THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 250 
 
 Sh8w 
 
 every 
 
 2. Unly one book can be taken at a time for the use 
 of one person. Two books may be taken for the use of 
 a family. Two volumes of one work may be con- 
 sidered as one book. 
 
 3. A duodecimo may be retained one week ; a larger 
 book two weeks ; but not longer without renewal. Ten 
 cents per week Vv^ill be charged for each violation of 
 this rule. A book lost must be replaced by the loser. 
 
 4. The Library will be open every Sunday afternoon, 
 for a half hour after service, when the time of service is 
 3 o’clock ; for a half hour before service, when the time 
 of service is 4 o’clock. 
 
 5. Books offered as donations to be approved of by 
 the Rector before they can be added to the Library. 
 

 
LIBHAHI 
 
 OF 
 
 
 
 < 34^0 y 3 3 
 
 o 
 
 1. The Parish Library is offered to the free use of 
 every member of the congregation. 
 
 2. Only one book can be taken at a time for the use 
 of one person. Two books may be taken for the use of 
 a family. Two volumes of one work may be con- 
 sidered as one book. 
 
 3. A duodecimo may be retained one week ; a larger 
 book two weeks ; but not longer without renewal. Ten 
 cents per week will be charged for each violation of 
 this rule. A book lost must be replaced by the loser. 
 
 4. The Library will be open every Sunday afternoon, 
 for a half hour after service, when the time of service is 
 3 o’clock ; for a half hour before service, when the time 
 of service is 4 o’clock. 
 
 5. Books offered as donations to be approved of by 
 

 
 
/93 
 
 m 
 
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS VOWLER SHORT, 
 
 BISHOP OF SOBOR AND MAN^ 
 
 NEW- YORK: 
 
 STANFORD & SWORDS, 139 BROADWAY. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 GEO. S. APPLETON, 146 CHESNUT ST. 
 
230 
 
 p vOw 
 
 AND 
 
 FORMER PARISHIONERS. 
 
 Our heavenly Father never bestows a greater 
 blessing on his unworthy servants, than when 
 he enables us to become the instruments of his 
 goodness to our fellow creatures. 
 
 It was with this'prospect that the holy apostles 
 rejoiced in being counted worthy to suffer in the 
 cause of Christ; but the same gracious Power, 
 which has allowed me to hope that my exertions 
 
 
IV 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 among you have not been wholly unproductive of 
 good, has crowned his mercy with an earthly bles- 
 sing, and instead of being exposed to sufferings, I 
 have met with nothing but kindness, on the part 
 of those who were the objects of my care. 
 
 When the pastoral connexion between us was 
 about to cease, I received so many proofs of affec- 
 tion from all classes in Bloomsbury, that it will 
 be impossible that I should ever forget them : and 
 I trust that the method which I have now taken 
 to express my sense of your kindness, may not 
 only record my sentiments, but itself prove useful 
 to the cause of our Master. 
 
 My immediate object in printing these pages, is 
 to send them as a keepsake to those, from wKose% 
 hands I have received kindness — not by way of a 
 return, but to show them how much I esteem their 
 gifts, and desire that the memorial of them may 
 never perish. 
 
 That which I endeavoured to lay before you 
 in my sermons, is here dressed in a lighter garb ; 
 and if in this shape it shall attract the notice, or 
 fix the judgment of any of those into whose hands 
 it shall fall, the favour will be due to the good- 
 ness of God. 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 Indistinctness on religious subjects is a great 
 evil, particularly to the young; but theological 
 clearness does not always lead to Christain edifi- 
 cation and practical holiness. It was my endea- 
 vour, while I preached among you, to combine 
 distinct views on the leading tenets of Christianity 
 with that earnestness, without which religion is 
 apt to dwindle into a mere name. I tried to place 
 before my hearers, not words only, but ideas — to 
 give them that which they might carry home, in 
 order to guide them in the path to heaven — to 
 press on them the fundamentals of our holy faith 
 — and to point out how this faith should show forth 
 its effects in the daily occurrences of life. 
 
 May the Almighty bestow a blessing on this 
 little volume. May it prove useful to those for 
 whom it was composed, and to him who wrote it : 
 and if hereafter it shall afford instruction or edifica- 
 tion to any who knew not Bloomsbury, may they 
 learn to thank God for that love which existed 
 between the Rector and inhabitants of a large 
 metropolitan parish, and try to foster and support 
 the parochial system, which has proved a blessing, 
 spiritual and temporal, to many who needed com- 
 fort ; and which affords the best human organiza- 
 1 * 
 
VI 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 tion for diffusing and maintaining that faith on 
 which all our hopes are built. 
 
 That God may in everyway bless the parish of 
 St. George. That the exertions of my successor 
 maybe crowned with increasing usefulness. That 
 the neighbouring parishes may advance in every 
 good word and work, and by their co-operation 
 and example help forward the cause of our holy 
 religion in that district where I laboured, shall be 
 the constant and humble prayer of one, who was 
 once your Rector, and will always be your friend. 
 
 THOMAS VOWLER SODOR AND MAN. 
 
 JaUy Isty 1843. 
 Bishop’s Court, I. M, 
 
 VINCENT L. DILL, STEREOTYPER, 
 
This work was originally printed for private cir- 
 culation, but as many friends have wished for more 
 copies than they were willing to receive gratuitously, 
 it has been published. May God’s blessing be on it, 
 and its readers. 
 
 Bishop’s Court, I. M. 
 iVby. ISth, 1843. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 1. Religion 9 
 
 n. Peculiarities of Christianity 21 
 
 III. The Atonement 33 
 
 IV. Sanctification 45 
 
 V. The Freeness of the Atonement 59 
 
 VI. The Freeness of Sanctification 70 
 
 Vn. Sanctification the fruit of Justification 78 
 
 Vni. Mere Knowledge not Religion 88 
 
 IX. The Christian looking back 99 
 
 X. The Christian looking forward 121 
 
 XL The Christian exerting HIMSELF 145 
 
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
Oh, where shall rest be found, 
 
 Rest for the weary soul ? 
 
 ’Twere vain the ocean-depths to sound, 
 Or pierce to either pole : 
 
 The world can never give 
 The bliss for which we sigh ; 
 
 ’Tis not the whole of life to live, 
 
 Nor all of death to die. 
 
 Beyond this vale of tears. 
 
 There is a life above, 
 
 Unmeasured by the flight of years ; 
 
 And all that life is love : — 
 
 There is a death, whose pang 
 Outlasts the fleeting breath ; 
 
 Oh ! what eternal horrors hang 
 Around the “ second death !” 
 
 Lord God of truth and grace, 
 
 Teach us that death to shun, 
 
 Lest we be banished from Thy face. 
 And evermore undone : 
 
 Here would we end our quest ; 
 
 Alone are found in Thee 
 
 The life of perfect love — the rest 
 
 Of immortality. 
 
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In a circle of friends who were talking on the general 
 state of society, particularly with reference to the 
 ignorance on religious subjects which is prevalent in 
 England, it was observed by an individual, whose 
 opinion was well worthy of attention, That the great 
 mass of those among whom we live, do not know what 
 Christianity is.” The position was not much con- 
 troverted at first, for each of the hearers made such 
 modifications as to the sense in which the observation 
 was to be received, that he brought it down within the 
 limits of his own ideas, and would have allowed, that 
 with reference to certain classes of society, and con- 
 sidering the numbers of which they consist, the asser- 
 tion might be correct ; or if by the term Christianity, 
 a degree of strictness of conduct and firmness of faith 
 were implied, such as was probably intended by the 
 speaker, they would have agreed that the position 
 could admit of little or no doubt. So that when due 
 allowance was made for the want of religious education 
 among the lower and middle orders, and for the full 
 import conveyed by the term Christianity, almost all 
 the party would have admitted, ‘‘ That the majority of 
 a Christian community do not know what Christianity 
 is.” 
 
 But much more than this, was intended by the 
 individual who made the observation. For in this 
 extended sense, the majority of the world among 
 
12 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 whom we live have no religion at all. They are not 
 influenced, in what they do, by any fixed principles 
 which refer to a future responsibility. Practically 
 they do not believe in the undoubted truth, that we 
 shall all hereafter be judged according as we have con- 
 ducted ourselves in this life. Their minds may be so 
 far convinced, that they may not be prepared to con- 
 trovert the position ; but if we look at their conduct 
 with reference to a day of judgment, as a question of 
 fact, it would be very difficult to prove that they did 
 believe in a future state. The observation, however, 
 here made did not refer to practice, but to knowledge. 
 It was not that the majority of the world did not live 
 as Christians, for this would need no proof to him who 
 knows what Christianity is ; but that they did not 
 know what Christianity is. The person who made 
 the observation, did not mean to confine it to the 
 classes with whom he was not conversant, for he was 
 not well acquainted with the dense mass of ignorance 
 and irreligion which prevails in this Christian and 
 enlightened country ; but he meant, that among those 
 who, like himself, had received a good education, in 
 the usual acceptation of the term,, the majority had 
 been so neglected in the instruction which was given 
 them, on this most important subject, that they were 
 never taught what Christianity is ; and that from 
 inattention, from a want of anxiety about their eternal 
 safety, they had gone on, contented with those vague 
 and uncertain notions, which they had imbibed by an 
 intercourse with others, who were frequently much in 
 the same state as themselves. A young man who left 
 
RELIGION. 
 
 13 
 
 the head of a public school, without having any notion 
 of the rules by which Greek and Latin verses are 
 regulated, would be esteemed very ignorant ; but if he 
 did not know the difference between the motives 
 which influenced a sincere heathen, or which influ- 
 enced St. Paul, few persons would complain that his 
 education was imperfect. 
 
 Maria was, at sixteen, possessed of most of the 
 accomplishments which are acquired from masters. 
 Her father had been pleased with the progress which 
 she had made in the acquisition of music, of drawing, 
 and of the modern languages, and he had himself 
 delighted to lead her beyond that mechanical know- 
 ledge of history, which her governess gave with much 
 judgment and regularity, into the first principles of 
 politics and political economy. She was thus prepared 
 to give a sound opinion on the different forms of 
 government which exist in the world, and of the 
 advantages possessed by each. She was in fact much 
 better educated than most young women of her age 
 are. She had been accustomed to attend with regu- 
 larity on the public service of the Church, but her 
 parents were not religious ; she never heard of religion 
 except in the service of the Church, which, in reality, 
 she did not understand ; she had never been taught 
 anything about it, and she had never thought on the 
 subject. If you had asked her what Christianity is, 
 she would have told you, perhaps, that it was the 
 religion of Christians, and that with no more real 
 knowledge of the subject, than if she had said, that 
 
 Hindooism is the religion of the Hindoos. 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 If the reader will here pause, for one moment, and 
 look into his own case, and see how much he himself 
 is able to answer this question, he will perhaps more 
 fully understand the real state of this young person’s 
 knowledge. Pause for a few minutes. Write down 
 for yourself what Christianity is, and keep the defini- 
 tion, which you yourself would give of it, till you have 
 read through these few pages ; and then see how far 
 your own knowledge of Christianity exceeds that which 
 is here described. 
 
 This answer of Maria seems, at first sight, so vague 
 and uncertain, that it might be useless to say more 
 concerning it, excepting that if the position before 
 laid down be true, the state of many of the readers of 
 this book, may not be far distant from her’s ; and if 
 real instruction is to be given, it must always com- 
 mence at the point where present knowledge ends. 
 We must not assume any greater degree of knowledge 
 than is actually possessed. We must be content to 
 lay the foundations, if we would provide for the 
 security of the superstructure. 
 
 Christianity, then, is ‘‘ the religion of Christians.” 
 It is generally, a religion and it is specially, the 
 religion of Christians.” 
 
 First, then, let us see whether we understand what 
 is meant by the term a religion.” If a traveller were 
 to discover, in the interior of Africa, a civilized people, 
 who were conversant with many of the common in- 
 ventions which are in use among ourselves, who were 
 governed by equitable laws, and possessed habits and cus- 
 toms which corresponded with those of the inhabitants 
 
RELIGION. 
 
 15 
 
 of Europe, but if he could at the same time discover no 
 outward forms or ceremonies of religion among them, 
 he would hardly conclude that they were without 
 religion. He would say in his own mind there must 
 be some principles from which all these good fruits 
 arise ; and he would, as occasion allowed him, endea- 
 vour to discover the opinions of the more enlightened 
 individuals with whom he conversed, as to a future 
 state. There would, in his own ideas, exist a close 
 connexion between their belief in a future state, and 
 their religion. Their notions of responsibility would 
 depend on their conviction, that they should be here- 
 after called to an account for the things done in this 
 life ; and the nature of the responsibility, — the prac- 
 tical effect which it had in governing their minds, 
 would depend on the nature of the tribunal before 
 which they expected to be brought. If they were not 
 assured, that they should be tried at all hereafter, they 
 would be careless altogether ; if they entertained very 
 loose notions of the purity or of the moral rectitude of 
 their future judge, they would be more disposed to 
 propitiate him as a tyrant, to whose dominion they 
 would hereafter be subjected, than as a judge who 
 would pass a righteous sentence on them, according 
 to the deeds done in the body. The first thing then 
 which this traveller would endeavour to ascertain, 
 would be, the belief of the people of this newly 
 discovered country ; but he would never be satisfied 
 that this belief was real, unless he saw that it did 
 practically influence the conduct of those who pro- 
 fessed it. The mariner who believes that the rapid 
 
16 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 sinking of the barometer indicates the approach of a 
 violent storm, prepares himself and his vessel against 
 the tempest, which the altered height of the mercury 
 induces him to expect. If he were to make no pre- 
 paration, it would be difficult to persuade the passengers, 
 whose safety depended on his skill in the management 
 of the ship, that he really believed this index of a 
 coming gale. They would argue that he could not 
 really believe it, while this belief induced him to take 
 no measures of precaution. So if the traveller in 
 Africa had learnt the opinions of this people as to a 
 future state, and found that their conduct seemed to 
 correspond with such a belief as he had been told that 
 they professed, he would probably make no further 
 enquiries as to their religion. He would say on his 
 return, that they had no outvv^ard forms of worship, 
 but that their religion was such, as it had been 
 described to him. 
 
 If, then, it were again asked, “ What is religion 
 we should probably answer. It is such a belief in a 
 judgment to be passed on us in a future state, as will 
 induce us to propitiate the power which is to judge us. 
 The belief is the religion, and the reality of the belief 
 is proved by the effect which it produces on our actions 
 in this life. We can have no doubt that Abraham 
 believed the promises of God, for he gave up his home 
 and kindred, and went into the land of Canaan. He 
 believed in God, even against the daily testimony of 
 his own senses ; for he was ready to slay Isaac, through 
 whom he believed also that not only his family, but 
 that all nations of the earth should be blessed. When 
 
RELIGION. 
 
 17 
 
 an Englishman, in conversing with a Hindoo devotee, 
 who was lying on a bed of spikes, seemed to doubt the 
 reality of his faith, and to question the sincerity of his 
 devotion ; the poor man merely pointed to the spikes, 
 and smiled at the incredulity of one, whose eyes could 
 witness so clear an evidence that there was no decep- 
 tion. The spectator might well have pitied the absur- 
 dity of such a belief, the folly of such a religion ; but 
 he had no ground for questioning its reality. It is 
 indeed possible that the individual so brought before 
 his eyes, might have been an impostor, but there can 
 be no doubt that some among the Hindoos, believe 
 that such self-inflictions are acceptable to their gods. 
 
 Looking then at religion in this sense, may we con- 
 clude that the majority among ourselves are without a 
 knowledge of religion.^ Certainly not. It would be 
 difiicult to find any one who was not influenced by 
 some sense of religion. Every one has some religion 
 of his own — sometimes it may be Christianity, more 
 frequently a modification of Christianity, and sometimes 
 the religious opinions prevalent among us are very ab- 
 surd; but almost every one has some sense of religion. 
 If it be asked whether they act up to it, it might be 
 safely stated that no one acts up to his sense of religion. 
 Some of us are more glaringly inconsistent than others, 
 but every one has an idea of a right and wrong, with 
 reference to a future state, and every one acts below 
 that notion, — below that standard. Every one who 
 will honestly look into his own heart is self-condemned. 
 There are fifty different standards of morality by which 
 
 mankind regulate their own conduct, and by which they 
 2 ^ 
 
18 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 estimate that of their neighbours. We may be told 
 that a soldier ought to fight a duel, though it would be 
 infamous in a clergyman to think of it. That a lawyer 
 may do so or not, according to his sense of religion ; 
 and that, if he has courage enough to refuse a chal- 
 lenge, he must have courage enough also to be contented 
 when he is called a coward. Aspasio one day requested 
 an acquaintance, with whom he was sometimes in the 
 habit of pla3dng for high stakes, to pay him fiftj" pounds, 
 which had been for some time due, as a debt of honour. 
 I beg 3'our pardon, said the friend, for not having dis- 
 charged the debt sooner ; but I do assure you that I have 
 not the most remote idea that I owe you any thing : in 
 order to prevent any unpleasant discussion, the question 
 was referred to a third party, and the statement of 
 Aspasio was as follows. On the day in question we 
 were both invited to dine with a common friend, and 
 as I knew that there would be much conviviality as 
 well as high play in the evening, I declined dining, 
 because after drinking much wine, I can never trust 
 myself at cards ; when I came in during the evening, 
 I found the party engaged in play, and the sum in 
 question was a private bet between us, on the odd trick. 
 I cannot be mistaken, for I had purposely kept myself 
 sober, and the others had been drinking a great deal 
 of wine. I am sure they had, from the state in which 
 I found them, and from what I know to be the habit 
 of the house. Upon this statement, the umpire decided 
 the bet in favour of Aspasio, and Aspasio, after having 
 accepted the money, was still received in society. Had 
 he attempted to place a card as he shuffled it, he would 
 have been esteemed as little better than a thief. Yet 
 
RELIGION. 
 
 19 
 
 most right-minded men would rather have their friend 
 rob on the highway, than do what Aspasio did. This 
 is the standard of a gambler ; and yet there are few 
 men who have played highl}", who would be prepared 
 to lay open all the secrets of their gambling transactions, 
 even to one who would judge them on these principles. 
 However low a man’s standard is, still he sometimes 
 acts below his own low standard ; but there is always 
 some lower depth of guilt, from which he turns away 
 in abhorrence, or on which he feels sure that divine 
 vengeance will hereafter fall. However degraded his 
 own ideas of morality may be, still there is some clear 
 reference to God — there is something which God must 
 and will punish. Such persons have an idea of religion, 
 however vague and uncertain ; and generally the idea 
 which they entertain is in some measure correct. 
 Whatever their personal conduct may be, they have a 
 sufficiently clear knowledge of what is right and wrong 
 in the conduct of others. If Aspasio had possessed a 
 large estate in Ireland, he might have neglected every 
 duty which the possession of such a trust entailed on 
 him, and never have resided on it, or endeavoured to 
 improve the condition of his tenantry ; but he would 
 have decided very properly, that every clergyman ought 
 to be forced to reside on his living, and do his duty 
 there : he might thence have argued against all plurali- 
 ties, and have expressed his astonishment, that any 
 man could think of taking orders for the sake of worldly 
 profit. All this would prove that Aspasio knew what 
 religion was. In the instance of another, he would be 
 able to see the devotion which ought to flow from the 
 belief that we shall hereafter be called to a strict 
 
20 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 account ; from that devotion he would himself beg to 
 be excused ; but he would see the necessity of it in 
 those who wish to act consistently with their belief in 
 a day of judgment ; he would see around him, perhaps, 
 many false and absurd species of devotion — but he 
 would see, too, that no absurdity in devotion is half so 
 absurd as indifference whether we do or do not please 
 God. If there be a Deity, and if hereafter we are to 
 be judged by that Deity, and if our eternal state is to 
 depend on that judgment ; — then a whole life devoted 
 to the service of that Being, must be the real work of 
 man, — the real employment which ought to absorb 
 every faculty of the creature. Men may doubt whether 
 certain species of devotion will be acceptable to God — 
 whether God has commanded such and such things ; 
 but if we are convinced that God has enjoined this or 
 that line of conduct, it is absurd for any man to talk of 
 believing in God, when he lives in total opposition to 
 these revealed and acknowledged commands, or neglects 
 that on which his salvation depends. Now every one 
 who can see this, does know what religion is ; he may 
 not know what Christianity is, but the light of nature 
 has taught him, that religion cannot be less than an 
 entire wish to please that God, before whose judgment- 
 seat we shall hereafter answer, for the manner in which 
 we have passed our lives. 
 
 Lord of all power and might, who art the author 
 and giver of all good things ; graft in our hearts the 
 love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish 
 us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us 
 in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
THE 
 
 THE PECULIARITIES OF CHRISTMITY. 
 
Father of all ! whose wondrous grace 
 Moved Thee to save our guilty race ; 
 Before Thy throne we sinners bend ; 
 To us Thy pard’ning love extend. 
 
 Almighty Son ! Incarnate Word ! 
 
 Our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord, 
 Before Thy throne we sinners bend ; 
 To us Thy saving grace extend. 
 
 Eternal Spirit ! by whose breath 
 The soul is raised from sin and death ; 
 Before Thy throne we sinners bend ; 
 To us Th}’^ quick’ning power extend. 
 
 Jehovah ! Father, Spirit, Son, 
 Mysterious Godhead ! Three in One ! 
 Before Thy throne we sinners bend ; 
 Grace, pardon, life, to all extend. 
 
THE 
 
 PECULIARITIES OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 If then we regard this question, at the point at which 
 we have at present arrived, it may be asked whether 
 we have advanced much in the real knowledge of what 
 Christianity is : for according to what has been already 
 stated, it would appear that the Hindoo, who had 
 placed himself on a bed of spikes, was much more 
 influenced by religion, than the great mass of those 
 Christians of whose sincerity we are enabled to form a 
 judgment by observing their usual manner of life. No 
 doubt he exhibits much more devotion than many 
 sincere Christians ; his misfortune is, that his devotion 
 is of so mistaken a character ; he may be sincere, but 
 he has failed to use that light of reason with which 
 God has provided him for his guidance ; yet who can 
 say that he may not rise up in judgment against many 
 among ourselves ? 
 
