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Poston:—crocker & brewster, I 47Wa3hington-gtrcel./ 1 835 . i*; THE LECTURER’S PREFA & Let it be remembered, that these Lectures were dr gregation. They were entered upon, without _ marked out a week to week one lecture to I consented. - . _ _. _ — 0 _^__ his own responsibility, because he thought that it might excite a interest in, and extend the usefulness of his paper. And as I am Pastor, and have not sufficient health to labour as an Evangelist, it has pleased the Head of the Church to give me some expert* revivals of religion, I thought it possible, that, while I was doi work of a Pastor in my own church, I might, in this way, be o little service to the churches abroad. If /> I found a particular inducement to this course, in the.|ac*t, tha f return from the Mediterranean, I learned, with pain, that the p revival had greatly declined in the United States, and that„a sj jangling and controversy alarmingly prevailed. y * The peculiar circumstances of the church, and the state of revifn such, as unavoidably to lead me to the discussion of some points, would gladly have avoided, had the omission been consistent w main design, to reach and arouse the church, when 4 she was fast f down upon her lees. I am far from setting up the claim of infallibility upon this or an subject. I have given my own views, so far as I have gone,vwithc tending to have exhausted the subject, or to have spoken in the b sible manner upon the points I have discussed. ^ I am too well acquainted with the state c f the church, and e* i with the state of some of its ministers, to expect to escape wime it c I have felt obliged to say some things, that I fear will not, in all iii be received as kindly as they were intended. But whatever may be the result of saying the truth as it respects some , I have reason to believe, that the great body of praying people, will receive and be benefited by what I have said. k IV PREFACE. \| ¥ f' 1 What I have said upon the subject of prayer, will not, I am well aware, be understood and received by a certain portion of the church, and all I can say is, “ He that hath an ear to hear , let him hear” I had not the most distant idea until recently, that these Lectures, in this, or any other form, would ever grow into a book: but the urgent call for their publication, in a volume, and the fact that I have had re¬ peated assurances that the reading of them in the Evangelist, has been and blessed, to the quickening of individuals and churches, and .1 of many sinners, have led me to consent nperfect form. ;ded, in general, in giving an outline of the vered. His report, however, would, in g ! en- full skeleton of what was said on the subject, he Reporter, I would say, that on reading his jigh there were ome mistakes and misappre- tirprisM that, without stenography, he could ; ly report my meaning. ‘or literary merit, they have nonenor do they lay claim to any. no part of my design to deliver elegant Lectures. They were my miliar Friday evening discourses ; and my great, and I may add y object, was to have them understood and felt, erecting the Lectures for a volume, I have not had time, nor bought advisable to remodel them, and change the style in which td/beta, reported. I have, in some few instances, changed the Logy, when a thought had been very awkwardly expressed, or re true idea had not been gi ven. But I have, in nearly every in¬ left the sentences as they were reported, when the thought was \ously expressed, although the style might have been improved adation. They were the editor’s reports, and as such they must Ire the public ; with such little additions and alterations, as I have e to make. Could I have written them out in full, I doubt not j might have been more acceptable to many readers. But this possible, and the only alternative was, to let the public have them are, or refuse to let them go out in the form of a volume at all. fry they are not better Lectures, and in a more attracting form ; ave done what I could under the circumstances; and, as it is |l of many whom I love, and delight to please and honour, to have (though in this imperfect form, they must have them. V C. G. FINNEY. I J advertisement by the reporter. I Ur * , ‘ I . ' ' " ' -V ' TnE work of reporting these Lectures was undertaken for the purpose of increasing the interest and usefulness of the New-York Evangelist. The Reporter is wholly unacquainted with short hand, and has, therefore, only aimed to give a sketch of the leading thoughts of the Discourse. It is hardly necessary to mention, that Mr. Finney never writes his ser¬ mons ; but guides his course of argument by a skeleton, or brief, care¬ fully prepared, and so compact, that it can be written on one side of a card, about half as large as one of these printed pages. His manner is direct, and his language colloquial and Saxon, and his illustrations are I ' ^ 4 ** drawn from the commonest incidents and maxims of life. The Reporter has aimed to preserve, as much as he could, the style of the speaker, and is thought to have been in some degree successful. If, in any cases, by j letting his language run in a colloquial strain, he has made the copy more simple and homely than the original, he hopes to be pardoned easily for a fault by no means prevalent. S If any one should attempt to criticise the style of these Reports, he will assuredly lose his labour; for the only ambition of the Reporter has been, to make such a use of language as should fully convey the meaning, and fairly exhibit the manner of the Lecturer. When words have done this, they have done their great work. The notes were taken with a pencil, and transcribed ir_ great haste, and sent to the printer without re* vision. In preparing them for republication, in this form, Mr. Finney has reviewed them, with reference only to this point—the correct ex¬ pression of the sentiment. The style of an oif-hand sketch has been pre¬ served, partly of choice, and partly from necessity. There was no time to remodel the work, and the public voice seemed to be, that it was more yj ADVERTISEMENT BY THE RBPORTER. attractive, and more useful, in its present condensed form. Mr. Finney has therefore done little more than to amend where the Reporter misap¬ prehended the meaning, or did not express it with sufficient distinctness. He has enlarged in a few places where the illustrations, as given by the Reporter, seemed to be incomplete. My labour with these Sketches is now done; and its results are sent forth in this permanent form, with the prayer, that God would employ the book, as he has already done the newspaper edition, to rouse, and teach, and strengthen hi3 people, and to guide, unite, and encourage zealous Christians of all classes, in the great duty of saving sinners. J. L. New- York, April, 1825. CONTENTS. - — ————— 1 — LECTURE I. Page. What a Revival of Religion is...........9 LECTURE II. When a Revival is to be expected.21 LECTURE III. EIow to Promote a Revival.33 LECTURE IV. Prevailing Prayer.45 LECTURE V. The Prayer of Faith. 64 LECTURE VI. Spirit of Prayer.80 LECTURE VII. Be Filled with the Spirit. 97 LECTURE VIII. Meetings for Prayer.114 LECTURE IX. Means to be Used with Sinners...129 LECTURE X. i To win Souls requires Wisdom . 144 LECTURE XI. A. wise Minister will be Successful...161 LECTURE XII. How to Preach the Gospel . 180 I 7111 CONTENTS. LECTURE XIII. Page. How Churches can Help Ministers.207 LECTURE XIV. Measures to Promote Revivals.232 * LECTURE XV. Hinderances to Revivals.256 LECTURE XVI. Necessity and Effect of Union.285 LECTURE XVII. False Comforts for Sinners. 307 LECTURE XVIII. Directions to Sinners. 334 LECTURE XIX. Instructions to Converts. 353 LECTURE XX. Instruction of Young Converts. 380 LECTURE XXI. Backsliders .. js».. 400 LECTURE XXII. Growth in Grace 415 LECTURES. LECTURE I WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. Text. — O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.— Hab. lii. 2. It is supposed that the prophet Habakkuk was contemporary with Jeremiah, and that this prophecy was uttered in anticipa¬ tion of the Babylonish captivity. Looking at the judgments which were speedily to come upon his nation, the soul of the prophet was wrought up to an agony, and he cries out in his dis¬ tress, “ O Lord, revive thy work.” As if he had said, “ O Lord, grant that thy judgments may not make Israel desolate. In the midst of these awful years, let the judgments of God be made the means of reviving religion among us. In wrath remember mercy.” Religion is the work of man. It is something for man to do. It consists in obeying God. It is man’s duty. It is true, God induces him to do it. He influences him by his Spirit, because of his great wickedness and reluctance to obey. If it were not necessary for God to influence men—if men were disposed to obey God, there would be no occasion to pray, “ O Lord, revive thy work.” The ground of necessity for such a prayer is, that men are wholly indisposed to obey; and unless God interpose the influence of his Spirit, not a man on earth will ever obey the commands of God. A “Revival of Religion” presupposes a declension. Almost all the religion in the world has been produced by revivals. God has found it necessary to take advantage of the excita¬ bility there is in mankind, to produce powerful excitements among them, before he can lead them to obey. Men are so sluggish, there are so many things to lead their minds off from religion, and to oppose the influence of the gospel, that it is necessary to raise an excitement among them, till the tide rises so high as to sweep away the opposing obstacles. They must 10 WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. be so excited that they will break over these counteracting influences, before they will obey God. Look back at the history of the Jews, and you will see that God used to maintain religion among them by special occasions, when there would be a great excitement, and people would turn to the Lord. And after they had been thus revived, it would be but a short time before there would be so many coun¬ teracting influences brought to bear upon them, that religion would decline, and keep on declining, till God could have time— so to speak—to shape the course of events so as to produce another excitement, and then pour out his Spirit again to convert sinners. Then the counteracting causes would again operate, and religion would decline, and the nation would be swept away in the vortex of luxury, idolatry, and pride. There is so little principle in the church, so little firmness and stability of purpose, that unless they are greatly excited, they will not obey God. They have so little knowledge, and their principles are so weak, that unless they are excited, they will go back from the path of duty, and do nothing to promote the glory of God. The state of the world is still such, and probably will be till the millenium is fully come, that religion must be mainly promoted by these excitements. How long and how often has the experiment been tried, to bring the church to act steadily for God, without these periodical excitements Many good men have supposed, and still suppose, that the best way to promote religion, is to go along uniformly , and gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excitement. But how¬ ever such reasoning may appear in the abstract, facts demon¬ strate its futility. If the church were far enough advanced in knowledge, and had stability of principle enough to keep awake , such a course would do ; but the church is so little enlightened, and there are so many counteracting causes, that the church will not go steadily to work without a special excitement. As the millenium advances, it is probable that these periodical excitements will be unknown. Then the church will be enlightened, and the counteracting causes removed, and the entire church will be in a state of habitual and steady obedience to God. The entire church will stand and take the infant mind, and cultivate it for God. Children will be trained up in the way they should go, and there will be no such torrents of worldliness, and fashion, and covetousness, to bear away the piety of the church, as soon as the excitement of a revival is withdrawn. It is very desirable it should be so. It is very desirable that WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. 11 ie church should go on steadily in a course of obedience dthout these excitements. Such excitements are liable to ijure the health. (Our nervous system is so strung that any owerful excitement, if long continued, injures our health and nfits us for duty. ' If religion is ever to have a pervading lfluence in the world, it can’t be so; this spasmodic religion lust be done away. Then it will be uncalled for. Christians ■ dll not sleep the greater part of the time, and once in a while ! r ake up, and rub their eyes, and bluster about, and vociferate, little while, and then go to sleep again. Then there will be no eed that ministers should wear themselves out, and kill them- ilves, by their efforts to roll back the flood of worldly influence iat sets in upon the church. But as yet the state of the Christian world is such, that to expect to promote religion with- it excitements is unphilosophical and absurd. The great olitical, and other worldly excitements that agitate Christen- im, are all unfriendly to religion, and divert the mind from te interests of tke.^oul. ^NowjJiese excitements ca n only be ^interacted by religious excitements. And'unuTTFereTs re- gious principle in the world to put down irreligious excite- lents, it is in vain to try to promote religion, except by coun- iracting excitements. ■.J fliis is true.in philosophy, and it is a istorical fact. It is altogether improbable that religion will ever make rogress among heathen nations except through the influence ' revivals. The attempt is now making to do it by education, id other cautious and gradual improvements. But so long as e laws of mind remain what they are, it cannot be done in is way. There must be excitement sufficient to wake up the irmant moral powers, and roll back the tide of degradation id sin. And precisely so far as our own land approximates heathenism, it is impossible for God or man to promote reli¬ on in such a state of things but by powerful excitements.— his is evident from the fact that this has always been the way ! which God has done it. God does not create these excite- ents, and choose this method to promote religion for nothing ■ without reason. Where mankind are so reluctant to obey od, they will not act until they are excited. For instance, >w many there are who know that they ought to be religious, it they are afraid if they become pious they shall be laughed by their companions. Many are wedded to idols, others are I ’ocrastinating repentance, until they are settled in life, or until | iey have secured some favorite worldly interest. Such persons 2ver will give up their false shame, or relinquish their ambi- 12 WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. tious schemes, till they are so excited that they cannot contain themselves any longer. These remarks are designed only as an introduction to the discourse. I shall now proceed with the main design, to show, 1. What a revival of religion is not; II. What it is ; and, III. The agencies employed in promoting it. I. A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS NOT A MIRACLE. ", A miracle has been generally defined to he, a Divine in¬ terference, setting aside or suspending the laws of nature. It is not a miracle, in this sense. All the laws of matter and mind remain in force. They are neither suspended nor set aside in a revival. 2. It is not a miracle according to another definition of the term miracle —something above the 'powers of nature. There is nothing in religion beyond the ordinary powers of nature. It co»sists_ ejotixely hi t?ie jt ight- ~exe/r crc*c. of The pnwars of na¬ ture. If is just that, and nothing else. When mankind be¬ come religious, they are not enabled to put forth exertions which they were unable before to put forth. They only exert the powers they had before-in a. diiTercnt-way, and use them for the glory of God. 3. It is not a miracle, or dependent on a miracle, in any sense. It is - -a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means—as much so as any other effect produced by the application of means. There may be a miracle among its antecedent causes, or there may not. The apostles employ¬ ed miracles, simply as a means by which they arrested atten¬ tion to their message, and established its Divine authority. But the miracle was not the revival. The miracle was one thing; the revival that followed it was quite another thing. The revivals in the apostles’ days were connected with mira¬ cles, but they were not miracles. I said that a revival is the result of the right use of the ap¬ propriate means. The means which God has enjoined for the production of a revival, doubtless have a natural tendency to produce a revival. Otherwise God would not have enjoined them. But means will not produce a revival, we all know, without the blessing of God. No more will grain, when it is sowed, produce a crop without the blessing of God. It is im¬ possible for us to say that there is not as direct an influence or agency from God, to produce a crop of grain, as there is to pro¬ duce a revival. What are the laws of nature according to WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. 13 r hich, it is supposed, that grain yields a crop ? They are othing but the constituted manner of the operations of God. i the Bible, the word of God is compared to grain, and reaching is compared to sowing seed, and the results to the wringing up and growth of the crop. And the result is just ? philosophical in the one case, as in the other, and is as iturally connected with the cause. I wish this idea to be impressed on all your minds, for there has >ng been an idea prevalent that promoting religion has some- ling very peculiar in it, not to be judged of by the ordinary rules ’ cause and effect; in short, that there is no connection of the eans with the result, and no tendency in the means to produce ie effect. No doctrine is more dangerous than this to the pros irity of the church, and nothing more absurd. Suppose a man were to go and preach this doctrine among rmers, about their sowing grain. Let him tell them that God a sovereign, and will give them a crop only when it pleases im, and that for them to plow and plant and labor as if they I tpected to raise a crop is very wrong, and taking the work out the hands of God, that it interferes with his sovereignty, and going on in their own strength ; and that there is no connec- on between the means and theresult oir which they can depend, nd now, suppose the farmers should believe such doctrine, j /hy, they would starve the world to death. Just such results will follow from the church’s being pursuaded at promoting religion is somehow so mysteriously a subject Divine sovereignty, that there is no natural connection be- i veen the means and the end. What art the results? Why eneration after generation have gone down to hell. No doubt ore than five thousand millions have gone down to hell, while ie church has been dreaming, and waiting for God to save lem without the use of means. It has been the devil’s most iccessful means of destroying souls. The connection is as ear in religion as it is when the farmer sows his grain. There is one fact under the government of God, worthy of S liversal notice, and of everlasting remembrance; which is, at the most useful and important things are most easily and jrtainly obtained by the use of the appropriate means. This is udently a principle in the Divine administration. Hence, all ie necessaries of life are obtained with great certainty by the se of the simplest means. The luxuries are more difficult to utain; the means to procure them are more intricate and less jrtain in their results; while things absolutely hurtful and fisonous, such as alcohol and the like, are often obtained only 2 14 WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. \ by torturing nature, and making use of a kind of infernal sor¬ cery to procure the death-dealing abomination. 1 his princi¬ ple holds true in moral government, and as spiritual blessings are of surpassing importance, we should expect their attainment to be connected with great certainty with the use of the appro¬ priate means ; and such we find to be the fact; and I fully believe that could facts be known, it would be found that when the ap¬ pointed means have been rightly used, spiritual blessings have been obtained with greater uniformity than temporal ones. II. 1 AM TO SHOW WHAT A REVIVAL IS. It presupposes that the church is sunk down in a backslidden state, and a revival consists in the return of the church from her backslidings, and in the conversion of sinners. 1. A revival always includes conviction of sin on the part of the church. Backslidden professors cannot wake up and begin right away in the service of God, without, deep searchings of heart. The fountains of sin need to be broken up. In a true revival, Christians are always brought under such convictions; they see their sins in such a light, that often they find it impossi¬ ble to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not al¬ ways go to that extent; but there are always, in a genuine revival, deep convictions of sin, and often cases of abandoning all hope. 2. Backslidden Christians will be brought to repentance. A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God. Just as in the case of a converted sinner, the first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with deep humility, and forsaking of sin. 3. Christians will have their faith renewed. While they are in their backslidden state they are blind to the state of sinners. Their hearts are as hard as marble. The truths of the Bible only appear like a dream. They admit it to be all true ; their conscience and their judgment assent to it; but their faith does not see it standing out in bold relief, in all the burning realities of eternity. But when they enter into a revival, they no longer see men as trees walking, but they see things in that strong light which will renew the love of "God in their hearts. This will lead them to labor zealously to bring others to him. They will feel grieved that others do not love God, when they love him so much. And they will set themselves feelingly to persuade their neighbors to give him their hearts. So their love to men will be renewed. They will be filled with a tender and burning love for souls. They will have a longing desire for the salvation of the whole world. They will be in an agony for WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION 16. 15 idividuals whom they want to have saved; their friends, re- itions, enemies. They will not only he urging them to give leir hearts to God, but they will carry them to God in the rms of faith, and with strong crying and tears beseech God to ave mercy on them, and save their souls from endless burnings. 4. A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over : Christians. It brings them to such vantage ground that they et a fresh impulse towards heaven. They have a new fore- iste of heaven, and new desires after union to God ; and the harm of the world is broken, and the power of sin overcome. 5. When the churches are thus awakened and reformed, the eformation and salvation of sinners will follow, going through le same stages of conviction, repentance, and reformation. Pheir hearts will be broken down and changed. Very often he most abandoned profligates are among the subjects. Har¬ lots, and drunkards, and infidels, and all sorts of abandoned haracters, are awakened and converted. The worst part of luman society are softened, and reclaimed, and made to appear s lovely specimens of the beauty of holiness. II. I AM TO CONSIDER THE AGENCIES EMPLOYED IN CARRY¬ ING FORWARD A REVIVAL OF RELIGION. Ordinarily, there are three agents employed in the work of Conversion, and one instrument. The agents are God,—some >erson who brings the truth to bear on the mind,—and the sin- I' ier himself. The instrument is the truth. There are always wo agents, God and the sinner, employed and active in every base of genuine conversion. 1. The agency of God is two-fold; by his Providence and py his Spirit. (1.) By his providential government, he so arranges events is to bring the sinner’s mind and the truth in contact. He brings the sinner where the truth reaches his ears or his eyes, ft is°often interesting to trace the manner in which God ar¬ ranges events so as to bring this about, and how he sometimes makes every thing seem to favor a revival. The state of the weather, and of the public health, and other circumstances con¬ cur to make every thing just right to favor the application of truth with the greatest possible efficacy. How he sometimes sends a minister along, just at the time he is wanted ! How he brings out a particular truth, just at the particular time when the individual it is fitted to reach is in the way To hear! (2.) God’s special agency by his Holy Spirit. Having di¬ rect access to the mind, and knowing infinitely well the whole 16 WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. history and state of each individual sinner, he employs that truth which is best adapted to his particular case, and then sets it home with Divine power. He gives it such vividness, strength, and power, that the sinner quails, and throws down his wea¬ pons of rebellion, and turns to the Lord. Under his influence, the truth burns and cuts its way like fire. He makes the truth stand out in such aspects, that it crushes the proudest man down with the weight of a mountain. If men were disposed, to obey God, the truth is given with sufficient clearness in the Bible; and from preaching they could learn all that is necessary for them to know. But because they are wholly disinclined to obey it, God clears it up before their minds, and pours in a blaze of convincing light upon their souls, which they cannot withstand, and they yield to it, and obey God, and are saved. 2. The agency of men is commonly employed. Men are not mere instruments in the hands of God. Truth is the in¬ strument. The preacher is a moral agent in the work; he acts; he is not a mere passive instrument; he is voluntary in promoting the conversion of sinners. 3. The agency of the sinner himself. The conversion of a sinner consists in his obeying the truth. It is therefore impos¬ sible it should take place without his agency, for it consists in his acting right. He is influenced to this by the agency of God, and by the agency of men. Men act on their fellow-men, not only by language, but by their looks, their tears, their daily deportment, See that impenitent man there, who has a pious wife. Her very looks, her tenderness, her solemn, compassion¬ ate dignity, softened and moulded into the image of Christ, are a sermon to him all the time. He has to turn his mind away, because it is such a reproach to him. He feels a sermon ring¬ ing in his ears all day long. Mankind are accustomed to read the countenances of their neighbors. Sinners often read the state of a Christian’s mind in his eyes. If his eyes are full of levity, or worldly anxiety and contrivance, sinners read it. If they are full of the Spirit of God, sinners read it; and they are often led to conviction by barely seeing the countenance of Christians. An individual once went into a manufactory to see the ma¬ chinery. His mind was solemn, as he had been where there was a revival. The people who labored there all knew him by sight, and knew who he was. A young lady who was at work saw him, and whispered some foolish remark to her com¬ panion, and laughed. The person stopped and looked at her with a feeling of grief. She stopped, her thread broke, and she WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IB. 1? vas so much agitated she could not join it. She looked out at he window to compose herself, and then tried again; again nd again she strove to recover her self-command. At length he sat down, overcome with her feelings. The person then pproached and spoke with her; she soon manifested a deep ense of sin. The feeling spread through the establishment ike fire, and in a few hours almost every person employed here was under conviction, so much so, that the owners, though vorldly men, were astounded, and requested to have the works top and have a prayer meeting; for they said it was a great deal nore important to have these people converted than to have the vorks go on. And in a few days, the owners and nearly every )erson employed in the establishment were hopefully converted. The eye of this individual, his solemn countenance, his compas¬ sionate feeling, rebuked the levity of the young woman, and nought her under conviction of sin : and this whole revival fol- owed, probably in a great measure, from so small an incident. If Christians have deep feeling on the subject of religion hemselves, they will produce deep feeling wherever they go. 4nd if they are cold, or light and trifling, they inevitably de¬ stroy all deep feeling, even in awakened sinners. I knew a case, once, of an individual who was very anxious, out one day I was grieved to find that her convictions seemed o be all gone. I asked her what she had been doing. She old me she had been spending the afternoon at such a place, unong some professors of religion, not thinking that it would lissipate her convictions to spend an afternoon with professors A religion. But they were trifling and vain, and thus her con¬ victions were lost. And no doubt those professors of leligion, by their folly, destroyed a soul, for her convictions did not return. The church is required to use the means for the conversion of sinners. Sinners cannot properly be said to use the means for their own conversion. The church uses the means. What sinners do is to submit to the truth, or to resist it. It is. a mis- j take of sinners, to think they are using means for their own i conversion. The whole drift of a revival, and every thing about it, is designed to present the truth to your mind, for your obedience or resistance. REMARKS. 1. Revivals were formerly regarded as miracles. And it has been so by some even in our day. And others have ideas on the subject so loose and unsatisfactory, that if they would 2 * 18 WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. only think , they would see their absurdity. For a long time, it was supposed by the church, that a revival was a miracle, an interposition of Divine power which they had nothing to do with, and which they had no more agency in producing, than they had in producing thunder, or a storm of hail, or an earth¬ quake. It is only within a few years that ministers generally have supposed revivals were to be 'promoted , by the use of means designed and adapted specially to that object. Even in New England, it has been supposed that revivals came just as showers do, sometimes in one town, and sometimes in another, and that ministers and churches could do nothing more to pro¬ duce them, than they could to make showers of rain come on their own town, when they are falling on a neighboring town. It used to be supposed that a revival would come about once in fifteen years, and all would be converted that God in¬ tended to save, and then they must wait until another crop came forward on the stage of life. Finally, the time got shortened down to five years, and they supposed there might be a revival about as often as that. I have heard a fact in relation to one of these pastors, who supposed revivals might come about once in five years. There had been a revival in his congregation. The next year, there was a revival in a neighboring town, and he went there to preach, and staid several days, till he got his soul all engaged in the work. He returned home on Saturday, and went into his study to prepare for the Sabbath. And his soul was in an agony. He thought how many adult persons there were in his congregation at enmity with God—so many still uncon¬ verted—so many persons die yearly—such a portion of them unconverted—if a revival does not come under five years, so many adult heads of families will be in hell. He put down his calculations on paper, and embodied them in his sermon for the next day, with his heart bleeding at the dreadful picture. As I understood it, he did not do this with any expectation of a revival, but he felt deeply, and poured out his heart to his peo¬ ple. And that sermon awakened forty heads of families , and a powerful revival followed ; and so his theory about a revival once in five years was all exploded. Thus God has overthrown, generally, the theory that revi¬ vals are miracles. 2. Mistaken notions concerning the sovereignty of God have greatly hindered revivals. Many people have supposed God’s sovereignty to be some- hmg very different from what it is. They have supposed it to WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. 19 3 such an arbitrary disposal of events, and particularly of the ift of his Spirit, as precluded a rational employment of means >r promoting a revival of religion. But there is no evidence om the Bible, that God exercises any such sovereignty as lat. There are no facts to prove it. But everything goes to low, that God has connected means with the end through all le departments of his government—in nature and in grace, 'here is no natural event in which his own agency is not con- ierned. He has not built the creation like a vast machine, lat will go on alone without his further care. He has not re- red from the universe, to let it work for itself. This is mere heism. He exercises a universal superintendence and con- ol. And yet every event in nature has been brought about y means. He neither administers providence nor grace with lat sort of sovereignty, that dispenses with the use of means, 'here is no more sovereignty in one than in the other. And yet some people are terribly alarmed at all direct ef- >rts to promote a revival, and they cry out, “ You are trying ) get up a revival in your own strength. Take care, you are iterfering with the sovereignty of God. Better keep along in le usual course, and let God give a revival when he thinks is best. God is a sovereign, and it is very wrong for you to i L .tempt to get up a revival, just because you think a revival is ieeded.” This is just such preaching as the devil wants, md men cannot do the devil’s work more effectually, than by reaching up the sovereignty of God, as a reason why we lould not put forth efforts to produce a revival. 3. You see the error of those who are beginning to think lat religion can be better promoted in the world without revi- als, and who are disposed to give up all efforts to produce re- gious excitements. Because there are evils arising in some istances out of great excitements on the subject of religion, iey are of opinion that it is best to dispense with them alto- I ether. This cannot, and must not be. True, there is danger f abuses. In cases of great religious as well as all other ex- itements, more or less incidental evils may be expected of i Durse. But this is no reason why they should be given up. 1 'he best things are always liable to abuses. Great and mani- >ld evils have originated in the providential and moral govern- lents of God. But these foreseen perversions and evils were ot considered a sufficient reason for giving them up. For the stablishment of these governments was on the whole the best rat could be done for the production of the greatest amount of appiness. So in revivals of religion, it is found by experience, 20 WHAT A REVIVAL OF Rf^IGION IS. that in the present state of the world, religion cannot be promo* ted to any considerable extent without them. The evils which are sometimes complained of, when they are real, are incidental, and of small importance when compared with the amount of good produced by revivals. The sentiment should not be ad¬ mitted by the church for a moment, that revivals may be given up. It is fraught with all that is dangerous to the interests of Zion, is death to the cause of missions, and brings in its train the damnation of the world. Finally— I have a proposal to make to you who are here present. I have net commenced this course of Lectures on Re¬ vivals to get up a curious theory of my own on the subject. I would not spend my time and strength merely to give you in¬ structions, to gratify your curiosity, and furnish you something to talk about. I have no idea of preaching about revivals. It is not my design to preach so as to have you able to say at the close, “We understand all about revivals now,” while you do nothing. But I wish to ask you a question. What do you hear lectures on revivals for? Do you mean that whenever you are convinced what your duty is in promoting a revival, you will go to work and practise it? Will you follow the instructions I shall give you from the word of God, and put them in practice in your own hearts ? Will you bring them to bear upon your families, your acquaintance, neighbors, and through the city? Or will you spend the win¬ ter in learning about revivals, and do nothing for them ? I want you, as fast as you learn any thing on the subject of revi¬ vals, to put it in practice, and go to work and see if you cannot promote a revival among sinners here. If you will not do this, I wish you to let me know at the beginning, so that I need not waste my strength. You ought to decide noio whether you will do this or not. You know that we call sinners to decide on the spot whether they will obey the gospel. And we have no more authority to let you take time to deliberate whether you will obey God, than we have to let sinners do so. We call on you to unite now in a solemn pledge to God, that you will do your duty as fast as you learn what it is, and to pray that He will pour out his Spirit upon this church and upon all the city this winter. WHEN A REVIVAL TO RE EXPECTED. jj Text. —Wilt thou not revive us again; that thy people may rejoice in thee'? -Psalm lxxxv. 6. This Psalm seems to have been written soon after the re¬ am of the people of Israel from the Babylonish captivity; as 'ou will easily see from the language at the commencement f it. The Psalmist felt that God had been very favorable to ^e people, and while contemplating the goodness of the Lord 1 n bringing them back from the land where they had been car¬ ded away captive, and while looking at the prospects before hem, he breaks out into a prayer for a Revival of Religion. Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in hee Since God in his providence had re-established the rdinances of his house among them, he prays that there may e also a revival of religion, to crown the work. Last Friday evening I attempted to show what a Revival of ieligion is not; what a Revival is; and the agencies to be mployed in promoting it. The topics to which I wish to call ■ our attention to-night, are, I. When a Revival of Religion is needed. II. The importance of a Revival when it is needed. c III. When a Revival of Religion may be expected. r I. WHEN IS A REVIVAL OF RELIGION NEEDED 1 1 . When there is a want of brotherly love and Christian onfidence among professors of religion, then a revival is j eeded. Then there is a loud call for God to revive his work, i Vhen Christians have sunk down into a low and backslidden tate, they neither have, nor ought to have, nor is there reason ! 3 have, the same love and confidence toward each other, as : /hen they are all alive, and active, and living holy lives. The !■ 3ve of benevolence may be the same, but not the love of com- lacency. God loves all men with the love of benevolence, but e does not feel the love of complacency toward any but those |vho live holy. Christians do not and cannot love each other i/ith the love of complacency, only in proportion to their holi- t ess. If Christian love is the love of the image of Christ in ! :is people, then it never can be exercised only where that 22 WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. image really or apparently exists. A person must reflect the image of Christ, and show the spirit of Christ, before other Christians can love him with the love of complacency. It is in vain to call on Christians to love one another with the love of complacency, as Christians, when they are sunk down in stupidity. They see nothing in each other to produce this love. It is next to impossible that they should feel otherwise toward each other, than they do toward sinners. Merely know¬ ing that they belong to the church, or seeing them occasionally at the communiontable, will not produce Christian love, unless they see the image of Christ. 2. When there are dissensions, and jealousies, and evil speakings among professors of religion, then there is great need of a revival. These things show that Christians have got far from God, and it is time to think earnestly of a revival.— Religion cannot prosper with such things in the church, and nothing can put an end to them like a revival. 3. When there is a worldly spirit in the church. It is ma¬ nifest that the church is sunk down into a low and backslidden state, when you see Christians conform to the world in dress, equipage, parties, seeking worldly amusements, reading novels, and other books such as the world read. It shows that they are far from God, and that there is a great need of a Revival of Religion. 4. When the churcn finds its members falling into gross and scandalous sins, then it is time for the church to awake and cry to God for a Revival of Religion. When such things are taking place, as give the enemies of religion an occasion for reproach, it is time for the church to ask of God, “ What will become of thy great name?” 5. When there is a spirit of controversy in the church or in the land, a revival is needful. The spirit of religion is not the spirit of controversy. There can be no prosperity in religion, where the spirit of controversy prevails. When the wicked triumph over the church, and revile tnem, it is time to seek for a Revival of Religion. 7. When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves. It is as much the duty of the church to awake, as it is for the firemen to awake when a firebreaks out in the night in a great city. The church ought to put out the fires of hell which are aymg hold oi the wicked. Sleep! Should the firemen sleep, an , tae whole city burn down, what would be thought of such firemen . And yet their guilt would not compare with the WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. 23 lilt of Christians who sleep while sinners around them are ■nking stupid into the fires of hell. . I AM TO SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF A REVIVAL OF RE¬ LIGION IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. A Revival of Religion is the only possible thing that can ipe away the reproach which covers the church, and restore E ligion to the place it ought to have in the estimation of the iblic. Without a revival, this reproach will cover the church ;ore and more, until it is overwhelmed with universal con- mpt. You may do any thing else you please, and you can pange the aspects of society in some respects, but you will do / real good ; you only make it worse without a Revival of Re¬ gion. You may go and build a splendid new house of wor- ip, and line your seats with damask, put up a costly pulpit, id get a magnificent organ, and every thing of that kind, to ake a show and dash, and in that way you may procure a rt of respect for religion among the wicked, but it does no >od in reality. It rather does hurt. It misleads them as to ,e real nature of religion ; and so far from converting them, it rries them farther away from salvation. Look wherever ey have surrounded the altar of Christianity with splendor, ■id you will find that the impression produced is contrary to e true nature of religion. There must be a waking up of tergy on the part of Christians, and an outpouring of God : s pirit, or the world will laugh at the church. t 2. Nothing else will restore Christian love and confidence nong church members. Nothing but a Revival of Religion n restore it, and nothing else ought to restore it. There is 1 > other way to wake up that love of Christians for one an- her, which is sometimes felt, when they have such love as ; ey cannot express. You cannot have such love without con- lence; and you cannot restore confidence without such evi- ! mce of piety as is seen in a revival. If a minister finds he is lost in any degree the confidence of his people, he ought to : bor for a revival as the only means of regaining their confi- | :nce. I do not mean that this should be his motive in laboring r a revival, to regain the confidence of his people, but that a vival through his instrumentality, and ordinarily nothing else, ill restore to him the confidence of the praying part of his '| iople. So if an elder or private member of the church finds ! s brethren cold towards him, there is but one way to restore It is by being revived himself, and pouring out from his ! res and from his life the splendor of the image of Christ. This 24 WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. spirit will catch and spread in the church, and confidence will he renewed, and brotherly love prevail again. 3. At such a time a Revival of Religion is indispensable to avert the judgments of God from the church. This would be strange preaching, if revivals are only miracles, and if the church has no more agency in producing them, than it has m making a thunder storm. To say to the church, that unless there is a revival you may expect judgments, would then be as ridiculous as to say, If you don’t have a thunder storm, you may expect judgments. The fact is, that Christians are more to blame for not being revived, than sinners are for not being converted. And if they are not awakened, they may know as* suredly that God will visit them with his judgments. How often God visited the Jewish church with judgments, because they would not repent and be revived at the call of his prophets! How often have we seen churches, and even whole denomina¬ tions, cursed with a curse, because they would not wake up and seek the Lord, and pray, “ Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee ?” ^ 4. Nothing but a Revival of Religion can preserve such a church from annihilation. A church declining in this way cannot continue to exist without a revival. If it receives new members, they will, for the most part, be made . p of ungodly persons. Without revivals there will not ordinarily be as many persons converted as will die off in a year. There have been churches in this country where the members have died off, and there were no revivals to convert others in their place, till the church has run out, and the organization has been dissolved. A minister told me that he once labored as a missionary in Virginia, on the ground where such a man as Samuel Davies once flashed and shone like a flaming torch; and that Davies’s church was so reduced as to have but one male member, and he, if I remember right, was a colored man. The church had got proud, and was all run out. I have heard of a church in Pennsylvania, that was formerly flourishing, but neglected revivals, and it became so reduced that the pastor had to send to a neighboring church for a ruling elder when he administered the communion.* 5. Nothing but a Revival of Religion can prevent the means of grace from doing a great injury to the ungodly. Without a revival, they will grow harder and harder under preaching, and will experience a more horrible damnation than they would if * Why not, in such a case, let any member of the church, male or female distribute the elements l Is it indispensable »o have an elder. WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. 25 iey had never heard the gospel. Your children and your || iends will go down to a much more horrible fate in hell, in msequence of the means of grace, if there are no revivals to onvert them to God. Better were it for them if there were no eans of grace, no sactuary, no Bible, no preaching, and if they 'id never heard the gospel, than to live and die where there is Irevival. The gospel is the savor of death unto death, if it is jt'bt made a savor of life unto life. ft 6. There is no other way in which a church can be sanc- pfied, grow in grace, and be fitted for heaven. What is grow- ig in grace? Is it hearing sermons and getting some new wo- ons about religion ? No—no such thing. The Christian who Des this, and nothing more, is getting worse and worse, more ad more hardened, and every week it is more difficult to rouse im up to duty. i I. I AM TO SHOW WHEN A REVIVAL OF RELIGION MAY BF EXPECTED. r 1. When the providence of God indicates that a revival is at and. The indications of God’s providence are sometimes so lain as to amount to a revelation of his will. There is a con- liring of events to open the way, a preparation of circumstan- 3S to favor a revival, so that those who are looking out can i;;je that a revival is at hand, just as plainly as if it had been wealed from Heaven. Cases have occurred in this country, /here the providential manifestations were so plain, that those 'ho are careful observers, felt no hesitation in saying, that God 'as coming to pour out his Spirit, and grant a revival of reli- ion. There are various ways for God to indicate his will to people—sometimes by giving them peculiar means, sometimes fey peculiar and alarming events, sometimes by remarkably fa- poring the employment of means, by the weather, health, &c. 2. When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and humbles nd distresses Christians. Sometimes Christians do not seem ) mind any thing about the wickedness around them. Or if iey talk about it, it is in a cold, and callous, and unfeeling way, s if they despaired of a reformation : they are disposed to scold t sinners—not to feel the compassion of the Son of God for •lem. But sometimes the conduct of the wicked drives Chris- c ansto prayer, and breaks them down, and makes them sorrow- il and tender-hearted, so that they can weep day and night, and Instead of scolding and reproaching them, they pray earnestly ■;>r them. Then you may expect a revival. Sometimes the kicked will get up an opposition to religion. And when this 3 26 WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. drives Christians to their knees in prayer to God, with strong crying and tears, you may be certain there is going to he a revi¬ val. The prevalence of wickedness is no evidence at all that there is not going to be a revival. That is often God’s time to work. When the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him. Often the first indication of a revival, is the devil’s getting up something new in opposition. It will invariably have one of tw r o effects. It will either drive Christians to God, or it will drive them farther away from God, to some carnal policy or other that will only make things worse. Frequently the most outrageous wickedness of the un¬ godly is followed by a revival. If Christians are made to feel ..hat they have no hope but in God, and if they have sufficient feeling left to care for the honor of God and the salvation of the souls of the impenitent, there will certainly be a revival. Let hell boil over if it will, and spew oat as many devils as there are stones in the pavements, if it only drives Christians to God in prayer —they can’t hinder a revival. Let Satan get up a row, and sound his horn as loud as he pleases ; if Christians will only be humbled and pray, they shall soon see God’s naked arm in a revival of religion. I have known instances where a revival has broken in upon the ranks of the enemy, almost as sadden as a clap of thunder, and scattered them—taken the very ringlead¬ ers as trophies, and brokep up their party in an instant. 3. A revival maybe expected when Christians have a spirit of prayer for a revival. That is, when they pray as if their hearts were set upon a revival. Sometimes Christians are not engaged in prayer for a revival , not even when they are warm in prayer. Their minds are upon something else; they are praying for something else—the salvation of the heathen and the like—and not for a revival among themselves. But when they feel the want of a revival, they pray for it; they feel for their own families and neighborhoods, and pray for them as if they could not be denied. What constitutes a spirit of prayer? Is it many prayers and warm words 1 No. Prayer is the state of the heart. The spirit of prayer is a state of continual desire and anxiety of mind for the salvation of sinners. It is some¬ thing that weighs them down. It is the same, so far as the philosophy of the mind is concerned, as when a man is anxious for some worldly interest. A Christian who has this spirit of prayer feels anxious for souls. It is the subject of his thoughts all the time, and makes him look and act as if he had a load on his mind. He thinks of it by day, and dreams of it by night. This is properly praying without ceasing. The man's prayers WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. 27 i i L 3em to flow from his heart liquid as water—“ O Lord, revive ly work.” Sometimes this feeling is very deep; persons ave been bowed down, so that they could neither stand nor it. I can name men in this state, of firm nerves, who stand ighin character, who have been absolutely crushed with grief : )r the state of sinners. They have had an actual travail of 3ul for sinners, till they were as helpless as children. The ;eling is not always so great as this, but such things are much lore common than is supposed. In the great revivals in 1826, ley were common. This is by no means enthusiasm. It is ist what Paul felt, when he says, “ My little children, of whom travail in birth.” I heard of a person in this state, who pray- I for sinners, and finally got into such a state of mind, that le could not live without prayer. She could not rest day nor ight, unless there was somebody praying. Then she would 3 at ease; but if they ceased, she would shriek in agony till lere was .prayer again. And this continued for two days, ntil she prevailed in prayer, and her soul was relieved. This avail of soul, is that deep agony, which persons feel when :iey lay hold on God for such a blessing, and will not let him o till they receive it. I do not mean to be understood that it essential to a spirit of prayer, that the distress should be so reat as this. But this deep, continual, earnest desire for the ilvation of sinners, is what constitutes the spirit of prayer for revival. When this feeling exists in a church, unless the Spirit is rieved away by sin, there will infallibly be a revival. This ixiety and distress increases till the revival commences. A . ergyman in W-n told me of a revival among his people, hich commenced with a zealous and devoted woman in the lurch. She became anxious about sinners, and went to pray- ig for them, and she prayed and her distress increased ; and le finally came to her minister, and talked with him, and asked im to appoint an anxious meeting, for she felt that one was aeded. The minister put her off, for he felt nothing of it. 'he next week she came again, and besought him to appoint l anxious meeting; she knew there would be somebody to une, for she felt as if God was going to pour out his Spirit, [e put her off again. And finally she said to him, “ If you in’t appoint an anxious meeting I shall die, for there is cer- inly going to be a revival.” The next Sabbath he appointed a leeting, and said that if there were any who wished to converse ith him about the salvation of their souls, he would meet them J ti such an evening. He did not know of one, but when he 28 WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. went to the place, to his astonishment he found a large number of anxious inquirers. Now don’t you think that woman knew there was going to be a revival ? Call it what you please, a new revelation or an old revelation, or any thing else. I say it was the Spirit of God that taught that praying woman there was o-oin^ to he a revival. “ The secret of the Lord was with O O her, and she knew it. She knew God had been in her heart, and filled it so full that she could contain no longer. Sometimes ministers have had this distress about their con¬ gregations, so that they felt as if they could not live unless they could see a revival. Sometimes elders and deacons, or private members of the church, men or women, have the spirit of prayer for a revival of religion, so that they will hold on and prevail with God, till he pours out his Spirit. The first ray of light that broke in upon the midnight which rested on the churches in Oneida county, in the fall of 1825, was from a wo¬ man in feeble health, who, I believe, had nevey been in a pow¬ erful revival. Her soul was exercised about sinners. She was in an agony for the land. She did not know what ailed her. but she kept praying more and more, till it seemed as if her agony would destroy her body. At length she became full of joy, and exclaimed, “ God has come ! God has'come ! There is no mistake about it, the work is begun, and is going over all the region.” And sure enough, the work began, and her family were almost all converted, and the work spread all over that part of the country. Now, do you think that woman was de¬ ceived? I tell you, no. She knew she had prevailed with God in prayer. She had travailed in birth for souls, and she knew it. This was not the only instance, by many, that I knew in that region. Generally, there are but few professors of religion that know anything about this spirit of prayer which prevails with God. I have been amazed to see such accounts as are often published about revivals, as if the revival had come without any cause— nobody knew why or wherefore. I have sometimes inquired into such cases; when it had been given out that nobody knew any thing about it until one Sabbath they saw in the face of the congregation that God was there; or they saw it in their confer¬ ence room, or prayer meeting, and were astonished at the mysterious sovereignty ol God, in bringing in a revival without any apparent connection with means. Now mark me. Go and inquire among the obscure members of the church, and you will always find that somebody had been praying for a revival, and was expecting it—some man or woman had been agonizing in WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. 29 rayer, for the salvation of sinners, until they gained the bless- lg. It may have found the minister and the body of the church st asleep, and they would wake up all of a sudden, like a man ist rubbing his eyes open, and running round the room push- ig things over, and wondering where all this excitement came om. But though few knew it, you may be sure there has 3 en somebody on the watch-tower, constant in prayer till the j jessing came. Generally, a revival is more or less extensive, 5 there are more or less persons who have the spirit of prayer, ut I will not dwell on this subject any further at present, as the lbject of prayer will come up again in this course of lectures. 4. Another sign that a revival may be expected, is when the tention of ministers is especially directed to this 'particular kject, and when their preaching and other efforts are aimed rrticularly for the conversion of sinners. Most of the time le labors of ministers are, it would seem, directed to other ob¬ jects. They seem to preach and labor with no particular de- gn to effect the immediate conversion of sinners. And then need not be expected that there will be a revival under their Teaching. There never will be a revival till somebody makes irticular efforts for this end. But when the attention of a | minister is directed to the state of the families in his congrega- on, and his heart is full of feeling of the necessity of a revival, hd when he puts forth the proper efforts for this end, then you Lay be prepared to expect a revival. As I explained last week, le connection between the right use of means for a revival, id a revival, is as philosophically sure as between the right se of means to raise grain, and a crop of wheat. I believe, in ct, it is more certain, and that there are fewer instances of ilure. The effect is more certain to follow. Probably the Lw connecting cause and effect is more undeviating in spirit¬ ual than in natural things, and so there are fewer exceptions, 5 I have before said. The paramount importance of spiritual lings makes it reasonable that it should be so. Take the Bible, te nature of the case, and the history of the church, all to¬ gether, and you will find fewer failures in the use of means for revival, than in farming, or any other worldly business. In orldly business there are sometimes cases where counteract- lg causes annihilate all a man can do. In raising grain, for istance, there are cases which are beyond the control of man, ich as drought, hard winter, worms, and so on. So in la¬ pring to promote a revival, there may things occur to counter¬ act it, sqmething or other turning up to divert the public atcen- on from religion, which may baffle every effort. But I believe 3* 30 WHEN A REVIVAL TO EE EXPECTED. there are fewer such cases in the moral than in the natural world. I have seldom seen an individual fail, when he used the means for promoting a revival in earnest, in the manner pointed out in the word of God. I believe a man may enter on the work of promoting a revival, with as reasonable an expecta¬ tion of success, as he can enter on any other work with an ex¬ pectation of success; with the same expectation as the farmer has of a crop when he sows his grain. I have sometimes seen this tried and succeed under circumstances the most forbidding that can be conceived. The great revival in Rochester begun under the most disad¬ vantageous circumstances that could well be imagined. It seemed as though Satan had interposed every possible obstacle to a revival. The three churches were at variance; one had no minister, one was divided about their minister, and they were just going to have a trial before tbe presbytery between an eider and the other minister. After the work begun, one of the first things was, the great stone church gave way, and cre¬ ated a panic. Then one of the churches went on and dismissed their minister right in the midst of it. Another church nearly broke down. Many other things occurred, so that it seemed as if the devil was determined to divert the public attention from the subject of religion. But there were a few remarkable cases of the spirit of prayer, which assured us that God was there, and we \^ent on ; and the more Satan opposed, the Spirit of the Lord lifted up the standard higher and higher, till finally a wave of salvation rolled over the place. 5. A revival of religion may be expected when Christians begin to confess their sins to one another. At other times, they confess in a general manner, as if they were only half in earn¬ est. They may do it in eloquent language, but it does not mean any thing. But when there is an ingenuous breaking down, and a pouring out of the heart in making confession of their sins, tbe flood-gates will soon burst open, and salvation will flow over the place. 6. A revival may be expected whenever Christians are found willing to make tbe sacrifice necessary to carry it on. They must be willing to sacrifice their feelings, their business, their time, to help forward the work. Ministers must be willing to lay out their strength, and to jeopard their health and life. They must be willing to offend the impenitent by plain and faithful dealing, and perhaps offend many members of the church who will not come up to the work. They must take a decided stand with the revival, be the consequences what they WHEN A REVIVAL TO BE EXPECTED. 31 ay. They must be prepared to go on with the work, even ough they should lose the affections of all the impenitent, and 'all the cold part of the church. The minister must be prepared, j* it is the will of God, to be driven away from his place. He ust be determined to go straight forward, and leave‘the entire 1 r entwith God. ji I knew a minister who had a young man laboring with him . a revival. The young man preached pretty plain, and the .icked did not like him. They said, We like our minister, and e wish to have him preach. They finally said so much that e minister told the young man, “ Mr. Such-a-one, that gives so uch towards my support, says so and so. Mr. A. says so, id Mr. B. says so. They think it will break up the society you continue to preach, and I think you had better not preach Viy more.” The young man went away, but the Spirit of God amediately withdrew from the place, and the revival stopped lort. The minister, by yielding to the wicked desires of the icked, drove him away. He was afraid the devil would drive ■im away from his people, and by undertaking to satisfy the /evil, he offended God. And God so ordered events, that in a iort time he had to leave his people after all. He undertook s> go between the devil and God, and God spewed him out. 2 So the people, also, must be willing to have a revival, let the icrificebe what it may. It won’t do for them to say, “We are rilling to attend so many meetings, but we can’t attend any utore.” Or, “We are willing to have a revival if it will not isturb our arrangements about our business, or prevent our making money.” I tell you, such people will never have a re¬ vival, till they are willing to do any thing, and sacrifice any ling, that God indicates to be their duty. Christian merchants ciust feel willing to lock up their stores for six months, if it is ecessary to carry on a revival. [ do not mean to say any such ning is called for, or that it is their duty to do so. But if there hould be such a state of feeling as to call for it, then it would be leir duty, and they ought to be willing to do it. They ought b be willing to do'it if God calls, for he can easily burn down leir stores if they don’t. In fact, I should not be sorry to see mch a revival in New York, as would make every merchant a the city lock up his store till spring, and say he had sold , oods enough, and now he would serve God all this winter. J 7. A revival may be expected when ministers and professors a nation of backsliders, and reproves them for their idolatry, id threatens them with the judgments of God. I have showed on in my first lecture what a revival is not—what it is—and le agencies to be employed in promoting it; and in my second, 'hen it is needed—its importance—and when it may he expected, ly design in this lecture is to show, HOW A REVIVAL IS TO BE PROMOTED. A revival consists of two parts; as it respects the church, ad as it respects the ungodly. I shall speak to-night of a jvival in the church. Fallow ground is ground which has ace been tilled, but which now lies waste, and needs to be broken p and mellowed, before it is suited to receive grain. I shall aow, as it respects a revival in the church, 1. What it is to break up the fallow ground, in the sense o le text. 2. How it is to be performed. I. WHAT IS IT TO BREAK UP THE FALLOW GROUND? To break up the fallow ground, is to break up your hearts —• i prepare your minds to bring forth fruit unto God. The mind frnan is often compared in the Bible to ground, and the word f God to seed sown in it, and the fruit represents the actions nd affections of those who receive it. To break up the fallow ,round, therefore, is to bring the mind into such a state, that it > fitted to receive the word of God. Sometimes your hearts get aatted down hard and dry, and all run to waste, till there is no uch thing as getting fruit from them till they are all broken p, and mellowed down, and fitted to receive the word of God. t is this softening of the heart, so as to make it feel the truth, u pay so little regard to it as not to remember what you read ? so, no wonder that you live so at random, and that your reli¬ on is such a miserable failure. 4. Unbelief Instances in which you have virtually charged e God of truth with lying, by your unbelief of his express omises and declarations. God has promised to give the Holy •irit to them that ask him. Now, have you believed this? ave you expected him to answer? Have you not virtually id in your hearts, when you prayed for the Holy Spirit, “ I not believe that I shall receive it?” If you have not be- ved nor expected you should receive the blessing, which God s expressly promised, you have charged him with lying. 5. Neglect of prayer. Times when you omitted secret ayer, family prayer, and prayer meetings, or have prayed in ch a way as more grievously to offend God, than to have glected it altogether. 6. Neglect of the means of grace. When you have suffered fling excuses to prevent your attending meetings, have neglect- and poured contempt upon the means of salvation, merely m disrelish of spiritual duties. 7. The manner in which you have performed those duties— nt of feeling—want of faith—worldly frame of mind—so it your words were nothing but the mere chattering of a etch, that did not deserve that. God should feel the least care him. When you have fallen down upon your knees, and hd your prayers , in such an unfeeling and careless manner, it ifyou had been put under oath five minutes after you left your ( set, you could not have told what you had been praying for. 3. Your want of love for the souls of your fellow-men. Look ind upon your friends and relations, and remember how little npassion you have felt for them. You have stood by and ;n them going right to hell, and it seems as though you did : care if they did. How many days have there been, in which u did not make their condition the subject of a single fervent ayer, or even an ardent desire for their salvation? ‘9. Your want of care for the heathen. Perhaps you have it cared enough for them to attempt to learn their condition; rhaps not even to take the Missionary Herald. Look at 38 HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL, this, and see how much you do really care for the heathen, and set down honestly the real amount of your feelings for them, and your desire for their salvation. Measure your desire for j their salvation by the self-denial you practise, in giving of your substance to send them the gospel. Do you deny yourself,j even the hurtful superfluities of life, such as tea, coffee, and tobacco ? Do you retrench your style of living, and really sub¬ ject yourself to any inconvenience to save them ? Do you daily | pray for them in your closet? Do you statedly attend the monthly concert ? Are you from month to month laying by something to put into the treasury of the Lord, when you go up; to pray? If you are not doing these things, and if your soul i is not agonized for the poor benighted heathen, why are you such a hypocrite, as to pretend to be a Christian ? Why, your profession is an insult to Jesus Christ! 10. Your neglect of family duties. How you have lived before them, how you have prayed, what an example you have set before them. What direct efforts do you habitually make for their spiritual good? What duty have you not neglected ?j 11. Neglect of social duties. 12. Neglect of watchfulness over your own life. Instances in which you have hurried over your private duties, and not taken yourself to task, nor honestly made up your accounts with; God. Where you have entirely neglected to watch your con duct, and have been off your guard, and have sinned before the world, and before the church, and before God. 13. Neglect to watch over your brethren. How often have you broken your covenant, that you would watch over them: in the Lord ! How little do you know or care about the state; of their souls ! And yet you are under a solemn oath to per form it. What have you done to make yourself acquainted with them ? How many of them have you interested yourself for, to know their spiritual state ? Go over the list, and wher ever you find there has been a neglect, write it down. How many times have you seen your brethren growing cold in reli-| gion, and have not spoken to them about it? You have seen 1 them beginning to neglect one duty after another, and you did not reprove them in a brotherly way. You have seen them; falling into sin., and you let them go on. And yet you pretend: to love them. What a hypocrite ! Would you see your wife; or child going into disgrace, or into the fire, and hold your peace? No, you wogld not. What do you think of yourself, then, to pretend to loVe Christians, and to love Christ, whilel you can see them going into disgrace, and say nothing to them ? HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL. 39 14. Neglect of self-denial. There are many professors who -e willing to do almost any thing in religion, that does not quire self-denial. But when they are called to do any thing at requires them to deny themselves, O! that is too much, hey think they are doing a great deal for God, and doing >out as much as he ought to ask in reason, if they aie only oing what they can do about as well as not* hut they aie not iliing to deny themselves any comfort or convenience whet¬ her, for the sake of serving the Lord. They will not willingly iffer reproach for the name of Christ. Nor will they deny emselves the luxuries of life, to save a world from helk So^ r are they from remembering that self-denial is a condition of Iscipleship , that they don’t know what self-denial is. They ever have really denied themselves a riband or a pin for hrist, and for the gospel. O, how soon such professors will e in hell! Some are giving of their abundance , and are giving mch, and are ready to complain that others don't give more ; /hen, in truth, they do not give any thing that they need , any ling that they could enjoy, if they kept it. They only give f their surplus wealth; and perhaps that poor woman, who uts in twelve and a half cents at the monthly concert, has exer- tsed more self-denial than they have in giving thousands. From these we now turn to SINS OF COMMISSION. 1. Worldly mindedness. What has been the state of your eart in regard to your worldly possessions'? . Have you looked *t them as really yours —as if you had a right to dispose of nem as your own, according to your own will? If you have, /rite that down. If you have loved property, and sought after j; for its own sake, or to gratify lust or ambition, or a worldly pirit, or to lay it up for your families, you have sinned, and oust repent. 2. Pride. Recollect all the instances you can, m which you ave detected yourself in the exercise of pride. Vanity is a •articular form of pride. How many times have you detected /ourself in consulting vanity, about your dress and appearance . low many times have you thought more, and taken more iains, and spent more time, about decorating your body to go o church, than you have about preparing your rmnd tor the vorship of God ? You have gone to the house of God caring nore how you appear outwardly in the sight of mortal men, ban how your soul appears in the sight of the heart-searching Hod. You have in fact set up yourself to be worshipped by 40 HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL. them, rather than prepared to worship God yourself. You came to divide the worship of God’s house, to draw off the at¬ tention of God’s people to look at your pretty appearance. It is in vain to pretend now, that you don’t care any thing about having people look at you. Be honest about it. Would you take all this pains about your looks if every body was blind ? 3. Envy. Look at the cases in which you were envious at those who you thought were above you in any respect. Or perhaps you have envied those who have been more talented or more useful than yourself. Have you not so envied some, that you have been pained to hear them praised ? It has been more agreeable to you to dwell upon their faults, than upon their virtues, upon their failures, than upon their success. Be honest with yourself, and if you have harbored this spirit of hell, repent deeply before God, or he will never forgive you. 4. Censoriousness. Instances in which you have had a bitter spirit, and spoken of Christians in a manner entirely devoid of charity and love—charity, which requires you always to hope the best the case will admit, and to put the best con¬ struction upon any ambiguous conduct. 5. Slander. The times you have spoken behind people’s backs of their faults, real or supposed, of members of the church or others, unnecessarily or without good reason. This is slander. You need not lie to be guilty of slander;—to tell the truth with the design to injure, is slander. 6. Levity. How often have you trifled before God, as you would not have dared to trifle in the presence of an earthly sove¬ reign? You have either been an Atheist, and forgotten that there Avas a God, or have had less respect for him, and his presence, than you would have had for an earthly judge. 7. Lying. Understand now wdiat lying is. Any species of designed deception. If the deception is not designed it is not lying. But if you design to make an impression contrary to the naked truth, you lie. Put down all those cases you can recollect. Don’t call them by any soft name. God calls them LIES, and charges you with LYING, and you had better charge yourself correctly. Ho\y innumerable are the falsehoods perpetrated every day, in business, and in social intercourse, by words, and looks, and actions designed to make an impression on others contrary to the truth! 8. Cheating.' Set down all the cases in which you have dealt with an individual, and done to him that which you would not like to have done to you. That is cheating. God HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL. 41 laid down a rule in the case; “ All things whatsoever ye L ild that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” l it is the rule; and now if you have not done so you are leat. Mind, the rule is not that you should do what you yht reasonably expect them to do to you. That is a rule ;ch would admit of every degree of wickedness. But it is ns ye WOULD they should do to you.” (•’>. Hypocrisy. For instance, in your prayers and confessions Tod. Set down the instances in which you have prayed 8 things you did not really want. And the evidence is, : when you had done praying, you could not tell what you ... prayed for. How many times have you confessed sins ■; you did not mean to break off, and when you had no •omn purpose not to repeat them? Yes, have confessed sins |ien you knew you as much expected to go and repeat them I y r ou expected to live. 0. Robbing God. Instances in which you have misspent ir time, and squandered hours which Gocl gave you to serve i and save souls, in vain amusements or foolish conversa- i, reading novels, or doing nothing ; cases where you have applied your talents and powers of mind; where you have 'andered money on your lusts, or spent it for things you did : need, and which neither contributed to your health, comfort usefulness. Perhaps some of you who are here to-night e laid out God’s money for TOBACCO. I will not speak rum, for I presume there is no professor of religion here to- ht that would drink rum. I hope there is no one that uses s t filthy poison, tobacco. Think of a professor of religion, ng God’s money to poison himself with tobacco! 1. Bad temper. Perhaps you have abused your wife, m ir children, or your family, or servants, or neighbors. Writa 'll down. 2. Hindering others from being useful. Perhaps you have ikened their influence by insinuations against them. You r e not only robbed God of your own talents, but tied the hand? somebody else. What a wicked servant is he that loiters lseif, and hinders the rest! This is done sometimes by ta- g their time needlessly; sometimes by destroying Christian : tfidence in them. Thus you have played into the hands ot an, and not only showed yourself an idle vagabond, but pre* ited others from working. i f you find you have committed a fault against an individual, that individual is within your reach, go and confess it im- diately, and get that out of the way. If the individual you 4 * 42 HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL. have injured is too far off for you to go and see him, sit down and write him a letter, and confess the injury, pay the postage and put it into the mail immediately. I say, pay the postage, or otherwise you will only make the matter.worse. You will add to the former injury, by making him a bill of expense. The man that writes a letter on his own business, and sends it to another without paying the postage, is dishonest, and has cheated him out of so much. And if he would cheat a man out of a sixpence or shilling, when the temptation is so small, what would he not do were the temptation greater, and he had the prospect of impunity ? If you have defrauded any body, send the money, the full amount and the interest. . Go thoroughly to work in all this. Go now. Don t put it off; that will only make the matter worse. Confess to God those sins that have been committed against God, and to man those sins that have been committed against man. Don’t think of getting off by going round the stumbling blocks. Take them up out of the way. In breaking up your fallow ground, you must remove every obstruction. Things may be left that you may think little things, and you may wonder why you do not feel as vou wish to in religion, when the reason is that your proud and carnal mind has covered up something which God re¬ quired you to confess and remove. Break up all the ground and turn it over. Don’t balk it, as the farmers say; don’t turn aside for little difficulties; drive the plow right through them, beam deep, and turn the ground all up, so that it may all be mellow and soft, and fit to receive the seed and bear fruit a hundred fold. When you have gone over your whole history in this w r ay, thoroughly, if you will then go over the ground the second time, and give your solemn and fixed attention to it, you will find that the things you have put down will suggest other things of whicli you have been guilty, connected with them, or near them. Then go over it a third time, and you will recollect other things con¬ nected with these. And you will find in the end that you can remember an amount of your history, and particular actions, even in this life, which you did not think you should remember m eternity. Unless you do take up your sins in this wmy, and consider them in detail, one by one, you can form no idea of the amount of your sins. You should go over it as thoroughly and as carefully, and as solemnly, as you would if you were just preparing yourself for the judgment. As you go over the catalogue of your sins, be sure to resolve upon present and entire reformation. Wherever you find any thing wrong, resolve at once, in the strength of God, to sin no HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL. 43 re in that way. It will be of no benefit to examine yourself, -less you determine to amend in every 'particular that you find ong in heart, temper, or conduct. [f you find, as you go on with this duty, that your mind is /I all dark, cast about you, and you will find there is some ,son for the Spirit of God to depart from you. You have not *n faithful and thorough. In the progress of such a work you ve got to do violence to yourself, and. bring yourself as a ra- aal being up to this work, with the Bible before you, and try ;ur heart till you do feel. You need not expect that God will rk a miracle for you to break up your fallow ground. It is be done by means. Fasten your attention to the subject of ar sins. You cannot look at your sins long and thoroughly, d see how bad they are, without feeling, and feeling deeply. :perience abundantly proves the benefit of going over our ;tory in this way. Set yourself to the work now; resolve that u never will stop till you find you can pray. \ ou never will ve the spirit of prayer, till you examine yourselves, and con- s your sins, and break up your fallow ground. You never 11 have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, till you have unrav- :d this whole mystery of iniquity, and spread out your sins fore God. Let there be this deep work of repentance, and I confession, this breaking down before God, and you will ve as much of the spirit of prayer as your body can beai up der. The reason why so few Christians know any thing out the spirit of prayer, is because they never would take the ins to examine themselves properly, and so never knew what was to have their hearts all broken up in this way. > You see I have only begun to lay open this subject to-night, want to lay it out before you, in the course of these lectuies, that if you will begin and go on to do as I say, the results II be just as certain as they are when the farmer breaks up a ! low field, and mellows it, and sows his grain. It will be so, I you will only begin in this way, and hold on till all your rdened and callous hearts break up. REMARKS. 