart, will write letters on the Sabbath,
engage in secular reading, and in much worldly conversation. In business, such
an one will take little advantages, and play off business tricks, conform to
the habits of worldly business men, in the transaction of business, will be
guilty of deception and misrepresentation in making bargains, will demand
exorbitant interest, and take advantage of the necessities of his fellow men.
30. Prevalence of the fear of man, is an evidence of
a backslidden heart. While the heart is full of the love of God, God is feared,
and not man. A desire for the applause of men is kept down, and it is enough
for such an one to please God, whether men are pleased or displeased. But when
the love of God is abated, “the fear of man, that bringeth a snare,” gets
possession of man. To please man rather than God, is then his aim. In such a
state he will sooner offend God than man.
31. A sticklishness about forms, ceremonies, and
non-essentials, is evidence of a backslidden heart. A loving heart, is 422particular only about the substance and power of
religion, and will not stickle about its forms.
32. A captiousness about measures in promoting
revivals of religion, is a sure evidence of a backslidden heart. Where the
heart is fully set upon the conversion of sinners, and the sanctification of
believers, it will naturally approach the subject in the most direct manner,
and by means in the highest degree calculated to accomplish the end. It will
not object to, and stumble at, measures that are evidently blessed of God, but
will exert its utmost sagacity in devising the most suitable means to
accomplish the great end on which the heart is set.
IV. Show what are consequences of backsliding in
heart. The text says, that the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own
ways.
1. He shall be filled with his own works. But these
are dead works, they are not works of faith and love, which are acceptable to
God, but are the filthy rags of his own righteousness. If they are performed as
religious services, they are but loathsome hypocrisy, and an abomination to
God, there is no heart in them, and to such a one, God says, “Who hath required
this at our hands?” “Ye are they that justify yourselves before men, but God
knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men, is an
abomination in the sight of God.” “I know you, that you have not the love of
God in you.”
2. He shall be filled with his own feelings. Instead
of that sweet peace and rest, and joy in the Holy Ghost, that he once
experienced, he will find himself in a state of unrest, dissatisfied with
himself and everybody else, his feelings often painful, humiliating, and as
unpleasant and unlovely, as can be well conceived. It is often very trying to
live with a backslider. They are often peevish, censorious, and irritating, in
all their ways. They have forsaken God, and in their feelings is more of hell
than heaven.
3. They will be filled with their own prejudices.
Their willingness to know and do the truth has gone. They will very naturally
commit themselves against any truth that bears hard upon their self-indulgent
spirit. They will endeavor to justify themselves, will neither read nor hear
that which will rebuke their backslidden state, and they will become deeply
prejudiced against everyone that shall cross their path. If anyone reproves
them, they account him as an enemy. They hedge themselves in, and shut their
eyes against the light, stand on the defensive, and criticise everything that
would search them out.
423
4. A backslider in heart will be filled with his own
enmities. Such an one will almost surely lay up things against those with whom
he has any business or other relations. He will chafe in almost every relation
of life, will allow him. self to be vexed and angry, and get into such
relations with some, and perhaps many persons, that he cannot pray for them
honestly, and can hardly treat them with common civility. This is an almost
certain result of a backslidden heart.
5. The backslider in heart will be fall of his own
mistakes. He is not walking with God. He has fallen out of the Divine order. He
is not led by the Spirit, but is walking in spiritual darkness. In this state
he is sure to fall into many and grievous mistakes, and may get entangled in
such a way as to mar his happiness, and, perhaps, destroy his usefulness for
life. Mistakes in business, mistakes in forming new relations in life, mistakes
in using his time, his tongue, his money, his influence—all will go wrong with
him as long as he remains in a backslidden state.
6. The backslider in heart will be filled with his
own lustings. His appetites and passions, which had been kept under, have now
resumed their control, and having been so long suppressed, they will seem to
avenge themselves by becoming more clamorous and despotic than ever. The animal
appetites and passions will burst forth, to the astonishment of the backslider,
and ten to one, if he does not find himself more under their influence, and
more enslaved by them than ever before.
7. The backslider in heart will he filled with his
own words. While in that state, he will not, and cannot, control his tongue. It
will prove itself to be an unruly member, full of deadly poison, will set on
fire the course of nature, and is itself set on fire of hell. By his words he
will involve himself in many difficulties and perplexities, from which he can
never extricate himself, until he comes back to God.
8. He will be full of his own trials. Instead of
keeping out of temptation, he will run right into temptation. He will bring
upon himself multitudes of trials that he never would have had, had he not
departed from God. He will complain of his trials, and yet constantly multiply
them. A backslider feels his trials keenly, and, while he complains of being so
tried by everything around him, he is constantly aggravating them, and being
the author of them, he seems industrious to bring them upon himself like an
avalanche.
9. The backslider in heart shall be full of his own
follies. Having rejected the Divine guidance, he will evidently fall 424into the depths of his own foolishness. He will
inevitably say and do multitudes of foolish and ridiculous things. Being a
professor of religion, these things will be all the more noticed, and of course
bring him all the more into ridicule and contempt. A backslider is, indeed, the
greatest fool in the world. Having experimental knowledge of the true way of
life, he has the infinite folly to abandon it. Knowing the fountain of living
water, he has forsaken it, and hewed out to himself cisterns—broken cisterns
that can hold no water. Having been guilty of this infinite folly, the whole
course of his backslidden life must be that of a fool, in the Bible sense of
the term.
10. The backslider in heart will be fall of his own
troubles. God is against him, and he is against himself. He is not at peace
with God, with himself, with the church, or with the world. He has no inward
rest. Conscience condemns him. God condemns him. All that know his state
condemn him. “There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God.” There is no
position in time or space in which he can be at rest.
11. The backslider in heart will be full of his own
cares. He has turned back to selfishness. He counts himself and his possessions
as his own. He has everything to care for. He will not hold himself and his
possessions as belonging to God, and lay aside the responsibility of taking
care of himself and all that he possesses. He does not, will not, cast
his care upon the Lord, but undertakes to manage everything for himself, and in
his own wisdom, and for his own ends. Consequently, his cares will be
multiplied, and come upon him like a deluge.