 An old lady, who was in the habit of keeping a 
 strict account of her own conduct, acknowledged to a 
 clerg 3 "man of her acquaintance, that she never looked 
 over her diary without finding a long catalogue of such 
 proceedings as she could not but lament. That she 
 never balanced her spiritual accounts, without finding 
 the balance greatly on the debtor side. Ido not wonder 
 at it, said the clergyman ; but when you find it so, 
 what do you do ? Oh, said the lady, I read a certain 
 
24 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 number of sermons. It is obvious, from the answer 
 of this old lady, that reading sermons was to her an 
 operation of the same character as the lying on spikes 
 was to the poor Hindoo. It does not seem likely that 
 she anticipated that any great spiritual good would be 
 produced on her own mind by the contents of what 
 she read ; but she thought it right to read sermons, and 
 knew that the doing so was an act of self-denial to 
 her, and she denied herself, and did it, because in some 
 other point she had given way to her own wishes, and 
 had done wrong. The Hindoo expected to be exalted 
 in a future state, by the sufferings which he had 
 voluntarily imposed on himself in this — the lady in- 
 tended to punish herself by doing that which she 
 disliked ; she hoped to gain a sort of pardon by her 
 self-inflicted severity. The principle which influenced 
 these persons is not very different. It may, however, 
 be questioned, whether we can be sure that what this 
 lady did was unchristian, merely because the same sort 
 of thing might be done by a Hindoo ? and a prudent 
 Christian might be unwilling hastily to give a decided 
 answer, for there are many duties which are common 
 to all religions ; but if the act were unreasonable in a 
 Hindoo, the same sort of act must be unreasonable in 
 a Christian, and, at all events, the proceeding was not 
 such as would characterize it as Christian, and what 
 we are now seeking for is, to ascertain that which 
 distinguishes Christianity. 
 
 When Theodore, who was a well-educated young 
 man, was asked this question. What is Christianity ? 
 he fearlessly answered, that the difference between 
 
PECULIARITIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 25 
 
 Christianity and all other religions was, that Christianity 
 taught ^‘the forgiveness of injuries;” and when the 
 individual who asked him seemed dissatisfied with the 
 reply, he maintained that heathen moralists had never 
 directed their followers to forgive injuries. Theodore 
 had taken up this idea from others, who ought to have 
 known better ; but the mistake is a very natural one 
 to a person who had no very definite ideas on such 
 subjects. He did not know that almost every heathen 
 moralist has recommended the forgiveness of injuries ; 
 that there is hardly an}^ writer on such subjects who 
 has not seen how much more noble it is to pardon 
 than to revenge an injury — how great a superiority it 
 implies in those who can thus act towards an offender ; 
 but heathen moralists have never taught men to forgive 
 on Christian principles — How could they ? They have 
 never taught men to forgive because we have been 
 forgiven — to show that mercy to others of which we 
 ourselves have been made partakers. This, of course, 
 is peculiar to Christianity. This flows from the doctrine 
 of the atonement, and can flow from nothing else. 
 
 No man ever exercised the virtue of forgiving more 
 admirably than Socrates did towards his judges ; but 
 Theodore would see that this fact was so far from 
 proving that Socrates was a Christian, that it did not 
 even prove that Socrates had any knowledge or idea 
 of the leading doctrines of Christianity. He probably 
 felt his own need of pardon, and the weakness of man 
 without some guidance from above ; but to feel the 
 want of some revelation from God, is very far from 
 
 believing that which God has revealed. We may 
 3 
 
26 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 admire Socrates, and pray that he may never rise up 
 against us in judgment, and condemn us for not having 
 made better use of that which God has made known to 
 us, and which was hid from him ; but woe unto us, if 
 we cannot from our hearts thank God, for revealing 
 that unto us, which was never made known to Socrates. 
 
 A Hindoo who was converted to Christianity express- 
 ed himself in something of the following manner. In 
 early life I exercised myself in the superstitions of my 
 own creed, but was never satisfied with that which my 
 teachers directed me to perform. I could not help 
 perceiving that the God of the universe could not be 
 gratified by the absurd species of devotion by which I 
 was directed to endeavour to obtain his favour. My 
 own moral sense told me that I had done evil, and how 
 could that evil be wiped off by irrational, degrading, 
 and cruel rites ? I saw that I was wrong, but I knew 
 not where to fly. I was convinced of my own guilt, 
 but I loathed the expiations to which I was directed to 
 apply in order to obtain relief. The Mahometan to 
 whom I applied told me that God was pure and bene- 
 ficent, and that if I would draw nigh to the God whom 
 he worshipped, I must make myself holy and be 
 bountiful to my poorer fellow creatures. All this was 
 rational — I saw the truth of his positions, but my 
 newly-acquired knowledge gave me no comfort. No 
 doubt holiness would please a holy God — but I was 
 not holy. No doubt acts of kindness and justice per- 
 formed towards men, would please a Diety who must 
 approve of those virtues which shine forth so brightly 
 in Himself — but how was I benefited by this ? I was 
 
PECULIARITIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 27 
 
 not holy towards my God — I had not conferred any 
 benefits on my fellow men, so that the more pure and 
 just the God of the Mahometans should prove, the less 
 hopes had I of being able to endure his judgment — I 
 saw that there was reason and truth in their religion, 
 but this only tended to alarm my fears, and to cut me 
 off from hopes of safety. But when I listened to a 
 Christian teacher, he told me of Jesus, the son of 
 Mary, who had come down from his Father in Heaven 
 to die for sinners. This was what I needed. The 
 God of the Christian hated the sin, but he spared the 
 sinner, and I fled to Jesus and found peace. This 
 man found that in Christianity which is not in any 
 other religion. Mahometanism is vastly superior to 
 heathenism, for it is partly true, being borrowed from 
 revelation, and it connects moral conduct with religious 
 duty ; but its rules are many of them loose and defec- 
 tive, and there is no offer of reconcilation to the 
 sinner. Many systems of religion enjoin sacrificial 
 expiations ; but man’s reason tells him that the blood 
 of bulls and of goats cannot wash away sin. The Jew 
 obeyed the law of God with regard to sacrifices for sin 
 — ^he trusted in the declared mercy of God ; but till the 
 only Son of God died on the cross, the Jew could not 
 have possessed that ground for confidence with which 
 the Christian looks up to his Redeemer. As the 
 Israelite in the wilderness, when bitten by the serpent, 
 looked up to the brazen serpent as the means of his 
 cure, so the Christian looks to Christ crucified, as the 
 means by which he is reconciled to God. The reading 
 sermons might be a very effectual means of improving 
 
28 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 her who engaged in it ; but when she entered on the 
 task because she found that she was in debt to her 
 God, if we may use the expression, no one can avoid 
 suspecting that the object was a wrong one — it looks 
 precisely as if she esteemed it a means of reconciliation 
 with God. Every species of self-denial is useful in 
 itself. It will render those who practise it more able 
 to govern themselves. It may become a very import- 
 ant instrument by which we may correct evil habits in 
 ourselves. But if we are in debt to God, it cannot 
 wipe off the debt — if we are condemned, it cannot free 
 us from our guilt. There must be something else to 
 do this. It was this that the penitent Hindoo sought 
 for in vain in the Mahometan creed. 
 
 There is another doctrine, not perhaps so exclusive- 
 ly characteristic of Christianity, as the doctrine of the 
 atonement, but equally important, and often more 
 neglected than Redemption itself. All who have taken 
 even a cursory view of Religion, or who have been 
 enabled to see it exercised in sincerity and truth, must 
 have been led to observe the estimation in which 
 holiness is held, even by those who are not holy them- 
 selves. When Hyder Ali invaded the Carnatic, he 
 gave orders to his officers to permit the venerable 
 Swartz to pass unmolested, and to show him respect 
 and kindness, for, said he, he is ^‘a holy man.” And 
 though many of the rites connected with heathen 
 worship seemed framed for the very destruction of all 
 holiness, ;5^et the more enlightened part of every heathen 
 nation appear to have always esteemed those who were 
 holy, as peculiarly acceptable to the gods. The same 
 
PECULIARITIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 29 
 
 feature may be discovered among ourselves. The 
 worst among us pay a willing tribute to unpretending 
 holiness. Therefore in a general sense, all religion is 
 more or less connected with the pursuit of holiness. 
 The pursuit of it however is carried on very variously 
 by different classes of persons, and sometimes with 
 no great prospect of obtaining it. It may also be 
 remarked, that the re-establishment of holiness is closely 
 connected with the obtaining of reconciliation and par- 
 don. In many cases it seems to be almost the same 
 thing. The offended father would gladly re-admit his 
 banished child to reconciliation and to forgiveness, 
 if he were convinced that the prodigal were reformed. 
 We identify the reformation of the child with the 
 relenting of the father, but there is no such necessary 
 connexion, and it will frequently confuse our reasoning 
 if we do not endeavour to keep that which is separate 
 in the nature of things, separate also in our arguing 
 about it. The favourite son of a king had been 
 engaged in a rebellion against his father’s throne, and 
 was banished for life, he had repented and was entirely 
 reformed, his loving father wished to receive him back 
 to his arms, but he dared not. The seeds of the 
 rebellion were still latent, and might have broken out, 
 had the original author of the evil been brought before 
 the eyes of those who had once engaged in it ; but if 
 the spirit of rebellion had been subdued and destroyed, 
 the offender, even if unreformed, might have obtained 
 a pardon from the affection of the father. These two 
 cases correspond only partially, for external circum- 
 stances create a difference which must influence the 
 3 * 
 
30 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 result. And who can pretend to judge of that variety 
 of connecting links, which can be known to God alone, 
 and without a full knowledge of which it would be 
 impossible to form a correct judgment ? Even in this 
 world, we all see that reformation in the guilty will 
 not restore them to the advantages which they have 
 lost. The discarded workman may be entirely reform- 
 ed, but he can hardly expect to recover a good situa- 
 tion, of which his ill conduct has deprived him. 
 
 According to those general ideas which we derive 
 indirectly from revelation, it would seem that religion 
 must have a tendency to sanctify ; but if we examine 
 facts we shall discover that this is not the case. The 
 religion of Greece and Rome had practically no such 
 tendency, though the philosopher might have seen the 
 necessary connexion between holiness and religion. 
 And the same observation may probably be applied to 
 every form of heathenism. It is not however in the 
 mere seeking for holiness that Christianity differs from 
 every other religion, but in the manner in which 
 sanctification is to be sought. The Hindoo seeks, by 
 voluntary self inflictions, for a holiness of his own, 
 which is compatible with a very degraded state of 
 personal and mental corruption. 
 
 The European heathen of ancient days, sought the 
 holiness which he admired through habits of self- 
 control. He found indeed the inadequacy of the 
 means to the end, and gave way again and again to 
 his own weakness, and to the wickedness of his heart ; 
 but there was nothing unreasonable in his proceedings. 
 In heathen moral philosophy there was much to assist 
 
PECULIARITIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 31 
 
 the virtuous, but there was little to influence the mass, 
 and there was nothing to reclaim the vicious ; and 
 each man who employed these means found an under- 
 current of evil passions, which prevented him from 
 being able to shape his course as his bare reason 
 would have directed him to do. Christianity bids us 
 seek that from God which we cannot provide for our- 
 selves. She tells us that God must work in us both 
 to will and to do of his good pleasure.” It is not 
 that she would prevent us from using any of those 
 means which reason or philosophy would dictate to 
 the heathen, but she would forbid us to trust in them. 
 It is not that she would bid us make no exertions of 
 our own, but she would direct us to rest the hope of 
 our success on the aid which Heaven would provide 
 for us. She would tell us that the Almighty who was 
 reconciled to us through the sacrifice of his beloved 
 Son, would work in us such a state of holiness as 
 would fit us for the presence of our God hereafter. 
 These are the two doctrines which distinguish Chris- 
 tianitj’^ from every other religion in the world. And 
 the religion of those who believe that Christ died for 
 us, and that the Holy Ghost sanctifieth those that come 
 unto Christ, is Christianity. 
 
 It was not that Maria had never learnt that part of 
 the Church Catechism which answers to the question. 
 What dost thou chiefly learn by these articles of thy 
 belief.'^ She would have told you — First, I learn to 
 believe in God the Father who made me and all the 
 world ; secondly, in God the Son who hath redeemed 
 me and all mankind, and thirdly, in God the Holy 
 
32 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of 
 God — but she had never thought much about the 
 question. It was not that she had never uttered with 
 devotional feelings that supplication to the holy Trinity 
 with which the Litany commences. She had then 
 addressed herself to God the Father, to God the Son, 
 and to God the Holy Ghost, but she had never thought 
 why she had done so ; and if she had been asked what 
 was the peculiar meaning of the threefold entreaty 
 contained in the minor Litany, ^^Lord have mercy 
 upon us,” “ Christ have mercy upon us,” “ Lord have 
 mercy upon us,” she would hardly have known why 
 the Lord have mercy upon us” should be repeated. 
 She would have pitied the misguided Hindoo — she 
 would have smiled at the old lady who read sermons, 
 and perhaps if she had read this chapter she might 
 have blushed at her own ignorance of Christianity. 
 
 O God, the King of Glory, who hast exalted thine 
 only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy 
 kingdom in heaven ; we beseech Thee, leave us not 
 comfortless ; but send us to thine Holy Ghost to com- 
 fort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our 
 Saviour Christ is gone before ; who liveth and reign- 
 eth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world 
 without end. Amen. 
 

 THE 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
There is a fountain filled with blood, 
 Drawn from Immanuel’s veins ! 
 
 And sinners, plunged beneath that flood. 
 Lose all their guilty stains. 
 
 The dying thief rejoiced to see 
 That fountain in his day ; 
 
 And there may I, as vile as he. 
 
 Wash all my sins away. 
 
 Dear dying Lamb ! Thy precious blood 
 Shall never lose its power. 
 
 Till all the ransomed Church of God, 
 
 Be saved, to sin no more. 
 
THE 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Since then we have arrived so far on our way, as to 
 have ascertained the definition of Christianity, and to 
 have learnt that the distinguishing characteristics of it 
 are, a belief in the Atonement and in Sanctification, it 
 shall be the object of this and the following chapter, to 
 explain these two most important doctrines ; and for 
 the present we will confine ourselves to the former, 
 and ask what is the doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 What is Justification ^ It is the being accounted 
 righteous in the sight of God — the being reckoned 
 righteous, when we are not righteous. He alone can 
 be esteemed really righteous, who has fully performed 
 every commandment of God : a case which will apply 
 to none of the sons of men. But they who are not 
 righteous, are treated by God as if they were righteous. 
 They are pardoned. Our heavenly Father accepts 
 those who are guilty, and who are aware of their guilt, 
 as if they were not guilty in his eyes. He says unto 
 us, Thy sins are forgiven thee.” Our transgressions 
 are spoken of as ‘‘ blotted out,” as not imputed unto 
 us,” and this for the sake of Him who died for us. It 
 is not the being made righteous, but the being accounted 
 righteous. David, when he had sinned, was forgiven. 
 The prophet said unto him, The Lord hath put away 
 thy sin ;” but the sin, the guilt of having broken God’s 
 
36 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 commandments, remained, and must remain. You and 
 I, dear reader, have done that which must render us 
 offenders in the sight of the Most High. We know 
 not the extent, or the nature, of each other’s sins, but 
 we feel sure that both have sinned. Now if we attempt 
 • to conceal our sin from God, we should act with no 
 more wisdom than Adam displayed, when he endea- 
 voured to hide himself among the trees of the garden. 
 Thou hast sinned. Give glory to God, and confess 
 thy sin. We are guilty. We cannot be made inno- 
 cent ; but the Lord of heaven and earth may deal with 
 us in mercy, as if we were innocent. We are debtors, 
 and we have nothing to pay. Oh may He, of his 
 goodness, freely forgive us all that debt. The debt 
 may be paid by another ; but we owe it, and we have 
 nothing to pay. 
 
 It may be wise, before we proceed further, to point 
 out the difference between these two doctrines, and to 
 observe that Justification is not the same as Sanctifica- 
 tion. Our being made holy, is doubtless necessary to 
 our being received into heaven — Without holiness 
 no man shall see the Lord.” The being made holy is 
 the consequence of being forgiven — the fruit of it. 
 Justification is what Christ hath done for us. God 
 counts us righteous for Christ’s sake. Sanctification is 
 what God works iu usj by his Holy Spirit. 
 
 There are two effects of sin ; sin makes us guilty 
 in the sight of God, and when God pardons us, and 
 receives us, as though we were not guilty, we are justi- 
 fied. Sin makes our own hearts unholy and defiled, 
 unfit for the presence of t]ie Lord, and indisposed and 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 37 
 
 unwilling to do the work of the Lord. It makes us 
 unable to draw nigh unto God, in prayer. It turns 
 away our hearts from God — from religion. God works 
 a change in our hearts. He brings us back to holi- 
 ness, through the influence of the Holy Spirit. He 
 turns our souls from evil to good. This is Sanctifica- 
 tion. And though these two operations of God’s 
 mercy are closely joined together ; though the heart 
 of him who is justified by our Saviour, is at the same 
 time, or gradually and progressively, sanctified by the 
 Holy Ghost, yet it will rather lead to indistinctness 
 than clearness, in our views of Christianity, to con- 
 found the two together, and not to distinguish between 
 that which is the antecedent and that which is the 
 consequence. 
 
 Justification is the being accounted righteous in the 
 sight of God. David felt himself pardoned, when 
 Nathan said unto him, The Lord hath put away thy 
 sin but many earthly punishments attended the 
 king during the remainder of his life, each of which 
 was destined to make his heart more holy, and to 
 sanctify him. He was originally pardoned by a free 
 act of God’s mercy extended to him. The subsequent 
 inflictions were probably meant to produce his refor- 
 mation : to bring him personally back to that state, 
 from which he had by transgression fallen, to that 
 state of heart — to that temper of mind which had been 
 destroyed by his breaking God’s commandments. A 
 son has been detected in dishonesty towards an in- 
 dulgent father, and his ill conduct has arisen from 
 habits of intemperance, into which he has fallen ; he 
 
38 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 confesses his fault, and the father forgives him at once. 
 He forgives him because he loves him, and tells him 
 that he is forgiven, because he esteems the declaration 
 of his forgiveness to be the best means of reforming 
 him ; but the father must watch the son, to prevent his 
 falling again into those habits which have occasioned 
 the offence, and in order to re-establish and reproduce 
 such a spirit of temperance and honesty, as is necessary 
 to render him trustworthy. Here the forgiveness is 
 separate from the reform. The son, if he were not 
 forgiven, would have much less inducement to desire 
 the favour of his father ; and the father may fear lest 
 an injudicious lenity on his part, should retard the 
 reformation of the son, or obstruct it altogether. 
 
 As, therefore, an earthly father might doubt the 
 expediency of forgiving the offending son, so it may be 
 asked, whether God does offer pardon to all, through 
 Jesus Christ.^ I will quote one text: If any man 
 sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
 the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, 
 and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole 
 world.” Are all men, then, justified thereby — are all 
 men justified ^ The great majority of the world, of 
 those who have been admitted into Christ’s family by 
 baptism, are living in such a state, as leaves us in no 
 doubt, that all such persi^ns are not justified ; but still 
 this fact does not prove that the means of justification 
 have not been, and are not still, offered to them all. 
 After a great rebellion, a free pardon is offered to all 
 who will sue for it, under a certain form. Are all the 
 rebels thereby pardoned } They who submit, and sue 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 39 
 
 for the pardon in the right form, are pardoned. The 
 pardon is free, but not unconditional. It is free, and 
 yet there are many individuals who will be excluded 
 from it, and whose exclusion does by no means take 
 off from the freeness of the pardon. The children of 
 a father, who loves them tenderly, have offended him, 
 and are thereby alienated from him ; he is anxious to 
 be reconciled to them, and ready to forgive. Upon the 
 intercession of a friend, he states most clearly his feel- 
 ings with regard to them : he wishes to forgive them 
 — ^he wishes to reinstate them in their former position ; 
 he is not anxious to prescribe any conditions, but he 
 adds, “ I cannot forgive them unless they are sorry for 
 their conduct, and wish to be pardoned. I am more 
 grieved than they are, for I foresee the bitter conse- 
 quences of their behaviour — I see that it must, if per- 
 sisted in, ruin all their prospects in life ; but they must 
 learn to trust and to obey me, or I cannot do them the 
 good which I earnestly desire to do them.” Who then 
 are the subjects who are pardoned ? Which are the 
 children who are reconciled to their offended father ? 
 They are such as will sue for the pardon. They are 
 such as will return to the father. Our Saviour says, 
 Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy 
 laden.” His apostle said, ‘‘ Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”* We must therefore 
 come unto Christ, trusting that he can and will deliver 
 us. And if we examine any number of texts of the 
 same description, which call on lost man to accept of 
 
 Acts xvi. 31. 
 
40 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 pardon and reconciliation through Christ, we shall find 
 that, in every case, it is either expressed or implied, 
 that we are to believe on him. This condition — this 
 idea — is briefly and beautifully expressed by St. Paul, 
 
 Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord.”* 
 
 If then the objector again asks, — Who are justified } 
 our answer must be, — They are justified who believe 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ. What, merely believe } 
 Yes, merely believe — believe — not merely say they 
 believe I — ^believe with the heart, and not with the lips 
 only. And this answer may be confirmed and illus- 
 
 * Rom. V. 1. 
 
 t If it be asked, why nothing is here said of Baptism, it 
 may be observed, that the persons to whom these pages are 
 addressed, are such as have already been admitted into the 
 Church by that sacrament, but who, through sin, or the neglect 
 of those who have been their guides, have fallen from the 
 state of grace, into which they were then admitted, into one 
 of a greater or less degree of spiritual darkness. The use of 
 the sacrament seems also to be really implied in the expression 
 “ not merely say they believe.” Whoever comes to the great 
 Physician of souls, must employ the same prudence as would 
 be expected from any one who sought from his fellow-man 
 the recovery of his body. If the sacraments were appointed 
 by our Saviour, he who believes the words of our Saviour, will 
 follow the prescriptions which he has received. It is worse 
 than vain to talk of a faith which does not show itself in obe- 
 dience. Christ promises to save us from our sins here, as well 
 as from the punishment of them hereafter. The only way in 
 which we can come unto Christ here is, by following those 
 directions which he has given us. If I were asked, whether 
 baptism justifies, I should reply. Could an unbaptized person 
 be really a believer, if he did not seek for baptism ? 
 