1. It will do no good to preach to you while your hearts are this hardened, and waste, and fallow state. rhe farmer ght just as well sow his grain on the rock. It will bring th no fruit. This is the reason why there are so many litless professors in the church, and why there is so much tside machinery, and so little deep-toned feeling in the turch. Look at the Sabbath school for instance, and see how 44 HOW TO PROMOTE A REVIVAL. much machinery there is, and how little of the power of godli¬ ness. If you go on in this way, the word of God will continue to harden you, and you will grow worse and worse, just as the rain and snow on an old fallow field makes the turf thicker, and the clods stronger. 2. See why so much preaching is wasted, and worse than wasted. It is because the church will not break up their fal¬ low ground. A preacher may wear out his life, and do very little good, while there are so many stony-ground hearers, who have never had their fallow ground broken up. They are only half converted, and their religion is rather a change of opinion than a change of the feeling of their hearts. There is mechanical religion enough, but very little that looks like deep heart-work. 3. Professors of religion should never satisfy themselves, or expect a revival, just by starting out of their slumbers, and blus¬ tering about, and making a noise, and talking to sinners. They must get their fallow ground broken up. It is utterly unphilo- sophical to think of getting engaged in religion in this way. If your fallow ground is broken up, then the way to get more feeling, is to go out and see sinners on the road to hell, and talk to them, and guide inquiring souls, and you will get more feeling. You may get into an excitement without this break¬ ing up; you may show a kind of zeal, but it won't last long, and it won’t take hold of sinners, unless your hearts are broken up. The reason is, that you go about it mechanically, and have not broken up your fallow ground. 4. And now, finally, will you break up your fallow ground? Will you enter upon the course now pointed out, and persevere till you are thoroughly awake ? If you fail here, if you don’t do this , and get prepared, you can go no further with me in this course of lectures. I have gone with you as far as it is of any use to go, until your fallow ground is broken up. Now, you must make thorough work upon this point, or all I have further to say will do you little good. Nay, it will only harden and make you worse. If, when next Friday night arrives, it finds you with unbroken hearts, you need not expect to be bene¬ fited by what I shall say. If you don’t set about this work immediately, I shall take it for granted that you don’t mean to be revived, that you have forsaken your minister, and mean to let him go up to battle alone. If you don’t do this, I charge you with having forsaken Christ, with refusing to repent and do your first work. But if you will be prepared to enter upon the work, I propose, God willing, next Friday evening, to lead you into the work of saving sinners. LECTURE IV. PREVAILING PRAYER. ' ?ext. —The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.— mes v. 16 . The last lecture referred principally to the confession of sin. )-night my remarks will be chiefly confined to the subject of ercession, or prayer. There are two kinds of means requi- s to promote a revival; one to influence men, the other to luence God. The truth is employed to influence men, and ayer to move God. When I speak of moving God, I do not ian that God’s mind is changed by prayer, or that his dispo- lion or character is changed. But prayer produces such a ange in us as renders it consistent for God to do as it would t be consistent for him to do otherwise. When a sinner re¬ nts, that state of feeling makes it proper for God to forgive n. God has always been ready to forgive him on that con- ion, so that when the sinner changes his feelings, and re¬ nts, it requires no change of feeling in God to pardon him. is the sinner’s repentance that renders his forgiveness pro- r, and is the occasion of God’s acting as he does. So when iristians offer effectual prayer, their state of feeling renders oroper for God to answer them. He was always ready to stow the blessing, on the condition that they felt right, and ered the right kind of prayer. Whenever this change takes ice in them, and they offer the right kind of prayer, then )d, without any change in himself, can answer them. When 3 offer effectual fervent prayer for others, the fact that we ,er such prayer renders it consistent for him to do what we ,iy for, when otherwise it would not have been consistent. Prayer is an essential link in the chain of causes that lead .a revival; as much so as truth is. Some have zealously :ed truth to convert men, and laid very little stress on prayer, ley have preached, and talked, and distributed tracts with eat zeal, and then wondered that they had so little success, id the reason was, that they forgot to use the other branch of 3 means, effectual prayer. They overlooked the fact, that ith by itself will never produce the effect, without the Spirit 1 God. Sometimes it happens that those who are the most engaged 46 PREVAILING PRAYER. in employing truth, are not the most engaged m prayer. This is always unhappy.—For unless they, or somebody else,' have the spirit of prayer, the truth by itself will do nothing but harden men in impenitence. Probably in the day ol judg¬ ment it will be found that nothing is ever done by the truth, used ever so zealously, unless there is a spirit of prayer some¬ where in connection with the presentation of truth. ' I Others err on the other side. Not that they lay too much stress on prayer. But they overlook the fact that prayer might be offered for ever, by itself, and nothing would be done. Be¬ cause sinners are not converted by direct contact of the Holy Ghost, but by the truth, employed as a means. To expect the conversion of sinners by prayer alone, without the employ¬ ment of truth, is to tempt God. The subject of discourse this evening, is PREVAILING PRAYER. I. I propose to show what is effectual or prevailing prayer, II. State some of the most essential attributes of prevailing prayer. III. Give some reasons why God requires this kind of prayer. IV. Show that such prayer will avail much. I. I proceed to show what is prevailing prayer. 1. Effectual, prevailing prayer, does not consist in benevo¬ lent desires merely. Benevolent desires are doubtless pleasing to God. Such desires pervade heaven, and are found in all holy beings. But they are not prayer. Men may have these desires as the angels and glorified spirits have them. But this is not the effectual, prevailing prayer, spoken of in the text. Prevailing prayer is something more than this. 2. Prevailing, or effectual prayer, is that, prayer which attains the blessing that it seeks. It is that prayer which effectually moves God. The very idea of effectual prayer is, that it effects its object. II. I will state some of the most essential attributes of pre¬ vailing prayer. I cannot detail in full all the things that go to make up prevailing prayer. But I will mention some things that are essential to it; some things which a person must do in order to prevail in prayer. 1. He must 'pray for a definite object. He need not expect to offer such prayer, if he prays at random, without any 7 dis¬ tinct or definite object. He must have an object distinctly be¬ fore his mind. I speak now of secret prayer. Many people go away into their closets, because they must say their prayers. PREVAILING PRAYER. r * 47 |e time has come that they are in the habit of going by them- ves for prayer, in the morning, or at noon, or at whatever te of day it may be. And instead of having any thing to r f any definite object before their mind, they fall down on ir knees, and pray for just what comes into their minds, for >ry thing that floats in their imagination at the time, and en they have done, they could not tell hardly a word of Hat they had been praying for. This is not effectual prayer. ' hat should we think of any body who should try to move a ",'islature so, and should say, “ Now it is winter, and the legis- ure is in session, and it is time to send up petitions,, and 3 uld go up to the legislature and petition at random, without y definite object? Do you think such petitions would move b legislature ? A man must have some definite object before his mind. He mot pray effectually for a variety of objects at once. The t nd of man is so constituted that it cannot fasten its desires ensely upon many things at the same time. All the instances effectual prayer recorded in the Bible were of this kind. ' herever you see that the blessing sought for in prayer was ained, you will find that the prayer which was offered was a.yer for that definite object. 2. Prayer, to be effectual, must be in accordance with the sealed will of God. To pray for things contrary to the vealed will of God, is to tempt God. There are three ways which God’s will is revealed to men for their guidance m Bayer. ... (1.) By express promises or predictions in the Bible, that will give or do certain things. Either by express promises regard to particular things, or promises in general terms, so at we may apply them to particular things. For instance, lere is this promise: “ Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye ay, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (2.) Sometimes God reveals his will by his providence. r hen he makes it clear that such and such events are about to ke place, it is as much a revelation as if he had written it in s word. It would be impossible to reveal every thing in the ible. But God often makes it clear to those who have spi- tual discernment, that it -is his will to grant such and such 'essings. . (3.) By his Spirit. When God’s people are at a loss what pray for, agreeable to his will, his Spirit often instructs them, sphere there is no particular revelation, and providence leases dark, and we know not what to pray for as we ought, we are 48 PREVAILING PRAYER. expressly told, that “the Spirit also helpethour infirmities "and “ the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning? that cannot be uttered.” A great deal has been said on the subject of praying in faith for things not revealed. It is object¬ ed, that this doctrine implies a new revelation. I answer, that, new or old, it is the very revelation that Jehovah says he makes. It is just as plain here, as if it were now revealed by a voice from heaven, that the Spirit of God helps the people of God to pray according to the will of God, when they themselves know not what things they ought to pray for. “ And he that search- eth the heart knoweth the mind of the Spirit,” because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God, and he leads Christians to pray for just those things, with groaning? that cannot be uttered. When neither the word nor provi¬ dence enables them to decide, then let them be filled with the Spirit, as God commands them to be. He says, “ Be ye filled with the Spirit.” And He will lead their minds to such things as God is willing to grant. 3. To pray effectually, you must pray with submission to the will of God. Don’t confound submission with indifference. No two things are more unlike. I once knew an individual' come where there was a revival. He himself was cold, and did not enter into the spirit of it, and had no spirit of prayer; and when he heard the brethren pray as if they could not bej denied, he was shocked at their boldness, and kept all the timei insisting on the importance of praying with submission ; when it was as plain as any thing could be, that he confounded sub I mission with indifference. So again, don’t confound submission in prayer with a general! confidence that God will do what is right. It is proper to have this confidence that God will do what is right in all things. But this is a different thing from submission. What I mean by submission in prayer, is, acquiescence in the revealed will of God. To submit to any command of God is to obey it. Submission to some supposable or possible, but secret decree of God, is not submission. To submit to any dispensation of Pro¬ vidence is impossible till it comes. For we never can know what the ^vent is to be, till it takes place. Take a case : Da¬ vid, when his child was sick, was distressed, and agonized in prayer, and refused to be comforted. He took it so much to heart, that when the child died, his servants were afraid to tell him the child was dead, for fear he wnuld vex himself still worse. But as soon as he heard that the child was dead, he laid aside his grief, and arose, and asked for food, and ate and PREVAILING PRAYER. 49 ank as usual. While the child was yet alive, he did not iow what was the will of God, and so he fasted and prayed, fid said, “Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, at my child may live?'’ He did not know but that his prayer $id agony was the very thing on which it turned, whether the ild was to live or not. He thought that if he humbled him- >If and entreated God, perhaps God would spare him this ow. But as soon as God’s will appeared, and the child was ;ad, he bowed like a saint. He seemed not only to acquiesce, jit actually to take a satisfaction in it. “ I shall go to him,but » shall not return to me.” This was true submission. He asoned correctly in the case. While he had no revelation of (e will of God, he did not know but what the child’s recovery '•pended on his prayer. But when he had a revelation of the til of God, he submitted. While the w r ill of God is not known, > submit, without prayer, is tempting God. Perhaps, and for ight you know, the fact of your offering the right kind of ■ayer, may be the thing on which the event turns. In the se of an impenitent friend, the very condition on which he is be saved from hell, may be the fervency and importunity of our prayer for that individual. 4. Effectual prayer for an object implies a desire for that ob- ct commensurate with its importance. If a person truly desires iy blessing, his desires will bear some proportion to the great p'.ss of the blessing. The desires of the Lord Jesus Christ for i e blessing he prayed for, were amazingly strong, and amount si even to agony. If the desire for an object is strong, and is benevolent desire, and the thing not contrary to the will and rovidence of God, the presumption is, that it will be granted, here are two reasons for this presumption: (1.) From the general benevolence of God. If it is a desi- a.ble object; if, so far as we can see, it would be an act of be- wolence in God to grant it, his general benevolence is pre- imptive evidence that he will grant it. (2.) If you find yourself exercised with benevolent desires sr any object, there is a strong presumption that the Spirit of od is exciting these very desires, and stirring you up to pray r that object, so that it may be granted in answer to prayer. i such a case no degree of desire or importunity in prayer is iproper. A Christian may come up, as it were, and take old of the hand of God. See the case of Jacob, when he ex- aimed, in an agony of desire, “ I will not let thee go, except [iou bless me.” Was God displeased with his boldne $s and aportunity ? Not at all; but he granted him the very tl ing he 5 i 50 PREVAILING PRAYER. prayed for. So in the case of Moses. God said to Moses, “ Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.” What did Moses do? Did he stand aside and let God do as he said? No, his mind runs back to the Egyptians, and he thinks how they will triumph. “Wherefore should the Egyptians say, For mischief did he bring them out.” It seemed as if he took hold of the uplifted hand of God, to avert the blow. Did God rebuke him lor his interference, and tell him he had no business to interfere 1 ? No; it seemed as if he was unable to deny any thing to such importunity, and so Moses stood in the gap, and prevailed with God. ... I It is said of Xavier, the missionary, that he was once called to pray for a man who was sick, and he prayed so fervently that he seemed as it were to do violence to heaven—so the writer expresses it. And he prevailed, and the man recovered. Such prayer is often offered in the present day, when Chris¬ tians have been wrought up to such a pitch of importunity and such a holy boldness, that afterwards, when they looked back upon it, they were frightened and amazed at themselves, to think they should dare to exercise such importunity with God. And yet these prayers have prevailed, and obtained the bless¬ ing. And many of these persons, that I am acquainted with, are among the holiest persons I know in the world. 5. Prayer, to be effectual, must be offered from right mo¬ tives. Prayer should not be selfish, but dictated by a supreme regard for the glory of God. A great deal of prayer is offered from pure selfishness. Women sometimes pray for their hus¬ bands, that they may be converted, because they say, “ It would be so much more pleasant, to have my husband go to meeting with me,” and all that. And they seem never to lift up their thoughts above self at all. They do not seem to think how their husbands are dishonoring God by their sins, and how God would be glorified in their conversion. So it is with pa¬ rents very often. They can’t bear to think that their children should be lost. They pray for them very earnestly indeed. But if you go to talk with them, they are very tender, and tell you how good their children are, how they respect religion, and they think they are almost Christians now ; and so they talk as if they were afraid you would hurt their children if you tell them the truth. They do not think how such amiable and lovely children are dishonoring God by their sins; they are only thinking what a dreadful thing it will be for them to go to hell- PREVAILING PRAYER. 51 ! unless their thoughts rise higher than this, their prayers i . never prevail with a holy God. The temptation to selfish ives is so strong, that there is reason to fear a great many ? mtal prayers never rise above the yearnings of parental derness. And that is the reason why so many prayers are $ heard, and why so many pious, praying parents have un- »ly children. Much of the prayer for the heathen world, »ns to be based on no higher principle than sympathy. Mis¬ ery agents, and others, are dwelling almost exclusively n the six hundred millions of heathens going to hell, while 3 is said of their. dishonoring God. This is a great evil; until the church have higher motives for prayer and mis- uary effort than sympathy for the heathen, their pikers and rts will never amount to much. . Prayer, to be effectual, must be by the intercession of the .rit. You never can expect to offer prayer according to the 1 of God without the Spirit. In the first two cases, it is not ruse Christians are unable to offer such prayer, where the !;[ of God is revealed in his word, or indicated by his provi- ce. They are able to do it, just as they are able to be holy. I t; the fact is, that they are so wicked, that they never do offer h prayer, without they are influenced by the Spirit of God. |kere must be a faith, such as is produced by the effectual q ration of the Holy Ghost. I . It must be persevering prayer. As a general thing, C ristians who have backslidden and lost the spirit of prayer, ill not get at once into the habit of persevering prayer. Their a.ids are not in a right state, and they cannot fix their minds, li hold on till the blessing comes. If their minds were in that lue, that they would persevere till the answer comes, effectual i yer might be offered at once, as well as after praying ever many times for an object. But they have to pray again and in, because their thoughts are so apt to wander away, and are easily diverted from the object to something else. Until their ids get imbued with the spirit of prayer, they will not keep d to one point, and push their petition to an issue on the spot, not think you are prepared to offer prevailing prayer, if ir feelings will let you pray once for an object, and then leave Most Christians come up to prevailing prayer by a protract- $ process. Their minds gradually become filled with anxiety ut an object, so that they will even go about their business, hing out their desires to God. Just as the mother whose. .Id is sick, goes round her house, sighing as if her heart tald break. And if she is a praying mother, her sighs are 52 PREVAILING PRAYER. breathed out to God all the day long. If she goes out of the room where her child is, her mind is still on it; and it sne is asleep, still her thoughts are on it, and she starts in her areams, thinking it is dying. Her whole mind is absorbed in that sick child. "This is tbs state of mind in which Christians offer pre¬ vailing prayer. i What was the reason that Jacob wrestled all night in prayer with God ? He knew that he had done his brother Esau a grea, injury, in getting away the birthright a long time ago. And now he was informed that his injured brother was coming to meet him, with an armed force altogether too powerful for him to con¬ tend against. And there was great reason to suppose he was coming* with a purpose of revenge. There were two reasons then why he should be distressed. The first was, that he had done this great injury, and had never made any reparation. The other was, that Esau was coming with a force sufficient to crush him. Now, what does he do ? Why, he first arranges every thing ir the best manner he can to meet his brother, send¬ ing his present first, then his property, then his family, putting those he loved most farthest behind. And by this time his mind was so exercised that he could not contain himself. He goes away alone over the brook, and pours out his very soul in an agony of prayer all night. And just as the day was breaking, the angel of the covenant said, “ Let me go;” and his whole being was, as it vcere, agonized at the thought of giving up, and he cried out, “ I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” His soul was wrought up into an agony, and he obtained the blessing, but he always bore the marks of it, and showed that his body had been greatly affected by this mental struggle. This is prevailing prayer. Now, do not deceive yourselves with thinking that you offer effectual prayer, unless you have this intense desire for the blessing. I dofft believe in it. Prayer is not effectual unless it is offered up with an agony of desire. The apostle Paul speaks of it as a travail of the soul. Jesus Christ, when he was praying in the garden, was in such an agony, that he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling dow r n to the ground. I have never known a person sweat blood; but I have known a person pray till the blood started from the nose. And I have known persons pray till they were all wet with perspiration, in the coldest weather in winter. I have known persons pray for hours, till their strength was all exhausted with the agony of their minds. Such prayers prevailed with God. •PREVAILING PRAYER. 53 Phis agony in prayer was prevalent in President Edwards’ , in the revivals that then took place. It was one of the at stumbling blocks in those days, to persons who were op¬ ed to the revival, that people used to pray till the body was .rpowered with their feelings. I will read a paragraph of it President Edwards says on the subject, to let you see that i is not a new thing in the church, but has always prevailed erever revivals prevailed with power. It is from his Oughts on Revivals. ( We cannot determine that God never shall give any person nuch of a discovery of himself, not only as to weaken their ies, but to take, away their lives. It is supposed by very rned and judicious divines, that Moses’ life was taken away Kr this manner; and this has also been supposed to be the lie with some other saints. Yea, I do not see any solid, sure mnds any have to determine, that God shall never make h strong impressions on the mind by his Spirit, that shall be occasion of so impairing the frame of the body, and particu- ly that part of the body, the brain, that persons shall be de- ved of the use of reason. As I said before, it is too much for to determine, that God will not bring an outward calamity .bestowing spiritual and eternal blessings: so it is too much us to determine, how great an outward calamity he will g. If God give a great increase of discoveries of himself, 1 of love to him, the benefit is infinitely greater than the ca¬ nity, though the life should presently after be taken away r ; Iji, though the soul should not immediately be taken to iven, but should lie some years in a deep sleep, and then be en to heaven; or, which is much the same thing, if it be de- ved of the use of its faculties, and be inactive and unservicea- , as if it lay in a deep sleep for some years, and then should ps into glory. We cannot determine how great a calamity ^traction is, when considered with all its consequences, and that might have been consequent, if the distraction had not ppened; nor indeed whether (thus considered) it be any ca¬ nity at all, or whether it be not a mercy, by preventing some eat sin, or some more dreadful thing, if it had not been. It .s a great fault in us to limit a sovereign, all-wise God, whose Imgents are a great deep, and his ways past finding out, lere he has not limited himself, and things concerning which has not told us what his way shall be. It is remarkable, j nsidering in what multitudes of instances, and to how great Ijlegree, the frame of the body has been overpowered of late, it persons’ lives have, notwithstanding, been preserved, and 5 * 54 PREVAILING PRAYER. that the instances of those that have been deprived of reason, have been so very few, and those, perhaps all of them, persons under the peculiar disadvantage of a weak, vapory habit of body. A merciful and careful Di vine hand is very manifest in it, that in so many instances where the ship has begun to sink, yet it has been upheld, and has not totally sunk. The instances of such as have been deprived of reason are so few, that certainly they are not enough to cause us to be in any fright, as though this work that has been carried on in the country, was like to be of baneful influence; unless we are disposed to gather up all that we can to darken it, and set it forth in frightful colors. “ There is one particular kind of exercise and concern of mind, that many have been overpowered by, that has been espe¬ cially stumbling to some; and that is, the deep concern and distress that they have been in for the souls of others. I am sorry that any put us to the trouble of doing that which seems so needless, as defending such a thing as this. It seems like mere trifling in so plain a case, to enter into a formal and par¬ ticular debate, in order to determine whether there be any thing in the greatness and importance of the case, that will answer, and bear a proportion to the greatness of the concern that some have manifested. Men may be allowed, from no higher a prin¬ ciple than common ingenuity and humanity, to be very deeply concerned, and greatly exercised in mind, at seeing others in great danger of no greater a calamity than drowning, or being burnt up in a house on fire. And if so, then doubtless it will be allowed to be equally reasonable, if they saw them in danger of a calamity ten times greater, to be still much more concern¬ ed ; and so much mtfre still, if the calamity was still vastly greater. And why then should it be thought unreasonable, and looked upon with a very suspicious eye, as if it must come from some bad cause, when persons are extremely concerned at seeing others in very great danger of suffering the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God to all eternity 1 And besides, it will doubtless be allowed that those that have very great de¬ grees of the Spirit of God, that is, a spirit of love, may well be supposed to have vastly more of love and compassion to their fellow-creatures, than those that are influenced only by common humanity. Why should it be thought strange that those that $re full of the Spirit of Christ, should be proportionably, in their iove to souls, like to Christ ? who had so strong a love to them and concern for them, as to be willing to drink the dregs of the cup of God’s fury for them ; and at the same time that he offer¬ ed up his blood for souls, offered up also, as their high priest, PREVAILING PRAYER. 55 long crying and tears, with an extreme agony, wherein the C of Christ was, as it were, in travail for the souls of the lit; and therefore in saving them he is said to see of the r Jail of his soul. As such a spirit of love to and concern I souls was the spirit of Christ, so it is the spirit of the rch; and therefore the church, in desiring and seeking that ist might be brought forth in the world, and in the souls ol is represented, Rev. xii., as ‘a woman crying, travailing nirth, and pained to be delivered.’ The spirit of those that 3 been in distress for the souls of others, so far as I can ais- seems not to be different from that of the apostle, who tra- Ijfed for souls, and was ready to wish himself accursed from [jjist for others. And that of the Psalmist, Psalm cxix. 53, ; rror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that nke the law.’ And v. 136, ‘ Rivers of waters run down. B e eyes, because they keep not thy law.’ And that of the >het Jeremiah, Jer. iv. 19, ‘ My bowels ! my bowels ! I am ed at my very heart! My heart maketh a noise in me ! I hot hold my peace! because thou hast heard. O my soul, •sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war !’ And so, chap. ix. id xiii. 17, and Isa. xxii. 4. We read of Mordecai, when j aw his people in danger of being destroyed with a temporal feuction, Esther iv. 1, that he ‘rent his clothes, and put on ’cloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, I. cried with a loud and bitter cry.’ And why then should ; ons be thought to be distracted, when they cannot forbear mg out at the consideration of the misery of those that are :'g to eternal destruction?”* pjhave read this to show that this thing was common in the ip.t revivals of those days. It has always been so in all great i vals, and has been more or less common in proportion to the iftness, and extent, and depth of the work. It was so in the H revivals in Scotland, and multitudes used to be overpower- hnd some almost died, by the depth of their agony. 1 If you mean to pray effectually, you must pray a great !. It was said of the apostle James, that after he was dead As found his knees were callous like a camel’s knees, by ing so much. Ah! here was the secret of the success of Me primitive ministers. They had callous knees. '). If you intend prayer to be effectual, it must be offered in name of Christ. You cannot come to God in your own e. You cannot plead your own merits. But you can * Edwards’ Works, vol. iv. p. 85, New York edition. 56 PREVAILING PRAYER. come in a name that is always acceptable. You all know what it is to use the name of a man. If you should go to the hank with a draft or note, endorsed by John Jacob Astor, that would be giving you his name, and you know you could get the money from the bank just as well as he could himself, j Now, Jesus Christ gives you the use of his name. _ And when j vou pray in the name of Christ, the meaning of it is, that you can prevail just as well as he could himself, and receive just as much as God’s well-beloved Son would if he were to pray him¬ self for the same things. But you must pray in faith. His name has all the virtue in your lips that it has in his own, and God is just as free to bestow blessings upon you, when you ask in the name of Christ, and in faith, as he would be to bestow I them upon Christ, if he should ask. 11. You cannot prevail in prayer, without renouncing all your | sins. You must not only recall them to mind, and repent of them, but you must actually renounce them, and leave them off, and in the purpose of your heart renounce them all for ever, j 12. You must pray in faith. You must expect to obtain the things you ask for. You need not look for an answer to prayer, if you pray without any expectation of obtaining it. You are not to form such expectations without any reason for them. In the cases I have supposed, there is a reason for the expectation. In case the thing is revealed in God’s word, if I you pray without an expectation of receiving the blessings, you just make God a liar. If the will of God is indicated by his providence, you ought to depend on it, according to the clearness of the indication, so far as to expect the blessing if you pray for it. And if you are led by his Spirit to pray for certain things, you have just as much reason to expect the thing to be done as if God had revealed it in his word. But some say, “Will not this view of the leadings of the Spirit of God lead people into fanaticism'?” I answer, that 1 know not but many may deceive themselves in respect to this matter.—Multitudes have deceived themselves in regard to all] the other points of religion. And if some people should think they are led by the Spirit of God, when it is nothing but their own imagination, is that any reason why those who know that they are led by the Spirit should not follow ? Many people suppose themselves to be converted when they are not. Is that any reason why we should not cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ? 1 Suppose some people are deceived in thinking they love God, is that any reason why the pious saint who knows he has the love of God shed abroad in his heart, should not give vent to I PREVAILING PRAYER. 57 I i 11 Iff feelings in songs of praise? So I suppose some may de- ve themselves in thinking they are led by the Spirit of God. t there is no need of being deceived. 11 people follow im- ses, it is their own fault. I do not want you to follow im- ses. I want you to be sober minded, and follow the sober, *:onal leadings of the Spirit of God. There are those who llerstand what I mean, and who know very well what it is give themselves up to the Spirit of God in prayer. III. I will state some of the reasons why these things are fential to effectual prayer. Why does God require such yer, such strong desires, such agonizing supplications? L These strong desires strongly illustrate the strength of d’s feelings. They are like the real feelings ol God for penitent sinners. When I have seen, as I sometimes have, amazing strength of love for souls that has been felt by ristians, I have been wonderfully impressed with the ama- love of God, and his desires for their salvation. The e of a certain woman, of whom I read, in a revival, made greatest impression on my mind. She had such an unut- ible compassion and love for souls, that she actually panted breath. What must be the strength of the desire which God Is, when his Spirit produces in Christians such ^ amazing my, such throes of soab, such travail —God has chosen the t word to express it—it is travail—travail of the soul. [ have seen a man of as much strength of intellect and muscle my man in the community, fall down prostrate, absolutely irpowered by his unutterable desires for sinners. I know Is is a stumbling block to many ; and it always will be as long .heir remain in the church so many blind and stupid profess- of religion. But I cannot doubt that these things are the rk of the Spirit of God. O that the whole church could be filled with the Spirit as to travail in prayer, till a nation iuld be born in a day! [t is said in the word of God, that as soon “ as Zion travailed , : brought forth.” What does that mean? I asked a professor •eligion this question once. He was making exceptions about • ideas of effectual prayer, and I asked him what he supposed "s meant by Zion’s travailing. “ O,” said he, “it means that as ' n as the church walk together in the fellowship of the gospel, n it will be said that Zion travels ! This walking together Called travelling .” Not the same term, you see. So much >knew. >2. These strong desires that I have described, are the natural ults of great benevolence and clear views of the danger of 58 PREVAILING PRAYER. sinners. It is perfectly reasonable that it should be so. If the women who are in this house should look up there, and see a family burning to death in the fire, and hear their shrieks, and/ behold their agony, they would feel distressed, and it is very likely that many of them would faint away with agony. And nobody would wonder at it, or say they were fools or crazy to feel so much distressed at such an awful sight. They would think it strange if there were not some expressions of powerful feeling. Why is it any wonder, then, if Christians should feel as I have described, when they have clear views of the state of sinners, and the awful danger they are in? The fact is, that those in¬ dividuals who never have felt so, have never felt much real be¬ nevolence, and their piety must be of a very superficial charac¬ ter. I do not mean to judge harshly, or to speak unkindly. But I state it as a simple matter of fact; and people may talk about it as they please, but I know that such piety is superficial. This is not censoriousness, but plain truth. People sometimes wonder at Christians’ having such feelings. Wonder at what! Why, at the natural, and philosophical, and necessary results of deep piety towards God, and deep benevo¬ lence towards man, in view of the great danger they sec sinners to be in. 3. The soul of a Christian, when'ifc-is thus burdened, miS2t have relief. God rolls this weight upon the soul of a Christian, for the purpose of bringing him near fecrhimself. Christians are often so unbelieving, that they will not exercise proper faith in God, till he rolls this burden upon them, so heavy that they cannot live under it, and then they must go to God for relief, it is like the case of many a convicted sinner. God is willing to receive him at once, if he will come right to him, with faith in Jesus Christ. But the'sinner will not come. He hangs back, and struggles, and groans under the burden of his sins, and will not throw himself upon God, till his burden of conviction be¬ comes so great that he can live no longer; and when he is driven to desperation, as it were, and feels as if he was ready to sink into hell, he makes a mighty plunge, and throws himself upon God’s mercy as his only hope. It was his duty to come before. God had no delight in his distress, for its own sake. It was only the sinner’s obstinacy that created the necessity for all this distress. He would not come without it. So when profess¬ ors ot religion get loaded down with the weight of souls, they often pray again and again, and yet the burden is not gone, nor their distress abated, because they have never thrown it all upon God in faith. But they can’t get rid of the burden. So long as PREVAILING PRAYER. 59 eir benevolence continues it will remain and increase, and un- ss they resist and quench, the Koly Ghost they can get no lief, until at length, when they are driven to extremity, they akea desperate effort, roll the burden off upon the Lord Jesus hrist, and exercise a child-like confidence in him. Then they el relieved ; then they feel as if the soul they were praying for ould be saved. The burden is gone, and God seems in kindness sooth down the mind to feel a sweet assurance that the blessing ill be granted. Often, after a Christian has had this struggle, (is agony in prayer, and has obtained relief in this way,"you ill find the sweetest and most heavenly affections flow out— e soul rests sweetly and gloriously in God, and rejoices, “ with y unspeakable and full of-gloryT , Do any of you think now, that there are no such things in the Iperience o i believers? I tell you, if I had time, I could show )u from President Edwards, and other approved writers, cases id descriptions just like this. Do you ask why we never have ; Ch things here in New York?- I tell you, it is not at ail because >u are so much wiser than Christians are in the country, or ■cause you have so much more intelligence or more enlarged ewsofthe natureof religion, or a more stable and well regulated ety. I tell you, no ; instead of priding yourselves in being free pm such extravagances, you ought to hide your heads, because .hristians in New York are so worldly, and have so much irch, and pride, and fashion, that they cannot come down to such irituality as this. I wish it could be so. O that there might such a spirit in this city, and in this church ! I know it would ake a noise, if we had such things done here. But I would t care for that. Let them say, if they please, that the folks in jaatham Chapel are getting deranged. We need not be afraid « that, if we could live near enough to God to enjoy his :oirit in the manner I. have described. - 4. These effects of the spirit of prayer upon the body are emselves no part of religion. It is only that the body is ten so weak that the feelings of the soul overpower it. hese bodily effects are not at all essential to prevailing prayer, it only a natural or physical result of highly excited emotions the mind. It i^ not at all unusual for the body to be weak- led and even overcome by any powerful emotion of the mind, i other subjects besides religion. The door-keeper of Congress the time of the revolution, fell down dead on the reception of ,'me highly cheering intelligence. I knew a woman in ,ochester, who was in a great agony of prayer for the conver- on of her son-in-law. One morning he was at an anxious 60 PREVAILING PRAYER. meeting, and she remained at home praying for him. At the close of the meeting, he came home a convert, and she was so rejoiced that she fell down and died on the spot. It is no more strange that these effects should be produced by religion than by strong feeling on any other subject. It is not essential to prayer, but the natural result of great efforts of the mind. 5. Doubtless one great reason why God requires the exer¬ cise. of this agonizing prayer is, that it forms such a bond of union between Christ and the Church. It creates such a sym¬ pathy between them. It is as if Christ came and poured the overflowings of his own benevolent heart into his church, and led them to sympathize and to co-operate with him, as they never do in any other w r ay. They feel just as Christ feels—so full of compassion for sinners that they cannot contain them¬ selves. Thus it is often with those ministers w r ho are distin¬ guished for their success in preaching to sinners; they often have such compassion, such overflowing desires for their salva¬ tion, that it shows itself in their speaking, and their preaching, just as though Jesus Christ spoke through them. The words come from their lips fresh and warm, as if from the very heart of Christ. I do not mean that he dictates their words; but he excites the feelings that give utterance to them. Then you see a movement in the hearers, as if Christ himself spoke through lips of clay. 6. This travailing in birth for souls creates also a remarka¬ ble bond of union between warm-hearted Christians and the young converts. Those who are converted appear very dear to the hearts that have had this spirit of prayer for them. The feeling is like that of a mother for her first-born.—Paul ex¬ presses it beautifully, when he says, “ My little children!" His heart was warm and tender to them. “ My little children, of whom I travail in birth again.' 11 They had backslidden, and he has all the agonies of a parent over a wandering child. “ I travail in birth again, till Christ be formed in you, the hope of glory.” In a revival, I have often noticed how those who have had the spirit of prayer, love the young converts. I know this is all algebra to those who have never felt it. But to those who have experienced the agony of wrestling, pre¬ vailing prayer, for the conversion of a soul, you may depend upon it, that soul, after it is converted, appears as dear as a child is to the mother who has brought it forth with pain. He has agonized for it, and received it in answer to prayer, and can present it betore the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, “Here, Lord, am I, and the children thou hast given me.” PREVAILING PRAYER. G1 . Another reason why God requires this sort of prayer is, ■»; it is the only way in which the church can be properly pared to receive great blessings without being injured by -n. When the church is thus prostrated in the dust before d, and is in the depth of agony in prayer, the blessing does n good. While at the same time, if they had received the hsing without this deep prostration of soul, it would have fed them up with pride. But as it is, it increases their holi- is, their love, their humility. V. I am to show that such prayer as I have described will il much. But time fails me to go into a particular detail of u evidence which I intended to bring forward under this head, ^lijah the prophet mourned over the declensions of the house Israel, and when he saw that no other means were likely to Ineffectual, to prevent a perpetual going away into idolatry, jj prayed that the judgments of God might come upon guilty nation. He prayed that it might not rain, and God It up the heavens for three years and six months, till the j pie were driven to the last extremity. And when he saw 4 it was time to relent, what does he do ? See him go up to the juntain and bow down in prayer. He wished to be alone; lie told his servant to go seven times, while he was agoni- g in prayer. The last time, the servant told him there was ctle cloud appeared, like a man’s hand, and he instantly arose j n his knees—the blessing was obtained. The time had come i,the calamity to be turned back. “ Ah, but,” you say, “ Elijah {5 a prophet.” Now don’t make this objection. They made it jhe apostle’s days, and what does the apostle say? Why he ught forward this very instance, and the fact that Elijah was lan of like passions with ourselves, as a case of prevailing ^yer, and insisted that they should pray so too. i/ohn Knox was a man famous for his power in prayer, so 1 bloody Queen Mary used to say she feared his prayers re than all the armies of Europe. And events showed that had reason to do it. He used to be in such an agony for I deliverance of his country that he could not sleep. He had ! lace in his garden where he used to go to pray. One night •and several friends were praying together, and as they prayed, -ox spoke and said that deliverance had come. He could not what had happened, but he felt that something had taken ce, for God had heard their prayers. What was it? Why i next news they had was, that Mary was dead ! Take a fact which was related, in my hearing, by a minister, said, that in a certain town there had been no revival for 6 62 PREVAILING PRAYER, many years; the church was nearly run out, the youth were all unconverted, and desolation reigned unbroken. There lived in a retired part of the town, an aged man, a blacksmith by trade, and of so stammering a tongue, that it was painful to hear him speak. On one Friday, as he was at work in his shop, alone, his mind became greatly exercised about the state of the church, and of the impenitent. His agony became so great, that he was induced to lay by his work, lock the shop door, and spend the afternoon in prayer. He prevailed, and on the Sabbath called on the minister, and desired him to appoint a conference meeting. After some hesitation, the minister consented, observing, however, that he feared but few would attend. He appointed it the same evening, at a large private house. When evening came, more assem¬ bled than could be accommodated in the house. All was silent for a time, until one sinner broke out in tears, and said, if any one could pray, he begged him to pray for him. Another fol¬ lowed, and another, and still another, until it was found that persons from every quarter of the town were under deep con¬ viction. And what was remarkable was, that they all dated their conviction at the hour when the old man was praying in his shop. A powerful revival followed. Thus this old stam¬ mering man prevailed, and, as a prince, had power with God. I could name multitudes of similar cases, but, for want of time, must conclude with a few. REMARKS. 1. A great deal of prayer is lost, and many people never pre¬ vail in prayer, because, when they have desires for particular blessings, they do not follow them up. They may have had desires, benevolent and pure, which were excited by the Spirit of God; and when they have them, they should persevere in prayer, for if they turn off their attention to other objects, they will quench the Spirit. We tell sinners not to turn off their minds from the one object, but to keep their attention fixed there, till they are saved. When you find these holy desires in your minds, take care of two things: (1.) Don’t quench the Spirit. (2.) Don’t be diverted to other objects. Follow the leadings of the Spirit, till you have offered that effectual fervent prayer that availeth much. 2. Without the spirit of prayer, ministers will do but little good. A minister need not expect much success, unless he orays for it. Sometimes others may have the spirit of prayer, PREVAILING PRAYER. 63 obtain a blessing on his labors. Generally, however, those chers are the most successful who have the most of a spirit *ayer themselves. Not only must ministers have the spirit of prayer, but it cessary that the church should unite in offering that effec- ' fervent prayer which can prevail with God. You need 3expect a blessing, unless you ask for it. “For all these ; js will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it.” ow, my brethren, I have only to ask you, in regard to |t I have preached to-night, “ Will you do it ?” Have you jj; what I preached to you last Friday evening? Have you jh over with your sins, and confessed them, and got them all of the way? Can you pray now? And will you join and prevailing prayer, that the Spirit of God may come down ? LECTURE V. THE PRAYER OF FAITH. Text. —“ Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”— Mabk xi. 24 . These words have been by some supposed to refer exclu¬ sively to the faith of miracles. But there is not the least evi¬ dence of this. That the text was not designed by our Savior to refer exclusively to the faith of miracles, is proved by the connection in which it stands. If you read the chapter, you will see that Christ and his apostles were at this time very much engaged in their work, and very prayerful; and as they re¬ turned from their place of retirement in the morning, faint and hungry, they saw a fig-tree at a little distance. It looked very beautiful, and doubtless gave signs as if there was fruit on it; hut when they came nigh, they found nothing on it but leaves. And Jesus said, “ No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. “And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig- tree dried up from the roots. “And Peter, calling to remembrance, saithunto him, Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away. “ And Jesus answering, saith unto them, have faith in God. “ For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have what¬ soever he saith.” Then follow the words of the text: Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Our Savior was desirous of giving his disciples instructions respecting the nature and power of prayer, and the necessity of strong faith in God. He therefore stated a very strong case, a miracle one so great as the removal of a mountain into the sea And he tells them, that if they exercise a proper faith in God, they might do such things. But his remarks are not to be limited to faith merely in regard to working miracles, for he goes on to say, And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught THE PRAYER OF FAITH. 65 5 unst any: that your Father also which is in heaven may f give you your trespasses. ^But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is iieaven forgive you your trespasses.” Does that relate to miracles % • When you pray, you must o-ive. Is that required only when a man wishes to work a racle? There are many other promises in the Bible nearly ated to this, and speaking nearly the same language, which ve been all disposed of in this short-hand w T ay, as referring ;he faith employed in miracles. Just as if the faith of mi¬ les was something different from faith in God ! In my last lecture, I dwelt upon the subject of “prevailing tyer and you will recollect that I passed over the subject faith in prayer very briefly, because I wished to reserve it a separate discussion. The subject to-night is, THE PRAYER OF FAITH. I propose, I. To show that faith is an indispensable condition of pre- iling prayer. II. Show what it is that we are to believe when we pray. I III. Show when we are bound to exercise this faith, or to lieve that we shall receive the thing that we ask for. IY. That this kind of faith in prayer always does obtain the issing sought. V. Explain how we are to come into the state of mind, in lich we can exercise such faith. VI. Answer several objections, which are sometimes alleged ainst these views of prayer. I. That faith is an indispensable condition of prevailing ayer, will not be seriously doubted. There is such a thing offering benevolent desires, which are acceptable to God as 'ch, that do not include the exercise of faith in regard to the tual reception of those blessings. But such desires are not evailing prayer, the prayer of faith. God may see fit to grant ! S things desired, as an act of kindness and love, but it would t be properly in answer to prayer. I am speaking now of e kind of faith that insures the blessing. Do not understand 3 as saying that there is nothing in prayer that is acceptable God, or that even obtains the blessing sometimes, without this nd of faith. But I am speaking of the faith which secures e very blessing it seeks. To prove that faith is indispensa- e to prevailing prayer, it is only necessary to repeat what o apostle James expressly tells us: “ If any of you lack 6 * 66 THE PRAYER OF FAITH. wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men libo* rally, and upbraideth not; and it shall he given him.— But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.” II. We are to inquire what ive are to believe when we pray. 1. We are to believe in the existence of God—“ He that cometh to God must believe that he is” —and in his willingness to answer prayer—“ that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” There are many who believe in the existence of God, and do not believe in the efficacy of prayer. They profess to believe in God, but deny the necessity or influence of prayer. 2. We are to believe that ive shall receive —something— what? Not something, or any thing, as it happens, but some particular thing we ask for. We are not to think that God is such a being, that if we ask a fish, he will give us a serpent, or if we ask bread, he will give us a stone. But he says, “ What things soever ye desire , when ye pray, believe that ye receive them , and ye shall have them.” With respect to the faith of miracles, it is plain that they were bound to believe they should receive just what they asked for—that the very thing itself should come to pass. That is what they were to believe. Now what ought men to believe in regard to other blessings? Is it a mere loose idea, that if a man prays for a specific bless¬ ing, God will by some mysterious sovereignty give something or other to him, or something to somebody else, somewhere ?— When a man prays for his children’s conversion, is he to be¬ lieve that either his children will be converted, or somebody’s else children, and it is altogether uncertain wffiich ? All this is utter nonsense, and highly dishonorable to God. No, we are to believe that we shall receive the veni thing's that we ask for. . When are w r e bound to make this prayer ? When are we bound to believe that we shall have the very things we pray for? I answer, When we have evidence of it. Faith must always have evidence. A man cannot believe a thing, unless ho sees something which he supposes to be evidence. He is un¬ der no obligation to believe, and has no right to believe, a thing will be done, unless he has evidence. It is the height of fanaticism to believe Avithout evidence. The kinds of evidence a man may have are the following: 1. Suppose that God has especially promised the thing. As for instance, God says he is more ready to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, than parents are to give bread to their THE PRAYER OF FAITH. 67 ! , Idren. Here we are bound to believe that we shall receive vhen we pray for it. You have no right to put in an if 1 say, “ Lord, if it be thy will , give us thy Holy Spirit.” Ms is to insult God. To put an if into God’s promise, where l d has put none, is tantamount to charging God with being incere. It is like saying, “O God, if thou art in earnest in king these promises, grant us the blessing we pray for.” [ heard of a case where a young convert was the means of ehing a minister a solemn truth on the subject of prayer. was from a very wicked family, and went to live with a lister. While there, she was hopefully converted, and ap- ued well. One day she came to the minister’s study, while was in it—a thing she was not in the habit of doing; and thought there must be something the matter. So he asked ■ to sit down, and kindly inquired into the state of her igious feelings; she said, she was distressed at the man- r ' in which the old church members prayed for the Spirit. ' ley would pray for the Holy Spirit to come, and would seem De very much in earnest, and plead the promises of God, and n say, “ O Lord, if it be thy will , grant us these blessings Christ’s sake.” She thought that saying, “ if it be thy 11,” when God has expressly promised it, was questioning ether God was sincere in his promises. The minister tried reason her out of it, and of course he succeeded in confound- 5; her. But she was distressed and filled with grief, and said, can’t argue the point with you, sir, but it is impressed on my -id that it is wrong, and dishonoring God.”—And she went ay weeping with anguish. The minister saw she was not isfied, and it led him to look at the matter again, and finally saw that it was putting in an if where God had put none, 1 where he had revealed his will expressly, and that it was insult to God. And he went and told his church they were ?md to believe that God was in earnest when he made them romise. And the spirit of prayer came down upon that ireh, and a most powerful revival followed. A Where there is a general promise in the Scriptures lich you may reasonably apply to the particular case before l. If its real meaning includes the particular thing for i ich you pray, or if you can reasonably apply the principle the promise to the case, there you have evidence. For in- nce, suppose it is a time when wickedness prevails greatly, 1 you are led to pray for God’s interference. What promise ve you? Why, this one : “ When the enemy shall come in e a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 68 THE PRAYER OF FAITH. him.” Here you see is a general promise, laying down a prin¬ ciple of God’s administration, which you may apply to the case before you, as a warrant for exercising faith in prayer. And if the case comes up, to inquire as to the time in which God will grant blessings in answer to prayer, you have this promise: “ While they are yet speaking, I will hear.” There is a vast amount of general promises and principles laid down in the Bible, which Christians might make use of, if they would only think. Whenever you are in circumstances to which the promises or principles apply, there you are to use them. A parent finds this promise: “ The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.” Now, here is a promise made to those that possess a certain character. If any parent is conscious that this is his character, he has a rightful ground to apply it to himself and his family. If you have this character, jmu are bound to make use of this promise in prayer, and believe it, even to your children’s children. If I had time to-night, I could go from one end of the Bible to the other, and produce an astonishing variety of texts that are applicable as promises; enough to prove, that in whatever circumstances a child of God may be placed, God has provided in the Bible some promise, either general or particular, which he can apply, that is precisely suited to his case. Many of God’s promises are very broad on purpose to cover much ground. What can be broader than the promise in the text: “ Whatsoever things ye desire when ye pray ?” What praying Christian is there who has not been surprised at the length, and breadth, and fullness, of the promises of God, when the Spirit has applied them to his heart ? Who that lives a life of prayer, has not wondered at his own blindness, in not having before seen and felt the extent of meaning and richness of those promises, when viewed under the light of the Spirit of God? At such times he has been astonished at his own ignorance, and found the Spirit applying the promises and declarations of the Bible in a sense in which he had never dreamed of their being applicable before. The manner in which the apostles applied the promises, and prophecies, and declarations of the Old Testament, places in a strong light the breadth of meaning, and fullness, and richness of the word of God. He that walks in the light of God’s countenance, and is filled with the Spirit of God as he ought to be, will often make an appropriation of THE PRAYER OF FAITH. 69 >mises to himself, and an application of them to his own cir- nstances, and the circumstances of those for whom he prays, .t a blind professor of religion would never dream of. k Where there is any prophetic declaration, that the thing ! .yed for is agreeable to the will of God. When it is plain rn prophecy that the event is certainly to come, you are md to believe it, and to make it the ground for your special h in prayer. If the time is not specified in the Bible, and ire is no evidence from other sources, you are not bound to thieve that it shall take place now, or immediately. But if the $e is specified, or if the time may be learned from the study he prophecies, and it appears to have arrived, then Christians S under obligation to understand and apply it, by offering the yer of faith. For instance, take the case of Daniel, in re- jj'd to the return of the Jews from captivity. What does he , % “I Daniel understood by books the number of the years ereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, jt he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of usalem.” Here he learned from books, that is, he studied : Bible, and in that way understood that the length of the tivity was to be seventy years. What does he do then ? es he sit down upon the promise, and say, “ God has pledged nself to put an end. to the captivity in seventy years, and the e has expired, and there is no need of doing any thing?” ao; he says, “ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek i prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and :es.” He set himself at once to pray that the thing might accomplished. He prayed in faith. But what was he to inieve? What he had learned from prophecy. There are ay prophecies yet unfulfilled, in the Bible, which Christians \ bound to understand, as far as they are capable of under- lding them, and then make them the basis of believing i yer. Do not think, as some seem to, that because a thing is ‘told in prophecy it is not necessary to pray for it, or that it l come whether Christians pray for it or not. There is no :h in this. God says, in regard to this very class of events, ich are revealed in prophecy, “ Nevertheless, for all these gs will I be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them.” j:. When th.e signs of the times, or the providence of God, jicate that a particular blessing is about to be bestowed, we bound to believe it. The Lord Jesus Christ blamed the rs, and called them hypocrites, because they did not under- ld the indications of Providence. They could understand signs of the weather, and see when it was about to rain, n 70 THE PRAYER OF FAITH. and when it would be fair weather; but they could not se< from the signs of the times, that the time had come for th Messiah to appear, and build up the house of God. There ar many professors of religion, who are always stumbling am hanging back, whenever any thing is proposed to be done They always say, The time has not come—the time has nc come; when there are others who pay attention to the signs c the times, and who have spiritual discernment to understan them. These pray in faith for the blessing, and it comes. 5. When the Spirit of God is upon you , and excites strong desires for any blessing, you are bound to pray for it in faith You are bound to infer, from the fact that you find yoursel drawn to desire such a thing while in the exercise of such hob affections as the Spirit of God produces, that these desires ar' the work of the Spirit. People are not apt to desire with thi right kind of desires, unless they are excited by the Spirit o God. The apostle refers to these desires, excited by the Spirit in his epistle to the Romans, where he says—“ Likewise thi Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what w« should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh in tercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind o the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints, accord ing to the will. of God.” Here* then, if you find yoursel strongly drawn to desire a blessing, you are to understand it ar an intimation that God is willing to bestow that particulai blessing, and so you are bound to believe it. God does noi- trifle with his children. He does not go and excite in them ej desiie for one blessing, to turn them off with something else But he excites the very desires he is willing to gratify. Anc when they feel such desires, they are bound to follow them out till they get the blessing. IV. I will proceed to show that this kind of faith always ob¬ tains the object. The text is plain here, to show that you shall receive the very thing prayed for. It does not say, “Believe that ye shall receive, and ye shall either have that or something else equivalent to it.” To prove that this faith obtains the very blessing asked, I observe, I 1. 1 hat otherwise we could never know whether our pray¬ ers were answered. And we might continue praying and praying, long after the prayer was answered by some other blessing equivalent to the one we ask for. • ^ If we are not bound to expect the very thing we ask for, it must be that the Spirit of God deceives us. Why should he THE PRAYER OF FAITH. 71 ccite us to desire a certain blessing, when he means to grant pmething else? 3. What is the meaning of this passage, “If a man ask •ead, will he give him a stone?” Does not our Savior re- I ike the idea that prayer may be answered by giving some- j: ing else? What encouragement have we to pray for any i ing in particular, if we are to ask for one thing and receive pother? Suppose a Christian should pray for a revival here | -he would be answered by a revival in China. Or he might ay for a revival, and God would send the cholera, or an rthquake. All the history of the church shows that when od answers prayer, he gives his people the very thing for hich their prayers are offered. God confers other blessings, i both saints and sinners, which they do not pray for at all. e sends his rain both upon the just and the unjust. But hen he answers prayer, it is by doing what they ask him to ;). To be sure, he often more than answers prayer. He •ants them not only what they ask, but often connects other essings with it. 4. Perhaps you may feel a difficulty here about the prayers Jesus Christ. People may often ask, “ Did not he pray in the irden for the cup to be removed, and was his prayer answer- ?” I answer that this is no difficulty at all, for the prayer was aswered. The cup he prayed to be delivered from was re- oved. This is what the apostle refers to, when he says—“ Who the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and applications with strong crying and tears unto him that was : .le to save him from death, was heard in that he feared.” Now isk, On what occasion was he saved from death, if not on this? r as it the death of the cross he prayed to be delivered from? ‘ ot at all. But the case was this. A short time before he was Grayed, we hear him saying to his disciples, “ My soul is ex- edingly sorrowful, even unto death.” Anguish of mind came fling in upon him, till he was just ready to die, and he went it into the garden to pray, and told his disciples to watch, and en he went by himself and prayed; “ O my Father,” said he, ,f it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not 1 will, but as thou wilt.” In his agony he rose from his knees, d walked the garden, till he came where his disciples were, and ere he saw them fast asleep. He awaked them and said, “What, uld ye not watch with me one hour ?” And then he went again, r he was in such distress that he could not stand still, and again ‘ poured out his soul. And the third time he goes away and ays, “Father, if thou be willing, remove th "s cup from me; \ THE PRAYER OF FAITII. 72 nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” And now the third time of praying, there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And his mind became composed, and calm, and the cup was gone. Till then, he had been in such an agony that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, but now it was all over. Some have supposed that he was praying against the cross, and begging to be delivered from dying on the cross ! Did Christ ever shrink from the cross ? Never. He came into the world on purpose to die on the cross, and he never shrunk from it. But he was afraid he should die in the garden before he came to the cross. The burden on his soul was so great, and pro¬ duced such an agony, that he felt as if he was on the point of dying. His soul was sorrowful even unto death. But after the angel appeared unto him, we hear no more of his agony of soul. He had prayed for relief from that cup , and his prayer was answered. He became calm, and had no more mental suffering till just as he expired. This case, therefore, is no exception. He received the very thing for which he asked, as he says, “I knew thou always hearest me.” But there is another case often brought up, where the apostle Paul prayed against the thorn in the flesh. He says, “ I be¬ sought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” And God answered him, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” It is the opi¬ nion of Dr. Clarke and others, that Paul’s prayer was answered in the very thing for which he prayed. That “the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan,” of which he speaks, w r asafalse apostle who had distracted and perverted the church at Co¬ rinth. That Paul prayed against his influence, and the Lord answered him by assuring him, “ My grace is sufficient for thee.” Who does not know that it was, and that Paul’s influence ulti¬ mately triumphed? » But admitting that Paul’s prayer Avas not answered by grant¬ ing the particular thing for which he prayed, in order to make out this case as an exception to the prayer of faith, they are obliged to assume the very thing to be proved; and that is, that the apostle prayed in faith. There is no reason to suppose that Paul would always pray in faith, any more than that any other Christian does. The very manner in Avhich God answered him shows that it was not in faith. He virtually tells him, “ That thorn is necessary for your sanctification, and to keep you from being exalted above measure. I sent it upon you in love, and in faithfulness, and you have no business to pray that I s' .ould take it away.—LET IT ALONE.” •• ~ *. - THE PRAYER OF FAITH. 73 I .''here is not only no evidence that he prayed in faith, hut a ng presumption that he did not. From the history it is evi- t that he had nothing on which to repose faith. There was i express promise, no general promise, that could be applica- t no providence of God, no prophecy, no teaching of the 'it that God would remove this thorn ; but the presumption l that God would not remove it. He had given it to him for irt.icular purpose. His prayer appears to have been selfish, ring against a mere personal inconvenience. This was not personal suffering that retarded his usefulness, but on the rary it was given him to increase his usefulness by keep- him humble; and because on some account he found it in- yenient and mortifying, he set himself to pray out of his jfi heart, evidently without being led to it by the Spirit of 1'. But did Paul pray in faith without the Spirit of God, more than any other man? And will any one undertake xy that the Spirit of God led him to pray that this might be r oved, when God himself had given it for a particular pur- ?, which purpose could not be answered only as the thorn inued with him? ifhy then is this made an exception to the general rule laid n in the text, that a man shall receive whatsoever he asks lith? I was once amazed and grieved at a public examina- at a Theological Seminary, to hear them darken counsel vords without knowledge on this subject. This case of 1, and that of Christ just adverted to, were both of them 1 as instances to prove to their students that the prayer of p would not be answered in the particular thing for which r prayed. Now to teach such sentiments as these in or out Theological Seminary, is to trifle with the word of God, i'to break the power of the Christian ministry. Has it come lis, that our grave doctors in our seminaries, are employed jjiistruct Zion’s watchmen, to believe and teach that it is not lie expected that the prayer of faith is to be answered in .iting the object for which we pray? Oh, tell it not in Gath, jlet the sound reach Askalon. What is to become of the ! "ch while such are the views of its gravest and most influ- fejil ministers ? I would not be unkind nor censorious, but ! ne of the ministers of Jesus Christ, I feel bound to bear i mony against such a perversion of the word of God. It is evident that the prayer of faith will obtain the bless 1 - i from the fact that our faith rests on evidence that to grant thing is the will of God. Not evidence that something will be granted, but that this particular thing will be. But 7 74 TIIE PRAYER OF FAITH. how, then, can we have evidence that this thing will be granted, if another thing is to be granted? People often receive more than they pray for. Solomon prayed for wisdom, and Go(f granted him riches and honor in addition. So a wife somo* times prays for the conversion of her husband, and if she offers the prayer, of faith, God may not only grant that blessing, but convert her child, and her whole family. Blessings sometimes seem to hang together, so that if a Christian gains one he gets them alll V. I am to show how we are to come into this state of mind, in which we can offer such prayer. People sometimes ask, “How shall I offer such prayer? Shall I say, Now I will pray in faith for such and such blessings ?” No, the human mind is not moved in this way. You might just as well say, “ Now I will call up a spirit from the bottomless pit.” I answer, 1. You must first obtain evidence that God will bestow the blessing. How did Daniel make out to offer the prayer of faith? He searched the Scriptures. Now, you need not let your Bible lie on a shelf, and expect God to reveal his promises to you. Search the Scriptures, and see where you can get either a general or special promise, or a prophecy, on which you can plant your feet when you pray. Go through the.Bi* ble, and you will find it full of such things—precious promises, which you may plead in faith. You never need to want for objects of prayer, if you will do as Daniel did. Persons are staggered on this subject, because they never make a proper use of the Bible. A curious case occurred in one of the towns in the western' part of this state. There was a revival there. A certain cler- gyman came to visit the place, and heard a great deal said about the Prayer of Faith. He was staggered at what they said, for he had never regarded the subject in the light they did. He inquired about it of the minister that was laboring there. The minister requested him, in a kind spirit, to go home, and take his Testament, look out the passages that refer to prayer, and go round to hie most praying people, and ask them how they understood these passages. He said he would do it, for though these views were new to him, he was willing to learn. He did it, and went to his praying men and women, and read the pas¬ sages without note or comment, and asked what they thought. He found their plain common sense had led them to understand these passages, and to believe that they mean just as they say. This affected him, and then the fact of his going round and presenting the promises before their minds awakened the spirit of prayer in them, and a revival followed, THE PRAYER OF FAITH 75 could name many individuals, who have set themselves to mine the Bible on this subject, and before they got half mgh with it, have been filled with the spirit of prayer, ey found that God meant by his promises just what a plain, imon sense man would understand them to mean. I advise to try it. You have Bibles; look them over, and when- r you find a promise that you can use, fasten it in your td, before you go on; and I venture to predict you will not through the book without finding out that God’s promises m just what they say. if Cherish the good desires you have. Christians very n lose their good desires, by not attending to this; and then r prayers are mere words, without any desire or earnestness ill. The least longing of desire must be cherished. If ir body was likely to freeze, and you had even the least rk of fire, how you would cherish it! So if you have the i st desire for a blessing, let it be ever so small, don’t trifle it ly. Don’t grieve the Spirit. Don’t be diverted. Don’t lose I » .» I s i i \ LECTURE VI. SPIRIT OF PRAYER. Text.— Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh internes- sion for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heartsknoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.— Romans viii. 26, 27. My last lecture but one, was on the subject of Effectual Prayer; in which I observed that one of the. most important attributes of effectual or prevailing prayer is Faith. This was so extensive a subject that I reserved it for a separate discus¬ sion. And accordingly, I lectured last Friday evening on the subject of Faith in Prayer, or, as it is termed, the Prayer of Faith. It was my intention to discuss the subject in a single lecture. But as 1 was under the necessity of condensing so much on some points, it occurred to me, and was mentioned by others, that there might be some questions which people would ask, that ought to be answered more fully, especially as the subject is one on which there is so much darkness. One grand design in preaching, is, to exhibit the truth in such a way as to answer the questions which would naturally arise in the minds of those who read the Bible with attention, and who want to know what it means, so that they can put it in practice. In explaining the text, I propose to show, I. What Spirit is here spoken of, “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.” II. What that Spirit does for us. III. Why he does what the text declares him to do. IV. How he accomplishes it. V. The degree in which he influences the minds of those who are under his influence. VI. How his influences are to be distinguished from the in¬ fluences of evil spirits, or from the suggestions of our own vttt T are t0 ?^ ta in this agency of the Holy Spirit. 1 . Who have a right to expect to enjoy his influences in this matter—or for whom the Spirit does the things spoken of in tuC l6Xt. 1 . What Spirit is it, that is spoken of in the text ? ome ave supposed that the Spirit spoken of in the text SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 81 is our own spirit—our own mind. But a little attention to ext will show plainly that this is no. the meaning. “ The t helpeth our infirmities,” would then read, “ Our own t helpeth the infirmities of our own spirit,”—and “ Our own t likewise maketh intercession for our own spirit.” You 'ou can make no sense of it on that supposition. It is evi- from the manner in which the text is introduced, that the t referred to is the Holy Ghost. “ For if ye live after the , ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the ms of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led ie Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have Received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have ved the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the ren of God.” And the text is plainly speaking of the same lit. What the Spirit does. aswer—He intercedes for the saints. “ He maketh inter- on for us,” and “ helpeth our infirmities,” when “ we know \vhat to pray for as we ought.” He helps Christians to according to the will of God, or for the things that God es them to pray for. I. Why is the Holy Spirit thus employed ? ^cause of our ignorance. Because we know not what we Id pray for as we ought. We are so ignorant both of the of God, revealed in the Bible, and of his unrevealed will, e ought to learn it from his providence. Mankind are y ignorant both of the promises and prophecies of the Bible, blind to the providence of God. And they are still more e dark about those points of which God has said nothing )y the leadings of his Spirit. You recollect that I named ; four sources of evidence on which to ground faith in er —promises, prophecies, providences, and the Holy Spirit. ;n all other means fail of leading us to the knowledge of ; we ought to pray for, the Spirit does it. t . How does he make intercession for the saints ? In what does he operate, so as to help our infirmities ? ot by superseding the use of our faculties. It is not by ing for us, while we do nothing. He prays for us, by ex- g our ow r n faculties. Not that he immediately suggests to irords, or guides our language. But he enlightens our Is, and makes the truth take hold of our souls. He leads ) consider the state of the church, and the condition of sin- around us. The maimer in which he brings the truth 82 SPIRIT OF PRATER. before the mind, and keeps it there till it produces its effect, we cannot tell. But we can know as much as this—that he leads us to a deep consideration of the state of things; and the result of this, the natural and philosophical result, is, deep feeling, When the Spirit brings the truth up before a man’s mind, there js only one way in which he can keep from deep feeling That is, by turning away his thoughts, and leading his mind to think of other things. Sinners, when the Spirit of Gpd brings the truth before them, must feel. They feel wrong, as long as they remain impenitent. So if a man is a Christian, and the Holy Spirit brings a subject into warm contact with his heart, it is just as impossible he should not feel, as it is that your hand should not feel if you put it into the fire. If the Spirit of God leads him to dwell on things calculated to excite warm and overpowering feelings, and he is not excited by them it proves that he has no love for souls, nothing of the Spirit of Christ, and' knows nothing about Christian experience. 