12. The backslider in heart will be full of his own
perplexities. Having forsaken God, having fallen out of his order, and into the
darkness of his own folly, he will be filled with perplexities and doubts in
regard to what course he shall pursue to accomplish his selfish ends. He is not
walking with, but contrary to God. Hence, the providence of God will constantly
cross his path, and baffle all his schemes. God will frown darkness upon his
path, and take pains to confound his projects, and blow his schemes to the
winds.
13. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own
anxieties. He will be anxious about himself, about his business, about his
reputation, about everything. He has taken all these things out of the hands of
God, and claims them and treats them as his own, and having faith in God no
longer, and being unable to control events, he must of necessity be filled with
anxiety with regard to the future. These anxieties 425are the inevitable result of his madness and folly in
forsaking God.
14. The backslider in heart will be filled with his
own disappointments. Having forsaken God, and taken the attitude of self-will
before him, God will inevitably disappoint him in pursuing his selfish ends. He
will frame his ways to please himself, without consulting God. Of course God
will frame his ways so as to disappoint him. Determined to have his own way, he
will be greatly disappointed if his plans are frustrated, and the certain
course of events under the government of God must of course bring a series of
disappointments upon subjects that have rebelled against him.
15. The backslider in heart must be full of his own
losses. He regards his possessions as his own, his time as his own, his
influence as his own, his reputation as his own. The loss of any of these he
accounts as his own loss. Having forsaken God, and being unable to control the
events upon which the continuance of those things is conditioned, he will find
himself suffering losses on every side. He loses his peace. He loses his
property. He loses much of his time. He loses his Christian reputation. He
loses his Christian influence, and if he persists he loses his soul.
16. The backslider in heart shall be full of his own
crosses. All religious duty will be irksome, and, therefore, a cross to him.
His state of mind will make multitudes of things crosses that in a Christian
state of mind would have been pleasant in a high degree. Having lost all heart
in religion, the performance of all religious duties are crossing to his
feelings. There in no help for him, unless he returns to God. The whole course
of Divine providence will run across his path, and his whole life will be a
series of crosses and trials. He cannot have his own way. He cannot gratify
himself by accomplishing his own wishes and desires. He may beat and dash
himself against the everlasting rocks of God’s will and God’s way, but break
through and carry all before him he cannot. He must be crossed and recrossed,
and crossed again, until he will fall into the Divine order, and sink into the
will of God.
17. The backslider in heart will be filled with his
own tempers. Having forsaken God, he will be sure to have much to irritate him.
In a backslidden state, he cannot possess his soul in patience. The vexations
of his backslidden life will make him nervous and irritable; his temper will
become explosive and uncontrollable.
18. The backslider in heart shall be full of his own
disgraces. He is a professor of religion. The eyes of the world 426are upon him, and all his inconsistencies,
worldly-mindedness, follies, bad tempers, and hateful words and deeds, disgrace
him in the estimation of all men who know him.
19. The backslider in heart will be full of his own
delusions. Having an evil eye, his whole body will be full of darkness. He will
almost certainly fall into delusions in regard to doctrines, and in regard to
practices. Wandering on in darkness, as he does, he will, very likely, swallow
the grossest delusions. Spiritism, Mormonism, Universalism, and every other ism
that is wide from the truth, will be very likely to gain possession of him. Who
has not observed this of backsliders in heart.
20. The backslider in heart will be filled with his
own bondage. His profession of religion brings him into bondage to the church.
He has no heart to consult the interests of the church, or to labor for its
up-building, and yet he is under covenant obligation to do so, and his
reputation is at stake. He must do something to sustain religious institutions,
but to do so, is a bondage. If he does it, it is because he must and not
because he may. Again, he is in bondage to God. If he performs any, that
he calls religious duty, it is rather as a slave than as a freeman. He serves
from fear or hope, just like a slave, and not from love. Again, he is in
bondage to his own conscience. To avoid conviction and remorse, he will do or omit
many things, but it is all with reluctance, and not at all of his own cordial
good will.
21. The backslider in heart is full of his own
self-condemnation. Having enjoyed the love of God, and forsaken him, he feels
condemned for everything. If he attempts religious duty, he knows there is no
heart in it, and hence condemns himself. If he neglects religious duty, he of
course condemns himself. If he reads his Bible, it condemns him. If he does not
read it, he feels condemned. If he goes to meeting, the services condemn him,
and if he stays away, he is condemned. If he prays in secret, in his family, or
in public, he knows he is not sincere, and feels condemned. If he neglects or
refuses to pray, he feels condemned. Everything condemns him. His conscience is
up in arms against him, and the thunders and lightnings of condemnation follow
him, whithersoever he goes.
V. How to recover from a state of backsliding.
1. Remember whence you are fallen. Take up the
question at once, and deliberately contrast your present state with that in
which you walked with God.
2. Take home the conviction of your true position. No
427longer delay to understand the exact situation
between God and your soul.
3. Repent at once, and do your first work over again.
4. Do not attempt to get back, by reforming your mere
outside conduct. Begin with your heart, and at once set yourself right with
God.
5. Do not act like a mere convicted sinner, and
attempt to recommend yourself to God, by any impenitent works or prayers. Do
not think that you must reform, and make yourself better before you can come to
Christ, but understand distinctly, that coming to Christ, alone, can make you
better. However much distressed you may feel, know for a certainty that until
you repent and accept his will, unconditionally, you are no better, but are
constantly growing worse. Until you throw yourself upon his sovereign mercy,
and thus return to God, he will accept nothing at your hands.
6. Do not imagine yourself to be in a justified
state, for you know you are not. Your conscience condemns you, and you know
that God ought to condemn you, and if he justified you in your present state,
your conscience could not justify him. Come, then, to Christ at once, like a
guilty, condemned sinner, as you are, own up, and take all the shame and blame
to yourself and believe that notwithstanding all your wanderings from God, he
loves you still—that he has loved you with an everlasting love, and, therefore,
with loving kindness is drawing you.