THE ATONEMENT 
 
 41 
 
 trated, by examining the details connected with the 
 miracles performed by our blessed Saviour. When 
 the broken-hearted father brought his demoniac son to 
 Jesus, and said, If thou canst do any thing, have 
 compassion on us and help us,”* our Lord’s reply is. 
 
 If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him 
 that believeth.” The father was aware of the imper- 
 fection of his own belief, but the very answer which 
 he made distinctly marked the reality of it : Lord, I 
 believe, help thou mine unbelief.” He thought that 
 Jesus not only could, and would cure his son, but that 
 he would change also the parent’s heart — help his 
 unbelief. This language of our Saviour, when applied 
 to ourselves, amounts to this : You may be saved, if 
 you believe ; and the answer of the father will equally 
 teach us, that a saving faith is the gift of God. 
 
 But there is another case, even more strong than 
 this. When our Saviour visited his own country, the 
 people received him not as a prophet, for they said. 
 Is not this the carpenter’s son Pf and he did not many 
 mighty works there, because of their unbelief. St. 
 Mark says,J He could do there no mighty work,” — 
 he was not able.§ Nothing can be more strong than 
 this, and the answer to the question before us, is, They 
 who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are justified 
 thereby, which corresponds exactly with the declara- 
 tion of our own Church in the Eleventh Article, We 
 
 * Mark ix. 22. 
 i Mark vi. 5. 
 
 4 # 
 
 t Matt. xiii. 55. 
 § oiuic idivaxo. 
 
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 4& 
 
 are accounted righteous before God, only for the merits 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith,” &c. 
 
 Is then faith the condition of our being justified ? 
 undoubtedly it is ; but we must explain what is meant 
 by the term, in order to prevent mistakes. The con- 
 dition upon which the goods, which I purchase, become 
 mine, is, that I give an equivalent for them. The 
 condition on which the employer enjoys the services 
 of the labourer is, that he pay him his wages — an equi- 
 valent. For his justification the Christian has no equi- 
 valent which he can pay. Faith is no equivalent for 
 pardon : it is no price at which the pardon is purchased. 
 The condition on which the rebellious subject was par- 
 doned, by his offended monarch, was, that he sued for 
 his pardon. It is that without which he will not be 
 pardoned. We have perhaps used the word condition 
 in two different senses, at least a different idea is con- 
 veyed by it. Faith, then, is that without which no 
 one will be justified. There is one name given under 
 heaven whereby men may be saved, and faith is the 
 means by which we lay hold of that salvation which is 
 offered to lost man. Faith was the means whereby 
 those persons came unto Jesus, in whose favour the 
 miracles were performed. They believed that he could 
 and would do that which they sought for, and therefore 
 they came unto him, and he healed them. The woman, 
 who had an issue of blood, touched the hem of his 
 garment, because she believed that he who wore that 
 vesture could and would cure her. Else why did she 
 touch him } It was not the state of her own mind 
 which was the faith that cured her. She believed in 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 43 
 
 him who could cure her ; had she trusted in one less 
 able to save, she might not merely have touched the 
 hem, but have wrapped her whole body in the garment, 
 and have felt no benefit thereby ; but she came unto 
 Christ, and he cured her.* 
 
 And it is this which the Christian must do. He 
 must come unto Christ, trusting that Christ can and 
 will save us — ^will free us from our guilt by his blood 
 — ^will forgive us — ^will place who are condemned 
 in the sight of the Most High, in a state of reconcilia- 
 tion with God ; by taking upon himself that punish- 
 ment which we have deserved, with his stripes we 
 are healed.” He hath laid on him the iniquity of us 
 
 Almighty Father, who hast given thine only Son to 
 die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification ; 
 grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and 
 wickedness, that we may always serve thee in pureness 
 of living and truth : through the merits of the same thy 
 Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 * We may properly say that her faith cured her; by which 
 expression we mean that it rendered her meet to be cured. 
 Christ cured her, because he saw that she had faith to be 
 cured — was in a fit state of mind to receive the blessing. So 
 God justifies those who have faith — who are in a state of mind 
 which renders them meet to receive justification. The healing 
 faith, so to speak, of the woman, had the Almighty power of 
 Christ for its object; justifying faith has the efficacy of his 
 atonement. The object varies, but the nature of the faith is 
 in both instances the same. 
 
WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION? 
 
Creator Spirit, by whose aid 
 The world’s foundations first were laid, 
 Come, visit every humble mind ; 
 
 Come, pour Thy joys on human kind ; 
 From sin and sorrow set us free. 
 
 And make Thy temples worthy Thee. 
 
 Oh, Source of uncreated light. 
 
 The Father’s promised Paraclete ! 
 Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire, 
 
 Our hearts with heavenly love inspire ; 
 Come, and Thy sacred unction bring 
 To sanctify us, while we sing. 
 
 Chase from our mind the infernal foe. 
 And peace, the fruit of love, bestow ; 
 And lest our feet should step astray. 
 Protect and guide us in the way ; 
 
 Make us eternal truths receive. 
 
 And practise all that we believe ; 
 
 Give us thyself, that we may see 
 The Father and the Son, by Thee. 
 
 Immortal honor, endless fame. 
 
 Attend the Almighty Father’s name ; 
 The Saviour Son be glorified. 
 
 Who for lost man’s redemption died ; 
 And equal adoration be. 
 
 Eternal Paraclete, to Thee. 
 
WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION? 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Having explained the docrine of the Antonement, and 
 answered the question, What is Justification ? we will 
 proceed with another of equal importance, and ask — 
 
 What is Sanctification ? — It is the influence of the 
 Holy Ghost acting upon our hearts, and bringing them 
 into conformity to the will of God. Such a change of 
 heart produced in us, as draws us nigh unto God, and 
 enables us to address our heavenly Father by those 
 endearing titles, which we are in the Bible permitted 
 to employ. 
 
 Sin not only renders us guilty, and so liable to 
 punishment, but it turns away our affections from the 
 Almighty. The negligent and disobedient servant loves 
 not the presence of his earthly master — he cannot love 
 it. The froward child is dissatisfied with itself, and 
 shuns the eye of his too indulgent parent. And Adam 
 when he had broken the only law which his Maker had 
 given him, tried to conceal himself among the trees of 
 the garden. This is peculiarly the case, after the com- 
 mission of any positive and actual sin. When he, who 
 knows what Christian obedience is, has broken through 
 those restraints, which ordinarily preserve him from the 
 open breach of the law of God, and has done violence 
 to his own better judgment, by transgressing some 
 well-knoWn commandment, he feels disposed to fly from 
 God ; he often tries to hurry himself into society, to 
 engage in buisness, or to join in amusements, for the 
 
48 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 very purpose of avoiding his own reproving thoughts 
 — he is forced to shun the quiet hour of secret medita* 
 tion, because he cannot bear the severity of his own 
 self-convicting heart. 
 
 But besides the state of him who wilfully offends 
 against the dictates of his own conscience, there is 
 another state which is perhaps further from God. I 
 mean a state of habitual alienation from God — a state 
 of carelessness with regard to God, and every thing 
 pertaining to him — a state of deadness with regard to 
 religion, which in Scripture is forcibly described as the 
 natural state of man. Here then the individual is 
 afar off from God, without being conscious of it ; he 
 imagines himself safe, because others, in equal danger, 
 are apparently equally indifferent. Some zealous Chris- 
 tians would compare the condition of such a person, 
 to that of an unconverted heathen, though if properly 
 considered, it would surely appear to be infinitely worse. 
 The thoughtless Englishman has been admitted, at least 
 outwardly, into covenant with God. He knows this, 
 and cannot help being aware that they who are best 
 able to judge on such a question, esteem this a very 
 great privilege. He has possessed, for every one in 
 England does possess it, the outward means of learning 
 the nature of that religion in which he, together with 
 his fellow-countrymen, profess to believe, and he has 
 wilfully neglected to make use of these means. He 
 knows that Christ Jesus is preached as the author of 
 salvation, and he has never sought to learn what a faith 
 in Christ is — to know what Christianity is, which he 
 so thoughtlessly rejects. Can any one in his senses 
 
SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 49 
 
 compare the state of this man, with that of the idola- 
 trous inhabitant of central India, who has never heard 
 of the name of the Saviour of the world ? The compa- 
 rison must appear absurd. The thoughtless Christian 
 must be infinitely worse in the sight of God. Have 
 we no spiritual privileges as a nation ? What does our 
 Saviour mean when he says. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! 
 woe unto thee, Chorazin, for if the mighty works 
 which have been done in thee, had been done in Tyre 
 and Sidon, they would long ago have repented sitting 
 in sackcloth and ashes. Shall not the Queen of the 
 South rise up in judgment against the men of this 
 generation and condemn it ? Have we not, as a people, 
 the means of hearing those things which many prophets 
 and kings have desired to hear, and have not heard 
 them ? Such men see the general advantages of Chris- 
 tianity, but they will not look into its mysteries. They 
 will not look into those more peculiar doctrines which 
 constitute the very essence of Christianity. They will 
 not seek that which can alone save us in the day 
 of judgment. They close their eyes against it. They 
 see that religion is better than no religion. They see 
 that Christianity is a great blessing to the world, but 
 they have never yet seen their own lost condition with- 
 out a Saviour ; they have never practically felt that 
 without holiness no man shall see the Lord — nay, they 
 have never understood even the theory of Christianity 
 — never understood, that unless our hearts are brought 
 into conformity" to the will of God — unless we be 
 sanctified by the Holy Ghost, we have no just grounds 
 for hoping that we shall ever be made partakers of the 
 5 
 
50 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 joys which are at the right hand of God. We must 
 first be made sons of God by faith which is in Jesus 
 Christ ; and being sons we must be so sanctified, that 
 our hearts may cry Abba Father. That we may 
 have the feelings, and live the lives of sons of God. 
 What then again is the sanctification here spoken of 
 It is that personal holiness of the heart, which is 
 caused, in the believer, by the presence and influence 
 of the Holy Spirit. The man who is under the 
 guidance of the Comforter, becomes thereby a spiritual 
 Christian. 
 
 The effect so produced is spoken of in Scripture as 
 the indwelling of God in the heart of man. “ If any 
 man love me,” says our Saviour, he will keep my 
 words ; and my Father will love him, and we will come 
 unto him, and make our abode with him.” St. Paul 
 says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and 
 that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? If any man 
 defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the 
 temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” When 
 we are commanded to be perfect, even as our Father 
 which is in heaven is perfect ; this is not a vain form of 
 words, which bids us to do that which it is impossible 
 for us to do. When we are commanded to work out 
 our own salvation with fear and trembling, we are not 
 called on to attempt that to which we are totally 
 inadequate. But a faith in the Everlasting Son of 
 God, holds out to us, sinners though we be, the hope 
 of pardon, the prospect of mercy. And the power of 
 the Spirit of God, v/orking in the souls of those who 
 are his servants, — who are the adopted sons of God, — 
 
SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 51 
 
 enables them to cry Abba Father, and to do all things 
 through Christ that strengtheneth them. 
 
 The fruits of the Spirit are personal holiness, love, 
 joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, tem- 
 perance,” and unless these fruits are growing in us, 
 unless we can discover some evidence of this work of 
 the Lord on our hearts, we have no reason for conclud- 
 ing that we are under grace. All our hope of pardon 
 and of acceptance, is in and through Christ Jesus. 
 We are not pardoned because we have become holy ; 
 we are pardoned because Christ Jesus hath died for 
 us ; and being pardoned and accepted through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, we become holy through the influence 
 of that Spirit whom our Lord promised to send unto 
 us from the Father. The holiness here spoken of, is 
 not the mere round of external devotion, or of outward 
 duties, however regularly performed, though these are 
 frequently the means of producing this holiness in us. 
 It is a holiness of the heart. It is the image of God 
 impressed on the human soul. Our tempers and affec- 
 tions must become heavenly — our inclinations and 
 wishes must be lifted up towards God. We must love 
 the Lord our God with all our heart, and all our soul, 
 and all our strength — love him, not merely say we 
 love him. We must feel towards him a humble thank- 
 fulness ; inasmuch as he has not withheld his Son, his 
 only Son from us. And this love of God will display 
 itself in such a love towards man, that we shall, not 
 merely desire to love our neighbour as ourselves, but 
 we shall be, in some measure, enabled so to do. It is 
 such a love of God, as will lead us to be blameless in 
 
52 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 all manner of conversation — will make us devote our- 
 selves to the service of God — ^will make us try to fulfil 
 that vow of self-dedication, which we renew whenever 
 we are partakers in the body and blood of Christ. 
 
 And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, 
 ourselves, our souls, and bodies, to be a reasonable, 
 holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee.’’ 
 
 It must be evident to every one who is at all 
 acquainted with the state of his own heart, that the 
 frame of mind here described, cannot flow from any 
 source within ourselves. That the change in our natural 
 temper here spoken of, must proceed from a more than 
 human influence. So that if this change in the heart 
 and affections be necessary for every one, — if no one 
 can enter into the kingdom of God, either here or 
 hereafter, except through a faith in Christ, and except 
 his heart be brought by that faith, and through the 
 influence of the Holy Ghost, into a holy frame, it will 
 hardly be necessary for me to prove, that our own 
 Church is right in teaching us to pray, That we 
 being regenerate and made God’s children by adoption 
 and grace, may daily be renewed by the Holy Spirit.” — 
 That we may be, not only brought under the saving 
 influence of the Gospel, being led to place all our 
 hopes and confidence in the atonement of Christ. — 
 That we may, not only have been once baptized with 
 water and the Holy Spirit — have once partaken of the 
 inward, as well as the outward part of the sacrament 
 of baptism — but that we may have been, and may 
 daily be continued, under the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit of God. 
 
SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 53 
 
 Does any one ask, why such a change, why such an 
 influence is necessary for every son of Adam ? Does 
 he know his own heart ? Is he acquainted with the 
 evil dispositions, which are but too apt to gain domi- 
 nion, where peace, and joy, and heavenly love should 
 ever reign ? Is he aware how many unclean spirits 
 dwell in that body of his, which ought to be a temple 
 set apart for the Holy Ghost ? how envy, or spite, or 
 malice, or uncleanness, or ambition, or revenge, or 
 avarice, or pride are apt to take up their abode, where 
 nothing but love and peace, Christian love and Chris- 
 tian peace, ought to be admitted ? Does he know 
 himself.^ He esteems himself safe perhaps because 
 thousands beside him are in equal peril. But will it 
 satisfy us to be cast into hell, provided others are con- 
 signed to the same place of eternal penalty ? Will their 
 pangs relieve ours ? Will it be any consolation to us, 
 if others are joined with us in the same unceasing 
 misery : “ Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, and 
 many there be that go in thereat.” Does he know 
 that we are all, by nature, the children of wrath ? — that 
 by one man’s disobedience mam^ * were made sinners ? 
 Does he know that all have sinned and come short of 
 the glory of God ? Does he feel that he himself has 
 sinned ? followed that which is evil, and neglected that 
 which is good ? has trifled with God, and given way to 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil ? If he look into 
 his own heart, he may kno w it — if he examine his past 
 life he may see it. But why, he continues, may 1 not 
 
 The many, the mass, 6^ nol^ol. 
 5 * 
 
54 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 do as well as my neighbours ? My dear friend, you 
 may do as well as your neighbours, but narrow is 
 the gate.” 
 
 We will next enquire how this alteration and change 
 in the state of our heart is to be effected. First, I 
 would observe that though all such spiritual influence 
 must depend on God, and on him only, yet as far as 
 human eye can see, and as far as we can learn from 
 the Word of God, much is left to the agency and 
 instrumentality of man. We may either quench the 
 Spirit, or employ those means of grace with which the 
 Almighty has provided us : and humanly speaking, 
 the same faith which is the means whereby we accept 
 of pardon, is the means too by which we are sanctified. 
 We are pardoned, because we trust in Christ who died 
 for us, and the believing that Christ will make us holy 
 is the means by which we are made holy. As the 
 Spirit of God works in us to believe in Christ, before 
 we can become partakers of the forgiveness purchased 
 by his death — so through believing this, the Holy 
 Spirit works in us a holiness, with which we should 
 otherwise never have been blessed. It cuts at the 
 root of any imagination of our own worth or merit, 
 and creates that humility which is absolutely required 
 of all who are God’s people. We cannot be devoted 
 to God, unless we are convinced of our total depen- 
 dence on him ; and the feeling that we are lost, and 
 saved only by the death of Christ, produces this effect 
 in us ; it makes us sensible of our own dependence, 
 makes us long for a holiness which we do not possess, 
 and devote ourselves, body and soul, to the service of 
 
SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 55 
 
 God. The conviction of the necessity of this holiness, 
 this change of heart, which must proceed from God, 
 and not from ourselves, will make us pray for that help 
 of the Holy Ghost without which no sanctification can 
 take place in our souls. The conviction of our own 
 personal want of holiness, the conviction of the absence 
 of that spirituality, which constitutes the very essence 
 of sanctification ; the conviction that without this, we 
 are not God’s servants here, and shall not be accepted 
 by him hereafter ; that we are not God’s sons, because 
 we do not cry Abba, Father, — are all so many steps 
 by which the Spirit of God changes our hearts, brings 
 us from a natural to a spiritual state. They are so 
 many steps, for the Scriptures describe sanctification as 
 a gradual work. The expressions used, with regard to 
 the spread of the Gospel over the world, are equally 
 applicable to the growth of it in our own hearts — 
 First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in 
 the ear.” There must be a beginning, and as in all 
 cases, it is the first step which is the real difficulty, 
 many sincere friends of Christianity seem to attribute 
 too much to the first step. They introduce ideas 
 which create indistinctness. They apply language, 
 (which was perfectly intelligible, when applied to 
 Jews of mature age, in our Saviour’s days) to persons 
 situated as we are now, without qualifying the expres- 
 sions. There will be no advantage in entering into 
 controversial discussion, but it may be useful to state 
 briefly that which is frequently misunderstood in the 
 doctrines of our own Church, on this subject. 
 
 Our Church applies the term ‘‘ being born again” to 
 
56 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 the grace which is granted in baptism, and presumes 
 that the child of Christian parents, admitted into the 
 family of Christ, and brought up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord, may never have fallen from 
 grace, may have been, not always nor ever perfect ; 
 but always the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 so advancing in the path of Christian holiness, by a 
 constant supply of God’s grace. We cannot help 
 perceiving that the mass of any community, nominally 
 Christian, is not living in a state of grace ; is not 
 guided by the Holy Spirit of God ; and therefore the 
 children of such persons do not continue in the state 
 into which they were admitted by baptism — probably 
 they have never been walking in a state of grace ; but 
 why need we define that with which we are unac- 
 quainted from the Word of God } 
 
 It is however clear, that with regard to those who 
 are brought from this state, into a state of grace, the 
 change must have been effected by the power of God, 
 by the influence of the Holy Ghost : and yet we have 
 no right to identify this grace with the conversion and 
 baptism of a heathen adult. We should create a great 
 confusion with regard to infant baptism, a great confu- 
 sion with regard to the doctrines and services of our 
 own Church, not to say a confusion in the language of 
 holy Scripture, if we attempted to describe under the 
 same terms ideas so very far distant from each other, 
 as the cases of an unconverted heathen, and of a 
 person, who having formerly, at baptism, been admitted 
 into the Church of Christ, has lived in a total neglect 
 of Christianity as to its sanctifying doctrines, and that 
 
SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 57 
 
 holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. 
 The most degraded heathen will in the day of judg- 
 ment rise up against him and condemn him, because 
 he has neglected to employ that light which has been 
 most mercifully granted. 
 
 The whole question of baptismal regeneration is one 
 on which a great diversity of expression may be used 
 without very great difference of opinion. Few will 
 venture to deny that grace is granted to the baptized 
 infant upon his outward admission into the Church of 
 Christ. The Church of England teaches that such 
 grace is given, and declares the child when baptized, to 
 be regenerate ; applying this term to the grace so given, 
 without defining its quality or extent. She teaches 
 too That after we have received the Holy Ghost we 
 may depart from grace given, and fall into sin.” So 
 that in this view of the question, it is no proof that the 
 man is not regenerate, because he is not walking under 
 grace — he may have fallen from grace — he may indeed 
 never have been under grace, in the sense which some 
 persons apply to the term “regenerate,” but such 
 persons must remember that such a use of the word 
 arises from themselves and not from the Church. 
 
 The state of the baptized Christian may be illus- 
 trated by that of the circumcised Israelite. Our 
 Saviour says,* “ I know that ye are Abraham’s seed,” 
 and yet he immediately after adds, “ If ye were Abra- 
 ham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” 
 Baptism is a pledge to assure us of grace given — not 
 
 John viii. 37. 
 
58 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 of grace growing^ or even continued. The prodigal in 
 the far country is still a son, and if he have grace to 
 come to himself and to return, he may be assured that 
 he is a son. 
 
 Almighty God, who hast given us thy only begotten 
 Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born of a 
 pure Virgin ; grant that we being regenerate, and 
 made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily 
 be renewed by thy Holy Spirit ; through the same our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee 
 and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. 
 Amen. 
 