2. The Spirit makes the Christian feel the value of souls, and the guilt and danger of sinners in their present condition It is amazing how dark and stupid Christians often are $bout this. Even Christian parents let their children go right down to hell before their eyes, and scarcely seem to exercise a single feeling, or put forth an effort to save them. And w r hy? Be¬ cause they are so blind to what hell is, so unbelieving about the Bible, so ignorant of the precious promises which God has made to faithful parents. They grieve the Spirit of God away, and it is in vain to try to make them pray for their children, while the Spirit of God is away from them. 3. He leads Christians to understand and apply the promises of Scripture. It is wonderful that in no age have Christians been able fully to apply the promises of Scripture to the events of life, as they go along. This is not because the promises themselves are obscure. The promises themselves are plain enough. But there has always been a wonderful disposition to overlook the Scriptures, as a source of light respecting the pass¬ ing events of life. How astonished the apostles were at Christ’s application of so many prophecies to himself! They seemedto be continually ready to exclaim, “ Astonishing ! Can it be so’ W e never understood it before.” Who, that has witnessed the manner in which the apostles, influenced and inspired by the Holy Ghost, applied passages of the Old Testament to gospel times, has not been amazed at the richness of meaning which they found in the Scriptures ? So it has been with many a Christian; while deeply engaged in prayer, he has seen that SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 83 res of Scripture are appropriate which he never thought ure, as having any such application. ice knew an individual who was in great spiritual dark- He had retired for prayer, resolved that he would not till he had found the Lord. He kneeled down and tried y. All was dark, and he could not pray. He rose from iees, and stood a while, but he could not give it up, for he romised that he would not let the sun go down before he iven himself to God. He knelt again, but it was all dark, |s heart was hard as before. He was nearly in despair, lid in agony, “ I have grieved the Spirit of God away, and out from the presence not to give over, and jis no promise for me. Iam shut o id ” But his resolution was formed he knelt down. He had said but a few words when this yQ came into his mind as fresh as if he had just read it. med as if he had just been reading the words, “ Ye shall ne, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all heart.” Jer. xxix. 13. He saw that though this pio- was in the Old Testament, and was addressed to the it was still as applicable to him as to them. And it his heart, like the hammer of the Lord, in a moment, he prayed, and rose up, happy in God. Thus it.often ns when professors of religion are praying for their chil- Sometimes they pray, and are in darkness and doubt, 11 * 3 ^ understand to be, that the Spirit excites desires too 3at to be uttered except by groans. Something that language 8 86 SPIRIT OF PRAYER. cannot utter—making the soul too full to utter its feelings by words, where the person can only groan them out to God, who understands the language of the heart. VI. How are we to know whether it is the Spirit ot God that influences our minds or not? I Not by feeling that some external influence or agency is applied to us We are not to expect to feel our minds m dnect El contact with God. If such a thing can be we know of no way in which it can be made sensible V\ e know that we exercise our minds freely, and that our thoughts ®re exer¬ cised on something that excites our feelings. But we are o to expect a miracle to be wrought, as if we were led by the hand, sensibly, or like something whispered in the ear, or any miraculous Manifestation of the will of God. Individuals often n-neve the Spirit away, because they do not harbor him and cherish his influences. Sinners often do this | They suppose that if they were under conviction by the Spirit, they should have such and such mysterious feelings, a shocn would come upon them, which they con d not mistake. Many Christians are so ignorant of the Spirits influences, and . v j thought so little about having his assistance in prayer, that, when they have them they do not know it, and so do not cherish, and yield to them, and preserve them. We are sensible ofl nothing i n the case, only the movement oi our own minds. There°is nothing else that can be felt. We are merly sensible that our thoughts are intensely employed on a certain subject Christians are often unnecessarily misled and distressed on this point, for fear they have not the Spirit of God. T hey feel fensely, but they know what makes them feel. 1 hey are dis¬ tressed about sinners; but why should they not be distressed, when they think of their condition ? They keep thinking abou them all the time, and why shouldn’t they be distressed 1 Not| the truth is, that the very fact that you are thinking upon them is evidence that the Spirit of God is leading you. Do you not know that the greater part of the time these things do not at feet you so? The greater part of the time you. do not thin>, much about the case of sinners. You know their salvation is always equally important. But at other times, even when yot| are quite at leisure, your mind is entirely dark, and vacant o any feeling for them. But now, although you may be bus) about other things, you think, you pray, and feel intensely Oi them, even while you are about business that at other time; would occupy all your thoughts. Now, almost every thoug you have is, “ God have mercy on them. 5 ’ Why is this? YVny SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 87 heir case is placed in a strong light before your mind. Do you isk what it is, that leads your mind to exercise benevolent feel- ngs for sinners, and to agonize in prayer for them? What can t be but the Spirit of God? There are no devils that would ead you so. If your feelings are truly benevolent, you are to onsider it as the Holy Spirit leading you to pray for things Ihccording to the will of God. H 2. Try the spirits by the Bible. People are sometimes led j-vvay by strange fantasies and crazy impulses. If you compare : bem faithfully with the Bible, you never need be led astray, pifou can always know whether your feelings are produced by he Spirit’s influences, by comparing your desires with: the spirit nd temper of religion, as described in the Bible. The Bible ommands you to try the spirits. “ Beloved, believe not every pirit, but try the spirits, whether they be-mf God.” VII. Ho w shall we get this influence of the Spirit of God ? 1 . It must be sought by fervent' believing prayer. Christ ays, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to ;our children, how #rauch more shall your heavenly Father ive the Holy Spirit to them that ask it!” Does any one say, have prayed for it, and it does not come? It is because you o not pray aright. “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask miss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” You do not ray from right motives. A professor of religion, and a prin- ipal member in a church, once asked a minister what he nought of his case; he had been praying week after week for le Spirit, and had not found any benefit. The minister asked im what his motive was in praying. He said he wanted to e happy. He knew those who had the Spirit were happy, nd he wanted to enjoy his mind as they did. Why, the devil >imself might pray so. That is mere selfishness. The man irned away in anger. He saw that he had never known what 1 was to pray. He was convinced he was a hypocrite, and hat his prayers were all selfish, dictated only by a desire for is own happiness. David prayed that God would uphold him y his free Spirit, that he might teach transgressors and turn nnersto God. A Christian should pray for the Spirit, that he hay be the more useful and glorify God more ; not that he him- df may be more happy. This man saw clearly where he had ?en in error, and he was converted. Perhaps many here have den just so. You ought to examine and see if all your prayers re not selfish. 2. Use the means adapted to stir up your minds on the sub¬ let, and to keep your attention fixed there. If a man prays for 88 SPIRIT OF PRAYER. the Spirit, and then diverts his mind to other objects; uses no other means, but goes right away to worldly objects, he tempts God, he swings loose from his object, and it would be a miracle if he should get what he prays for. How is a sinner to get con¬ viction ? Why, by thinking of his sins. That is the w'ay for a Christian to obtain deep feeling, by thinking on the object. God is not going to pour these things on you, without any ef¬ fort of your own. You must cherish the slightest impressions. Take the Bible, and go over the passages that show the condi¬ tion and prospects of the world. Book at the world, look at your children, and your neighbors, and see their condition while they -i'emain in sin, and persevere in prayer and effort till you obtain the blessing of the Spirit of God to dwell in you. This was the way, doubtless, that Dr. Watts came to have the feelings which he has described in the second Hymn of the second Book, which you would do well to read after you go home. My thoughts on awfui subjects roll, Damnation and the dead: What horrors seize the guilty soul Upon a dying bed ! Lingering about these mortal shores, She makes a long delay, Till, like a flood, with rapid force’ Death sweeps the wretch away. Then, swift and dreadful, she descends Down to the fiery coast, Amongst abominable fiends, Herself a frighted ghost. There endless crowds of sinners lie, And darkness makes their chains; Tortured with keen despair they cry, Yet wait for fiercer pains. Not all their anguish and their blood For their past guilt atones, Nor the compassion of a God Shall hearken to their groans. Amazing grace, that kept my breath, Nor bid my soul remove, Till I had learned my Savior’s death, And well insured his love ! ■ Look, as it were, through a telescope that will bring it up near to you; look into hell, and hear them groan; then turn the glass upwards and look at heaven, and see the saints there, in their white robes, with their harps in their hands, and hear them sing the song of redeeming love; and ask yourself—Is itpossi- sible, that I should prevail with God to elevate the sinner there? SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 89 Do this, and if you are not a wicked man, and a stranger to God, you will soon have as much of the spirit of prayer as your )odycan sustain. 3. 1 ou must watch unto prayer. You must keep a look out, md see if God grants the blessing when you ask him. People ometimes pray, and never look to see if the prayer is granted. 3e careful also, not to grieve the Spirit of God. Confess and I , orsake your sins. God will never lead you as one of his hidden •nes, and let you into his secrets, unless you confess and for- [ a ^ e your sins. Not be always confessing and never forsake, ut confess and forsake too. Make redress wherever you have ommitted an injury. You cannot expect to get the spirit of rayer first, and then repent. You can’t fight it through so. Tofessors of religion, who are proud and unyielding, and jus- fy themselves, never will force God to dwell with them. 4. Aim to obey perfectly the written law. In other words, ave no fellowship with sin. Aim at being entirely above the f'orld ; “ Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” t you sin at all, let it be your daily grief. The man who oes not aim at this, means to live in sin. Such a man need ot expect God’s blessing, for he is not sincere in desiring to eep all his commandments. VIII. For whom does the Spirit intercede? Answer—He maketh intercession for the saints, for all saints, >r any who are saints. REMARKS 1 . Why do you suppose it is, that so little stress is laid on te influences of the Spirit in prayer, when so much is said lout his influences in conversion ? Many people are amazingly raid the Spirit’s influences will be left out. They lay great ress on the Spirit’s influences in converting sinners. But how tie is said, how little is printed, about his influence in prayer ! ow little complaining that people do not make enough of the pirit’s influences in leading Christians to pray according to e will of God ! Let it never be forgotten, that no Christian 'er prays aright, unless led by the Spirit. He has natural >wer to pray, and so far as the will of God is revealed, is able do it; but he never does, unless the Spirit of God influences m. Just as sinners are able to repent, but never do, unless fluenced by the Spirit. 2 . This subject lays open the foundation of the difficulty felt many persons on the subject of the Prayer of Faith. They ject to the idea that faith in prayer is a belief that we shall 8 * 90 SPIRIT OF PRAVER. receive the very things for which we ask; and insist that there can be no foundation or evidence upon which to rest such a be¬ lief. In a sermon published a few years since, upon this sub¬ ject, the writer brings forward this difficulty, and presents it in its full strength. I have, says he, no evidence that the thing prayed for will be granted, until I have prayed in faith; be¬ cause, praying in faith is the condition upon which it is pro¬ mised. And of course I cannot claim the promise, until I have fulfilled the condition. Now, if the condition is, that I am to believe I shall receive the very blessing for which I ask, it is evident that the promise is given upon the performance of an impossible condition, and is of course a mere nullity. The pro¬ mise would amount to just this: You shall have whatsoever you ask, upon the condition that you first believe that you shall receive it. Now, I must fulfil the condition before I can claim the promise. But I can have no evidence that I shall receive it, until I have believed that I shall receive it. This reduces me to the necessity of believing that I shall receive it before I have any Evidence that I shall receive it—which is impossible. The whole force of this objection arises out of the fact, that the Spirit’s influences are entirely overlooked, which he exerts in leading an individual to the exercise of faith. It has been supposed that the passage in Mark xi. 22 and 24, with other kindred promises on the subject of the Prayer of Faith, relate exclusively to miracles. But suppose this were true. I would ask, What w r ere the apostles to believe, when they prayed for a miracle ? Were they to believe that the precise miracle would be performed for which they prayed ? It is evident that they were. In the verses just alluded to, Christ says, “ For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this moun¬ tain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but SHALL BELIEVE THAT THESE THINGS WHICH HE SAITH SHALL COME TO PASS, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore l say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, be¬ lieve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Here it is evident, that the thing to be believed, and which they were not to doubt in their heart, w r as, that they should have the very blessing for which they prayed. Now the objection above stated, lies in all its force against this kind of faith, when pray¬ ing for the performance of a miracle. If it be impossible to believe this in praying for any other blessing, it was equally so in praying for a miracle. I might ask, Could an apostle be¬ lieve that the miracle would be wrought, before he had fulfilled SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 91 the condition ? inasmuch as the condition was, that he should believe that he should receive that for which he prayed. Either the promise is a nullity and a deception, or there is a possibility of performing the condition. Now, as I have said, the whole difficulty lies in the fact that the Spirit’s influences are entirely overlooked, and that faith > which is of the operation of God, is left out of the question. 1. . the objection is good against praying for any object, it is as good against praying in faith for the performance of a miracle. The fact is, that the Spirit of God could give evidence, on which to believe that any particular miracle would be granted; could lead the mind to a firm reliance upon God, and trust that the blessing sought would be obtained. And so at the present day he can give the same assurance, in praying for any blessing [ that we need. Neither in the one case or the other, are the influences of the Spirit miraculous. Praying is the same thing, whether you pray for the conversion of a soul, or for a miracle. Faith is the same thing in the one case as in the other; it only [ terminates on a different object; in the one case on the conver- t sion of a soul, and in the other on the performance of a miracle. Nor is faith exercised in the one more than in the other, with- ' out reference to a promise; and a general promise may with the same propriety be applied to the conversion of a soul as to the performance of a miracle. And it is equally true in the one case as the other, that no man ever prays in faith without being influenced by the Spirit of God. And if the Spirit could lead the mind of an apostle to exercise faith in regard to a miracle, he can lead the mind of another Christian to exercise faith in regard to receiving any other blessing, by a reference to the same general promise. Should any one ask, “ When are we under an obligation to believe that we shall receive the blessing for which we ask?” 1 answer: (1.) When there is a particular promise, specifying the par¬ ticular blessing: as where we pray for the Holy Spirit. This blessing is particularly named in the promise, and here we have evidence, and are bound to believe, whether we have any Divine influence or not; just as sinners are bound to repent whether the Spirit strives with them or not. Their obligation rests, not upon the Spirit’s influences, but upon the powers of moral agency which they possess; upon their ability to do their duty. And while it is true that not one of them ever will repent with- I out the influences of the Spirit, still they have power to do so, and are under obligation to do so, whether thv Spirit strive** 92 SPIRIT OF PRAYER. with them or not. So with the Christian. He is bound to believe where he has evidence. And although he never does believe, even where he has an express promise, without the Spirit of God, yet his obligation to do so rests upon his ability, and not upon the Divine influence. (2.) Where God makes a revelation by his providence, we are bound to believe in proportion to the clearness of the provi¬ dential indication. (3.) So where there is a prophecy, we are bound also to believe. But in neither of these cases do we, in fact, believe, without the Spirit of God. But where there is neither promise, providence, nor prophecy, on which to repose our faith, we are under no obligation to believe, unless, as I have shown in this discourse, the Spirit gives us evidence, by creating desires, and by leading us to pray for a particular object. In the case of those promises of a general nature, where we are honestly at a loss to know in what particular cases to apply them, it may be considered rather as our privilege than as our duty, in many instances, to apply them to particular cases; but whenever the Spirit of God leads us to apply them to a particular object, then it becomes our duty so to apply them. In this case, God explains his own promise, and shows how he designed it 'should be applied. And then our obligation to make this application, and to believe in refer¬ ence to this particular object, remains in full force. 3. Some have supposed that Paul prayed in faith for the removal of the thorn in the flesh, and that it was not granted. But they cannot prove that Paul prayed in faith. The pre¬ sumption is all on the other side, as I have shown in a former lecture. He had neither promise, nor prophecy, nor provi¬ dence, nor the Spirit of God, to lead him to believe. The whole objection goes on the ground that the apostle might pray in faith without being led by the Spirit. This is truly a short¬ hand method of disposing of the Spirit’s influences in prayer. Certainly, to assume that he prayed in faith, is to assume either that he prayed in faith without being led by the Spirit, or that the Spirit of God led him to pray for that which was not ac¬ cording to the will of God. I have dwelt the more on this subject, because I want to have it made so plain, that, you will all be careful not to grieve the Spirit. I want you to have high ideas of the Holy Ghost, and to feel that nothing good will be done without his influences. No praying or preaching will be of any avail without him. If Jesus Christ were to come down here and preach to sinners, V SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 93 tot one would be converted without the Spirit. Be careful hen not to grieve him away, by slighting or neglecting his leaveniy influences when he invites you to pray. 4. In praying for an object, it is necessary to persevere till ou obtain it. O, with what eagerness Christians sometimes tursue a sinner in their prayers, when the Spirit of God has ixed their desires on him ! No miser pursues his gold with so j ixed a determination. 5 . The fear of being led by impulses has done great injury, y not being duly considered. A person’s mind may be led by n ignis fatuus. But we do wrong, if we let the fear of irn- ulses lead us to resist the good impulses of the Holy Ghost, 'fo wonder Christians don’t have the spirit of prayer, if they re unwilling to take the trouble to distinguish; and so reject r resist all impulses, and all leadings of invisible agents. A reat deal has been said about fanaticism, that is very unguard- d, and that causes many minds to reject the leadings of the flpirit of God. “ As many as are the sons of God, are led by lie Spirit of God.” And it is our duty to “try the spirits, whether they be of God.” We should insist on a close scrutiny, nd an accurate discrimination. There must be such a thing s being led by the Spirit. And when we are convinced it is f God, we should be sure to follow—follow on, with full con- dence that he will not lead us wrong. 6 . We see from this subject the absurdity of using forms of rayer. The very idea of using a form, rejects, of course , the eadings of the Spirit. Nothing is more calculated to destroy he spirit of prayer, and entirely to darken and confuse the lind, as to what constitutes prayer, than to use forms. Forms f prayer are not only absurd in themselves, but they are the ery device of the devil to destroy the spirit and break the .tower of prayer. It is of no use to say the form is a good one. 3 rayer does not consist in words. And it matters not what the cords are, if the heart is not led by the Spirit of God. If the -lesire is not enkindled, the thoughts directed, and the whole urrent of feeling produced, and led by the Spirit of God, it is tot prayer. And set forms are, of all things, best calculated to :eep an individual from praying as he ought. 7. The subject furnishes a test of character.—The Spirit naketh intercession—for whom? For the saints. Those who .re saints are thus exercised. If you are saints, you know by experience what it is to be thus exercised, or it is because you lave grieved the Spirit of God, so that he will not lead you. Y ou live in such a manner, that this Holy Comforter will not 94 SPIRIT OF PRAYER. dwell with you, nor give you the spirit of prayer. If this is so, you must repent. Whether you are a Christian or not, don’t stop to settle that, but repent, as if you never had repented. Do your first works. Don’t take it for granted that you are a Christian, but go like a humble sinner, and pour out your heart unto the Lord. You never can have the spirit of prayer in any other way. 8. The importance of understanding this subject. (1.) In order to be useful. Without this spirit there can be no such sympathy between you and God, that you can either walk with God or work with God. You need to have a strong beating of your heart with his, or you need not expect to be greatly useful. (2.) As important as your sanctification. Without such a spirit you will not be sanctified, you will not understand the Bible, you will not know how to apply it to your case. I want you to feel the importance of having God with you all the time. If you live as you ought, he says he will come unto you, and make his abode with you, and sup with you, and you with him. 9. If people know not the spirit of prayer, they are very apt to be unbelieving in regard to the results of prayer. They don’t see what takes place, or dont’ see the connection, or don’t see the evidence. They are not expecting spiritual blessings. When sinners are convicted, they think they are only fright¬ ened by such terrible preaching. And when people are con¬ verted, they feel no confidence, and only say, “We’ll see how they turn out.” 10. Those who have the spirit of prayer know when the blessing comes. It was just so when Jesus Christ appeared — Those ungodly doctors did not know him. Why? Because they were not praying for the redemption of Israel. But Simeon and Anna knew him. How was that ? Mark what they said, how they prayed, and how they lived. They were pray¬ ing in faith, and so they were not surprised when he came. So it is with such Christians. If sinners are convicted or convert¬ ed, they are not surprised at it. They were expecting just such things. They know God when he comes, because they were looking out for his visits. 11. There are three classes of persons in the church who are liable to error, or have left the truth out of view, on this subject. (1.) Those who place great reliance on prayer, and use no other means. They are alarmed at any special means, and talk about your “getting up a revival.” SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 95 (2.) Over against these are those who use means, and pray, ; but never think about the influences of the Spirit in prayer. They talk about prayer for the Spirit, and feel the importance of the Spirit in the conversion of sinners, but do not realize the importance of the Spirit in prayer. And their prayers are all cold talk, nothing that any body can feel, or that can take hold of God. (3.) Those who have certain strange notions about the sove¬ reignty of God, and are waiting for God to convert the world without prayer or means. There must be in the church a deeper sense of the need of the spirit of prayer. The fact is that, generally , those who use means most assiduously, and make the most strenuous efforts for the salvation of men, and who have the most correct notions of the manner in which means should be used for converting sin¬ ners, also pray most for the Spirit of God, and wrestle most with God for his blessing. And what is the result? Let facts fspeak, and say whether these persons do or do not pray, and whether the Spirit of God does not testify to their prayers, and follow their labors with his power. 10. A spirit very different from the spirit of prayer appears to prevail in the Presbyterian church. Nothing w T ill produce an excitement and opposition so quick as the spirit of prayer. If any person should feel burdened with the case of sinners, in prayer, so as to groan in his prayer, why, the women are ner¬ vous, and he is visited at once with rebuke and opposition. From my soul I abhor all affectation of feeling where there is none, and all attempts to work one’s self up into feeling by -groans. But I feel bound to defend the position, that there is such a thing as being in a state of mind, in which there is but one way to keep from groaning; and that is, by resisting the Holy Ghost. I was once present where this subject was dis¬ cussed. It was said that groaning ought to be discountenanced. The question was asked, whether God could not produce such a state of feeling, that to abstain from groaning was impossible? and the answer was, “Yes, but he never does.” Then the ' apostle Paul was egregiously deceived, when he wrote about groanings that cannot be uttered. Edwards was deceived, when he wrote his book upon revivals. Revivals are all in the dark. Now, no man who reviews the history of the church will adopt such a sentiment. I don’t like this attempt to shut out, or stifle, or keep down, or limit the spirit of prayer. I would sooner cut off my right hand, than rebuke the spirit of prayer, 96 SPIRIT OF PRAYER. ns I have heard of its being done by saying, “ Don’t let me hear any more groaning.” But then, I hardly know where to end this subject. I should like to discuss it a month, and till the whole church could un¬ derstand it, so as to pray the prayer of faith. Beloved, I want to ask you if you believe all this ? Or do you wonder that I should talk so ? Perhaps some of you have had some glimpses of these things. Now, will you give yourselves up to prayer, and live so as to have the spirit of prayer, and have the spirit with you all the time ? O, for a praying church ! I once knew a minister who had a revival fourteen winters in succession. I did not know how to account for it, till I saw one of his mem¬ bers get up in a prayer meeting, and make a confession. “ Brethren,” said he, “ I have been long in the habit of praying every Saturday night till after midnight, for the descent of the Holy Ghost among us. And now, brethren,” and he began to weep, “ I confess that I have neglected it for two or three weeks.” The secret was out. That minister had a praying church. Brethren, in my present state of health, I find it im¬ possible to pray as much as I have been in the habit of doing, and continue to preach. It overcomes my strength. Now, shall I give myself up to prayer, and stop preaching ? That will not do. Now, will not you, who are in health, throw your¬ selves into this work, and bear this burden, and lay yourselves out in prayer, till God will pour out his blessing upon us ? LECTURE VII. BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. Text.— Be filled with the Spirit.— Eph. v. 18 . Several of my last lectures have been on the subject of rayer, and the importance of having the spirit of prayer, of le intercession of the Holy Ghost. Whenever the necessity nd importance of the Spirit’s influences are held forth, there an be no doubt that persons are in danger of abusing the doc- flne, and perverting it to their own injury. For instance, when ou tell sinners that without the Holy Spirit they never will spent, they are very liable to pervert the truth, and understand y it that they cannot repent, and therefore are under no obli- ation to do it until they feel the Spirit. It is often difficult to lake them see that all the “cannot” consists in their unwilling- ess, and not in their inability. So again, when we tell Chris- ans that they need the Spirit’s aid in prayer, they are very pt to think they are under no obligation to pray the prayer of lith, until they feel the influences of the Spirit. They can’t be lade to see that in all those cases, where they have any means f ascertaining the mind and will of God, they are dependent ! a the Spirit’s aid in prayer for precisely the same reason that nners are dependent, and in the same sense. They often take it a matter of self-justification, as if it was a necessity rising out of an inability, instead of an unwillingness to do that hich lies within their power. Before we come to consider the other department of means >r promoting a revival, that is, the means to he used with sin - ers, I wish to show you, that if you live without the Spirit, you re without excuse. Obligation to perform duty never rests on le condition, that we shall first have the influence of the Spirit, at on the powers of moral agency. We, as moral agents, ave the power to obey God, and are perfectly bound to obey, ad the reason we do not is, that we are unwilling. The in- uences of the Spirit are wholly a matter of grace. If they ere indispensable to enable us to perform duty, the bestowment : them would not be a gracious act, but a mere matter o f com- ion justice. Sinners are not bound to repent because they ave the Spirit’s influence, or because they can obtain it, but be- 98 BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. cause they are moral agents, and have the powers which God requires them to exercise. So in the case of Christians.. .They are not bound to pray in faith because they have the Spirit, (ex¬ cept in those cases where his influences in begetting desire con¬ stitute the evidence that it is God’s will to grant the object of desire,) but because they have evidence. They are not bound to pray in faith at all, except when they have evidence as the foundation of their faith. They must have evidence from pro¬ mises, or principle, or prophecy, or providence. And where they have evidence independent of his influences, they are bound to exercise faith, whether they have the Spirit’s influence or not. They are bound to see the evidence, and to believe. The Spirit is given not to enable them to see and believe, but because without it they will not look, nor feel, nor act, as they ought. I purpose this evening to show from the text, I. That individuals may have the Spirit of God, or be filled with the Spirit. II. That it is their duty to be filled with the Spirit. III. Why they do not have the Spirit. IY. The guilt of those who have not the Spirit of God, to lead their minds in duty and prayer. V. The consequences that will follow if they do have the Spirit. YI. The consequences if they do not have the Spirit. I. I am to show you that you may have the Spirit. Not because it is a matter of justice for God to give you his Spirit, but because he has promised to give it to those that ask. “ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” If you ask the Holy Spirit, God has promised to give it. But again, God has commanded you to have it. He says in the text, “Be filled with the Spirit” When God commands us to do a thing, it is the highest possible evidence that we can do it. For God to command, is equivalent to an oath that we can do it. He has no right to command, unless we have power to obey. There is no stopping short of the conclusion that God is an infinite tyrant, if he commands that which is impracticable. II. I am to show, secondly, that it is your duty. 1. Because you have a promise of it. 2. Because God has commanded it. 3. It is essential to your own growth in grace that you should be filled with the Spirit. 4. It is as important as it is that you should be sanctified. BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 99 5. It is as necessary as it is that you should be useful and do ood in the world. 6. If you do not have the Spirit of God in you, you will dis- onor God, disgrace the church, and die and go to hell. III. Why many do not have the Spirit. There are some, yen professors of religion, who will say, “ I don’t know any ting about all this; I never had any such experience; either is not true or I am all wrong.”' No doubt you are all wrong, you know nothing about the influence of the Spirit. I want present you with a few of the reasons that may prevent you om being filled with the Spirit. 1. It may be that you live a hypocritical life. Your prayers "e not earnest and sincere. Not only is your religion a mere itside show”, without any heart, but you are insincere in your itercourse with others. Thus you do many things to grieve ■e Spirit, so that he cannot dwell with you. A minister was once boarding in a certain family, and the lady ’ the house was constantly complaining that she did not enjoy 3r mind, and nothing seemed to help her. One day some ladies died to see her, and she protested that she was very much fended because they had not called before, and pressed them to ay and spend the day, and declared she could not consent to let ,em go.—They excused themselves, however, and left the house, id as soon as they were gone, she said to her servant, she won- ired these people had so little sense as to be always troubling pr, and taking up her time. The minister heard it, and imediately rebuked her, and told her she could now see why le did not enjoy religion. It was because she was in the daily ibit of insincerity that amounted to downright lying. And the pirit of truth could not dwell in such a heart. 2. Others have so much levity that the Spirit will not dwell ith them. The Spirit of God is solemn, and serious, and will )t dwell with those who give way to thoughtless levity. 3. Others are so proud that they cannot have the Spirit, hey are so fond of dress, high life, equipage, fashion, &c., that is no wonder they are not filled with the Spirit. And yet ich persons will pretend to be at a loss to know why it is that ey do not enjoy religion! 1 4. Some are so worldly-minded, love property so well, and e trying so hard to get rich, that they cannot have the Spirit, ow can he dwell with them, when their thoughts are all on ings of the world, and all their powers absorbed in procuring ealth ? And they hold on to it when they get it, and they are lined if pressed by conscience to do something for the conver- 100 BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. sion of the world. They show how much they love the world, in all their intercourse with others. Little things show it. ihey will screw down a poor man, who is doing a little piece o work for them, to the lowest penny. If they are dealing on a large scale, very likely they will be liberal and fair, because it is lor their advantage. But if it is a person they care not about, a laborer, or a mechanic, or a servant, they will grind him down to the last fraction, no matter what it is really worth, and they| actually pretend to make conscience of it, that they cannot powj sibly give any more. Now they would be ashamed to deal stiw with people of their own rank, because it would be known and injure their reputation. But God knows it, and has it all writ¬ ten down, that they are covetous and unfair in their dealings, and will not do right, only when it is for their interest. _ Now how can such professors have the Spirit ol God ? It is impos- sible. . . . There are a multitude of such things, by which the Spirit ol God is grieved. People call them little sins, but God will not call them little. I was struck with this thought, w r hen I saw a little notice in the Evangelist. The publishers stated that they had many thousand dollars in the hands of subscribers, which was justly due, and that it w T ould cost them as much as it was worth to send an agent to collect it. I suppose it is so w 7 ith all the other religious papers, that subscribers either put the pub¬ lisher to the trouble and expense of sending an agent to collect his due, or else they cheat him out of it. There are doubtless, I don’t know how many, thousands of dollars held back in this way by professors of religion, just because it is in such small sums, or they are so far off that they can’t be sued. And yet these people will pray, and appear very pious, and wonder why they cannot enjoy religion, and have the Spirit of God! It is this looseness of moral principle, this want of conscience about little matters, prevailing in the church, that grieves away the Holy Ghost. Why, it would be disgraceful to God to dwell and have communion with, such persons, who will take an advan¬ tage and cheat their neighbor out of his dues, because they can do it and not be disgraced. 5. Others do not fully confess and forsake their sins, and so cannot enjoy the Spirit’s presence. They will confess their sins in general terms, perhaps, and are ready always to acknow¬ ledge that they are sinners. Or they will confess partially some particular sins. But they do it reservedly, proudly, guardedly, as if they were afraid they should say a little more than is necessary; that is, when they confess to men the injuries BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 101 done to them. They do it in a way which shows that, instead of bursting forth from an inghpuous heart, the confession is wrung from them, by the hand of conscience griping them. If they have injured any one, they will make a partial recanta¬ tion, which is hard-hearted, cruel, and hypocritical, and then they will ask, “Now, brother, are you satisfied?” And you likno.w it would be very difficult for a person to say that he was not satisfied, even if the confession is cold and heartless. But f tellyrou God is not satisfied. He knows whether you have gone the full length of honest confession, and taken all the [blame that, belongs to you. If your confessions have been con¬ tained and wrung from you, do you suppose you can cheat God ? He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso ~onfesbeth and forsaiveth shall find mercy.” “ He that hum- oleth himself shall be exalted.” Unless you come quite down, md confess your sins honestly, and remunerate where you have lone injury, you have no right to expect the spirit of prayer. )> ers are ne^lectm g some known duty, and that is the '’eason why they have not the Spirit. One does not pray in ils . family, though he knows he ought to do it, and yet he is lying to get the spirit of prayer ! There is many a young man ■vlao feels in his heart that he ought to prepare for the ministry, I in ^ he has the spirit of prayer because he has some worldly ibject in view, which prevents his devoting himself to the work. He has known his duty, and refuses to do it, and now he is fraying f°r direction from the Spirit of God. He can’t have it. Gne has neglected to make a profession of religion. He knows lis duty, but he refuses to join the church. He once had the ■ piiit of prayer, but neglecting his duty, he grieved the Spirit .way. And now he thinks, if he could once more enjoy the ight of God s countenance, and have his evidences renewed, he. would do his duty, and join the church. And so he is praying or it again, and trying to bring God over to his terms, to grant -lim his presence. You need not expect it. You will live and ie in darkness, unless you are willing first to do your duty, efore God manifests himself as reconciled to you. It is in ain to say, you will come forward if God will first show you oe light of his countenance. He never will do it as long as you ive; he will let you die without it, if you refuse to do your duty. \ 1 have known women who felt that they ought to talk to the’ir nconverted husbands, and pray with them, but they have ne- lected it, and so they get into the dark. They knew their uty and refused to do it; they went round it, and there they lost [lie spirit of prayer. 9 * 102 BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. If you have neglected any known duty, and thus lost the spirit of prayer, you must yield first. God has a controversy with you', you have refused obedience to God, and you must retract it. You may have forgotten it, but God has not, and you must set yourself to recall it to mind, and repent. God never will yield nor grant you his Spirit, till you repent. Had I aii omniscient eye now, I could call the names of the individuals m this congregation, who had neglected some known duty, or committed some sin, that they have not repented of, and now they are praying for the spirit of prayer, but they cannot suc¬ ceed in obtaining it. £ To illustrate this I will relate a case. A good man in the western part of this state, had been a long time an engaged Christian, and he used to talk to the sleepy church with which he was connected. By and by the church was offended and got out of patience, and many told him they wished he would let them alone, they did not think he could do them any good. He took them at their word, and they all went to sleep together, and remained so two or three years. By and by a minister came among them and a revival commenced, but this elder seemed to have lost his spirituality. He used to be forward in a good work, but now he held back. Every body thought it unaccountable. Finally, as he was going home one night, the truth of his situation flashed upon his mind, and he went into absolute despair for a few minutes. At length his thoughts were directed back to that sinful resolution to let the church alone in their sins. He felt that no language could describe the blackness of that sin. He realized that moment w T hat it was to be lost, and to find that God had a controversy with him. He saw that it was a bad spirit which caused the reso¬ lution : the same that caused Moses to say, “ You rebels.” He humbled himself on the spot, and God poured out his Spirit on him. Perhaps some of you that hear me are in just this situa¬ tion. You have said something provoking or unkind to some person. Perhaps it was peevishness to a servant that was a Christian. Or perhaps it was speaking censoriously of a min¬ ister or some other person. Perhaps you have been angry be¬ cause your opinions have not been taken, or your dignity has been encroached upon. Search thoroughly, and see if you cannot find out the sin. Perhaps you have forgotten it. But God has not forgotten it, and never will forgive your unchris¬ tian conduct until you repent. God cannot overlook it. It would do no good if he should. What good would it do to for¬ give, while the sin is rankling in your heart 1 RE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 103 7. Perhaps you have resisted the Spirit of God. Perhaps you are in the habit of resisting-the Spirit. You resist convic* ion. In preaching, when something has been said that reached /our case, your heart has risen up against it and resisted. VTany are willing to hear plain and searching preaching so ong as they can apply it all to others; a misanthropic spirit makes them take a satisfaction in hearing others searched and . ebukedj but if the truth touch them , they directly cry out that : is personal and abusive. Is this your case? i. ^ ^ Xne fact is that you do not on the whole desire the Spirit, hiis is true in every case in which you do not have the Spirit, jet me not be mistaken here. I want you should carefully djs- riminate. Nothing is more common than for people to desire thing on some accounts, which they do not choose on the fhole. A person may see an article in a store which he de- ires to purchase, and he goes in and asks the price, and thinks fit a little, and on the whole concludes not to purchase it. He .esires the article, but does not like the price, or does not like be at the expense, so that, upon the whole, he prefers not to urchase it. That is the reason why he does not purchase it. o persons may desire the Spirit of God on some accounts; om a regard to the comfort and joy of heart which it brings! f you know what it is by former experience to commune with rod, and how sweet it is to dissolve in penitence and to be filled ith the Spirit, you cannot but desire a return of those joys, .nd you may set yourself to pray earnestly for it, and to pray r a revival of religion. But on the whole you are unwilling should come. A ou have so much to do that you cannot at- i n d to it. Or it will require so many sacrifices, that you can- ot bear to have it. There are some things you are not willing give up. You find that if you wish to have the Spirit of rod dwell with you, you must lead a different life, you must ive up the world, you must make sacrifices, you must break ,F from your worldly associates, and make confession of your ,ns. And so on the whole you do not choose to have him come, iless he will consent to dwell with you and let you live as you ease. But that he never will do. 9. Perhaps you do not pray for the Spirit; or you pray and se no other means, or pray and do not act consistently with )ur prayers. Or you use means calculated to resist them, .r you ask, and as soon as he comes and begins to affect your ind, you grk ve him right away, and will not walk with him. i IV- I to show the great guilt of not having the Soirit of od. i 104 BE FILLED WITH THE, SPIRIT. 1. Your guilt is just as great as the authority of God is great, which commands you to be filled with the Spirit. God commands it, and it is just as much a disobedience of God’s commands, as it is to swear profanely, or steal, or commit adul¬ tery, or break the Sabbath. Think of that. And yet there are many people who do not blame themselves at all for not having the Spirit. They even think themselves quite pious Christians, because they go to prayer meetings, and partake of the sacra¬ ment, and all that, though they live year after year without the Spirit of God. Now, you see that the same God who says, “ Do not get drunk,” says also, “ Be filled with the Spirit.” You all say, if a man is an habitual murderer, or a thief, he is no Christian. Why? Because he lives in habitual disobedi¬ ence to God. So if he swears, you have no charity for him. You won’t allow him to plead that his heart is right, and words are nothing. God does not care anything about words. You would think it outrageous to have such a man in the church, or to have a company of such people pretend to call themselves a church of Christ. And yet they are not a whit more abso¬ lutely living in disobedience to God, than you are, who live without the spirit of prayer, and without the presence of God. 2. Your guilt is equal to all the good you might do if you had the Spirit of God in as great measure as it is your duty to have it, and as you might have it. You elders of this church! how much good you might do, if you had the Spirit. And you Sunday school teachers, how much good you might do; and you church members too, if you were tilled with the Spirit, you might do vast good, infinite good. Well, your guilt is just as great. Here is a blessing promised, and you can have it by doing your duty. You are entirely responsible to the church and to God for all this good that you might do. A man is re¬ sponsible for all the good he can do. 3. Your guilt is further measured by all the evil which you do in consequence of not having the Spirit. You are a dis¬ honor to religion. You are a stumbling block to the church, and to the world. And your guilt is enhanced by all the va¬ rious influences you exert. And it will prove so in the day ot judgment. Y. The consequences of having the Spirit. 1. You will be called eccentric; and probably you will de* serve it. Probably you will really be eccentric. I never knew a person who was filled with the Spirit, that was not called ec¬ centric. And the reason is, that they are unlike other people. This is always a term of comparison. There is therefore the BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 105 iest of reasons why such persons should appear eccentric. They act under different influences, take different views, are aoved by different motives, led by a different spirit. You are d expect such remarks. How often I have heard the remark especting such and such persons, “ He is a very good man— ut he is rather eccentric.” I have sometimes asked for the •articulars; in what does his eccentricity consist? I hear the atalogue, and the amount is, that he is spiritual. Make up our mind for this, to be eccentric. There is such a thing as | fleeted eccentricity. Horrible! But there is such a thing as eing so-deeply imbued with the Spirit of God, that you must ni will act so as to appear strange and eccentric, to those who annot understand the reasons of your conduct. 2. If you have much of the Spirit of God,it is not unlikely you [dll be thought deranged, by many. We judge men to be de- inged, when they act differently from what we think to be pru¬ dent and according to common sense, and when they come to onclusions for which we can see no good reasons. Paul was i ccused of being deranged, by those who did not understand the f'iews of things under which he acted. No doubt Festus thought le man was crazy, and that much learning had made him mad. ■ut Paul said, “ I am not mad, most noble Festus.” His con- uct was so strange, so novel, that Festus thought it must be isanity. But the truth was, he only saw the subject so clearly, ; lat he threw his whole soul into it. They were entirely in the ; irk in respect to the motive by which he was actuated. This | by no means uncommon. Multitudes have appeared, to those ho had no spirituality, as if they were deranged. Yet they -W good reasons for doing as they did. God was leading their i flnds to act in such a way, that those who were not spiritual !r>uld not see the reasons. You must make up your mind to is, and so much the more, as you live more above the world id walk with God. 3. If you have the Spirit of God, you must expect to feel great stress in view of the church and the world. Some spiritual licures ask for the Spirit because they think it will make them 1 perfectly happy. Some people think that spiritual Christians e always very happy and free from sorrow. There never was a greater mistake. Read your Bibles, and e how the prophets and apostles were always groaning and stressed in view of the state of the church and the world, he apostle Paul says he was always bearing about in his body e dying of the Lord Jesus. I protest, says he, that I die daily, ou will know what it is to sympathize with the Lord Jesus 106 BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. Christ, and be baptized with the baptism that he w as baptized with. O how he agonized in view of the state of sinners ! how he travailed in soul for their salvation ! The more you have of his Spirit, the more clearly you will see the state of sinners, and the more deeply you will be distressed about them. Many times you will feel as if you could not live in view of their situation; your distress will be unutterable. 4. You will be often grieved with the state of the ministry. Some years since I met a woman belonging to one of the churches in this city. I inquired of her the state of religion here. She seemed unwilling to say much about it, made some general remarks, and then choked, and her eyes filled, and she said, “ O, our minister’s mind seems to be very dark.” Spiritual Christians often feel like this, and often weep over it. I have seen much of it, and often found Christians who wept, and groaned in secret, to see the darkness on the minds of ministers in regard to religion, their earthliness and fear of man; but they dared not speak of it, lest they should be denounced and threatened, and perhaps turned out of the church. I do not say these things censoriously, to reproach my brethren, but be¬ cause they are true. And ministers ought to know, that nothing is more common than for spiritual Christians to feel burdened and distressed at the state of the ministry. I would not wake up any wrong feelings towards ministers, but it is time it should be known, that Christians do often get spiritual views of things, and their souls are kindled up, and then they find that, their minister does not enter into their feelings, that he is far below the standard of what he ought to be, and in spirituality far below some of the members of his church. This is one of the most prominent, and deeply to be deplored evils of the pre¬ sent day. The 'piety of the ministry, though real , is so super¬ ficial, in many instances, that the spiritual part of the church feel that ministers cannot, do not, sympathise with them. Their preaching does not meet their wants, it does not feed them, it does not meet their experience. The ministers have not depth enough of religious experience, to know how to search and wake up the church; to help those under temptation, to suppor the weak, to direct the strong, and lead them through all the labyrinths and mazes with which their path may be beset. When a minister has gone with a church as far as his experience in spiritual exercises goes, there he stops; and until he has a re¬ newed experience, until he is reconverted, his heart broken up afresh, and he set forward in the divine life and Christian expe¬ rience, he will help them no more. He may preach sound doc- BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 107 :rine, and so may an unconverted minister; but, after all, his preaching will want that searching pungency, that practical bearing, that unction which alone will reach the case of a spi- ■itually-minded Christian. It is a fact over which the church s groaning, that the piety of young men suffers so much in the •ourse of their education, that when they enter the ministry, lowever much intellectual furniture they may possess, they are n a state of spiritual babyhood. They want nursing, and need •ather to be fed, than to undertake to feed the church of God. 5. If you have much of the Spirit of God, you must make up /our mind to have much opposition, both in the church and the vorld. Very likely the leading men in the church will oppose rou. There has always been opposition in the church. So it : vas when Christ was on earth. If you are far above their state ' )f feeling, church members will oppose you. If any man will ive godly in Christ Jesus, he must expect persecution. Often he elders, and even the minister will oppose you, if you are filled vith the Spirit of God. 6. You must expect very frequent and agonizing conflicts vith Satan. Satan has very little trouble with those Christians vho are not spiritual, but lukewarm, and slothful, and worldly- ninded. And such do not understand what is said about spirit- lal conflicts. Perhaps they will smile when such things are nentioned. And so the devil lets them alone. They don’t dis- ,urb him, nor he them. But spiritual Christians, he under- - lands very well, are doing him a vast injury, and therefore he ;ets himself against them. Such Christians often have terrible :onfhcts. They have temptations that they never thought of nefore, blasphemous thoughts, atheism, suggestions to do deeds of •vickedness, to destroy their own lives, and the like. And if you are spiritual, you may expect these terrible conflicts. 7. You will have greater conflicts with yourself than you ever thought of. You will sometimes find your own corrup¬ tions making strange headway against the Spirit. “The flesh , usteth against the Spirit, and tire Spirit against the flesh.” Such t Christian is often thrown into consternation at the power of n’s own corruptions. One of the Commodores in the United Jtates was, as I have been told, a spiritual man; and his pastor old me he had known that man lie on the floor and groan a | rreat part of the night, in conflict with his own corruptions, and o cry to God in agony that he would break the power of the emptation. It seemed as if the devil was determined to ruin iim ; and his own heart, for the time being, was almost in league vith the devil. 108 BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 8. But you will have peace with God. If the church, and sinners, and the devil, oppose you^ there will he one with whom you will have peace. Let those who are called to these trials, and conflicts, and temptations, and who groan, and pray, and weep, and break your hearts, remember this consideration: your peace, so far as your feelings towards God are concerned, will flow like a river. 9. You will likewise have peace of conscience, if you are led by the Spirit. You will not be constantly goaded and kept on the rack by a guilty conscience. Your conscience will be calm and quiet, unruffled as the summer’s lake. 10. If filled with the Spirit, you will be useful. You cannot help being useful. Even if you were sick and unable to go out of your room, or to converse, and saw nobody, you would be ten times more useful than a hundred of those common sort of Christians who have no spirituality. To give you an idea of this, 1 will relate an anecdote. A pious man in the western part of this state was sick, with a consumption. He was a poor man, and sick for years. An unconverted merchant in the place, had a kind heart, and used to send him now and then some things for his comfort, or for his family. He felt grateful for the kindness, but could make no return, as he wanted to do. At length he determined that the best return he could make would be to pray for his salvation ; he began to pray, and his soul kindled, and he got hold of God. There was no revival there, but by and by, to the astonishment of every body, this mer¬ chant came right out on the Lord’s side. The fire kindled ail over the place, and a powerful revival followed, and multitudes were converted. This poor man lingered in this way for several years, and died. After his death, I visited the place, and his widow put into my hands his diary. Among other things, he says in his diary, “ I am acquainted with about thirty ministers and churches.” He then goes on to set apart certain hours in the day and week to pray for each of these ministers and churches, and also certain seasons for praying for the different missionary stations. Then followed, under different dates, such facts as these: “To-day,” naming the date, “I have been enabled to offer what I.call the prayer of faith for the outpouring of the Spirit on-church, and I trust in God there will soon be a revival there.” Under another date, “ I have to-day been able to offer what I call the prayer of faith for such a church, and trust there will soon be a revival there.” Thus he had gone over a great number of churches, recording the fact that he had be filled with the spirit. 109 p ayed foi them m faith that; a revival might soon prevail amono- hem. Of he missionary, stations, if I recollect riaht, he men¬ tions in particular the mission at Ceylon. I believe the last frSrrS 1 '"I hlS - dla T’ f ° r Whictl he offered the prayer of faith was the place m which he lived. Not lono- after no iver Oe 686 CtS " WS diaIy ’ the revival commenced,\nd went' ner the region of country, nearly, I believe, if not quite in the Cr 111 Wllch the y bad been mentioned in his diary-’and in fcr -Pf from Ceylon that there was a revival of il ffter hhtJ Ng 1 ™ 1 >1 bis own town did not commence ill after ins death. Its commencement was at the time when ps widow put into my hands the document to which I have re- ened. She told me that he was so exercised in prayer durirm leath^Th 8 ’ hat "I 16 ° ften fe3 i red he WOuld P ra y himself to eath. _ The revival was exceedingly great and powerful in all he region , and the fact that it was about to prevail had not been id den from this servant of the Lord. According to his word nan ton f° f l 1 th ® L i 01 1 1S Wlth them that fear him. Thus this fu e 6 ^ b ° d 7 om of his house, was yet more seful to the world and the church of God, than all the heart- e^ktions SO of 7 °°T ^ - Standin ^ between God and the esolations of Zion, and pouring out his heart in believing- iayer as a prince he had power with God, and prevailed ■J}' ¥■ 7° U a f ffll , ed w ] th the Spirit, you will not find your- -lves distiessed, and galled, and worried, when people speak gamst yom When I find people irritated and fretting aUmy r tethMgthat touches them, I am sure they have not the Spirit • thnf J r SUS Ch i r j St - C0uld ha 7 e every thin §‘ said against m that malice could invent, and yet not be in the least dis- bed by it If you mean to be meek under persecution, and simplify the temper of the Savior, and honor religion in this ay, you need to be filled with the Spirit. i2. You will be wise in using; means for the conversion of inners. . If the Spirit of God is m you, he will lead you to use eans wisely, m a way adapted to the end, and to avoid doing art No man who is not filled with the Spirit of God is to be employed in directing the measures adopted in a revi- rheir hands will be all thumbs, unable to take hold, and ! f tbe y had common sense. But a man who ed by theSpint of God, will know how to time his measures yht, and how to apportion Divine truth, so as to make it tell tne best advantage. ■ 13. You will be calm under affliction; not thrown into con- •5ion or consternation when you see the storm coming over 10 110 be filled with the spirit. vou People around will be astonished at your calmness and cheerfulness under heavy trials, not knowing the inward sup- norts of those who are filled with the Spirit. P 14. You will be resigned in death; you will a ways feel prepared to die, and not afraid to die, and after death you wi be proportionably more happy for ever m heavern > VI Consequences of not being filled with the Spirit. 1 You will often doubt, and reasonably doubt, whether you are Christians. You will have doubts, and you ought to have them. The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. And if you are not led by the Spirit, what reason have you to think you are sons? You will try to make a little evidence go a l r eat way to bolster up your hopes, but you can t do it, unless your conscience is seared as with a hot iron You cannot help being plunged often into painful doubt and uncertainty about 2 You will always be unsettled m your views about the prayer of faith. The prayer of faith is something so spiritual so much a matter of experience and not of speculation, that unless you are spiritual yourselves, you will not understand it fully. You may talk a great deal about the prayer of faith, and for the time get thoroughly convinced of it. But you will never feel so settled on it as to retain the same position of mind con cerning it, and in a little while you will be all uncertainty, i knew a curious instance in a brother minister. He told me, “When I have the Spirit of God, and enjoy his presence, 1 be¬ lieve firmly in the prayer of faith; but when I have it not, 1 find myself doubting whether there is any such thing, and m> mind is full of objections.” I know, from my own experience, what this is, and when I hear persons raising objections to that view of prayer which I have presented in these lectures i understand very well what their difficulty is and have often found it impossible to satisfy their minds, while so far iiom God: when at the same time they would understand it them¬ selves, without argument, whenever they had experienced it. 3 If you have not the Spirit, you will be very apt to stumble at those who have. You will doubt the propriety of their con¬ duct If they seem to feel a good deal more than yourself yon will be likely to call it animal feeling. You will perhaps doubt their sincerity when they say they have such feelings. You will say, “ I don’t know what to make of brother such-a- one; he seems to be very pious, but I don’t understand him, think he has a great deal of animal feeling.” > Thus you will be tryiny to censure them, for the purpose of justifying yourself BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. Ill 4. You will be had in reputation with the impenitent, and with carnal professors. They will praise you, as a rational, ortho¬ dox, consistent Christian. You will be just in the frame of mind to walk with them, because you are agreed. 5. You will be much troubled with fears about fanaticism. Whenever there are revivals, you will see in them a strong tend¬ ency to fanaticism, and will be full of fears and anxiety. 6. You will be much disturbed by the measures that are used i n revivals. If any measures are adopted, that are decided and lirect, you will think they are all “new*,” and will be stumbled it them just in proportion to your want of spirituality. You do inot see their appropriateness. You will stand and cavil at the neasures, because you are so blind that you cannot see their idaptedness, while all heaven is rejoicing in them as the means )f saving souls. 7. You will be a reproach to religion. The impenitent will sometimes praise you because you are so much like themselves, tnd sometimes laugh about you because you are such a hypocrite. 8. You will know but little about the Bible. | 9. If you die without the Spirit, you will fall into hell. There an be no doubt of this. Ip REMARKS. 1. Christians are as guilty for not having the Spirit, as sin- lers are for not repenting. 2. They are even more so. As they have more light, they re so much the more guilty. 3. All beings have a right to complain of Christians who have ot the Spirit. You are not doing work for God, and he has a ight to complain. He has placed his Spirit at your disposal, nd if you have it not, he has a right to look to you and to hold ou responsible for all the good you might do, did you possess . You are sinning against all heaven, for you ought to be dding to their happy ranks. Sinners, the church, ministers, ave a right to complain. 4. You are right in the way of the work of the Lord. It is l vain for a minister to try to work over your head. Ministers "ten groan and struggle, and wear themselves out in vain, try- ig to do good wdiere there is a church w r ho live so that they i not have the Spirit of God. If the Spirit is poured out at any me, the church will grieve him right away. Thus you may e the hands and break the heart of your minister, and break im down, and perhaps kill him, because you "will not be filled iththe Spirit. 112 BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 5. You see the reason why Christians need the Spirit, and the degree of their dependence. This cannot he too strongly exhibited. 6. Do not tempt God, by waiting for his Spirit, while using no means to procure his presence. .' • = 7. If you mean to have the Spirit, you must be childlike, and yield to his influences—just as yielding as air. If he is draw¬ ing you to prayer, you must quit every thing to yield to his gentle strivings. . No doubt you have sometimes felt a desire to pray for some object, and you have put it off and resisted, and God left you. If you wish him to remain, you must yield to his softest and gentlest motions, and watch to learn what he would have you do, and yield yourself up to his guidance. 8. Christians ought to be willing to make any sacrifice to enjoy the presence of the Spirit. Said a woman in high life, a professor of religion, “ I must either give up hearing such a minister (naming him) preach, or I must give up my gay com¬ pany.” She gave up the preaching and staid away. How dif¬ ferent from another case! A woman in the same rank of life heard the same minister preach, and went home resolved to abandon her gay and worldly manner of life—dismissed most of her attendants— changed her whole mode of dress, of equipage, of living, and of conversation; so that her gay and worldly friends were soon willing to leave her to the enjoyment of communion with God, and free to spend her time in doing good. 9. You see from this, that it must be very difficult for those in fashionable life to go to heaven. What a calamity to be in such circles ! Who can enjoy the presence of God in them? 10. See how crazy those are who are scrambling to get up to these circles, enlarging their houses, changing their style of living, furniture, &c. It is like climbing up mast-head to be thiown ofi into the ocean. To enjoy God, you must come down, not go up there. God is not there, among all the starch and flattery of hell. 11. Many professors of religion are as ignorant of spiritual¬ ity as Nicodemus was of the new birth. They are ignorant, and I feai unconverted. If any body talks to them about the spirit of piayer, it is all algebra to them. The case of such professors is awful. How different was the character of the apostles ! Read the history of their lives, read their letters, and you will see that they were always spiritual, and walked daily with God. But now how little is there of such religion! When the Son of Man cometh, will he find faith on the BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. 113 3arth ?” Set some of these professors to work in a revival, and hey don’t know what to do, have no energy, no skill, and make 10 impression. When will professors of religion set themselves o.work, filled with the Spirit ? If I could see this church filled vith the Spirit, I would ask nothing more to move this whole nighty mass of minds. Not two weeks would pass before ths ■evival would spread all over this city. 1 LECTURE VIII. MEETINGS FOR PRAYER. ^ XT - Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as ouching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.— Matthew xviii. 19. Hitherto, in treating of the subject of Prayer, I have con¬ fined my remarks to secret prayer. I am now to speak of social prayei, 01 piayer offered in company, where two or more are united in piaying. Such meetings have been common from the time of Christ, and even hundreds of years before. And it is probable that God’s people have always been in the habit of making united supplication, whenever they had the privilege. I he piopiiety of the practice will not he questioned here. I need not dwell now on the duty of social prayer. Nor is it my design to discuss the question, whether any two Christians agreeing to ask any blessing, will be sure to obtain it. My ob¬ ject is to make some remarks on meetings for prayer. I. The design of Prayer Meetings. II. The manner of conducting them. III. Mention several things that will defeat the design of holding them. 5 I. TIIE DESIGN OF PRAYER MEETINGS. 1. One design of assembling several persons together for united prayer, is to promote union among Christians. Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying to¬ gether. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other’s hearts in prayer. Their spnituality begets a feeling of union and confidence, highly im¬ portant to the prosperity of the church. It is doubtful whether Christians can ever be otherwise than united, if they are in the habit of really praying together. And where they have had hare feelings and differences among themselves, they are all done away by uniting in prayer. The great object is gained, if you can bnng them really to unite in prayer. If this can be done, the difficulties vanish. MEETINGS FOR PRAYER. 115 2. To extend the spirit of prayer. God has so constituted us and such is the economy of his grace, that we are sympathetic teings, and communicate our feelings to each other. A minis¬ ter, for instance, will often as it were breathe his own feeling ■n o hts congregation The Spirit of God that inspires his soul nakes use of his feelings to influence his hearers, just as much f the 7eef eS US to singing with young converts. Thus by stopping to rejoice, hen they ought to feel more and more deeply for sinners, they 'ieve away the Spirit of God, and they soon find that their fony and travail of soul are all gone. 9. Introducing subjects of controversy into prayer will defeat prayer meeting. Nothing of a controversial nature should introduced into prayer, unless it is the object of the meeting settle that thing. Otherwise, let Christians come together in 124 MEETINGS FOR PRAYER. their prayer meetings, on the broad ground of offering united prayer for a common object. And let controversies be settled somewhere else. 10. Great pains should be taken, both by the leader and others, to watch narrowly the motions of the Spirit of God. Let them not pray without the Spirit, but follow his leadings. Be sure not to quench the Spirit for the sake of praying ac¬ cording to the regular custom. Avoid every thing calculated to divert attention away from the object. All affectation, of feeling that is not real, should be particularly guarded against. If there is an affectation of feeling, most commonly others see and feel that it is affectation, not reality. At any rate, the Spirit of God knows it, and will be grieved, and leave the place. On the other hand, all resistance to the Spirit will equally destroy the meeting. Not unfrequently it happens, that there are some so cold that if any one should break out in the spirit of prayer, they would call it fanaticism, and perhaps break out in opposition. 11. If individuals refuse to pray when they are called on it injures a prayer meeting. There are some people, who always pretend they have no gifts. Women sometimes refuse to take their turn in prayer, and pretend they have not ability to pray. But if any one else should say so, they would be offended. Sup¬ pose they should know that any other person had made such a remark as this, “ Don’t ask her to pray, she can’t pray, she has not talents enoughwould they like it ? So with a man who pretends he has no gifts, let any one else report that he has not talents enough to make a decent prayer, and see if he will like it. The pretence is not sincere ; it is all a sham. Some say they cannot pray in their families, they have no gift. But a person could not offend them more than to say they cannot pray a decent prayer before their own families. They would say, “ Why, the man talks as if he thought nobody else had any gifts but himself.” People are not apt to have such a low opinion of themselves. I have often seen the curse of God follow such professors. They have no excuse. God will take none. The man has got a tongue to talk to his neighbors, and he can talk to God if he has any heart for it. You will see their children unconverted, their son a curse, their daughter- tongue cannot tell. God says he will pour out his fury on the families that call not on his name. If I had time, I could men¬ tion a host of facts to show that God MARKS those indivi¬ duals with his disapprobation and curse who refuse to pray when they ought. Until professors of religion will repent of MEETINGS FOR PRAYER. 125 his sin and take up the cross (if they choose to call praying a ■toss!) and do their duty, they need not expect a blessing. 12. Prayer meetings are often too long. They should al¬ ways be dismissed while Christians have feeling, and not be pun out until all feeling is exhausted, and the spirit is gone. 13. Heartless confessions. People confess their sins and on’t forsake them. Every week they will make the same onfession over again. A long, cold, dull, stupid confession this veek, and then the next week another just like it, without for- aking any sins. Why, they have no intention to forsake their ins ! It shows plainly that they do not mean to reform. All leir religion consists in these confessions. Instead of getting blessing from God by such confessions they will get only a |irse. 14. When Christians spend all the time in praying for them- elves. They should have done this in their closets. When iey come to a prayer meeting, they should be prepared to offer ; ffectual intercessions for others. If Christians pray in their osets as they ought, they will feel like praying for sinners, if. they P r ay exclusively in their closets for themselves, they ill not get the spirit of prayer. I have known men shut .emselves up for days to pray for themselves, and never get any fe, because their prayers are all selfish. But if they will just rget themselves, and throw their hearts abroad, and pray for hers, it will wake up such a feeling, that they can pour forth leir hearts. And then they can go to work for souls. I knew u individual in a revival, who shut himself up seventeen days, id prayed as if he would have God come to his terms, but it ould not do, and then he went out to work, and immediately ' had the Spirit of God in his soul. It is well for Christians j pray for themselves, and confess their sins, and then throw eir hearts abroad, till they feel as they ought. 15. Prayer meetings are often defeated by the want of ap^ iopriate remarks. The things are not said which are calcu- ed to lead them to pray. Perhaps the leader has not prepared mself; or perhaps he has not the requisite talents, to lead the lurch out in prayer, or he does not lead their minds to dwell the appropriate topics of prayer. 16. When individuals who are justly obnoxious for any cause, 3 forward in speaking and praying. Such persons are some- ies very much set upon taking a part. They say it is their ty to get up and testify for God on all occasions. They will they know they are not able to edify the church, but nobody :e can do their duty, and they wish to testify. Perhaps the 11 * f 126 MEETINGS FOR PRAYER. only place they ever did testify for God , was in a paryer meet¬ ing; all their lives, out of the meeting, testify against God.— They had better keep still. , 17. Where persons take a part who are so illiterate that it is impossible persons of taste should not be disgusted. Persons of intelligence cannot follow them, and their minds are una¬ voidably diverted. I do not mean that it is necessary a person should have a liberal education in order to lead in prayer. All persons of common education, especially if they are in the habit of praying, can lead in prayer, if they have the spirit of prayer. But there are some persons who use such absurd and illiterate expressions, as cannot hut disgust every intelligent mind. They cannot help being disgusted. The. feeling of disgust is an in¬ voluntary thing, and when a disgusting object is before the mind, the feeling is irresistible. Piety will not keep a person from feeling it. The only way is to take away the object. If such persons mean to do good, they had better remain silent. Some of them may feel grieved at not being called to take a part. But it is better that they should he kindly told the reason than to have the prayer meeting regularly injured, and rendered ridiculous by their performances. 18. A want of union in prayer. When one leads the others do not follow, but are thinking of something else. Their hearts do not unite, do not say, Amen. It is as bad as if one should make a petition and another remonstrate against it. One asks God to do a thing, and the others ask him not to do it, or to do something else. 19. Neglect of secret prayer. Christians who do not pray in secret, cannot unite with power in a prayer meeting, and cannot have the spirit of prayer. REMARKS. 1. An illy conducted prayer meeting often does more hurt than good. In many churches, the general manner of conduct¬ ing prayer meetings is such that Christians have not the least idea of the design or the power of such meetings. It is such as tends to keep down rather than to promote pious feeling and the spirit of prayer. 2. A prayer meeting is an index to the state of religion in a church. If the church neglect the prayer meetings, or come and have not the spirit of prayer, you know of course that reli¬ gion is low. Let me go into the prayer meeting, and I can always see the state of religion there. 3. Every minister ought to know that if the prayer meet- MEETINGS FOR PRAYER. 127 ngs are neglected, all his labors are in vain. Unless he can jet Christians to attend the prayer meetings, all he can do will ot bring up the true religion. 4. A great responsibility rests on him who leads a prayer leeting. If the prayer meeting be not what it ought to be, it does not elecate the state of religion, he should go seriously ' ) work and see what is the matter, and get the spirit of prayer, nd prepare himself to make such remarks as are calculated to o good and set things right. A leader has no business to lead rayer meetings, if he is not prepared, both in head and heart, :> do this. I wish you, who lead the district prayer meetings f this church, to notice this point. 