LECTURE XXII.
GROWTH IN GRACE.
Text—But grow in grace and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.—2
Pet. iii. 18.
I MUST
conclude this Course of Lectures by giving converts instructions on the subject
of growth in grace. I shall pursue the following method:
I. What is grace, as the term is here used?
II. What the injunction “to grow in grace” does not
mean.
III. What it does mean.
IV. Conditions of growth in grace.
V. What is not proof of growth in grace.
VI. What is proof of growth in grace.
VII How to grow in grace.
I. What is grace, as the term is here used?
1. Grace is favor. It is often used in the Bible to
signify a free gift. The grace of God is the favor of God, His free
gifts.
II. What the injunction “to grow in grace” does not
mean.
1. It does not enjoin the gradual giving up of sin.
Strange to tell, it would seem that some have so understood it; but we are
nowhere in the Bible commanded to give up sin gradually, we are everywhere
commanded to give it up instantly and wholly.
III. What it does mean.
1. It enjoins upon us the duty of growing in the
favor of God, of growing in his esteem, in a worthiness of his favor, and in
his love of complacency in us.
IV. Conditions of growth in grace.
1. Growth or increase in anything implies a
beginning. Growth in the favor of God implies that we have already found favor
in his sight, and that we are already indebted for grace received, and that we
are already in grace, in the sense of having a place among his favored ones.
2. Consequently, growth in grace implies that we have
already repented of our sin, have actually and practically abandoned all known
sin. It cannot be that we are in favor with 429God
if we are still indulging in known sin against him. Being in favor with God
implies, of course, that we are pardoned and favored by him, for the sake of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Pardon is favor, and implies the
renunciation of rebellion against God. The conditions of the Divine favor, as
revealed in the Bible, are repentance and abandonment of all known sin, and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I said, as a condition of growth in grace, we
must have the commencement of grace; in other words, we must be already
Christians, must be in a state of acceptance with God, must have accepted
Christ, so far as be is understood, must be in a state of obedience to all the
recognized will of God. Without this, we cannot be in a state of grace, or in
the favor of God. But being in this state, there is room for everlasting
growth. As we know more of God, we shall be capable of loving him more, of
having a more universal and implicit confidence in him. And there can be no end
to this while we have any being, either in this or any other world. Our love
and confidence in him may be complete, so far as we know him. This love and
confidence will secure his favor; but there will be no end to our growth in
knowledge of him, and, consequently, there is room for eternal growth in grace.
The more we love, the more we believe, the more we know of God, if we conform
to all this knowledge, the more God must be pleased with us, the higher shall
we stand in his favor, and more and greater gifts he will continue to bestow
upon us.
3. Of course, growth in the knowledge of God is a
condition of growth in his favor. We might grow in knowledge, without growing
in his favor, because we might not love and trust him in accordance with this
increased knowledge. But we cannot love and trust him more perfectly, unless we
become more perfectly acquainted with him. If our love and faith keep pace with
our growing knowledge, we must grow in his favor. But growth in knowledge must
be a condition of growth in love and faith.
4. Growth in the knowledge of God, as revealed in
Christ Jesus, must be a condition of growth in his favor. It is in and through
Christ Jesus that God reveals himself to man. It is in Christ Jesus that we got
the true idea of the personality of the infinite God. Hence, the text says,
“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
5. Growth in grace is conditioned on increased
knowledge of what is involved in entire consecration to God.
430
True conversion to God involves the consecration of
our, selves and of all that we have to him, so far as we understand what is
implied in this. But, at first, converts are by no means aware of all that is
involved in the highest forms of consecration. They will soon learn that there
are certain things that they did not think of, and that they did not give up to
God. At first, perhaps, all that was in their thought was, to lay their naked
soul upon the altar, and give up their whole heart to God. But soon they may
learn that they did not think of all their possessions and everything that was
dear to them, they did not surrender all, and leave not a hoof behind. They
surrendered all of which they thought at the time, but they were not fully
enlightened, they did not think, nor could they think, at the time, of every
appetite, passion, propensity, of every desire and affection, of everything
they call their own, and which is dear to them, in the whole creation, to make
a thorough surrender and delivery of them all to God. To gain such knowledge is
a work of time; and growth in the favor of God is conditioned on making a full
surrender and consecration to God of everything we are, and have, and desire, and
love, as fast as these objects are presented to thought. As long as we exist,
and knowledge increases, there is no doubt that we shall be called upon to grow
in grace, by consecrating to God every new object of knowledge, of desire, and
of affection, that we may come to know, and desire, and love, to all eternity.
As you get new light, you must enlarge your consecration from day to day, and
from hour to hour, or you will cease to grow in grace. Whenever you stop short,
and do not lay and leave everything that you are, that you possess, or that you
love, upon the altar of consecration, that moment you cease to grow in grace. I
pray you let this saying sink deep into your hearts.
6. Another condition of growth in grace is intense
earnestness and constancy in seeking increased religious light, by the
illumination of the Holy Spirit. You will gain no effectual religious light
except by the inward showing and teaching of the Holy Spirit, This you will not
obtain unless you continue in the true attitude of a disciple of Christ.
Remember, he says, “Except a man forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my
disciple.” He will not, by his Holy Spirit, be your Divine teacher unless you
renounce self, and live in a state of continual consecration to him. To obtain
and preserve the teachings of Christ, by his Holy Spirit, you must continually
and earnestly pray for his Divine teaching, and watch against resisting and
grieving him.
431
7. Another condition of growth in grace is a constant
conformity to all the teachings of the Holy Spirit, keeping up with our
convictions of duty, and with our growing knowledge of the will of God.
8. A more and more implicit faith in God is a
condition of growth in grace. By implicit, I mean an unreasoning faith, a
confidence in God’s character so profound that we trust him in the dark as well
as in the light, as well when we do not understand the reasons of His dealings
with us, or of His requirements, as when we do. A faith like that of Abraham,
that staggered not at a promise, through unbelief, though the thing promised
seemed most irrational and impossible. An implicit faith is an unwavering,
unquestioning faith, a state of mind that will rest in God, in his promises, in
his faithfulness, in his love, whatever appearances may be, and however trying
and apparently unreasonable his commands or providential dealings may be.