FREENESS OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
Ye that in these courts are found, 
 Listening to the Gospel sound ; 
 Lost and guilty as ye are ; 
 
 Full of sorrow, sin, and care ; 
 Glorify the King of kings ; 
 
 Take the peace the Gospel brings. 
 
 Turn to Christ your suppliant eyes 
 View’ His perfect sacrifice ; 
 
 See in Him your sins forgiven ; 
 Follow in His steps to heaven ; 
 Glorify the King of kings ; 
 
 Take the peace the Gospel brings. 
 
THE 
 
 FREENESS OF THE ATONEMENT- 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 When we look at any point connected with salvation, 
 there are two aspects in which a wise man will regard 
 it : one as it belongs to the question generally, the 
 other as it refers personally to ourselves ; and, of 
 course, the latter of these two is, beyond compare, the 
 most important to us. It is a matter of curiosity, to 
 examine how far the sacrifice offered by Christ can be 
 said to extend to the whole world ; but it is one of vital 
 interest to ascertain whether we are included within 
 the limits of the general offer. We have, in the pre- 
 ceding chapters, examined the leading features which 
 characterize Christianity ; we have seen the importance 
 of believing in Jesus as a Saviour, and the blessing of 
 being under the influence of the Holy Ghost, but still 
 there may be a question, not only how far we are par- 
 takers of this great advantage, but how far we are 
 capable of being so. We see that all are not sharers 
 in these special privileges. Our minds may say, how 
 far are all of us capable of becoming so ? 
 
 Whoever considers the infinite value of salvation, 
 and imagines that some mistake of his own, concerning 
 the terms on which it is proposed to man, may exclude 
 him from the benefit of the gracious offer, must be 
 dead to every sense of his own interest, or he must be 
 mad, if he continue one moment without trying to 
 6 
 
62 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 look to the bottom of the question. There may be 
 difficulties, even to the last. There may, and will, be 
 some points on which we shall wish for more full 
 information — some doubts which we should gladly see 
 cleared up ; but in a matter of such paramount im- 
 portance, he that doubteth is damned. The mere fact 
 of our going on in doubt, shows that all is not right 
 with us. If a question were raised as to the solvency 
 of a bank, and we knew that some of the most influen- 
 tial partners did themselves mistrust the state of the 
 establishment, but were still unwilling to enter on a 
 full investigation of its solvency, what would be the 
 impression on the mind of an indifferent person ? If 
 the partner doubts, and does not examine, he is con- 
 demned by the very nature of the case. It may be 
 wiser under many circumstances not to enter on an 
 investigation ; but the fact of their declining to do so, 
 passes on the bank a sentence which nothing can wipe 
 off. He who goes on, notwithstanding his doubts, is 
 condemned by the mere doing so. There may be parts 
 of the concerns of the bank with which the partner, so 
 declining to examine, may not be entirely conversant ; 
 he may be forced to say, I cannot answer this or that 
 question, but of the whole I have no doubt. I do not 
 investigate, because I have no doubt. The mere 
 investigation would imply and create a doubt, when 
 in truth I have none. This would be the language of 
 an honest man ; but if he doubted, he would be con- 
 demned by the mere doubt. The Christian may say. 
 How far God has offered eternal life to every created 
 being, I do not know, “ seek ye to enter in at the 
 
FREENESS OF THE ATONEMEN'r. 
 
 63 
 
 straight gate.” That he has offered it to all baptized 
 Christians, I have no doubt. That he does offer it 
 to all to whom the word of God is preached, I have no 
 doubt. That it is the duty of every Christian to try 
 to preach the Gospel to the whole world, I have no 
 doubt. That Christ died for all, I have no doubt ; 
 nor have I any doubt that many are called, but few 
 chosen.” Here then, as a practical question, bearing 
 on the salvation of the individual, there is ground 
 enough on which every humble Christian may stand. 
 He believes that God willeth all men to be saved and 
 to come to a knowledge of the truth,” — all men — as 
 far as the will of God is concerned, — not saved without 
 coming to the truth, — but saved by coming to the 
 truth. The most willing father cannot be reconciled 
 to his offending children, unless they wish for recon- 
 ciliation. God has established laws which he will not 
 break, and the sinfulness of men may exclude from the 
 mercy of God. There may be a difficulty in under- 
 standing how this can be so — how there can be any- 
 thing which an Almighty Being can will, and yet not 
 do. There is, and always will be, a metaphysical diffi- 
 culty in this — there is no practical difficulty. We act 
 on such sort of points ever}^ day of our lives. God 
 may give a free will to his creature, whom ho willetli 
 to be saved, and that free will may be exercised in 
 opposition to the will of God, but the offer is a free 
 gift on the part of God. Free to all, as far as we are 
 concerned ; and the freedom imposes on us most 
 important duties : the duty of accepting the offer 
 made to us — the duty of trying to make the offer to 
 
64 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 others — to all others. Why ! God should make 
 another man’s salvation to hinge on our exertions, 
 may be a difficulty to some minds ; but it is perfectly 
 consistent with that law which visiteth the iniquity 
 of the fathers on the third and fourth generations.” 
 In all such questions, the difficulty exists in some 
 stage or other of the examination : one human being 
 may see further into God’s dealings than another, 
 but there is a point at which every one stops ; but this 
 point is always beyond the practical question. God 
 never leaves us in doubt as to what we are to do, or 
 what we are not to do ; this is almost always quite 
 clear — clear as to our general line of conduct. The 
 difficulty begins when we wish to pr}^ beyond the 
 practical question. Some persons may conceive that 
 they are rejec^d, but, probably, no one would pretend, 
 that the offer of salvation was never made to them. 
 When we begin to inquire, the door seems to be always 
 open — Christ Jesus is the propitiation, not only for 
 our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. The 
 rock on which the believer builds his hopes, is one 
 which divine mercy has placed as the common founda- 
 tion for every Christian building. The superstructure 
 may be different, but there is but one safe foundation, 
 and that is one to which we are all invited to come — 
 it is Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy 
 laden.” This is a free call — a call made to all. It is 
 an invitation to accept of a great favour which has been 
 conferred on us. The favour has been conferred^ it 
 remains for us to accept it.* Redemption is that which 
 has been done for us by Christ, without our having 
 
FREENESS OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 65 
 
 at all participated in the thing done. We may, or 
 may not, accept it ; but if we believe not, he abideth 
 faithful. The free pardon is signed and sealed, without 
 any instrumentality on our part ; has been signed and 
 sealed since the day that Christ rose from the dead, 
 triumphing over sin and death. If we trust in this, 
 we shall be saved, i. e., if we really trust. This faith, 
 this trusting, is also a free gift of God ; but this is 
 ordinarily wrought b}* means : human agents are often, 
 almost always perhaps, instrumentally concerned in 
 producing this faith. We are ourselves probably, of 
 all agents, those who are most concerned in producing 
 this faith. We limit not God’s power or will. We 
 say not how he may act. The only question which we 
 seek to answer is, how he does work. The ten thou- 
 sand events which have insensibly contributed to pro- 
 duce a faith in Christ in the mind of the humble Eng- 
 lish Christian, are God’s doing, as much as the light 
 from heaven which changed the faith of St. Paul. 
 That man must be a bold reasoner, who would say 
 that St. Paul might not have resisted even this call ; or 
 who would say, that the Pharisees, who saw the mira- 
 cles of our Saviour, did not reject a call from heaven ; 
 and if any one denies that many of those with whom 
 we live, do reject that which God purposed to have 
 led them to a faith in Christ, he must, I think, know 
 very little of what is actually going on around us. 
 
 In this investigation it is of the utmost importance 
 to keep in mind, that the whole difficulty which embar- 
 rasses us, is a logical difficulty which created as great 
 perplexity to the Stoics as it presents to the Christian. 
 
 6 ^ 
 
66 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 The fatality of the Greek tragedians is abstractedly as 
 difficult to be understood as the doctrine of predestina- 
 tion ; but practically there is no difficulty — practically 
 we all acknowledge that faith is wrought in us by 
 means, and is prevented by the non-use of means. 
 The limit of those means belongs to our heavenly 
 Father, but the use of the means he has given to us, 
 and woe be to us if we use them not. 
 
 But it may be said, — May we not desire to partake 
 in these blessings, and yet never obtain them } for our 
 Lord says, — Many shall seek to enter in and not be 
 able.” But if we look at these very words, we shall 
 find that his argument is this, — Strive to enter in with 
 all your might, for if you do not strive now^ you will 
 seek, when it is too late, with all earnestness and im- 
 portunity to enter in, but to no purpose. A line of 
 argument which seems most clearly to imply a freeness 
 on the part of God. Of course there is a point where 
 God will cut off the offender. It is not for us to say 
 when the Almighty began to harden Pharaoh’s heart ; 
 we know that he did harden it ; but if we fairly exam- 
 ine any of those texts which alarm the minds of penitent 
 and doubting Christians, I think we may feel convinced 
 that men are condemned by their continuance in 
 impenitence, and not by the refusal of pardon to the 
 penitent. The case of Esau (Heb. xii. 16 ) refers to an 
 earthly, rather than a spiritual advantage. The whole 
 line of reasoning, if fairly examined, seems to amount 
 to no more than this, — that he did wrong, and could 
 never do away the effects of his own mad conduct — he 
 could not recover his birthright. And undoubtedly 
 
FREENESS OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 67 
 
 the same is at the present day true in spiritual things 
 He who by his sin had allowed an evil temper, a wrong 
 passion, to master him, will, perhaps, during his whole 
 life, find it necessary to seek for pardon with tears ; 
 and may, to his dying day, find a temporal as well as 
 a spiritual curse affixed to his transgression — a punish- 
 ment which attends him to his last hour, and of which 
 the very object may be, to save him, by leading him 
 daily and humbly to Christ Jesus. So again : (Heb. 
 vi. 4,) v/here it is said, that it is impossible to renew 
 those w’ho have fallen after grace ; St. Paul does not 
 say that they cannot be renewed, but that the preacher 
 of Christianity has no means of renewing them — has 
 no new offer to make to them.* 
 
 If then God produces faith in us by means, and if 
 he places the means before us, and we refuse to em- 
 ploy them, surely there is nothing to take away from 
 the freeness of the offer. We can hardly practically 
 
 * Unless T am greatly mistaken, the active sense of the verb 
 is not only the most grammatical, but suits the chain of argu- 
 ment much better than any other. “ Many of you,” says the 
 Apostle, “have so gone backward, that you stand in need 
 of milk and not of strong meat. (v. 12.) You need to be 
 instructed in the first principles of that religion in which you 
 ought to be teachers ; to these I cannot now refer, I must try 
 to lead you forv'ard towards perfection, (vi. 1.) If they who 
 have been made partakers of the heavenly gift, and enjoyed 
 the same privileges as myself, have crucified the Lord of Life 
 afresh, and put him to an open shame, what can I do for their 
 conversion — {ddvvaxov avoLnaivl'Ceiv alg fiei&voLav). It is im- 
 possible for me to renew them, to convert them to that faith 
 from which they have fallen.” 
 
68 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 doubt of the want of faith existing among the great 
 mass of nominal Christians ; they show by their lives 
 that they do not believe the Gospel to be true ; they 
 may deny nothing — they act as if they did not believe. 
 They do not seem to consider the state of trial in 
 which we are placed, and that we are drawing nearer 
 either to heaven or to hell every day of our lives. 
 They do not seem to believe that there is a prospect 
 of hell before them ; that there are means whereby we 
 may escape this place of torment, and that God freely 
 offers them the means of escaping. They do not seem 
 to believe that unless they lay hold of this one name 
 b}" which we may be saved, they will perish ever- 
 lastingly. Some persons are shocked at the strength 
 of this expression, perish everlastingly,” as repeated 
 in the Athanasian Creed. The only question is — Is 
 it true ? Is there no other means of salvation than 
 through Christ } If so, where is the harshness of 
 speaking the truth, when the truth can alone free us 
 from death eternal ? A free offer of pardon and 
 acceptance is made us through Christ Jesus, and 
 there is no other means of acceptance — so free, that 
 at the day of judgment, every Christian who is con- 
 demned will say : — My own obstinacy brought on me 
 this just punishment. God was merciful, but I re- 
 jected his mercy. God said unto me — Believe in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” — 
 and I did not believe in this only Saviour. 
 
FREENESS OF THE ATONEMENT. 09 
 
 O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly 
 wills and affections of sinful men ; grant unto Thy 
 people, that they may love the thing which Thou com- 
 mandest, and desire that which Thou dost promise ; 
 that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of 
 the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where 
 true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
THE 
 
 FREENESS OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 In the last chapter we have come to the conclusion 
 that the offer of salvation is freely made to every baptized 
 Christian ; but it may be doubted whether our line of 
 reasoning has not carried us even beyond this ; and it 
 may be asked whether the same arguments will not 
 lead us to conclude, that as Christ Jesus died for all, 
 all men must be justified. It may be asked, — If 
 Redemption be wrought for us, without any effort of 
 our own, why may it not be extended to the Hindoo 
 as well as to the Englishman F — to the heathen as well 
 as to the Christian ? And our answer must be, — 
 Because God, whose we are, and whom we serve, has 
 ordained that men shall come to the knowledge of the 
 truth, in order that they may be saved. It is not that 
 we pretend to say that he might not have ordered it 
 otherwise, but that from his word we learn that he has 
 ordered it so ; and he has also said, that “ without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord.” And without the 
 grace of God, by faith, men do not become holy. A 
 Christian missionary, whose eye has been opened to 
 the purity of God, and the defilements which are in 
 man, is aware of the degradation of the heathen, — of 
 the debased state of mind into which mankind fall, 
 when the mass of society is not salted with the salt of 
 Christianity, — when there are none of God’s servants 
 
FREENESS OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 71 
 
 to season the lump. Men who live in the society of 
 those who call themselves Christiansj and among whom 
 there are many who are governed by the spirit of the 
 Gospel, do not know how much they owe to the secret 
 influence of God’s servants. The ten righteous persons 
 not only prevent God from destroying the city, but 
 they do prevent the city from being such as God would 
 destroy. The mass of the world are not at all aware 
 of the Christian meaning of the expression — A little 
 leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” The master of a 
 large school is soon aware of the secret and injurious 
 influence of two or three malicious, ill-disposed boys : 
 they raise up a spirit among their fellows which soon 
 displays itself. But he would not be conscious of the 
 beneficial effect of two or three good boys : they prevent 
 evil of the existence of which he is not aware ; he may 
 learn it afterwards, but at the time the evil is prevented, 
 and he knows neither his escape nor the secret cause 
 of it. The mass of the world do not see the depravity 
 of human nature. A man who was not influenced by 
 Christianity, would not be aware of the depravity of 
 the heathen among whom he lived ; he would not see 
 that they were worse than a Christian society ; his own 
 mind would soon get infected by the depravity around 
 him, and he would lose sight of the exceeding sinful- 
 ness of sin. Such a man who was living at Benares, 
 would not be conscious that the people were much 
 worse than they are in London. There may be some 
 points in which they are not worse — to our shame be 
 it spoken ; but a Christian missionary would see that 
 amongst the guilt and depravity of England — of that 
 
72 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 which was worst in England — there was a salt which 
 prevented such a degree of corruption as he would 
 behold amongst the heathen. The Christian community- 
 may be the more guilty though the less impure — acting 
 more against the convictions of conscience. But the 
 most impure of the heathen is guilty on account of his 
 impurity, because God has given him a means of ad- 
 vancing in holiness, to which he has not attained, and 
 which he has rejected against his better judgment. I 
 conceive that the reasoning of St. Paul to the Romans 
 always has been and always will be true. 
 
 Rom. i. 18 — “ For the wrath of God is revealed from 
 heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 
 men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness ; because 
 that which may be known of God, is manifest in them ; 
 for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible 
 things of him from the creation of the world are clearly 
 seen, being understood by the things that are made, 
 even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they are 
 without excuse : because that when they knew God, 
 they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful ; 
 but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish 
 heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise 
 they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncor- 
 ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
 man, and to birds and four-footed beasts, and creeping 
 things. Wherefore God also gave them up to unclean- 
 ness through the lusts of their own hearts.” God gave 
 that to man, to every created man, which would have 
 led him to a better state than that in which he stands. 
 The most impure would have been less defiled, had he 
 
FREENESS OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 73 
 
 not cast away that knowledge, that aid witn which 
 God had supplied him. He is guilty, because he 
 might have been better. Video meliora proboque.’’ 
 It would be folly to assert that every man might have 
 attained to Christian holiness; but every man’s own 
 heart will confess, that he might have attained to a 
 greater degree of holiness than he has attained to. 
 But Christian holiness is not such a perfection as man 
 may attain unto by himself, but it is such a state as 
 God’s grace will produce in man. 
 
 Now it is clear that Christian holiness has not been 
 offered to every man, for the Gospel has never yet 
 been preached to the majority of mankind. But if to 
 every man a greater degree of holiness has been pro- 
 posed, than he has ever attained to, it is clear, that 
 Christians who have not attained to Christian holiness 
 have stopped short through their own fault. If Chris- 
 tian holiness, as all other holiness, is to be attained by 
 degrees, and men stop short through their own fault, 
 — if holiness is to be attained by means, and men will 
 not accept of those means, which are proposed to them 
 by the mercy of God, it seems clear that the rejection 
 is an act of the man himself, who refuses that which 
 the Almighty offers. Men often excuse themselves on 
 the plea that they cannot become holy save through 
 the influence of the Holy Ghost, — have they ever 
 examined into the question whether they have not 
 themselves rejected grace when it was proffered to 
 them } Christ died for all, but they only are made 
 partakers of the benefit of that death who believe in 
 the vSon of God. Our Saviour says, “If ye being 
 
74 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 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 ?” — i. e. If we ask, 
 we shall have grace given unto us. It might be 
 objected that some men may not have grace to ask : 
 we know that some men do not ask ; but it may be 
 safely left to the decision of any man’s own conscience, 
 whether God has not enabled him to see the propriety, 
 the wisdom, the duty of asking for grace, and whether he 
 himself has not been negligent in asking. The freedom 
 and fulness of God’s grace to baptized Christians — to 
 those who are living in a Christian country, to whom 
 the outward means of grace are always open — consists 
 of this : Not that God forces his holiness upon all, 
 but that there is no one to whom the means of sancti- 
 fication are not so far open that he will truly say — 
 God called me to holiness, and I might have been 
 more holy had I but used those means which the 
 Almighty has placed before me ; my present want of 
 holiness is my own fault. The freeness with which 
 sanctification is proposed to us seems to differ in its 
 nature and character from the freeness with which 
 justification is offered to us. It is easy to conceive 
 that a person may live all their life in England, and 
 yet never be aware of the nature of the Gospel, — of 
 the free offer of pardon, through a Redeemer’s blood, 
 made to lost man ; he must have heard the words, — 
 he may never have received the idea into his mind ; 
 it is easy to conceive that a person shall have lived in 
 England, and have no idea that the grace of God is 
 necessary to enable us to become holy ; but it is not 
 
FREENESS OF SANGTIFICATION. 
 
 75 
 
 easy to conceive a person who believes that Christ 
 Jesus died for him, and who wishes to be the servant 
 of Christ, and yet imagines that the holiness which he 
 sees that he needs, is denied him through any other 
 cause than his own neglect of using those means 
 which God has appointed. Nevertheless, there are 
 perhaps many such persons ; and it is probable that a 
 misunderstanding of the doctrine of Christ’s imputed 
 righteousness may have tended to increase the number 
 of such unhappy individuals. Under the name Im- 
 puted righteousness,” two totally distinct ideas are 
 frequently conveyed. Some persons would understand 
 by it, that which is laid down in the third chapter 
 of this book, — We are pardoned for Christ’s sake — 
 With his stripes we are healed ; Christ’s righteous- 
 ness is thus imputed to us. Others would say, — 
 No one can fulfil the whole law, — No man can 
 become holy as our Father which is in heaven is 
 holy, — All our holiness is as filthy rags, we must 
 be clothed upon therefore with the holiness of 
 Christ’s righteousness imputed to us — not our own, 
 but Christ’s ; i. e. they substitute a holiness worked for 
 us, for a holiness worked in us. And in a practical 
 point of view, the difference between the two views 
 is enormous. As far as merit is concerned, there is 
 no difference of opinion. No man, who knows what 
 Christian holiness is, will ever venture to enter into an 
 examination of his own merits. Both these parties 
 seek for pardon and acceptance through Christ. We 
 pray him to accept our unholy holiness; not to weigh 
 it, but to forgive it. But in one case, the sinner hopes 
 
76 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 to be made holy in this life, to be made more and 
 more holy continually, day by day growing in grace : 
 in the other case, he hopes that he shall be clothed 
 with Christ’s holiness ; he expects that the sanctifica- 
 tion of his heart shall be done for him, and not in him. 
 Both agree that it must be God’s doing ; one believes 
 that it is done without us, without any co-operation on 
 our part; the other, that it is done in us, by God, and 
 that the instrument is the using such means as God 
 has appointed. I need hardly add, that in my opinion, 
 the term imputed righteousness is equivocal, and not 
 being used in sacred Scripture in the second sense, it 
 is much better not to employ it ; though I cannot help 
 fearing that many persons neglect to use the means 
 which God has appointed to make us holy, because 
 they have a vague idea of being made holy without 
 the use of means. In a false species of humility they 
 look up to God, to do that for them which God can 
 alone effect, but which he has appointed to be effected 
 by means placed with their reach. 
 
 The freeness then of justification and of sanctifica- 
 tion are equally great ; both are offered to us — to every 
 baptized Christian placed as we are ; but they are 
 offered in a different way. Christ died for all, and 
 God has offered to each of us a share in this pardon : 
 
 * The term “imputed righteousness” may he applied to 
 either “justification” or “sanctification;” in the first case it 
 agrees with the doctrine of the Xlth Article. When applied to 
 sanctification, it is likel}^ to lead to a very false view of Chris- 
 tian holiness, and to avoid the danger of this misapplication, I 
 esteem it safer not to employ the term. 
 