5. Prayer meetings are the most difficult meetings to sustain 5 they ought to be. They are so spiritual, that unless the ;:ader be peculiarly prepared, both in heart and mind, they will ivindle. It is in vain for the leader to complain that members t the church do not attend. In nine cases out of ten, it is the fader’s fault, that they do not attend. If he felt as he ought, |ey would find the meetings so interesting, that they would J Len d of course. If he is so cold, and dull, and without spiritu- ity, as to freeze every thing, no wonder people don’t come to e meeting. Church officers often complain and scold because jiople don’t come to the prayer meeting, when the truth is, ey themselves are so cold that they freeze every body to death at comes. *6. Prayer meetings are most important meetings for the lurch. It is highly important for Christians to sustain the ayer meetings:— | (1) To promote union. i (2.) To increase brotherly love. (3.) To cultivate Christian confidence. (4.) To promote their own growth in grace. (5.) To cherish and advance spirituality. 7. Prayer meetings should be so numerous in the church, d be so arranged, as to exercise the gifts of every individual ember of the chufrch—male and female. Every one should ,ve the opportunity to pray, and to express the feelings of his art, if he has any. The sectional prayer meetings of this urch are designed to do this. And if they are too large for 'is, let them be divided, so as to bring the entire mass into the )rk, to exercise all gifts, and diffuse union, confidence, and 'otherly love through the whole. 8. It is important that impenitent sinners should always end prayer meetings. If none come of their own accord, meetings for prayer. 128 cro out and invite them. Christians ought to take great pains to induce their impenitent friends and neighbors to come to praver meetings. They can pray better for impenitent sin¬ ners when they have them right before their eyes. 1 have known lernale prayer meetings exclude sinners from the meeting. And the reason was, they were so proud they were ashamed to pray before sinners. What a spirit! Such pray¬ ers will do no good. They insult God. You have not done enough by any means, when you have gone to the prayer meeting yourself. You can’t pray, if you have invited no sinner to go. If all the church have neglected their duty so, and have gone to the prayer meeting, and taken no sinners along with them, no subjects of prayer—what have they come for 1 . . ,. 9. The great object of all the means of grace is to aim di¬ rectly at the conversion of sinners. You should pray that they may be converted there. Not pray that they may be awakened and convicted, but pray that they may be converted on the spot. No one should either pray or make any remarks, as if he ex¬ pected a single sinner would go away without giving his heart to God. You should all make the impression on his mind, that NOW he must submit. And if you do this, while you are yet speaking God will hear. If Christians make it manifest that they have really set their hearts on the conversion of sin¬ ners, and are bent upon it, and pray as they ought, there would rarely be a prayer meeting held without souls being converted, and sometimes every sinner in the room. That is the very time, if ever, that sinners should be converted in answer to those prayers. I do not doubt but that you may have sinners converted in every sectional prayer meeting, if you do your duty. Take them there, take your families, your friends, or your neighbors there with that design, give them the proper in¬ struction, if they need instruction, and pray for them as you ought, and you will save their souls. Rely upon it, if you do your duty, in a right manner, God will not keep back his bless¬ ing, and the work will be done. * LECTURE IX. MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. Text. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I ave chosen.”— Isaiah xhn: 10. Wl “ In the text it is affirmed of the children of God, that they are is vvitnesses. In several preceding lectures I have been welling on the subject of Prayer, or that department of means dy. They may be the means of awakening. Miracles are )t always effectual even in that. And if continued or made >mmon, they would soon lose their power. What is wanted in e "world is something that can be a sort of omnipresent miracle, ue not only to arrest attention but to fix it, and keep the mind warm contact with the truth, till it yields. \ 130 MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. Hence we see why God has scattered his children every where* in families and among' the nations. He never would suffer them to be all together in one place, however agreeable it might be to their feelings. He wishes them scattered. When the church at Jerusalem herded together, neglecting to go forth as Christ had commanded, to spread the gospel all over the world, God let loose a persecution upon them and scattered them abroad, and then “ they went every where preaching the gospel.” In examining the text, I purpose to inquire, «LI I. To what particular points Christians are to testify for God. II. The manner in which they are to testify. 1. To what points are the children of God required to testify? Generally , they are to testify to the truth of the Bible. They are competent witnesses to this, for they have experience of its truth. The experimental Christian has no more need of exter¬ nal evidence to prove the truth of the Bible to his mind, than he has to prove his own existence. The whole plan of salva¬ tion is so fully spread out and settled in his conviction, that to undertake to reason him out of his belief in the Bible would be a thing as impracticable as to reason him out of the belief in his own existence. Men have tried to awaken a doubt of the existence of the material world. But they cannot succeed. No man can doubt the existence of a material world. To doubt it, is against his own consciousness. You may use arguments that he cannot answer, and may puzzle and perplex him, and shut up his mouth ; he may be no logician or philosopher, and unable to detect your fallacies. But what he knows he knows. So it is in religion. The Christian is conscious that the Bible is true. The veriest child in religion knows by his ex¬ perience the truth of the Bible. He may hear objections from infidels, that he never thought of, and that he cannot answer, and he may be confounded, but he cannot be driven from his ground. He will say, “ I cannot answer you, but I know the Bible is true.” As if a man should look in a mirror, and say, “ That’s rny face.” How do you know it is your face? “Why, by its looks.” So when a Christian sees himself drawn and pictured forth in the Bible, he sees the likeness to be so exact, that he knows it is true. But more particularly, Christians are to tes¬ tify— 1. To the immortality of the soul. This is clearly revealed in the Bible. 2. The vanity and unsatisfying nature of all earthly good. 3. The satisfying nature and glorious sufficiency of religion. MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. 131 4. The guilt and danger of sinners. On this point they can >eak from experience as well as the word of God. They have ;en their own sins, and they understand more of the nature of n, and the guilt and clanger of sinners. 5. The reality of hell, as a place of eternal punishment for e wicked. 6. The love of Christ for sinners. 7. The necessity of a holy life, if we think of ever getting to ;aven. 8. The necessity of self-denial, and living above the world. 9. The necessity of meekness, heavenly-mindedness, humility, id integrity. 10. The necessity of an entire renovation of character and e, for all who would enter heaven. These are the subjects i which they are to be witnesses for God. And they are >und to testify in such a way as to constrain men to believe e truth. II. How are they to testify 7 By precept and example , on every proper occasion, by their is, but mainly by their lives. Christians have no right to be ent with their lips; they should rebuke, exhort, and entreat ith all long-suffering and doctrine. But their main influence witnesses is by their example. They are required to be witnesses in this way, because ex- rple teaches with so much greater force than precept. This universally known. Actions speak louder than words. But lere both precept and example are brought to bear, it brings e greatest amount of influence to bear upon the mind. As the manner in which they are to testify; the way in which ey should bear witness to the truth of the points specified ; in neral—they should live in their daily walk and conversation, if they believed the Bible. 1. As if they believed the soul to be immortal, and as if they lieved that death was not the termination of their existence, t the entrance into an unchanging state. They ought to live as to make this impression full upon all around them. It is sy to see that precept without example on this point will do good. All the arguments in the world will not convince 'inkind that you really believe this, unless you live as if you lieved it. Your reasoning may be unanswerable, but if you not live accordingly, your practice will defeat your argu- mts. They will say you are an ingenious sophist, or an ute reasoner, and perhaps admit that they cannot answer you ; t then they will say, it is evident that your reasoning is all ■ 132 MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. false, and that you know it is false, because y our life con¬ tradicts your theory. Or that, if it is true, you don t believe it, at any rate. And so all the influence of your testimony goes to the other side. 2. The vanity and unsatisfying nature of the things of this world. You are to testify this by your life. The failure m this is the great stumbling block in the way of mankind. Here the testimony of God’s children is needed more than any. where else. Men are so struck with the objects of sense, and so constantly occupied with them, that they are very apt to shut out eternity from their minds. A small object, that is held close to the eye, may shut out the distant ocean. So the things of the world, that are near, magnify so in their minds, that they overlook every thing else. One important design in keeping Christians in the world is to teach people on this point, pracii- cally , not to labor for the meat that perisheth. But suppose pro¬ fessors of religion teach the vanity of earthly things by precept, and contradict it in practice. Suppose the women are just as fond of dress, and just as particular in observing all the fash¬ ions, and the men as eager to have fine houses and equi¬ page, as the people of the world. Who does not. see that it would be quite ridiculous for them to testify with their lips, that this world is all vanity, and its joys unsatisfying and empty. People feel this absurdity, and it is this that shuts up the lips of Christians. They are ashamed to speak to their neighbors, while they cumber themselves with these gewgaws, because their daily conduct testifies to every body the very reverse. How it would look for some of the church members in this city, male or female, to go about among the common people, and talk to them about the vanity of the world!—Who would believe what they say ? 4 ' 3. The satisfying nature of religion. Christians are hound to show, by their conduct, that they are actually satisfied with the enjoyments of religion, without the pomps and vanities of the world 5 that the joys of religion and communion with God keep them above the world. They are to .manifest that this world is not their home. Their profession is, that heaven is a reality, and that they expect to dwell there for ever. But sup¬ pose they contradict this by their conduct, and live in such a wav as to prove that they cannot be happy unless they have a full share of the fashion and show of the world, and that as for going to heaven, they had much rather remain on earth, than to die and go there! What do the world think, when they see a pro¬ fessor of religion just as much afraid to die as an infidel. MEANS OT BE USED WITH SINNERS. .33 feuch Christians perjure themselves—they swear to a lie, for they testily that there is nothing in religion for which a person can afford to live above the world. 1 4. The guilt and danger of sinners. Christians are bound to warn sinners of their awful condition, and exhort them to flee fiom the w lath to come, and lay hold on everlasting life. But ! who does not know that the manner of doing this is every thine? | Sinners aie often stiuck under conviction by the very manner of tjdoing a thing. T. here was a man once very much opposed to a .certain preacher. On being asked to specify some reason, he re¬ plied, “ I can’t bear to hear him, for he says the word HELL in such a way that it rings in my ears a long time afterwards” ;'He was displeased with the very thing that constituted the power jPf s P e akmg that word. The manner may be such as to convey If n idea directly opposite to the meaning of the words. A man may tell you that your house is on fire in such a way as to make directly the opposite impression, and you will take for granted I .at it is not your house that is on fire. The watchman might sing out fire, fire, in such a way that every body would think ,ie was either asleep or drunk. A certain manner is so usually connected with the announcement of certain things, that they cannot be expressed without that manner. The words them- jelves never alone convey the meaning, because the idea can mly be fully expressed by a particular manner of speakino-. jro to a sinner, and talk with him about his guilt and danger; md if in your manner you make an impression that does not correspond, you in effect bear testimony the other way, and tell lim he is in no danger of hell. If the sinner believes at all that ie is in danger of hell, it is wholly on other grounds than your aying so. If you live in such a way as to show that you io not feel compassion for sinners around you; if you show no Jenderness, by your eyes, your features, your voice ; if your man- tier is not solemn and earnest, how can they believe you are Woman, suppose you tell your unconverted husband, in an asy, laughing way, “ My dear, I believe you are going to ell;” will he believe you ? If your life is gay and trifling ou show that either you do not believe there is a hell, or that ou wish to have him go there, and are trying to keep off every enous impression from his mind. Have you children that are nconverted? Suppose you never say any thing to them about I eligion, or when you do talk to them it is in such a cold, hard, _^ n mi ^ i , ftclin^ j do you suppose they ehe/e you . They don t see the same coldness in you in re* 12 * || | ' 134 MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. gard to other things. They are in the habit of seeing all the mother in your eye, and in the tones of your voice, your empha¬ sis, and the like, and feeling the warmth of a mother’s heart as it flows out from your lips on all that concerns them. If, then, when you talk to them on the subject of religion, you are cold and trifling, can they suppose you believe it ? If your deport¬ ment holds up before your child this careless, heartless, prayer¬ less spirit, and then you talk to him about the importance of religion, the child will go away and laugh, to think you should try to persuade him there is a hell. 5 . The love of Christ. You are to bear witness to the reali¬ ty of the love of Christ, by the regard you show for his pre¬ cepts, his honor, his kingdom. You should act as if you believed that he died for the sins of the whole world, and as if you blamed sinners for rejecting his great salvation. This is the only legitimate way in which you can impress sinners with the love of Christ. Christians, instead of this, often live so as to make the impression on sinners that Christ is so compassion¬ ate that they have very little to fear from him. I have been amazed to see how a certain class of professors want ministers to be always preaching about the love of Christ. If a minister preaches up duty, and urges Christians to be holy, and to labor for Christ, they call it all legal preaching. They say they want to hear the gospel. Well, suppose you present the love of Christ. How will they bear testimony in their lives ? How will they show that they believe it? Why, by conformity to the world they will testify, point blank, that they don’t believe a word of it, and that they care nothing at all for the love of Christ, only to have it for a cloak, that they can talk about it, and so cover up their sins. They have no sympathy with his compassion, and no belief in it as a reality, and no concern for the feelings of Christ, which fill his mind when he sees the condition of sinners. 6 . The necessity of holiness in order to enter heaven. It will not do to depend on talking about this. They must live holy, and thus testify that men need not expect to be saved, unless they are holy. The idea has so long prevailed, that we cannot be 'perfect here , that many professors do not so much as seriously aim at a sinless life. They cannot honestly say, that they ever so much as really meant to live without sin. They drift along before the tide, in a loose, sinful, unhappy and abominable manner, at which, doubtless, the devil laughs, be¬ cause it is, of all others, the surest way to hell. , 7. The necessity of self-denial, humility, and heaven]y-mind- MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. 135 dness. Christians ought to show by their own example what ;ae religion is, which is expected of men. That is the most owerful preaching, after all, and the most likely to have influ- nce on the impenitent, by showing them the great difference etAveen them and Christians. Many people' are trying to sake men Christians by a different course, by copying as near 3 possible their present manner of life, and conforming to them 3 much as will possibly do. They seem to think they can fake men fall in Avith religion best by bringing religion down their standard. As if the nearer you bring religion to the orld, the more likely the world \A r ould be to embrace it. Noav jjl thhs is as wide as the poles from the true philosophy about ! a king Christians. But it is always the policy of carnal pro- issors. And they think they are displaying wonderful saga- ty and prudence , by taking so much pains not to scare people } m ighty strictness and holiness of the gospel. They gue that if you exhibit religion to mankind as requiring such great change in their manner of life, such innovations upon eir habits, such a separation from their old associates, why, »u Avill drive them all aAvay. This seems plausible at first ght. But it is not true. Let professors live in this lax and sy Avay, and sinners say, “ Why, I don’t see but I am about ght, or at least so near right, that it is impossible God should nd me to hell for the difference between me and these profess- s. It is true, they do a little more than I do, they go to the mmunion table, and pray in their families, and a feAV such :e little things, but they can’t make any such great difference heaven and hell.” No, the true Avay is, to exhibit religion id the Avorld in strong contrast, or you never can make sin- irs feel the necessity of a change. Until the necessity of this ndamental change is embodied and held forth in a strong rht by example, how can you make men believe they are ing to be sent to hell if they are not AAffolly transformed in part and life ? "This is not only true in philosophy, but it has been proved 5 the history of the A\ r orld. Look at the missions of the ■suits in Japan, by Francis Xavier and his associates. How *y lived, what a contrast they showed betAveen their religion 1 the heathen, and Avhat results followed ! Noav I Avas read- g a letter from one of our missionaries, in the East, Avho ■ites, I belie\ r e, to this effect, that a missionary must be able £ rank Avith the English nobility, and so recommend his reli- >n to the respect of the natives. He must get aAA r ay up above 'in, so as to sIioav a superiority, and thus impress them Avith 136 MEANS TO EE USED WITH SINNERS. respect! Is this philosophy ? Is this the way to convert the world ? You can no more convert the world in this way, than by blowing a ram’s horn. It has no tendency that way. What did the Jesuits do ? They went about among the people in the daily practice of self-denial before their eyes, teaching, and preaching, and praying, and laboring, unwearied and unawed, mingling with every caste and grade, bringing down their instruc¬ tions to the capacity of every individual. And in that way the mis¬ sion carried idolatry before it like a wave of the sea, and all at once their religion spread over the vast empire of Japan. And if they had not meddled with politics and brought themselves in needless collision with the government, no doubt they would have held their ground till this day. I am not saying any thing in regard to the religion they taught, for I am not sure how much truth they preached with it. I speak only of their following the true policy of missions, by showing by their lives, the religion they taught in wide contrast with a worldly spirit, and the fooleries of idolatry. This one feature of their policy so commended itself to the consciences of the people, that it was irresistible. If Christians contradict this one point, and attempt to accommodate their religion to the worldliness of men, they render the salvation of the world impossible. How can you make people believe that self-denial and separation from the world are necessary, unless you practise them ? 8. Meekness, humility, and heavenly-mindedness. The peo¬ ple of God should always show a temper like the Son of God, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. If a professor of religion is irritable, and ready to resent an injury, and fly in a passion, and take the same measures as the world do to get re¬ dress, by going to law and the like, how is he to make people believe there is any reality in a change of heart ? They cannot recommend religion, while they have such a spirit. If you are in the habit of resenting injurious conduct; if you do not bear it meekly, and put the best construction that can be on it, you contradict the gospel. Some people always show a had spirit, ever ready to put the worst construction on what is done, and take fire at any little, thing. This shows a great want of that charity, which “ hopeth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things.” But if a man always shows meekness, under inju¬ ries, it will confound gainsaying. Nothing makes so solemn an impression on sinners, and bears down with such a tremen¬ dous weight on their consciences, as to see a Christian, Christ- like, bearing affronts and injuries with the meekness of a lamb, It cuts like a two-edged sword. MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. 137 I will mention a case to show this. A young man abused a linister to his face, and reviled him in an unprecedented mail¬ er. The minister possessed his soul in patience, and spoke lildly in reply, telling him the truth pointedly, hut yet in a very ind manner. This only made him the more angry, and at ■ngth he went away in a rage, declaring that he was not going ) stay and bear this vituperation. As if it was the minister, in- ead of himself, that had been scolding. The sinner went away, it with the arrows of the Almighty in his heart, and in less Lan half an hour he followed the minister to his lodgings in ; itolerable agony, wept, and begged forgiveness, and broke down fore God, and yielded up his heart to Christ. This calm and did manner was more overwhelming to him than a thousand fguments. Now if that minister had been thrown off his guard, pd answered harshly, no doubt he would have ruined the soul that young man. How many of you have defeated every iture effort you may make with your impenitent friends or jsighbors, in some such way as this. On some occasion you ,ive showed yourself so irascible, that you have sealed up your wn lips, and laid a stumbling block over which that sinner will umble into hell. If you have done it in any instance, don’t eep till you have done all you can to retrieve the mischief; till )u have confessed the sin and done every thing to counteract it > far as possible. 9. The necessity of entire honesty in a Christian. O what a 1 dd opens here for remark ! But I cannot go over it fully now. extends to all the departments of life. Christians need to low the strictest regard to integrity in every department of bu- ness, and in all their intercourse with their fellow-men. If very Christian would pay a scrupulous regard to honesty, and i ways be conscientious to do exactly right, it would make a owerful impression on the minds of people, of the reality of ligious principle. A lady was once buying some eggs in a store, and the clerk 1 |iade a miscount and gave her one more than the number. She w it at the time, but said nothing, and after she got home it Dubled her. She felt that she had acted wrong, and she went .ck to the young man and confessed it and paid the difference, he impression of her conscientious integrity went to his heart xe a sword. It was a great sin in her in concealing the mis- unt, because the temptation was so small; for if she would j eat him out of an egg, it showed that she would cheat him out his whole store, if she could do it and not be found out. But :r prompt and humble confession showed an honest conscience. 12 * 138 MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS./ I am happy to say, there are some men who deal on this principle of integrity. And the wicked hate them for it. They rail against them, and vociferate in bar-rooms, that they never will buy goods of such and such individuals, that such a hypocrite shall never touch a dollar of their money, and all that, and then they will go right away and buy of them, because they know they shall be honestly dealt with. This is a testi¬ mony to the truth of religion, that is heard from Georgia to Maine. Suppose all Christians did so. What would be the consequence % Christians would run away with the business of the city. The Christians would soon do the business of the world. The great argument which some Christians urge, that if they do not do business upon the common principle, of stating one price and taking another, they cannot compete with men of the world, is all false—false in philosophy and false in history. Only make it your invariable rule to do right, and do business upon principle, and you control the market. The ungodly will be obliged to conform to your standard. It is perfectly in the power of the church to regulate the commerce of the world, if they will only themselves maintain perfect integrity. And it Christians will do the same in 'politics , they will sway the destinies of nations, without involving themselves at all in the base and corrupting strife of parties. Only let Christians generally determine to vote for no man for any office, that is not an honest man and a man of pure morals, and let it be known that Christians are united in this, whatever may be. their differ¬ ence in political sentiments, and no man would be put up who is not such a character. In three years it would be talked about in taverns and published in newspapers, when any man is set up as a candidate for office, “ What a good man he is, how moral, how pious,” and the like. And any political party would no more set up a known Sabbath breaker, or a gambler, or a profane swearer, or a whoremonger, or a rum-seller, as their candidate for office, than they would set up the devil him¬ self foi president. The carnal policy of many professors, who undertake to correct politics by such means as wicked men em¬ ploy, and who are determined to vote with a party, let the can¬ didate be ever so profligate, is all wrong, wrong in principle, contrary to philosophy and common sense, and ruinous to the best interests of mankind. The dishonesty of the church is cursing the world. I am not going to preach a political ser¬ mon, I assure you. But I want to show you, that if you mean to impress men favorably to your religion by your lives, you j y o est, in business, politics, and every MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS. 139 ling you do. What do you suppose those ungodly politicians, ho know themselves to be playing a dishonest game in carry* g an election, think of your religion when they see you uni- ' ng with them ? They know you are a hypocrite! REMARKS. 1. It is unreasonable for professors of religion to wonder at me thoughtlessness of sinners.—Every thing considered, the ‘irelessness of sinners is not wonderful. We are affected by stimony, and only by that testimony which is received to our inds. Sinners are so taken up with business, pleasure, and >e things of the world, that they will not examine the Bible to "id out what religion is. Their feelings are excited only on ; orldly subjects, because these only are brought into warm con- jjct with their minds.—The things of the world make therefore J| strong impression. But there is so little to make an impres- ( on on their minds in respect to eternity, and to bring religion ome to them, that they do not feel on the subject. If they ex- nined the subject they would feel. But they don’t examine it, >r think upon it, nor care for it. And they never will, unless od’s witnesses rise up and testify. But inasmuch as the great ■’dy of Christians in fact live so as to testify on the other side ' their conduct, how can we expect that sinners will feel right k the subject? Nearly all the testimony and all the influence at comes to their minds tends to make them feel the other way. -od has left his cause here before the human race, and left his ktnesses to testify in his behalf, and behold, they all turn round 1 d testify the other way! Is it any wonder that sinners are Ireless ? 2. We see why it is that preaching does so little good; and Hv it is that so many sinners get gospel-hardened. Sinners lit live under the gospel are often supposed to be gospel-hard- ! ed; but only let the church wake up, and act consistently, d they will feel. If the church were to live only one week as khey believed the Bible, sinners would melt down before them. ppose I were a lawyer, and should go into court and spread t my client’s case, the issue is joined, and I make my state- pits, and tell what I expect to prove, and then call in my tnesses. The first witness takes his oath, and then rises up d contradicts me to my face. What good will all my plead* *g do? I might address the jury a month, and be as eloquent 1 Cicero, but so long as my witnesses contradicted me, all my hading would do no good. Just so it is with a minister who preaching in the midst of a cold, stupid, and God-dishonoring / 140 MEANS TO EE USED WITH SINNERS church. In vain does he hold up to view the great truths of re¬ ligion, when every member of the church is ready to swear he , lies. Why, in such a church, their very manner of going out of the aisles contradicts the sermon. They press out as cheerful and as easy, bowing to one and another, and whispering together, as if nothing was the matter. Let the minister warn every man daily with tears, it will produce no effect. If the devil should come in and see the state of things, he would think he could no„ better the business for his interest. . Yet there are ministers who will go on in this way tor years, preaching over the heads of such a people, that by their lives contradict every word they say, and they think it their duty to do so. Duty ! To preach to a church that are undoing all his work, and contradicting all his testimony, and that will not altei! No. Let him shake off the dust from his feet for a testimony, and go to the heathen, or to the.new settlements. The man is wasting his energies, and wearing out his life, and just rocking the cradle for a sleepy church, all testifying to sinners, there is no danger. Their wholelives area practical testimony that the Bible is not true. Shall ministers continue to wear themselves out so? Probably not less than ninety-nine hundredths of the preaching in this country is lost, because it is contradicted by the church. Not one truth in a hundred that is preached takes effect, because the lives of professors testify that it is not so. 3. It is evident that the standard of Christian living must be raised, or the world will never be converted. If we had as many church members now, as there are families, and scattered all over the world, and a minister to every five hundred souls, and every child in a Sabbath school, and every young peison m a Bible class; you would have all the machinery you want, butil the church contradict the truth by their lives, it never would pro¬ duce a revival. .. They never will have a revival in any place, while the whole church in effect testify against the minister. Often it is the case that where there is the most preaching, there is the least religion, because the church contradict the preaching. I never knew means fail of a revival, where Christians live consistent One of the first things is to raise the standard of religion, so as to embody and hang out in the sight of all men, the truth of the gospel. Unless ministers can get the church to wake up and act as if religion was true, and back their testimony by their lives, in vain will they attempt to promote a revival. Many churches are depending on their minister to do every thing. When he preaches, they will say, “ What a great sermon MEANS TO BE USED WITH SINNERS, 141 : hat was. He’s an excellent minister. Such preaching must lo good. We shall have a revival soon, I do not doubt.” And .11 the while, they are contradicting the preaching by their ives. I tell you, if they are depending on preaching alone to i arry on the work, they must fail. If Jesus Christ were to come nd preach, and the church contradict it, he would fail. It has !>een tried once. Let an apostle rise from the dead, or an angel ;sorbed in other things, and very apt to be offended if you take ch a time to interfere and call his attention to religion. (2.) It is important to take a person, if possible, at a time pen he is not strongly excited with any other subject. If that the case, he is in an unfit frame to be addressed on the sub- <:t of religion. In proportion to the strength of that excite¬ ment would be the probability that you would do no good.— ou may possibly reach him; persons have had their minds rested and turned to religion in the midst of a powerful ex- ement on other subjects. But it is not likely. (3.) Be sure that the person is perfectly sober. It used to more common than it is now, for people to drink spirits ery day, and become more o less intoxicated. Precisely in eportion as they are so, they are rendered unfit to be ap- oached on the subject of religion. If they have been drink- v beer, or cider, or wine, so that you can smell their breath, u may know there is but little chance of producing any last¬ s' effect on them. I have had professors of religion bring rsons to me, pretending they were under conviction ; for you ;°w that people in liquor are often very fond of talking upon tigion ; but as soon as I came near them, so as to smell their eath, I have asked, Why do you bring this drunken man to s? Why, they say, he is not drunk, he has only drank a i le. Well, that little has made him a little drunk. He is i ink, if you can smell his breath. The cases are exceedingly e where a person has been truly convicted, who had any oxicating liquor in him. 4.) If possible, where you wish to converse with a man on subject of salvation, take him when he is in a good temper. r/ou find him out of humor, very probably he will get angry 1 abuse you. Better let him alone for that time, or you will It:likely to quench the Spirit. It is possible you may be able t alk in such a way as to cool his temper, but it is not likely. ‘. e truth is, men hate God, and though their hatred may be mant, it is easily excited, and if you bring God fully before 13 / 146 To WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. . i . their minds when they are already excited with anger, it will he so much the easier to arouse their enmity to open violence. (5.) If possible, always take an opportunity to converse with careless sinners when they are alone. Most men are too proud to be conversed with freely respecting themselves in the pre¬ sence of others, even their own family. A man in such cir¬ cumstances will brace up all his powers to defend himself, while if he was alone he would melt down under the truth.— He will resist the truth, or try to laugh it off, for fear that if he should manifest any feeling, somebody will go and report that }i 0 is serious. In visiting families, instead of calling all the family together at the same time to be talked to, the better way is to see them all, one at a time. There was a case of this kind: Several young ladies, of a proud, gay, and fashionable character, lived together in a fashionable family. Two men were strongly de¬ sirous to get the subject of religion before them, but were at a loss how to accomplish it, for fear they would all combine, and counteract or resist every serious impression. At length they took this course. They called and sent up their card to one of the young ladies by name. She came down and they conversed with her on the subject of her salvation, and as she was alone, she not only treated them politely, but seemed to receive the truth with seriousness. A day or two after, they called in like manner on another, and then another, and so on, till they had conversed with every one separately. In a little time they^ were all, I believe, every one, hopefully converted. This was as it should be, for then they could not keep each other in countenance. And then the impression made on one was fol¬ lowed up with the others, so that one was not left to exert a bad influence over the rest. 1 There was a pious woman who kept a boarding house for young gentlemen; she had twenty-one or two of them in her family, and at length she became very anxious for their salva¬ tion; she made it a subject of prayer, but saw no seriousness among them, At length she saw that there must be something done besides praying, and yet she did not know what to do. One morning after breakfast, as they were retiring, she asked one of them to stop a few minutes. She took him to her room, and conversed with him tenderly on the subject of religion, and prayed with him. She followed up the impression made, and pretty soon he was hopefully converted. Then there were two, and they addressed another, and prayed with him, and soon he was prepared to join them. Then another, and so on, I TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 147 king one at a time, and letting none of the rest know what as going on, so as not to alarm them, till every one of these oung men were converted to God. Now if she had brought e subject before the whole of them together, very likely they ould have turned it all into ridicule ; or perhaps they would ive been offended, and left the house, and then she could have .id no further influence over them. But taking one alone, id treating him respectfully and kindly, he had no such otive for resistance as arises out of the presence of others. (6.) Try to seize an opportunity to converse with a careless j aner, when the events of Providence seem to favor your design. any particular event should occur, calculated to make a seri¬ es impression, be sure to improve the occasion faithfully. (7.) Seize the earliest opportunity to converse with those ound you who are careless. Don’t put it off from day to ly, thinking a better opportunity will come. You must seek 1 opportunity, and if none offers make one. Appoint a time id place, and get an interview with your friend or neighbor, here you can speak to him freely. Send him a note, go to m on purpose, make it look like a matter of business, as if )u were in earnest in endeavoring to promote his soul’s saT Ltion. Then he will feel that it is a matter of importance, at ast in your eyes. Follow it up till you succeed, or become •nvinced nothing can now be done. (8.) If you have any feeling for a particular individual, take 1 opportunity to converse with that individual while this feel- g continues. If it is a truly benevolent feeling, you have rea- *n to believe the Spirit of God is moving you to desire the sal- •ition of his soul, and that God is ready to bless your efforts for s conversion. In such a case, make it the subject of special id importunate prayer, and seek an early opportunity to pour it all your heart to him, and bring him to Christ. 2. In regard to the manner of doing all this. (1.) When you approach a careless individual, to endeavor awaken him to his soul’s concerns, be sure to treat him kindly, et him see that you address him, not because you seek a quar- 1 with him, but because you love his soul, and desire his best )od, in time and eternity. If you are harsh and overbearing your manner, you will probably offend him, and drive him rther off from the way of life. (2.) Be solemn. Avoid all lightness of manner or language, evity will produce any thing but a right impression. You lght to feel that you are engaged in a very solemn work, which going to affect the character of your friend or neighbor, and f 148 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. probably determine his destiny for eternity. Who could trifle and use levity in such circumstances if his heart was sincere? (3.) Be respectful. Some seem to suppose it necessary to be abrupt, and rude, and coarse in their intercourse with the care¬ less and impenitent. Nothing can be a greater mistake. The Apostle Paul has given us a better rule on the subject, where he says, “ Be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing.” A rude and coarse address is only calculated to give an unfavorable opinion both of you and of your religion. (4.) Be sure to be very plain. Do not suffer yourself to cover up any circumstance of the person’s character, and his relations to God. Lay it all open, not for the purpose of offending or wounding him, but because it is necessary. Before you can cure a wound, you must probe it to the bottom. Keep back none of the truth, but let it come out plainly before him. (5.) Be sure to address his conscience. In public addresses, ministers often get hold of the feelings only, and thus awaken the mind. But in private conversation you cannot do so. You cannot pour out the truth in an impassioned and rousing man¬ ner. And unless you address the conscience pointedly, you get no hold of the mind at all. (6.) Bring the great and fundamental truths to bear upon the person’s mind. Sinners are very apt to run off upon some pretext or some subordinate point, especially some point of sec¬ tarianism. For instance, if the man is a Presbyterian, he will try to turn the conversation on the points of difference between Presbyterians and Methodists. Or he will fall foul of old school divinity. Don’t yield to him, or talk with him on any such point; it will do more hurt than good. Tell him the present business is to save his soul, and not to settle controverted ques¬ tions in theology. Hold him to the great fundamental points, by which he must be saved or lost. (7.) Be very patient. If he has a real difficulty in his mind, be very patient till you find out what it is, and then clear it up. If what he alleges is a mere cavil, make him see that it is a cavil. Don’t try to answer it by argument, but show him that he is not sincere in advancing it. It is not worth while to spend your time in arguing against a cavil, but make him feel that he is committing sin to plead it, and thus enlist his conscience on your side. (8.) Be careful to guard your own spirit. There are many people who have not good temper enough to converse with those who are much opposed to religion. And such a person wants TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 149 ! o better triumph than to see you angry. He will go away xulting because he has made one of these saints mad. (9.) If the sinner is inclined to intrench himself against God, e careful not to take his par/ in any thing. If he says he can’t o his duty, do not take sides with him, or say any thing to Duntenance his falsehood. Do not tell him he can’t, or help im maintain himself in the controversy against his Maker, ometimes a careless sinner will go to finding fault with Chris- : ans. Do not take his part or side with him against Christians, ust tell him he has not got their sins to answer for, and he had Iftter see to his own concerns. If you fall in with him, he feels ! tat he has you on his side. Show him that it is a censorious ! pd wicked spirit that prompts him to make these remarks, id not a regard for the honor of religion or the laws of Jesus Christ. (10.) Bring up the individual’s particular sins. Talking in eneral terms against sin will produce no results. You must take a man feel that you mean him. A minister who cannot j take his hearers feel that he means them, cannot expect to ac- j implish much.. Some people are very careful to avoid men- | ming the particular sins of which they know the individual be guilty, for fear of hurting his feelings. This is wrong. If j ^ know his history, bring up his particular sins, kindly but ; ainly, not to give offence, but to awaken conscience, and give 111 force to the truth. (11.) It is generally best to be short , and not spin out what we Uve to say. Get the attention as soon as you can to the very pint, say a few things and press them home, and bring the fatter to an issue. If possible, get them to repent and give iemselves to Christ at the time. This is the proper issue, urefully avoid making an impression that you do not expect ^em to repent NOW. (12.) If possible, when you converse with sinners, be sure to fay with them. If you converse with them, and leave them ithout praying, you leave your work undone. II. The manner of dealing with awakened sinners. 1.. You should be careful to distinguish between an awaken- 1 sinner, and one who is under conviction. When you find person who feels a little on the subject of religion, do not take for granted that he is convicted of sin , and thus omit to use i eans to show him his sin. Persons are often awakened by me providential circumstance, as sickness, a thunderstorm, ■stilence, death in the family, disappointment, or the like, or r the Spirit of God, so that their ears are open, and they are 13* I 150 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. ready to hear on the subject of religion with attention and seriousness, and some feeling. If you find a person awakened, no matter by what means, lose no time to pour in light upon his mind. Don’t be afraid, but show him the breadth of the Divine law, and the exceeding strictness of its precepts. Make him see how it condemns his thoughts and life. Search out his heart, find what is there, and bring it up before his mind, as far as you can. If possible, melt him down on the spot. When once you have got a sinner’s attention, very often his conviction and conversion is the work of a few moments. You can sometimes do more in five minutes, than in years or a whole life while he is careless or indifferent. I have been amazed at the conduct of those cruel parents, and other heads of families, who will let an awakened sinner be in their families for days and weeks, and not say a word to him on the subject. Why, they say, if the Spirit of God has begun a work in him, he will certainly carry it on ! Perhaps the person is anxious to converse, and puts himself in the way of Christians, as often as possible, expecting they will converse with him, and they do not say a word. Amazing! Such a per¬ son ought to be looked out immediately, as soon as he is awak¬ ened, and let a blaze of light be poured into his mind without delay. Whenever you have reason to believe that a person within your reach is awakened, do not sleep till you have poured in the light upon his mind, and tried to bring him to immediate repentance. Then is the time to press the subject with effect. If that favorable moment is lost, it can never be recovered. I have often seen Christians in revivals, who were constantly on the look-out to see if any persons appeared to be awakened. And as soon as they saw any one begin to manifest feeling under preaching, they would mark him, and as soon as the meeting was out, invite him to a room and converse and pray j with him, and if possible not leave him till he was converted. A remarkable case of this kind occurred in a town at the West. A merchant came to the place from a distance to buy goods. It was a time of powerful revival, but he was determined to keep out of its influence, and so he would not go to any meeting at all. At length he found every body so much engaged in reli¬ gion that it met him at every turn, and he got vexed, and swore he would go home. There was so much religion there, he said, he could not do any business, and he would not stay. Accord¬ ingly he took his seat for the stage, which was to leave at four o’clock the next morning. As he spoke of going away, a TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 151 :> entleman belonging to the house, who was one of the young on verts, asked him if he would not go to meeting once before ’ e left town. He finally consented, and went to the meeting, ’he sermon took hold of his mind, but not with sufficient ower to bring him into the kingdom. He returned to his idgings, and called the landlord to pay his bill. The land¬ lord, who had himself recently experienced religion, saw that :;e was agitated. He accordingly spoke to him on the subject of Religion, and the man burst into tears. The landlord imme¬ diately called in three or four young converts, and they prayed I ad exhorted him, and at four o’clock in the morning, when ie stage called, he went on his way rejoicing in God! When e got home, he called his family together, confessed to them is past sins, and avowed his determination to live differently, nd prayed with them for the first time. It was so unexpected hat it was soon noised abroad, people began to inquire, and a evival broke out in the place. Now, suppose these Christians ad done as some do, been careless, and let the man go off, Lightly impressed ? It is not probable he ever could have been aved. Such opportunities are often lost for ever, when once le favorable moment is passed. III. The manner of dealing with convicted sinners. By a convicted sinner I mean one who feels himself com emned by the law of God, as a guilty sinner. He has so much istruction as to understand something of the extent of God’s fiw, and he sees and feels his guilty state, and knows what his emedyis. To deal with these often requires great wisdom, ^here are some most trying cases occur, when it is extremely ifficult to know what to do with them. 1. When a person is convicted and not converted , but remains a an anxious state, there is generally some specific reason for it. n such cases, it does no good to exhort him to repent, or to ex¬ plain the law to him. He knows all that, he understands all ie.se general points. But still he don’t repent. Now there rust be some particular difficulty to overcome. You may preach, nd pray, and exhort till doomsday, and not gain any thing. You must then set yourself to inquire what is that particular ifficulty. A physician, when he is called to a patient, and finds Kim sick with a particular disease, first administers the general ‘emedies that are applicable to that disease. If they produce -to effect, and the disease still continues, he must examine the ase, and learn the constitution of the individual, and his habits, [iet, manner of living, &c.., and see what the matter is that the medicine does not take effect. So it is with the case of a sinner 152 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. convicted but not converted. If your ordinary instructions and exhortations fail, there must be a difficulty. The particular dif¬ ficulty is often known to the individual himself, though he keeps it concealed. Sometimes it is something that has escaped even his own observation. > (1) Sometimes the individual has some idol, something which he loves more than God, which prevents him from giving him¬ self up. You must search out and see what it is that he will not give up. Perhaps it is wealth, perhaps some earthly friend, perhaps gay dress, or gay company, or some favorite amusement. At any rate there is something on which his heart is so set that he will not yield to God. (2.) Perhaps he has done an injury to some individual, that calls for redress, and he is unwilling to confess it or to make a just recompense. Now, until he will confess and forsake this sin, he can find no mercy. If he has injured the person in pro¬ perty, or character, or has abused him, he must make it up. If you can find it out, tell him plainly, and frankly, that there is no hope for him till he is willing to confess it, and to do wffiat is right. (3.) Sometimes there is som e particular sin , which he will not forsake. He pretends it is only a small one, or tries to per¬ suade himself it is no sin. No matter how small it is, he can never get into the kingdom of God till he gives it up. Sometimes an individual has seen it to be a sin to use tobacco, and he never can find true peace till he gives it up. Perhaps he is looking upon it as a small sin. But God knows nothing about small sins in such a case. What is the sin ? Why, it is injuring your health, setting a bad example, and taking God’s money, which you are bound to employ in his service, and spending it for tobacco. "What would a merchant say, if he found one of his clerks in the habit of going to the money drawer, and taking money enough to keep him in cigars ? Would he call it a small offence ? No, he would say he deserved to be sent to the state prison. I mention this particular sin, because I have found it to be one of the things to which men who are convicted will hold on when they know it is wrong, and then wonder why they do not find peace. (4) See if there is not some work of remuneration , which he is bound to do. Perhaps he has defrauded somebody in trade, or taken some unfair advantage, con vary to the golden rule of doing as you would be done by, and is unwilling to make satis¬ faction. This is a very common sin among merchants and men of business. I have known many melancholy instances, where TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 153 ien have grieved away the Spirit of God, or else have been riven well nigh to absolute despair, because they were unwill- ig to give satisfaction where they have done such things. Now is plain that such persons never can have forgiveness until ey do it. (5.) They may have intrenched themselves somewhere, and rtified their minds in regard to some particular point, which ey are determined not to yield. For instance, they may have ken strong ground that they will not do a particular thing. I lew a man who was determined not to go into a certain grove to *ay. Several other persons during the revival had gone into e grove, and there, by prayer and meditation given themselves : God. His own clerk had been converted there. The law- m himself was awakened, but he was determined that he would >t go into the grove. He had powerful convictions, and went 1 for weeks in this way, with no relief. He tried to make God lieve it was not pride that kept him from Christ; and so, when ; was going home from meeting he would kneel down in the reet and pray. And not only that, but he would look round r a mud-puddle in the street, in which he might kneel, to show at he was not proud. He once prayed all night in his parlor, it he would not go into the grove. His distress was so great, id he was so mad with God, that he was strongly tempted to ake way with himself, and actually threw aivay his knife for ir he should cut his throat. At length he concluded he would > into the grove and pray, and as soon as he got there he was nverted, and went and poured out his full heart to God. So individuals are sometimes intrenched in a determination at they will not go to a particular meeting, perhaps the in- dry meeting, or some prayer meeting, or they will not have a rtain person pray with them, or they will not take a particular at, such as the anxious seat. They say that they can be con- rted just as well without yielding this point, for religion don’t nsist in this, going to a particular meeting, or taking a par- ular attitude in prayer, or a particular seat. This is true, t by taking this ground they make it the material point. And long as they are intrenched there, and determined to bring ad to their terms, they never can be converted. Sinners will en yield any thing else, and do any thing in the world, but eld the point upon which they have committed themselves, d taken a stand against God. They cannot be humbled, til they yield this point, whatever it is. And if without yield- it, they get a hope, it will be a false hope. (6.) Perhaps he has a prejudice against some one, a member 154 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. of the church perhaps, on account of some faithful dealing with his soul, or something in his business that he did not Jike, and he hangs on this, and will never be converted till he gives it up. Whatever it be, you should search it out and tell him the truth, plainly and faithfully. (7.) He may feel ill will towards some one, or be angry, and cherish strong feelings of resentment, which prevent him from obtaining mercy from God. “ And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But, if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (8.) Perhaps he entertains some errors in doctrine, or some wrong notions respecting the thing to be done , or the way of doing it, which may be keeping him out of the kingdom. Per¬ haps he is waiting for God. He is convinced that he deserves to go to hell, and that unless he is converted he must go there, but he is waiting for God to do something to him before he sub¬ mits. He is in fact waiting for God to do for him what he has required the sinner to do. He may be waiting for more conviction. People often do not know what conviction is, and think they are not under con¬ viction when in fact they are under powerful conviction. They often think nothing is conviction unless they have great fears of hell. But the fact is, individuals often have strong convictions, who have very little fear of hell. Show them what is the truth, and let them see they have no need to wait. Perhaps he may be waiting for certain feelings, which some¬ body else has had before he obtained mercy. This is very common in revivals, where some one of the first converts has told of remarkable experiences. Others who are awakened are very apt to think they must wait for just such feelings. I knew a young man thus awakened; his companion had been con¬ verted in a remarkable way, and this one was waiting for just such feelings. He said he was using the means, and praying for them, but finally found that he was a Christian, although he had not been through the course of feeling he expected. Sinners often lay out a plan of the way they expect to feel, and how they expect to be converted, and in fact lay out the work for God, determined that they will go in that path or not at all. Tell them this is all wrong, they must not lay out any such path beforehand, but let God lead them as he sees to be best. God always leads the blind by a way they know not. There never was a sinner brought into the kingdom through TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 155 such a course of feeling as he expected. Very often they are amazed to find that they are in, and have had no such exercises as they expected. It is very common for persons to be waiting to he made suo- jects of prayer, or for some particular means to be used, or to see if they cannot make themselves better. They are so wicked, they say, that they can’t come to Christ. They want to try, by humiliation, and suffering, and prayer, to fit themselves to ’'iome. You will have to hunt them out of all these refuges. It is astonishing into how many corners they will often run before they will go to Christ. I have known persons almost deranged for the want of a little correct instruction. Sometimes such people think their sins are too great to he forgiven, or that they have grieved the Spirit of God away, i when that Spirit is all the while convicting them. They pre¬ tend their sins are greater than Christ’s mercies, thus actually insulting the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes sinners get the idea that they are given up of God, and that now they cannot be saved. It is often very diffi¬ cult to beat persons off from this ground. Many of the most l distressing cases I ever met with, have been of this character, where persons would insist upon it that they were given up, md nothing would change them. In a place where I was laboring in a revival, I went one day nto the meeting, and before the exercises commenced, I heard i low moaning, distressing, unearthly noise. I looked and saw several women gathered round the person who made it. They said it was a woman in despair. She had been a long time in ! hat state. Her husband was a drunkard. He had brought her meeting and gone himself to the tavern. I conversed with ;ier, and saw her state, and that it was very difficult to reach ;ier case. As I was going away to commence the exercises, she said she must go out, for she could not hear praying or ringing. . I told her she must not go, and told the ladies to de- ain her, if necessary by force. I felt that if the devil had hold pf her, God was stronger than the devil, and could deliver her. The exercises began, and she made some noise at first. But by md by she looked up. The subject was chosen with special reference to her case, and as it proceeded, her attention was gained, her eyes were fixed—I never shall forget how she look¬ ed—her eyes and mouth open, her head up, and she almost rose rom her seat as the truth poured in upon her mind. Finally, as the truth knocked away every foundation on which her lespair had rested, she shrieked out, put her head down, and 156 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. sat perfectly still till the meeting 1 was out. I went to her, and found her perfectly calm and happy in God. I saw her long afterwards, and she remained so. Thus Providence threw her where she never expected to he, and compelled her to hear mstruc- tion adapted to her case. You may often do incalculable good by finding out precisely where the difficulty lies, and then bring : the truth to bear right on that point. Sometimes persons will strenuously maintain that they have I committed the unpardonable sin. When they get that idea into j their minds, they will turn every thing you say against them- I selves. In some such cases, it is a good way to take them on ^ their own ground, and reason with them in this way, Sup- j pose you have committed the unpardonable sin, what then? It I is reasonable that you should submit to God, and be sorry for your sins, and break off from them, and do all the good you can, even if God will not forgive you. Even if you go to hell you ought to do this.” Press this thought and turn it over until you find they understand and consent to it. It is common for persons in such cases to keep their eyes on themselves 5 they will shut themselves up, and keep looking at their own darkness, instead of looking aw r ay to Christ. Now if you can take their minds off from themselves, and get them to think of Christ, you may draw them away from brooding over their own present feelings, and get them to lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel. 2. Be careful, in conversing with convicted sinners, not to make, any compromise with them on any point where they have a difficulty. If you do, they will be sure to take advantage of it, and thus get a false hope. Convicted sinners often get. into a ( difficulty, in regard to giving up some darling sin, or yielding some point where conscience and the Holy Ghost are at war j with them. And if they come across an individual who will yield the point, they feel better, and are happy, and think they are converted. The young man w r ho came to Christ w as of this character. He had one difficulty, and Jesus Christ knew just w T hat it wus. He knew he loved his money, and instead of compromising the matter and thus trying to comfort him, he just put his finger on the very place and told him, “ Go sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come follow me.” What was the effect? Why the young man went away sor¬ rowful. Yery likely, if Christ had told him to do any thing else, he would have felt relieved, and would have got a hope; would have professed himself a disciple, joined the church, and gone to hell. TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 157 People are often amazingly anxious to make a compromise. They will ask such questions as this, Whether you don’t think person may he a Christian and yet do such and such things * or f he may not be a Christian and not do such and such things. 'J’ow, do not yield an inch to any such questions. These questions lemselves may often show you the very point that is laboring in leir minds. They will show you that it is pride, or love of ie world, or something of the kind, which prevents their be- oming Christians. Be careful to make thorough work on this point, the love of le world. I believe there have been more false hopes built on r rong instructions here, than in any other way. I once heard Doctor of Divinity trying to persuade his hearers to give up le world 5 and he told them “if they would only give it up, Jod would give it right back to them again. He is willing you hould enjoy the world.” Miserable! God never gives back le world to the Christian, in the same sense that he requires a bnvicted sinner to give it up. He requires us to give up the wnership of every thing to him, so that we shall never again »r a moment consider it as our own. A man must not think e has a right to judge for himself how much of his property he lall lay out for God. One man thinks he may spend seven tousand dollars a year to support his family; he has a right to ) it, because he has the means, of his own. Another thinks he iay lay up fifty or a hundred thousand dollars. One man fid the other day, that he had promised he never would give ly of his property to educate young men for the ministry, /hen he is applied to, he just answers, “ I have said I never ill give to any such object, and I never will.” Man ! did Jesus hrist ever tell you to do so with his money ? Has he laid own any such rule? Remember it is his money you are talk- ig about, and if he wants it to educate ministers, you withhold at your peril. That man has yet to learn the first principle of digion, that he is not his own, and that the money which he assesses is Jesus Christ’s. Here is the great reason why the church is so full of false )pes. Men have been left to suppose they could be Christians, hile holding on to their money. And this has served as a og to every enterprise. It is an undoubted fact, that the church is funds enough to supply the world with Bibles, and tracts, id missionaries, immediately. But the truth is, that professors religion do not believe that the “ earth is the Lord’s, and the llness thereof.” Every man supposes he has a right to decide hat appropriation he shall make of his own money. And they 158 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. have no idea that Jesus Christ shall dictate to them on the suV IGCt. Be sure to deal thoroughly on this point. The church is now filled up with hypocrites, because they were never made to give up the world. They never were made to see that unless they made an entire consecration of all to Christ, all their time, all their talents, all their influence, they would never get to heaven. Many think they can he Christians, and yet dream alon^ through life, and use all their time and property for them¬ selves, only giving a little now and then, to save appearances; when ’ they can do it with perfect convenience. But it is a sad mistake, and they will find it so, if they do not employ their en- ergies for God. And when they die, instead of finding heaven at°the end of the path they are pursuing, they will find hell there In dealing with a convicted sinner, _ he sure to drive him away from every refuge, and not leave him an inch of ground to stand on, so long as he resists God. This need not take a long time to do. When the Spirit of God is at work striving with a sinner, it is easy to drive him from his refuges. You will find the truth will be like a hammer, crushing wherever it strikes. Make clean work with it, so that he shall give up all for God. , , ty Make the sinner see clearly the nature and extent ot me V i- vine law, and press the main question of entire submission to God. Bear down on that point as soon as you have made him clearly understand what you aim at, and do not turn off upon any thing else. . , Be careful, in illustrating the subject, not to mislead the mind so as to leave the impression that a selfish submission will an¬ swer, or a selfish acceptance of the atonement, or a selfish giv¬ ing up to Christ and receiving him, as if a man was making a good bargain, givingup his sins and receiving salvation in ex¬ change. "This is mere barter, and not submission to God. Leave no ground in your explanations or illustrations, for sue a view of the matter. Man’s selfish heart will eagerly seize such a view of religion, if it be presented, and very likely close in with it, and thus get a false hope. Another time I shall call your attention to certain things that are to be avoided in dealing with sinners. REMARKS. 1. Make it an object of constant study and of daily reflection and prayer, to learn how to deal with sinners, so as to promote TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. 159 eir conversion. It is the great business on earth of every nristian, to save souls. People often complain that they do t know how to take hold of this matter. Why, the reason is lin enough; they ha ve never studied it. I hey never took 13 proper°pains to qualify themselves for the work of saving uls. If people made it no more a matter of attention and 3 ught to qualify themselves for their worldly business, than jw do to save souls, how do you think they would succeed ? 3 W, if you are thus neglecting the main business of life, what 3 you living for? If you do not make it a matter of study, I w you may most successfully act in building up the kingdom | Christ, y ou are acting a very wicked and absurd part as a [lristian. 2. Many professors of religion do more hurt than good, when 3 y attempt to talk to impenitent sinners. They have so little jtowledge and skill, that their remarks rather divert attention in increase it. 3 . Be careful to find the 'point where the Spirit of God is essing a sinner, and press the same point in all your remarks, you divert his attention from that point, you will be in great nger of destroying his convictions. Take pains to learn the .te of his mind, what he is thinking of, how he feels, and lat he feels most deeply upon, and then press that thorough- and don’t divert his mind by talking about any thing else. 3 not fear to press that point, for fear of driving him to dis- xtion. Some people fear to press a point to which the mind tremblingly alive, lest they should injure the mind, notwith- ginding the Spirit of God is evidently debating that point with |3 sinner. This is an attempt to be wiser than God. You ould clear up the point, throw the light of truth all around . and bring the soul to yield, and then the mind is at rest. 4. Great evils have arisen, and many false hopes have been h gated, by not discriminating between an awakened ana a cou¬ nted sinner. For the want of this, persons who are only yakened are immediately pressed to submit; u you must re¬ nt,” “ submit to God,” when they are not in fact convinced their guilt, nor instructed so far as even to know what sub- ssion means. This is one way in which revivals have been eatly injured by indiscriminate exhortations to repent, unac- ! mpanied with proper instruction. 5. Anxious sinners are to be regarded as being in a veiy so- nn and critical state. They have in fact come to a turning int. It is a time when their destiny is likely to be settled • ever. The Spirit of God will not strive always. Christians 160 TO WIN SOULS REQUIRES WISDOM. ought to feel deeply for them. In many respects their circum stances are more solemn than the judgment day. tlie11 destiny is settled. The judgment day reveals it. And the par¬ ticular time when it is done is when the Spirit ts striving with them. Christians should remember their awful responsibility at such times. The physician, if he knows any thing of his duty, sometimes feels himself under a very solemn responsibili¬ ty. His patient is in a critical state, where a little error will destroy life, and he hangs quivering between life and death. If such responsibility is felt in relation to the body, what awful responsibility should be felt in relation to the soul, when it is seen to hang trembling on a point, and its destiny is now to be decided. One false impression, one indiscreet remark, one sen¬ tence misunderstood, a slight diversion of mind, may wear him the wron^ way, and his soul is lost. Never was an angel em¬ ployed in a more solemn work, than that of dealing with . sinners who are under conviction. How solemnly and care¬ fully then should Christians walk, how wisely and skill¬ fully work, if they do not mean to be the means of damning a soul! , . , , Finally. —If there is a sinner in this house, let me say to him, Abandon all your excuses. You have been told to-night that they are all vain. To-night it will be told in hell, and told in heaven, and echoed from the ends of the universe, what you decide to do. This very hour may seal your eternal destn y Will you submit to God to-night— now? t LECTURE XI. A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. Text.—“H e that winneth souls is wise.”— Proverbs xi. 30 . 1 i I preached last Friday evening from the same text, on the lethod of dealing with sinners by private Christians. My ob- Tct at this time is to take up the more public means of grace, nth particular reference to the DUTIES OF MINISTERS. As I observed in my last lecture, wisdom is the appropriate daptation of means for securing a desired end. The great end ,r which the Christian Ministry was appointed, is to glorifjr rod in the salvation of souls. In speaking on this subject I ! ropose to show, I. That a right discharge of the duties of a minister requires reat wisdom. II. That the amount of success in the discharge of his duties ther things being equal) decides the amount of wisdom em- oyed by him in the exercise of his office. l. I am to show that a right discharge of the duties of a min- ter requires great wisdom. 1 . On account of the opposition it encounters. The very end r which the ministry is appointed is one against which is ar- yed the most powerful opposition of sinners themselves. If en were willing to receive the gospel, and there were nothing ':eded to be done but to tell the story of' redemption, a child ight convey the news. But men are opposed to the gospel, hey are opposed to their own salvation, in this way. Their position is often violent and determined. I once saw a maniac bo had formed designs against his own life, and he would ex¬ cise the utmost sagacity and cunning to effect his purpose, e would be as artful, and make his keepers believe he had no ch design, that he had given it all up, and would appear as Id and sober, and at the instant the keeper was off his guard would lay hands on himself. So sinners often exercise great nning in evading all the efforts that are made to save them, id to meet this dreadful cunning, and overcome it so as to save m, ministers need a great amount of wisdom. 14 % 162 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 2 . The particular means appointed to be employed m the work, show the necessity of great wisdom in ministers. _ If men were converted by an act of physical omnipotence, creating some new taste, or something like that, and if sanctification were nothing but the same physical omnipotence rooting out the re¬ maining roots of sin from the soul, it would not require so much sagacity and skill to win souls. Nor would there then be any meaning in the text. But the truth is, that regeneration and sanctification are to be effected by moral means—by argument and not by force. There never was and never will be any one saved by any thing but truth as the means. Truth is the out¬ ward means, the outward motive, presented first by man and then by the Holy Spirit. Take into view the opposition of the sinner himself, and you see that nothing, after all, short of the wisdom of God and the moral power of the Holy Spirit, can break down this opposition, and bring him to submit to God. Still the means are to be used by men, and means adapted to the end, skillfully used. God has provided that the work of conversion and sanctification shall in all cases be done by means of that kind of truth, applied in that connection and relation, which is fitted to produce such a result. 3 He has the powers of earth and hell to overcome, and that calls for wisdom. The devil is constantly at work, trying to prevent the success of ministers, laboring to divert the attention from the subject of religion, and to get the sinner away from God and lead him down to hell. The whole frame-work of society, almost, is hostile to religion. Nearly all the influences which surround a man, from his cradle to his grave, m the pre¬ sent state of society, are calculated to defeat the design of the ministry. Does not a minister then need great wisdom, to con¬ flict with the powers of darkness and the whole influence of the world, in addition to the sinner’s own opposition? 3 . The same is seen from the infinite importance of the end itself. The end of the ministry, is the salvation of the soul. When we consider the importance of the end, and the difficulties of the work, who will not say with the apostle, “ Who is suffi¬ cient for these things?” 4. He must understand how to wake up the church, and get them out of the way of the conversion of sinners. This is often the most difficult part of a minister’s work, and requires more wisdom and patience than any thing else. Indeed, to do this successfully, is a most rare qualification in the Christian minis¬ try. It is a point where almost all ministers fail. They know not how to wake up the church, and raise the tone of piety A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 163 ;o a high standard, and thus clear the way for the work of con¬ version. Many ministers can preach to sinners very well, but yain little success, while the counteracting influence of the ffiurch resists it all, and they have not skill enough to remove he difficulty. There is only here and there a minister in the •ountry, who knows how to probe the church when they are in a , *,old, backslidden state, so as effectually to wake them up, and 1 ceep them awake. The members of the church sin against such light, that when they become cold it is very difficult to rouse hem up. They have a form of piety which wards off the truth, vhile at the same time it is just that kind of piety which has no xnver nor efficiency. Such professors are the most difficult in- lividuals to arouse from their slumbers. I do not mean that hey are always more wicked than the impenitent. They are fften employed about the machinery of religion, and pass for |/ery good Christians, but are of no use in a revival. I know ministers are sometimes amazed to hear it said that j ffiurches are not awake. No wonder such ministers do not enow how to wake a sleeping church. There was a young Licentiate heard brother Foote the other day, in this city, pour- ng out truth, and trying to wake up the churches, and he knew 50 little about it, that he thought it was abusing the churches. So l perfectly blind was he that he really thought the churches in ; New York were all awake on the subject of religion. So some /•ears ago there was a great controversy and opposition raised, oecause so much was said about the churches being asleep. It vas all truth, yet many ministers knew nothing about it, and were astonished to hear such things said about the churches. When it has come to this, that ministers do not know when the church is asleep, no wonder that we have no revivals. I was invited once to preach at a certain place. I asked the minister what was the state of the church. “ O,” says he, “ to a man hey are awake.” I was delighted at the idea of laboring in such* a church, for it was a sight I had never yet seen, to see every single member awake in a revival. But when I got there, [ found the church sleepy and cold, and I doubt whether one of hem was awake. Here is the great difficulty in keeping up revivals, to keep he church thoroughly awake and engaged. It is one thing for i church to get up in their sleep, and bluster about and run over 3ach other: and a widely different thing for them to have their jyes open, and their senses about them, and be wide awake, so is to know how to find God, and how to work for Christ. 5. He must know how to set the church to work , when they \ 164 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. are awake. If a minister attempts to go to work alone, calcu¬ lating to do it all himself, it is like attempting to roll a great stone up a hill alone. The church can do much to help forward a revival. Churches have sometimes had powerful revivals with¬ out any minister. But when a minister has a church who are awake, and knows how to set them to work, and how to sit at the helm and guide them, he may feel strong, and oftentimes may find that they do more than he does himself, in the conver¬ sion of sinners. 6 . In order to he successful, a minister needs great wisdom to know how to keep the church to the work. Often the church seem just like children. You set children to work, and they appear to be all engaged, but as soon as your back is turned, they will stop and go to play. The great difficulty in continuing a revival, lies here. And to meet it requires great wisdom. To know how to break them down again, when their heart gets lifted up because they have had such a great revival; to wake them up afresh when their zeal begins to flag; to keep their hearts full of zeal for the work; these are some of the most dif¬ ficult things in the world. Yet if a minister would be success¬ ful in winning souls, he must know when they first begin to grow T proud, or to lose the spirit of prayer, and when to probe them, and how to search them over again, how to keep the church in the field, gathering the harvest of the Lord. 7. He must understand the gospel. But you will ask, Do not all ministers understand the gospel? I answer, that they certainly do not all understand it alike, for they do not all preach alike. 