Abraham’s faith is often commended in the Bible. God had promised him a son,
but did not give him the promised seed until he was a hundred years old, and
Sarah was ninety. But notwithstanding Sarah was past age, and he as good as
dead, he believed that God was able to fulfill his promise, and when he had
received his beloved son, with the assurance that this was to be his heir, and
that through him the promise was to be fulfilled through all generations, God
tried his faith severely, by commanding him to offer his Isaac as a burnt
sacrifice. He without the least hesitation obeyed, believing that God was able
to raise him from the dead. He made all his arrangements to obey this trying
command, with such calmness that neither Sarah nor Isaac suspected that any
such thing was in contemplation. This was an instance of the exercise of
implicit faith. Growth in grace, or in the favor of God, is conditioned upon
growth in implicit confidence in Him.
9. A more thoroughly sanctified sensibility is a
condition of growth in the favor of God. By the sensibility, I mean that
department of our nature that feels, desires, and to which belongs all that we
call desire, affection, emotion, feeling, appetite, passion, propensity, lust.
The sensibility is an involuntary power, and moral actions and qualities
cannot, with strict propriety, be predicated of it. The states of the
sensibility have moral character only as they derive it directly or indirectly
from the action of the will. The nature of man, as a whole, in his depraved
condition, is in a very unlovely state, and although the will maybe given up to
God, the sensibility may be in such a state as to be very unlovely in the sight
of 432one that looks directly upon it, and knows perfectly
every excited desire, passion, propensity, lust. It is through the sensibility,
mainly, that we are assailed with temptations. It is through this that the
Christian warfare is kept up. The Christian warfare consists in the battle of
the will with these various appetites, passions, propensities and lusts, to
keep them in subjection to the will of God. If the will maintains its
integrity, and cleaves to the will of God, the soul does not sin in its battle
with the excited states of the sensibility. But these rebellious propensities
embarrass the will in the service it renders to God. To keep them under,
occupies much time, and thought, and strength. Hence the soul cannot render to
God so complete a service, while exerting the full strength of the will to
subjugate these propensities, as it otherwise might and would render. These
appetites, passions, and propensities, although not sinful in themselves, have
been regarded and spoken of as indwelling sin. Strictly, they cannot be sin,
because they are involuntary. But they are often a great hindrance to our
growth in the favor of God. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit lusteth against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other,
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” This means that we cannot do
for God what we otherwise would, because we have to battle so much with the
states of the sensibility, to keep them under. As the sensibility becomes more
and more subdued and in harmony with the will’s devotion to God, we are left
free to render to God a more unembarrassed service. Therefore, the more
thorough the sanctification of the sensibility, the more thoroughly we are in
favor with God.
10. A growing thoroughness and universality of
consecration, of spirit, soul, and body, is the condition of more and more
growth in the favor of God. It is common, at first, for the steadfastness of
the will’s devotion to God to be overcome by the clamor of the excited
appetites, passions, and propensities, or by the various states of the
sensibility. Whenever the will yields to these excited states, you sin. But, in
such cases, the sin is not willful, in the sense of being deliberate and
intentional; it is rather a slip, an inadvertency, a momentary yielding under
the pressure of highly excited feeling. Nevertheless, this yielding is sin.
However excited the states of the sensibility may be, if the will does not
yield, there is strictly no sin. Still, while the will is steadfast, maintains
its consecration, its obedience to God, the appetites originating in the body,
and the various propensities of the soul, which inhere in the sensibility, may
be so ajar, in such confusion, 433and in such a
state of morbid development, that the soul may be unfitted for the employments
and enjoyments of heaven.
11. Hence, the taking on of a greater fullness of the
Divine nature is a condition of growth in the favor of God. Both the will and
the sensibility of God must be in a state of utmost perfection and accord. All
of his desires and feelings must be in perfect harmony with his intelligence
and his will. Not so with us, in our state of physical depravity. The depravity
of sensibility must be physical, because it is involuntary. Still, it is
depravity, it is a lapsed or fallen state of the sensibility. This lapsed
department of our nature must be recovered, sanctified, or completely restored
to harmony with a consecrated will, and an enlightened intelligence, or we are
never fitted for heaven. As we become more and more the partakers of the Divine
nature, and of the Divine holiness, we are more fully sanctified in spirit,
soul, and body, and of course grow more and more in the favor of God.
12. A greater and more all-pervading fullness of the
Holy Spirit’s residence is another condition of growth in the favor of God. You
cannot have it too thoroughly impressed upon you that every step in the
Christian life is to be taken under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The thing
to be attained is the universal teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, so
that in all things you shall be led by the Spirit of God. “If ye are led by the
Spirit, ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh,” “If through the Spirit ye
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” “To be spiritually minded is
life and peace, but to be carnally minded is death.” Always remember,
therefore, that to grow in grace, you must grow in the possession of the
fullness of the Holy Ghost in your heart.
13. A deeper personal acquaintance with the Lord
Jesus Christ, in all his official work and relations, is a condition of growth
in grace. His nature, work, and relations are the theme of the Bible. The Bible
presents him to us in a great variety of relations. In my Systematic Theology I
have considered some sixty or more of these official relations of Christ to the
human race, and these are presented rather as specimens and illustrations than
as covering the whole ground of his relations to us. Now, it is one thing to
know Christ simply on paper, and as spoken of in the Bible, by reading or
hearing of Christ, and quite another thing to know him personally, in these
relations. The Bible is the medium of introduction to him personally. What is
there said of him is designed to lead us to seek after a personal acquaintance with
434him. It is by this personal acquaintance with him
that we are made like him. It is by direct, personal, individual intercourse
with his Divine mind that we take on his image. “All we, beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” “Faith comes by hearing,” and faith
secures for us a personal acquaintance with Christ. Christ has promised to
manifest himself personally to those who love and obey him. Do not, my dear
children, stop short of securing this personal manifestation of Christ to your
souls. Your growth in grace will depend upon this. Think not of stopping short
of personally knowing Christ, not only in all these relations, but in the
fullness of these relations. Do not overlook the fact that the appropriation of
Christ, in each of these relations, is a personal act of faith. It is a putting
on of the Lord Jesus Christ, a taking of him as yours, in each of these
relations, as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; your
prophet, to teach you, your king, to govern you, your high priest, to atone for
you, your mediator, your advocate, your strength, your Saviour, your
hiding-place, your high tower, your captain and leader, your shield, your
defence, your exceeding great reward. In each of these relations, and in all
other of his official relations, you need to appropriate him by faith so as to
secure to you personal intercourse with him in these relations. Growing in a
personal acquaintance with him, in these relations, remember, is an
indispensable condition of growth in his favor.