FREENESS OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 7 
 
 we may reject it, but God offers it to us freely. He 
 offers to ever}^ one of us the means of becoming holy. 
 He says, — Pray, and I will give you grace. The sinner 
 says, — I cannot pra}". But he may ask God to enable 
 him — God will do so. He sends his ministers — he 
 appoints his sacraments — he has enabled many of his 
 servants to write books tending to the edification of 
 their brethren: all these are means of grace. They 
 will not avail of themselves. God offers these outward 
 means to every man in England ; but, believe me, God 
 never did, and never will deny his grace — that inward 
 grace which can alone purify the heart — to such as 
 humbly employ those means which he has given us. 
 In this sense, sanctification is freely offered to us all ; 
 and we shall be without excuse, if at the day of judg- 
 ment we are without it. 
 
 O Almighty Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, 
 we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both 
 our hearts and bodies in the ways of thy laws, and in 
 the works of thy commandments ; that through thy 
 most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may 
 be preserved in body and soul ; through our Lord and 
 Savour Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
SANCTIFICATION THE FRUIT OF 
 JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 From what has been already said, it will appear that 
 both Redemption and Sanctification are offered to all 
 baptized Christians. As a practical question, it will 
 not be necessary to examine how far the offer is made 
 to those who do not partake of the same privileges as 
 ourselves ; but it will be of consequence for us to see 
 how one who is not at the present moment walking 
 under grace, may become partaker of that which he 
 needs, — how he may become a lively member of that 
 Church of Christ, into which he has been admitted, — 
 how he may accept of that salvation which is graciously 
 proffered to him, — ^howhe may experience the renewing 
 influence of that grace which our heavenly Father 
 promises to give to those who ask him. How is he to 
 begin } Is he to try to become holy that he may believe 
 on Christ Jesus as a Saviour ? or is he to believe on 
 the Saviour that he may become holy ? Which is to 
 come first in the order of the Christian life. Sanctifica- 
 tion or Justification ^ 
 
 I was very much confused the other day, said Euse- 
 bius to a clerical friend, when a member of my congre- 
 gation, with whom I was conversing on the doctrines of 
 Justification and Sanctification, asked me this question, 
 — Is Sanctification the consequence of Justification, 
 or are we justified because we are made holy Now 
 if you had been asked this same question, what answer 
 
SANCTIFICATION, ETC. 
 
 79 
 
 should you have given to it ? 1 should, said the friend, 
 have tried to avoid the question ; I should perhaps 
 have asked my applicant, whether men are made active 
 by taking much exercise, or took much exercise because 
 they’ were active ? And I will tell you why I should 
 have done this. Such questions are more frequently 
 asked out of* a foolish curiosity, than from any sound 
 desire of being instructed on the subject. Now the 
 real difficulty of such questions exists full as much in 
 the nature of things, as in the particular case before us. 
 Causes and effects are so blended together, that it is 
 frequently not easy to say which of the two takes 
 place first. — Activity disposes the man to take exercise, 
 and taking exercise makes him active. I do not mean to 
 place this difficulty on exactly the same grounds as the 
 other, for we must always be cautious in not carrying 
 our analogies too far ; but I should be glad to show 
 the applicant that my silence did not depend on my 
 being unable to answer him, but on my being unwilling 
 to gratify a useless curiosity. People take up logical 
 difficulties, connect them with Christianity, and then 
 attribute the difficulty to Christianity. The difficulties 
 connected with predestination did exist, and would 
 have continued to perplex mankind, had Christianity 
 never been revealed. They exist in connexion with 
 Christianity, but are not peculiar to it. So in this case, 
 these two doctrines are so closely connected with each 
 other, that as far as human eye can see, the effects 
 arising from them always go on together. A faith in 
 Christ as a Saviour, produces holiness of heart and 
 of life ; and as these grow, they continually tend to 
 
80 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 augment the faith of the person so growing in holi- 
 ness. 
 
 But surely, replied Eusebius, there must be a right 
 way of discussing these questions, and you must allow, 
 that to try to put me off when I make the enquiry in a 
 quiet, humble way, without giving me any distinct 
 reply, is not likely to satisfy any one. 
 
 Did not our Lord himself do this very thing when 
 they asked him irrelevant questions ? 
 
 Yes, but he gave the answer virtually, while he 
 silenced the enquirers. In the case of the tribute 
 money he virtually said, — Why do you ask me so 
 ensnaring a question ? have you not already practically 
 answered your own question by employing the Roman 
 coin } In the case of the seven brethren, he says, — 
 Your question, however craftily contrived, only proves 
 one thing — that you are judging of heaven by an earth- 
 ly standard, and display your own ignorance of the 
 sacred Scriptures. So that even granting that my 
 question is irrelevant, which I do not allow, your 
 answer must either virtually contain a reply to my 
 question, or I shall still have the example to which 
 you yourself have appealed, against you. 
 
 And have I not virtually answered your question 
 when I said that faith produces holiness } 
 
 But then you said that holiness produced faith. 
 
 No ; I think I only said that holiness tended to aug- 
 ment faith ; but if I must say what I think on this sub- 
 ject, I will do so as clearly as I can. I omit the case 
 of the Christian who has never fallen from that state 
 of grace into which he was admitted at infant baptism. 
 
SANCTIFICATION, ETC. 
 
 81 
 
 for though I would never omit the mention of the case, 
 and though I believe that the case may exist, and 
 might be of ordinary occurrence if Christians were 
 living in such a state of holiness as a community of 
 believers might attain to, yet in the present state of the 
 world, such instances must be so rare as not to require 
 much discussion ; omitting, therefore, this, and refer- 
 ring to persons situated as we are, I should say that 
 the pardon must come before the holiness, or that we 
 must be justified before we are sanctified — ^we must be 
 reconciled to God before we can try to please God. 
 
 Still, said Eusebius, if a father had banished his son 
 from his presence on account of his profligate conduct, 
 the son might be reformed, even without there being 
 any reconciliation with his father ; and the reform in 
 the son might be the cause of a future reconciliation 
 between them. 
 
 True, but had the father known what was taking 
 place in the mind of the son, — had there been that 
 communion between this father and son, which even 
 the worst of sinners holds with our heavenly Father, 
 how would your case stand then } And consider that 
 the sanctification of which we are speaking, is not the 
 reforming ourselves, but the holiness wrought in us by 
 the floly Ghost — not making ourselves holy, but being 
 made holy — not merely the pra3"ers and alms which 
 have come up for a memorial before God, but the Holy 
 Spirit falling on them that hear the word. There are 
 degrees of faith. There is, ‘‘Lord, I believe, help 
 thou mine unbelief.” There are degrees of grace and 
 holiness ; but if we believe in the doctrine of original 
 
82 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 sin, I do not see how we can expect holiness to be 
 ingrafted, till the taint has been taken away ; and God 
 commendeth his love towards us, in that while we 
 were yet sinners Christ died for us. 
 
 I cannot help beli(wing too that some light may be 
 thrown on this question by examining certain texts 
 wherein these doctrines are spoken of. 
 
 Rom. vi. 22 — Being made free from sin, and become 
 servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and 
 the end everlasting life. 
 
 Where the steps are, being made free from sin, (by 
 believing in the atonement offered by Christ,) ye have 
 entered into his service, and been made holy. And it 
 may be observed, that the Greek word here translated 
 holiness,” is more properly rendered by the term 
 sanctification,”* i. e. being made holy. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 30 — But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, 
 who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteous- 
 ness and sanctification and redemption.” Who has 
 proved to us the author of all these blessings ; having 
 opened our eyes, justified us, made us holy, and has 
 brought us back from that thraldom into which we had 
 fallen. Where the order seems to be justification and 
 then sanctification. 
 
 * ^AyicKafibg occurs ten times in the Epistles. In our trans- 
 lation it is five times rendered “ holiness,” — five times “ sanc- 
 tification.” In two of these five, the terms are so nearly equiva- 
 lent that no great injury is done to the meaning (1 Tim. ii. 15 ; 
 Heh. xii. 14 :) in the three others (Rom. vi. 19 and 22 ; 1 Thess. 
 iv. 7,) the sense would be improved by the adoption of “ sanc- 
 tification.” The w^ord itself, from its construction, signifies 
 “ being made holy.” 
 
SANCTIFICATIOM, ETC. 
 
 83 
 
 1 Cor. vi. 11 — And such were some of you; but 
 ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justi- 
 fied, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
 of our God.” Where, at first sight, the order seems 
 reversed; but the sentence may be taken thus: Ye 
 have received the outward and the inward washing of 
 water and the spirit ; ye are justified by being admit- 
 ted into the family of Christ, and are made holy 
 through the Holy Ghost. Where the two operations 
 seem to stand in the order assumed in this chapter, but 
 to be mentioned twice. 
 
 There are several other passages where the two 
 operations are mentioned in juxta-position, but they 
 do not really bear on the question. 
 
 More stress may appear to be laid on this species of 
 argument than it deserves ; but it should be remem- 
 bered, that these texts have been brought forward, not 
 to establish a theory, but merely to confirm a conclu- 
 sion drawn from other sources. The argument is 
 this : By examining the words of St. Paul, when he 
 is incidentally mentioning the subject, it would seem 
 that the order here lai(J down is that which existed in 
 his mind. 
 
 And besides, 1 think that the correctness of the 
 answer which I have given you, may be confirmed, at 
 least between us, by an appeal to the Articles of the 
 Church, and the words of the XVIIth Article do seem 
 to me to set the question at rest, as far as the decision 
 of our own Church, ought to be binding on us as 
 churchmen. The steps as laid down in the Article 
 are : The calling. The obeying the call. The justifi- 
 
84 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTI ANITY ? 
 
 cation. The adoption. The being made like the image 
 of Christ (i.e. sanctified.) The good works. The eter- 
 nal salvation. ‘^Wherefore they which be endued with 
 so excellent a benefit of God, — be called according to 
 God’s purpose by his Spirit working in due season : — 
 They through grace obey the calling : — They be justi- 
 fied freely : — They be made sons of God by adoption : 
 — They be made like the image of his only begotten 
 Son Jesus Christ : — They walk religiously in good 
 works, — and at length by God’s mercy, they attain to 
 everlasting felicity.” Here there is no separation be- 
 tween justification and sanctification, but the one is 
 placed before the other in the order which I have 
 assigned to them in my answer. So again the order 
 observed in the confession in the morning and evening 
 service, is, spare and then restore — pardon us, and then 
 sanctify us ; and to my ideas the very nature of the 
 case seems to demand this order. 
 
 But what makes you so anxious to settle this point } 
 
 First for my own satisfaction, and secondly because 
 I think that indistinctness in religious matters is a 
 very great evil. All men see that pardon and restora- 
 tion to a state of holiness, from which we have fallen, 
 is necessary. Some persons would make the whole 
 to consist in the pardon, some in the re-established 
 holiness, and the consequence is, that some schemes of 
 religious instruction practically neglect the atonement 
 — some seem to leave out of sight that growth in 
 holiness which is the very life of Christianity. They 
 do not look to the steps in the same order in which 
 St. Peter lays them dov n. Repent and be baptized 
 
SANCTIFICATION, F;rC. 
 
 85 
 
 every one of you in the name of Jesus CJhrist for the 
 remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost.” Every Christian ought from his baptism 
 to have been brought up and to have lived as the 
 servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost 
 would then have enabled us to grow in grace from day 
 to daj^ — would have turned every external circum- 
 stance by which we have been surrounded into an 
 instrument of good for our souls. But this has not 
 been our course. We have turned aside from the right 
 path, and have been corrupted by following the world, 
 the flesh, and the devil. The great mass of those who 
 are on all sides of us, are doing so still. God in mercy 
 hath not so dealt with us, as to allow us to go on in this 
 broad path of destruction. He hath not permitted 
 iniquity to be our ruin. He hath enabled some among 
 the mass of rebels to lay hold of Christ Jesus once more 
 as a Saviour. We are brought, through means pro- 
 vided by the mercy of God, to a sense of our real state. 
 Like the prodigal we are enabled to come to ourselves 
 — to say within our own hearts, ‘‘ Father, I have sin- 
 ned against heaven and before thee, and am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son ; make me as one of thy 
 hired servants.” We remember the words of St. 
 John. If any man sin we have an advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the pro- 
 pitiation for our sins.” But when we have arrived at 
 this point, when we have reason for hoping that we are 
 accepted as reconciled penitents, as justified through 
 the blood of Christ, many persons seem to stop here 
 and to be satisfied. They are perhaps, from their cir- 
 8 
 
86 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 cumstances in life, apparently shut out from the pro- 
 spect of much external usefulness, and they forget that 
 the work of sanctification is that which God has in 
 mercy assigned to every Christian, and that this work 
 is to becarried on through the whole of our earthly 
 existence. A work done in us by the Holy Spirit 
 through such means as God has appointed.* 
 
 The subjects of a gracious and kind monarch have 
 rebelled, and upon being conquered, a free pardon is 
 offered to all, and in order that each individual may 
 stand with their king as he did before — he must not 
 only accept the pardon, but he must try to show that 
 he has again become a faithful subject — and to do this 
 he must feel once more towards his monarch what he 
 felt before the rebellion. He must try to promote the 
 glory of that monarch by proclaiming the mercy which 
 has delivered him, but he can never do this unless he 
 feel assured of the reconciliation granted under the 
 free pardon. The pardon is necessary to the reconcilia- 
 tion ; and unless the reconciliation takes place, what 
 ground have the pardoned rebels for presuming that 
 their pardon is real ^ How can we believe that we are 
 the children of God, unless the Spirit bear witness with 
 
 * In order to prevent any mistake, it may be observed, that 
 sanctification is the work which the Holy Spirit carries on in 
 the human soul, the process by which he renews it, or makes 
 it holy. It is a work which has its beginning, its progress, and 
 its completion. The influence of the Spirit must precede, ac- 
 company, and follow justification. The object of these pages 
 is not to separate sanctification and justification, but to show 
 that a faith in Christ is the means by which we obtain holiness, 
 and would be vain unless it did so obtain it. 
 
SANCTIFICATION, ETC. 
 
 87 
 
 our spirit that we are so ? That we are the servants of 
 God through Christ, are walking as the redeemed of 
 the Lord, and are daily preparing for that better state 
 to which we hope to be admitted, when this mortal 
 shall have put on immortality. 
 
 Grant, O Lord, that as we are baptized into the 
 death of thy blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, so 
 by continual mortifying our corrupt affections we may 
 be buried wdlh him ; and that through the grave and 
 gate of death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection ; 
 for his merits, who died and was buried, and rose again 
 for us, thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 
 
MERE KNOWLEDGE NOT RELIGION. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 There is one common mistake into which many of us 
 fall, and against which it is impossible to guard with 
 too much caution, viz., that of mistaking religious 
 knowledge for religion. No man can have been con- 
 versant with what is called the religious world, without 
 having seen that the religious world is a portion of this 
 world, and not of the next. To say nothing of those 
 who are unconnected with the Established Church, we 
 ourselves are unfortunately divided into so many parties 
 that there are even in the Church a variety of religious 
 worlds. The world to each individual Christian is the 
 little circle in which we happen to be placed ; and in 
 every such circle their is much of worldly feeling and 
 temper which will mix itself up, even with that which 
 ought to be most holy ; and the more knowledge and 
 clearness of view which the Almighty has granted to 
 us, the more danger there is that we shall look down 
 on others who do not appear to us to possess these 
 advantages. There is hardly any one who has felt 
 much on religion, whose eye is not fixed, more or less 
 exclusively, on some one particular point. This man 
 has seen the evil of high doctrines accompanied by low 
 practice, and he views religion in no other light than 
 as the doing the will of God. He forgets those sancti- 
 fying and consoling truths which have led him to wish 
 to do the will of God ; he forgets that which induced 
 him to fly to Christ and to holiness. When then he 
 
MERE KNOWLEDGE NOT RELIGION. 
 
 89 
 
 perceives another Christian whose circumstances have 
 led him to regard the question under a different aspect 
 — whose maxim it is, that if we believe rightly, the 
 fruits of good living will necessarily arise out of a 
 pure faith — he is apt to thank God that he is not as 
 other men are. Both may be partly right and partly 
 wrong. Yet it is not the knowledge, but the being in 
 a state of holy submission to the law of Christ, and of 
 active exertion in the cause of Christ, which makes us 
 Christ’s soldiers and servants. The observation of 
 St. James is, “ If any man among you seem to be reli- 
 gious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his 
 own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” The Christian 
 of the present day to whom God hath granted a larger 
 portion of knowledge on religious subjects, is, alas, often 
 rendered ostentatiously dictatorial by the very know- 
 ledge which puffeth up rather than edifieth. Know- 
 ledge is, alas, often the means of taking off the bridle 
 from our tongue. His views may be correct, clear, and 
 scriptural, and the knowing that they are so, may have 
 deceived him into a speaking of others in such a way 
 as he would not have spoken, had his tongue been 
 bridled by Christian charity. It is St. James who says, 
 that “ this man’s religion is vain.” It leads not to that 
 holiness, that meek child-like humility to which it was 
 destined to have led its owner. True religion and 
 undefiled before God and the Father is this.”* The 
 way to worship and to serve God is, “ To visit the 
 
 * The word here translated religion is dQr](jyJia (i. 27.) It 
 means service of God : worship of God : that which an inferior 
 would pay to a superior. 
 
 8 
 
90 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep 
 himself unspotted from the world.” To perform acts 
 of mercy and kindness to our fellow creatures, and to 
 abstain from those tempers and those acts which will 
 hinder that holiness which God in mercy would estab- 
 lish in our hearts through his Holy Spirit. Now though 
 knowledge will in many ways contribute to the spiritual 
 advancement of the Christian ; though knowledge be a 
 great gift, a gift for which we shall be called to a strict 
 account, yet God forbid that we should mistake know- 
 ledge for the whole of the service of God, or for the 
 chief part of Christianity. No man can estimate too 
 highly the immense blessing of possessing correct views 
 on topics connected with this most important subject, 
 but a religion which confines itself to opinions, however 
 sound, may and will prove vain. Faith and devotion 
 are much more closely joined together, than the inactive 
 Christian is willing to confess, or to believe ; and many 
 a pains-taking busy Christian finds it no easy task to 
 learn how much more devotion has to do with the 
 heart than the hand. The one would be contented 
 with keeping himself unspotted from the world. The 
 other would willingly visit the widow and the father- 
 less. Both would serve God — but each would select 
 a task best suited to his own feelings, and both would 
 conceal the truth from their own eyes, that the one is 
 as requisite as the other. Active duties foster and pro- 
 mote holiness, and holiness is the only root from which 
 Christian activity can spring up to any advantage. If 
 we would be Christians in reality, as well as name, we 
 must be devoted, given up to the service of God. We 
 must seek the one thing needful. 
 
MERE KNOWLEDGE NOT RELIGION. 
 
 91 
 
 The close connection here spoken of as existing 
 between knowledge and practice, is by no means con- 
 fined to religious subjects. It may be questioned 
 whether any many can properly be said to know any 
 thing which he does not put in practice ; at least it 
 may be safely contended that if he act in opposition to 
 such supposed knowledge, he does clearly prove that 
 he does not know — is not really convinced. Supposing 
 I heard an agriculturist expressing a very strong opinion 
 with regard to a new system of cultivating a particular 
 species of soil — I saw that he spoke with earnestness 
 on the point — I knew him to be a sincere man — open 
 — candid — but I found on enquiry that his own fields 
 were managed on the old plan, and that whatever 
 might be the conviction on his mind, it extended no 
 further than his mind — it was never carried out in 
 practice. With this evidence before me, could I help 
 doubting whether he were convinced ? and if forced to 
 pass a judgment, must I not say that I did not believe 
 that he was convinced ? I should say that the man did 
 not believe or know that the new system was the best 
 system — that he was not persuaded of it — for that if 
 he had been so, he must have acted on his persuasion. 
 That he cannot hiow unless he do — not merely that he 
 will not understand the truth, unless he practise it, 
 (which I believe to be true,) but that no man can be 
 said to know any thing in the strict sense of the word, 
 which he has not practically tried — knowing and doing 
 are so joined together, in the nature of things, by God 
 — that as we cannot do unless we know — so neither 
 can we know, unless we do. 
 
92 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 In a question so important as Christianity, so import- 
 ant as everything must be which concerns our eternal 
 state, it is positively sinful to remain in willing igno- 
 rance. The servant who knew his master’s will, 
 and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes — but 
 the servant who might have known his master’s will, 
 and knew it not, is perhaps more guilty ; for it is the 
 duty of every created being to try to know what the 
 will of the Lord is ; and thanks be to Almighty God, 
 it is in England the fault of those who do not know 
 the will of the Lord. It cannot be pretended that 
 enough is done in England for the spiritual instruction 
 of the people. As a nation we are perhaps more guilty 
 in this particular than in any other — ^but in England 
 no man can be so placed, as not to be able to learn 
 what the will of the Lord is, if he be anxious to obtain 
 this best of knowledge. This Christian country abounds 
 in ignorance and infidelity — but the day of judgment 
 will convict those who are either ignorant or unbeliev- 
 ers, of a great sin, in not having employed those means 
 which were placed by God within their reach. The 
 individual who is ignorant of the way of the Lord, and 
 does not try to learn it, is guilty of being careless about 
 his salvation. 
 
 Now though all ignorance on these subjects is 
 criminal, yet the study of religious subjects does not 
 always lead to religion. Ignorance is criminal as far 
 as it is voluntary — but there is a way of trying to 
 obtain knowledge on religious matters which is equally 
 dangerous. It is hardly necessary to point out the 
 guilt of those who seek knowledge without any desire 
 
MERE KNOWLEDGE NOT RELIGION. 
 