8 . He must know how to divide it, so as to bring forward the particular truths, in that order, and to make them bear upon those points and at such times, as are calculated to produce a given result. A minister should understand the philosophy of the human mind, so as to know how to plan and arrange his labors wisely. Truth, when brought to bear upon the m'ind, is in itself calculated to produce corresponding feelings. The minister must know what feelings he wishes to produce, and how to bring such truth to bear as is calculated to produce these feelings. He must know how to present truth calculated to humble Christians, or to make them feel for sinners, or to awaken sinners, or to convert them. Often, when sinners are awakened, the ground is lost for the want of wisdom in following up the blow. Perhaps a rousing sermon is preached, Christians are moved, and sinners begin to feel, and the next Sabbath something will be brought for- A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 165 trard that has no connection with the state of feeling in the ongregation, and that is not calculated to lead the mind on to ie exercise of right feelings. It shows how important it is lat a minister should understand how to produce a given im- ression, at what time it may and should be done, and by what •uth, and how to follow it up, till the sinner is broken down nd brought in. A great many good sermons preached, are all lost for the /■ant of a little wisdom here. They are good sermons, and alculated, if well timed, to do great good; but they have so ttle connection with the actual state of feeling in the congre- ation, that it would be more than a miracle if they should roduce a revival. A minister may preach in this* random r ay till he has preached himself to death, and never produce ay great results. He may convert here and there a scattering ml; but he will not move the mass of the congregation, unless e knows how to follow up his impressions, to carry out a plan operations and execute it, so as to carry on the work when is begun. He must not only be able to blow the trumpet so >ud as to start the sinner up from his lethargy, but when he waked, he must lead him by the shortest way to Jesus Christ. And not as soon as sinners are roused by a sermon, amediately begin to preach about some remote subject, that as no tendency to carry on the work. 9. To reach different cdasses of sinners successfully , requires reat wisdom on the part of a minister. For instance, a ser- on on a particular subject may start a particular class of per¬ ms among his hearers. Perhaps they will begin to look :rious, or perhaps talk about it, or perhaps they will begin to ivil about it. Now, if the minister is wise, he will know how observe those indications, and to follow right on with ser- ons adapted to this class, until he leads them into the king- mi of God. Then let him go back and take another class, id out where they are hid, break down their refuges, and fol- w them up, till he leads them into the kingdom of God. He lould thus beat about every bush where sinners liide them- lves, as the voice of God followed Adam in the garden— Adam, where art thou?” till one class of hearers after lother are brought in, and so the whole community converted, ow a minister must be very wise to do this. It never will } done so, till a minister sets himself to hunt out and bring in "ery class of sinners in his congregation, the old and young, ale and female, rich and poor. 10. A minister needs great wisdom to get si. mers away from 166 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. their present refuges oflies, without forming new hiding places for them. I once sat under the ministry of a man who had contracted a great alarm about heresies, and was constantly em¬ ployed in confuting them. And he used to bring up many such heresies as his people never heard of. He got his ideas chiefly from books, and mingled very little among the people to know what they thought. And the result of his labors often was that the people would be taken with the heresy, more than with the argument against it. The novelty of the error attracted their attention so much that they forgot the answer. And in that way, he gave many of his people new objections against re¬ ligion, such as they never thought of before. If a man does not mingle enough with mankind to know how people think now-a- days, he cannot expect to be wise to meet their objections and difficulties. . r I have heard a great deal of preaching against Umyersaiists, that did more hurt than good, because the preachers did not un¬ derstand how Universalists of the present day reason. They have never mingled with Universalists, and know not r\hat thmy believe and how they argue, noio , but have got all they know of Universal ism from books that were written long ago, and are now out of date among Universalists themselves. And the conse¬ quence, is that when they attempt to preach against Umversalism they oppose a man of straw, and not Universalist sentiments as they are now found in the community. And people either laugh at them, or say it is all lies, for they know Universalists do not hold such sentiments as are ascribed to them by the preacher. When ministers undertake to oppose a present heresy, they ought to know what it is at present. For instance, almost all those who write and preach against Universalism think they are called upon to oppose the idea that God is all mercy. They suppose Universalists hold the doctrine that God is all meicy, and that when they have refuted this doctrine, they have got Uni¬ versalists down. But this is not true. They do not hold such doctrine. They deny it altogether. They reject the idea of mercy in the salvation of men, for they hold that every man is punished in full according to his just deserts. Of what use is it then, to argue against Universalists, that God is a God of jus¬ tice and not a God all mercy, when they hold to the justice of God alone as the ground of salvation, and do not admit the idea of mercy at all ? In like manner, I have heard men preach against the idea that men are saved in their sins, and they sup¬ posed they were preaching down Universalist doctrine. Uni¬ versalists believe no such thing. They believe that all men A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SOCCESSFUL. 167 vill be made holy, and saved in that way. This shows the im- lortance of knowing what people actually hold, before you try d reason them out of their errors. It is of no use to misrepre- ent a man’s doctrines to his face, and then try to reason him ut of them. You must state his doctrine just as he holds it, nd state his arguments fairly. Otherwise, if you state them /rong, you either make him angry, or he laughs in his sleeve t the advantage you give him. He will say, That man can’t rgue with me on fair grounds; he has to misrepresent our octrines in order to confute me. Great hurt is done in this /ay. Ministers do not intend to misrepresent their opponents ; jut the effect of it is, that the poor miserable creatures who old these errors go to hell, because ministers do not take care ) inform themselves what are their real errors. Errors are ever torn away by such a process. I mention these cases, to howhowmuch wisdom a minister must have to meet the cases lat occur. He must be acquainted with the real views of ! 'ien in order to meet them, and do away their errors and mis- ikes. 11. Ministers ought to know what measures are best calcula- :d to aid in accomplishing the great end of their office, the ilvation of souls. Some measures are plainly necessary. By leasures I mean what things should be done to get the atten- on of the people, and bring them to listen to the truth. Build- »g houses for worship, and visiting from house to house, &-c. re all “ measures,” the object of which is to get the attention of eople to the gospel. Much wisdom is requisite to devise id carry forward all the various measures that are adapted to .vor the success of the gospel. What do the politicians do ? They get up meetings, circu- .te handbills and pamphlets, blaze away in the newspapers, rnd their ships about the streets on wheels with flags and sail¬ 's, send coaches all over town, with handbills, to bring people *p to the polls, all to gain attention to their cause and elect their mdidate. All these are their “measures,” and for their end ,ey are wisely calculated. The object is to get up an excite- ent, and bring the people out. They know that unless there m be an excitement it is in vain to push their end. I do not ean to say that their measures are pious, or right, but only at they are wise, in the sense that they are the appropriate ^plication of means to the end. The object of the ministry is to get ail the people to feel that e devil has no right to rule this world, but that they ought all give themselves to God, and vote in the Lord Jesus Christas 168 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. the governor of the universe. Now what shall he done? What measures shall we take? Says one, “ Be sure and have nothing that is new.” Strange! The object of our measures is to gain attention, and you must have something new. As sure as the effect of a measure becomes stereotyped, it ceases to gain atten¬ tion, and then you must try something new. You need not make innovations in every thing. But whenever the state of things is such that any thing more is needed, it must be some¬ thing new , otherwise it will tail. A minister should never in¬ troduce innovations that are not called for. If he does, they will embarrass him. He cannot alter the gospel; that remains the same. But new measures are necessary from time to time, to awaken attention, and bring the gospel to bear upon the pub¬ lic mind. And then a minister ought to know how to introduce new things, so as to create the least possible resistance or reac¬ tion. Mankind are fond of form in religion. They love to have their religious duties stereotyped, so as to leave them at ease. And they are therefore inclined to resist any new move¬ ment, designed to rouse them up to action and feeling. Hence it is all-important to introduce new things wisely, so as not to give needless occasion or apology for resistance. 12. Not a little wisdom is sometimes needed by a minister, to know when to 'put a stop to new measures. When a measure has novelty enough to secure attention to the truth, ordinarily no other new measure should be introduced. You have secured the great object of novelty. Any thing more will be in danger of diverting the public mind away from the great object, and fixing it on the measures themselves. And then, if you intro¬ duce novelties when they are not called for, you will go over so large a field, that by and by when you really want something new, you will have nothing else to introduce, without doing something that will give too great a shock to the public mind. The Bible has laid down no specific course of measures to pro¬ mote revivals of religion, but has left it to ministers to adopt such as are wisely calculated to secure the end. And the more sparing we are of our new things, the longer we can use them, to keep public attention awake to the great subject of religion. By a wise course this may undoubtedly be done for a long se¬ ries of years, until our present measures will by and by have sufficient novelty in them again, to attract and fix public atten¬ tion. And so we shall never want for something new. 13. A minister, to win souls, must know how to deal with careless , with awakened , and with anxious sinners, so as to lead them right to Christ in the shortest and most direct way. It is A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 169 mazing to see how many ministers there are who do not know ow to deal with sinners, or what to say to them in their various ates of mind. A good woman in Albany told me, that when le was under concern she went to her minister, and asked im to tell her what she must do to get relief. And he said od had not given him much experience on the subject, and ad- sed her to go to such a deacon, who perhaps could tell her hat to do. The truth was, he did not know what to say to a nner under conviction, although there was nothing peculiar in ?r case. Now if you think this minister a rare case, you are i:te deceived. There are many ministers who do not know hat to say to sinners. A minister once appointed an anxious meeting, and went to tend it, and instead of going round to the individuals, he be- in to ask them the catechism, “ Wherein doth Christ execute e office of a priest?” About as much in point to a great any of their minds as any thing else, I know a minister who held an anxious meeting, and went attend it with a written discourse , which he had prepared I r the occasion. Just as wise as it would be if a physician, dng out to visit his patients, should sit down at leisure and rite all the prescriptions before he had seen them. A minis- r needs to know the state of mind of the individuals, before he m know what truth will be proper and useful to administer, say these things, not because I love to do it, but because uth, and the object before me, requires them to be said. And ; ich instances as I have mentioned are by no means rare. A minister should know how to apply truth to all the situa- 3ns in which he may find dying sinners going down to hell. ie should know how to preach, how to pray, how to conduct >ayer meetings, and how to use all the means for bringing the uth of God to bear upon the kingdom of darkness. Does not '.is require wisdom? And who is sufficient for these things? ' II. The amount of a minister’s success in winning souls 'ther things being equal) invariably decides the amount of isdom he has exercised in the discharge of his office. 1. This is plainly asserted in the text. “He that winneth Vuls is wise.” That is, if a man wins souls, he does skill- lly adapt means to the end, which is, to exercise wisdom, le is the more wise, by how much the greater is the number ’ sinners that he saves. A blockhead may indeed now and ien stumble on such truth, or such a manner of exhibiting it, 5 to save a soul. It would be a wonder indeed if any minister d not sometimes have something in his sermons that would 15 170 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. meet the case of some individual. But the a^unt of wisdom is to be decided, “ other things being equal, by the number of cases in which he is successful in converting sin- ner s. Take the case of a physician. The greatest quack in New York may now and then stumble upon a remai liable cui e, and so o-et his name up with the ignorant. But sober and judicious people judge of the skill of a physician by the uniformity of his success in overcoming disease, the variety of diseases he can manage, and the number of cases in which he is successful m saving his patients. The most skillful saves the most, is common sense. It is truth. And it is just as tiue in regard to success in saving souls, and true in just the same sense. 2. This principle is not only asserted in the text, but it is a matter of fact, a historical truth, that “He that winneth souls is wise.” ' He has actually employed means adapted to the end, in such a way as to secure the end. 3. Success in saving souls is evidence that a man understands the gospel, and understands human nature, that he knows how to adapt means to his end, that he has common sense, and that he has that kind of tact, that practical discernment, to know how to get at people. And if his success is extensive, it shows that he knows how to deal with a great variety of characters, in a great variety of circumstances, who are yet all the enemies of God, and to bring them to Christ. To do this, requires great wisdom. And the minister who does it, shows that he is wise. 4. Success in winning souls shows that a minister not only knows how to labor wisely for that end, but also, that he knows where his dependence is. You know that fears are often ex¬ pressed respecting those ministers who are aiming most directly and earnestly for the conversion of sinners. People say, “Why, this man is going to work in his own strength; one would imagine he thinks he can convert souls himself.” How often has the event showed that the man knows w r hat he is about, very well, and knows where his strength is too. He went to work to convert sinners so earnestly, just as if he could do it all himself; but that was the very way he should do. He ought to reason with sinners, and plead with them, as faith¬ fully and fully, as if he did not expect any interposition of the Spirit of God, or as if he knew there was no Holy Ghost. But whenever a man does this successfully, it shows that, after all, he knows he must depend on the Spirit of God alone for success. Objection. —There are many who feel ail objection against A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 171 his subject, arising out of the view they have taken of the min¬ istry of Jesus Christ. They ask us, “ What will you say about he ministry of Jesus Christ, was not he wise?” I answer, Yes, infinitely wise. But in regard to his alleged want of success in the conversion of sinners, you will observe the fol- owing things: (l.) That his ministry was vastly more successful than is generally supposed. We read in one of the sacred writers, that fter his resurrection and before his ascension “ he was seen by hove five hundred brethren at once.’ 1 If so many as five hun¬ dred brethren were found assembled together at one place, we ee there must have been a vast number of them scattered over he country. (2.) Another circumstance to be observed is, that his public ministry was very short, less than three years. (3.) Consider the peculiar design of his ministry. His main bject was to make atonement for the sins of the world. It was ot aimed so much at promoting revivals. The “ dispensation f the Spirit” was not yet given. He did not preach the gospel o fully as his apostles did afterwards. The prejudices of the eople were so fixed and violent that they would not bear it. Tat he did not, is plain from the fact that even his apostles, ' To were constantly with him, did not understand the atone- lent. They did not get the idea that he was going to die, and onsequently, when they heard he was actually dead, they were riven to despair, and thought the thing was all gone by, and j ieir hopes blown to the winds. The fact was, that he had mother object in view, to which every thing else was made to field, and the perverted state of the public mind, and the obsti- ate prejudices prevailing, showed why results were not seen ny more in the conversion of sinners. The state of public | pinion was such, that they finally murdered him for what he id preach. Many ministers who have little or no success, are hiding lemselves behind the ministry of Jesus Christ, as if he was an nsuccessful preacher. Whereas, in fact, he was eminently lccessful, considering the circumstances in which he labored, ’his is the last place in all the world where a minister who is no success should think of hiding himself. REMARKS. 1 ^ 1 . A minister may be very learned and not wise. There are any ministers possessed of great learning ; they understand all e sciences, physical, moral, and theological; they may know \ i 172 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. the dead languages, and possess all learning, and yet not be wise, in relation to the great end about which they are chiefly em¬ ployed. Facts clearly demonstrate this. “ He that winneth souls is wise.” 2. An unsuccessful minister may be pious as well as learned, and yet not wise. It is unfair to infer because a minister is unsuccessful, that therefore he is a hypocrite. There may be something defective in his education, or in his mode of viewing a subject, or of exhibiting it, or such a want of comm.on sense , as will defeat his labors, and prevent his success in winning souls, while he himself may be saved—“ yet so as by fire.” 3. A minister may be very ivise, though he is not learned. He may not understand the dead languages, or theology in its common acceptation; and yet he may know just what a minis¬ ter of the gospel wants most to know, without knowing many other things. A learned minister and a wise minister are dif¬ ferent things. Facts in the history of the church in all ages prove this. It is very common for churches, when looking out for a minister, to aim at getting a very learned man. Do not understand me to disparage learning. The more learning the better, if he is also wise in the great matter he is employed about. If a minister knows how to win souls, the more learn¬ ing he has the better. But if he has any other kind of learning, and not this , he will infallibly fail of the end of his ministry. 4. Want of success in a minister ( other things being equal) proves, (1.) either that he was never called to preach, and has taken it up out of his own head; or (2.) that he was badly edu¬ cated, and was never taught the very things he wants most to know; or (3,) if he was called to preach, and knows how to do his duty, he is too indolent and too wicked to do it. 5. Those are the best educated ministers , who win the most souls. Ministers are sometimes looked down upon, and called very ignorant, because they do not know the sciences and languages; although they are very far from being ignorant of the great thing for which the ministry is appointed. This is wrong. Learning is important, and always useful. But after all, a min¬ ister may know how to win souls to Christ, without great learning, and he has the best education/or a minister , who can win the most souls to Christ. 6 . There is evidently a great defect in the present mode of educating ministers. This is a SOLEMN FACT, to w T hich the attention of the whole church should be distinctly called; that the great mass of young ministers who are educated ac¬ complish very little. A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 173 When young men come out from the seminaries, are they fit to go into a revival? Look at a place where there has been a revival in progress, and a minister is wanted. Let them send to a theological seminary for a minister. Will he enter into the work, and sustain it, and carry it on ? Seldom. Like David with Saul’s armor, he comes in with such a load of theo¬ logical trumpery, that he knows nothing what to do. Leave him there for two weeks, and the revival is at an end. The churches know and feel, that the greater part of these young anen do not know howto do any thing that needs to be done for a revival, and they are complaining that the young ministers are so far behind the church. You may send all over the United States, to theological seminaries, and find but few young minis¬ ters fitted to carry forward the work. What a state of things ! There is a grand defect in educating ministers. Education ought to be such, as to prepare young men for the peculiar work to which they are destined. But instead of this, they are educated for any thing else. The grand mistake is this. They direct the mind too much to irrelevant matters , which are not necessary to be attended to. In their courses of study, they carry the mind over too wide a field, which diverts their attention from the main thing, and so they get cold in religion, and when they get through, instead of being fitted for their work, they are unfitted for it. Un¬ der pretence of disciplining the mind, they in fact scatter the attention, so that when they come to their work, they are awk¬ ward, and know nothing how to take hold, or how to act, to win souls. This is not universally the case, but too often it is so. It is common for people to talk loudly and. largely about an educated ministry. God forbid that I should say a word against an educated ministry. But what do we mean by an education for the ministry ? Do we mean that they should be so educated, as do be fitted for the work ? If they are so educated, the more edu¬ cation the better. Let education be of the right kind, teaching a young man the things he wants to know, and not the very things he don’t want to know. Let them be educated/or the work. Do not let education be such, that when young men come out, after spending six, eight, or ten years in study, they are not worth half as much as they were before they went. I have known young men come out after what they call “ a thorough course,” who were not fit to take charge of a prayer meeting, and who could not manage a prayer meeting, so as to make it profitable or interesting. An elder of a church in a neighboring city, in¬ formed me recently of a case in point. A young man, before he went to the seminary, had labored as a layman with them, con- 15 * 174 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. ducted their prayer meetings, and had been exceedingly useful among them. After he had been to the seminary, they sent for him and desired his help ; but O, how changed ! he was so com¬ pletely transformed, that he made no impression; the church soon began to complain that they should die under his influences, and he left, because he was not prepared for the work. It is common for those ministers who have been to the semi¬ naries, and are now useful, to affirm that their course of studies there did them little or no good, and that they had to unlearn what they had there learned, before they could effect much. I do not say this censoriously, but it is a solemn fact, and l must say it in love. Suppose you were going to make a man a surgeon in the navy. Instead of sending him to the medical school to learn surgery, would you send him to the nautical school to learn na¬ vigation? In this way, you might qualify him to navigate a ship, but he is no surgeon. Ministers should be educated to know what the Bible is, and what the human mind is, and know how to bring one to bear on the other. They should be brought into contact with mind, and made familiar with all the aspects of society. They should have the Bible in one hand, and the map of the human mind in the other, and know how to use the truth for the salvation of men. 7. A want of common sense often defeats the ends of the Christian ministry. There are many good men in the ministry, who have learning, and talents of a certain sort, but they have no common sense to win souls. 8 . We see one great defect in our theological schools.— Young men are shut up in their schools, confined to books and shut out from intercourse with the common people, or con¬ tact with the common mind. Hence they are not familiar with the mode in which common people think. This accounts for the fact that some plain men, that have been brought up to business, and acquainted with human nature, are ten times bet¬ ter qualified to win souls than those who are educated on the present principle, and are in fact ten times as well acquainted with the proper business of the ministry. These are called “uneducated men.” This is a grand mistake. They are not learned in science, but they are learned in the very things which they need to know as ministers. They are not ignorant ministers, for they know exactly how to reach the mind with truth. They understand the minds of men, and how to adapt the gospel to their case. They are better furnished for their work, than if they had all the machinery of the schools. V WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 175 1 wish to be understood. I do not say, that I would not have young- man go to school. Nor would I discourage him from foing over the field of science. The more the better, if togeth- r with it he learns also the things that the minister needs to mow, in order to win souls,—if he understands his Bible, and nderstands human nature, and knows how to bring the truth to ear, and how to guide and manage minds, and to lead them way from sin and lead them to God. 9. The success of any measure designed to promote a revival of ion, demonstrates its wisdom; with the following exceptions : (1.) A measure may be introduced for effect to produce ex- itement, and be such that when it is looked back upon after¬ wards, it will look nonsensical, and appear to have been a mere •ick. In that case, it will re-act, and its introduction will do i.iore hurt than good. -r (2.) Measures may be introduced, and the revival be very owerful, and the success be attributed to the measures , when in ict other things made the revival powerful, and these very reasures may have been a hinderance. The prayers of Chris- ans, and the preaching, and other things may have been so well calculated to carry on the work, that it has succeeded in 'oite of these measures. But when the blessing evidenfly follows the introduction of le measure itself the proof is unanswerable, that the measure t wise. It is profane to say that such a measure will do more urt than good. God knows about that. His object is, to do le greatest amount of good possible. And of course he will ot add his blessing to a measure that will do more hurt than |j ood. He may sometimes withhold his blessing from a mea- are that is calculated to do some good, because it will be at the 'xpense of a greater good. But he never will bless a pernicious roceeding. There is no such thing as deceiving God in the j latter. He knows whether a given measure is on, the whole, wise, or not. He may bless a course of labors notwithstand- i lg some unwise or injurious measures. But if he blesses the leasure itself it is rebuking God to pronounce if unwise. He fho undertakes to do this, let him look to the matter. 10 . It is evident that much fault has been found with mea- tares, which have been 'pre-eminently and continually blessed f God for the promotion of revivals. We know it is said lat the horrid oaths of a profane swearer have been the means 1 f awakening another less hardened sinner. But this is a rare ! ase. God does not usually make such a use of profanity. But a measure is continually or usually blessed, let the man who 176 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSPUL. thinks he is wiser than God, call it in question. TAKE CARE ! how you find fault with God. 11. Christians should pray for ministers. Brethren, if you felt how much ministers need wisdom to perform the duties of their great office with success, and how ignorant they all are, and how insufficient they are of themselves, to think any thing as of themselves, you would pray for them a great deal more than you do ; that is, if you cared any thing for the success of their labors. People often find fault with ministeis, when they don’t pray for them. Brethren, this is tempting God, for you ought not to expect any better ministers, unless you pray for them. And you ought not to expect a blessing on the labors of your minister, or to have your families converted by his preach¬ ing, where you do not pray for him. And so for others, the waste places, and the heathen, instead of praying all the time, only that God would send out more laborers, you have need to pray that God would make ministers wise to win souls , and that those he sends out may be property educated, so that they shall be scribes well instructed in the kingdom of God,. 12. Those laymen in the church who know howto win souls are to be counted wise. They should not be called “ ignorant laymen.” And those church members who do not know how to convert sinners, and who cannot win souls, should not be called wise— as Christians. They are not wise Chiistians, only “he that winneth souls is wise.” They may be learned in politics, in all sciences, or they may be skilled in the man¬ agement of business, or other things, and they may look down on those who win souls, as nothing but plain, simple-hearted and ignorant men. If any of you are inclined to do this, and to undervalue those brethren who win souls, as being not so wise and cunning as you are, you deceive yourselves. They may not know some things which you know. But they know those things which a Christian is most concerned to know, and you do not. It may be illustrated by the case of a minister that goes to sea. He may be learned in science, but he knows nothing how to sail a ship. And he begins to ask the sailors about this thing and that, and what is this rope for, and the x like. “ Why,” sav the sailors, “ these are not ropes, we have only one rope in a ship, these are the rigging, the man talks like a fool.” And so this learned man becomes a laughing-stock, perhaps, to the sailors, because he does not know how to sail a ship. But if he were to tell them one half of what he knows about science, perhaps they would think him a conjurer, to know so much, A WISE MINISTER WILL, BE SVCCESfjFVE. 177 So learned students may understand their hie, hae, hoc, very well, and may laugh at the humble Christian, and call him ignorant, although he may know how to win more souls than five hundred of them. I was once distressed and grieved at hearing a minister bear¬ ing down upon a young preacher, who had been converted under remarkable circumstances, and who was licensed to preach, without pursuing a regular course of study. This min¬ ister. who was never, or at least very rarely known to con¬ vert a soul, bore down upon the young man in a very lordly, censorious manner, depreciating him because he had not had he advantage of a liberal education, when in fact he was in¬ strumental in converting more souls than any five hundred ninisters like himself. I would say nothing to undervalue, or lead you to undervalue a thorough education for ministers. But I do not call that a thorough education , which they get in our colleges and semi- raries. It does not fit them for their work. I appeal to all experience, whether our young men in seminaries are tho- •oughly educated for the purpose of winning souls. Do they )0 it? Every body knows they do not. Look at the reports )f the Home Missionary Society. If I recollect right, in 1830, the lumber of conversions in connection with the labors of the mis¬ sionaries of that society did not exceed five to each missionary. [ believe the number has increased since, but is still excee'd- ngly small to what it would have been had they been fitted by i right course of training for their work. I do not say this to •eproach them, for from my heart I pity them, and I pity the fchurch for being under the necessity of supporting ministers so rained, or none at all. They are the best men the Missionary Society can obtain. I suppose, of course, that I shall be re¬ proached for saying this. But it is too true and too painful to be concealed. Those fathers who have the training of our foung ministers are good men, but they are ancient men, men if another age and stamp, from what is needed in these days of excitement, when the church and world are rising to new drought and action. Those dear fathers will not, I suppose, ree this; and will perhaps think hard of me for saying it; but t is the cause of Christ. Some of them are getting back oward second childhood, and ought to resign, and give place i;o younger men, who are not rendered physically incapable, •by age, of keeping pace with the onward movements of the .church. And here I would say, that to my own mind, it ap¬ pears evident, that unless our theological professors preach a I 178 A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. good deal, mingle much with the church, and sympathise with her in all her movements, it is morally, if not naturally impos¬ sible, that they should succeed in training young men to the spirit of the age. It is a shame and a sin, that theological pro¬ fessors, who preach but seldom, who are withdrawn from the active duties of the ministry, should sit in their studies and write their letters, advisory, or dictatorial, to ministers and churches who are in the field, and who are in circumstances to judge what needs to be done. The men who spend all or at least a portion of their time in the active duties of the ministry, are the only men who are able to judge of what is expedient or inexpedient, prudent or imprudent, as to measures from time to time. And it is as dangerous and ridiculous for our theolo¬ gical professors, who are withdrawn from the field of conflict, to be allowed to dictate, in regard to the measures and move¬ ments of the church, as it would be for a general to sit in his bed-chamber and attempt to order a battle. Two ministers were one day conversing about another min¬ ister whose labors were greatly blessed in the conversion of some thousands of souls. One of them said, “ That man ought not to preach any more; he should stop and go to” a particular theological seminary which he named, “ and go through a regu¬ lar course of study.” He said the man had “ a good mind, and if he was thoroughly educated, he might be very useful.” The other replied, “ Do you think he would be more useful for going to that seminary? I challenge you to show by facts that any are more useful who have been there. No, sir, the fact is, that since this man has been in the ministry, he has been instrumen¬ tal in converting more souls than all the young men who have come from that seminary in the time.” This is logic! Stop, and go to a seminary, to prepare himself for converting souls, when he is now converting more than all who come from the seminary! Finally —I wish to ask you, before I sit down, who among you can lay any claim to the possession of this Divine wisdom? Who among you, laymen ? Who among you, ministers ? Can any of you? Can I? Are we at work, wisely, to win souls? Or are we trying to make ourselves believe that success is no criterion of wisdom ? It is a criterion. It is a safe criterion for every minister to try himselfby. The amount of his success, other things being equal , measures the amount of wisdom he has exercised in the discharge of his office. How few of you have ever had wisdom enough to convert so much as a single sinner! A WISE MINISTER WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. 179 I I Don’t say now, “ I cannot convert sinners; how can I con¬ vert sinners? God alone can convert sinners.” Look at the text, “ He that winneth souls is wise,” and do not think you can escape the sentence. It is true that God converts sinners. But there is a sense, too, in which ministers convert them. And you have something to do; something that requires wisdom; something which, if you do it wisely, will insure the conversion of sinners in proportion to the wisdom employed. If you never have done this, it is high time to think about yourselves, and see whether you have wisdom enough to save even your own souls. J Men women—you are bound to be wise in winning souls. Perhaps already souls have perished; perhaps a friend, or a child is in hell, because you have not put forth the wisdom which you might, in saving them. The city is going to hell. Yes, the world is going to hell, and must go on, till the church finds out what to do, to win souls. Politicians are wise. The children of this world are wise, they know what to do to accom¬ plish their ends, while we are prosing about, not knowing what .o do, or where to take hold of the work, and sinners are going to hell. lecture XII. HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. Text.— He that winneth souls is wise.”-—P roverbs xi. 30. One of the last remarks in my last lecture, was this, that the text ascribes conversion to men. Winning souls is converting men. This evening I design to show, I. That several passages of Scripture ascribe conversion to men. II That this is consistent with other passages which ascribe conversion to God. . III. I purpose to discuss several further particulars which are deemed important, in regard to the preaching ol the gospel, and which show that great practical wisdom is necessary to win souls to Christ. I I am to show that the Bible ascribes conversion to men. There are many passages which represent the conversion of sinners as the work of men. In Daniel, xii. 3, it is said, ‘‘And they that he wise, shall shine as the brightness of the, firma- nent; and they that turn many to righteousness as stars tor ever and ever.” Here the work is ascribed to men. . So also m l Cor. iv. 15. “ For though ye have ten thousand instructors m Christ, yet have ye not many fathers : for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” Here the apostle explicitly tells the Corinthians that he made them Christians, with the o-ospel or truth which he preached. Again, in James, v. 19, 20, we are taught the same thing. “ Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sms. might quote many other passages, equally explicit. But these are sufficient abundantly to establish the fact, that the Bib e does actually ascribe conversion to men. . II. I proceed to show that this is not inconsistent with those passages in which conversion is ascribed to God. And here let me remark, that to my mind it often appeals very strange that men should ever suppose there was an incon¬ sistency here, or that they should ever have overlooked the plain common sense of the matter. How easy it is to see, that there is a sense in which God converts them, and another sense in which men convert them. HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL, 181 # The Scriptures ascribe the conversion of a sinner to four dif¬ ferent agencies—to men, to God , to the truth , and to the sinner himself. The passages which ascribe it to the truth are the lar¬ gest class. That men should ever have overlooked this distinc- I tion, and should have regarded conversion as a work performed exclusively by God, is surprising. Or that any difficulty should ever have been felt on the subject, or that people should ever have professed themselves unable to reconcile these several classes of passages. Why, the Bible speaks on this subject, precisely as we speak 3 n common subjects. There is a man who has been very sick. Bow natural it is for him to say of his physician, “ That man saved my life.” Does he mean to say that the physician saved I'jiis life without reference to God? Certainly not, unless he is in infidel. God made the physician, and he made the medicine oo. And it never can be shown but that the agency of God is ust as truly concerned in making the medicine take effect to save life, as it is in making the truth take effect to save i soul. To affirm the contrary is downright atheism. It s true then, that the physician saved him, and it is also true hat God saved him. It is equally true that the medicine saved lis life, and that he saved his own life by taking the medicine; or the medicine would have done no good if he had not volun- arily taken it, or yielded his body to its power. In the conversion of a sinner, it is true that God gives the ruth efficiency to turn the sinner to God. He is an active, vo- untary, powerful agent in changing the mind. But he is not he only agent. The one who brings the truth to his notice is •Iso an agent. We are apt to speak of ministers and other nen as only instruments in converting sinners. This is not exactly correct. Man is something more than an instrument. Truth is the mere unconscious instrument. But man is more, ie is a voluntary, responsible agent in the business. In my printed sermon, No. 1. which some of you may have seen, I have llustrated this idea by the case of an individual standing on the anks of Niagara. “ Suppose yourself to be standing on the banks of the Falls f Niagara. As you stand upon the verge of the precipice, ou behold a man lost in deep reverie, approaching its verge nconscious of his danger. He approaches nearer and nearer, ntil he actually lifts his foot to take the final step that shall lunge him in destruction. At this moment you lift your warn- ag vo: ce above the roar of the foaming waters, and cry out, •top. The voice pierces his ear, and breaks the charm that 16 182 HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. binds him; he turns instantly upon his heel, all pale and aghast he retires, quivering, from the verge ot death. He reels and almost swoons with horror ; turns and walks slowly to the pub¬ lic house: you follow him 5 the manifest agitation in is oouiy tenance calls numbers around him; and on your approach, he | points to you, and says, That man saved my life. Here he as¬ cribes the work to you; and certainly there is a sense in which you had saved him. But, on being further questioned, he says, Stop ! how that word rings in my ears. Oh, that was to me the word of life! Here he ascribes it to the word that aroused him, and caused him to turn. But, on conversing still further, he says, Had I not turned at that instant, I should have been a dead man. Here he speaks of it, and truly, as his own act; but directly you hear him say, O the mercy of God! if God had not interposed, I should have been lost. Now the only defect in this illustra¬ tion is this: In the case supposed, the only interference on the part of God, was a ‘providential one; and the only sense m which the saving of the man s life is ascribed to him, is in a pro¬ vidential sense. But in the conversion of a sinner, there is some¬ thing more than the providence 01 God employed., for here not only does the providence of God so order it, that the preacher cries, Stop, but the Spirit of God urges the truth home upon him with such tremendous power as to induce him to turn.” . Not only does the preacher cry, Stop, but through the living- voice of the preacher, the Spirit cries, Stop. ”1 he preacher cries, “ Turn ye, why will ye die.” The Spirit pours the expostula¬ tion home with such power, that the sinner turns. Nov/ in speaking of this change, it is perfectly proper to say, that the Spirit turned him, just as you would say ol a man, who had persuaded another to change his mind on the subject of politics, that he had converted him, and brought him over. It is also proper to say that the truth converted him; as in a case when the political sentiments of a man were changed by a certain argu¬ ment, we should say that argument brought him over. So also with perfect propriety may we abscribe the change to the living preacher, or to him who had presented the motives; just as wo should say of a lawyer who had prevailed in his argument with a jury; he has got his case, he has converted the jury. It is also with the same propriety ascribed to the individual himself whose heart is changed; we should say that he had changed his mind, he has come over, he has repented. Now it is strictly true, and true in the most absolute and highest sense: the act is his own act, the turning is his own turning, while God by the HOW- TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 183 ruth has induced him to turn ; still it is strictly true that he has urned and has done it himself. Thus you see the sense in which t is the work of God, and also the sense in which it is the sin- ler’s own work. The Spirit, of God, by the truth, influences he sinner to change, and in this sense is the efficient cause of he change. But the sinner actually changes, and is therefore \imself, in the most proper sense, the author of the change, [’here are some who, on reading their Bibles, fasten •heir eyes ipon those passages that ascribe the work to the Spirit of God ; nd seem to overlook those that ascribe it to man, arm speak of ! t as the sinner’s own act. When they have quoted Scripture ; o prove it is the work of God, they seem to think they have moved that it is that in which man is passive, and that it can in 10 sense be the work of man. Some months since a tract was vritten, the title of which was, “ Regeneration, the effect of Divine power.” The writer goes on to prove that the work is wrought iy the Spirit of God, and there stops. Now it had been just as rue, just as philosophical, and just as scriptural, if he had said, hat conversion was the work of man. It was easy to prove that t was the work of God, in the sense in which I have explained t. The writer, therefore, tells the truth, so far as he goes; but le has told only half the truth. For while there is a sense in >vhich it is the work of God, as he has shown, there is also a 5ense in which it is the work of man, as we have just seen. Fhe very title to this tract is a stumbling block. It tells the ruth, but it does not tell the whole truth. And a tract might 3 e written upon this proposition, that “ Conversion or regenera¬ tion is the work of man which would be just as true, just as scriptural, and just as philosophical, as the one to which I have -'alluded. Thus the writer, in his zeal to recognise and honor :God as concerned in this work, by leaving out the fact that a change of heart is the sinner’s own act , has left the sinner strongly intrenched, with his weapons in his rebellious hands, •stoutly resisting the claims of his Maker, and waiting passively for God to make him a new heart. Thus you see the con¬ sistency between the requirement of the text, and the declared tact that God is the author of the new heart. God commands you to do it, expects you to do it, and if it ever is done, you must do it.” And let me tell you, sinner, if you do not do it you will go to hell, and to all eternity you will feel that you deserved to be sent there for not having done it. III. As proposed, I shall now advert to several important particulars growing out of this sul ject, as connected with preach- 184 HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. ing the gospel, and which show that great practical wisdom is indispensable to win souls to Christ. And first, in regard to the matter of preaching. 1. All preaching should be 'practical. The proper end of all doctrine is practice. Any thing brought forward as doctrine, which cannot be made use of as practical, is not preaching the gospel. There is none of that sort oi preach¬ ing m the Bible. That is all practical. “ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproo, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man ot God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. A vast deal of preaching in the present day, as well as m past acres is called doctrinal , as opposed to practical preaching. The'very idea of making this distinction is a device of the devil. And a more abominable device Satan himself never devised. You sometimes hear certain men tell a wonderful deal about the necessity of “indoctrinating the people.” By which they mean something different from practical preaching; teaching them certain doctrines, as abstract truths, without any particular refer- ence to practice. And I have known a minister in the midst of a revival, while surrounded with anxious sinners, leave off laboring to convert souls, for the purpose of “indoctrinating the young converts, for fear somebody else should indoctrinate them before him. And there the revival stops! Either his doc¬ trine was not true, or it was not preached in the right way. To preach doctrines in an abstract way, and not in reference to prac¬ tice, is absurd. God always brings in doctrine to regulate prac¬ tice. To bring forward doctrinal views for any other object is not only nonsense, but it is wicked. Some people are opposed to doctrinal preaching. If they have been used to hear doctrines preached in a cold, abstract way no wonder they are opposed to it. They ought to be op¬ posed to such preaching. But what can a man preach, wno preaches no doctrine? If he preaches no doctrine, he preaches no gospel. And if he does not preach it in a practical way, he does not preach the gospel. All preaching should be doctnnal, and all preaching should be practical. The very design of doc¬ trine is to regulate practice. Any preaching that has not this tendency is not the gospel. A loose, exhortatory style of preach¬ ing-, may affect the passions, and may produce excitement, but will never sufficiently instruct the people to secure sound con¬ versions. On the other hand, preaching doctrine in an abstract manner, may fill the head with notions , but will never sanctify the heart or life. — If HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. lg5 2 Preaching- should be direct. The gospel should be preach li ° raen p and not abou ? the ™- The minister must address hi, arers. He must preach to them about themselves and not leave the impression that he is preaching to them about others He will never do them any good, farther than he succeedsTn cm, vincmg each individual that he means him Many preachers seem very much afraid of™!,;™. U ! n ^ P rea ™ers not ‘ ha ‘ have any thing to d^Hlh^h^iBn^ftiflh 11 % - mealstS C a r s th f at tI they 316 and ! thing but preach in o- the o-nsnpl u'u t 1 n 11118 1S an y “»»• »•?•!« a’S." St,ZtS’Z are successful m winning souls to Christ. ’ . 3 -. Another very important thin o- to be reo-arrWI ^ . t- is, that the minister should hunt°after sinners and Christians’ iJ nrtthe Jl7 ™ a f haV ® ^ trenclled themselves in inaction, R to make them AC 0 T Pr T g ;o m , ake men eas y “ d q°H but . mahe tnem AC I It is not the design of callino- , „L,,; letl run o V nt lHt ° 1Ve , opi f es i and 80 cover up the disease* and let n lull on till it works death; but to search out the disease wherever it may be hidden, and to remove it. So if a professor of religion has backslidden, and is full of doubts and fears it is no. the minister s duty to quiet him in his sins, and comfort him but to hunt him out of his errors and backslidings, and show idoubts t d ferl 813 ’ and Wha ‘ iS ' hat makes h ™ fu!1 of A minister ought to know the religious opinions of every sin- inexcusable ij he does not. He has no excuse for not knoWinv the religious views of all his congregation, and of all that ra v them ? Un How 1S m h Ue , nCe ' , How ot b er 'vise can he preach to j.hem . How can he know how to bring forth things new and ; lies' 1 1 SCai>t h ' Uth i‘° th T Case ■ How can he hunt ‘hem out .unless he knows where they hide themselves ? He may mm ' D fundamental doctrines, Repentance and Faith mJ Faith and Repentance, till the day of judgment, and never nake any impression on many minds. Every sinner has some Aiding place some intrenchment where he lingers He is in lossession of some darling LIE, with which he is quieting him . f j t , ‘h e minister find it out and get it away, either in the fis blood ln -|lT a r e ’ °V he Wil ' t0 hel1 ‘1 his sinsland US blood will be found in the minister’s skirts 16 * HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. Srse«=SSs 5* .VgSU‘ a «'"*y." S IS ssi=SS3Srx£'5=.s as; hs«i£ *js s fallacy. Ik. My. »* *» ”1'E™,”«3» who h.v. go. •■|= 3 S£Bb^rss $r f “V s £ 555Sa “ Jtt sari ?-i e cS!H;£Srs/^s inconsistency, and therefore it will not move him, or hnng him t0 Ihavifbeen informed of a minister in New England who was settled in a congregation which had long enjoyed^« le tv, a n Arminian preaching, and the congregation themselves were chiefly Armenians. Well, this minister, in his Poaching, strongly insisted on the opposite points, the doctrine of e ^ c ' mvine y sovereignty, predestination, &c. The consequence was, as ini eh t have been expected where this was done with ability, there was a powerful revival. Some time afterwards this sam minister was called to labor in another field, in this state, wher Se peop e were all on the other side, and strongly tinctured with P Antinomianism. They had got such perverted views of election, and Divine sovereignty, that they were.oontmudly. y ing they had no power to do any thing, hut must wa HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 187 time. Now, what does this minister do, but immediately the universal hiding place, both ot sinne s church that they could not do any thing, or could not y gospel And wherever I went, 1 found it indispensable tod* Lhsh these refuges of lies. And a revival would m no way HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 189 be produced or carried on, but by dwelling on that class of truths, which hold up man’s ability, and obligation, and responsibility! Phis was the only class of truths that would bring sinners to submission. It was not so in the days when President Edwards and iVhitefield labored. Then the churches in New England had rnjoyed little else than Arminian preaching, and were all rest- ng in themselves and their own strength. These bold and levoted servants of God came out and declared those particu- ir doctrines of grace, Divine sovereignty, and election, and they Jlvere greatly blessed. They did not dwell on these doctrines xclusively, but they preached them very fully. The conse- uence was, that because in those circumstances revivals fol¬ lowed from such preaching, the ministers who followed, con - inued to preach these doctrines almost exclusively . And they welt on them so long, that the church and the world got in- renched behind them, waiting for God to come and do what he equired them to do, and so revivals ceased for many years. Now, and for years past, ministers have been engaged in unting them out from these refuges. And here it is all im- ortant for the ministers of this day to bear in mind, that if they well exclusively on ability and obligation, they will get their earers back on the old Arminian ground, and then they will sase to promote revivals. Here are a body of ministers who ave preached a great deal of truth, and have had great revi- ils, under God. Now let it be known and remarked, that the : Jason is, they have hunted sinners out from their hiding pla- js. But if they continue to dwell on the same class of truths 11 sinners hide themselves behind their preaching, another I ass of truths must be preached. And then if they do not range their mode, another pall will hang over the church, ntil another class of ministers shall arise and hunt sinners out Those new retreats. A right view of both classes of truths, election and free-agen- r, will do no hurt. They are eminently calculated to convert nners and strengthen saints. It is a perverted view which tills the heart of the church, and closes the eyes of sinners in eep, till they sink down to hell. If I had time I would remark 1 the manner in which I have sometimes heard the doctrines Divine sovereignty, election, and ability preached. They have Jen exhibited in irreconcileable contradiction, the one against e other. Such exhibitions are any thing but the gospel, and e calculated to make a sinner feel any thing else rather than s responsibility to God. 190 HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPER- By preaching truth in proper proportions, I do not mean mingling all things together in the same sermon, in such a way that sinners will not see their connection or consistency. A minister once asked another, Why do you not preach the doc¬ trine of election? Because, said the other, I find sinners here are intrenched behind inability. The first then said he once knew a minister who used to preach election in the forenoon, and repentance in the afternoon. Marvellous grace it must be, that would produce a revival under such preaching! What connection is there in this? Instead of exhibiting to the sinner his sins in the morning, and then and in the afternoon calling on him to repent, he is first turned to the doctrine of election, and then commanded to repent. What is he to repent of? The doctrine of election? This is not what I mean by preaching truth in its proportion. Bringing things together, that only confound the sinner’s mind, and overwhelm him with a fog of metaphysics, is not wise preaching. When talking of election, the preacher is not talking of the sinners duty. It has no relation to the sinner’s duty. Election belongs to the government of God. It is a part of the exceeding richness of the grace of God. It shows the love of God, not the duty of the sinner. And to bring elec¬ tion and repentance together in this way is diverting the sinner’s mind away from his duty. It has been customary, in many places, for a long time, to bring the doctrine of election into every sermon. Sinners have been commanded to repent, and told that they could not repent, in the same sermon. A great deal of ingenuity has been exercised in endeavoring to reconcile a sinner’s “ inability” with his obligation to obey God. Elec¬ tion, predestination, free-agency, inability, and duty, have all been thrown together in one promiscuous jumble. And with regard to many sermons, it has been too true, as has been object¬ ed, that ministers have preached, “You can and you can’t, you shall and you shan’t, you will and you won’t, and you’ll be damned if you don’t.” Such a mixture of truth and error, of light and darkness, has confounded the congregation, been the fruitful source of Universalism, and every species of infidelity and error. 7. It is of great importance that the sinner should be made to fed his guilt , and not left to the impression that he is unfortu¬ nate. I think this is a very prevailing fault, particularly with printed books on the subject. They are calculated to make the sinner think more of his sorrows than of his sins, and feel that his state is rather unfortunate than criminal. Perhaps most o i you have seen a very lovely little book recently published, cm HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 191 itled “ Todd’s Lectures to Children.” It is very fine, exqui- ;itely fine, and happy in some of its illustrations of truth. But t has one very serious fault. Many of its illustrations, I may ;ay most of them, are not calculated to make a correct impres- ion respecting the guilt of sinners, or to make them feel how nuch they have been to blame. This is very unfortunate. If he writer had guarded his illustrations on this point, so as to make hem impress sinners with a sense of their guilt, I do not see iow a child could read through that book and not be converted. ’ Multitudes of the books written for children, and for adults [ 30, within the last twenty years, have run into this mistake to n alarming degree. Mrs. Sherwood’s writings have this fault landing out upon almost every page. They are not calculated tp make the sinner blame and condemn himself. Until you can do this, the gospel will never take effect. 8. A prime object with the preacher must be to make present bli gallon felt. I have talked, I suppose, with many thousands of nxious sinners. And I have found that they had never before elt the pressure of present obligation. The impression is not ommonly made by ministers in their preaching that sinners are xpected to repent NOW. And if ministers suppose they make his impression, they deceive themselves. Most commonly any ther impression is made upon the minds of sinners by the preacher, than that they are expected now to submit. But what ort of a gospel is this ? Does God authorize such an impres- ion ? Is this according to the preaching of Jesus Christ ? Does he Holy Spirit, when striving with the sinner, make the im¬ pression upon his mind that he is not expected to obey now?— Vas any such impression produced by the preaching of the postles ? How does it happen that so many ministers now >reach, so as in fact to make an impression on their hearers, hat they are not expected to repent now ? Until the sinner’s onscience is reached on this subject, you preach to him in vain. Lnd until ministers learn how to preach so as to make the right mpression, the world never can be converted O, to what an larming extent does the impression now prevail among the im- 'enitent, that they are not expected to repent now, but must wait Jodis time! 9. Sinners ought to be made to feel that they have something o do, and that is to repent; that it is something which no other eing can do for them, neither God nor man, and something vhich they can do, and do now. Religion is something to do, ot something to wail for. And they must do it now, or they re in danger of eternal death. 192 HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 10. Ministers should never rest satisfied, until they have ANNIHILATED every excuse of sinners. I he plea oi “ inability” is the worst of all excuses. It slanders God so, charging him with infinite tyranny, in commanding men to do that whfch they have no power to do Make the sinner see and feel that this is the very nature of his excuse. Make the sinner see that all pleas in excuse for not submittin to God, are an act of rebellion against hum Tear away the las which he grasps in his hand, and make him feel that he is absolutely condemned before God. 11. Sinners should be made to feel that if they now grieve away the Spirit of God, it is very probable that they will be lost forever. There is infinite danger of this. They should be made to understand why they are dependent on the spirit, and that it is not because they cannot do what God commands, but because ther are unwilling; but that they are so unwilling that it is just as certain they will not repent without the Holy Ghost as if they were now in hell, or as if they were actually unable. They are so opposed and so unwilling, that they never will repent in the world, unless God sends his Holy Spirit upon Show them, too, that a sinner under the gospel, who hears the truth preached, if converted at all, is generally converted vouno- And if not converted while young, he is common y o-ivenup of God. Where the truth is preached, sinners are either gospel-hardened or converted. I know some old sinners are converted, but they are rather exceptions, and by no means I wish now, secondly, to make a few remarks on the man¬ ner OF PREACHING. , i 1 It should be conversational Preaching, to be understood should be colloquial in its style. A minister must preach just as he would talk, if he wishes to be fully understood. Nothing is more calculated to make a sinner feel that religion is some mysterious thing that he cannot understand than this mouthing, formal, lofty style of speaking, so generally employed in the pulpit. The minister ought to do as the lawyer does w en wants to make a jury understand him perfectly. He uses a style perfectly colloquial. This lofty, swelling style will do no .rood. The gospel will never produce any great effects, until ministers talk to their hearers, in the pulpit, as they talk in private conversation. , 2 It must be in the language of common life. Not o y should it be colloquial in its style, but the words should be such HOW TO PREACH TnE GOSPEL. 193 as arc in common use. Otherwise they will not he understood. In the New Testament you will observe that Jesus Christ in¬ variably uses words of the most common kind. You scarcely find a word of his instructions, that any child cannot under¬ stand. The language of the gospels is the plainest, simplest, and most easily understood of any language in the world. For a minister to neglect this principle, is wicked. Some ministers use language that is purely technical in preaching. They think to avoid the mischief by explaining the meaning fully at the outset; but this will not answer. It will not effect fjjthe object in making the people understand what he means. If he uses a word that is not in common use, and that people do not understand, his explanation may be very full, but the difficulty is that people will forget his explanations, and then his words are all Greek to them. Or if he uses a word in common use, but employs it in an MBC-ommon sense, giving his special explanations, it is no better; for the people°will "soon I forget his special explanations, and then the impression actually conveyed to their minds will be according to their common un¬ derstanding of the word. And thus he will never convey the right idea to his congregation. It is amazing how many* men of thinking minds there are in congregations, who do not under¬ stand the most common technical expressions employed bv ministers, such as regeneration, sanctification, &c. Use words that can be perfectly understood. Do not, for fear of appearing unlearned, use language half Latin and half Greek, which the people do not understand. The apostle says the man s a barbarian, who uses language that the people do not un- lerstand. And “ if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle?” In the apostle’s days {.here were some preachers, who were marvellously proud of displaying their command of language, and showing off the va¬ riety of tongues they could speak, which the common people could not understand. The apostle rebukes this spirit sharply, md says, “ I had rather speak five words with my understand¬ ing that by my voice l might teach others also, than ten thou¬ sand words in an unknown tongue.” I have sometimes heard ministers preach, even when there vas a revival, when I have wondered what that part of the con¬ gregation would do, who had no dictionary. So many phrases IVere brought in, manifestly to adorn the discourse, rather than ‘ o instruct the people, that I have felt as if I wanted to tell the { nan, “ Sit down, and not confound the people’s minds with your barbarian preaching, that they cannot understand.” 17 194 HOW TO S*RKACH THE GOSPEL* 3. Preaching should he parabolical. That is, illustrations should be constantly i sed, drawn from incidents, real or sup¬ posed. Jesus Christ constantly illustrated his instructions m this way. He would either advance a principle and then illus¬ trate it by a parable, that is, a short story of some event real or imaginary, or else he would bring out the principle in the pa- rable. There are millions of facts that can be used to advantage, and yet very few ministers dare to use them, for fear somebody will reproach them. “ Oh,” says somebody, “ he tells stones Tells stories! Why, that is the way Jesus Christ preached. And it is the only way to preach. Facts, real or supposed, should be used to show the truth. Truths not illustrated, are generally just as well calculated to convert sinners as a mathe¬ matical demonstration. Is it always to be so ? Shall it always be matter of reproach, that ministers follow the example ot Jesus Christ, in illustrating truths by facts % Let them do it, an et fools reproach them as story-telling ministers. 1 hey have Jesus Christ and common sense on their side. 4. The illustrations should be drawn from common lije, _ and the common business of society. I once heard a minister illus¬ trate his ideas by the manner in which merchants transact business in their stores. Another minister who was present made some remarks to him afterwards.. He objected to this illustration particularly, because, he said, it was too L/^hiar, an was letting down the dignity of the pulpit. He said all illus¬ trations in preaching should be drawn from ancient history, or from some elevated source, that would keep up the the pulpit. Dignity indeed! Just the language of the devil. He rejoices in it. Why, the object of an illustration is, to.make people see the truth , not to bolster up pulpit dignity.. A minister whose heart is in the work, does not use an illustration to make people stare, but to make them see the truth. If he brought forward his illustrations from ancient history, it could not make the people see, it would not illustrate any thing. The novelty of the thing might awaken their attention, but then they would lose the truth itself. For if the illustration itself be a novelty, the attention will be directed to this fact as a matter of history, and the truth itself which it was designed to illustrate, will be lost sight of. The illustration should, if possible, be a matter of common occurrence, and the more common the occurrence the more sure it will be, not to fix attention upon itself but it serves as a medium through which the truth is conveyed. I have been pained at the very heart, at hearing illustrations drawn from an¬ cient history, of which not one in a hundred of the congrega- HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 195 M don had ever heard. The very manner in which they were ad¬ verted to, was strongly tinctured, to say the least, with the ap¬ pearance of vanity, and an attempt to surprise the people with an exhibition of learning-. The Savior always illustrated his instructions by things that were taking place among the people to whom he preached, and with which their minds were familiar. He descended of¬ ten very far below what is now supposed to be essential to sup- port the dignity of the pulpit. He talked about the hens and chickens, and children in marketplaces, and sheep and lambs, shepherds and farmers, and husbandmen and merchants. And when he talked about kings, as in the marriage of the kino-’s son, ! ind the nobleman that went into a far country to receive a kingdom, he had reference to historical facts, that were well known among the people at the time. The illustration should ahvays be drawn from things so common, that the illustration itself will not attract attention away from the subject, but that people may see through it the truth illustrated. 5. Preaching should be repetitious. If a minister wishes to oreach with effect, he must not be afraid of repeating whatever ae sees is not perfectly understood by his hearers. Here is the ivil of using notes. The preacher preaches right along just is he has it written down, and cannot observe whether°he is mderstood or not. If he interrupts his reading, and attempts o catch the countenances of the audience, and to explain where le sees they do not understand, he gets lost and confused, and ! Jives it up. If a minister has his eyes on the people he is preaching to, he can commonly tell by their looks whether they Ipinderstand him. And if he sees they do not understand any particular point, let him stop and illustrate it. If they do not ^Understand one illustration, let him give another, and make it fell clear to their minds, before he goes on. But those who vnte their sermons go right on, in a regular consecutive train, i ust as in any essay or a book, and do not repeat their thouo-hts 1 ill the audience fully comprehend them. I was conversing with one of the first advocates in this ountry. He said the difficulty which preachers find in mak- , «§■ themselves understood, is, that they do not repeat enouo-h ! lays he, » In addressing a jury, I always expect that whatever wish to impress upon their minds, I shall have to repeat at east twice, and often I repeat it three or four times, and even lore. Otherwise, I do not carry their minds along with me, o that they can feel the force of what comes afterwards.” If a lry under oath, called to decide on the common affairs of this • > it> 196 HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. world, cannot apprehend an argument, unless there is so much repetition, how is it to be expected that men will understand the preaching of the gospel without it ? In like manner the minister ought to turn an important thought over and over before his audience, till even the children understand it perfectly. Do not say that so much repetition will create disgust in cultivated minds. It will not disgust. This is not what disgusts thinking men. They are not weary of the elforts a minister makes to be understood. The fact is, the more simple a preacher’s illustrations are, and the more plain he makes every thing, the more men of mind are interested. I know'that men of the first minds, often get ideas they never had before, from illustrations which were designed to bring the gos¬ pel down to the comprehension of a child. Such men are com monly so occupied with the affairs of this world, that they do not think much on the subject of religion, and they therefore need the plainest preaching, and they will like it. 6. A minister should always feel deeply his subject, and then he will suit the action to the word and the word to the action, so as to make the full impression which the truth is cal¬ culated to make. He should be in solemn earnest in what he says. I heard lately a most judicious criticism on this subject. “ How important it is that a minister should feel what he says. Then his actions will of course correspond to his words.. If he undertakes to make gestures, his arms may go like a windmill, and yet make no impression.” It requires the utmost stretch of art on the stage for the actors to make their hearers feel. The design of elocution is to teach this skill. But if a man feels his subject fully, he will naturally do it. He will naturally do the very thing that elocution laboriously teaches. See any common man in the streets, who is earnest in talking. See with what force he gestures. See a woman or a child, in earnest. How natural. To gesture with their hands is as natural as it is to move their tongue and lips. It is the perfection of elo¬ quence. Let a minister, then, only feel what he says, and not be tied to his notes, to read an essay, or to speak a piece, like a school-boy, first on one foot and then on the other, put out first one hand and then the other. Let him speak as he feels, and act as he feels, and he will be eloquent. No wonder that a great deal of preaching produces so little ef¬ fect. Gestures are of more importance than is generally supposed. Mere words will never express the full meaning of the gospel. The manner of saying it is almost every thing Suppose one SOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL, 197 of you, that is a mother, goes home to-night, and as soon as you get into the door, the nurse comes rushing up to you, with her whole soul in her countenance, and tells you that your child is burnt to death. You would believe it, and you would feel it too, at once. But suppose she comes and tells it in a cold and care¬ less manner. Would that arouse you ? No. It is the earnest¬ ness of her manner, and the distress of her looks, that tells the story. You know something is the matter, before she speaks a word. I once heard a remark made, respecting a young minister’s preaching, which was instructive. He was uneducated, in the common sense of the term, but well educated to win souls. It was said of him, “ The manner in which he comes in, and sits in the pulpit, and rises to speak, is a sermon of itself. It shows that he has something to say that is important and solemn.” That man’s manner of saying some things I have known to move the feelings of a whole congregation, when the same things said in a prosing way would have produced no effect at all. A fact which was stated by one of the most distinguished pro¬ fessors of elocution in the United States, ought to impress ministers on this subject. That man was an infidel. Fie said, “ I have been fourteen years employed in teaching elocution to ministers, and I know they don’t believe the Christian religion. The Bible may be true. I don’t pretend to know as to that, but I do know these ministers don’t believe it. I can demonstrate that they do not. The perfection of my art is to teach them to speak naturally on this subject. I go to their studies, and con¬ verse with them, and they speak eloquently. I say to them, | Gentlemen, if you will preach just as you yourselves naturally ; speak on any other subject, in which you are interested, you do not need to be taught. That is just what I am trying to teach you. I hear you talk on other subjects, with admirable force i and eloquence. I see you go into the pulpit, and you speak i and act as if you did not believe what you are saying. I have ;old them, again and again, to talk in the pulpit as they natu¬ rally talk to me. And I cannot make them do it, and so I know ‘.hey do not believe the Christian religion.” I have mentioned this to show how universal it is, that men will gesture right, if they feel right. The only thing in the way of ministers being natural speakers is, that they do not DEEPLY FEEL. How can they be natural in elocution, when they do not feel? 7. A minister should aim to convert his congregation. But pu will ask, Does not all preaching aim at tins? No. A mia- 17 * U m IIOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEI/. ister always has some aim in preaching, but most sermons were never aimed at converting sinners. And if sinners were con¬ verted under them, the preacher himself would be amazed. . I once heard a fact on this point. There were two young minis¬ ters who had entered the ministry at the same time. One oi hem had great success in converting sinners, the other none. The latter inquired of the other, one day, what was the reason of this difference. “ Why,” replied the other,. the reason is, that I aim at a different end from you, in preaching. My object is to convert sinners, but you aim at no such thing. And then you go and lay it to sovereignty in God, that you do not produce the same effect, when you never aim at it. Here, take one of my sermons, and preach it to your people, and see what the effect will be.” The man did so, and preached the sermon, and it did produce effect. He was frightened when sinners began to weep 5 and when one came to him after meeting to ask what lie should do, the minister apologized to him, and said, “ I did not aim to wound you, I am sorry if I have hurt your feelings. O horrible! „ . , 8 . A minister must anticipate the objections of sinners, and answer them. AVhat does the lawyer do when pleading before a jury ? O how differently is the cause of Jesus Christ pleaded from human causes ! It was remarked by a lawyer, that the cause of Jesus Christ had the fewest able advocates ot any cause in the world. And I partly believe it. Does a lawyer go along in his argument in a regular train, and not explain any thing obscure, or anticipate the arguments of his antagonist ? If he did so, he would lose his case, to a certainty. But no. The lawyer, who is pleading for money, anticipates every objection, which may be made by his antagonist, and carefully removes or explains them, so as to leave the ground all clear as he goes along, that the jury may be settled on every point. But minis¬ ters often leave one difficulty and another, untouched. Sinners who hear them feel the difficulty, and it is never got over in their minds, and they never know how to remove it, and per* haps the minister never takes the trouble to know r that such dif¬ ficulties exist, and yet he wonders why his congregation is not converted, and why there is no revival. How can he wonder at it, when he has never hunted up the difficulties and objections that sinners feel, and removed them? # 9. If a minister means to preach the gospel with effect he must be sure not to be monotonous. If he preaches in a mono¬ tonous way, he will preach the people to sleep. Any monotonous sound, great or small, if continued, disposes people to sleep. HOW TO PREACH THE GOSFEL. 199 The fails of Niagara, the roaring of the ocean, or any sound ever so great or small, has this effect naturally on the nervous system. T ou never hear this monotonous manner from people in conversation. And a minister cannot be monotonous in preaching, if he feels what he says. 10. A minister should address the feelings enough to secure attention, and then deal with the conscience , and probe to the quick. Appeals to the feelings alone will never convert sin¬ ners. If the preacher deals too much in these, he may get up an excitement, and have wave after wave of feeling flow over the congregation, and people may be carried away in the flood, with false hopes. The only way to secure sound conversions is to deal faithfully with the conscience. If attention flags at any time, appeal to the feelings again, and rouse it up; but do your work with conscience. 11. If he can, it is desirable that a minister should learn the ; effect of one sermon, before he preaches another. Let him learn if it is understood, if it has produced any impression, if any dif¬ ficulties are felt in regard to the subject which need clearing up, if any objections are raised, and the like. When he knows it all, then he knows what to preach next. What would be thought of the physician who should give medicine to his patient, and then give it again and again, without trying to learn the effect of the first, or whether it had produced any effect or not? A minister never will be able to deal with sinners as he ought, till he can find out whether his instruction has been received and understood, and whether the difficulties in sinners’ minds are f cleared away, and their path open to the Savior, so that they need not stumble and stumble till their souls are lost. I had designed to notice several other points, but time does / not admit. I wish to close with a few I REMARKS. 