V. I am to notice some things that are not proof of
growth in grace.
1. Growth in knowledge is not conclusive
evidence of growth in grace. Some degree of knowledge is
indispensable to our being in favor with God; and growth in knowledge, as I
have shown, is a condition of growth in grace, but knowledge is
not grace, and growth in knowledge does not constitute growth in
grace. A person may grow ever so much in knowledge, and have no grace at all.
In hell, they cannot but grow in knowledge, as they grow in experience, and in
the knowledge of God’s justice. But there, their growth in knowledge but
aggravates the guilt and misery of hell. They know more and more of God and his
law, and their own guilt, and the more they know, the more wretched they are.
From their increased knowledge they never learn piety.
2. It is not certain evidence that an individual
grows in grace, because he grows in gifts.
A professor of religion may increase in gifts, that
is, he may 435become more fluent in
prayer, and more eloquent in preaching, or more pathetic in exhortation without
being any more holy. We naturally increase in that in which we exercise
ourselves. And if any person often exercises himself in exhortation, he will
naturally, if he makes any effort or lays himself out, increase in fluency and
pungency. But he may do all this, and yet have no grace at all. He may pray
ever so engagedly, and increase in fluency and apparent pathos, and yet have no
grace. People who have no grace often do so. It is true, if he has grace, and
exercises himself in these things, as he grows in grace, he will grow in gifts.
No person can exercise himself in obeying God, without improving in those exercises.
If he does not improve in gifts, it is a true sign he does not
grow in grace. But, on the other hand, it is not sure evidence that he grows in
grace because he improves in certain exercises, for he will naturally improve
by practice, whether he is a Christian or a hypocrite.
3. It is not proof that a person grows in grace,
because he thinks he is doing so. One may be very favorably impressed with
regard to his own progress in religion, when it is evident to others that he is
not only making no progress, but is, in fact, declining. An individual who is
growing worse and worse, is not ordinarily well aware of the fact. It is not
uncommon for both impenitent sinners and Christians to think they are growing
better, when they are growing no better This results from the very nature of
the case. If any person is growing worse, his conscience will, for the time
being, be come more and more seared, and his mind more and more dark, as he
stifles conscience and resists the light. Then he may think he is growing better,
just because he has less sense of sin, and while his conscience continues to
sleep, he may continue under a fatal delusion. A man will judge of his own
spiritual state as he compares himself with a high or low standard. If he keeps
Christ before him, in his fullness, as his standard, he will doubtless always,
at least in this state of existence, have but a low estimate of his own
attainments. While at the same time, if he sets before himself the church, or
any of the members of the church as a standard, he will be very likely to form
a high estimate of his progress in religion, and be very well satisfied with
himself. This is the reason why there is such a difference in people’s views of
their own state and of the state of the church. They compare themselves and the
state of the church with different standards. Hence, one takes a very humbling
view of his own state, and complains of that of the church; another thinks such
complaints 436of the church
censorious. To him the church appears to be doing very well. The reason why he
does not think the church cold, and in a low state, is that Christ is not his
standard of comparison. If a man shuts his eyes, he will not see the defilement
on him, and may think he is clean, while to all around he appears loathsome.
VI. What is proof of growth in grace.
1. The manifestation of more implicit and universal
trust in God is an evidence of growth in grace. The exercise of greater and
more implicit confidence, as I have said, is the condition of growing in the
favor of God. Here, I say, that the manifestation of this implicit and
universal confidence is proof that this growing confidence exists, and is,
therefore, satisfactory evidence of growth in the favor of God. If you are
conscious in your own soul that you do exercise more implicit and universal
confidence in God, this is conclusive proof to you that you are growing in
grace, and as you manifest in your life, and temper, and spirit, this growing
confidence, you prove to yourself and to others that you are growing in the
favor of God. For as you grow in implicit confidence in him you must grow in
his favor.
2. Another evidence of growth in grace, is an
increasing weanedness from the world. The will may be in an attitude of
devotion to God, while the world’s seductive charms very much embarrass the
healthy action of the Christian life. All the soul becomes crucified and dead
to the world, it grows in the favor of God.
3. Less reluctance of feeling, when called to the
exercise of self-denial, is an evidence of growth in grace. It shows that the
feelings are becoming less and less despotic, that the will is getting more the
mastery of them, that the sensibility is getting more into harmony with the
devotion of the will, and the dictates of the intelligence.
4. Less temptation to sins of omission, is another
evidence of growth in grace, e.g., less temptation to shun the cross, to
neglect unpleasant duties, less temptation to indolence, less temptation to
shirk responsibility, less temptation to neglect prayer, reading the Scriptures,
private and family devotions, in short, less and less temptation to shun the
performance of any duty, is evidence of growth in grace. These temptations
consist in the excited states of the sensibility. As these become less in
strength and frequency, we learn that our sensibility is becoming more
completely subjugated to the law of the intelligence, and the decisions of the
will, and consequently, that the work of the sanctification of the spirit, soul
and 437body is progressing, and that therefore we are
growing in the favor of God.
5. A growing intensity and steadiness of zeal in
promoting the cause of God, is evidence of growth in the favor of God.
Sometimes Christian zeal is comparatively cool, at other times deep and
intense, sometimes it will be steady, at other times fitful and evanescent. As
Christians grow in piety, their zeal becomes deep, intense and steady, and as
you are conscious of this, and in your life and spirit give evidence of it to
others, you have, and give proof, that you are growing in the favor of God.