 93 
 
 to fulfil the will of the Lord, but to seek it in a con- 
 tentious temper will equally obstruct the prospect of 
 obtaining spiritual improvement from it. Controversy 
 does in the end probably lead to truth — but it fre- 
 quently happens that it does not tend to produce 
 religion. Men may carry on discussions on religious 
 subjects so as to benefit both parties — ^but they rarely 
 do so. If they carry them on with prayer to God, and 
 an humble seeking of the truth, there may be great 
 hope that they will become wiser unto salvation — but 
 this 4S not the spirit with which such disputes are 
 usually carried on. We show more anxiety to estab- 
 lish our own position, than to discover the truth. In 
 such discussions we are apt to mistake the whole 
 nature of a revelation from God. Revelation is a gift 
 from God to man, and not a discovery of man. No 
 man ever found it out for himself. Man would never 
 have discovered it, but God made it known to him. 
 
 I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou hast hid these things from the wise and 
 prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” And 
 they only who have become little children in Christ 
 Jesus are in that state which renders us fit and ready 
 to receive the great truths of revelation — not to dis- 
 cover but to receive. All things are delivered unto 
 me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but 
 the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
 him” — No man can come unto me except the Father 
 which hath sent me draw him.” 
 
 There is something besides the mere knowledge. 
 
94 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 There must be a knowledge ; but there is something 
 which the man cannot provide for himself. There is 
 a heavenly aid. No man can know God except it be 
 revealed to him from above. The Son must teach us 
 to know the Father, he must draw our hearts to the 
 Father. The understanding is concerned, but there is 
 something beyond the understanding. We cannot 
 receive that which, in one sense, we do not understand ; 
 we must understand what is meant, and we must know 
 that it comes from God ; we must so far comprehend 
 the nature of every declaration, that we may see what 
 practical influence it ought to have on us. But the 
 accepting of revealed truth depends more on the heart 
 than on the understanding. In religious matters, men 
 refuse their assent to that which they do not fully 
 comprehend, not because the doing so is reasonable, 
 but because they themselves are proud. Their hearts 
 are lifted up with the idea of their own importance, 
 and they will not come unto Christ to be saved, be- 
 cause the so coming is humiliating to their feelings. 
 The first doctrine which such persons reject, is that of 
 original sin. They will not confess that we are by 
 nature very far gone from original righteousness. We 
 do not understand, say they, how God can account us 
 sinners, because Adam sinned ! And while men con- 
 tinue in this frame of mind, it is not wonderful that 
 they should not see the mere}’' of that scheme in which 
 we are justified from our many offences, by the death 
 of our Saviour, and the free gift of God. The question 
 which such persons ought to examine, is not how God 
 does so — not why God does so — but whether he does 
 
MERE KNOWLEDGE NOT RELIGION. 
 
 95 
 
 SO. The real point, at which a wise man would look, 
 is not why man should be very far gone from original 
 righteousness, but whether he is so. Whether we are 
 very far from that state in which we must be, before 
 we can be admitted into the presence of a God of 
 holiness ; and this is a point which we can only learn 
 by the revelation of God’s will, and by fatal experience. 
 Look at the law of God — see what he commands in 
 the Bible — what he commands for instance in the 
 sermon on the mount, and then say whether the 
 natural temper of our own minds be in conformity 
 with this, “ Blessed are the poor in spirit — blessed are 
 they that mourn and say whether this be the temper 
 of the world — whether the world does consider the 
 poor in spirit,” or “the mourner” blessed. This is a 
 matter of fact, which any one may know, that the 
 mass of the world would smile at the idea of calling 
 these two classes of persons happy — blessed — blessed 
 in this life as well as the next. The Christian who is 
 practically acquainted with the state of the world, 
 believes these declarations to be strictly true : viz., that 
 the man who is meek, who is poor in spirit, is much 
 more happy and contented in this life, than the man 
 who is always contentiously striving and struggling for 
 his own rights. That he has a greater share of enjoy- 
 ment from worldly goods. The Christian believes, 
 that as to real happiness, the man who mourns^ who 
 meets with what the world calls misfortunes, and who 
 receives them as coming from the Lord, is in a much 
 more happy state than the man who seems always pros- 
 perous. We must understand this, in order to believe 
 
96 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 it. We must know it, in order to receive it; but there 
 is something more required than the mere assenting to 
 the declaration. David, when he was in the midst of 
 his prosperity, desired to obtain his neighbour’s wife, 
 and in order to do so, he formed a treacherous plan 
 of murdering the husband. All this succeeded to the 
 utmost of his wishes. Uriah was slain by the hands of 
 the enemy, and the sinful wife yielded a ready obedi- 
 ence to his adulterous commands. In all this was 
 David happy, blessed } Then God sent the Prophet 
 to reprove him, and he confessed his sin ; he exclaimed 
 in heartfelt penitence, I have sinned against the Lord. 
 Upon this the prophet answered. And the Lord hath 
 put away thy sin. Now, in which of these two cases 
 did David enjoy the most real happiness ? No doubt 
 when he was mourning. If it were objected that the 
 case is not a fair one, since every sinful joy must lead 
 to misery, it must be considered, that the question at 
 issue, is the opinion of the world. Whether mankind 
 in general do not consider him, who is going on suc- 
 cessfully in a course of sin, a more happy man, than 
 if in the bitterness of his grief he confessed that he 
 had offended a good and gracious God ; no doubt the 
 hour of sincere penitence is the happiest hour, but will 
 the world think so We will take another example. 
 Alexander the Great was perhaps the most successful 
 conqueror of antiquity ; he carried his victorious arms 
 over countries of which he scarcely knew the names, 
 when he began his career of triumphs ; and with which 
 we have only lately become acquainted by the exten- 
 sion of our East India possessions. Nation after 
 
MERE KNOWLEDGE NOT RELIGION. 
 
 97 
 
 nation yielded to his skill and the discipline of his 
 troops ; and he was able to subdue all things, except 
 himself. To whom shall we compare him To a 
 prisoner who sat in pain, in hunger, and in darkness, 
 whose feet were made fast in the stocks, and his back 
 torn with scourges. 
 
 St. Paul was brought into this condition, because 
 he had tried to preach the Gospel to these very 
 persons, whose enmity was excited by his attempt to 
 benefit them in the most important of all ways ; and 
 he was employed during this hour in singing praises 
 to that God who had thought him worthy thus to 
 suffer for the cause of truth. Let any reasonable man 
 say, whether he would rather have been Alexander or 
 St. Paul. Every one must, I conceive, see what is 
 meant by the declaration, blessed are they that 
 mourn but who can say that he knows this, unless 
 he has felt the blessed effect of religious sorrow in his 
 own heart } 
 
 Most men would prefer the condition of Socrates to 
 that of his accusers — would rather have been Charles I. 
 than those who condemned him. But we can hardly 
 say that we know this, unless we have denied ourselves, 
 and taken up the cross and followed Christ. The bare 
 assent of the mind to the truths of revelation is not 
 enough ; we must live as if that which we believe were 
 true. 
 
 In science, when a new truth is discovered, every 
 scientific man will adopt it, and act upon it. In reli- 
 gion it is not so ; many who know the truth do not act 
 upon it. These things are written that ye might 
 9 
 
98 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God, and that believing ye might have life through his 
 name.” The mere revelation, the being written, is not 
 enough, ye must believe in order to have life through 
 his name. So again, If any man will do his will, he 
 shall know of this doctrine, whether it be of God he 
 cannot know unless he do. No man will be, or can 
 be practically a believer, unless he do the will of God. 
 And we must remember that what is here spoken of, 
 is not a human invention, but a revelation from above ; 
 a revelation accepted by man through the influence of 
 the Holy Ghost, and carried out into a life of holiness. 
 
 O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the 
 prayers of thy people which call upon Thee ; and grant 
 that they may both perceive and know what things 
 they ought to do, and also may have grace and power 
 faithfully to fulfil the same : through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
’Twas dreadful, when the accuser’s power 
 Assail’d my sinking heart, 
 
 Recounting every wasted hour. 
 
 And each unworthy part. 
 
 But, Jesu ! in that mortal fray 
 Thy blessed comfort stole, 
 
 Like sunshine in a stormy day. 
 
 Across my darken’d soul. 
 
 When soon or late, this feeble breath. 
 
 No more to Thee shall pray. 
 
 Support me through the vale of death. 
 And in the darksome way. 
 
 When clothed in fleshly weeds again, 
 
 I wait Thy dread decree. 
 
 Judge of the world ! bethink Thee then. 
 That Thou hast died for me. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 We have seen, in the last chapter, that mere knowledge 
 of religion is not religion ; but the knowledge of what 
 is right and wrong is an element which must enter 
 materially into the question of our own guilt. Every 
 one who would compare his past life with the purity of 
 the Gospel, would be sure to condemn himself ; but he 
 who might have known the purity of the Gospel, and 
 who dies in ignorance of it, must be equally guilty, and 
 will never be led to confess his sin, and to seek for 
 pardon. They who are anxious to celebrate and extol 
 the mercies of God’s sovereign grace, in the special 
 calls to repentance, by which some favoured individuals 
 have been led to seek for pardon through a crucified 
 Saviour, are very apt to overlook the general mercy of 
 that God, who willeth all men to be saved, and to come 
 to the knowledge of the truth. They overlook the 
 blessing of having been born and bred up in a Christian 
 land, where the true light shineth. They overlook the 
 guilt of not knowing the truth. They see that God 
 allows a judicial blindness to fall on those who have 
 eyes and see not, but they do not consider that, as far 
 as man can judge on such a question, they who are 
 thus punished, have incurred the guilt expressed by 
 the words,* Their eyes have they closed.” 
 
 There can be little doubt that the great mass of a 
 
 J latt. xiii. 15 (ixdiLtfujaav.) 
 9 * 
 
102 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 people, nominally Christian, are living in a state far 
 from what it ought to be. That they are not in the 
 road to heaven. There are those who are living in 
 acknowledged sin. There are the careless. There are 
 those who wish for heaven, but are not striving to obtain 
 it ; and in all these cases, it is probable that the want 
 of the knowledge of what is right, enters largely into 
 the cause which have led to their being in the wrong 
 path. And perhaps no one thing would contribute 
 so much to the discovery of the truth, with regard to 
 ourselves, as the careful retrospect of our past lives. 
 
 As two friends were one day talking of the state of 
 the world around them, it was observed by the younger, 
 that they had hardly ever known a strictly honest man. 
 I am surprised at this, said the other, for I should 
 have said, that in our own rank of life, I have hardly 
 ever known one whom I should designate as dishonest. 
 These persons were not so far apart in their general 
 sentiments, as might have been expected from such 
 opposite declarations ; but they regarded the word dis- 
 honest in a different light. The one considered dis- 
 honesty to consist in doing that which the laws of the 
 land would punish — the other had established a high 
 standard in his own mind, and would have applied, 
 perhaps uncharitably, the term dishonest to those who 
 did not act up to this measure of honesty. But even 
 without the establishing of a very high standard, the 
 position is much nearer the truth than most of us 
 should at first allow. Money transactions are more 
 tangible criterions of right and wrong than any others, 
 because the money value enables the party aggrieved. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 103 
 
 to place before those who have injured him, much more 
 definite evidence of the injury. And perhaps there is 
 no class of duties which are so well understood, and so 
 distinctly laid down and acknowledged as those per- 
 taining to pounds, shillings, and pence. Observations 
 when made on money matters will be more easily 
 understood, than if the same reasoning were applied to 
 other subject-matter. In looking, then, at our own 
 money transactions, how few of us are, strictly speak- 
 ing, honest ; that is, how few of us would do that, when 
 we are not likely to be seen, which we should do if 
 our conduct were placed before the eyes of the world. 
 How many persons would do that as members of a body 
 corporate, which they would be utterly ashamed to do 
 if they were acting alone. How many persons, where 
 they are not known, would do that, about little things, 
 w’hich they would never have thought of doing in their 
 own neighbourhood. People may call this ‘‘ mean,’’ 
 rather than dishonest, and perhaps the word would be 
 more appropriate, but the question before us, is not 
 about names, but things. There is a certain credit 
 attached to the making a good bargain, which is very 
 seductive. Many a man who would be ashamed to do 
 that to a poor man, which would in any way injure 
 him, will still be very hard with a workman when he 
 is entering into a contract with him, and will be severe 
 in exacting what has been agreed on. In England, 
 he who charged more for work, when done, than he 
 would have agreed to do it for, if previously asked, 
 would be considered an unfair workman. Many per- 
 sons would be guilty of this, and perhaps as a general 
 
104 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 rule, we should advise a young housekeeper always to 
 make an agreement before he entered on any work, in 
 which he possessed no great experience ; but still, a 
 tradesman who charged that which he would not have 
 charged if he had been previously asked the question, 
 would be sure to meet with the reprobation of his 
 neighbours, who would blame him, though they them- 
 selves might be guilty of the same species of fraud. In 
 Holland, it used to be the custom to travel by boats on 
 the canals in which the fare is fixed and small ; but 
 there are frequent carryings of luggage from one boat 
 to another, which render this species of journey much 
 more expensive than it would otherwise be. If a 
 stranger accept of the offices of the first porter who 
 presents himself, and make no bargain as to the 
 conveyance of his goods, he will invariably be much 
 imposed on, and should he be so unwise as to go to a 
 magistrate, the only question which will be asked him 
 is. Did you make any agreement ? if not, you had better 
 pay what is asked. What ! more than double what 
 any porter would have gladly done it for ? Yes, sir I 
 It is difficult to ascertain the value of such work ; 
 whereas, almost any porter would have named a fair 
 price, had he been originally asked, and would have 
 done his work with fidelity. The same man will be 
 strictly scrupulous about the delivery of the goods, and 
 will charge for their conveyance, three times as much 
 as he would have undertaken to do it for, and will be 
 esteemed honest. 
 
 The question which we should ask ourselves is this 
 — are there not many of us who are guilty of the same 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 105 
 
 inconsistency ? I believe that if any man will review 
 his own money transactions for a year, review what he 
 has done, and what he has not done, about pounds, 
 shillings, and pence, he will find his own conduct, 
 much nearer to some of these cases, than he supposes. 
 
 But there is another way of looking at the matter. 
 Every one has some standard of right and wrong, by 
 which he ostensibly measures his conduct. The gam- 
 bler has one. The horse dealer has another. The 
 retail tradesman has a third. The stockbroker follows 
 a fourth, and without venturing to enumerate all the 
 specific standards which we might find in the world, 
 it may seem probable that every individual will differ 
 in his standard, not only according to the subject 
 matter on which he deals, but as to his interpretation 
 of the law by which he supposes that he regulates 
 himself. The same man might act very differently if 
 he were settling the proportions to be paid after a 
 contested election — or letting a farm — or selling a 
 horse — and two neighbouring country gentlemen might 
 vary considerably as to the way in which they would 
 settle each of these points. Benevolus would be 
 shocked at the idea of not paying his full share of the 
 bills, though he never approved of the putting forward 
 of the candidate — but Benevolus was a hard landlord, 
 and no one would deal v/ith him about a horse. 
 Eugenius never sold a pony without telling all its 
 faults — was kind and liberal to his tenants — but it 
 was no easy matter to induce him to pay his pro- 
 portion of the expenses of the contested election, which 
 
106 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 he had excited against the better judgment of those 
 who took the same view in politics. Each of us have 
 our own standard on each subject on which we have 
 to act. Taking then your own standard — have you 
 always acted up to that standard } Has the horse 
 dealer never done that which he would rather conceal 
 from a brother in the craft ? A bishop had preferment 
 in his gift, part of which belonged to him as bishop, 
 and part arose from his holding another office together 
 with his bishoprick. He thought himself bound to give 
 away the preferment which belonged to the bishoprick 
 to the fittest man he could find in his diocese. He 
 gave away a living, which was connected with the 
 other source, to a relation whom he did not consider 
 as eligible — and when a remonstrance was made, his 
 answer was. This is my own — it does not belong to 
 the bishoprick. God forbid that we should judge any 
 one harshly — Judge ye yourselves, brethren, that ye 
 be not judged of the Lord — ^but such instances will 
 convince any one, who is open to conviction, how 
 few of us really try to please God. Our morality is 
 an earthly morality. Nor should it ever be forgotten 
 that the standard which we have established for our- 
 selves is not accidental. Tell me with whom you go, 
 and I will tell you what you do. Our places in society, 
 and our duties are to a certain degree imposed on us 
 — and there may be a standard to which we were 
 born — but good men will contribute to raise the 
 standard of those among whom they live, and others 
 will lower it. He who has been guilty of three acts 
 of meanness, will find less compunction when he per- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 107 
 
 forms the fourth. There is such a thing as raising or 
 lowering the honour among thieves. 
 
 It is the combination of all these considerations, 
 which renders it so impossible for one human being to 
 judge of another. A poor boy who was born and bred 
 a thief — who had never known any other occupation, 
 scrupled to steal a prayer book from a church, because 
 God would see him. A clergyman misapplied money 
 which had been collected for charitable purposes, and 
 would not allow that it was stealing to do so. Who 
 shall judge another ? But who can look back upon his 
 own past life, and not tremble for himself.^ not ex- 
 claim, “ God be merciful to me a sinner No two 
 persons have possessed the same advantages. No one 
 can tell what advantages others may have possessed. 
 And we all forget those which we have neglected or 
 rejected. Let any humble Christian look back upon 
 his own life, and try to estimate the number of advan- 
 tages of which he has made no use. 
 
 Many persons draw a broad line of distinction 
 between their conduct before and after some special 
 impressions made on their own minds with regard to 
 religion. Before a certain day they seem to regard 
 themselves as heathen — and they would apparently 
 argue that all their sins committed before that time 
 wef'e not committed against light and knowledge. Of 
 course in a certain sense this is true. They did not 
 then see things as they do now — but why did they 
 not ? Is not the very fact that they closed their eyes 
 against light, which God placed before them, a great 
 proof of their very guilt. They closed their eyes 
 
106 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 against advantages which many prophets and kings 
 have desired. Is this no sin ? A pious mother (for 
 we owe more to our mothers than any one will believe) 
 had laboured hard, and prayed constantly, that she 
 might bring up all her children as the servants of 
 Christ — and God had crowned her prayers and exer- 
 tions with much apparent success. One of the elder 
 boys had been sent to a public school, and had led 
 the life which many a boy there leads — he had been 
 laughed out of his habits of praying, much against his 
 will ; but when he had ceased to depend on God’s help, 
 his downward course was rapid, and he had reached 
 the head of the school, with an excellent character, but 
 with utter carelessness as to^the state of his own soul. 
 His younger brother was now sent to the same school, 
 and on the night of his arrival knelt down to say his 
 prayers, expecting of course that his brother, to whom 
 he justly looked up in most respects, would have joined 
 him in a custom which had been invariably observed 
 at home — perhaps the elder brother might have done 
 so, but there were other boys in the room, and he gave 
 the poor child a severe box on the ear, and called him 
 a little Methodist. Was the guilt of this elder brother 
 the guilt of a heathen ? It shocked the feelings of a 
 youth who had never been taught to think of religion, 
 and had the effect of making him consider that atten- 
 tively, which he had never regarded before in any 
 other way than that of ridicule. He would have 
 laughed at the child, but when the child was persecuted 
 for righteousness’ sake, even he who was a stranger to 
 piety himself, could not but see the beauty of it in 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 109 
 
 another, and the baseness of the elder brother. The 
 idea which crossed his mind was this. This child has 
 obviousl}^ a superiority over both of us, who are much 
 his superiors in age and station in the school. He is 
 not afraid of showing that he fears God more than man. 
 If I did so, if I feared God, I do not know that I 
 should have courage enough to show it, and here is a 
 brother — who must have had the same advantages at 
 home, who is so looked up to in the school, that no 
 one would venture even to ridicule him if he acted 
 religiously — here is he, who allows all the kind feel- 
 ings of a brother to be stifled, merely because some of 
 us are standing by, who are conscious of his ordinary 
 disregard of what he must consider right. I am bad 
 enough, but how guilty is this elder brother. The 
 feeling which crossed the mind of this boy, was that 
 which arose in the Saviour of the world when he said. 
 Woe unto thee Bethsaida, woe unto the Chorazin.” 
 The friend was acquainted with the domestic history 
 of the brothers — he knew the habits of the house — he 
 knew how religious ordinances were there observed — > 
 how the children were not only instructed in the truths 
 of Christianity, and taught the outside of religion, but 
 how obedience was the law of the house — how God 
 was honoured by the lives of the parents, how those 
 parents laboured in prayer and in practice to lead 
 their offspring to heaven, through the paths of holiness. 
 The friend knew all this, and he said within himself — 
 for he himself belonged to a fashionable household 
 where religion was utterly neglected — he said within 
 
 himself, if God had blessed me, as I know he has 
 10 
 
110 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 blessed these brothers, with all the Christian knowledge 
 which they possess, nothing could have led me to act 
 in this brutal way — his thought was correct, but he 
 was mistaken as to the fact. There is no lowness in 
 the scale of moral degradation to which any of us may 
 not fall, if we cast off the light which is in us. What 
 baseness is there that a man may not be guilty of, who 
 is deeply involved in debt } And if it were not for 
 the restraints of society, how far may not any one have 
 fallen, who has given up the guidance of religion.^ If 
 God had enabled any of us to carry into effect every 
 evil thought which has passed through our minds — 
 what would have been the state of our hearts now ? 
 David’s station enabled him to put his wicked thoughts 
 into execution. Herod’s authority enabled Herodias 
 to satisfy her vengeance against St. John. 
 
 If we had been enabled so to do — wdiat would have 
 been our state even now ? 
 
 The Church of Rome has done a great injury to 
 morality by the use of the word venial sins. There 
 are sins, negligences, and ignorances. There are pre- 
 sumptuous sins, and sins of weakness. There are 
 some sins worse than others. But whoever establishes 
 a line of demarcation between sins, lays down that, of 
 which no man can be a judge. There are two stan- 
 dards by which we may properly try to estimate guilt ; 
 by the injury done to others, and by the depravity of 
 the agent. The first refers to the effect produced on 
 man ; the second must depend on the state of the 
 agent, or the advantages which he has neglected. 
 