1 * We see why so few of the leading minds in many com¬ munities are converted. Until the late revivals, professional men were rarely reached : oy preaching, and they were almost all infidels at heart. Peo¬ ple almost understood the Bible to warrant the idea, that they could not be converted. The reason is obvious. The gospel had not been commended to the consciences of such men. Ministers had not grappled with mind, and reasoned so as to 1 [nake that class of minds see the truth of the gospel, and feel l its power, and consequently such persons had come to regard religion as something unworthy their notice. / 200 IIOW TO PREACH THE GOSPRl* But of late years the case is altered, and in some places there have been more of this class of persons converte , in P r °P°J lion to their numbers, than of any^ others. a is they were made to understand the ciaims of the gospel. T preacher grappled with their minds, and showed hem the reasonableness of religion. And when this is done . is found that that class of minds are more easily converted than any other They have so much better capacity to receive an argu¬ ment and are so much more in the habit of yielding o the force Sf reason, that as soon as the gospel gets a fair hold of their minds, it breaks them right down, and melts them at the feet /» y—S 1 * i. 2. Before the gospel can take general effect, we must have a | class of extempore preachers, for the following reasons : (1.) No set of men can stand the labor of writing sermons and doing all the preaching which will be requisite. (2.1 Written preaching is not calculated to produce the requi¬ site effect. Such preaching does not present truth m the right (3 ) It i* impossible for a man who writes his sermons to arrange his matter, and turn and choose his thoughts so as to produce the same effect as when he addresses the people directly, and makes them feel that he means them. Writing sermons had its origin in times of political difficulty. The practice was unknown in-the apostles’ days. No doubt written sermons have done a great deal of good, but they can never give to the gospel its great power. Perhaps many ministers have been so long trained in the use of notes, that they had better not throw them away. Perhaps they would make bad work with- out them The difficulty would not be for the want of mind, but from wrong training* The bad habit is begun with the school hoy, who is called to “speak his piece.' . In ^ tead of being set to express his own thoughts and feelings m his own lan ow a ere, and with his own natural manner, such as nature herself prompts, he is made to commit another person's writing to memory, and then mouths it out in a stiff and forma nay. And so when he goes to college, and to the seminary, instead of being trained to extempore speaking, he is set to writing is piece, and commit it to memory. I would pursue the opposi e course from the beginning. I would give him a subject, an let him first think, and then speak his thoughts. Perhaps ne will make mistakes. Very well, that is to he expected in a beo-inner. But he will learn. Suppose he is not eloquent, a first. Very well, he can improve. And he is in the very way HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL* 201 to improve. This kind of training alone will ever raise up a class of ministers who can convert the world. But it is objected to extemporaneous preaching, that if minis¬ ters do not write , they will not think. This objection will have weight with those men whose habit has always been to write down their thoughts. But to a man of a different habit, it will have no weight at all. Writing is not thinking. And if I should judge from many of the written sermons I have heard preached, I should think the makers of them had been doino any thing rather than thinking. The mechanical labor 01 writing is really a hinderance to close and rapid thought. It is :rue that some extempore preachers have not been men ol :hought. And so it is true that many men who write sermons, are not men of thought. A man whose habits have always aeen such, that he has thought only when he has put his mind m the end of his pen, will of course, if he lays aside his pen, at first find it difficult to think; and if he attempts to preach without writing, will, until his habits are thoroughly changed, md it difficult to throw into his sermons the same amount of hought, as if he conformed to his old habits of writing. But it should be remembered that this is only on account of his having Keen trained to write, and having always habituated himself to t. It is the training and habit that renders it so difficult for rim to think without writing. Will any body pretend to say hat lawyers are not men of thought? That their arguments refore a court and jury, are not profound and well digested ?- Ind yet every one knows that they do not write their speeches. It should be understood, too, that in college, they have the same raining with ministers, and have the same disadvantage of raving been trained to write their thoughts; and it is only after ffiey enter upon their profession, that they change their habit. Were they educated, as they should be, to extempore habits in he schools, they would be vastly more eloquent and powerful n argument than they are. I have heard much of this objection to extempore preaching wer since I entered the ministry. It was often said to me then, n answer to my views of extempore preaching, that ministers vho preached extemporaneously, would not instruct the church- . is, that there would be a great deal of sameness in their preach- ng, and they would soon become insipid and repetitious for vant of thought. But every year’s experience has ripened the onvictionon my mind, that the reverse of this objection is true. The man who writes least may, if he pleases, think most , and will say what he does think in a manner that will be better un* , 202 HOW TO PREACH THE COSPEI* derstood than if it were written; and that, just in tiie proportion that he lays aside the labor of writing, his body will be left free to exercise, and his mind to vigorous and consecutive thought The great reason why it is supposed that exlcvipoic preachers more frequently repeat the. same thoughts in their preaching, is because what they say is, in a general way, more perfectly re- membered by the congregation, than if it bad been read. W often known preachers, who could repeat their written ser mons once in a few months, without its being recognised by the congregation. But the manner in which extempore sermons are Generally delivered is so much more impressive that the thoughts cannot in general be soon repeated, without being re¬ membered. We shall never have a set of men in our halls of legislation, in our courts of justice, and m our pulpits that are powerful and overwhelming speakers, and can carry the uor before them till our system of education teaches them to think, closely rapidly, consecutively, and till all their habits of speak- mg i/the schools are extemporaneous. The very style of com- municatino- thought, in wh/t is commonly called a good style of writing 8 is not calculate! to leave a deep impression on the mind, or To communicate thought in a clear and impressive manner. It is not laconic, direct, pertinent. It is not the Ian- euao-e of nature. It is impossible that gestures should be suited fo the common style of writing And consequent y when they attempt to gesture in reading an essay, or delivering a written sermon, their gestures are a burlesque upon all public speaking In delivering a sermon in this essay style of writing, impossible that nearly all the fire of meaning and power of ges¬ ture, and looks, and attitude, and emphasis should not he los^ We can never have the full meaning of the gospel, till we throw aW 3. y a" minister’s course of study and training for his work should be exclusively theological. ,. ., I mean just as I say. 1 am not now going to disc -^ the question whether all education ought not to be theological. But I say education for the ministry should he exc usive y ■ you will ask, Should not a minister understand science ? I w ou d answer, Yes, the more the better. I would that minis er o understand all science. But it should all be in connec ion wi theology. Studying science is studying the works of Go . And studying theology is studying God. Let a scholar be asked, for instance, this question . Is there a God?” To answer it, let him ransack the universe, let hi go out into every department of science,' to find the proo s nOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 203 design , and in this way to learn the existence of God. Let him next inquire how many Gods there are, and let him ao- a in ransack creation to see whether there is such a unity of design as evinces that there is one God. In like manner, let him m- quire concerning the attributes of God, and his character. He will jearn science here, but will learn it as a part of theology. Let him search every field of knowledge, to briim forward his proofs. What was the design of this plan ? What was the end of that arrangement? See whether every thing you find in the universe is not calculated to produce happiness, unless perverted. U ould the student's heart get hard and cold in study, as cold and hard as the college walls, if science was pursued in this way ? Every lesson brings him right up before God, and is in fact communion with God, and warms his heart, and makes him more pious, more solemn, more holy. The very distinc¬ tion between classical and theological study is a curse to the church, and a curse to the world The student spends four years m college at. classical studies, and no God in them, and then three years in the seminary, at theological studies: and what then ? . Poor young man. Set him to work, and you will find that he is not educated for the ministry at all. The church groans under his preaching, because he does not preach with I unction, nor with power. He has been spoiled in training. 4. We learn what is revival preaching. All ministers should ! be revival ministers, and all preaching should be revival preach¬ ing ; mat is, it should be calculated to promote holiness. People say, “ It is very well to have some men in the church, who are revival preachers, and who can go about and promote revivals * Dut^ then you must have others to indoctrinate the church.” strange! Do they not know that a revival indoctrinates the murch faster than any thing else? And a minister will never oroduce a revival, if he does not indoctrinate his hearers. The neaching I have described, is full of doctrine, but it is doctrine o he piactised. And that is revival preaching. !. 5- There are two objections sometimes brought against the nnd of preaching which I have recommended. ([ ) That it js letting down the dignity of the pulpit to preach "i this colloquial, lawyer-like style. They are shocked at it. >ut it is only on account of its novelty, and not for any impro- ney there is in the thing itself. I heard a remark made by a 2 ading layman in the centre of this state, in regard to the preach- :ig of a certain minister. He said it was the first preaching e ever heard, that he understood, and the first minister he ever earn that spoke as if he believed his own doctrine, or meant HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 204 what he said. And when he first heard him preach as if he was saying something that he meant, he thought he was cr ^ z Y* But eventually, he was made to see that it was all true, and he submitted to the truth, as the power of God for the salvation of his soul. , . . _ ... What is the dignity of the pulpit ? To see a minister go into the pulpit to sustain its dignity ! Alas, alas ! During my for¬ eign tour, I heard an English missionary preach exactly m that way. I believe he was a good man, and out of the pulpit he would talk like a man that meant what he said. But no sooner was he in the pulpit, than he appeared like a perfect automa¬ ton-swelling, mouthing, and singing, enough to put all the people to sleep. And the difficulty seemed to be, that he want¬ ed to maintain the dignity of the pulpit. . (2.) It is objected that this preaching is theatTical. lhe bishop of London once asked Garrick, the celebrated play-actor, why it was that actors, in representing a mere fiction, should move an assembly, even to tears, while ministers, in represent¬ ing the most solemn realities, could scarcely obtain a hearing. The philosophical Garrick well replied, “ It is because we repre¬ sent fiction as a reality, and you represent reality as a fiction. This is telling the whole story. Now what is the design of the actor in a theatrical representation? It is so to throw himself into the spirit and meaning of the writer, as to adopt his senti¬ ments, make them his own, feel them, embody them, throw them out upon the audience as living reality. And now, what is the objection to all this in preaching? The actor suits the action to the word, and the word to the action. His looks, his hands, his attitudes, and every thing are designed to express the full meaning of the writer. Now this should be the aim ot the preacher. And if by “ theatrical” be meant the strongest possible representation of the sentiments expressed, then the more theatrical a sermon is, the better. And if ministers are too stiff, and the people too fastidious, to learn even from an actor, or from the stage, the best method of swaying mind, ot enforcing sentiment, and diffusing the waTmth of burning thought over a congregation, then they must go on with their prosing, and reading, and sanctimonious starch. But let them remember, that while they are thus turning away and decrying the art of the actor, and attempting to support “ the dignity of the pulpit,” the theatres can be thronged every night. The common-sense people will be entertained with that manner of speaking, and sinners will go down to hell. 6 . A congregation may learn how to choose a minister. HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 203 / When a vacant church are looking out for a minister, there ire two leading points on which they commonly fix their atten- :ion. (1.) That he should be popular. (2.) That he should ie learned. That is very well. But this point should be the irst in their inquiries—“ Is he loisc to win souls?” No matter iow eloquent a minister is, or how learned. No matter how ileasing and popular in his manners. If it is a matter of fact hat sinners are not converted under his preaching, it shows hat he has not this wisdom, and your children and neighbors vill go down to hell under his preaching. I am happy to know that many churches will ask this ques- ion about ministers. And if they find that a minister is desti- ute of this vital quality, they will not have him. And if minis- ers can be found who are wise to win souls, the churches will \ \ave such ministers. It is in vain to contend against it, or to iretend that they are not well educated, or not learned, or the ike. It is in vain for the schools to try to force down the hroats of the churches a race of ministers who are learned in ( very thing but what they most need to know. The churches ave pronounced them not made right, and they will not sustain aat which is notoriously so inadequate as the present system oT i leologieal education. It is very difficult to say what needs to be said on this sub¬ let, without being in danger of begetting a wrong spirit in the hurch, towards ministers. Many professors of religion are eady to find fault with ministers when they have no reason; isomuch, that it becomes very difficult to say of ministers what true, and what needs to be said, without its being perverted nd abused by this class of professors. I would not for the r orld say any thing to injure the influence of a minister of Jhrist, who is really endeavoring to do good. I would that tey deserved a hundred times more influence than they now ,3serve or have. But, to tell the truth will not injure the in flu- ice of those ministers, who by their lives and preaching give fidence to the church, that their object is to do good, and win mis to Christ. This class of ministers will recognise the uth of all that I have said, or wish to say. They see it all, id deplore it. But if there be ministers who are doing no Dod, who are feeding themselves and not the flock, such min- ters deserve no influence. If they are doing no good, it is time r them to betake themselves to some other profession. They •e but leeches on the very vitals of the church, sucking out its mart’s blood. They are useless, and worse than useless. And 18 206 IIOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. the sooner they are laid aside, and their places filled with those who will exert themselves for Christ, the better. Finally —It is the duty of the church to pray for us, min¬ isters. Not one of us is such as we ought to be. Like Paul, we can say, “ Who is sufficient for these things But who of us is like Paul ? Where will you find such a minister as Paul 'l They are not here. We have been wrongly edu¬ cated, all of us. " Pray for the schools, and colleges, and semi¬ naries. And pray for young men who are preparing for the ministry. Pray for ministers, that God would give them this wisdom to wm souls. And pray that God would bestow upon the church the wisdom and the means to educate a generation of ministers who will go forward and convert the world. The church must travail in prayer, and groan and agonize for this. This is now the pearl of price to the church, to have a supply of the right sort of ministers. The coming of the millenium depends on having a different sort of ministers, who are more thoroughly educated for their work. And this we shall have so sure as the promise of the Lord holds good. Such a minis¬ try as is now in the church will never convert the world. But the world is to be converted, and therefore God intends to have ministers who will do it. “ Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.” LECTURE XIII. HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. Text. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel pre ailed ; and when he let down his hand, Amalekprevailed. But Moses’s hands JPYP h^avu • nnr Inou inn.- q otAnn -1_ l:. _ i i ..i _ i’ I , , ,.aucu. duuuusk 3 s nanas /ere heayy : and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon : nd Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other n the other side: and his hands were steady until the going down of the un. Ana Joshua discomfited Amalek and Ins people with the edge of the word.— Exodus xvn. 11—13. ” You who read your Bibles will recollect the connection in irhich these verses stand. The people of God in subduing- their nemies came to battle against the Amaleldtes, and these ind¬ ents took place. It is difficult to conceive why importance hould be attached to the circumstance of Moses holding- up his ands, unless the expression is understood to denote the°attitude f prayer. And then his holding up his hands, and the success (.tending it, will teach us the importance of prayer to God, for is aid in all our conflicts with the enemies of God. The co- peration and support of Aaron and Hur have been generally nderstood to represent the duty of churches to sustain and as¬ st ministers in their work, anil the importance of this co-ope- ition to the success of the preached gospel. I shall make this se of it on the present occasion. As I have spoken of the duty f ministers to labor for revivals, I shall now consider, HE IMPORTANCE OF THE CO-OPERATION OF THE CHURCH IN PRODUCING AND CARRYING ON A REVIVAL. There are a number of things whose importance in promot- ig a revival has not been duly considered by churches and linisters, which if not attended to will make it*impossible that wivals should extend, or even continue for any considerable me. In my last two lectures, I have been dwelling on the du- 3 S of ministers, as it was impossible for me to preach a course ' lectures on revivals, without entering more or less extensively to that department of means. I have not done with that part ’ the subject, but have thought it important here to step aside id discuss some points, in which the church must stand by and d their minister, if they expect to enjoy a revival. In dis- issing the subject, I propose, I. To mention several things which Christians must avoid , they would support ministers. 208 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. II. Some things to which they must attend. I. I am to mention several things that must be avoided. 1 . By all means keep clear of the idea, both m theory and practice, that a minister is to promote revivals alone. Many people are inclined to take a passive attitude on this subject, and feel as if they had nothing to do. They have employed a min¬ ister and paid him, to feed them with instruction and comfort, and now they have nothing to do but to sit and swallow the food he gives, they are to pay his salary, and attend on his preaching and they think that is doing a great deal. And he on his part is expected to preach good, sound, comfortable doctrine, to hol¬ ster them up, and make them feel c ^^ bl ^ a " d T S0 peet to go to heaven. I tell you, 1 HEY WILL GO TO HELL, if this is their religion. That is not the way to heaven. Rest assured that where this spirit prevails in the church, however good the minister may be, the church have taken the course to prevent a revival. If he is ever so faithful, ever so much engaged, ever so talented and eloquent, he may wear him¬ self out, and perhaps destroy his life, but he will have little or no revival. „ , Where there is no church, or very few members m the church, a revival may be promoted without any organized effort of the church, because it is not there, and in such a case, God accommodates his grace to the circumstances, as he did when the apostles went out, single-handed, to plant the gospel in the world. I have seen instances of powerful revivals, where such was the case. But where there are means, God will have them used. I had rather have no church in a place, than attempt to promote a revival in a place where there is a church which will not work. God will be inquired of by his people to bestow blessings The counteracting influence of a church that will not work, is worse than infidelity. There is no possibility of occupying neutral ground, in regard to a revival though some professors imagine they are neutral. If a professor will not lay himself out in the work, he opposes it. Let such a one at¬ tempt to take middle ground, and sav he is going to wait an see how they come out—why, that is the veiy groun t le cevt wants him to take. Professors can in this way do his work a great deal more effectually than by open opposition if they should take open ground in opposition, every body will say they have no religion. But by this middle course they retain their influence, and thus do the devil’s work more effectually. In employing a minister, a church must remember, that they have only employed a leader , to lead them on to action in the HOW CHURCHES CAN HEL^ MINISTERS. 200 ■ause of Christ. People would think it strange if any body should propose to support a general, and then let him go and ight alone! This is no more absurd, or destructive, than for t minister to attempt to go forward alone. The church mis- onceive the design of the ministry, if they leave their minister o work atone. It is not enough that they should hear the ser- nons. That is only the w#rd of command, which the church .re bound to follow. 2 . Do not comylavn of youx minister because there is no re* , ival, if you are not doing your duty. It is of no use to com- : 'lain of there being no revival, if you are not doing your duty. [ [That alone is a sufficient reason why there shouldbe no revi- al. It is a most cruel and abominable thing for a church to omplain of their minister, when they themselves are fast 'sleep. It is very common for professors of religion to take i reat ciedit to themselves, and cjuiet their own consciences by omplaining of their ministers. And when the importance of ministers’ being awake is spoken of, this sort of people are eady to say, We never shall have a revival with such a min¬ uter, when the fact is that their minister is much more awake ban they are themselves, */ Another thing is true in regard to this point, and worthy of otice. When the church is sunk down in a low state, pro- ?ssors of religion are very apt to complain of the church , and f the low state of religion among them. That intangible and .'responsible being, the “ church,” is greatly complained of by ( iern, for being asleep. Their complaints of the low state of gligion, ar] d of the coldness of the church or of the minister, are mured out dolefully, without seeming to realize that the church composed of individuals, and that until each one will take ys own case in hand, complain of himself and humble himself efore God, and repent, and wake up, the church can never ave any efficiency, and there never can be a revival. If in- ead of complaining of your minister, or of the church, you mild wake up as individuals, and not complain of him or them ,ntil you can say you are pure from the blood of all men, and re doing your duty to save sinners, he would be apt to feel the istice of your complaints, and if he would not God would, and r ould either wake him up or remove him. 3. Do not let your minister kill himself by attempting to 'irry on the work alone , while you refuse to help him. It some- mes happens that a minister finds the ark of the Lord will not »ove unless he lays out his utmost strength, and he has been n desirous ef a revival that he has done this, and has died, 18 * 210 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. And he was willing’ to die for it. I could mention some case? in this state, where ministers h tve died, and no doubt in conse¬ quence of their labors to promote a revival where the church hung hack from the work. I will mention one case. A minister, some years since, was laboring where there was a revival; and was visited by an el¬ der of a church at some distance who wanted him to go and preach there. There was no revival there, and never had been, and the elder complained about their state, said they had had two excellent ministers, one had worn himself com¬ pletely out and died, and the other had exhausted himself, and got discouraged, and left them, and they were a poor and fee¬ ble church, and their prospects very dark unless they could have a revival, and so he begged this minister to go and help them. He seemed to be very sorrowful, and the minister heard his whining, and at last replied by asking. Why did you never have a revival? I don’t know, said the elder. Our minister labored hard, but the church did not seem to wake up, and somehow there seemed to be no revival. “Well, now,” said the minister, “ I see what you want j you have killed one of God’s ministers, and broke down another so that he had to leave you, and now you want to get another there and kill him, and the devil has sent you here to get me to go and rock your cradle for you. You had one good minister to preach to you, but you slept on, and he exerted himself till he absolutely died in the work. Then the Lord let you have another, and still you lay and slept, and would not wake up to your duty. And now you have come here in despair, and want another minis¬ ter, do you ? God forbid that you should ever have another while you do as you have done. God forbid tnat you should ever have a minister, till the church will wake up to duty. The elder was affected, for he was a good man. The tears came in his eyes, and he said it was no more than they deserv¬ ed. “ And now,” said the minister, “ will you be faithful, and go home and tell the church what I say? If you will, and ‘they will be faithful and wake up to duty, they shall have a minister, I will warrant them that.” The elder said he would, and he was true to his word; he went home and told the church how cruel it was for them to ask another minister tr. come among them, unless they would wake up. They felt it, and confessed their sins, and waked up to duty, and a minister was sent to them, and a precious and powerful revival followed. Churches do not realize how often their coldness and back¬ wardness may be absolutely the cause of the death of ministers. IIOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 211 The state of the people, and of sinners, rests upon their mind, they travail in soul night and day, and they labor in season and out of season, beyond the power of the human constitution to bear, till they wear out and die. The church know not the agony of a minister’s heart, when he travails for souls, and la¬ bors to wake up the church to help, and still sees them in the slumbers of death. Perhaps sometimes they will rouse up to spasmodic effort for a few days, and then all is cold again. And so many a faithful minister wears himself out and dies, and then these heartless professors are the first to blame him for doing so much. I recollect a case of a good minister, who went to a place where there was a revival, andwvhile there heard a pointed ser¬ mon to ministers. He received it like a man of God; he did not lebel against God’s truth, but he vowed to God that he never would rest until he saw a revival among his people. He re¬ turned home and went to work ; the church would not wake up, except a few members, and the Lord blessed them, and poured out his Spirit, but the minister laid himself down on his bed and died, in the midst of the revival. 4. Be careful not to complain of plain, pointed preaching, even when its reproofs fasten on yourselves. Churches are apt to forget, that a minister is responsible only to God. They want to make rules for a minister to preach by, so as not to have \t fit them. If he bears down on the church, and exposes the fins that prevail among them, they call it personal, and rebel against the truth. Or they say, he should not preach so plainly o the church before the world; it exposes religion, they say, and le ought to take them by themselves and preach to the church done, and not tell sinners how bad Christians are. But there ■ire cases where a minister can do no less than to show the louse of Jacob their sins. If you ask, Why not do it when we .re by ourselves? I answer, Just as if sinners did not know you lid wrong. I will preach to you by yourselves, about your wn sins, when you will get together by yourselves to sin. But s the Lord liveth, if you sin before the world, you shall be re- j u ^' ed before the world. Is it not a fact that sinners do know I ow you live, and that they stumble over you into hell ? Then o not blame ministers, when they see it their duty to rebuke ie church openly, before the world. If you are so proud you J-annot bear this, you need not expect a revival. Do not call reaching too plain, because it exposes the faults of the church, here is no such thing as preaching too plain. 5. Sometimes professors take alarm, lest the minister should 212 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. offend the ungodly by plain preaching. And they will begin to caution him against it, and ask him if he had not better alter a little to avoid giving offence, and the like. This fear is excited especially if some of the more wealthy and influential members of the congregation are offended, lest they should withdraw their support from the church, and no longer give their money to help to' pay the minister’s salary, and so the burden will come the heavier on the church. They never can have a revival m such a church. Why, the church ought to pray above all things, that the truth may come on the ungodly like tire. VVnat if they are offended? Christ can get along very well without their money. Do not blame your minister, nor ask him to change his mode of preaching to please and conciliate the un- oodly. It is of no use for a minister to preach to the impenitent, unless he can preach the truth to them. And it will do no good for them to pay for the support of the gospel, unless it is preached in such a way, that they may be searched and saved. Sometimes church members will talk among themselves ^about the minister’s imprudence, and create a party, and get into a very wrong spirit, because the wicked are displeased. There was a place, where there was a powerful revival, and great opposition. The church were alarmed, for fear that if the minister was not less plain and pointed, some of the impenitent would go and join some other congregation. And one of the leading men in the church was appointed to go to the minister, and ask him not to preach quite so hard, for if he continued to do so, such and such persons would leave the congregation. The minister asked, Is not the preaching true? “ Yes.” Does not God bless it ? “ Yes.” Did you ever see the like of this work before in this place? “No, I never did.” ‘‘Get thee behind me, Satan, the devil has sent you here on this errand; you see God is blessing the preaching, the work is going on, and sinners are converted every day, and now you come to get me to let down the tone of preaching, so as to ease the minds of the ungodly.” The man felt the rebuke, and took it like a Christian ] he saw his error and submitted, and never again was heard to find fault with the plainness of preaching. , In another town, where there was a revival, a woman wno had some influence, (not pious,) complained very much about plain, pointed, personal preaching, as she called it. But by and by she herself became a subject of the work. After this some of her impenitent friends reminded her of what she used to say against the preacher for “ preaching it out so hot.” She now HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 213 said her views were altered, and she did not care how hot the truth was preached, if it was red hot. Q. Do not take part with the wicked in any way t If you do it at all, you will strengthen their hands. If the wicked accuse the minister of being imprudent, or of being persona], and if the church members, without admitting that the minister does so, only admit that personal preaching is wrong, and talk about the impropriety of personal preaching, the wicked will feel themselves strengthened by such remarks. Do not unite with them at all, for they will feel that they have you on their side against their minister. You adopt their principles, and use their language, and are understood as sympathizing with them. | What is personal preaching? N o individual is ever benefited by preaching, until he is made to feel that it mcajis him. Now such preaching is always personal. It often appears so per¬ sona], to wicked men, that they feel as if they were just going to be called out by name, before the congregation. A minister was once preaching to a congregation, and when describing certain characters, he said, “ If I was omniscient, I could call out by name the very persons that answer to this picture.” A man cried out, “ Name me!” and he looked as if he was going to sink into the earth. He afterwards said that he had no idea of speaking out, but tne minister described him so perfectly, that he really thought he was going to call him by name. The minister did not know there was such a man in the world. It is common for men to think their own conduct is described, and .hey complain, “ Who has been telling him about me? Some- Dody has been talking to him about me, and getting him to breach at me.” I suppose I have heard of five hundred or a housand just such cases. Now if the church members will ust admit that it is wrong for a minister to mean any body in lis preaching, how can he do any good? If you are not willing - mur minister should mean any body, or preach to any body, aou had better dismiss him. Whom must he preach to, if not o the persons, the individuals before him? And how can he >reach to them, when he does not mean them ? t If you wish to stand by your minister in promoting a re- ival, do not by your lives contradict his preaching. If he (reaches that sinners are going to hell, do not give the lie to it, nd smile it all away, by your levity and unconcern. I have ieard sinners speak of the effect produced on their minds, by : evity in Christians, after a solemn and searching discourse. Vhey feel solemn and tender, and begin to be alarmed at their ondition, and they see these professors, instead of weeping over 214 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. t them, all light and easy, as much as to say, “ Don’t be afraid, sinners, it ain’t so bad, after all; keep cool and you will do well; do you think we would laugh and joke, if you were going to hell so fast? We should not laugh if only your house was on fire, still less if we saw you burning in it.” Of what use is it for a minister to preach to sinners, in such a state of things? 8. Do not needlessly take up the tune of your minister. Ministers often lose a great deal of time by individuals calling on them to talk, when they have nothing of importance to talk about, and no particular errand. The minister of course is glad to see his friends, and often too willing to spend time in conver¬ sation with his people, as he loves and esteems them. Profess¬ ors of religion should remember that a minister’s time is worth more than gold, for it can be employed in that which gold can never buy. If the minister is kept from his knees, or from his Bible, or his study, that they may indulge themselves in his con¬ versation, they do a great injury. When you have a good rea¬ son for it, you should never be backward to call on him, and even take up all the time that is necessary. But if you have nothing in particular to say that is important, keep away. I knew a man in one of our cities, who was out of business, and he used to take up months of the minister’s time. He would come to his study, and sit for three hours at a time, and talk, because he had nothing else to do, till finally, the minister had to rebuke him plainly, and tell him how much sin he was com¬ mitting. 9. Be sure not to sanction any thing that is calculated to divert public attention from the subject cf religion. Often when it comes the time of year to work,when the evenings are long, and business is light, and the very time to make an extra effort, at this moment, somebody in the church will give a party , and invite some Christian friends, so as to have it a religious party. And then some other family must do the same, to return the compliment. Then another and another, till it grows into an organized system of parties, that consume the whole winter. Abominable! This is the grand device of the devil, because it appears so innocent, and so proper, to promote good feeling, and increase the acquaintance of Christians with each other. And so, instead of prayer meetings they will have these parties. The evils of these parties are very great. They are often got up at great expense, and the most abominable gluttony is practised in them. It is said that the expense is from one hun¬ dred to two thousand dollars. I have been told that in some instances, professed Christians have given great parties, and HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 215 made great entertainments, and excused their ungodly nrodi r concert and pray for the , In some instances, I have been told, they find a salvo for j hei f r COnS m 1 I f. nces * ln the fact ^at their minister attends their | ™ \ eS - jT of c °urse, would give weight to such an ex- ! • pie, and if one professor of religion made a party and invited heir minister others must do the same. The next step they wu each «° a bal1 ’ and a PP° int th cir minister u „ th Se l ' Wb y not • ^nd perhaps, by and by, he will do 6 ^ aV i? r j to P a y tbe hddle. In my estimation he might rayer * 18 WG ° aS *° and conc iude such a party with w HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 216 I have heard with pain, that a circle of parties, I know not to what extent has been held in KocuESTER-that place so highly favored of the Lord. 1 know not through whose influence they have been k>t up, or by what particular persons they have been ozonized and a tended. But I should adv.se any congrega¬ tion who are calculating to have a circle of part.es, m the mean time to dismiss their minister, and let lam go and P rea£h w , e . Ihe people would be ready to receive the word and profit by it an/nof have him stay and he distressed, and gne\ed, and Wiled bv attempting to promote religion among them, while hey arek”hea°rt Ji hand in the service of the devil. | Professor's of religion should never get up any thing that may divert nublic auention from religion, without first having con¬ sulted Aeir minister, and made it a subject of special prayer. And if they find it will have this effect, they ought never- to do it Subjects will often come up before the public which have his tendency; some course of lectures, or show, or the like. P ofessors ouUt to be wise, and understand what they are about and not'give countenance to any such thing, until ey see what influence it will have, and whether it wnl hinder , revival If it will do that, let them have nothing to do with it. Every such thing should be estimated by its bearing upon “IS '^parties, say what you please about their being an innocent recreation, I appeal to any of you who hav e ever attended them, to say whether they fit you for prayer, or in crease your spirituality, or whether sinners are ever converted in therm or Christians made to agonize in prayer for souls ■ II I am to mention several things which churches must DO, if they would promote a revival and aid their ™ mst “- . . 1 'They must attend to his temporal wants A minister , „; v( Jhimself wholly to the work, cannot be engaged in worldly employments, and of course is entirely dependent on hTs people for the supply of his temporal wants, including the s^pport of his family I need not argue this poirfl here, for you alfunderstand this perfectly. It is the—nd °‘ s £l” “ they which preach the gospel should live of n0 wlook around and see how many churches do m this For instance when they want a minister, they will cast ahou f„°d “cheap they San get one. They will ca cu ate^o a farlhine- how much his salt will cost, and how much his mea , and then set his salary so low as to subject him to extreme l convenience to get along and keep his femtly. A minister mu ^ have his mind at ease, to study and labor with effect, an HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 217 cannot screw down prices, and banter, and look out for the best chances to buy to advantage what he needs. If he is obliged to do this, his mind is embarrassed. Unless his temporal wants are so supplied, that his thoughts may be abstracted from them, how can he do his duty? 2 . Be honest with your minister. Do not measure out and calculate with how much salt and how many bushels of grain he can possibly get along. Re¬ member, you are dealing with Christ. And he calls you to place his ministers in such a situation, that with ordinary pru¬ dence temporal embarrassment is out of the question. 3. Be 'punctual with him. Sometimes churches, when they are about settling a minister, if have a great deal of pride about giving a salary, and they will get up a subscription, and make out an amount which they never pay, and very likely never expected to pay. And so, after one, two, three, or four years, the society gets three or four hundred dollars in arrears to their minister, and then they expect he will give it to them. And all the while, they wonder why there is no revival! This may be the very reason, because the church have LIED; they have faithfully promised to pay so much, and have not done it. God cannot consistently pour out his Spirit on such a church. 4. Pay him his salary without ashing. Nothing is so embarrassing, often, to a minister, as to be obliged to dun his people for his salary. Often he gets ene¬ mies, and gives offence, by being obliged to call, and call, and I.call for his money, and then not get it as they promised. They would have paid it if their credit had been at stake, but when it is nothing blit conscience and the blessing of God, they let it lie along. If any one of them had a note at the bank, you j would see him careful and prompt to be on the ground before ! three o’clock. That is because the note will be protested, and they shall lose their character. But they know the minister will not sue them for his salary, and they are careless and let it run along, and he must suffer the inconvenience. This is net so common in the city as it is in the country. But in the coun¬ try, I have known some heart-rending cases of distress and misery, by the negligence and cruelty of congregations in with¬ holding that which is due. Churches live in habitual lying and cheating, and then wonder why they have no revival. How can they wonder ? 5. Pray for your minister. I mean something by this. And what do you suppose I mean? Even the apostles used to urge 19 218 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. the churches to pray for them. This is more important than you imagine. Ministers do not ask people to pray lor them simply as men, nor that they may be filled with an abundance of the Spirit’s influences, merely to promote their personal en¬ joyment. But they know that unless the church greatly desires a blessing upon the labors of a minister, it is tempting God for him to expect it. blow often does a minister go into his pulpit, feeling that his heart is ready to break for the blessing of God, while he also feels that there is no room to expect it, for there is no reason to believe the church desire it! Perhaps he has been two hours on his knees in supplication, and yet because that the church do not desire a blessing, he leels as if his words would bound hack in his face. 1 have seen Christians who would be in an agony, when the minister was going into the pulpit, for fear his mind should be in a cloud, or his heart cold, or he should have no unction,' and so a blessing should not come. I have labored with a man of this sort. He would pray until he got an assurance in his mind, that God would be with me in preaching, and sometimes he would pray himself sick. I have known the time, when he has been in darkness for a season, while the people were gath¬ ering, and ids mind was full of anxiety, and he would go again and again to pray, till finally he would come into the room with a placid face, and say, “ The Lord lias come, and he will he with us.” An/1 I do not know that I ever found him mistaken, i I have known a church bear their minister on their arms in prayer from day to day, and watch with anxiety unutterable, to see that he has the Holy Ghost with him in his labors! When they feel and pray thus, O what feelings and what looks are manifest in the congregation! They have felt anxiety unutter¬ able to have the word come with power, and take effect, and when they see their prayer answered, and they hear a word or a sentence come WARM from the heart, and taking effect among the people, you can see their whole souls look out of their eyes. How different is the case, where the church feel that the minister is praying, and so there is no need of their praying! They are mistaken. The church must desire and pray for the blessing. God says he will be inquired of by the house of Israel. I Avish you to feel that there can be no substi¬ tute for this. I have seen cases in revivals, Avhere the church Avas kept in the back ground in regard to prayer, and persons from abroad were called on to pray in all the meetings. This is always unhappy, even if there should he a revival, for the revival must HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 219 be less powerful and less salutary in its influences upon the church. I do not know but I have sometimes offended Chris¬ tians and ministers from abroad, by continuing to call on mem¬ bers of the church in the place to pray, and not on those from abroad. It was not from any disrespect to them, but because the object was to get that church which was chiefly concerned to desne, and pray, and agonize for the blessing. In a ceitain place, a protracted meeting was held, with no good results, and great evils produced. I was led to make inquiry for the reason. And it came out, that in all their meet- i ings, not one member of their own church was called on to I P* a y> “ ut a t f ie P ra y er5 were made by persons from abroad. ' .o wonder there was no good done. The church was not [(interested. The leader of the meeting meant well, but he undertook to promote a revival without getting the church there into the v.oik. He let a lazy church lie still and do nothin^* and so there could be no good. Churches should pray for ministers as the agents of breaking down sinners with the word of truth. Prayer for a minister is often cone in a set and formal way, and confined to the prayer meetings. They will say their prayers in the old way, as they have always done : “ Lord, bless thy ministering servant, whom thou hast stationed on this part of Zion’s walls,” and so on, and it amounts to nothing, because there is no heart in it. And .he proof often is, that they never thought of praying for him in secret, they never have agonized in their closets for a bless- mg on his laocis. They may not omit it wholly in their meet¬ ings. If they do that , it is evident that they care very little indeed about the labors of their minister. But that is not the most important place. T. he way to present effectual prayer for your minister is to take it to your closet, and when you are in secret, wrestle with God for success to attend his labors. I knew a case of a minister in ill health, who became de¬ pressed and sunk down in his mind, and was very much in lark ness, so that he did not feel as if he could preach any ! onger. An individual of the church was waked up to feel for he minister’s situation, and to pray that he might have the Holy jrhost to attend his preaching. One Sabbath morning, this i person’s mind was very much exercised, and he began to pray is soon as it was light, and prayed again and again for a bless- ng that day. And the Lord in some way directed the minister within hearing of his prayer. The person was telling the Imrd just what he thought of the minister’s situation and state if mind, and pleading, as if he would not be denied, for a bless- 220 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. ing. The minister went into the pulpit and preached, and the light broke in upon him, and the word was with power, and a revival commenced that, very day. 6. A minister should be provided for by the church , and his support guaranteed, irrespective of the ungodly. Otherwise he may be obliged either to starve his family, or to keep back a part of the truth so as not to offend sinners. I once expostu¬ lated with a minister who I found was afraid to come out fully with the. truth. 1 told him I was surprised he did not bear down on certain points. He told me he was so situated that he must please certain men, who would be touched there. It was the ungodly that chiefly supported him, and that made him. de pendent and temporizing. And yet perhaps that very church which left their minister dependent on ti e ungodly for his bread, will turn round and abuse him for his want of faith, and his fear of men. The church ought always to say to their min' ister, “We will support you; go to work; let the truth pour down on the people, and we will stand by you. 7. See that every thing is so arranged, that people can sit comfortably in meeting. If people do not sit easy, it is difficult to get or to keep their attention. And if they are not attentive, they cannot be converted. They have come to hear for their lives, and they ought to be so situated that they can hear with all their souls, and have nothing in their bodily position to call for attention. Churches do not realize how important it is that the place of meeting should be made comfortable. I do not mean showy. All your glare and glory of rich chandeliers, and rich carpets, and splendid pulpits, is the opposite extreme, and takes off the attention just as badly, and defeats every ob¬ ject for which a sinner should come to meeting. You need not expect a revival there. 8. See that the house of God is kept cleanly. The house of God should be kept as clean as you would want your own house to be kept. Churches are often kept excessively slovenly. I have seen them, where people used so much tobacco, and took so little care about neatness, that it was impossible to preach with comfort. Once in a protracted meeting, the thing was charged upon the church, and they had to acknowledge it, that they paid more money for tobacco than they did for the cause of missions. They could not kneel in their pews, and ladies could not sit without all the time watching their clothes, and they had to be careful where they stepped, because the house was so dirty, and there was so much tobacco juice running all about the floor. If people cannot go where they can hear without being annoyed HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS, 221 with offensive sights and smells, and where they can kneel in prayer, what good will a protracted meeting do ? There is an importance in these things, which is not realized. See that man! What is he doing? I am preaching to him about eternal life he 1S linking about the dirty pew. And that woman is ashing for a footstool to keep her feet out of the tobacco juice. 9. It is important that the house should be just warm enough and not too warm. Suppose a minister comes into a house, and hnds it cold; he sees as soon as he gets in, that he might as we 1 stay at home.: the people are shivering, their feet cold, they Jeel as it they should take cold, they are uneasy, and he wishes he was at home, for he knows he cannot do any thin a- but he must preach, or they will be disappointed. Or he may find the house too warm, and the people, instead of listening to the truth, are fanning, and panting for breath andTy and by a woman faints, and makes a stir, and the train o thought and feedng is all lost, and so a whole sermon is wasted to no good end. These little things take off the attention G , P eo P e words of eternal life. And very often it is so, | that if you drop a single link in the chain of argument, you lose , the whole, and the people are damned, just because the careless chuich do not see to the proper regulation of these little matters. 10. The house should be well ventilated. Of all houses, a church should be the most perfectly ventilated. If there is no change of the air, it passes through so many lungs it becomes i sad, and its vitality is exhausted, and the people pant, they know not why, and feel an almost irresistible desire to sleep, and the bannister preaches in vain. The sermon is lost, and worsethan ost. I have often wondered that this matter should be so little le su1j j e ct of thought. The elders and trustees will sit and flear a whole sermon, while the people are all but ready to die or the want of air, and the.minister is wasting his strength in Lnreaching where the room is just like an exhausted receiver, f ind tnere they sit and never think to do any thing to help the matter. 1 hey should take it upon themselves to see that this is | egulated right, that the house is just warm enough, and the air l ce pt pure. How important it is that the church should be jUwake to this subject, that the minister may labor to the best ad¬ vantage, and the people give their undivided attention* to the i ruth, which is to save their souls. .It is very common, when things are wrong, to have it all aid to the sexton. This is not so. Often the sexton is not 19* J, 222 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. to blame. If the house is cold and uncomfortable, very often it is because the fuel is not good, or the stoves not suitable, or the house is so open it cannot be warmed. If it is too ''arm, per¬ haps somebody has intermeddled when he was out, and heaped on fuel without discretion. Or, if the sexton is in fault, per¬ haps it is because the church do not pay him enough lor his services, and he cannot afford to give the attention necessary to keep the church in order. Churches sometimes screw down the sexton’s salary, to the lowest point, so that he is oblige to slight his work. Or they will select one who is incompetent, for & the sake of getting him cheap, and then the thing is not done. The fault is in the church. Let them give an adequate compensation for the work, and it can be done, and done la it li¬ ft 11 Y . If one sexton will not do it right, another will, and trie church are bound to see it done right, or else let them dismiss their minister, and not keep him, and at the same time have other things in a state so out of order that he loses ail his work. What economy! To pay the minister’s salary, and then for the want of fifty dollars added to the sexton’s wages, every thing is so out of order that the minister’s labors are all lost souls are lost, and your children and neighbors go clowm to hell! _ Sometimes this uncleanliness, and negligence, and contusion are chargeable to the minister. Perhaps he uses tobacco, and sets the example of defiling the house of God. Ieihaps t e pulpit will be the filthiest place in the house. I have some¬ times been in pulpits, that were too loathsome to be occupied by human beings. If a minister has no more piety and de¬ cency than this, no wonder things are at loose ends in the con¬ gregation. And generally it is even so. 11. People should leave their dogs, and very young children, at home. I have often known contentions arise among dogs, and children to cry, just at that stage of the services, that would most effectually destroy the effect of the meeting. If children are present and weep, they should instantly be remove . have sometimes known a mother or a nurse sit and toss er child, while its cries were diverting the attention of the w ho e k congregation. This is cruel. And as for dogs, they had in¬ finitely better be dead, than to divert attention from the word of God. See that deacon; perhaps his dog has in this way destroyed more souls than the deacon will ever be instrumental in saving. . . . , 12. The members of the church should aid the minister by visiting from house to house, and trying to save souls. Do not leave all this to the minister. It is impossible he should do it, HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 223 even if he gives all his time, and neglects his study and his closet. Church members should take pains and qualify them¬ selves for this duty, so that they can be useful in it. 13 They should hold Bible classes. Suitable individuals should be selected to hold Bible classes, for the instruction of ^ oun & people, and where those who are awakened or affected by the preaching, can be received and be converted. As soon as any one is seen to be touched, let them be invited to join the Bible class, where they will be properly treated, and probably they will be converted. The church should select the best men for this service, and should all be on the look out to nil up the Bible classes. It has been done~in this congrega¬ tion, and it is a very common thing, when persons are impress¬ ed that they are observed by somebody, and invited to join the Bible class, and they will do it, and there they are converted. I do not mean that we are doing all we ought to do in this wa y ; or we flight do. We want more teachers, able and willing to take charge of such classes. 14- Churches should sustain Sabbath schools, and in this way aid their ministers in saving souls. How can a minister attend ^o this and preach ? Unless I he church will take off these resnon ■ sibiJities, and cares, anu labors, he must either neglect them, or aecmshed. Bet the church be WIDE AWAKE, watch and Hingin children to the school, and teach them faithfully, and ay themselves out to promote a revival in the school. 5 15. 1 hey should watch over the members of the church. They should visit each other, in order to stir each other up, mow each other’s spiritual state, and provoke one another to love md good works. The minister cannot do it, he has not time- t is impossible he should study and prepare sermons, and at he same time visit every member of the church as often as it ‘leeds to be done to keep them advancing. The church are ound to do it. They are under oath to watch over each ther’s spiritual welfare. But how is this done? Many do not now each other, .They meet and pass each other as strangers, nd never ask about their spiritual condition. But if they hear ny thing bad of one, they go and tell it to others. Instead o t | matching over each other for their good, they watch for their alting. How can they watch for good when they are not ven acquainted with each other? 16. The church should watch for the effect of preaching. If i l ?y are Paying for the success of the preached word, they ill watch for it of course. They should keep a look out, and hen any in the congregation give evidence that the word of 224 now CHURCHES CAN help ministers. God has taken hold of them, they should follow it up. Wher¬ ever there are any exhibitions ol feeling, those persons should be attended to, instantly, and not left till their impressions wear o(f They should talk to them, or get them visited, or get them into the anxious meeting, or into the Bible class, or bring them to the minister. If the members of the church do not attend to this, they neglect their duty. If they attend to it, they may do incalculable good. There was a pious young woman, who lived in a very cold and wicked place. She alone had the spirit of prayer, and she had been praying for a blessing upon the word. At length she saw one individual in the congregation who seemed to be affect¬ ed by the preaching, and as soon as the minister came from the pulpit, she came forward, agitated and trembling, and begged him to go and converse with the person immediately. He did so, and the individual was soon converted, and a revival follow¬ ed. Now one of your stupid professors would not have seen that individual awakened, and would have stumbled over half a dozen of them without notice, and let them go to hell. Pro¬ fessors should watch every sermon, and see how it affects tne congregation. I do not mean that they should be stretching their necks and staring about the house, but they should observe, as they may, and if they find any person affected by preaching, throw themselves in his way, and guide him to the Savior. 17. Beware, and not give, away all the 'preaching to others. If you do not take your portion, you Will starve, and become like spiritual skeletons. Christians should take their portion to themselves. If the word should be quite searching to them, they should make the honest application and, lay it along side their heart and practise it, and live by it. Otherwise preaching will do them no good. 18. Be ready to aid your minister in effecting his plans for doing good . When the minister is wise to devise plans for use¬ fulness, and the church ready to execute them, they may carry all before them. But when the church hang back from every enterprise until they are actually dragged into it, when they are opposing every proposal, because it will cost something , they sre a dead weight upon a minister. If stoves are needed, O no, they will cost something. If lamps are called for, to prevent preaching in the dark, O no, they will cost something. And so they will stick up candles on the posts, or do without evening meetings altogether. If they stick up candles, it soon comes to pass that they either give no light, or some one must run round and snuff them. And so the whole congregation are disturbed 221 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. oy the candle-snuffer, their attention taken off; and the sermon lost. I was once attending a protracted meeting, where we were embarrassed because there were no lamps to the house I uro-ed the people to get them, but they thought it would cost too much. I then pioposed to get them myself, and was about to do it, but found it. would give offence, and we went on without. But the blessing did not come, to any great extent. How could it 1 The church began by calculating to a cent how much it would cost, anu they wouid not go beyond, to save souls from hell. So where a minister appoints a meeting, such people cannot have it, because it will cost something. If they can offer unto the Lord that which costs nothing, they will do it. Miserable helpers they are ! Such a church can have no revival. A min¬ ister might as well have a millstone about his neck, as such a church He had better leave them, if he cannot learn them bet¬ ter, and go where he will not be so hampered. 19. Church members should make it a point to attend prayer meetings , and attend in time. Some church members will always ittend on preaching, because there they have nothing to do, but o sit and hear, and be entertained, but they will not attend prayer meetings, for fear they shall be called on to do some- hmg. Such members tie up the hands of the minister, and dis¬ courage his heart. Why do they employ a minister? Is it to muse them by preaching? or is it that he may teach them the | nil of God that they may do it ? 20. Church members ought to study and inquire what they an do, and then do it. Christians should be trained like a band f soldiers. It is the duty and office of a minister to train them )r usefulness, to teach them and direct them, and lead them on, l such a way as to produce the greatest amount of moral in- j uence. And then they should stand their ground and do their uty, otherwise they will be right in the way. There are many other points which I noted, and intended to >uch upon, but there is not time. I could write a book as big 1 5 this Bible, in detailing the various particulars that ought to 3 attended to. I must close with a few h I REMARKS. 1* ou see that a minister’s want of success may not be hoily on account of a want of wisdom in the exercise of his mce. I am not going to plead for negligent ministers. I never ill spaie ministers from the naked truth, nor apply flattering les to men. If they are blameworthy, let them be blamed! 226 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. And no doubt they are always more or less to biarne when the word produces no effect. But it is far from being true that they are always the principal persons to blame. Sometimes the church is much more to blame than the minister, and if an apostle or an angel from heaven were to preach, he could not produce a revival of religion in that church. Perhaps they are dishonest to their minister, or covetous, or careless about the conveniences of public worship. Alas! what a state many country churches are in, where, for the want of a hundred dollars, every thing is inconvenient and uncomfortable, and the labors of the preacher are lost. They live in ceiled houses themselves, and let the house of Glod lie waste Or the church counteract all the in¬ fluence of preaching, by their ungodly lives. Or perhaps their parties, their worldly show, as in most of the churches n this city, annihilate the influence of the gospel. *2. Churches should remember that they are exceeding /guilty, to employ a minister, and then not aid him in his w Jc, The Lord Jesus Christ has sent an ambassador to sinners, to turn them from their evil ways, and he fails of his errand, because the church refuse to do their duty. Instead of recommending his message, and seconding his entreaties, and holding op his hands in all the ways that are proper, they stand right in tl e way, and contradict his message, and counteract his influence, and souls perish. No doubt in most of the congregations in the United States, the minister is often hindered so much, that he might as well be on a foreign mission a great part of the lime, as to be there, for any effect of his preaching in the conversion of sin¬ ners, while he has to preach over the heads of an inactive, stupid church. And yet these very churches are not willing to have their minister absent a few days to attend a protracted meeting. “We cannot spare him; why he is our minister, and we like to have our minister here while at the same time they hinder all he can do. If he could, he would tear himself right away, and go where there is no minister, and where the people would be will¬ ing to receive the gospel. But there he must stay, though he cannot get the church into a state to have a revival once in three years, to last three months at a time. It might be well for him to say to the church, “Whenever you are determined to take one of these long naps, I wish you to let me know it, so that 1 can go and labor somewhere else in the mean time, till you are ready to wake again.” 3. Many churches cannot be blessed with a revival, because they are spunging out of ether churches, and out of the treasury HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 227 1 I l • of the Lord for the support of their minister, when they are abundantly able to support him themselves. Perhaps they aro depending on the Home Missionary Society, or on other churches while they are not exercising any self-denial for the sake of the gospel. I have been amazed to see how some churches live. One church that I was acquainted with, actually comessed that they spent more money for tobacco than they gave for missions. And yet they had no minister, because they icere not able to support one. And they have none now And yet there is one man in that church who is able to support a minister And still they have no minister, and no preaching lhe churches have not been instructed in their duty on this subject. I stopped in one place last summer, where there was no preaching. I inquired of an elder in the church why it was so, and he said it was because they were so poor. I asked him how much he was worth. He did not give me a direct answer, but said that another elder’s income was about $500 a year, and 1 finally found out that this man’s was about the same. Here, said I, are two elders, each of you able to sup¬ port a minister, and because you cannot get help from abroad m Srtr p r cl !'^- wh y' if > u had & would I _ot be blessed, while you were thus sponging out of the Lords treasury. Finally, he confessed that he"was able to support a minister, and the two together agreed that they would It is common for churches to ask help, when in fact they do not need any help, and when it would be a great deal better for them to support their own minister. If they get funds from the otne Missionary Society, when they ought to raise them them- selves, they may expect the curse of the Lord upon them, and this will be a sufficient reason for the gospel’s proving to them ,a curse rather than a blessing. Of how many churches mmht it be said, “Ye have robbed God, even this whole church.” ° 1 know a church who employed a minister but half the time and felt unable to pay his salary for that. A female working society in a neighboring town appropriated their funds to this object, and assisted this church in paying their minister’s sal¬ ary. i he result was, as might be expected. He did them lit- •le or no good. They had no revival under his preaching, nor could they ever expect any, while acting on such a principle. Ihere was one man in that congregation who could support a ninister all the time. I Avas informed by a member, that the church-,members were supposed to be worth two hundred thousand dollars. Now if this is true, here is a church 228 now CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. with an income, at seven per cent of $ 14,000 a year who feU themselves too poor to pay $200 for support of a minister to preach half the time, and would suffer the females of a neigh- boring town to work with their own hands to a'd them m pay ino- this sum Among the elders of this church, I found that several of .bemused tobacco, ancI two.of themwho signed a covenant written on the blank leaf of their Bib which thev pledged themselves to abandon that sin fo > ever ; it was in a great measure for want of right instruction, that this church was pursuing such a course, b or when the sib iect was taken up, and their duty laid before them, the wea y man of whom l am speaking said that he would pay the whole salary himself, if he thought it would not be resented by he conerevation and do more hurt than good; and that it the church would procure a minister, and go ahead and raise a par of his salary, he would make up the remainder. 1 hey can now not only support a minister half the time, but all the time, and pay his Salary themselves. And they will find it good and F t a I 1 have d0 gone from place to place laboring in revivals, I have always found that churches were blessed m P r op ort10 ^ t0 their liberality. Where they have manifested a disposiion to sup¬ port the gospel, and to pour their substance liberally in othe‘re surv of the Lord, they have been blessed both in spiritual and in temporal things. But where they have been parsi¬ monious, and let the minister preach for them ^'j ll K . nothine these churches have been cursed instead of blessed And as a genera thing, in revivals of religion, I have found it to be W U e tha" young converts are most inclined to join those churches which are most liberal in making efforts to support the gospel. The churches are very much in the daik on this j TheJ have noheen ..ugh? their duty I have ini many instan¬ ces found an exceeding readiness to do it, when the subject was laid before them. I knew an elder in a church, who was talk¬ ing about getting a minister for half the time, because the c lure were poor, although his own income was considerable. I. ask him if his income was not sufficient to support a minister a the time himself. He said it was. And on being asked , w M other use he could make of the Lord’s money which he jW sessed, that would prove so beneficial to ‘hemteresv kingdom, as to employ a minister not only half but all in Ins own town, he concluded to set himself about it A mm ister has been accordingly obtained, and I believe they fin difficulty in paying him his full salary. IIOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 229 The fact is, that a minister can do but little by preaching only half the time. If on one Sabbath an impression is made, it is lost before a fortnight comes round. As a matter of economy, a church should lay themselves out to support the gospel all the time. If they get the right sort of a minister, and keep him steadily at work, they may have a revival, and thus the ungodly will be converted and come in and help them. And tnus in one year they may have a great accession to their strength. But if they employ a minister but half the time, year after year may roll away, while sinners are going to hell, and no accession is made to their strength from the ranks of the ungodly. The fact is, that professors of religion have not been made to I feel, that all their possessions are the Lord’s. Hence they have talked about giving their property i or the support of the gospel. As if the Lord Jesus Christ was a beggar, and they called upon to support his gospel, as an act of almsgiving! A merchant in one of the towns in this state, was paying a large part of his minis¬ ter’s salary. One of the members of the church was relating the fact to a minister from abroad, and speaking of the sacrifice which this merchant was making. At this moment the mer¬ chant came in. “Brother, ’ said the minister, “you are a mer- cnant. Suppose you employ a clerk to sell goods, and a school¬ master to teach your children. You order your clerk to pay your school-master out of the store such an amount, for his services in teaching. Now suppose your clerk should give out had to pay this school-master his salary, and should p speak of the sacrifices that he was making to do it, what would you say to this ?” “ Why,” said the merchant, “ I should say it was ridiculous.” “ Well,” says the minister, “God employs you to sell goods as his clerk, and your minister he employs to teach his children, and requires you to pay his salary out of the income of the store. Now, do you call this your sacrifice, | an( l say that you are making a great sacrifice, to pay this min¬ ister’s salary? No, you are just as much bound to sell goods for God, as he is to preach for God. You have no more right to sell goods for the purpose of laying up money, than he has to preach the gospel for the same purpose. You are bound to be just as pious, and to aim as singly at the glory of God, in selling goods, as he is in preaching the gospel. And thus you ! are as absolutely to give up your whole time for the service of God, as he does. You and your family may lawfully live out of the avails of this store, and so may the minister and his family, just as lawfully. If you sell goods from these motives, 20 230 HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. selling goods is just as much serving God as preaching. And a man who sells goods upon these principles, and acts in con¬ formity to them, is just as pious, just as much in the service of God, as he is who preaches the gospel. Every man is bound to serve God in his calling , the minister by teaching, the mer¬ chant by selling goods, the farmer by tilling his fields, the lawyer and physician by plying the duties of their profession. “ It is equally unlawful for any one of these to labor for the meat that perisheth. All they do is to be for God, and all they can earn, after comfortably supporting their families, is to he dedicated to the spread of the gospel and the salvation of the world.” It has long enough been supposed that ministers must be more pious than other men, that they must not love the world, that they must labor for God: they must live as frugally as possible, and lay out their whole time, and health, and strength, and life, to build up the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ihis is true. But although other men are not called to labor in the same field, and to give up their time to public instruction, yet they are just as absolutely bound to consider their whole time as God’s, and have no more right to love the world, or accumulate wealth, or lay it up for their children, or spend it upon their lusts, than ministers have. . It is high time the church was acquainted with these princi¬ ples ; and°the Home Missionary Society may labor till the day of judgment to convert the people, and they will never succeed, till the churches are led to understand and feel their duty in this respect. Why, the very fact that they are asking and receiv¬ ing aid in supporting their minister from the Home Missionary Society while they are able to support him themselves, is pro¬ bably the very reason why his labors among them are not more blessed. I would that the American Home Missionary Society pos¬ sessed a hundred times the means that it now does, of aiding feeble churches, that are unable to help themselves. But it is neither good economy nor piety, to give their funds to those who are able but unwilling to support the gospel. For it is in vain to attempt to help them, while they are able hut unwilling to help themselves. If the Missionary Society had a ton of gold, it would be no charity to give it to such a church. But let the church bring in all the tithes to God’s storehouse, and God will open the win¬ dows of heaven and pour down a blessing. But let the churches know assuredly that if they are unwilling to help themselves to HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS. 231 the extent of their ability, they will know the reason why such small success attends the labors of their ministers. Here they are spunging their support from the Lord’s treasury. How many churches are laying out their money for tea and coffee and tobacco, and then come and ask aid from the Home Mis¬ sionary Society! I will protest against aiding a church who use tea and tobacco, and live without the least self-denial, and who want to offer God only that which costs nothing. Finally—I f they mean to be blessed, let them do their duty do all their duty, put shoulder to the wheel, gird on the gospel armor, and come up to the work. Then, if the church is m the field, the car of salvation will move on, though all hell oppose, and sinners will be converted and saved. But if a church will give up all the labor to the minister, and sit still and look on, while he is laboring, and themselves do nothing but complain ol him, they will not only fail of a revival of religion, but if they continue slothful and censorious, will by and by find themselves m hell for their disobedience and unprofitableness in the ser¬ vice of Christ. LECTURE XIV. MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. Text— "These men, beinsj Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Ro¬ mans. 5 ’— Acts xvi. 20, 21. “ These men,” here spoken of, were Paul and Silas, who went to Philippi to preach the gospel, and very much disturbed the people of that city, because they supposed the preaching would interfere with their worldly gains. And so they arraigned the preachers of the gospel before the magistrates of the city, as culprits, and charged them with teaching doctrines, and especially employing measures, that were not lawful. In discoursing from these words 1 design to show, I. That under the gospel dispensation, God has established no 'particular system of measures to be employed and invariably adhered to in promoting religion. t II. To show that our present forms of public worship, and every thing, so far as measures are concerned, have been arrived at by degrees , and by a succession of New Measures. I. I am to show that under the gospel, God has established no particular measures to be used. Under the Jeivish dispensation, there were particular forms enjoined and prescribed by God himself, from which it was not lawful to depart."' But these forms were all typical , and were designed to shadow forth Christ, or something connected with the new dispensation that Christ was to introduce. And there¬ fore they were fixed, and all their details particularly prescribed by Divine authority. But it was never so under the gospel. When Christ came, the ceremonial or typical dispensation was abrogated, because the design of those forms was fulfilled, and therefore themselves of no further use. He, being the anti-type, the types were of course done away at his coming. THE GOSPEL was then preached as the appointed means of pro¬ moting religion; and it was left to the discretion of the church to determine, from time to time, what measures shall be adopted, and what forms pursued, in giving the gospel its power. We are left in the dark as to the measures which were pursued by the apostles and primitive preachers, except so far as wc can MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 233 gather it from occasional hints in the book of Acts. We do not know how many times they sung and how many times they prayed in public worship, nor even whether they sung or prayed at all m their ordinary meetings for preaching. When Jesus Christ was on earth, laboring among his disciples, he had no¬ thing to do with forms or measures. He did from time to time m this respect just as it would be natural for any man to do in such cases, without any thing like a set form or mode of doing it.. The Jews accused him of disregarding their forms. His object was to preach and teach mankind the true religion. And when the apostles preached afterwards, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, we hear nothing about their having a par¬ ticular system of measures to carry on their work, or one apos¬ tle doing a thing in a particular way because others did it in that way. Their commission was, “ Go and preach the gospel, and disciple all nations. It did not prescribe any forms. It did not admit any. _ No person can pretend to get any set of forms or particular directions as to measures, out of this commission. Do it—the best way you can—ask wisdom from God—use the faculties he has given you—seek the direction of the Holy Ghost—go forward and do it. This was their commission. And their object was to make known the gospel in the most effectual way, to make the truth stand out strikingly, so as to obtain the attenfion and secure the obedience of the greatest number possi- ble. No person can find any form of doing this laid down in the Bible It is preaching the gospel that stands out prominent there as the great thing. The form is left out of the question. It is manifest, tnat, in preaching the gospel, there must be some kind of measures adopted. The gospel must be gotten be- fore the minds of the people, and measures .must be taken so that they can hear it, and to induce them to attend to it. This *as done by building churches, bolding stated or other meetings, and so on. TV ithout some measures, it can never be made to i take effect among men. II. I am to show that our present forms of public worship, and every thing, so far as measures are concerned, have been arrived at by degrees , and by a succession of Nero Measures. 