6. Losing more and more the consciousness of self,
and respect to self, in every action of life, is an evidence of growth in the
favor of God. Some have so much consciousness of self in everything, and so
much respect to self in everything they say and do, as to be embarrassed in all
their Christian life, whenever they attempt to act or speak in the presence of
others. As they lose this self-consciousness, and have less respect to self,
their service of God becomes more free and unembarrassed, and they are all the
better servants by how much less they think of self. Sometimes young converts
cannot speak or pray, or perform any public duty, without being either proud or
ashamed, as they think themselves to have performed those duties with more or
low acceptance to those around them. While this is so, their piety is in a
feeble state. They must lose sight of their own glory, and have a single eye to
the glory of God, to find acceptance with him. But as they lose sight of self,
and set God always before them, having an eye single to his glory, they grow
more and more in his favor.
7. Consequently, a growing deadness to the flattery
or the censure of men, is an evidence of growth in grace. Paul had grown in
grace so much, that he counted it a light thing to be judged of man, he only
sought to commend himself to God. As you find yourself growing in this state of
deadness to the flatteries or censures of men, you have evidence that you grow
in grace.
8. A growing cordiality in the acceptance of the
whole will of God, is evidence of growth in his favor. Some rebel against his
will as revealed in his word, and in his providence. Others, under trying
circumstances will barely tolerate his will, as revealed in his word and in
providence; but those who are growing in grace, find it more natural to them,
to embrace his whole revealed will, with greater and greater cordiality.
438
9. Growing calmness and quietness under great
afflictions, is an evidence of growth in the favor of God. This evinces a
broader and more implicit faith. a fuller and more cordial acceptance of the
will of God, as revealed in these afflictions, and shows that the soul is more
steadily and firmly at anchor upon its rock, Christ.
10. A growing tranquility under sudden and crushing
disasters and bereavements, is an evidence of growth in grace. The more
tranquil the soul can remain, when sudden storms of providence come upon it,
sweeping away its loved ones, and blighting its earthly hopes, the greater is
its evidence of being under the particular favor of God. This tranquillity is
both a result and an evidence of the favor of God.
11. Growing patience under much provocation, is an
evidence of growth in the favor of God.
12. “Long suffering with joyfulness,” is an evidence
of growing in favor with God. When you find that you cannot only tolerate, but
accept the will of God, as revealed in calling you to suffer, and especially,
when you can accept these sufferings, and endure them long and with joyfulness,
you have evidence that you are growing in the favor of God.
13. A growing cordiality and joyfulness under crosses
and disappointments, and severe pain, is evidence of growth in the favor of
God.
14. An increasing deadness to all that the world has
to offer, or to threaten, is an evidence of growth in the favor of God.
15. A growing repose in, and satisfaction with, all
the allotments of providence, is an evidence of growth in grace.
16. Less temptation to murmur or repine at any
allotment of providence, is evidence of growth in grace.
17. Lest temptation to fret, when we are crossed or
disappointed in any respect, is an evidence of growth in grace.
18. Less and less temptation to resentment, and the
spirit of retaliation, when we are in anywise insulted or abused, is evidence
that the sensibility is becoming more and more thoroughly subdued, and
consequently, that we are growing in favor with God.
19. Less temptation to dwell upon, and to magnify our
trials and troubles, to think of them, and speak of them to others, is evidence
that we think less and less of self, and accept our trials and troubles with
more and more complacency in God. It is sad to hear some professedly good
people, dwelling ever upon and magnifying their own troubles and trials. But,
if they grow in grace, they will think less and 439less of these, be more inclined to think of them as “light afflictions.”
The more we grow in grace, the less stress we lay upon the evils we meet with
in the way. Said a good man to me once, who was really passing through what the
world would call very severe trials and afflictions (he had lost a beloved
wife, and his children had died one after another), “I have many mercies, and
few afflictions.” When, under such circumstances, a man can say, “the lines
have fallen unto me in pleasant places, I have a goodly heritage,” he has the
most satisfactory evidence that he is growing in the favor of God. For this
state of mind is both a result and an evidence of the favor of God.
20. A growing disposition to make light of our trials
and to magnify our blessings, is an evidence that we are growing in the favor
of God.
21. Less and less anxiety and carefulness
about the events of providence, and especially about the things that nearly and
deeply affect ourselves, is evidence of growth in grace. This is an evidence of
a broader and more implicit faith, of a more submissive will, and of a
diminishing tendency to self-seeking; and is, therefore, an evidence of growing
favor with God.
22. Being less and less disturbed and troubled by the
events of life, especially those that go counter to our own plans, and hopes,
and expectations, and desires, and that thwart our most cherished aims, is an
evidence of growth in grace.
23. A growing and realizing confidence in the wisdom,
benevolence, and universality of the providence of God, a state of mind that
sees God in everything, is evidence of growth in grace. Some minds become so
spiritual that they hardly seem to reside in the body, and appear continually
to perceive the presence of God in every event, almost as if they were
disembodied, and beheld God, face to face. They seem to dwell, live, move, and
have their being, rather in the spiritual, than in the natural world. They are
continually under such a sense of the Divine presence, agency, and protection,
as hardly to appear like inhabitants of earth. They are a living, walking
mystery to those in the midst of whom they dwell. The springs of their activity
are so divine, their life is so much hidden in God, they act under influences
so far above the world, that they cannot be judged by the same standards as
other men. Carnal minds cannot understand them. Their hidden life is so
unknown, and so unknowable to those who are far below them in their spiritual
life, that they are necessarily regarded as quite eccentric, as being mystics
or monomaniacs, 440and as having very
peculiar religious views, as being enthusiasts, and perhaps fanatics. These
persons are in the world, but they live above the world. They have so far
escaped from the pollutions that are in the world, that they can truly, and
understandingly say with Paul, in Gal. vi.14, “But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Such persons are evidently growing in
the grace of God.