 An old gentleman used to say, My brother, (his 
 
THK CHRISTIAN LOOKING RACK. 
 
 Ill 
 
 brother held an office of dignity and emoluments in the 
 Church,) my brother is much worse than I am — he is 
 not a bit better than I am — and he is paid for being 
 religious. 
 
 There was some truth in this. The vices of a dig- 
 nified clergyman would do more harm than those of a 
 profligate country gentleman. And the old man in 
 question saw this — he was in the habit of estimating, 
 correctly, the faults of every clergyman in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and gloried in them. Poor man ! ! The 
 condemned criminal might well pity such a wreck of a 
 moral being : but this man had brought himself into 
 this state, by neglecting known duties and known 
 means of grace. Compare the guilt of any of these 
 with that of a clergyman, of high professions, who 
 defrauded a charitable institution. Look at him, if 
 still denying his guilt, or if convinced and mourning 
 for his conduct ! ! 
 
 Ten young men at College passed a night together 
 in riot and debauchery — one was the son of a profes- 
 sional man in London, who had no idea beyond that of 
 
 eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” The second 
 was the son of a pious widow, who had straitened 
 herself, and deprived herself of every comfort to which 
 she had been accustomed, in order to give her son an 
 education, and to place him in the same station in life 
 which had been occupied by his late father. The third 
 was the son of a clergyman, who, till the age of eigh- 
 teen, had been educated by an excellent father at home, 
 and had been kept free from every taint of vice. 
 Why need I go on } There are ten cases, every one of 
 
m 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 which is totally different. What man can judge of 
 such cases ? Who can estimate the relative guilt of 
 such persons ? 
 
 Penitens had lived, as many a man does in London, 
 without a serious thought on religion, till he was 
 married ; his wife was not religious, but belonged to a 
 decent respectable family, and on the first Sunday after 
 their return from their wedding tour, they went to 
 church. He had occasionally taken the trouble to go 
 and hear a popular preacher — was a very fair judge of 
 the rules of Christian eloquence — despised ranting and 
 mannerism ; and was fully sensible of the influence of 
 simple earnestness, and particularly admired it, when 
 it was combined with the ornaments of correct diction, 
 vivid illustration, and poetic thoughts ; but he had 
 never thought of a sermon as a means of saving a sinner 
 from the error of his ways, and leading a soul to Christ. 
 It so happened that their parish church was well 
 warmed, and frequented by many respectable families 
 in their own rank of life, that it was the fashion of the 
 neighbourhood to approve of the way in which the 
 service was conducted. They thought it proper to have 
 a seat of their own, and obtained one, with as much 
 reference to the salvation of their souls, as might have 
 attended the contract which he made for his carriage. 
 Thus circumstanced, they began the habit of going to 
 church. Their attendance was irregular at first — it 
 became more constant after a time — they were seen at 
 the altar before two years were over ; and at the end of 
 five, Penitens was the intimate friend of the old vicar, 
 and the curates were frequent visitants at his house 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 113 
 
 He was one day stating to an old friend of his father’s, 
 in the City, the comforts, particularly the religious 
 comforts, he enjoyed. Why, said the old man, you 
 alwa3"s were a good sort of fellow, and when you had 
 sown your wild oats, and were married and steadied, 
 you began to enjoy the advantages of your hard work 
 and honesty of heart. Young men will be young men, 
 but you were always one whom I liked, and could 
 make excuses for, and you are now reaping the reward 
 of it. 
 
 Penitens felt very differently, but he perceived the 
 inutility of arguing with one who saw so little of the 
 reality of things ; and with his mind full of these 
 thoughts he retired to his closet. In this frame of 
 mind he began the retrospect of his past life. Twenty 
 years agone, I was, as to gross and presumptuous sin, 
 innocent. There was no strong impression of religion 
 on my mind, but I had been taught to know the truth, 
 and I knew the theory of Christianity. I knew that 
 my only hopes of pardon were through a crucified 
 Redeemer ; my only hopes of growing in grace, or 
 walking in the commandments of the Lord blameless, 
 consisted in the influence which the Holy Ghost should 
 exercise on my will and my conduct. That faith would 
 make me a partaker of the one, and that if I desired to 
 become a sharer in the other, I must employ those 
 means which God had appointed. How did I make 
 use of this knowledge } I fell into evil society. I learnt 
 evil thoughts, and I delighted in them, and loved to 
 let my mind roam on the verge of evil, long before I 
 
 launched into the sea of iniquity. Evil thoughts unre- 
 10 * 
 
114 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 strained, brought on evil words, and evil words produced 
 evil deeds. None of these steps cost me much com- 
 punction of mind. There was a consciousness that I 
 was doing wrong, and when I first acted very much 
 against my previous habits and convictions, there was a 
 great struggle in my own mind. A frequent wretched- 
 ness when I ventured to think of what I was doing ; 
 but this soon went off. I kept up for some time a 
 semblance of propriety, but this vanished after a time, 
 and left me reckless and rejoicing in iniquity. When 
 my circumstances enabled me to keep up an establish- 
 ment, I married, and determined to be faithful in one 
 relation of life at least, and we went to church, and 
 without being able to say, that any one preacher, or 
 any one sermon, produced an}^ very striking effect on 
 me, I am what I am. good friend thinks me justly 
 rewarded for my virtue ; he sees that I am happy and 
 blessed, but he little estimates the feelings with which 
 these blessings fill my heart. I have every outward 
 comfort. I have a peaceful hope that my sins are par- 
 doned. I heartily thank God for all that he has done 
 for me ; but what are the feelings with which that 
 thankfulness fills my soul ? Here am I, for ten years 
 of my life, the best, the most active, the years in which 
 my character was formed most fully. I rejected God, 
 and served the world, the flesh, and the devil. I had 
 been signed and sealed as the soldier and servant of 
 Christ, and m3" service was devoted to the enemy of 
 Christ. I knew the means by v/hich I might advance 
 in holiness, and I rejected and neglected every one of 
 them. I never prayed, and I never received the Lord’s 
 
. THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 115 
 
 Supper. I often felt compunctions of conscience ; God 
 was pleased again and again to touch me with the sense 
 of m3” guilt. I knew the means of escape — I knew 
 how good our heavenly^ Father is — the value of our 
 Saviour’s blood — the freeness of the gift of the Spirit 
 of God, but I rejected all. My sins were, during this 
 time, many and great, but my great sin was, that time 
 after time, I rejected those mercies of God which would 
 have led me to repentance. If God had cut me off 
 during these ten years ! ! Ah, who can dwell with 
 everlasting burnings } And then I look upon the 
 companions of my guilt — those whom I corrupted — 
 those whom I hardened in sin — some were taken to a 
 speedy vengeance. I was spared, yet I went on in my 
 impenitence. There was one of our loose companions 
 who had turned over a new leaf, and was apparently 
 reformed, and we over-persuaded him once more to 
 join in our vile enjoyments, and in the hour of sin, he 
 perished. He, the poor victim, perished ; we, the 
 advisers, survived his death, and yet repented not. 
 Where are they all gone ? And yet I live to partake 
 of mercy and comfort — 3^es, comfort ! ! Blessed are 
 they that mourn. And what have been the means 
 which have wrought out all this for me ? I attended 
 church from a sense of propriety ; to appear to be what 
 I was not, to my wife and servants. And God has 
 been pleased, in five years, to change me from a vile 
 sinner to a humble penitent. I have learnt to smite 
 upon my breast. The service of the church, and the 
 simple truths which I heard repeated from the pulpit, 
 rekindled first those latent sparks, which ten years of 
 
116 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 carelessness had not been able to quench. God thus 
 raised up the will — he gave me grace to use the means. 
 I mourned, I prayed, and used the ordinances of the 
 church, as God’s appointments. I tried to assist God’s 
 ministers in the work of the Lord, and without knowing 
 that I have been able to do any good to others, I know 
 that these means have done good to me. Thank God, 
 I am what lam. It is but a mournful thought to con- 
 sider what I might have been, had I been other than I 
 have. I say nothing of others, now perhaps in hell 
 by my instrumentality. God forgive me — Lord have 
 mercy upon us — Christ have mercy upon us — Lord 
 have mercy upon us ; but when evil passions, evil tem- 
 pers, evil thoughts arise, I say this is the just punish- 
 ment of ten years spent in the service of the devil. 
 How different might I have been, had I served God in 
 those years. But thank God, I am what I am, and he 
 knelt down and wept and prayed. 
 
 Eusebius was now drawing to the close of life, and 
 as his custom was, he was passing the evening before 
 the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, in private self- 
 examination and prayer. He had spent his life in the 
 service of his Saviour ; he had entered early into the 
 ministry — had been employed in many various places, 
 and had justly obtained the character of a faithful ser- 
 vant of the church. He had always been a very devoted 
 and active clergyman, and God had blessed him in 
 worldly prosperity beyond his expectations. The world 
 called him a happy man, and in the general acceptation 
 of the term, he was so ; but he was too well acquainted 
 with the law of God, and its purity, to be ignorant of 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 117 
 
 his own real state, and he had violated the law of the 
 Most High, too often not to experience the miserable 
 consequences of disobedience, and to be aware of his 
 guilt. The world called him a holy man ; but he knew 
 too well the actual import of the word, to esteem him- 
 self holy. He felt that he was a sinner, and he felt 
 that, however heinous the open transgressions of others 
 might appear to men, there was that in his having 
 offended, which made his guilt much greater in the 
 sight of God. He thought of the mercies with which 
 his path had been strewed ; but he remembered the use 
 to which these were all destined by Heaven, and he 
 could not help feeling, that if others had been favoured 
 as he had been, they might have proved much more 
 faithful stewards, than he had ever done. He thought 
 of the actual sins of which he had been guilty, and they 
 were more in number than the hairs of his head. I 
 have sinned, said he, against light and knowledge. I 
 have done wrong against the suggestions of my con- 
 science, and against the admonitions of the Holy Spirit. 
 God placed before me the true road to happiness, and 
 how often did I turn aside into some bye path of secret 
 indulgence. My very offices made me to partake of 
 every means of grace ; my personal habits prevented 
 me from partaking in the grace, which those means 
 were destined to impart. How often have I resisted 
 the Spirit of God, and what must I fairly say of all 
 those qualities which others admire in me ; they are, 
 not only the gift of God, but they have been forced 
 upon me, to speak the truth, by my outward circum- 
 stances in life, and they are no further my own, than 
 
118 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 as I have made them mine, by the evils which I mixed 
 up with them, and by my imperfections with which I 
 have stained them. It is true, that as a boy at school, 
 I al ways ranked myself on the side of religion ; but this 
 arose more from the character of my father, who was 
 well known in the neighbourhood ; and as a son, I was 
 ashamed to disgrace the professions of such a father. 
 It was a blessing of God, visited on the first generation 
 of one, who had kept his commandments. A character 
 so established at school, was not easily lost at college ; 
 and as my prospects of academical distinction kept me 
 in the path of propriety and good conduct, the outward 
 appearance of devotion was maintained without any 
 great sacrifice. I am fully sensible of the blessing, the 
 advantage of having been preserved from those excesses 
 into which many of my companions fell ; but it was 
 God’s outward mercy which preserved me from external 
 evil, rather than that his grace was working on a heart, 
 which was even then contaminated with much which 
 was contrary to the precepts of our heavenly King. I 
 am fully sensible of the advantage, but I know where 
 all the praise is due, for I cannot but look back to 
 those hours, in which others esteemed me religious, 
 though I was by no means devoted to God, I was 
 indulging in many evil habits of mind — wilfully — con- 
 stantly — I was outwardly God’s servant, but I was not 
 then a faithful servant, not in the lowest sense. I did 
 not even wish to serve God faithfully. Evil habits of 
 mind are not easily kept within the boundaries of the 
 mind ; they soon show forth themselves in evil acts, 
 and one who continues outwardly to serve God, who 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING BACK. 
 
 119 
 
 in some respects does serve God with zeal and activity, 
 may still be falling into habits which shall make him 
 know more harm of himself, then of any soul on 
 earth. It was these habits which stood between me 
 and advancement in holiness. God, I trust, never cast 
 me off. I trust that I never cast off God ; that I should 
 always have laid down my life in the cause of Chris- 
 tianity ; but I did not lay down my prejudices, I did 
 not lay down my evil tempers, nor my unholy habits ; 
 and they constantly stood between me and my Christian 
 advancement in holiness. The thought which now 
 comes across me, and fills me with sorrow and dismay, 
 is this : Christ, in his mercy, has called me to pardon 
 and to peace — I have long accepted his gracious offer, 
 closed with the terms of mercy, not merely in the 
 formal act of his blessed sacrament of Baptism, but by 
 the joyful devotion of half a century. I have uniformly 
 been made acquainted with the means by which I might 
 grow in grace, and have in some degree used those 
 means ; but how far below what I might have been in 
 Christian holiness have I fallen, through my own wilful 
 disobedience. If I had been as constant in private 
 prayer, as earnest in my closet, as I was regular in my 
 outward duties, how should I have escaped those temp- 
 tations, through which I have fallen, and been supported 
 by a grace, which would, if asked for, have been vouch- 
 safed. If my devotional study of the Bible had been 
 as strenuously pursued, as the preparation for exhibiting 
 myself in public as the minister of the sanctuary, my 
 knowledge of the Word of God would have proved no 
 less critically valuable, and it would have made me a 
 
120 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 more efficient expounder of the book of life, when I 
 needed its assistance to guide myself, or to instruct my 
 flock. If I had made use of the means of holiness and 
 usefulness which God put into my hands, how different 
 a man should I now have been. God in his mercy 
 never cast me off : and as he wiped away the falling 
 tear, he added, and he never will cast me off. But 
 that is owing to his mercy, and not to any thing of 
 mine. He gave me the means to have become as it 
 were an angel on earth, and alas ! alas ! I am but a poor, 
 weak, guilty sinner. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing 
 that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all 
 them that are penitent ; create and make in us new 
 and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our 
 sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, ma}^ obtain 
 of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and 
 forgiveness ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE. 
 
 Sweet word of promise, be thou near 
 To comfort and refresh my soul, 
 When’er the dark’ning shades of fear. 
 Across faith’s cheering landscape roll. 
 
 When memory tells her fearful train. 
 
 Of vows inscribed in fleeting sand, 
 
 Of weak resolves and purpose frail, 
 
 Be thou, blest comforter, at hand. 
 
 Speak thou of all-prevailing prayer, 
 
 Sure title to celestial aid. 
 
 Of Him who will the contrite spare. 
 
 Of hope, on One that’s mighty laid. 
 
 The soul most humbled for its guilt. 
 
 Most self-abased, and self-abhorred. 
 
 May yet be strong, where strength is built 
 Upon the promise of the Lord. 
 
THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 It is often curious to observe, how the same general 
 premises, will lead minds differently constituted, to 
 conclusions diametrically opposite to each other. 
 
 After having read what goes before, one man might 
 rightly say, “ It all depends on the grace of God and 
 another might express himself, in sorrow, by declaring 
 
 How all has depended on myself and this in a great 
 measure, according to the state of the individual. If 
 he be in the way to heaven, he sees clearly, that it is 
 only God’s grace and mercy which is guiding him there. 
 If his footsteps be in the path to hell, it is his own per- 
 verseness which is the cause of his ruin. God would 
 have saved him. God has placed the path of peace 
 before him, the offer of pardon, and the means of grace ; 
 but he has neglected both — he has rejected both. 
 When therefore the sincere Christain looks forward to 
 his future life, and endeavours to trace a course which 
 shall end in everlasting hapiness, he will, according 
 to the previous circumstances which have retarded him 
 in his heavenward journey, frame to himself plans and 
 regulations which shall obviate what has before hindered 
 him in running the race which is set before him. These 
 hindrances may be divided into two heads : the neglect 
 of means, and the trusting in means. He who neglects 
 means which God has appointed, will have no right to 
 
124 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 complain if he obtained not the grace which those means 
 were destined to confer. He who trusts in the means, 
 trusts in an arm of flesh. 
 
 Eubulus was gifted by nature with every superior 
 talents ; he was blessed with a strong feeling of religion, 
 and was in most of the circumstances of life a man to 
 whom a friend might point as an example worthy of 
 the love and admiration of his fellow creatures. His 
 misfortune was, that his appetite was strong ; and his 
 fault was, that he had indulged this craving of his 
 stomach, till his animal desires had mastered his pru- 
 dence, and got the better of his sense of Christian self- 
 denial. His punishment was, that he suffered much 
 bodily distress for many years — that his Christain use- 
 fulness was greatly diminished, he was sore let and 
 hindered in running the race which was set before him. 
 Had Eubulus learnt early in life that this sort goeth 
 not out, but by prayer and fasting,” how different might 
 have been his course. 
 
 Now if Eubulus at the age of fifty were reading these 
 pages, and determined to frame for himself a plan, by 
 which he might walk forward towards eternal joy, he 
 might see that his safety must depend on the adoption 
 of wise regulations with regard to his body ; and on the 
 grace of God, which should enable him to carry out 
 these plans, and grant a blessing upon them. He would 
 determine by fasting, not to expiate his former gluttony, 
 but to create a habit of self-restraint, from the want of 
 which he had again and again fallen. Such a man, on 
 looking back, would probably remember many occasions 
 on which he had made resolutions of the same descrip- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 125 
 
 tion, but his determination had vanished into empty- 
 air, and brought forth no visible effect. This seed w^as 
 sown on stony ground, and when the sun arose — when 
 he was forced to give up that which he had loved, and 
 which had by self-indulgence acquired a power over 
 him, the blade of good resolutions withered, and came 
 to nothing. Perhaps it is hard to state the cause of 
 the failure of Euhulus. He knew what was needed — 
 he had from time to time tried to adopt the means 
 which would have led him right. Does he dare say 
 that God did not give him the power of self-denial ? 
 That he could not have gone on ? He did not, and herein 
 is his guilt. It might have happened that his eyes 
 were blinded as to the cause of his self-corruption. No 
 doubt flesh and blood would have resisted the adoption 
 of any strict system of abstinence ; but he could hardly 
 have blinded his eyes against so obvious a truth. 
 
 Mundanus was a clever intelligent man, who had not 
 been blessed with a religious education, but had gone 
 through the usual course of study, had been ordained, 
 and had held a small living in the country for many 
 years. He was, in the ordinary sense of the term, a 
 very respectable man. He left his living worth many 
 more pounds a-year than he found it, and while he 
 had thus prospectively benefitted his successors, he had 
 amassed a considerable sum of money. He had always 
 been a prudent thrifty man about the things of this 
 world, and when he came to die, he expressed himself 
 ready to go and meet his Judge, and to render up an 
 account of his stewardship. He felt much self-satis- 
 faction that he should leave a considerable property to 
 ll"' 
 
126 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 his poor relations, and complacently declared that he 
 trusted in the merits of his Redeemer. While he was 
 in this state, a pious neighbouring clergyman paid him 
 a visit, and being sadly shocked at the condition in 
 which this poor man was dying, evinced by his coun- 
 tenance that he did not sympathize with Mundanus. 
 Mundanus perceived the effect produced on his neigh- 
 bour’s mind, and having a great respect for the man, 
 and a real mistrust in his own declarations, conjured 
 him to speak the truth. My good friend, said the 
 other, I am not your judge, and I know too much ill of 
 myself, and am too well acquainted with the difficulty 
 of judging another, to venture to say anything to you ; 
 bat as you conjure me in so strong a manner, I will 
 speak the truth, and tell you what was passing through 
 my mind. God forgive me, but I said within myself, 
 how strong an illustration is this of the text of Scrip- 
 ture ; ‘‘ If the light which is in thee be darkness, how 
 great is that darkness.” The light which has been in 
 you, has been worldly prudence, if it be worthy of such 
 a name, it is a talent for making the most of pounds, 
 shillings, and pence — for it is not more than this ; and 
 instead of the light which would have led you to 
 heaven, you have substituted this light which has ruined 
 you. God sent you into the w^orld that you might so 
 pass through things temporal, as finally not to lose the 
 things eternal. The children of this world are, in their 
 generation, wiser than the children of light. You have 
 been seeking things temporal, and you have succeeded. 
 I have been seeking heaven, and I can see fifty cases 
 in which you have acted with much more zeal and dis- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 127 
 
 4 
 
 cretion, in your work, than I have done in mine. God 
 sent us into our two parishes, that we might become the 
 means of improving the temporal, as well as eternal 
 interests of our flock. You must confess that you 
 have utterly neglected the spiritual care of your people ; 
 and though you have well farmed and managed the 
 glebe, I do not think that your success in the temporal 
 prosperity of your people has been great ; but think for 
 one moment of the spiritual state of your parish ! how 
 many souls are there even now, who ought to have 
 been taught by you — who ought to have been warned 
 by you — who ought to have been reproved by you — they 
 are gone, and who can say how far you may have to 
 answer for their ruin ! He would have gone on, but 
 he was interrupted. You judge very harshly of me, 
 said the sick man. I judge not, I tell you what I was 
 thinking of — I may be wrong — I hope I am ; and here, 
 after mutual declarations of love and good will, they 
 parted. The poor man neither saw his sin, nor would 
 he, had he been framing a plan for his future life, have 
 seen the remedy. Indeed, it is very difficult to say 
 what human means could be taken to give light to such 
 a state of darkness. But it will make any man who 
 cares for his soul, not only say, how great is that dark- 
 ness, but make him pray and strive that he may never 
 fall into such a state. Our Saviour said to the young 
 man, Sell all that thou hast and give to the poor 
 and perhaps this may be the only step. No doubt in 
 early life, this poor man stifled the wish to give of his 
 substance. His present state is not the effect of acci- 
 dent, but much of his wrong conduct may be due to a 
 
128 % 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 wrong light at first. Had he devoted a portion of his 
 temporal wealth to the use of the destitute ; had he 
 tried to follow such rules of doing good, as his profes- 
 sion imposed on him ; had he used the most obvious 
 means of serving God, he could not, humanly speak- 
 ing, have ever arrived at his present condition. 
 