1. I will mention some things in regard to the ministry. Many years ago, ministers were accustomed to wear a pecu¬ liar habit. It is so now in Catholic countries. It used to be so here. Ministers had a peculiar dress as much as soldiers. 1 hey used to wear a cocked hat, and bands instead of a cravat or stock, and small clothes, and a wig. No matter how much lair a man had on his head, he must cut it off and w T ear a wig, 20 * f f 234 MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS, And then he must wear a gown. All these things were cus¬ tomary, and everv clergyman was held hound to wear them, and it was not considered proper for him to officiate without them All these had doubtless been introduced by a succession of innovations, for we have no good reason for believing that the apostles and primitive ministers dressed differently irom other men. . , . But now all these things have been given up, one by one, by a succession of innovations or new measures, until now in many churches a minister can go into the pulpit and preach without being noticed, although dressed like any other man. And when it was done in regard to each one of them, the church complain- ^ ed as much as if it had been a Divine institution given up. It was denounced as an innovation. When ministers began to jay aside their cocked hats, and wear hats like other men, it gpcv* ed the elderly people very muchj it looked so undigni ,ed, 'they said, for a minister to wear a round hat. When, in 1827 I wore a fur cap, a minister said, “ that was too bad for a nun* ister.” . , . Wffien ministers first began, a few years since, to wear white hats, it was thought by many to be a sad and very undignified innovation. And even now, they are so bigoted in some places, that a clergyman told me but a few days since, in travelling through New England last summer with a white hat, he could perceive that it injured his influence. This spirit should not be looked upon as harmless ; I have good reason to know that it is not harmless. Thinking men see it to be mere bigotry, and are exceedingly in danger of viewing every thing about religion in the same light on this account. This has been the result in many instances. There is at this day scarcely a minister in the land who does not feel himself obliged to wear a black coat, as mucjj as if it were a divine institution. The church is yet filled with a kind of superstitious reverence for such things. This is a great stumbling block to many minds. So, in like manner, when ministers laid aside their bands, anu w r ore cravats or stocks, it was said they were becoming secular, and many found fault. Even now, in some places, a minister would not dare to be seen in the pulpit in a cravat or stock. The people would feel as if they had no clergyman, if he had no bands. A minister in this city asked another, but a few days since, if it would do to w r ear a black stock in the pulpit. He wore one in his ordinary intercourse with his people, but doubt¬ ed wffiether it would do to w T ear it in the pulpit. So in regard to short clothes; they used to be thought essen- : | ilw' x * MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 235 ' ■ ' ■*' tial to the ministerial character. Even now, in Catholic coun¬ tries, every priest wears small clothes. Even the little boys there, who are training for the priest’s office, wear their cocked hats, and black stockings, and small clothes. This would look ridiculous amongst us. But it used to be practised in this coun¬ try- The time was when good people would have been shocked if a minister had gone into the pulpit with pantaloons on, They would have thought he was certainly going to ruin the church by his innovations. I have been told that some years ago, in New England, a certain elderly clergyman was so opposed to the new measure of a minister’s wearing pantaloons, that he would on no account allow them in his pulpit. A young man was going to preach for him, who had no small clothes, a^idthe old minister would not let him officiate in pantaloons. “ Why,” said he, “my people would think I had brought a fop into the pulpit, to see a man there with pantaloons on, and it would pro- uuce an excitement among them.” And so, finally, the young | F*®** was °bliged to borrow a pair of the old gentleman’s clothes, and they were too short for him, and made a ridiculous figure enough. But any thing was better than such a terrible inno¬ vation as preaching in pantaloons. But reason has triumphed. Just so it was in regard to wigs. I remember one minister, - who, though quite a young man, used to wear an enormous white wig. And the people talked as if there was a divine I right about it, and it was as hard to give it up, almost, as to give up the Bible itself. Gowns also were considered essential to the i: ministerial chaiacter. And even now, in many congregations P this country, the people will not tolerate a minister in the pul¬ i' P il: > u . nles s he has a flowing silk gown, with enormous sleeves r as big as his body. Even in some of the Congregational , churches in New England, they cannot bear to give it up. Now, now came people to suppose a minister must have a gown or a wig, in order to preach with effect? Why was it that every clergyman was held obliged to use these things? How is it l that not one of these things have been given up in the churches, without producing a shock among them ? They have all been given up, one by one, and many congregations have been dis- | tracted for a time by the innovation. But will any one j retend I that the cause of religion has been injured by it? People felt as if they could hardly worship God without them, but plainly ! their attachment to them was no part of their religion, that is, no par. of the Christian religion. It was mere superstition. And when these things were taken away they complained, as Micah , did, “ x e have taken away my gods.” But no doubt their re- 1 i f 236 MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. «**»• ™ “rfiS. ”v”S2 ss“ b, 8 ^“»»» Thu. you T .h» the pfesent mode of a minister’s dress has been gamed by a series of new measures. 2. In regard to the order of public worship^ , The same difficulties have been met in effecting every change, because the church have felt as if God had established just the mode which they were used to. (1.) Psalm 'Books. Formerly it was customary to sing Da¬ vid’s Psalms. By and by there was introduced a version of the Psalms in rhvme. This was very bad, to be sure. When ministers tried to introduce them, the churches were distracted people violently opposed, and great trouble was created by the innovation. But the new measure triumphed. Afterwards another version was brought forward in a better style of poetry, and its introduction was opposed with much con¬ tention, as a Sw measure. And finally W atts s version which is still opposed in many churches. No longer ago than 1828 when I was in Philadelphia, I was told tnat a minister there was preaching a course of lectures on psalmody to his congre* gation, for the purpose of bringing them to use a bettei version of psalms and hymns than the one they were accustomed to. And even now, in a great many congregations, there are peo¬ ple who will go out of church, if a psalm or hymn is given out from a new book. And if Watts’s Psalms snould be adopted, they would secede and form a new congregation, rather than tolerate such an innovation. The same sort of feeling has been excited by introducing the “Village Hymns in prayer meetings. In one Presbyterian congregation in this city, withm a few years, the minister’s wife wished to introduce the Vil lao-e Hymns into the female prayer meetings, not daring to go any further. She thought she was going to succeed. But some of the careful souls found out that it was made in NewEngJand, and refused to admit it. “ It is a Hopkinsian thing, I dare say. (2.) Lining the. Hymns. Formerly, when there were but few books, it was the custom to line the hymns, as it was called The deacon used to stand up before the pulpit, and read off t psalm or hymn, a line at a time, or two lines at a lime, an then sing, and the rest would all fall in. By and by, they e- gan to introduce books, and let every one sing from his book. And what an innovation! Alas, what confusion and disorde it made! How could the good people worship God in singing, without having the deacon to line off the hymn in his holy tone, MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 237 for the holiness of it seemed to consist very much in the tone, which was such that you could hardly tell whether he was reading or singing. (3.) Choirs. Afterwards another innovation Avas carried. It was thought best to have a select choir of singers sit by them¬ selves and sing, so as to give an opportunity to improve the mu¬ sic. But this was bitterly opposed. O how many congrega¬ tions were torn and rent in sunder, by the desire of ministers and some leading individuals to bring about an improvement in the cultivation of music, by forming choirs of singers. Peo¬ ple talked about innovations and new measures, and thought great evils were coming to the churches, because the singers were seated by themselves, and cultivated music, and learned new tunes that the old people could not sing. It did not use to be so when they were young, and they would’nt tolerate such new lights and novelties in the church. (4.) Pitchjjipes. When music was cultivated, and choirs seat¬ ed together, then the singers wanted a pitehpipe. Formerly, when the lines were given out by the deacon or clerk, he would strike off into the tune, and the rest would follow as well as they could. But when the leaders of choirs begun to use pitchpipes for the purpose of pitching all their voices on precisely the same key, what vast confusion it made! I heard a clergyman say that an elder in the town where he used to live, would get up and leave the house whenever he heard the chorister blow his pipe. “ Away with your whistle,” said he. “ What! whistle in the house of God !” He thought it a profanation. (5.) Instrumental Music. By and by, in some congrega¬ tions, various instruments were introduced for the purpose of aiding the singers, and improving the music. When the bass viol was first introduced, it made a great commotion. People insisted they might just as well have a fiddle in the house of God. “ Why, it is a fiddle, it is made just like a fiddle, only a little larger, and who can worship where there is a fiddle ? By and by you will want to dance in the meeting house.” Who has not heard these things talked of, as matters of the most vital im¬ portance to the cause of religion and the purity of the church ? Ministers, in grave ecclesiastical assemblies, have spent days in discussing them. In a synod in the Presbyterian church, only a few years ago, it was seriously talked of by some, as a matter worthy of discipline in a certain church, that they had an organ in the house of God. This within a few years. And there are many churches now who would not tolerate an organ. They would not be half so much excited to be told that sinners 238 MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. are going to hell, as to be told that there is going to be an organ in the meeting house. O, in how many places can you get the church to do any thing else, easier than to come along m an easy and natural way to do what is needed and wisest and best, for promoting religion and saving souls! They act as if thev had a “ Thus saith the Lord,” for every custom and prac¬ tice that has been handed down to them, or that they have long followed themselves, however absurd or injurious. (6 ) Extemporary Prayers. How many people are there, who talk just as if the Prayer Book was of divine institution ! And I suppose multitudes believe it is. And in some parts of the church a man would not be tolerated to pray without his book before him. . , , • (7.) Preaching without notes. A few years since, a lady in Philadelphia was invited to hear a certain minister preach, and she refused, because he did not read his sermons. She seemed to think it would be profane for a man to go into the pulpit and talk, just as if he was talking to the people about some interest¬ ing and important subject. Just as if God had enjoined the use of notes and written sermons. They do not know that notes themselves are an innovation, and a modern one too. X hey were introduced in a time of political difficulties in England, ministers were afraid they should be accused of preaching some- thing against the government, unless they could show what they had preached, by having all written down beforehand. And with a time-serving spirit, they yielded to political considerations, and imposed a yoke of bondage upon the church. And, now m many places, they cannot tolerate extempore preaching. (8 ) Kneeling in Prayer. This has made a great disturbance in many parts of the country. The time has been in the Con¬ gregational churches in New England, when a man or woman would be ashamed to be seen kneeling at a prayer meeting lor fear of being taken for a Methodist. I have prayed in families where I was the only person that would kneel. The others all stood, lest they should imitate the Methodists, I suppose, and thus countenance innovations upon the established hum. t ers, again, talk as if there was no other posture but kneeling, tha could be acceptable in prayer. 3. Labors of Laymen. (1.) Lay Prayers. Much objection was formerly made against allowing any man to pray or to take a part in managing a prayer meeting, unless he was a clergyman. It used to be said that lor a layman to pray in public, was interfering with the dignity of ministers, and was not to be tolerated. A minister in Penn- measures to promote revivals. 239 I sylvama told me that a few years ago he appointed a praver meeting m the church, and the elders opposed it and turned h thev* hlA h °T They Said , they W0UM not have such work if Tnd ^ hlJ * ed a mimster t0 d ,° the Paying, and he should do it, and they were not going to have common men praying • 1 ^sters and ^ many others have very extensively objected 1 a layman s praying in public, and especially in the pre - ^uce of a minister. That would let down the authority of the clergy, and was not to be tolerated. At a synod held in this * te, there was a synodical prayer meeting appointed. The ■arrangements, as it was to be a formal thino-, de- s Q nated beforehand the persons who were to take a part° and T C t ler Zy men r and one iayman. The layman was a man of talents and information equal to most ministers. But one doctor of divinity got up and seriously objected to a lav- man s being asked to pray before that synod. It was not usual, lie said; it infringed upon the rights of the clergy, and he wished no innovations. What a state of things ! ( 2 .) Lay exhortation. This has been made a question of vast importance, one which has agitated all New England, and many other parts of the country, whether laymen ought to be allowed 17 h0 ‘ .i! n pub u m< ?V ngS - Man y ministers have labored to shut up the mouths of laymen entirely. They overlooked the Se? if' 6 )mmltlve , chul ; ches - So much opposition was made to this practice nearly a hundred years ago, that President det a : d % a ? Uany u had t0 ,^ ke . up the sub ject,and write a labored efence of the rights and duties of laymen. But the opposition has not entirely ceased to this day. “ What! A man that is not a minister, to talk in public! it will create confusion, it wi et down the ministry; what will people think of us, ministers, we allow common men to do the same things that we do 2” But now, all these things are gone by, in most places, and laymen can pray and exhort without the least objection The evils that were feared, from the labors of laymen, have not been realized and many ministers are glad to have them exercise tneir gilts in doing good. 4. Female Prayer Meetings. Within the last few years ,™ Wf m ee tinp have been extensively opposed in this ’ ! ' , hat dieadful things! A minister, now dead, said that • hen he first attempted to establish these meetings, he had all bedergy around opposed to him. “Set women to praying? hy, the next thing, I suppose, will be to set them to preach- I ng. And serious apprehensions were entertained for the 240 MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. safety of Zion, if women should be allowed to prav And even now, they are not tolerated .n s^ the So it has been in regard to all the active n of tfae church. Missions, Sunc“Jj i? a ve° sained theirpresent hold in kind, have been opposed, and have JP 1 , p d series of “its"” innovations. A ba P, , u hiD w j t h any minister that 5S?£Sgjrt^SSs the German churches. Ancl in man^ ) , j r i p . here are found those who will take the same ground, and de- ,!Le all these things, with the exception, perhaps, of an jgi been set torn am p innovators, as you all know (1.) Hie aposueb xvcx s u 0 i v Sr)int was poured After the resurrection, and after y P , i They as to leave scarcely a vestige. what diffi- (2 ) Luther and the Reformers. You all Un cultiei they had to contend with, and the reason was that they were try A to introduce new measures-new inodes of perform "Jh public duties of religion, and new expels ti bnng h? frosnel with power to the hearts of men. All the strange and ridiculous things of the Roman Cartho the church with pertinacious obstinacy, as if th y t authority And such an excitement was raised by theattempt to chan Je them, as well nigh involved all Europe in blood ^ (3 ) Wesley and his coadjutors. Wesley did not at first real off from the Established Church in England, but formed litde classes every where, that grew into a church -thin a chmch He remained in the Episcopal church• w th excitemen. much of new measures, as to fill all iimgiana vm j and uproar and opposition, and he was every where as an innovator and a stirrer up of sedition, and a teacher new things which it was not lawful to receive. Wesle; Whitefield was a man of the same school, and like Weslej MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 241 was an innovator. I believe he and several individuals of his associates were expelled from college for getting up such a new measure, as a social prayer meeting. They would pray to¬ gether and expound the Scriptures, and this was such a daring novelty that it could not be borne. When Whitefield came to ;his country, what an astonishing opposition was raised ! Often tie well nigh lost his life, and barely escaped by the skin of his ;eeth. Now, every body looks upon him as the glory of the ige in which he lived. And many of our own denomination lave so far divested themselves of prejudice as to think Wesley lot only a good but a wise and pre-eminently useful man. Then almost the entire church viewed them with animosity, earing that the innovations they introduced would destroy the church. (4.) President Edwards. This great man was famous in lis day for new measures. Among other innovations, he •efused to baptize the children of impenitent parents. The iractice of baptizing the children of the ungodly had been ntroduced in the New England churches in the preceding •,entury, and had become nearly universal. President Edwards ;aw that the practice was wrong, and he refused to do it, and he refusal shook all the churches of New England. A hun- ired ministers joined and determined to put him down. He vrote a book on the subject, and defeated them all. It pro- luced one of the greatest excitements there ever was in New England. Nothing, unless it was the revolutionary war, ever produced an equal excitement. The General Association of Connecticut refused to countenance Whitefield, he was such an innovator. “ Why, he will preach out )f doors and anywhere!” Awful! What a terrible thing, that l man should preach in the fields or in the streets. Cast him out. i All these were devoted men, seeking out ways to do good tnd save souls. And precisely the same kind of opposition was experienced by all, obstructing their path and trying to destroy heir character and influence. A book , now extant, was written n President Edwards 7 time, by a doctor of divinity, and signed )y a multitude of ministers, against Whitefield and Edwards, heir associates and their measures. A letter was published in his city by a minister against Whitefield, which brought up the iame objections against innovations that we hear now. In the ime of the late opposition to revivals in the state of New York, i copy of this letter was taken to the editor of a religious pe¬ riodical with a request that he would publish it. He refused, ind gave for a reason, that if published, many would apply it to 21 242 MEASURES TO FROMOTE REVIVALS. the controversy that is going on now. I mention it merely to show how identical is the opposition that is raised m different ages against all new measures designed to advance the cause 0t 6. e In the present generation , many things have been intro¬ duced which have proved useful, but have been opposed on the ground that they were innovations. And as many are still un¬ fettled in regard to them, I have thought it best to make some remarks concerning them. There are three things^ m parti- cular, which have chiefly attracted remark, and therefore 1 sha l speak of them. They are Anxious Meetings Protracted Meet¬ ings, arid the Anxious Seat. These are all opposed, and are Ca fl d ) n Anx^lTm?ting S . The first that I ever heard of under that name, was in Now England, where they were appointed for the purpose of holding personal conversation with anxious sinners, and to adapt instruction to the cases of individuals, so as to lead them immediately to Christ. The design of them evidently philosophical, hut they have been opposed because they we're new. There are two modes of conducting an anx¬ ious meeting, either of which may effect the object of them. 1. By spending a few moments in personal conversation and learning the state of mind of each individual, and then man address to the whole, take up all their errors and remove their d ‘ : sTbv going round to each, and taking up each individual case, and going over the whole ground with each one se P a ‘ a ‘ e ty and getting them to promise to give up their hearts to God. Either way they are important, and have been found most suc¬ cessful in practice. But multitudes have objected against them because they were new. , . , (2) Protracted Meetings. These are not new, but i always been practised, in some form or other, ever since there was a church on earth. The Jewish festivals were nothing else but protracted meetings. In regard to the manner, they were conducted differently from what they are now But the design was the same, to devote a series of days to religious se - vices, in order to make a more powerful impression of divine things upon the minds of the people. All denominations of Christians, when religion prospers among them, hold protracted meetings, in Scotland they used to begin on Thursday, atm l their communion seasons, and continue until after the feabb • The Episcopalians, Baptists, and Methodists, all hold protracte meetings. Yet now in our day they have been opposed, parti- MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 243 cularly among Presbyterians, and called new measures and regarded as fraught with all manner of evil, notwithstanding they have been so manifestly and so extensively blessed I wifi suggest a few things that ought to be considered in regard to them. \ ° (a.) In appointing them, regard should be had to the circum¬ stances of the people ; whether the church are able to give their attention and devote their time to carry on the meeting. ° In some instances this rule has been neglected. Some have thought it tight to break in upon the necessary business of the community. In the country, they would appoint the meeting* in harvest time, md in the city in the height of the business season, when all ;he men were necessarily occupied and pressed with their tem¬ poral labors. In defence of this course it is said that our busi¬ ness should always be made to yield to God's business; that eternal things are of so much more importance than temporal hings, that worldly business of any kind, and at any time , should ie made to yield and give place to a protracted meeting. But [ he worldly business in which we are engaged is not our busi- less. It as much God's business, and as much our duty, as our irayers and proti acted meetings are. If we do not consider our lusiness in this light, we have not yet taken the first lesson in •eligion; we have not learned to do all things to the glory of jod. With this view of the subject, separating our business rom religion, we are living six days for ourselves, and the sev- :nth for God.— Real duties never interfere with each jther. Week days have their appropriate duties, and the labbath its appropriate duties, and we are to be equally pious m every day in the week, and in the performance of the duties ! f every day. We are to plough, and sow, and sell out goods, nd attend to our various callings, with the same singleness of iew to the glory of God, that we go to church on the Sabbath, nd pray in our families, and read our Bibles. This is a first j J rinciple in religion. He that does not know and act on this principle, has not learned the A B C of piety, as yet. Now lere are particular seasons of the year, in which God in his rovidence calls upon men to attend to business, because world- Y business at the time is particularly urgent, and must be done 1 1 that season, if done at all; seed time and harvest for the far- ler, and the business seasons for the merchant. And we have o right to say, in those particular seasons, that we will quit our | lusmess and have a protracted meeting. The fact is, the busi- ess is not ours. And unless God, by some special indication f his providence, indicates it to be his pleasure, that we should 244 MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. turn aside and have a protracted meeting at such times, I look upon it as tempting God to appoint them. It is saying O Cod, this worldly business is our business, and we are willing to lay it aside for thy business.” Unless God has indicated it to be his i i f Lie and revive his work at such a pleasure to pour out his fepmt, ana revive u season, and has thus called upon his people to quit, for the time being- their ordinary employments, and attend especial y Sffl meeting.lt appears to me that God might say to us in such circumstances, “ Who hath required this of your hand. God has a right to dispose of our time as he pleases, to re¬ quire us to give up any portion of our time or all our time, to duties of instruction atid devotion. And when circumst a nce« plainly call for it, it is our duty to lay aside every other busi¬ ness, and make direct and continuous efforts for the salvation of souls. If we transact our business upon right principles, and from right motives, and wholly for the glory of God, we shall never object to go aside to attend a protracted meeting whenever there appears to be a call for it in the providence of God A man who considers himself a steward or a clerk does not con sider it a hardship to rest from his labors on the Sabbath, but a privilege The selfish owner may feel unwilling to suspend his business on the Sabbath. But the clerk, who transacts business not for himself but for his employer, considers it a privilege to rest upon the Sabbath. So we, if we do our business for God, shall not think it hard if he makes it our duty to suspend our worldly business and attend a protracted meeting. We should rather consider it in the light of a holiday. Whenever, there- fore you hear a man pleading that he cannot leave his business to attend a protracted meeting—that it is his duty to attend to business, there is reason to fear that he considers the business as his own, and the meeting as God’s business^ If he felt that the business of the store or farm was as much God s business as attending a protracted meeting, he would doubtless be very will¬ ing to rest from his worldly toils, and go up to the house of God and be refreshed, whenever there was an indication, on the part of God, that the community was called to that work. It is hmhly worthy of remark, that the Jewish festivals were appoint¬ ed at those seasons of the year, when there was the least pres¬ sure of indispensable worldly business. . In some instances, such meetings have been appointed in the very pressure of the business seasons, and have been followed with no good results, evidently for the want of attention to the rule here laid down. In other cases, meetings have been ap¬ pointed in seasons when there was a great pressure of worldly MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 245 business, and have been signally blessed. But in those cases the blessing followed because th* meeting was appointed in obe dience to the indications of the will of God, by'those who had spiritual discernment, and understood the signs of the times And in many cases, doubtless, individuals have attended, who ™ al l. y s ^°sed : themselves to be giving up their own business o attend to God s business, and in such cases they made what a Ieal Sa " ifice ' “ d G ° d - -W Wd (b.) Ordinarily a protracted meeting should be conducted f DO U sffble nd ^ he ^ b ° r Chlefly P er f ormed ’ V the minister , (possible. Sometimes protracted meetings have been held and lependence placed on ministers coming in from day to dav ind they would have no blessing. And the reason was obvious] I I 'V ; 1 c ° rae m f state of mind to enter into the work, nd hey did not know the state of people’s minds, so as to know vhat to preach. Suppose a person who was sick should call in ' different physician every day. He would not know what the ymptoms had been, nor what was the course of the disease or f the treatment, nor what remedies had been tried, nor what the latient could bear. Why, he would certainly kill the patient, ust so in a protracted meeting, carried on by a succession of limsters. None of them get into the spirit of it, and generally hey do more hurt than good. J A protracted meeting should not, ordinarily.be appointed, un- iss they can secure the right kind of help, and get a minister r two who will agree to stay on the ground till the meeting is J“ en ‘“ e y will probably secure a rich blessing. (c.) ( I here should not be so many public meetings as to inter- ^re with the duties of the closet and of the family. Otherwise ,/hnstians will lose their spirituality and let go their hold of rod, and the meeting will run down. (d.) Families should not put themselves out so much in enter¬ ing strangers, as to neglect prayer and other duties. It is ten the case that when a protracted meeting is held, some of e principal families in the church, I mean those whoareprin- pally relied on to sustain the meetings, do not get into the oik at all. And the reason is, that they are encumbered with uch serving. They often take needless trouble to provide for lests who come from a distance to the meeting, and lay them- ves out very foolishly to make an entertainment, not only ■mfortable but sumptuous. It should always be understood at it is the duty of families to have as little working and parade possible, and to get along with their hospitality in the easiest 21 * 246 measures to promote revivals. wav, so that they may all have time to pray and go to the meeting, and to attend to the things ol the kingdom. (e) By all means guard against unnecessarily keeping late hours. If people keep late hours, night after night they will inevitably wear out the body, and their health will fail, and there will he a reaction. They sometimes allow themselves to o-et so excited as to lose their sleep, and become irregular m their meals, till they break down, and a reaction must come. Unless there is the greatest pains taken to keep regular, thei ex¬ citement will get so great, that nature will give way, and they run down, and the work stops ( f.) All sectarianism should be carefully avoided. If a secta¬ rian spirit breaks out, either in the preaching or praying, or conversation, it will counteract all the good of the meeting. („) Be watchful against placing dependence on a protracted meeting, as if that of itself would produce a revival Thisi is a point of great danger, and has always been so. This is the o-reat reason why the church in successive generations has al¬ ways had to give up her measures—because Christians had come to rely on them for success. So ithas been in some places, in regard to Protracted Meetings. They have been so blessed that in some places the people have thought that if they should only have a protracted meeting, they would have a blessing, and sinners would be converted of course. And so t ey ave appointed their meeting, without any preparation in the church, and iust sent abroad for some minister of note and set him to preaching, as if that would convert sinners. It is obvious that the blessing would be withheld from a meeting got up in this way (ii.) Avoid adopting the idea that a revival cannot be enjoyed without a Protracted Meeting. Some churches have got into a morbid state of feeling on this subject. Their zeal has be¬ come all spasmodic, and feverish, so that they never think ot doino- anything to promote a revival, only in that way. When a protracted meeting is held, they will seem to be wonderful y zealous, and then sink down to a torpid state till another pro- tracted meeting produces another spasm. And now multitudes in the church think it is necessary to give up protracted meet¬ ings because they are abused in this way. This ought to be o-uarded against, in every church, so that they may not be driven to give them up, and lose all the benefits that protracted meetings are calculated to produce. (3.) The Anxious Seat. By this I mean the appointment of some particular seat in measures to promote revivals. 247 the place of meeting, where the anxious may come and be ad¬ dressed particularly, and be made subjects of prayer and some¬ times conversed with individually. Of late this measure has met with more opposition than any of the others. What is i having become a form, he brings up some new measure, which will BREAK IN upon their lazy habits, and WAKE UP a f slumbering church. And great good has resulted. |ii 2. The same distinctions, in substance, that now exist, have always existed, in all seasons of reformation and revival of re- ligiom There have always been those who particularly adhered to their forms and notions, and precise way of doing things, as if they had a “ Thus saith the Lord” for every one of them. They have called those that differed from them, who were try¬ ing to roll the ark of salvation forward, Methodists, New Lights, Radicals, New School, New Divinity, and various other oppro¬ brious names. And the declensions that have followed have been uniformly owing to two causes, which should be by no means overlooked by the church. (1.) The Old School, or Old Measure party, have persevered in their opposition, and eagerly seized hold of any real or appa¬ rent indiscretion in the friends of the work. In such cases, the churches have gradually lost their confi* 250 MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. dence in the opposition to new measures, and the cry of “ New Divinity,” and “ Innovation” has ceased to alarm them, lhey see that the blessing of God is with those that are thus accused of new measures and innovation, and the continued opposition of the Old School, together with the continued success of the New School, have destroyed their confidence in the opposition, and they get tired of hearing the incessant cry of “ New Lig s, and “ New Divinity,” and “ New Measures. Thus the scale has turned, and the churches have pronounced a verdict m favor of the New School, and of condemnation against the Old School. (2.) But now, mark me: right here in this state of things, the devil has, again and again, taken the advantage, and in 1 - viduals have risen up, and being sustained by the confidence of the churches in the New Measure party, and finding them sick of opposition, and ready to do any thing that would promote the interests of Christ’s kingdom, they have driven headlong them¬ selves, and in many instances have carried the churches into the very vortex of those difficulties, which have been predicted by their opposers. Thus, when the battle had been foug t, an the victory gained, the rash zeal of some well-meaning but headlong 'individuals, has brought about a reaction, that has spread a pall over the churches for years. This was the case, as is well known, in the days of President Edwards. Here is a rock, upon which a light-house is now built, and upon which if the church now run aground, both parties are entirely without excuse. It is now well known, or ought to be known, that the declension which followed the revivals in those days, together with the declensions which have repeatedly occurred, were owino-to the combined influence of the continued and pertina¬ cious opposition of the Old School, and the ultimate bad spirit and recklessness of some individuals of the New School. And here the note of alarm should be distinctly sounded to both parties, lest the devil should prevail against us, at the very point, and under the very circumstances, where he has so often prevailed. Shall the church never learn wisdom from experi¬ ence % How often, O, how often must these scenes be acted over, before the millenium shall come! When will it once be, that the church may be revived, and religion prevail, without excit¬ ing such opposition in the church , as eventually to bring about ct reaction ^ 3 . The present cry against new measures is highly ridicu¬ lous, when we consider the quarter from which it comes, and all the circumstances in the case. It is truly astonishing that grave ministers should really feel alarmed at the new measures measures to promote revivals. 251 of th e preset day, as if new measures were somethin . looks like admitting tha new — it was they are new, and that a re c apprehend that not promoted by new measures. In JV 5 /"uj’uracnc e is to con- much evil has been done alieady, a iudo-ed of, by tinue, it must come to this, that a revival must be ju MS win or old measure™ 1 that is, that it is ‘S "Mly inti 8 hTwJrk, and pour out his heart to God for a any measure to bring the truth m P n f r nid and God will of y the people let him adopt itand not be ^ not withhold his blessin 0 . - or and earnestness, and will "f u ii h .t. w "i« <1.1, •/ -»»•*,’■■ “ sa t. nor how much God may bless them. It ^enough thattn y ^ called new measures, and they will no <- - 0T u e Anc with new measures, nor tolerate them among P P f Q ^ thus they fall out by the them h and put a stop to the revival, when the worm g ”r“,V." “-TM. „-«■<««-» f »™* “ t^-s^^rra-ssa MEASURES TO PROMOTE REVIVALS. 255 ? s i t Ir i s i i h * 1 , * if m the Roman Catholic Church, that causes them to adhere with such pertinacity to their particular modes, and forms, and cere¬ monies, and looleries ? They act as if all these things were es¬ tablished by divine authority; as if there were a “ Thus saith the Lord” for every one of them. Now we justly style this a spirit of fanaticism, and esteem it worthy of rebuke. But it is just as absolutely fanatical, for the Presbyterian church, or any other church, to be sticklish for her particular forms, and to act as if they were established by divine authority. The fact is, that God has established, in no church, any particular form, or manner of worship, for promoting the interests of religion. The scriptures are entirely silent on these subjects, under ithe gospel dispensation, and the church is left to exercise her own discre¬ tion in relation to all such matters. And I hope it will not be thought unkind, when I say again, that to me it appears, that the unkind, angry zeal for a certain mode and manner of doing things, and the overbearing, exterminating cry against new mea¬ sures, SAVORS STRONGLY OF FANATICISM. The only thing insisted upon under the gospel dispensation, in regard to measures, is that there should be decency and order. “ Let all things be done decently and in order.” We are requir¬ ed to guard against all confusion and disorderly conduct. But what is decency and order? Will it be pretended that an anx¬ ious meeting, or a protracted meeting, or an anxious seat, is in¬ consistent with decency and order? I should most sincerely deprecate, and most firmly resist whatever was indecent and dis¬ orderly in the worship of God’s house. But I do not suppose that by “ order” we are to understand any particular set mode, in which any church may have been accustomed to perform their service. LEO UEE XV. HINDERANUES 10 REVIVALS. S&U d^rloTou. -N vi. 3. This servant of God had come down from Babylon to re¬ build the temple and re-establish the worship of God at Jerusa¬ lem the citv of his fathers’ sepulchres. When it was discov¬ ered by Sanballat and certain individuals, his allies, who a lorn, enjoyed the desolations of Zion, that now the temp e, and the holy city were about to be rebuilt, they raised a great oppo¬ sition. Sanballat and the other leaders tried in several ways to divert Nehemiah and his friends, and prevent them fiom goi forward in their work; at one time they threatened them and then complained that they were going to rebel against the k g. Acain, they insisted that their design was not pious but polit - cat to which Nehemiah replied by a simple and prompt denial, .. There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feign- est them out of thine own heart.” Finally, Sanballat sent a message to Nehemiah, requesting him to meet in the P lal ” ° f Ono to discuss the whole matter amicably a " d have the diffi culty adjusted, but designed to do him mischief. They had found tha/they could not frighten Nehemiah, and now they wanted t come round him by artifice and fraud, and draw him off from the vigorous prosecution of his work. But he replied, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I come down to you ? It has always been the case, whenever-any of the servants of God do any thing in his cause, and there appears to be a proba¬ bility that they will succeed that Satan by his agents regularly attempts to divert their minds and nullify their labois. been during the last ten years, in which there have been such remarkable^revivals through the length and breadth of the to . These revivals have been very great and powerful, and exten sive. It has been estimated that not less than two hundRE thousand persons have been converted to God m that time. And the devil has been busy in his devices to divert and dis¬ tract the people of God, and turn off their energies from push* HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 257 t j ing forward the great work of salvation. In remarking on the subject, l propose to show, & I. That a Revival of Religion is a great work. II. To mention several things which may put a stop to it. III. Endeavor to show what must be done for the continuance of this great revival. I. I am to show that a Revival of Religion is a great work. It is a great work, because in it are great interests involved. In a Revival of Religion are involved both the glory of God, so far as it respects the government of this world, and the salvation of men. Two things that are of infinite importance are involved in it. The greatness of a work is to be estimated by the great¬ ness of the consequences depending on it. And this is the measure of its importance. II. Iam to mention several things which may put a stop to a revival. Some have talked very foolishly on this subject, as if nothino- could injure a genuine revival. They say, “ If your revival is a work of God, it cannot be stopped ; can any created being stop God?” Now I ask if this is common sense? Formerly, it used to be the established belief that a revival could not be stop¬ ped, because it was the work of God. And so they supposed it would go on, whatever might be done to hinder it, in the church or out of it. But the farmer might just as well reason so, and think he could go and cut down his wheat and not hurt the crop, because it is God that makes grain grow. A revival is the work of God, and so is a crop of wheat; and God is as much de¬ pendent on the use of means in one case as the other. And therefore a revival is as liable to be injured as a wheat field. 1. A revival will stop whenever the church believe it is going to cease. The church are the instruments with which Goa carries on this work, and they are to work in it voluntarily and with their hearts. Nothing is more fatal to a revival than for its friends to predict that it is going to stop. No matter what the enemies of the work may say about it, predicting that it will all run out and come to nothing, and the like. They cannot stop it in this way. But the friends must labor and pray in faith to carry it on. It is a contradiction to say they are laboring and praying in faith to carry on the work, and yet believe that it is going to stop. If they lose their faith, it will stop, of course. Whenever the friends of revivals begin to prophecy that the re¬ vival is going to stop, they should be instantly rebuked, in the name of the Lord. II the idea once begins to prevail, and if you cannot counteract it and root it out, the reviv-4 will infalli- 22 * 265 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS bly cease; for it is indispensable to the work, that Christians should labor and pray in faith to promote it, and it is a contra¬ diction to say that they can labor in faith for its continuance, while they believe that it is about to cease. 2. A revival will cease whe7i Christians consent that it should tease. Sometimes Christians see that the revival is in danger of ceasing, and that if something effectual is not done, it will come to a stand. If this fact distresses them, and drives them to prayer, and to fresh efforts, the work will not cease. When Christians love the work of God, and the salvation of souls so well that they are distressed at the mere apprehension of a decline, it will drive them to an agony of prayer and effortr If it does not drive them to agony and effort to prevent its ceasing, if they see the danger, and do not try to avert it. or to renew the work, they consent that it should stop. There are at this time many people, all over the country, who see revivals declining, and that they are in great danger of ceasing altogether, and yet they manifest but little distress, and seem to care but little about it. Whole churches see their condition, and see what is coming unless there can be a waking up, and yet they are at ease, and do not groan and agonize in prayer, that God would revive his work.. Some are even predicting that there is now going to be a great reaction, and a great dearth come over the church, as there did after Whitefield’s and Edwards’ day. And yet they are not startled at their own forebodings; they are cool about it, and turn directly off to other things. THEY CONSENT TO IT. It seems as if they were the devil’s trumpeters, sent out to scatter dismay throughout the ranks of God’s elect. 3. A revival will cease whenever Christians become mechani¬ cal in their attempts to promote it. When their faith is strong, and their hearts are warm and mellow, and their prayers full of holy emotion, and their words with power, then the work goes on. But when their prayers begin to be cold and without emotion, and their deep-toned feeling is gone, and they begin to labor mechanically, and to use words without feeling, then the revival will cease. 4. The revival will cease, whenever Christians get the idea that the work will go on without their aid. The church are co¬ workers with God in promoting a revival, and the work can be carried on just as far as the church will carry it on, and no farther. God has been for one thousand eight hundred years trying to get the church into the work. He has been calling and urging, commanding, entreating, pressing and encouraging, HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 259 i 1 to get them to take hold. He has stood all this while ready to make bare his arm, to carry on the work with them. But the church have been unwilling to do their part. They seem de¬ termined to leave it to God alone to convert the world, and say, “ If he wants the world converted, let him do it.” They ought to know that this is impossible. So far as we know, neither God nor man can convert the world without the co-operation of the church. Sinners cannot be converted without their own agency, for conversion consists in their voluntary turning to God. No more can sinners be converted without the appro¬ priate moral influences to turn them ; that is, without truth and the‘reality of things brought full before their minds either by direct revelation or by men. God cannot convert the world by physical omnipotence, but he is dependent on the moral influence of the church. 5. The work will cease when the church prefer to attend to their own concerns rather than God’s business. I do not admit that men have any business which is properly their own , but they think so, and in fact prefer what they consider as their own, rather than to work for God. They begin to think they cannot afford sufficient time from their worldly employments, to carry on a revival. And they pretend they are obliged to give up attending to religion, and let their hearts go out again after the world. And the work must cease, of course. 6. When Christians get proud of their great revival, it will cease. I mean those Christians who have before been instru¬ mental in promoting it. It is almost always the case in a revi¬ val, that a part of the church are too proud or too worldly to take any part in the work. They are determined to stand aloof, and wait, and see what it will come to, and see how it will come out. The pride of this part of the church cannot stop the revi val, for the revival never rested on them. It begun without them, and it can go on without them. They may fold their arms and do nothing but look on and find fault; and still the work may go on. But when that part of the church who work , begin to think what a great revival they have had, and how they have labored and prayed, and how bold and how zealous they have been, and how much good they have done, then the work will be likely to decline. Perhaps it has been published in the papers, what a revival there has been in that church, and how much engaged the members have been, and they think how high they shall stand in the estimation of other churches, all over the land, because they have had such a great revival. And so they get puffed up, and vain, and then they can no longer 260 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. enjoy the presence of God, and the Spirit withdraws from them, and the revival ceases. 7. The revival will stop when the church gets exhausted by labor. Multitudes of Christians commit a great mistake here in time of revival. They are so thoughtless, and have so little judgment, that they will break up all their habits of living, neglect to eat and sleep at the proper hours, and let the excite¬ ment run away with them, so that they overdo their bodies, and are so imprudent that they soon become exhausted, and it is impossible for them to continue in the work. Revivals often cease, and declension follows, from negligence and imprudence, in this respect, on the part of those engaged in carrying them on. 8. A revival will cease when the church begins to speculate about abstract doctrines , which have nothing to do with prac¬ tice. If the church turns off its attention from the things of salvation, and go to studying or disputing about abstract points, the revival will cease, of course. 9. When Christians begin to proselyte . When the Baptists are so opposed to the Presbyterians, or the Presbyterians to the Baptists, or both against the Methodists, or Episcopalians against the rest, that they begin to make efforts to get the con¬ verts to join their church, you soon see the last of the revival. Perhaps a revival will go on for a time, and all sectarian diffi¬ culties are banished, till somebody circulates a book, privately, to gain proselytes. Perhaps some over-zealous deacon, or some mischief-making woman, or some proselyting minister, can’t keep still any longer, and begins to work the work of the devil, by attempting to gain proselytes, and so stirs up bitterness, and raising a selfish strife, grieves away the Spirit, and drives Christians all into parties. No more revival there. 10. When Christians refuse to render to the Lord according to the benefits received. This is a fruitful source of religious declensions. God has opened the windows of heaven to a church, and poured them out a blessing, and then he reasonably expects them to bring in the tithes into his store house, and devise and execute liberal things for Zion; and lo ! they have refused; they have not laid themselves out accordingly to pro¬ mote the cause of Christ, and so the Spirit has been grieved and the blessing withdrawn, and in some instances a great reaction has taken place, because the church would not be liberal, when God has been so bountiful. I have known churches who were evidently cursed with barrenness for such a course. They had a glorious revival, and afterwards perhaps their meeting-house needed repairing, or something else was needed which would HINDERANGES TO REVIVALS. 261 cost a little money, and they refused to do it, and so for theii niggardly spirit God gave them up. 11. When the church, in any way, grieve the Holy Spirit. (1.) When they do not feel their dependence on the Spirit. p Whenever. Christians get strong in their own strength, God curses their blessings. In many instances, Christians sin against their own mercies, because they get lifted up with theii success, and take the credit to themselves, and do not give to Gpd all the glory. As he says, “ If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and, I will curse your blessings : yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” There has been a great deal of this in this country, mdoubtedly. I have seen many things that looked like it, in the papers, where there seemed a disposition in men to take credit for success in promoting revivals. There is doubt¬ less a great temptation to this, and it requires the utmost watch¬ fulness, on the part of ministers and churches, to guard against it, and not grieve the Spirit away by vain-glorying in men. (2.) The Spirit may be grieved by a spirit of boasting of the revival. Sometimes, as soon as a revival commences, you will see it blazed out in the newspapers. And most commonly this will kill the revival. There was a case in a neighboring state, where a revival commenced, and instantly there came out a f letter from the pastor, telling that he had a revival. I saw the letter and said to myself, That is the last we shall hear of this revival. And so it was. In a few days, the work totally ceased. And such things are not uncommon. I could mention cases and places, where persons have published such things as •o puff up the church, and make them so proud that little or nothing more could be done for the revival. Some, under pretence of publishing things to the praise and jlory of God, have published things that savored so strongly of i disposition to exalt themselves, have made their own agency o stand out so conspicuously, as was evidently calculated to nake an unhappy impression. At the protracted meeting held | n this church, a year ago last fall, there were five hundred lopefully converted, whose names and places of residence we mew. A considerable number of them joined this church. Vlany of them united with other churches. Nothing was said >f this in the papers. I have several times been asked why we cvere so silent upon the subject. I could only reply, that there vas such a tendency to seif-exaltation in the churches, that I ras afraid to publish any thing on the subject. Perhaps I I 262 HINDERANCES TO REVIVAL8. erred. But I have so often seen mischief done by premature publications, that I thought it best to say nothing about it. In the revival in this city, four years ago, so much was said in the papers, that appeared like self-exaltation, that I was afraid to publish. I am not speaking against the 'practice itself, of pub¬ lishing accounts of revivals. But the manner of doing it is of vast importance. If it is done so as to excite vanity, it is always fatal to the revival. . (3.) So the Spirit is grieved by saying or publishing things that are calculated to undervalue the uwrk of God .. When a blessed work of God is spoken lightly of, not rendering to God the glory due to his name, the spirit is grieved. If any thing is said about a revival, give only the plain and naked facts just as they are, and let them pass for what they are worth. 12. A revival maybe expected to cease, 'when Christians lose the spirit of brotherly love. Jesus Christ will not continue with people in a revival any longer than they continue in the exer¬ cise of brotherly love. When Christians are in the spirit of a revival, they feel this love, and then you will hear them call each other brother and sister, very affectionately. But when they begin to get cold, they lose this warmth and glow of affec¬ tion for one another, and then this calling brother and sister will seem silly and contemptible and they will leave it off. In some churches they never call each other so, but where there is a re¬ vival, Christians naturally do it. I never saw a revival, and probably there never was one, in which they did not do it. But as soon as this begins to cease, the Spirit of God is grieved, and departs from among them. 13. A revival will decline and cease, unless Christians art frequently re-converted. By this I mean, that Christians, in order to keep in the spirit of a revival, commonly need to be frequent¬ ly convicted, and humbled, and broken down before God, and re-converted. This is something which many do not understand, when we talk about a Christian’s being re-converted. But the fact is that in a revival the Christian’s heart is liable to gel crusted over, and lose its exquisite relish for divine things; his unction and prevalence in prayer abates, and then he must be converted over again. It is impossible to keep him in such a state as not to do injury to the work, unless he pass through such a process every few days. I have never labored in revi¬ vals in company with any one who would keep in the work and be fit to manage a revival continually, who did not pass through this process of breaking down as often as once in two or three weeks. Revivals decline, commonly, because it is found impos- hinderances to revivals. 263 s.ble to make the church feel their guilt and their dependence , so as to break down before God. It is important that ministers should understand this, and learn how to break down the church and break down themselves when they need it, or else Chris- tians will soon become mechanical in their work, and lose their fervor and their power of prevailing with God. This was the [ E ro< ? ess ‘’"oug ' 11 which Peter passed, when he had denied the Savior, and by which breaking down, the Lord prepared him P. for f the £ reat , work day of Pentecost. I was surprised a few years since, to find that the phrase •• breaking down" was a stumbling block to certain ministers and professors of relio-ion. • , la > d themselves open to the rebuke administered to Nico- A T rt „ thoU a 1naster in Is , rael and lmowest not these . - , 1 f m confident that until some of them know what it cause'of revivals. ^° Wn ’" the y wiU do much more for tho / eV1 ’? 1 w, n0t C ? nt ’T e When Christ ^s will not prac¬ tice self-denial When the church have enjoyed a revival and begin o grow fat upon it, and run into self-indulgence, the revi¬ val will soon cease Unless they sympathize with the Son of • ’ who gave up all to save sinners; unless they are willitm to give up their luxuries, and their ease, and lay themselves out in the work, they need not expect the Spirit of God will be poured 3 ut upon them 1 his is undoubtedly one of the principal causes of personal declension. Let Christians in a revival BEWARE VomM^f d inclination creeping upon them, to shrink rom self-denial, and to give into one self-indulgence after ano- 1 S i he < ? evic 1 ? ° f Satan ’ t0 bait them off from the work )t Cod, and make them dull and gross, and lazy, and fearful he revival' ^ SenSUa1, and drive awa ^ the S P irit and destroy 15. A revival will be stopped by controversies about new 'leasuies. Nothing is more certain to overthrow a revival than tus. But as my last lecture was on the subject of new mea- ures, I need not dwell longer on the subject now. , *™?o V \ Val ? can be P ut down b V the continued opposition of fie UUl School, combined with a bad spirit in the New School t those who do nothing to promote revivals continue their onno- 1 i°n, and 'C those who are laboring to promote them allow lemselves to get impatient, and get into a bad spirit, the revi- a will cease. When the Old School write their letters in the newspapers, against revivals or revival men, and the New .chool write letters back again, against them, in an angry, ontentious, bitter spirit, and get into a jangling controversy rc- 264 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. vivals will cease. LET THEM KEEP ABOUT THEIR WORK, and not talk about the opposition, nor preach, nor print about it. If others choose to publish their slang and stuff, let the Lord’s servants keep to their work, and all the writing and slander will not stop the revival, while those who are engaged in it mind their business, and keep to their work. It is aston ishing how far this holds true in fact. In°one place where there was a revival, certain ministers formed a combination against the pastor of the church, and a plan was set on foot to ruin him, and they actually got him pro- secuted before his Presbytery, and had a trial that lasted six weeks, right in the midst of the revival, and the work still wen! on. The praying members of the church laid themselves out so in the work, that it continued triumphantly throughout thf whole scene. The pastor was called off, to attend his trial, but there was another minister that labored among the people, and the members did not even go to the trial, generally, but kept pray ing and laboring for souls, and the revival rode out the storm, In many other places, opposition has risen up in the church, but a few humble souls have kept at their work, and a gracious God has stretched out his naked arm and made the revival gc forward in spite of all opposition. But whenever those who are actively engaged in promoting i revival get excited at the unreasonableness and pertinacity of th< opposition, and feel as if they could not have it so, and they los( their patience, and feel as if they must answer their cavils ant refute their slanders, then they get down into the plains of Ono and the work must cease. 17. Any diversion of the public mind will hinder a revival Any thing that succeeds in diverting public attention, will pu a stop to a revival. In the case I have specified, where th< minister was put on trial before his Presbytery, the reason wdi\ it did not ruin the revival was, that the praying members of th< church icould not suffer themselves to be diverted. They di< not even attend the trial, but kept praying and laboring for souls and so public attention was kept to the subject, in spite of al the efforts of the devil. But whenever he succeeds in absorbing public attention 01 any other subject, he will put an end to the revival. No matte: what the subject is. If an angel from heaven were to corra down, and preach, or pass about the streets, it might be the wors thing in the world for a revival, for it would turn sinners all ot from their own sins, and turn the church oft from praying fo: • ‘ niNDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 265 revi^l 1 u^"7ce h aie. g ' Ori0US ^ a “ d gaZe U I> 0n him - «<> ‘ho ^oTf:zt^z d ^i b z^^ revivals, notwithstanding ardent spirit was used"amon t (Tim But since light has been thrown upon the subject and it has minister can be inn^aKndn^WnfcanT 1 ^^ r o„:^e, th'e^ltclton fhe^ ±*%£ who has had a revivT^h aga,nSt the ‘ em P enu >«> reformation, wno nas nad a revival. Show me one who now stands aloof from . °. las a re '; u ' a ‘ Sh °w me one who now temporizes upon h ls point, who does not come out and take a stand in favor of temperance, who has a revival ? It did not use to be so R ! Si " b c h ” “ jTd „s hands are RED WITH BLOOd’ P ° h ** The ma,,:s wron^groimd Trl when minis ‘ers and churches take Zhts T*Z ,1 l ard t0 c any question ™™lviug human rights, lake the subject of SLAVERY" for instance t ! h'T '™ s when lhis subject was not before the public mind . John Newton continued in the slave trade after his convera on ii-And so had his mind been perverted, and so completely wa« hi- The sinfulness a of d ;t ln regard ‘° ‘ h jf m ° Sl nefario us traffic,‘that e siniulness of it never occurred to his thoughts until some .me after he became a child of God. Had light been poured jueen converted'wT'v V ‘° h ’ S c . on '? rsioD . ^ never could have n converted without previously abandoning this sin And her his conversion, when convinced of its iniquity he cmihl in for”e e ver nJO S I ° f G ° d ' without Abandoning the L • ' °’ ( 0l, b.less, many slave dealers and slave hold- rs in our own country, have been converted, notwithstanding >e.r participation ,n this abomination, because the sinfulness of ! was not a PP a ™‘ ‘o their minds. So ministers and churche/ | * a great ex . tent throughout the land, have held their peace and teXSTd' aff r St thiS ab0minable a bomin2n P , e St "g me UP for His Til"" But receml y- the object has t G ° d ha \ b T ght j eyes oi all men. Light is now shed upon 23 2G6 IIIN DERANGES TO REVIVALS. this subject as it has been upon the cause of temperance. Facts are exhibited, and principles established, and lig t Grown m upon the minds of men, and this monster is dragged from his horrid den, and exhibited before the church, and it is demandct of them “ IS THIS SIN?” Their testimony must be given on this subject. They are God’s witnesses They are sworn to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It is impossible that their testimony should not be given, on one side or the other. Their silence can no onger be^accounted for upon the principle of ignorance, and that they have never had their attention turned to the subject. Consequently, the s fence of Christians upon the subject is virtually saying that they do not consider slavery as a sin. The truth is, it is a sub¬ ject upon which they cannot be silent without guilt. 1 he time has come, in the providence of God, when every southern breeze is loaded down with the cries of lamentation, mourning and wo. Two millions of degraded heathen in our own land stretch their hands, all shackled and bleeding, and send forth to the church of God the agonizing cry for help. And shall the church m her efforts to reclaim and save the world, deafen her ears to thi* voice of agony and despair ? God forbid. The church cannot turn away from this question. It is a question for the churcn and for the nation to decide, and God will push it to a decision. It is in vain for the churches to resist it lor fear of distraction, contention, and strife. It is in vain to account it an act of piety to turn away the ear from hearing this cry of distress The church must testify, and testify “ the truth, the who e truth, and nothing but the truth,” on this subject, or she is pen jured and the 'Spirit of God departs from her She is unde, oath to testify, and ministers and churches who do not pronounce it sin. bear false testimony for God. It is doubtless true, t one of the reasons for die low state of religion at the presen time is that many churches have taken the wrong side on thi subject of slavery, have suffered prejudice to prevail over prm cipie, and have feared to call this abomination by its true name 20. Another thing that hinders revivals is neglecting th claims of missions. If Christians do not feel for the heathi neglect the monthly concert, and confine their attention to th . own church, do not even read the Missionary Herald or us* any other means to inform themselves on the subject 01 the clai , of the world, and reject the light which God is throwing befor. them, and-will not do what God calls them to do in this cause the Spirit of God will depart from them. 21. When a- church rejects the calls of God upon them jo HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 207 educating young men for the ministry , they will hinder and ,1' oZLT' Va - L °° k f the ^esbyterian church, look at tn fill t°h° 00 S u S " ,|thln ten years, and means enough to fill the world With ministers, and yet the ministry is not in¬ creasing- so fast as the population of our own country, and un¬ less something more can be done to provide ministers, we shall become heathen ourselves. The churches do not pi-ess upon ! meI ? the dut y of going into the ministry. God pours his 1 smils ° n , lhe churches ; antl converts hundreds of thousands of souls, and il then the laborers do not come forth into the liar- ; vest ’ u ’ ]lat can be expected but that the curse of God will come TOlsTwifl ChurcheS TT nd h i S - Spirit wil1 be withdrawn, and revi- I ? . I ceasa UP-. Ibis subject no minister, no church should be silent or inactive. 22 . Slandering revivals will often put them down The great revival m the days of President Edwards suffered greatly by he conduct of the church in this respect. It is to be expect ed that the enemies of God will revile, misrepresent and slander I ev'va s. ut when the church herself engages in this work, and many of her most influential members are aidino- and abet¬ ting in calumniating and misrepresenting a glorious work of God, it is leasonable that the Spirit should be grieved away It cannot be denied, that this has been done, to a grievous and God-dishonorjng extent. It has been estimated that in one year >ince this revival commenced, one hundred thousand souls i ivere converted to God in the United States. This was undoubt. y ne gieaiest number that were ever converted in one year | nnce the world began. It could not be expected that, in an ex* p’ltement of this extent, among human beings, there should be jothmg to deplore. To expect perfection in such a work as | lib, of such extent, and carried on by human instrumentality is utterly unreasonable and absurd. Evils doubtless did exist and I ave existed. They were to be expected of course, and guarded . gams., as far as possible. And I do not believe the world’s history can furnish one instance, in which a revival, approach- i ig to 1 11 s in extent and influence, has been attended with so nv evils, and so little that is honestly to be deplored. But how has this blessed work of God been treated ? Ad- iittmg all the evils complained of to be real, which is Ur from nng true, they would only be like spots upon the disk of the lorious sun; things hardly to be thought of, in comparison of e 1,lhnite greatness and excellence of the work. And yet I, 3 7 have , a great portion of the Presbyterian church, received ; id treated this blessed work of God 1 At the General Assem 268 HINBERANCES TO REVIVALS. bly, that grave body of men that represent the Presbyterian Church, in the midst of this great work, instead of appointing a day of thanksgiving, instead of praising and glorifying God for the greatness of his work, we hear from them the voice of rebuke. From the reports that were given of the speeches made there, it appears that the house was filled with complain¬ ings. Instead of devising measures to forward the work, their attention seemed to be taken up with the comparatively trifling evils that were incidental to it. And after much complaining, ; they absolutely appointed a committee, and sent forth a “ Pas¬ toral Letter” to the churches, calculated to excite suspicions, quench the zeal of God’s people, and turn them off from giving ( glory to God for the greatness of the blessing, to finding fault i and carping about the evils. When I heard what was done at that General Assembly, when I read their speeches, when I saw their pastoral letter, my soul was sick, an unutterable feeling of distress came over my mind, and I felt that God would “ visit” j the Presbyterian church for conduct like this. And ever since, j the glory has been departing, and revivals have been becoming ; less and less frequent—less and less powerful. And now I wish it could be known, whether those ministers i who poured out those complainings on the floor of the General Assembly, and who were instrumental in getting up that pas¬ toral letter, have since been blest in promoting revivals of reli¬ gion—whether the Spirit of God has been upon them, arid whether their churches can witness that they have an unction from the Holy One. 23. Ecclesiastical difficulties are calculated to grieve away the Spirit, and destroy revivals. It has always been the policy of the devil to turn off the attention of ministers from the work of the Lord, to disputes and ecclesiastical litigations. President Edwards was obliged to be taken up for a long time in disputes before ecclesiastical councils; and in our days, and in the midst of these great revivals of religion, these difficulties have been alarmingly and shamefully multiplied. Some of the most effi¬ cient ministers in the church have been called off from their direct efforts to win souls to Christ, to attend day after day, and i in some instances week after week, to charges preferred against them, or their fellow laborers in the ministry, which could never be sustained. Look at Philadelphia; what endless and disgraceful janglings have distracted and grieved the church of God in that city, and through the length and breadth of the land. And in the Pres¬ byterian church at large, these ecclesiastical difficulties have 'll 1 I. IIINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 269 l P roJuced enough to make creation weep. Brother Beman . was shamefully and wickedly called off frompromotin/reviX to attend a trial before his own presbytery, upon charges which’ ; If true, were most of them ridiculous, but which could never be sustained. And since that time a great portion of his time has it would seem necessarily, been taken up with the adiustmem * °, f ecclesiasticalI difficulties. Brother Duffield, of Carlisle bro- tnei Barnes, of Philadelphia, and others of God’s most’ suc¬ cessful ministers, have been hindered a considerable part of Wh' 11 ^ 1 y'. these difficulties. O, tell it not in Gath ' litii " : , i • 10Se , minI f ers and professors of religion who do for God ? themSe V6S ’ et others alone ’ and let ‘hem work Ji? ese things in the Presbyterian church, their contentions andI jangling. are so ridiculous, so wicked, so outrageous, that t no oubt there is a jubilee in hell every year, about the time of | ! he meeting of the General Assembly. And if there were tears |'P p VC ?’ no . dou h‘ lhe y would be shed over the difficulties of the Presbyterian church. Ministers have been dragged from Home, year by year, and perhaps have left a revival in progress -and gone up to the General Assembly, and there heaff debates,’ and witnessed a spirit, by which their souls have been grieved 2r^ ea f hanlcned, and they have gone home ashamed of then church, and ashamed to ask God to pour out his Spirit upon suen a contentious body. 1 ! Allotller tllln 2 by which revivals may be hindered, is cen- torvmsness , on either side, and especially in those who have been ™ carr y™g forward a revival. It is to be expected oat the opposers of the work will watch for the halting of its fiends and be sure to censure them for all that is wrong, and lot unfrequently for that which is right in their conduct, -.specially is it to be expected that many censorious and un- Iinstian remarks will be made about those that are the most (romment instruments in promoting the work. This censori- husness on the part of the opposers of the work, whether in or ' ut .°Y he ^ u rch, will not, however, of itself put a stop to the evi ™* While lts promoters keep humble, and in a prayerful pirit, while they do not retaliate, but possess their souls in atience, while they^ do not suffer themselves to be diverted, to .eliminate, and grieve away the spirit of prayer, the work will | ° 0 ^ U -, a S > as ln l ^e case referred to, where a minister wa 3 , a trial lor six weeks, in the midst of a revival. There the yople kept m the dust, and prayed, not so much for their mister, lor they had left him with God, but with strono- crying 23* o/o j 270 HINBERANCES TO REVIVALS. and tears pleading with God for sinners. And God heard ana blessed them, and the work went on. Censoriousness in those who are opposed to the work is but little to be dreaded, for they have not the Spirit, and nothing depends on them, and they can hinder the work only just so far as they themselves have ence personally. But the others have the power of the Holy Spirit, and the work depends on their keeping in a right temper. If they get wrong and grieve away the Spirit, there is no he p, the work must cease. Whatever provocation, therefore, the promoters of this blessed work may have had, if it ceases, the responsibility will be theirs. And one of the most alarming facts, in regard to this matter, is that in many instances, those who’have been engaged in carrying forward the work, appear to have lost the Spirit. They are becoming diverted, are be¬ ginning to think that the opposition is no longer to be tolerated, and that they must come out and reply in the newspapers to what they say. It should be known and universally under¬ stood, that whenever the friends and promoters of this greatest of revivals suffer themselves to be called off to newspaper janglings, to attempt to defend themselves, and reply to those who write against them, the Spirit of Prayer will be entirely grieved away, and the work will cease. Nothing is more de¬ trimental to revivals of religion, and so it has always been ,! found, than for the promoters of it to listen to the opposition, and begin to reply. This was found to be true in the days of | President Edwards, as you who are acquainted with his book on Revivals are well aware. III. I proceed to mention somethings which ought to be done, to continue this great and glorious revival of religion, w 7 hich has \ been in progress for the last ten years. 1. There should be great and deep repentings on the part of ministers. WE, my brethren, most humble ourselves before 1 God. It will not do for us to suppose that it is enough to call on the people to repent. We must repent, we must take the lead in repentance, and then call on the churches to follow 7 . Especially must those repent who have taken the lead in pro¬ ducing the feelings of opposition and distrust in regard to revi¬ vals. Some ministers have confined their opposition against re¬ vivals and revival measures to their own congregations, and created such suspicions among their own people as to prevent j the work from spreading and prevailing among them. Such min- j isters would do well to consider the remarks of President Ed¬ wards on this subject. “If ministers preach never so good doctrine,and are never so HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. _.* r.,i - 1 . • • , . 271 ^ . ' J ~ y* no. Cl UJOLm aaeu CUUI1- tenance, shall effectually keep the sheep from their pasture, in¬ stead of doing the part of shepherds to them, bv feeding them • and our people had a great deal better be without any settled minister at all at such a day as this.” . 0thers have been more public, and aimed at exertin all of death over the church, and that the curse of God is on 274 HINDERANCES TO • REVIVALS* them already, and will remain unless they repent. God hasal* ready sent leanness into their souls, and many of them know it ! 3. Those who have been engaged in 'promoting the work must | also repent. Whatever they have done that was wrong must j be repented of, or revivals will not return as in days past. When¬ ever a wrong spirit has been manifested, or they have got irri- I tated and provoked at the opposition, and lost their temper, or j mistaken Christian faithfulness for hard words and a wrong j spirit, they must repent. Those who are opposed could never | stop a revival alone, unless those who promote it get wrong. So ■ we must repent if we have said things that were censorious, or : proud, or arrogant, or severe. Such a time as this is no time to i stand justifying ourselves. Our first call is to repent. Let j each one repent of his own sins, and not fall out, and quarrel i about who is most to blame. 4. The church must take right ground in regard to politics. Do not suppose, now, that I am going to preach a political ser¬ mon, or that I wish to have you join and get up a Christian par¬ ty in politics. No, I do not believe in that. But the time has come that Christians must vote for honest men, and take con¬ sistent ground in politics, or the Lord will curse them. They must be honest men themselves, and instead of voting for a man because he belongs to their part}", Bank or Anti-Bank, Jackson, i or Anti-Jackson, they must find out whether he is honest and upright, and fit to be trusted. They must let the world see that I the church will uphold no man in office, who is known to be a knavp, or an adulterer, or a Sabbath-breaker, or a gambler. Such is the spread of intelligence and the facility of communi- ! cation in our country, that every man can know for whom ho | gives his vote. And if he will give his vote only for honest I men, the country will be obliged to have upright rulers. All j parties will be compelled to put up honest men as candidates. Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently, or God will curse the nation, and withdraw his spirit. As on the subject of slavery and temperance, so on this subject, the church must act J right or the country will be ruined. God cannot sustain this I free and blessed country, which we love and pray for, unless the church will take right ground. Politics are a part of reli¬ gion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God. It seem3 sometimes as if the foundations of the nation were becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics. But I tell you, he does see it, IIINDERANCE3 TO REVIVALS. 