24. Being less and less disposed to dwell upon the
faults and foibles of others, is an evidence of growth in grace.
25. Being less and less disposed to speak
sarcastically or severely, or to judge uncharitably of others. A growing
delicacy, or tenderness in speaking of their real or supposed faults, behind
their back, is an evidence of growth in grace.
26. An increasing reluctance to regard or treat
anyone as an enemy, and an increasing ease and naturalness in treating them
kindly, in praying for them heartily, and in efforts to do them good, is an
evidence of growing in grace.
27. Less and less temptation to remember an injury,
and the abatement of all desire to retaliate when injured, is an evidence of
growth in grace.
28. A growing readiness and cordiality in forgiving
and burying an injury out of sight, and a kind of moral inability to do
otherwise than seek the highest good of those who have injured us most deeply,
is an evidence of growth in grace.
29. When we find in our own experience, and manifest
to others, that it is more and more natural to regard all men as our brethren,
especially to drop out of view all sectarian discriminations, all ideas and
prejudices of caste, and of color, of poverty, and of riches, of blood
relation, and of natural, rather than of spiritual ties, and to make common
cause with God, in aiming to do good to all men, to enemies and friends alike,
we have then ourselves, and give to others, the highest evidence of our growing
in the favor of God.
30. Especially is it true, when we find ourselves
very cordial and full-hearted, in making great sacrifices for those that hate
us, and having a willingness to lay down our lives, to promote their eternal
salvation, that we have evidence of growth in grace.
31. Still more especially, when we find ourselves
less and less inclined to account anything a sacrifice that we can do for God,
or the souls of men; when we can account our lives not dear unto us, if called
to lay them down to save the souls of enemies, when, for the “joy of saving
them,” “we can endure 441the cross, and
despise the shame,” or any sacrifice that we are called to make, we have
evidence that we are growing in favor with God.
32. Again, when we find ourselves more and more
inclined to “count it all joy, when we fall into divers temptations,” and when
we are disposed to look upon our trials, vexations, losses, and crosses, in
such a light as to lay less and less stress upon them, we have evidence that we
are growing in patience, and therefore, in favor with God.
33. When we find less and less reluctance to making
fall confession to those whom we have injured, when with increasing readiness
and cordiality we lay our hearts open to be searched, take home conviction of
wrong-doing, and when in ouch cases, we cannot rest till we have made the
fullest confession and reparation within our power, when to own up, and
confess, and make the fullest satisfaction, is a luxury to us, rather than a
trial and a cross, we have evidence that we are growing in the favor of God.
34. When we are more and more impressed and affected
by the mercies of God, and by the kindnesses of our fellow-men and those around
us, when we more deeply and thoroughly appreciate manifestations of kindness in
God, or in any one else, when we are more and more humbled and affected by
these kindnesses, and find it more and more natural to “walk humbly, love
mercy, and do justly,” and live gratefully, we have evidence that we are
growing in favor with God.
35. When we find ourselves drawn, with increasing
earnestness to follow on to know more of the Lord, we have evidence of growth
in grace.
36. When we find ourselves more and more readily
impressed and affected, quickened and stimulated by religious truth, and when
we find an increasing harmony in the action of all our powers, intellectual,
voluntary, and sensitive, in accepting, and resting in, the whole will and
providence of God, however afflictive they may at present be, we have evidence
that we are growing in grace.
37. A growing jealously for the honor of God, for the
purity and honor of his church, for the rights of God, and for the rights of
all men, is evidence of growing in conformity to God, and, of course, of
growing in his favor.
VII. How to grow in grace.
1. Fulfill the conditions noticed under the fourth
head of this lecture. I need not repeat them.
2. Remember that every stop of progress must be made
by faith, and not by works. The mistake that some good men 442have made upon this subject, is truly amazing. Dr.
Chalmers affirms, that the way to be sanctified is to work for it. A few years
since, Dr. Pond published a pamphlet, in which he took ground on this subject,
with Dr. Chalmers, and affirmed that the idea of being sanctified by faith was
an absurdity. Indeed, the custom has been almost universal, to represent growth
in grace as consisting in the formation of habits of obedience to God. Now, it
is quite surprising that so many good men have fallen into this mistake. The
fact is, that every step of progress in the Christian life, is taken by a fresh
and fuller appropriation of Christ by faith, a fuller baptism of the Holy
Spirit. As our weaknesses, infirmities, besetting sins, and necessities, are
revealed to us, by the circumstances of temptation through which we pass, our
only efficient help is found in Christ, and we grow only as we step by step
more fully appropriate him, in one relation or another, and more fully “put him
on.” As we are more and more emptied of self-dependence, as we more and more
renounce and discard all expectation of forming holy habits by any obedience of
ours, and as by faith we secure deeper and deeper baptisms of the Holy Ghost,
and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, more and more thoroughly, and in more of his
official relations, by just so much the faster do we grow in the favor of God.
Nothing can be more erroneous and dangerous than the commonly received idea of
growing in grace by the formation of holy habits. By acts of faith alone, we
appropriate Christ, and we are as truly sanctified by faith as we are justified
by faith. In my Systematic Theology, in pointing out the conditions of entire
or permanent sanctification, I have noticed some sixty of the official
relations of Christ, as I have before said, and have there insisted, as I here
insist, that growth in holiness, and consequently, in the favor of God, is
secured only by fresh, fuller, and more thorough appropriations of Christ, in
all these official relations. If you would grow in grace you must do it through
faith. You must pray in faith for the Holy Spirit. You must appropriate and put
on Christ through the Holy Spirit. At every forward step in your progress, you
must have a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit through faith.
REMARKS
1. We see, from this subject, the vast importance of
rightly instructing young converts. In many cases, they have very little
instruction suited to their experience and degree of Christian 443intelligence. By some, such views are taken of the
Perseverance of the Saints, that it is assumed that babes in Christ will grow
without nursing, and without that sincere milk of the word, by means of which
they must grow. Some, taking it for granted that they need instruction,
unwittingly give them false instruction, set them to work outwardly and
zealously, without paying much regard to the strengthening and developing of
their inward life. They do not teach them how to appropriate and live on Christ
as their life, but continually press them up, to do their duty, to labor for
God, and labor for souls, not sufficiently impressing upon them the idea that
their doing is of no account, unless it proceeds from the life of God in their
own souls. The result of this is a bustling, outward activity, while the inward
spiritual life is decaying. This must end in disgust at one’s own want of
heart, and a settling back into apathy and neglect.