 Operosus had fallen into debt, when young, and been 
 led to do what he was utterly ashamed of ; his fault 
 had cured his carelessness, but it converted a spendthrift 
 into a miser. He took means never to run in debt 
 again ; but there was no reference to God in what he 
 did, and he was cured of one fault, by adopting another, 
 and the last state of that man was worse than the first. 
 
 Pietosus had fallen into evil habits early in life, and 
 was convinced of his error, and begged pardon again 
 and again with sorrow and sincerity. But he never 
 adopted the only steps by which the repetition of his 
 sin would have been prevented ; and he continued for 
 many years of his life, sinning and repenting, never 
 casting off God, but constantly doing that which would 
 most justly have led God to cast him off, had not God’s 
 mercy been greater than our offences. He prayed fre- 
 quently, but never strove ; he wished to enter in, but 
 he never strove ; he never adopted such means to get 
 the better of his sin as common sense would have dic- 
 tated, had it been a question of earthly policy. It is 
 not for man to say that he may not have been par- 
 doned — but a child can see that he is not growing in 
 grace. 
 
 Minds differently constituted, are more apt to fall 
 into the one or the other of these errors of attaching 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 129 
 
 too much, or too little importance to the use of means. 
 We are all in danger of both, but more in danger of 
 the one than the other. Whole classes of persons, 
 schools of religion, if we may call them so, are exposed 
 to the same peculiarity of danger ; and in forming a 
 plan of safety for the time to come, our security 
 depends on our rightly estimating our peculiar peril. 
 He who pretends to trust to the grace of God, without 
 adopting any human means for keeping up his devo- 
 tion, is but mocking his Maker. He who adopts the 
 means without constant reference to a higher power, is 
 trying to force a camel through the eye of a needle. 
 Sanctification is the effect wrought in us by the 
 grace of God, by the Holy Spirit, not hy ourselves, but 
 generally through ourselves. The outward means are 
 systematic instruction, enabling us to know the will of 
 God, from the word of God — systematic prayer, public, 
 domestic and private — the use of appointed means — as 
 the sacraments. Systematic self-denial ; comprehend- 
 ing such bodily restraints as shall bring the body into 
 subjection to the better part of man. Systematic alms- 
 giving, and in order to prevent our failing in these, 
 systematic self-examination. The act is the outward 
 means — the going to church ; the kneeling down 
 regularly in private ; the fasting ; the avoiding society 
 which is apt to betray us ; the avoiding some expense 
 for the sake of having money to give away ; the giving 
 away a certain proportion of our income ; the writing 
 down notes of our spiritual state at certain periods : these 
 are all means, very useful means, but he must have very 
 little experience who relies much on such means. He 
 
130 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 who trusts to pra^^er alone to prevent his sin, will more 
 frequently find that his sins stop his prayers. Fasting 
 may turn the mind from evil thoughts, but evil thoughts 
 will more frequently prevent us from using due absti- 
 nence. He who tries to overcome evil without em- 
 ploying means (not means of his own invention, but 
 such as God has appointed,) is throwing himself from 
 the pinnacle of the Temple, because God has given his 
 angels charge over him. He who trusts in the means, 
 without due and entire reference to Him who appoint- 
 ed the means, “ is resting on a broken reed, on which, 
 if a man lean, it will go into his hand.” Therefore, in 
 framing plans by which we may be enabled to over- 
 come the evil which is within us ; by which we may 
 walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.” We 
 must have the eye fixed on both these truths. We 
 must employ every one of those instruments with 
 which the great Captain of our salvation hath fur- 
 nished us. We must put on the whole armour of 
 God, that we may be enabled to stand in the day of 
 trial. God is faithful, who will not sufiTer you to be 
 tempted above that ye are able, but will, with the 
 temptation, also make a way to escape.” He promises 
 not to free us without a way^ but through a way pro- 
 vided by himself; not by an invention of man, but by 
 a gift of God. When David conquered Goliah, it was 
 not with the weapon which Saul had provided, but by 
 the smooth stone out of the brook, which the Lord had 
 made ready. But the victory was gained by a smooth 
 stone and a sling, and not by a miracle. By such a 
 missile as a wise commander might have selected, and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 131 
 
 which was chosen by a merciful and almighty God. 
 Man’s wisdom might have selected such a missile as 
 best adapted to the prowess of the youthful champion, 
 but it was the arm of the Lord which gave it its 
 efficacy. When our Saviour fed the five thousand, it 
 was with the loaves and the fishes which were already 
 there. It was his power which made them adequate 
 to the object, but he employed the means which were 
 present to his hand. 
 
 The lessons which all these considerations seem to 
 teach us is this, that God has appointed means — that 
 it is man’s duty to employ the means appointed by 
 God — but that our success must depend on God’s 
 blessing the means, and that the Almighty will force 
 us to perceive that our success is due unto the Lord — 
 that it is God’s gift, and not our working out. Chris- 
 tianity might be preached, as it was at first, without 
 a paid ministry, but when countries are prepared to 
 entrust their defence to unpaid armies, then may 
 Christian statesmen rely on an unpaid ministry. Till 
 then they are bound to use the same human means for 
 the attainment of safety against spiritual as against 
 temporal enemies. And if they look to the Bible they 
 will find that the priesthood was very amply provided 
 for, under that dispensation wdiich was given to man 
 by God himself — that God has ordained that they 
 that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. 
 Establishments will not secure the prevalence of 
 Christianity. The}^ may even endanger its purity and 
 safety. But let any man look at the state of the dense 
 population of England — consider the danger we are 
 
132 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 in, from heathenism and chartism — and say whether 
 as a people we are not reaping the just fruit of ne- 
 glecting the religious cultivation of our poor brethren. 
 Men may talk of the separation of Church and State. 
 They cannot be divided. They may exist without any 
 very great connexion. There is a greater and a 
 less connexion. The one may interfere with and 
 tyrannize over the other. It is an union in which 
 one or both parties may do right, or do wrong. But 
 if God has ordained that kings should be the nursing 
 fathers and queens the nursing mothers of his Church 
 — woe be to those who govern without trying to fulfil 
 this part of their duty — and woe be to the Church 
 which is not in subjection to the civil authority of 
 those whom God hath ordained to be a terror to evil 
 doers, and a praise to them that do well. The reason- 
 ing which is here applied to a kingdom, is equally 
 applicable to individuals, or to smaller societies. 
 Unless the appointed means be used, religion will 
 never flourish in a parish, in a family, or in the heart 
 of the individual. Unless we study the Bible we shall 
 never understand the Bible. And why should a 
 reasonable man expect to learn theology without the 
 aid of duly educated instructors, when he would seek 
 for their assistance on any other subject ^ Does not 
 even our Lord refer us to the greater prudence of the 
 children of this world, and teach us to learn his will 
 by studying his will, as we would become proficients 
 in any other branch of knowledge, by labouring to 
 acquire that branch f He who in his system of religious 
 duties substitutes hearing the word, for doing the will. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 133 
 
 who listens to sermons, and neglects prayer, self-denial 
 and alms-giving, acts as the student of an}^ other art, 
 who allows theory to take the place of practice. A 
 rich old gentleman, who was a most regular attendant 
 
 at chapel, and whose seat was well lined, and 
 
 stood not far from the stove, who in the punctual 
 recurrence of family prayers, always selected for him- 
 self the softest cushion, and the warmest place, laughed 
 heartily at the idea of an Archbishop of Canterbury 
 who submitted his back from time to time to the 
 scourges of his confessor ; and when he saw that a 
 clerical friend with whom he was talking did not seem 
 to view the matter in the same light, he said, “ You 
 surely cannot think that this was necessary for his 
 sanctification.” No, replied his friend, I do not. I 
 conceive that Beckett misunderstood the nature of that 
 self-denial which he attempted to put in practice ; but 
 I cannot help believing that the Christian who avoided 
 every inconvenience to which religion would expose 
 him — ^who never denied himself one luxury of the 
 table or of his person, by way of keeping his body in 
 restraint — who is never ready to open his purse, be- 
 cause he loves money — who never denied himself one 
 expense, that he might have to give to him that needeth 
 — whose one object in life is to please himself, has 
 more entirely lost sight of the nature of self-denial 
 — has made a much greater mistake. 
 
 The housekeeper who never makes an analysis of 
 his annual expenditthre, may, if he be generally pru- 
 dent, go on without any great peril of becoming 
 
 insolvent ; but he is certainly not likely to make the 
 12 
 
134 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 most of his income. The Christian who never exam- 
 ined what proportion of his property he expended in 
 alms-giving, nor divided the sum so devoted, under 
 several heads, may be doing what God would have 
 him to do ; he may not let his left hand know what 
 his right hand doeth but he has hardly yet learnt the 
 meaning of the words, ‘‘Make to yourselves friends 
 of the mammon of unrighteousness ” — he is hardly try- 
 ing to do the greatest possible quantity of good with 
 that money of which God has made him the steward. 
 In the use of means fellow sinners must not dictate to 
 each other — we have no right to insist on the employ- 
 ment of any means which are not sanctioned by the 
 command, or advice, of our great Master — but unless 
 we are employing means, we are not walking circum- 
 spectly. And we may observe the great mercy of God 
 in the placing the means of grace so much before us, 
 as he has done. Consider the blessing which the 
 ministers of God are to his people. This is a Divine 
 appointment and not a human invention. And who 
 can say that they who reject the guidance of God’s 
 appointed servants, may not be rejecting the means 
 which God has destined for their spiritual well-being ? 
 People may say that these observations are dictated 
 by the force of professional prejudice, and I close the 
 subject lest it should offend those who would otherwise 
 admit the force of the reasoning, with reference to 
 their personal advancement in holiness ; but I am sure 
 that the general reasoning is true, that sanctification is 
 the gift of God, and given as he pleases, not as we 
 choose to presume. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 135 
 
 In looking at means whereby we may be sanctified, 
 there are two classes of instruments, both appointed by 
 God ; the one selected by ourselves and applied to our 
 improvement, while in the application of the others, 
 we have no more to do, than to endeavour to apply 
 them to our spiritual good. The first class will embrace 
 plans of study, prayer, and usefulness : the latter will 
 consist in our circumstances in life, and the external 
 advantages or disadvantages which are thrown in our 
 way. Our sanctification depends on the right use made 
 of each of these. No man can be safe, who has not 
 laid down for himself rules with regard to each of the 
 former means of grace. His natural temperament and 
 circumstances will suggest which are most required for 
 him, personally ; but when he comes to die, he will 
 probably see that his success in the use of these, has 
 depended more on what he has not done, than on that 
 which his own prudence has achieved. That our being 
 such as we are in holiness, has depended more on that, 
 over which we had no control, than on that which we 
 have selected for ourselves. That we are holy because 
 God has not granted our wishes, rather than because 
 we have obtained that for which we wished. And that 
 the ordinary and most common means of grace, are 
 those which have produced the most effect upon our 
 souls, e. g*., we shall find that the institution of the 
 Sabbath, and the observance of it, such as it has been 
 forced upon us when young, and carried on from habit 
 perhaps more than principle, has had more to do with 
 our present sense of religion, than any other visible 
 means of grace ; in short, that throughout it has been 
 
136 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 more God’s doing than our own doing. But at the 
 same time, we shall find, that whenever we neglect the 
 means which are in our own power, then we fall, and 
 render the general and special means which God has 
 provided, ineffectual to our good. Every day’s expe- 
 rience convinces us of the wisdom and mercy of the 
 command, Work out your own salvation with fear 
 and trembling and the blessedness of the promise, 
 
 for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to 
 do of his good pleasure.” And if any one will keep 
 his eye fixed on the manner in which God has brought 
 him so far on his way to heaven, or the manner in 
 which God reforms some of his servants, advances 
 others, and prepares us all ; he will discover that God 
 does work in us. 
 
 Mary Adams was the daughter of disreputable 
 parents, who lived in the suburbs of a large town, and 
 she went out to service to avoid the defilements of her 
 home, and she became God’s servant, in heart as well 
 as outwardly ; but she was careless and playful, and in 
 an hour of sport she received a blow from a fellow 
 servant, which ended in producing the cancer of which 
 she died. When she was sent home to the house from 
 which she had escaped, she was compelled to become 
 once more the involuntary companion of the vile and 
 reprobate, to hear language, and to witness scenes 
 which her very soul abhorred. She was unable to do 
 any thing for herself, and was forced to receive assist- 
 ance from her sisters, whose daily conduct was a grief 
 and shame to their dying relative ; though her family 
 all treated her with as much kindness as they were 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 137 
 
 capable of. There was no one to whom she could 
 speak with comfort, excepting the clergyman of the 
 parish, to whom, in her misery, the wretched mother 
 had recourse ; he, while poor Mary lived, was constant 
 in his visits, and witnessed the rapid growth in grace 
 which took place in the soul of this afflicted servant of 
 a crucified Redeemer. Her faith and hopes were strong, 
 and she lived to thank God with apparent warmth and 
 sincerity, for the medicine with which she believed that 
 he was cleansing her heart, and preparing her for 
 heaven. If I had gone on in service, sir, said she one 
 day, who can say that I might not have again become 
 careless as to the state of my soul ? The rude sport in 
 which I was engaged when I received the blow, was as 
 far as I know, innocent ; but who can say that it might 
 not have led to guilt } God knew how weak I am, and 
 he has saved me from future dangers ; and if my path 
 be painful, it is at least a narrow and a straight path. 
 I can generally bear it pretty well, and when I give 
 way through agony, he who sent the pang will pardon 
 the want of patience. Even our Lord cried out, My 
 God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me And per- 
 haps these very tears and sobs, from which I cannot 
 always abstain, may be intended to do good to those 
 who see and hear them. Ah, sir ! do all you can, to 
 bring my poor relations to a better state ! ! and I often 
 think that God may be pleased to do good to some 
 of them, through the sufferings which they witness in 
 me ; perhaps he may, and what a comfort it would be 
 to die with such a hope, that a sister or a brother, 
 or a parent, may be led to think of their poor souls, 
 12 * 
 
]38 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 through the mercy which God shows to me. I often 
 tell them, sir, that I have deserved more, and when 
 they talk of the hardness of my being afflicted, while 
 they escape, I try to convince them that they will not 
 escape. Do pray, sir, that God may have mercy on 
 them. And thus the'hope that God would have mercy 
 on those sinful relatives, supported the soul of a maid- 
 servant, under torments so great, that they almost daily 
 interrupted her fervent prayers ; and she who was again 
 and again forced to say, “ Do wait a little, I shall be 
 able to pray again in a few minutes,” — I beg your 
 pardon, sir, I cannot go on now, I am in so much pain,” 
 — she was comforted and supported by the hope of en- 
 joying that delight, which our Saviour spoke of, when 
 he said, There is joy in the presence of the angels of 
 God, over one sinner that repenteth.” God suited his 
 dispensations to the need of this poor young woman, 
 and the seed was sown in good ground, and brought 
 forth many fold. God’s dispensations are always suited 
 to us, but we do not always receive them as she did. 
 And the prudent Christian, in looking forward to his 
 own progress in grace, will strive to prepare himself 
 for the dispensations which God may send, by adopting 
 those general rules which our holy religion suggests. 
 He will watch and pray. Watch, lest any want of 
 caution on his own part, should destroy the seed sown 
 b}^ the mercy of Heaven : and pray that the Almighty 
 would suit his graces and dispensations to our wants 
 and necessities. His earnest endeavour will be, that he 
 may continue steadily to employ every human means — 
 that his mind may never be turned away from the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD, 
 
 139 
 
 desire after holiness, and the adoption of every method 
 by which God has pointed out to his creatures the 
 way to their advancement in holiness. But his prayer 
 and his hope will be, that God may work in him not 
 only to will, but to do. He will say, perhaps, to him- 
 self, With man it is impossible — but with God all 
 things are possible.” I have so often tried and failed, 
 that for myself, it is impossible that I should ever be 
 fit for the presence of just men made perfect, and of 
 the saints in glory, and of Christ himself. But God 
 can make me fit. And God does make us fit. The 
 last sickness of many a Christian is rendered blessed 
 by a rapid growth in grace, particularly when there is 
 much suffering borne with Christian patience. The 
 impatient naan prays that he may be enabled to conquer 
 his want of kindness to those whom he has previously 
 treated with less tenderness than they deserved ; and 
 God lays him on a bed of anguish, and these relatives 
 become the gentle nurses of his dying hours, and his 
 sufferings are cheered by their continued attentions ; 
 and he thanks them, and does get the better of that 
 which had been his fault towards them ; and they, in 
 the performance of a painful duty, are themselves sanc- 
 tified. How many a young person has found a con- 
 sumptive death to be the quiet gate of everlasting bliss. 
 We must be careful not to mistake that softening of the 
 mind which proceeds from the body, for the working 
 of the grace of God ; but they who have attended death- 
 beds, know the progress in holy acquiescence to the will 
 of God, which frequently displays itself in the later 
 periods of those who are d3fing of consumption. Not 
 
140 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY ? 
 
 long before her death, Euphemia addressed her mother 
 and the clergyman of the parish, in the following terms : 
 
 When I was first aware that my disorder was dan- 
 gerous, I grieved at the thought of leaving a world in 
 which I had so much to hope for, and in which I had 
 anticipated so much of enjoyment. To quit, at an early 
 age, parents and kindred, and to give up the prospect 
 of a connection which ‘seemed to promise every thing 
 which earth can give, did seem hard, and God forgive 
 me for feeling, as I confess I felt ; but he has dealt with 
 me graciously, and not given me over to my own foolish 
 thoughts, and I have gradually learnt to acquiesce in 
 his dispensations, and to see their wisdom, and to rejoice 
 in them. I would not have it otherwise than it is. 
 Doubtless I am not only more fit to die than I was, but 
 am more fit than I should have been if 1 had shared 
 those comforts to which I looked forward. Sure am 
 I, that all is done in mercy, and that I am taken from 
 earthly trials because I am not equal to pass through 
 them safely. He has taught me the blessedness of 
 those who mourn, and even before I fly away and am 
 at peace, I have received comfort such as earth cannot 
 give, and which 1 trust that God will suffer nothing to 
 take away.” 
 
 There is a theory, that as soon as in our earthly 
 course, we are either hopeless as to reform, or fitted 
 for heaven — God takes us from this scene of trial 
 The bad are cut off, lest they should incur a more 
 dreadful weight of guilt. The good are gathered into 
 the garner of heaven, and are at rest. We who are 
 still exposed to temptations, and must bear the load of 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 141 
 
 this world’s labour and affliction, are not yet worthy 
 of our being admitted into the joy of our Lord — not 
 yet suited to so high a privilege and gift. God might 
 fit us for this blessed state by the fiat of his Almighty 
 word. He created Adam in all the beauty and per- 
 fection of manhood. He exalted Enoch at once to a 
 better place. But we have passed through the weak- 
 ness of childhood, the dangers of youth, the toils of 
 manhood, and have been thus prepared to fulfil the 
 duties of that station to which it has pleased God to 
 call us ; and why may we not expect the same steps in 
 our spiritual life ^ When the seed is sown in the best 
 soil, there must be first the blade, then the ear, then 
 the full corn in the ear. And if God is pleased to 
 continue you and me, dear reader, in this state of 
 trouble, why may we not hope that it is for our sanc- 
 tification ? That which we can do, will in no way 
 tend to buy off our guilt, or to purchase the favour of 
 our Maker, but he may of his goodness employ our 
 exertions for the good of others, and for the improve- 
 ment of ourselves. Humanly speaking, we owe our 
 conversion to Christianity, as a nation, to the labours 
 of the Apostles ; and who, in reading the acts of those 
 holy men, can doubt, that St. Peter and St. Paul were 
 purified and prepared for heaven while engaged in this 
 work of the Lord. It may seem presumption, that 
 sinners, such as we are, should dare to compare our- 
 selves in any manner to those blessed instruments of 
 good, whom we so justly honour as the benefactors of 
 the human race ; but the same God, who is rich in 
 mercy to all who call upon him, may vouchsafe to 
 
142 
 
 \VHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 
 
 bestow a small portion of the same heavenly blessing 
 on us, who are so little worthy of it. In the case of 
 St. Paul, to live,” was to continue in the service of 
 Christ, and to die was gain.” He had a desire to 
 depart and to be with Christ, nevertheless, to abide 
 in the flesh was more needful for man.” To us, pro- 
 bably there may be ties which still bind us to earth ; 
 there may be duties and fields of usefulness which 
 may enable us to hope, that our stay on earth may be 
 beneficial to some of those who are connected with us : 
 and conscious of our own present defects, we may 
 hope, that while we stay in the flesh, we may still be 
 growing in the spirit. That the grace of God may be 
 softening our hearts, and leading us to a closer con- 
 formity to the blessed example of our Saviour. But 
 our hope is built on what shall be done for us, and not 
 on anything which we can do ourselves. And we may 
 daily pray, that He who can, alone, order the unruly 
 wills and affections of sinful men, may so guide every- 
 thing belonging to us, that all shall work together for 
 our good. That the changes and chances of this 
 mortal life may be so ordered, as best to promote our 
 spiritual improvement ; and that we may have grace 
 to adopt such regulations with regard to ourselves, as 
 shall best tend to make us ready for a state of glory. 
 But we shall come to the contest, trusting in what 
 God shall do for us. We may choose the smoothest 
 pebbles, and fit them with most prudent care to the 
 sling with which we have armed ourselves, but when 
 we advance to the contest, it shall be in the name of 
 the Lord God of hosts, and our watch-word and our 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 143 
 
 prayer shall be, may God work in us both to will and 
 to do of his good pleasure. 
 
 O Lord, raise up (we pray Thee) thy power, and 
 come among us, and with great might succour us ; that 
 whereas, through our sin and wickedness, we are sore 
 let and hindered in running the race that is set before 
 us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help 
 and deliver us ; through the satisfaction of thy Son 
 our Lord, to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be 
 honour and glory, world without end. Amen.