2. Sometimes there is a mistake made in the opposite
direction. They are taught to rest in Christ, in such a sense as to take on a
type of quietism and antinomian inactivity. They are exhorted to exercise
faith, but they are not earnestly impressed with the conviction that it must be
a faith that works and works by love, that purifies the heart, and overcomes
the world. The result is, they do nothing in religion. Sinners are allowed to
sleep on, and go to hell, in their midst, and they make no effort to save them.
3. We see the importance of a Holy Ghost anointed
ministry. The great want of the church is a ministry so thoroughly anointed by
the Holy Ghost as to know how to lead the church onward and upward, to the fullest
development of Christian piety. In order to instruct converts, and keep the
church progressing in holiness, the minister must progress himself. He must be
a truly living, growing Christian. I have good reason to know that the churches
in many places are deeply pained by the want of living piety and growth in
their ministers. Their ministers are intellectual, literary, philosophical,
theological, in their teaching, but they are sadly deficient in unction. They
have but little power with God or with man. They instruct the intellect to a
certain extent, but they do not meet the wants of the heart. Converts starve
under their preaching. They preach an intellectual, rather than a spiritual
Gospel. They preach religion as a theory, a doctrine, a philosophy, and not as
a real living experience. It is often exceedingly painful to hear ministers
preach who manifestly do not know what they say, or whereof they affirm. They
speak of religion as an inward sentiment, instead of 444heart devotion to God; as an emotion, a feeling,
instead of an all-embracing and efficient love, a voluntary state and attitude
of the mind, from which necessarily proceeds a holy life. They speak of faith
as a mere intellectual state or conviction, and not as an act of trust, and of
committal of the whole being, to do and suffer all the will of God. They speak
of repentance as if it were a mere involuntary sorrow for sin. They do not
teach that repentance is a change of mind towards God, a renunciation of the
self-seeking spirit, and a turning of the whole mind to God. They speak of
holiness, as if it were a state utterly unattainable in this life. Indeed, I
say it with sorrow, but I must say it, the teachings, of a great many ministers
is but a stumbling-block to the church. Under their instruction, converts do
not, and cannot get so established in grace as to be greatly useful, or to live
lives that are honorable to Christ. Just think in the Nineteenth Century,
ministers preach to converts that they must grow in grace by works. Be heaven
and earth amazed at this! Such teachers do not know how to grow in grace
themselves. Shall I be accounted harsh if I say, “They be blind leaders of the
blind.”
4. We see the reason of so much backsliding. Converts
will of course backslide who are led by false instruction. It on the one hand,
they are set to work out sanctification by works, their works will soon become
dead works, and not be the result of that faith that works by love. If, on the
other hand, they are crammed with abstract notions and doctrines, and taught to
rest in an antinomian faith, they will sink into supineness and inactivity. I
fully believe that in nearly all cases where there has been disastrous reaction
after a revival, it has been owing to the want of timely and proper
instruction. But to be timely and proper, it must be anointed instruction.
5. The Theological Seminaries need to pay vastly more
attention to the growth in grace of their students. They need a professor of
experimental religion, who has experience and power enough to press them along
into those higher regions of Christian experience which are essential to their
being able to lead the church on to victory. It is amazing to see how little
effort is made to cultivate the heart of young men studying for the ministry.
We must have a change in this respect. A much higher standard of Christian
experience must be required as a condition of ordination. It is painful to see
how carefully men will be examined in regard to their intellectual attainments,
while the accounts they give of their Christian experience will barely allow us
to hope that they have been 445converted. How
sad it is to set such young men to feed the
6. I have never been present at the examination of a
candidate for ordination where anything more than simple evidence of conversion
was required of him. I never heard them questioned touching their progress in
Christian experience, and regarding their spiritual ability to lead the flock
of God into green pastures and beside the still waters. I never heard them
questioned in a manner that manifested the slightest conception of what are the
indispensable spiritual qualifications of a man who is to stand forth as the
leader and spiritual instructor of the
In this respect, too, there must be a great change.
Churches should refuse to ordain and receive pastors, unless they an fully
satisfied of their having made much progress in Christian experience, so as to be
able to lead on, and keep the church awake.
They should insist upon the education of his heart
as well as his head; upon his ability to take young converts, and
conduct them on to those deep experiences that will make them stable and
efficient workers in the cause of God. Think of theological seminaries like
those over which Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Pond have presided, where the leaders of
the
Index of Scripture References
<insertIndex type="scripRef"
/>
Genesis
Exodus
Judges
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
15:4 19:53 85:6 103:17 119:136
Proverbs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Habakkuk
Matthew
5:48 18:19 18:19 26:38 26:39 26:40
Mark
11:14 11:22 11:23 11:23 11:24 11:24 11:24 11:24 11:24 11:24 11:25 11:26
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
7:1-25 8:1-39 8:9 8:14 8:26 8:26 8:26 8:26 8:26-27
8:27 8:27 8:27 9:1-3
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Hebrews
James
2 Peter
Revelation
Index of Pages of the Print Edition
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[8][1]Why
not, in such a case, let any member of the church, male or female, distribute
the elements? Is it indispensable to have an elder?
[9][2]Edwards’
Works. vol. iv. p. 85.
[10][3]This
was said in 1833.
[11][4]This
was said with pain in 1833-34.
[12][5]This
was in 1831. There have been more extensive revivals since. In 1857-8 it was
estimated that 50,000 conversions per week occurred for six or eight weeks in
succession in the northern part of the
[13][6]The
strange opposition of such men as Dr. Lyman Beecher and Mr. Nettleton had much
to do with provoking and sustaining this opposition.
[14][7]I
believe the reporter passed over and did not mention this case.8