275 tli^ ^ 6 j W ^ k ^ ess ° r curse t ^ s nation, according to tho course 5. The churches must take right ground on the subject of slavery. And here the question arises, what is right ground? And First I will state some things that should be avoided. * (1.) Fust of all, a bad spirit should be avoided. Nothings more calculated to injure religion, and to injure the slaves them- i selves than lor Christians to get into an angry controversy on the subject. It is a subject upon which there needs to be no angrv controversy among Christians. Slave-holding professors, like rum-selling professors, may endeavor to justify themselves and may be angry with those who press their consciences, and call upon them to give up their sins. Those proud professors of religion who think a man to blame, or think it is a shame to nave a black skin, may allow their prejudices so far to prevail, as to shut their ears, and be disposed to quarrel with those who urge the subject upon them. But I repeat it, the subject of slaveiy is a subject upon which Christians, praying men, need not and must not differ. (2.) Another thing to be avoided is an attempt to take neu¬ tral ground on this. subject. Christians can no more take neutral ground on this subject, since it has come up for discus¬ sion, than they can take neutral ground on the subject of the sanctification of the Sabbath. It is a great national sin. It is a sin of the church. The churches by their silence, and by permitting slaveholders to belong to their communion, have etn consenting to it. All denominations have been more or less gui.dy, although the Quakers have of late years washed I their hands of it. It is in vain for the churches to pretend it is •.merely a political sin. I repeat it, it is the sin of the church, to which all denominations have consented. They have vir¬ tually declared that it is lawful. The very fact of suffering slaveholders quietly to remain in good standing in their churches, is the strongest and most public expression of their views that it is not sin. For the church, therefore, to pretend | to take neutral ground on the subject, is perfectly absurd. The tact is that she is not on neutral ground at all. While she tole¬ rates slaveholders in her communion SHE JUSTIFIES T'HE PRACI ICE. And as well might an enemy of God 1 3retend ^at he was neither saint nor sinner, that he was going t 0 take ne utral ground, and pray “ good Lord and good devil,” lecause he did not know which side would be the most popular. (o.) Great care should be taken to avoid a censorious spirit ; >n both sides. It is a subject on which there has been, and / 276 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. probably will be for some time to come, a difference of opinion among Christians, as to the best method of disposing of the question. And it ought to be treated with great forbearance on both sides. A denunciatory spirit, impeaching each other’s motives, is unchristian, calculated to grieve the Spirit of God, tiL'i to put down revivals, and is alike injurious to the church, and to the slaves themselves. In the second place, I will mention several things, that in my judgment the church are imperatively called upon to do, on this subject: _ . (1.) Christians of all denominations, should lay aside preju¬ dice and inform themselves on this subject, without any delay. Vast multitudes of professors of religion have indulged prejudice to such a degree, as to be unwilling to read and hear, and come to a right understanding of the subject. 13ut Christians cannot pray in this state of mind. I defy any one to possess the spirit of prayer, while he is too prejudiced to examine this, or any other question of duty. If the light did not shine, Christians might remain in the dark upon this point, and still possess the spirit of prayer. But if they refuse to come to the light , they cannot pray. Now I call upon all you who are here present, and who have not examined this subject because you were indisposed to examine it, to say w’hether you have the spirit of prayer. Where ministers, individual Christians, or whole churches, resist truth upon this point now, when it is so exten¬ sively diffused and before the public mind, I do not believe they will or can enjoy a revival of religion. (2.) Writings, containing temperate and judicious discus¬ sions on this subject, and such developements of facts as are before the public, should be quietly and extensively circulated, and should be carefully and prayerfully examined by the whole church. I do not mean by this, that the attention of the church should be so absorbed by this, as to neglect the main question, j of saving souls in the midst of them. I do not mean that such premature movements on this subject should be made, as to astound the Christian community, and involve them in a broil; but that praying men should act judiciously, and that, as soon as sufficient information can be diffused through the community, the churches should meekly, but firmly take decided ground on the subject, and express before the whole nation and the world, their abhorrence of this sin. The anti-masonic excitement which prevailed a few years since, made such desolations in the churches, and produced se much alienation of feeling and ill will among ministers an. hinderances to revivals. 277 l)c° p le and the first introduction of this subject has been attend ed with such commotions, that many good ministers who art hemselves entirely opposed to slavery" dread to introduce Te subject among their people, through'fear that their churches . /°/ e '= 10n .enough to take it up, and consider it calmlv and decide upon u in the spirit of the gospel. I know there fs danger of this. But still, the subject must be presented to Uie churches. And if introduced with discretion, and with great , "' r ° ar t very few c . hurches that have enjoyed revivals nd that are at the present time any where near a revival spirit’ which may not be brought to receive the truth on this sublet’ Perhaps no church ,n this country has had a more severe trial upon this subject, than this. They were a church of young and for the most part inexperienced Christians And E C '7 mS,an T f° nS P ired - ™y ^sence, to produce ton P fusi0n at >d wrong feeling among them. But so far as I am now acquainted with the state of feeling in this church I know of no ill will among them on this subject. The Lord has blessed us, the Spirit has been distilled upon us, and consider re b turn Um Th S !° uV C °™ m “ nion ' ever y month since my return. There are doubtless in this church those who feel on 1 sav tltr/ *7 dlfferent And >’ et 1 honestly say that I am not aware of the least difference in sentiment among them. We have from the beginning, previous to my go ng on my foreign tour, taken the same ground on the sub- ill I u ' 7 ‘ j Ut ,7 e haVe ° n ,em P eran ce. We have excluded slaveholders and all concerned in the traffic from our com¬ munion. By some, out of this church, this course has been censured, as unwarrantable and uncharitable, and I would bv no means make my own judgment, or the example of this church, a rule for the government of other ministers and khurches. Still, I conscientiously believe, that the time is not :,ar distant, when the churches will be united in this expression of abhorrence against this sin. If I do not baptize slavery by >ome soft and Christian name, if I call it SIN, both consistency ind conscience conduct to the inevitable conclusion, that while his sin is persevered in, its perpetrators cannot be fit subjects oi L/hnstmn communion and fellowship. 3 T ? thls ]t 1S objected, that there are many ministers in the resbyterian church, who are slaveholders. And it is said to be ; ery inconsistent that we should refuse to suffer a slaveholder 3 come to our communion, and yet belong to the same church fyith them, sit with them in ecclesiastical bodies, and acknow- 3dge them as ministers. To this I answer, that I have not the 24 278 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS, power to deal with those ministers, and certainly I am not to withdraw from the church because some of its ministers or mem¬ bers are slaveholders. My duty is to belong to the church, even if the devil belong to it. * Where I have authority x exclude slaveholders from the communion, and I always will as long as I live. But where I have no authority, if the table of Chris is spread, I will sit down to it, in obedience to his command¬ ment, whoever else may sit down or stay an ay. I do not mean, by any means, to denounce all those slave¬ holding ministers and professors, as hypocrites, and to say that thev are not Christians. But this I say, that while they con¬ tinue in that attitude, the cause of Christ and of humanity de¬ mands, that they should not be recognized as such, unless we mean to be partakers of other men’s sins. It is no more incon¬ sistent to exclude slaveholders because they belong to the Pres¬ byterian church, than it is to exclude persons who drink or sell ardent spirits. For there are a great many rum-sellers belong¬ ing to the Presbyterian church. » •' I believe the time has come, and although I am no prophet, I believe it will be found to have come, that the revival m the ■United States will continue and prevail, no farther and foster than the church take right ground upon this subject.. The church are God’s witnesses. The fact is that slavery is, pre¬ eminently, the sin of the church. It is the very fact that minis¬ ters and professors of religion of different denominations holt! slaves, which sanctifies the whole abomination, in the e^es o ungodly men. Who does not know that on the subject of tem¬ perance, every drunkard in the land, will skulk behind some rum-selling deacon, or wine-drinking minister ? It is the most common objection and refuge of the intemperate, and of mode¬ rate drinkers, that it is practised by professors of religion. It is this that creates the imperious necessity for excluding traf¬ fickers in ardent spirit, and rum-drinkers from the communion. Let the churches of all denominations speak out on the subjec» \pf temperance, let them close their doors against all who have any thing to do with the death-dealing abomination, and the cause of temperance is triumphant. A few years would anni¬ hilate the traffic. Just so Avith shrvery. _ . It is the church that mainly supports this sin. Her united testimony upon this subject would settle the question. Let Chris¬ tians of all denominations meekly but firmly come forth, and pronounce their verdict, let them clear their communions, and wash their hands of this thing, let them give forth and write on the head and front of this great abomination, SIN ! and in three hinderances to revivals. 279 years, a public sentiment would be formprt 11 before it, and there would no l ^ n t f t l would carry all f 1 : ting, cruel slave-driver in this land ' ackled slave « nor a brist- upon the subject of revi t bj ° f tem P er ance, and temperance nir revivals can he , ^ S °T churches . "either dissension. Sabbath schml' ,n reduced without producing every thin* ofthe kindt A M,ss ‘°"^y operations, and h dissensions 0 , in mnv churches and hav . e P roduce < i for excluding these subjects? a j this a sufficient reason these subjects for fear oTrnnt^?'^ ^ C 1 ™ rches ha ™ excluded revivals 1 Everv bodv I.-,,,, ” .i' 1 ' 1 ! , ave f "T h een blessed with churches have taken im T ^ the y have *<*■ But where individuals and sometimes °numh on t ^ lese subjects, although have been blessed with ™ vivalT wh^™ ° PP ? S< L d ' Sti " ! he y are carefully and praverfullv imrnrl 1 rC , an y °, (leso subjects forward with a rioi/snirit ^and h _ U ^ ed ’ wll 7 er ® 4 W are brought attached to each one of them if tIZi relatIve importance is who will make disturbanceTnd resist " It **? ^ ought. There are qnmp f Lei \' ie blame fall where it posed to quarrel with this subject^vh’ W ^° ar P themselves dis- ;i isasssst-ytas^waas 5T S" i"f'“ h “ '*»•■ =rslr'~S£™= (Tended by k CheS ’ Wlth ° Ut these carefuI «><* being These things, however, have been introduced „„,t „ • , H£P ±™ :i;£; 280 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. ject of such importance as slavery, especially since the subject has come up, and it is impossible from the nature of the case, that her testimony should not be in the scale, on the one side or ^1)0 you ask, “What shall be done—shall we make it the all- absorbing topic of conversation, and divert attention from the all- important subject of the salvation of souls in the midst of us. I answer, No. Let a church express her opinion upon the sub¬ ject, and be at peace. So far as I know, we are entirely at peace upon this subject. We have expressed our opinion, we have closed our communion against slave holders, and aie attending to other things. I am not aware of the least unhealthy excite¬ ment among us on this subject. And where it has become an absorbing topic of conversation in a place, in most instances I believe it has been owing to the pertinacious and unreasonable opposition of a few individuals against even granting the subject 6. If the church wishes to promote revivals, she must sandy- \ fij the Sabbath. There is a vast deal of Sabbath-breaking in the land. Merchants break it, travellers break it, the govern¬ ment breaks it. A few years ago an attempt was made in the western part of this state, to establish and sustain a Sabbath- keepino line of boats and stages. But it was found that the church would not sustain the enterprise. Many professors of re¬ ligion would not travel in these stages, and would not have their o-oods forwarded in canal boats that would be detained from trav¬ elling on the Sabbath. At one time, Christians were much en¬ gaged in petitioning Congress to suspend the Sabbath Mails, and now they seem to be ashamed of it. But one thing is most certain, that unless something is done, and done speedily, and done effectually, to promote the sanctification of the Sabbath y the church, the Sabbath will go by the board, and we shall not only have our mails running on the Sabbath, and Post Offices j open, but by and by our courts of justice and halls of legislation will be kept open on the Sabbath. And what can the church do, what will this nation do, without any Sabbath ? 7 The church must take right ground on the subject of Tern- j perance, and Moral Reform, and all the subjects of practical morality which come up for decision from time to time. There are those in the churches who are standing aloof from the subject of Moral Reform, and who are as much afraid to have any thing said in the pulpit against lewdness, as if a thousand ; devils had got up into the pulpit. On this subject, the church need not expect to be permitted to take neutral ground. In the hinderances to revivals. 281 providence °f God, it is up for discussion. The evils have been exhibited, the call has been made for reform. And whrt is to trt™fn m otthe n c, but , the ? And who shall present the It, I n, church and the ministry? Away with the idea hat Christians can remain neutral and keep still, and vet enjov the approbation and blessing of God. ^ ^ ^ ctll sucfi cases, the minister who holds his peace is counted ; ” °V ot i her side - ? ver y bod >- ki!ows ^ is so the work \f bV S 7 , neCeSSar ?I f ° r f perSon t0 rail out a g ain st j. ‘ work. If he only keeps still and takes neutral ground the ; e emies of the revival will all consider him as on their side ’ So sh M 7 tem P erance - ^ is not needful that a person | f kou d ra ‘ a \ '7 cold-water society, in order to be on the best erms with drunkards and moderate drinkers. Only let him , S r ;7 7 ‘7 moderat e use of wine, only let him continue to : side k If he r U f l ' ry ’ 7 “ the drunkards account him on their side. If he refuses to give his influence to the temperance cause, he is claimed of course by the other side as a friend. On all these subjects, when they come up, the churches and minis- ters must take the right ground, and take it openly and stand to l, and carry it through, if they expect to enjoy the blessing of s7cb meT They mUSt CaSt ° ut from their communfons such members, as in contempt of the light that is shed upon them, continue to drink or traffic in ardent spirits. P .-, n ? here , must ie ™fre done for all the great objects of Chris- ' Han benevolence. There must be much greater efforts for the cause of missions, and education, and the Bible, and all the jWther branches of religious enterprise, or the church will dis- please God Look at it. Think of the mercies we have re¬ vived, of the wealth, numbers and prosperity of the church. I Have we rendered unto God according to the benefits we have t eceived so as to show that the church is bountiful and willing to give their money and to work for God ? No. Far from it Have we multiplied our means and enlarged our plans in pro- wh7h t le , ChUrCh 7 S increased ? I® God satisfied with what has been done or has he reason to be? Such a revival “ ■ 77 en J°/ ed 7 the churches of America for the last ten fears. We ought to have done ten times as much as we have or missions, Bibles, education, tracts, free churches, and in all ; 7,:iu yS desi = ned , t0 promote religion and save souls. If the ! m 7 , S d ° not ' vake U P on thls subject, and lay themselves out " “ lar » er scale - the y “ay expect the revival in the United states will cease. i ^ Christians in the United States expect revivals to spread 24* 282 HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. and prevail, till the world is converted, they must give up writ¬ ing letters and publishing pieces calculated to excite suspicion and jealousy in regard to revivals , and must take hold of the' work themselves. If the whole church as a body had gone to work ten years ago, and continued it as a few individuals, whom I could name, have done, there would not now have been an j impenitent sinner in the land. The millenium would have I fully come in the United States before this day. Instead of standing still, and writing letters from Berkshire, let ministers : who think we are going wrong, just buckle on the harness and go forward , and show us a more excellent way. Let them teach us by their example how to do better. I do not deny that we have made mistakes, and committed errors. I do not deny that there are many things which are wrong done in revivals. But is that the way 7 to correct them, brethren ? So did not Paul. He I corrected his brethren by telling them kindly that he would show them a more excellent way. Let our brethren take hold and go i forward. Let us hear the cry from all their pulpits. To the work. Let them lead on, where the Lord will go with them and make bare his arm, and I, for one,-will follow. Only let them GO ON, and let us have the United States converted to God, and let all minor questions cease. If not, and if revivals do cease in this land, the ministers and churches will be guilty of all the blood of all the souls that shall go to hell in consequence of it. There is no need that the work should cease. If the church will do all her duty, the millenium may come in this country in three years. But if this writing letters is to be kept up, filling the country with suspicions and jealousies, if it is to be always so, that two-thirds of the church will hang hack and do nothing but find fault in time of revival, the curse of God will be on this nation, and that before long. REMARKS. 1. It is high time there should be great searchings of heart among Christians and ministers. Brethren, this is no time to resist the truth, or to cavil and find fault because the truth is spoken out plainly. It is no time to recriminate or to strive, but j we must search our own hearts, and humble ourselves before 1 God. 2. We must repent and forsake our sins, and amend our ways and our doings, or the revival will cease. Our ecclesiastical j difficulties MUST CEASE, and all minor differences must be laid aside and given up, to unite in promoting the great inter* EiNDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 283 '"•““ft; ™'iE."IS "i‘T”STkir" s A ft Aft rttfiS, ft-* •&&«? •sErdEsfSEEE'Es wholly groundless and bn A ° 7 Spint s in ^ u ence, which is those who ha ve ,Z th^"f’T A " d » CHURCH that God Will the church repent? It is LH curse of war ? chiefly has m view. How shall we a ^ yain tQ look t0 Only by a reformation in e ’ WQuld generally be in politicians to avert war. Y WO uld do to avert it favor of war. Very.k y ch J rch will not f ee l, will -t stsjftrsfc r** rv°#s . JiTif»* mg S”'f"S M h...» = p~«“ w . s~"« . -f —i. * - p* You must ool us ,n ^" a 'o tofly. 3 ''’Do'’not wort till otmlhor a responsibility ReP“‘ 1 J a t w ill be the state of these SSehKASo orr a™*" year without a great and gen- | Who would leave such a work, and go to g disputes down into the plain of Ono and see if all theseI*«y msp can’t be adjusted, and let the work cease, ^“.and work, and let the Lord take care of the rest. Uo oui cu y, leave the issue to God. K f,<- li ! lecture XVI. tee necessity and effect of union I which he Uv~ '+ 1 S , e . of tbeir agreement, upon wmen ne lays the stress, and mentioning the number two n n pears to have been de«io- ne d mprp i u tn n m , numDei tuo > a P' the smallest number betweenThom her!'rsnT° UraS:ement t0 7 e Zt un A ei f a i by bein ° “ a »- ed -&S? two following heads "' "' ans ' ver thls question under the II that ' ye are t0 be “ a = reed ” in prayer. thin ° that is esse " tia ‘ 10 obtain - in nrwe? rd Tbf, COme with , in , this P™™se, we are to be agreed P ( Xr ' r T u S P artI . cularl y taught in the text. That is • , ’V sh °u |d a S n e in our desires for the object It is ne’ces- TJs vZl T e - f r ‘!f and t0 be a ^eed in those de- whenthlr aro h lndlvlduals P ra y *»««>»•&for the same thin- wfien they are by no means agreed in desirino- that thine- Nav perhaps some of them, in their hearts desireAe ve^oppo^e it iiMvords hi frFI 1° ^ [° r an ° bject ’ and ^ey ail pray for t ™ ords » bat God knows they often do not desire it and ner S isUni e the e prayer 16 heMt * ° f S ° me ” ay ’ the wh ’ iIe ' be ;e ' obkc^ h^glg ree ?!l‘ C m ° tW f fr ° m "’hich we desire the the same bZ ,h Jgh th f ° Ur deslres ibr an object should bo same, but the reason ivhy must be the same. An individual 286 THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF UNION. may desire a revival, for the glory of God and the salvation of sinners. Another member of the church may also desire a re vival, hut from very different motives. Some perhaps desire ! revival in order to have the congregation huilt up and stren g l ened, so as to make it more easy for them to pay their expense 2n supporting the gospel. Another.desires a reviva sake oThking the church increased so as to he more numerous and more respectable. Others desire a revival because they have been opposed or evil spoken of, and they wish to have! tl heir enemies know that whatever they may think or say, God blesses them. Sometimes people desire a revival from mere natural affection, so as to have their friends converted and saved - 1 they mean to he so united in prayer as to obtain a blessin 0 , they must not only desire the blessing, and be agreed in desiring it, but they must also agree in desiring it for the same reasons 3. We must be agreed in desiring it for good reasons. 1 hese desires must not only he united, and from the same motives, bu they must be from good motives. The supreme motive must be to honor and glorify God. People may even desire a revival and agree in desiring it, and agree in the motives, and yet if tkeso motives are not good, God will not grant their desires. Thus parents maybe agreed in prayer for the conveision of then children, and may have the same feelings and the same motives, and yet if they have no higher motives than because they are their children, their prayers will not he granted. They are agreed in the reason, hut it is not the right reason. . °In like manner, any number of persons might be agreed m their desires and motives, but if their motives are selfish, their being agreed in them will only make them more offensive to God “ How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” 1 have seen a great deal of this, where churches have been engaged in prayer for an object, and their motives were evidently SClUh .... i *i praying for a revival, and you would think by their earnestness and union that they would certainly move God to .grant the blessing, till you find out the reason. And what is it. Why, they see their congregation is about to be broken up, unless something can be done. Or they see some other denomination gainino- ground, and there is no way to counteract them put by having revival in their church. And all their praying is only an attempt to get the Almighty in to help them out of their di * culty and is purely selfish and offensive to God. A woman in Philadelphia, was invited to attend a female prayer-meeting a a certain place. She inquired what they met there for, and tor 287 ili MB necessity and EFFECT of PN[on were going^prfv'lS ^ompourino-'rf'th”^'^ that they pray for oar congregation I would If bin I*^ 7 W6re ?°‘ nff to 10 pray for other churches!” O wii a dirbl g01 " g there - ■.« ris as-. iisirrF" «S one of them selfish. And God’wn l J? s ® metim es found every abhorrence. u d 00 £ u P on every one with reasons^ vvhy they'dS'r^such and s° he ? r P^P 1 * offer such ■n the si-lit of God«*“ h * such Lessings, as are not rioht ones, andVchrSts are ^ are the w °uld render their prayers not arZ t b ^ t ^ ose reasons, it motive was not right. ^ " ptable to God, because their l of nhssfonsf which 7{ this^h 0 * 1 ™ 8aW in favor of the «»nse motives. How oftenare wem A ^ pea]in £ t0 w ™ng thens, who are in danger of loin- to heh mill ! on , s of hea ‘ of the of six hundred ^miliL ’ d ; how llttlc J ssaid gether as rebels against God or ofTh er *?. a jj> e( ^ and banded to- poured upon God our Maker bv 9.1 h dlsh '°™r and contempt f I know that God refers to^ thZr world of outlaws. Now mere natural sympathies and r m ° IV P S wll ich appeal to our ' •»"•? in subordination to hi Xrv “iT’thes T* ' hem ’ >“ are placed foremost it mii^f j 1 lese ^°wer motives and zeal, and afrel iTLtZT, pr ° du T Ce a drf “tive piety look at the dishonor done to God lit,']!' •I/', 111 ! ' 6 church will which must be made to stand n t f WI t* e done - It is this which must be deeply felt bv the eh ' 1 ,°— ll , e . w °rld, it is this ’fully exhibited to sinners beforethe f " thlS which must be Parents never alrel in nr" W ° rld ever be converted, children in such a wav as to hi™?/ 0 * th ® conversl °n of their *ey fee 1 that their children are rebet‘ r P^T a f nswered - un ‘‘l earnestly for their children h eb , Parents often pray very S tnd they aim,It thtnk G ° d to save them, ’hildrem But if they wouldl 1 ’• he does not sa ™ nust come to take God J s mrf n - Ve . , ei F Players prevail, they or their perverseness and ( r hllcJren ‘ even though | 'bliged to send them to hell nf lb 6 vvickedness be should be nxious for the salvotinn ? * bnevv a woman w bo was very in with agony "Z ^ She USed t0 P™V r/ t Z /. nut still he remained impenitent, until at len-th • o 44 288 THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF UNION. she became convinced that Iter prayers and agonies had been nothing but the fond yearnings of parental feeling, and were not dictated at all by a just view of her son s character as a wilful and wicked rebel against God. And there was never any im¬ pression made on his mind until she was made to take strong ground against him as a rebel, and to look on him as deserv to be sent to hell. And then he was converted. 1 he reason was she never before was influenced by the right motive in pS-er desiring his salvation with a supreme regard to the 8l< 4 y i°f f wwould be so united as to prevail in prayer, « must a°ree in faith. That is, we must concur in expecting the bless- i° prayed for We must understand the reason why it is to be expected, we must see the evidence on which faith ought to rest, and must absolutely believe that the blessing wi! come, or we do not bring ourselves within the promise. Faith is always under¬ stood as an indispensable condition of prevailing prayer If it is not exnressed in any particular case, it is always impi cd, lor^no prayer can be effectual but that which is offered in faith And in Kr that united prayer may prevail, there must be united faith r. So ao-ain, we must he agreed as to the time when we de si r e the ’blessing to come. If two or more agree in desiring a particular blessing, and one of them desires to have it come \ww while others are not ready to have it quite yet it is plain lev are not agreed. They ate not united in regard to one es- senna! point. ° If the blessing is to come m answer to their united prayer, it must come as they prayed for it. And it it comes it mu S ; he at some time. But if they dtsagree as to the time when they will have it, plainly it can never come in an ""suppose 6 a church should undertake to pray for a revival, and should be all agreed in desiring a revival, but not as to the time when it shall be. Suppose some wish to have the revival come now and are all prepared, and their hearts waiting for the Spir it of God to come down, and are willing to give timei andlaMen¬ tion and labor to it NOW ; but others are not qp 1 ® re a dy lbey have something else to attend to just at piesent, so ? object which they want to accomplish some piece _ - . in hand and want just to finish this thing, and then y cannot possibly find time to attend to it now, they are not prepar¬ ed to humble themselves, to search their hearts and break up their fallow ground, and put themselves in a posture t0 rec ® he blessing Is it not plain that here is no real urn on, for they are not agreed in that which is essential? While one part a the necessity and Ei fect of union. 289 praying that the revival may come no v, the others are nravinxr With equal earnestness that it may not xme now P> g buppose the question were now nut o 'hie u you are agreed in praying for a reCtirft o t ^ you all desire a revival, and would you al, l.ke to have it come ow Would you be heartily agreed nov val as something to be brought about by means, or they never f will be agreed in using them. y (4.) They must be agreed in understanding that human agency is just as indispensable to a revival as divine agency. , Sucil a as a revival of religion, I venture to say, never did occur without divine agency, and never did occur without I “\ uman a §' enc y* How often do people say, “ God can, if he | pleases, carry on the work without means.” But I have no faith m it, for there is no evidence of it. What is religion ? , Obedience to God s law. But the law cannot.be obeyed unless it is known _ And how can God make sinners obey but by mak- p mg known his commandments ? And how can he make them f; known but.byrevealing them himself, or sending them by others p —that is by bringing THE TRUTH to bear upon the per- | son s mind till he obeys it. God never did and never can con¬ i' vert a sinner except with the truth. What is conversion ? Obey¬ ing the truth. He may communicate it himself, directly to the sinner. . But then, the sinner's own agency is indispensiible, for | conversion consists in the right employment of the sinner’s own •agency.. And ordinarily, he employs "the agency of others also, m printing, writing, conversation, and preaching. God has put the gospel treasure in earthen vessels. He has seen fit to em¬ ploy men m preaching the word. That is, he has seen that : liuman agency is that which he can best employ in saving sin- j jers. And if there ever was a case, of which we have no evi- , ience, there is not one in a thousand, if one in a million con¬ verted in any other way than through the truth, made known : ipd urged by human instrumentality. And as the church must 3n V s * n » those means, it is plainly necessary that they ’hould be united in understanding the true reason why means ire to be used, and the true principles on which they are to be I governed and applied. 5. It is important that there should be union in regard to the measures essential to the 'promotion of a revival. Let individ- I als agree to do any thing whatever, and if they are not agreed i their measures, they will run into confusion, and counteract ne another. Set them to sail a ship, and they never can get ; on ? without agreement. If they attempt to do business as lerchants when they are not agreed in their measures, what 25* 294 THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF UNION. will they do? Why, they will only undo each other’s work, and thwart the whole business of the concern. All this is pre¬ eminently true in regard to the work of promoting a revival. Otherwise the members of the church will counteract each other’s influence, and they need not expect a revival. (1.) The church must be agreed in regard to the meetings which are held , as to what meetingshall be held, and how many, and where, and when they shall be held. Some people always desire to multiply meetings in a revival, as if the more meet¬ ings they had, the more religion. Others are always opposed to any new meetings in a revival. Some are always for having a protracted meeting, and others are never ready to hold a pro¬ tracted meeting at all. Whatever difference there may be, it is essential that the church should come to a good understanding on the subject, so that they can go on together in harmony, and labor with zeal and effect. (2.) They must be agreed as to the manner of conducting meetings. It is necessary that the church should be united and cordial on this subject, if they expect to offer united prayer with effect. Sometimes there are individuals who want to adopt every new thing they can hear of or imagine, while others are totally unwilling to have any thing altered in regard to the man¬ agement of the meeting, hut would have every thing done pre¬ cisely as they are accustomed to. They ought to be agreed in some way, either to have the meetings altered, or to keep them on in the old way. The best possible way is, for the church to agree in this, that they will let the meetings go on and take their course, just as the Spirit of God shapes them, and not even attempt to make two meetings just alike. The church never will give the fullest effect to the truth, until they are agreed in this principle,—That in promoting a revival they will accom¬ modate their measures to circumstances, and not attempt to in¬ terrupt the natural course which pious feeling and sound judg- , ; ment indicate, but cast themselves entirely upon the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, introducing any measure, at any time, that shall seem called for in the Providence ol God, J without laying any stress upon its being new or old. 6. They must be agreed in the manner of dealing with im- jjenitent sinners. This is a point immensely important, that the church should be agreed in their treatment of sinners. Sup¬ pose that they are not agreed, and one will tell a sinner one thing and another another. What confusion ! How can they agree in prayer, when it is plain that they are not agreed as to the things they shall pray for. Go among such a church, and THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF UNION. 2^5 hear them pray for sinners. Attend a prayer-meeting and listen Here is one man prays that the sinners present may repent Another prays that they may be convicted, and perhaps if he is very much engaged, will go so far as to pray that they may be deeply convicted. Another prays that sinners may go home ; so emn, and pensive, and silent, meditating upon the truths they have heard. Another prays in such a manner, that you can see he is afraid to have them converted now. Another prays • very solemnly that they may not attempt to do any thino- in their own strength. And so on. How easy it is to see that ! the church are not agreed as touching the things they ask for and of course they have no interest in the promise. ji Y™ set t 1 hem t0 t: ^k with sinners, their courses would be lust as discordant, lor it is plain that they are not agreed and laveno clear views in regard to what a sinner mult do to be i saved, or of what ought to be said to sinners, to brino- them to ■epent. And the consequence is, that sinners who ale awak¬ ened and anxious, presently get confounded, and do not know vhat to do, and perhaps give it all up in despair, or conclude here is in reality nothing rational or consistent in relio-ion. , Jne will tell the sinner he must repent, immediately. Another ' j a b°°k, Doddridge’s Rise and Progress perhaps md tell him to read that book. Another will tell him he must )ray and persevere, and in God’s time he will obtain the bless- n », can n . ever go on, for any length of time, amidst i uch difficulties. If it begins, it must soon run out; unless, •erhaps, the body of the church will keep still and say nothin^ t all, and let others carry on the work. And there the work vill suffer materially for want of their co-operation and support. A church ought to be agreed. Every Christian ought to have ^ clear understanding of this subject, and all speak the same mng, and give the same directions. And then the sinner will | nd no 01ie t0 take his part, and can get no relief or comfort till e repents. 7. They must be agreed in removing the impediments to a evival. If a church expects a revival, they must take up the tumbling blocks out of the way. (1.) In the exeicise of discipline. If there are rotten mem- ers in the church, they should be removed, and the church , hould all agree to cut them off If they remain in the church ; iey are such a reproach to religion, as to hinder a revival! ometimes when an attempt is made to cast them out, this r^ates division, and thus the work is stopped. Sometimes the Benders are persons of influence, or they have family friends 295 THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF UNlOA-, who will take their part, and make a party, and thus create a bad spirit, and prevent a revival. (2.) In mutual confessions. Whenever wrong has been done to any, th"Tc should be a full confession. I do not mean a cold and forced acknowledgment, such as saying, 11 If I have done wrong, I am sorry for it.' 5 But a heaity confession, going the full length of the wrong, and showing that it comes out of a broken heart. C . . (3.) Forgiveness of enemies . A great obstruction to revivals is often found in the fact that active and leading individuals har¬ bor a revengeful and unforgiving spirit towards those who have injured them, which destroys their spirituality, makes them harsh and disagreeable in their manner, and prevents them from enjoying either communion with God in prayer, oi the blessing of God to give them success in labor. But let the members of a church be truly agreed, in breaking down and confessing their own faults, and in cherishing a tender, merciful, forgiving, Christ-like spirit toward those who they think have done them wrong, and then the Spirit will come down upon them not bj measure. 8. They must be agreed in making all the necessary prepa¬ rations for a revival. They should be agreed in having all necessary preparation made, and agreed in bearing their part of the labor or expense of making it. There should be an equality, and not let a few be burthened and the rest do little or nothing, but every one his proportion, according to his several ability. Then there will be no envying nor jealousy, nor any of those mutual recriminations and altercations and disrespectful remarks about one another, which are so inconsistent with bro¬ therly love, and such a stumbling block in the way of sinners. 9. They must be agreed in doing heartily whatever is neces¬ sary to be done for the promotion of the revival. Sometimes a slight disagreement about a very little thing will be allowed to break in and destroy a revival. A minister told me that he once went to labor in a place as an evangelist, and the. Spirit of God was evidently present, and sinners began to inquire, and things looked quite favorable, until some of the members in the church began to agitate the inquiry how they should pay him for his services. They said “ If he stays among us any longer, he will expect we should give him something,” and they did not see how they could afford to do it. And they talked about it until the minds of the brethren got distracted and divided, and the minis¬ ter went away. Look at it. There God stood in the door of that church, with his hands full of mercies but these parsimo* THE NECESSITY AND EFFECT OF UNION. 297 hi™ S »\ nd professors tllou g lu it would cost somethino-to have a revival, and their expenses were about as much as they flit willing or able to bear. And so they let him depart and the work ceased. The minister would not have left at the time whether they gave him any thing „ r „ ot , for what ’ he aho e u J^ ceive, or whether he should receive any thing from them, was a question about which he felt no concern. But tile church by V "0 ds * O God, you are too hard you o- 0 ton fW r ~7: CftSSS’vrii! f 1 ”; h«^WR 4WS >?y j™ ssrscta Ood, and do the same as to tell the sinne/himself “ God'’ will make you crazy if you do not dismiss the subject and resist the Spirit and drive him away from your mind ” 6 sin^i : d r::^ef s r«rsi°ffi n th ^ di r esses ^ fcKS ^Hef" CT ■l t • 1 , ‘Y* ma y ma ^ e himself deranged by resisting* ne ole„, Sn rit P ofG 0 J' ‘° n"'" ‘ hat * he bU ‘ ss?d - wise and be- T opmt of God, would ever conduct with so little care as [. r,,i ‘ n = e an< destroy the soul he came to sanctify and save IteT lake "i i,h a si " a -. "hen the ItHv' ng of he Sptnt throws him into distress, is, to instruct him to clear i"' S ’ C ? rrec u ‘ h,s nllstal 'es, and make the way of salva- ton so plain that, he can see it right before him Not to dis » remember, rst^ssy* billy dismiss the subject once, probably he will never take it tip again. “ CA iaite 11 “unsel wher'h 0 :-^%rJ sTh mttnsel, when he wa^uail^^^ nfMr ? *■«* religion is of i * i js cneerful, re io-i 0n is not lloomy, don't be distressed, be comforted, dismiss you” feaTs rhen' Tft't l *° T* such like miserable comfort*,’ •as rc’siRt fot ?h m w ? ad /", finUe rea , son t0 be distressed, for he imaway fofevey. Y ^ “ nd “ dan *“ of It is true, religion does not consist in feeling bad. Bu’ the _ nei has reason to be distressed, because he has no religion f he had religion, he would not feel so. Were he a Christian' ! r T Ce '. ®“‘ 10 a " impenitent sinner tobcK II them llnwe ™rh “ "' d ! prcac ‘‘ this doctrine in hell, and The atm '• C l L up llere ’ clll ‘('r up, don’t feel so bad.” rainst GodV*l°h- f Very . Ve . r S e of hdl ' hc * >'» rebellion , nst God, and his danger is infinitely greater than lie ima- 27 314 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. ut ln a T this, they have no regard to the honor ' God, nor do they so much as mean to obey him Their 27* 318 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS, design, is not obedience, for if it were, they would not be impen- itent°sinners. Tney are not, therefore, using means to be Chris¬ tians, but to obtain pardon, and a hope. It is absurd to say, that an impenitent sinner is using means to repent for this is the same as to say, that he is willing to repent, or in other words, that he does repent, and is not an impenitent sinner. So, to say | that an unconverted sinner uses means with design to become a Christian, is a contradiction, for it is saying, that he is willing to be a Christian, which is the same as to say, that he is a Christian j n I ppn /■]tt (2) Telling the sinner to pray for a new heart. I once | heard a celebrated Sunday-school teacher do this. He was al¬ most the father of Sunday-schools in this country. He called a little girl up to him, and began to talk to her. “ My little dauber, are you a ChristianT No, Sir. “ Well, you cannot be a Christian yourself, can you?’ No, Sir. “ No, you can¬ not be a Christian, you cannot change your heart yourself, but you must pray for a new heart, that is all you can do, pray to God, God will give you a new heart.” He was an aged and venerable man, but I felt almost disposed to lebuke him openly in the name of the Lord, I could not bear to hear him deceive that child, telling her she could not be a Christian. Does God say “ Pray for a new heart ?” Never. He says, “ Make you I a new heart.” And the sinner is not to be told to pray to God to do his duty for him, but to go and do it himself. 1 know the] Psalmist, a good man, prayed. “ Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.” He had faith and praye in faith. But that is a very different thing from setting an obsti¬ nate rebel to pray for a new heart. No doubt, an anxious sin¬ ner will be delighted with such instruction. “ Why, I knew I needed a new heart, and that I ought to repent, but I thought I must do it myself, I am very willing to ask God to do it, I hate j to do it myself, but have no objection that God should do it, i he will, and I will pray for it, if that is all that is required. (3.) Telling the sinner to persevere. And suppose he does persevere. He is as certain to be damned as if he had been in hell ever since the foundation of the world. His anxiety arises I only from his resistance, and if he would submit, it would cease, s! And now, will you tell him to persevere m the very thing that j causes his distress? Suppose my child should, in a fit of pas¬ sion, throw a book or something on the floor. I tell him “ lake it up,” and instead of minding what I say, he runs off and plays. “ Take it up!” He sees I am in earnest, and begins to look serious. “ Take it up, or I shall get a rod.” And I put up my j false comforts for sinners 119 arm to get the rod. He stands still. “ Take it 11r > nr must be whipped.” He comes slowly along to the place and then begins to weep. “ Take it up my child, or you will' cer Win ybe punished.” Now he is in distress, and sobs and siX as if his bosom would burst, but still remains as stubborn a°s if he knew I could not punish him. Now I begin to press him with motives to submit and obey, but there he stands, m agony and at length bursts out, “ O, father I do feel so bad I thfnk'l am growing better.” And now, suppose a neighbor to come in and see the child standing there, in all this agony of stubborn- ' ?' h T A e " el f hbor asks hlm "’hat he is standing there for and what he is doing “ O, I am using means to pick up that nook. If this neighbor should tell the child, “ Persever e P per¬ severe my boy you will get it by and by,” What should l do ? fWhy [ would turn him out of the house. What does he mean iy encouraging my child in his rebellion. ’ Now God calls the sinner to repent, he threatens him he J, raws the glittering sword he persuades him, he uses moti’ves, 0 the h dre\ n df e: I IS t, dlStre - SSed 1° a ?™y’ for he sees himself driven ( o the dreadful alternative of giving up his sins or going to hell. l|e ought instantly to lay down his weapons, and break his Ind thai° nCe i i,"* i""' resists ’ :mt ' struggles against conviction, ;" d 'hat creates his distress. Now will you tell him to perse- Xi ,n u what? ., In struggling against God! That >just the direction the devil would give. All the devil wants s to see him persevere in just the way he is going on and his Instruction is sure. Satan may go to sleep. = (4.) Telling the sinner to press forward. That is “ You are I a good way, only press forward, and you will get to heaven ” his is on the supposition that his face is towards heaven, when i fact his face is towards hell, and he is pressing forward and ewer more rapidly than now, while he is resisting the Holy i dost. Often have I heard this direction given, when the sin- >r was in as bad a way as he could be. What you ouo-ht to II him is, “ S POP—sinner, stop, do not take another step that ) ay, it leads to hell. God tells him to stop, and because he >es not wish to stop, he is distressed. Now, why should you tempt to comfort him in this way ? ^ Sin " er th ,f he T ,st tr V t0 re P ent • and give his an to God. “ 0, yes, ’ says the sinner, “ I am willing to try, have often tried to do it, and I will try again.” Ah, does God 1 you to try to repent? All the world would be willing to try r *S t!l '* r wa y- Giving this direction implies that it is r y dl ™ cu ^ to repent, and perhaps impossible, and that the 320 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. best thing a sinner can do, is to try, and see whether he can do it or not. What is this, but substituting your own command¬ ment in the place of God’s. God requires nothing short of re¬ pentance and a holy heart. Any thing short of that, is comfort¬ ing him in vain, “seeing in your answers there remainetli falsehood.” (6.) To tell him to pray for repentance. “O yes I will pray for repentance, if that is all. I was distressed because I thought God required me to repent, but if he will do it, I can wait. And so he feels relieved, and is quite comfortable. (7.) To tell a sinner to pray for conviction, or ] *ay for the Holy Ghost to show him his sins, or to labor to more light\ on the subject of his guilt, in order to increase irs conviction. All this is just what the sinner wants, because it lets him of] from the pressure of present obligation. II? wants just a little more time. Any thing that will defer that present pressure of obligation to repent immediately, is a relief. What does he want more conviction for ? Does God give any such direction to an impenitent sinner ? God takes it for granted that he has conviction enough already. And so he has. Do you say, he cannot realize all his sins ? If he can realize only one of them, let him repent of that one, and he is a Christian. Suppose he could see them all, what reason is there to think he would le- pent of them all, any more than that he would repent of that one that he does see? All this is comforting the sinner by setting him to do that which he can do, and still not submit his heait to / God. 11. Another "way in which false comfort is given to anxious sinners, is to tell them God is trying their faith by keeping them in the furnace , and they must wait patiently upon the Lord. Just as if God was in fault, or stood in the way, of his being a Christian. Or as if an impenitent sinner had faith!) What an abomination! Suppose somebody should tell my child, while he was standing by the book, as I have described, “ Wait patiently, boy, your father is trying your faith.” No. The sinner is trying the patience and forbearance of God. God is not setting himself to torture a sinner, and teach him a lesson of patience. But he is waiting upon him, and laboring to bring him at once into such a state of mind as will render it consistent to fill his soul with the peace of heaven. And shall the sinner be encouraged to resist by the idea that God is bantering? TAKE CARE. God has said his Spirit shall not ahvays strive, j 12. Another false comfort is telling a sinner, Do your duty , and leave your conversiomvith God. false comforts for sinners. 321 I once heard an elder of a church say to an anxious sinner Do your duty, and leave your conversion to God, he will do it in his own time and way.” That was just the same as telling him, that it was not his duty to be converted now. He did nut say Do your duty, and leave your salvation with God That wouid have been proper enough, for it would have been simply telling him to submit to God, and would have included conve.r- * “°“. as hfcd, f du A ty r° f alL But he toJd him to leave his con- G °l C ' 1 Al ' d thlS e,der ’ that S ave such advice > was a . of liberal education too. How absurd ! Just as if he could do his duty and not be converted. Just as if God was c-ohm to convert a sinner and let the sinner sit calmly under it in°the use ; of means. Horrible ! No. God has required him to make him i) a new ueart and do you beware how you comfort him with an answer of falsehood. l. p 13 ; ^°™. etime . s Professors of religion will try to comfort a sin¬ ner by telling him, "Do not be discouraged ; I was a longtime in this way before I found comfort.” They will tell him “I , was un er conviction so many weeks—or perhaps so many months or sometimes years, and have gone through with all this and know just how you feel, your experience is the same with mine, precisely, and after so long a time I found relief, and I don t doubt you will find it, by and by. Don’t despair, God T 0U S ,° 1 on - ’ Ted a sinner to take courage in his rebellion . O, horrible. Such professors ought to be ashamed, suppose you were under conviction so many weeks, and after- >vaids found^relief, it is the very last thing you ought to tell to *m anxious sinner. What is it but encouraging him to hold on vhen his business is to submit. Did you hold out so many weeks while the Spirit was striving with you. You only de- UipHig 0 mU °b *b e m °re to be damned, for your obstinacy and | ,? J . nner j ]t ]S P° S1 £ n God will spare you so long, or that his 1 . u . ] . romam with you to be resisted. And remember if ie fcpirit is taken away, you will be sent to hell. 14. “I have faith to believe you will be converted.” !. ^, ou have . faith to believe! On what does your faith rest'? ,? the Promise of God ? On the influences of the Holy Ghost ? hen you are counteracting your own faith. The very design id object pf the Spirit of God, is, to tear away from the sinner, his ,s ve stige of a hope, while remaining in sin ; to annihilate every a ° a . n ^ ’S’ 10 may cling to. And the object of your instruc- m s.iould be the same. You should fall in with the plan of od. Lt is only m this way, that you can ever do any good, by 322 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. crowding 1 him right up to the work, to submit at once and leave his soul in the hands of God. But when one that bethinks is a Christian, tells him, “ I have faith to believe you will be con¬ verted,” it upholds him in his false expectation. Instead of tearing him away from his false hopes, and throwing him upon Christ, you just turn him ofF to hang upon your faith, and find comfort because you have faith for him. This is all false com¬ fort, that worketh death. 15. “I will pray for you.” Sometimes professors of religion try to comfort an anxious sinner in this way, by telling him, “ I will pray for you.” This is false comfort, for it leads the sinner to trust in those prayers, instead of trusting in Christ. The sinner says, “ He is a good man, and God hears the prayers of good men, no doubt his prayers will prevail some time, and I shall be converted, I don’t think I shall be lost.” And his anxiety, his agony, is all gone. A woman said to a minis¬ ter, “ I have no hope now, but I have faith in your prayers.” Just such faith, this is, as the devil wants them to have—faith in prayers instead of faith in Christ. 16. “I rejoice to see you in this way, and I hope you will be faithful, and hold out.” * What is that but rejoicing to see him in rebellion against God? For that is precisely the ground on which he stands. He is resisting conviction, and resisting con¬ science, and resisting the Holy Ghost, and yet you rejoice to see him in this way, and hope he will be faithful and hold out. There is a sense, indeed, in which it may be said that his situa-i tion is more hopeful than when he was in stupidity. For God has convinced him, and may succeed in turning and subduing him. But that is not the sense in which the sinner himself will 1 understand it. He will suppose that you think him in a hope¬ ful way, because he is doing better than formerly. When his guilt and danger are, in facg greater than they ever were before. And instead of rejoicing, you ought to be distressed and inil agony, to see him thus resisting the Holy Ghost, for every mo¬ ment he does this, he is in danger of being left of God, and given up to hardness of heart and to despair. # ! 17. “You will have your pay for this, by and by, God will I reward you.” Yes, sinner, God will reward you, if you con-j tinue in this way, he will put you in the fires of hell. Reward ! for all this distress! Yes, if you are ever rewarded for it, it 11 will be in hell. I once heard a sinner say, “ I feel very bad, I ■ have strong hopes that I shall get my reward.” But that indi¬ vidual afterwards said, “ Nowhere can there be found so black i a sinner as I am, and no sin of my life seems so black, and FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. 323 damning as tnat expression.” He was overwhelmed with contrition, that he should ever have had such an idea as to think God would reward him for suffering so much distress when he brought it all upon himself, needlessly, by his wicked resistance to the truth. The truth is, what such people want is to comfort the sinner, and being all in the dark themselves on the subject of religion, they of course give him false comfort. 18. Another false comfort, is to tell the sinner he has not rc~ ' penlecl enough. The truth is, he has not repented at all. God always comforts the sinner as soon as he repents. This direc¬ tion implies that his feelings are right as far as they go. To imply that he has any repentance, is to tell him a lie, and cheat him out of his soul. 19. People sometimes comfort a sinner by tellino- him “If you are elected, you will be brought in.” I once heard of a case where a. person under great distress of mind, was sent to converse with a neighboring minister. They conversed a lono- * v ne ’i a v? P e r son went awa y> the minister said to him, “ J should like to write a line by you, to your father.” His father was a pious man. The minister wrote the letter, and forgot to seal it. As the sinner was going home, he saw that the letter was not sealed, and he thought to himself; that probably the minister had written about him, and his curiosity at length led lm to open and read it. And there he found it written to this Durport: “ Dear Sir, I find your son under conviction, and in ?reat distress, and it seems not easy to say any thing to give nm relief.^ But, if he is one of the elect, he will surely be wrought in. He wanted to say something to comfort the father iut now mark. That letter had well-nigh ruined his soul. He ettled down on the doctrine of election ; “ If I am elected I hall be brought in,” and his conviction was all gone. Years t aenvaras he was awakened and converted, but only after a reat struggle, and never until that false impression was ob- terated from his mind, and he was made to see that he had no- nng at all to do with the doctrine of election, but if he did not epent, he would be damned. 20. It is very common for some people to tell an awakened nner, “ Y ou are in a very prosperous way, I am glad to see ou so, and feel encouraged about you.” It sometimes seems, 5 d the church was in league with the devil, lo help sinners re¬ st the Holy Ghost The thing that the Holy Ghost wants to a re re sinner feel, is, that all his ways are wrong, and that ey lead to hell. And every body is conspiring to make the i| ipositt impiession. The Spirit is trying to discourage him, FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. and they are trying to encourage him; the Spirit to distress, by showing him he is all wrong, and they to comfort him by saying he is doing well. Has it come to this, that the worst counter¬ action to the truth, and the greatest obstacle to the Spirit, shall spring from the church? Sinner! Do not believe any such thing. You are not in a hopeful way. You are not doing well, but ill; as ill as you can, while resisting the Holy Ghost. 21. Another very fatal way, in which false comfort is given to sinners, is by applying to them certain scripture promises which were designed only for saints. This is a grand device of the devil. It is much practised by the Universalists. But Christians often do it. For example: (1.) “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com forted.” How often has this passage been applied to anxious sinners, who were in distress because they would not submit to God; blessed are ye that mourn. Indeed! That is true, where they mourn with godly sorrow. But what is this sinner mourn ino- about? He is mourning because God’s law is holy and his terms of salvation so fixed that he cannot bring them down to his mind. Tell such a rebel—Blessed are they that mourn ! You might just as well apply it to those that are in bell. There is mourning there too. The sinner is mourning because there is no other way of salvation, because God is so holy that he requires him to give up all his sins, and he feels, that the time has come, that he must either give them up, or be damned. Shall we tell him, he shall be comforted? Go and tell the devil, “ Poor devil, you mourn now, but the Bible says you are blessed if you mourn, and you shall be comforted by and by ” (2.) “ They that seek shall find.” This is said to sinners in such a way, as to imply that the anxious sinner is seeking reli- o-ion. This promise was made in reference to Christians, who ask in faith, and seek to do the will of God, and is not applicable to those who are seeking hope or comfort; but to holy seeking. To apply it to an impenitent sinner, is only to deceive him, for his seeking is not of this character. To tell him “ You art, seeking, are you? Well, seek, and you shall find,’ is tc cherish a fatal delusion. While he remains impenitent,, he 1 has not a desire, which the devil might not have, and remain o,I devil still. If he had desire to do his duty, if he was seeking to do the will of God, and give up his sins, he would be a Christian. But to comfort an impenitent sinner, with such a promise, you might < just as well comfort Satan. (3.) “ Be not wuary in well doing, for in due time you shall false comforts for SINNERS. 325 »wlrH y °r fa t lnt Til” To this to asinner for comfort is absurd. Just as if he was doing- somethin^ to please God He k ^ aS never done well, and never* has done^ore fl than now Suppose my neighbor, who came in while I was tryin “ 0 su b' due my child should say to the child, In due time y & ou shaU reap if you faint not,-' what should I say? “Reapkes von s a reap, if you do not give up your obstinacy, you shall’rean indeed for I will apply the rod. : ’ So the struggling sinner shall 22 £±T a T° f he ‘r'’ * h6d0eS >t°tgive S u P his s"ns verse with! P r ° fess ° rs .°f religion, when they attempt to con¬ verse with awakened sinners, are very fond of saying “ I will gives t U he m d y evU P a er r C d e | f V da "S erous snarea " d often gives the devil a handle to lead him to hell, by tryino- to conv your experience If you tell it to him, and he thinks it is a Chns^ tian experience he will almost infallibly be trying to imitate it and instead of following the gospel, or the leadings of the Sni- Idas wTasT 1 ' 1,6 “ f0ll ° t ; Ving This is^ab- »urd as well as dangerous. He never will have just such feel- wfn>! S p y ° U h - aA N ° hvo P ersons were ever exercised just alike fuch a eoCseT 3 are n nnl i ke aS their countenances: ha couise is very likely to mislead him. The design is raght n not"m’h bUt ‘° encoura £ e him ' at the very point whefe’he ught not to be encouraged, before he has submitted to God d it is calculated to impede the work of God in his soul. hat tlmes will people tell an awakened sinner hat God has begun a good work m him, and he will carry it n. 1 have known parents talk so with their children and as oon as they saw their children awakened, give up all former “7 and “‘a 6 d ° Wn at their ease ' linking that ow God had begun a good work in their children, he would trry it on. It would be just as rational for a farmer to say so wJlT!^ S °° n 35 “ C J ° meS U P out of the g ro “ nd ' ly, Well God has begun a good work in my field, and he carry it on. What would be thought of a farmer who lould neglect to put up his fence because God had begun the [I , ° 8 lvln £ lllm a . cro P °f grain? If you tell a sinner so, d he believes you, it will certainly be his destruction, for it ill prevent his doing that which is absolutely indispensable to ® saved - If a s soon as the sinner is awakened, he is ii 0 ht that now God has begun a good work, that only needs to carried on, and that God will surely carry it on, he sees that ; Has no further occasion to be anxious, for, in fact, he has no- tng more to do. And so he will be relieved from that intoler- le pressure of present obligation, to repent and submit to God 28 326 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. And if he is relieved from his sense of obligation to do it, he will never do it. - 24. Some will tell the sinner, “ Well, you have broken off your sins, have you ?” “ O, yes,” says the sinner. ”W hen it is all false, he has never forsaken his sins for a moment, he has only exchanged one form of sin for another 5 only placed him¬ self in a new attitude of resistance. And to tell him, he hasbrc- ken them off, is to give him false comfort. 25. Sometimes this direction is given for the purpose of re¬ lieving the agony of an anxious sinner, “ Do what you can, and God will do the rest,” or “ Do what you can, and God will help you.” This is the same as telling a sinner, “You can’t do what God requires you to do, but if you will do what you can, God will help you, as to the rest.” Now sinners often get the: idea that they have done all they can, when, in fact, they have done nothing at all, only resisted God with all their might. I have often heard them say, “ I have done all I can, and I get no relief, what can I do more ?” Now, you can see how comforting it must be to such a one to have a professor of religion come m and say, “ If you will do what you can, God will help you. It relieves all his keen distress at once. He may be uneasy, and unhappy, but his agony is gone. 26. Again they say, “ You should be thankful for what you have, and hope for more.'' If the sinner is convicted, they tell him he should be thankful for conviction, and hope for conver¬ sion. If he has any feeling, he should be thankful for w T hal feeling he has, just as if his feeling was religious feeling, when he has no more religion, than Satan. He has reason to be j thankful, indeed j thankful that he is out of hell, and thankful that God is yet waiting on him. But it is ridiculous to tell him! he should be thankful in regard to the state of his mind, when he is all the while resisting his Maker with all his might. ERRORS IN PRAYING FOR SINNERS. I will here mention a few errors in praying for sinners ir I their presence, by which an unhappy impression is made or I their minds, in consequence of which, they often obtain lalsi comfort in their distress. 1 . People sometimes pray for sinners, as if they deserved tg| be pitied more than blamed. They pray for them as mourn¬ ers, “ Lord help these pensive mourners,” as if they were ; just mourning, like one that had lost a friend, or met some othei calamity, and they could not help it, and were very sorry for it but death would come, and so they were greatly to be pitied, as 327 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. they were sitting there, sad, pensive, and sighing. The Bible Bever talks so. It pities sinners, but it pities them as mad and guilty rebels, guilty, and deserving to go to hell, not as poor pensive mourners, that can’t help it, that want to be relieved but can do nothing but sit and mourn. 2 . Praying for them as poor sinners. Does the Bible ever use any such language as this? The Bible never speaks of them as ‘ poor sinners,” as if they deserved to be pitied more than blamed. Christ pities sinners in his heart. And so does God pity them. He feels in his heart, all the gushings of com- passion for them, when he sees them going on, obstinate and willul in gratifying their own lusts, at the peril of his eternal wratii. But he never lets an expression escape from him as if the sinner was just a “ poor creature” to be pitied, as if he could not help it. 1 he idea that he is poor, rather than wicked, un- ioitunate, rather than guilty, relieves the sinner greatly. I have seen the sinner writhe with agony under the truth, in a meet- mg unt! 1 somebody begun to pray for him as a poor creature. Ana then he would gush out into tears, and weep profusely, and ■Link he was greatly benefited by such a prayer. “ O, what a qo°d prayer that was.” If you go now and converse with that sinner, you will find he is pitying himself as a poor unfortunate feature, perhaps weeping over his unhappy condition, but his convictions OF sin, his deep impressions'of awful guilt ire all gone. ’ Praying that God would help the sinner to repent. “ O Lord enable this poor sinner to repent now ” This conveys he idea to the sinner’s mind, that he is now trying with all his night to repent, and that he cannot do it, and therefore Chris- ians are calling on God to help him, and enable him to do it. Host professors of religion pray for sinners, not that God would nake them willing to repent, but that he would enable them, u make them able. No wonder their prayers are not heard, rhey relieve the sinner of his sense of responsibility, and that elieves his distress. But it is an insult to God, as if God had ommanded a sinner to do what he could not do. 4. People sometimes pray, “ Lord, these sinners are seeking CC) SOTTOWl 71Q . This language is an allusion to what took lace ac the time when Jesus was a little boy, and went into the -mple to talk with the rabbies and doctors. His parents, you ecollect, went a day’s journey towards home, before they missed im, and then they turned back, and after looking all around, ley found the little Jesus standing in the temple and disputing utn the learned men, and his mother said to him, “Son, why 328 FALES COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold, thy father and I have i sought thee sorrowing” And so this prayer represents sinners as seeking Jesus, and he hides himself from them, and they look all around, and hunt, and try to find him, and wonder where Jesus is, and say, “ Lord, we have sought Jesus these three 4} days, sorrowing.” It is a LIE. No sinner ever sought Jesus | with all his heart three days, or three minutes, and could not I find him. There Jesus stands at his door and knocks, there he I is right before him pleading with him, and facing him down i a with all his false pretences. Seeking him ! The sinner may ( i whine and cry, “ O, how I am sorrowing, and seeking Jesus.”! It is no such thing; Jesus is seeking you. And yet how many! oppressed consciences are relieved and comforted by hearing one! of these prayers. 5 . “ Lord, have mercy on these sinners, who are seeking thy I love to know” This is a favorite expression with many, as if I sinners were seeking to know the love of Christ, and couid not. I No such thing. They are not seeking the love of Christ, but! seeking to get to heaven without Jesus Christ. Just as if they! were seeking it, and he was so hard-hearted that he would not! let them have it. 6 . “ Lord, have mercy on these penitent souls ;” calling I anxious sinners penitent souls. If they are penitent, they are 9 Christians. To make an impression on an unconverted sinner I that he is penitent, is to make him believe a lie. But it is very j comforting to the sinner, and he likes to take it up, and pray it I over again, “O Lord, I am a poor penitent soul, I am very i penitent, I am so distressed, Lord have mercy on a poor peni- i tent.” Dreadful delusion! 7. Sometimes people pray for anxious sinners as humble souls. “ O Lord, these sinners have humbled themselves.” Why, that I is not true, they have not humbled themselves; if they had, the Lord would have raised them up and comforted them, as he has promised. There is a hymn of this character, that has | done great mischief. It begins, “Come humble sinner in whose breast A thousand thoughts revolve.” This hymn was once given by a minister to an awakened sin- i ner, as one applicable to his case. He began to read, “Come [ humble sinner.” He stopped, “ Humble sinner, that is not ap¬ plicable to me, I am not a humble sinner.” Ah, how well was it for him that the Holy Ghost had taught him better than the hymn. If the hymn had said, Come anxious sinner, or guilty sinner, or trembling sinner, it would have been well enough, 329 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. but to call him a humble sinner would not do. There are a vast many hymns of the same character. It is very common to find sinners quoting the false sentiments of some hymn to ex- . cuse themselves in rebellion against God. * _A“ ‘”n t r r n t °l 1 ‘!i rae h - heard , a P ra ,y er - quite lately, in these , Lord, these sinners have humbled themselves and come to thee as well as they know how. If they knew’ any better, they would do better, but O Lord, as they have come to thee, in the best manner they can, we pray thee accept them and shew mercy.” Horrible! . 8 * Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. This is the prayer which Christ made for his mur¬ derers. And, m that case, it was true, they did not know what they were doing, for they did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah But it cannot be said of sinners under the gospel, hey do not know what they are doing. They do know what they are doing. 1 hey do not see the full extent of it, but they are $ mmr] g against God, and rejecting Christ, and the difficulty is, that they are unwilling to submit to God But such a prayer is calculated to make him feel relieved, and make him say, “ Lord, how can you blame me so, I am a poor ignorant creature, I dorJt know how to do what is required of me. If I knew how, I would do it.” 9. Another expression is, “Lord, direct these sinners, who are inquiring the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward” but this language is only applicable to Christians. Sinners have not their faces towards Zion, their faces are set toward elk And how can a sinner be said to be “ inquiring the way” to Zion, when he has no disposition to go there. The real dif¬ ficulty is, that he is unwilling to WALK in the way in which he knows he ought to go. 10 . People pray that sinners may have more conviction. Or, t lejr pray that sinners may go home solemn and tender, and take the subject into consideration, instead of praying that they may regent now. Or, they pray as if they supposed the sinner was tailing to do what is required. All such prayers, are just such prayers, as the devil wants. He wishes to have such prayeis, and I dare say he does not care how many such are offered. J Sometimes I have seen in an anxious meeting, or when sin¬ ners have been called to the anxious seats, and the minister has made the way of salvation all plain to them, and taken away a tne stumbling blocks out of their path, and removed the arkness cf their minds on the several points, and when they 28* 330 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. are just ready to yield, some one will be called on to pray, and instead of praying that they may repent now , he begins to pray, “O Lord, we pray, that these sinners may be solemn, that they may have a deep sense of their sinfulness, that they may go home impressed with their lost condition, that they may attempt nothing in their own strength, that they may not lose their con¬ victions, and that, in thine own time and way, they may be brought out into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God” Instead of bringing them right up to the point of immediate submission, on the spot, it gives them time to breathe, it lets off; all the pressure of conviction, and he breathes freely again and feels relieved, and sits down at his ease. Thus, when the sin¬ ner i§ brought up, as it were, and stands at the gate of heaven, such a prayer, instead of pushing him in, sets him away back j again,—“ There, poor thing, sit there till God helps you.” 11. Christians sometimes pray in such a manner as to make the impression that Christ is the sinner’s friend, in a dif¬ ferent sense from what God the Father is. They pray to him, “ O, thou friend of sinners,” as if God was full of wrath, and stern vengeance, just going to crush the poor wretch, till Jesus Christ comes in and takes his part, and delivers him. Now this is all wrong. The Father and the Son are perfectly agreed, their feelings are all the same, and both are equally disposed to have sinners saved. And to make such an impression, deceives the sinner, and leads to wrong feelings towards God. To rep¬ resent God the Father as standing over him, with the sword of j justice in his hand, eager to strike the blow, till Christ inter¬ poses, is not true. The Father is as much the sinner’s friend as the Son. His compassion is equal. But if the sinner gets this unfavorable idea of God the Father, how is he ever to love him with all his heart, so as to say “ Abba, Father.” 12 . The impression is often made by the manner of praying, that you do not expect sinners to repent now, or that you expect God to do their duty, or that you wish to encourage them to trust in your prayers. And so, sinners are ruined. Never j pray so as to make the impression on sinners, that you secretly ; hope they are Christians already, or that you feel a strong con¬ fidence they will be, by and by, or that you half believe they are converted now. This is always unhappy. Multitudes are i deceived with false comfort, in this way, and prevented, just at ' the critical point, from making the final surrender of themselves to God. Brethren, I find this field so broad that I cannot possibly men- FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. 331 tion all I wished to say. There are many other things that I intended to touch upon this evening, but the time is too far spent. I must close with a few brief REMARKS. 1 . Many persons who deal in this way with anxious sinners, do it from false pity. They feel so much sympathy and com¬ passion, that they cannot bear to tell them the truth, which is necessary to save them. As well might a surgeon, when he sees that a man’s arm must be amputated, or he will die, indulge this feeling of false pity, and just put on a plaster, and give him an opiate. 1 here is no benevolence in that. True benevolence would lead the surgeon to hide his feelings, and to be cool and calm, and with a keen knife, cut the limb off and save the life. It is false tenderness to do any thing short of that. I once saw a woman under distress of mind, who had been well nigh driven to despair for months. Her friends had tried all these false comforts without effect, and they brought her to see a minister. She was emaciated, and worn out with agony. The minister set his eye upon her, and poured in the truth upon her mind, and rebuked her in a most pointed manner. The woman who was with her, interfered, she thought it cruel, and said, “ O, do i comfort her, she is so distressed, don’t trouble her any more, she cannot bear it. He turned, and rebuked her, and sent her away, and then poured in the truth upon the anxious sinner like fire, and in five minutes she was converted, and went home full of joy. The plain truth swept all her false notions aw T ay, and in a few moments she was joyful in God. 2. This treatment of anxious sinners, administering their false comfort, is, in fact, cruelty. It is cruel as the grave, as cruel as hell, for it is calculated to send the sinner down to its burning abyss. Christians feel compassion for the anxious, and so they ought. But the last thing they ought to do, is to flinch just at the point where it comes to a crisis. They should feel compassion, but they should show it just as the surgeon does, when he deliberately goes to work, in the right and best way, and cuts off the man’s arm, and thus cures him and saves his life. Just so Christians should let the sinner see their compas¬ sion and tenderness, but they should take God’s part, fully and decidedly. I hey should lay open to the sinner, the worst of his case, expose his guilt and danger, and then lead him right up to the cross, and insist on instant submission. They must have firmness enough to do his work thoroughly, and if they see the sinner distressed and in agony, still they must press him right 332 FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. on, and not give way in the least, however much he may be in agony, but still press on till he yield. To do this often requires nerve. I have often been placed in circumstances, to know this by experience. I have iound my¬ self surrounded by anxious sinners, in such distress, as to.make every nerve tremble, some overcome with emotion and lying on the floor, some applying camphor to prevent their fainting, others shrieking out as if they were just going to hell. Now, suppose any one should give false comfort in such a case as this. Sup¬ pose he had not nerve enough to bring them right up to the point of instant and absolute submission. How unlit is such a man to be trusted in a case like this. 3. Sometimes sinners become deranged through despair and anguish of mind. Where this is the case, it is almost always because those who deal with them try to encourage them with false comfort, and thus lead them to such a conflict with the Holy Ghost. They try to hold them up, while God is trying to break them down. And by and by, the sinner’s mind gets confused with this contrariety of influences, and he either goes deranged, or is driven to despair. 4 . If you are going to deal with sinners, remember that you are soon to meet them in judgment, and be sure to treat them in such a way that if they are lost, it will be their own fault. Do not try to comfort them with false notions now, and have them reproach you with it then. Better suppress your false sympa¬ thy, and let the naked truth cleave them asunder, joints and marrow, than to soothe them with false comfort, and beguile them away from God. 5 . Sinner! if you converse with any Christians, and they tell you to do any thing, first ask, “ If I do that , shall I be saved?” You may be anxious, and not be saved. You may pray, and not be saved. You may read your bible, and not be saved. You may use means, in your way, and not be saved. Whatever they tell you to do, if you can do it and not be saved, do not attend to such instructions. They are calculated to give you false com¬ fort, and divert your attention from the main thing to be done, and beguile you down to hell. Do not follow any such direc¬ tions, lest you should die while doing it, and then there is no retrieve. Finally, never tell a sinner any thing, or give him any di¬ rection, that will lead him to stop short, or that does not include absolute submission to God. To let him stop at any point short of this, is infinitely dangerous. Suppose you are at an anxious meeting, or a prayer-meeting, and tell a sinner to pray, or to FALSE COMFORTS FOR SINNERS. 333 ftn k 'fl a 7 u thln ^ short of ^ving repentance, and he 5 fa T? d b A reak hl u n - eck tIlat night ’ ofwhom would his Wood be required? A youth m New England once met a minister in le street, and asked him what he should do to be saved. The minister told him to go home and go into his chamber and kneel down and give his heart to God. “ O, sir,” said the’boy, I feel so bad, I am afraid I shall not live to get home.” The minister saw his error, and felt the rebuke, thus unconsciously to God h a J 3 i 6 t0M him ’ “ Wel1 ’ then ’ S ivc y° ur bean o God here, and go home to your chamber and tell him of it ” Oh, it is enough to make one’s heart bleed, to see so many miserable comforters for anxious sinners, in whose answers there remameth falsehood. What a vast amount of spiritual quackery there is in the world, and how many “ forgers of lies” there are, physicians of no value, ’ who know no better than to comfort smners with false hopes, and delude them with their « old wives’ Ivrnn^h an niT en u e ’ ° r wh ° give wa ? to false tenderness and sympathy, till they have not firmness enough to see the sword of the spirit applied, to cut men to the soul, and lay open the sin¬ ner s naked heart. Alas ! that so many are ever put into the ministry, who have not skill enough to administer the gospel re- medy nor firmness enough to stand by and see the Spirit of God do its work, m breaking up the old foundations, and crush- mg ali the rotten hopes of a sinner, and breaking him all down at the feet of Jesus. LECTURE XVIII. DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. Text.—" What shall I do to be saved."—A cts. xvi. 30. These are the words of the jailor at Philippi, the question which he put to Paul and Silas, who were then under his care as prisoners. Satan had, in many ways, opposed these servants of God in their work of preaching - the Gospel, and had been as often defeated and disgraced. But here, at Philippi, he devised a new and peculiar project for frustrating their labors. There was a certain woman at Philippi, who was possessed with a spirit of divination, or in other words, the spirit of the devil, and brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying. The devil set this woman to follow Paul and Silas about the streets, and as soon as they had begun to gain the attention of the people, she would come in and cry, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” That is, she undertook to second the exhortations of the preach* ers, and added her testimony, as if to give additional weight to their instructions. The effect of it was just what Satan desired. The people all knew that this was a wicked, base woman, and when they heard her attempting to recommend this new preach¬ ing, they were disgusted, and concluded it was all of a piece. The devil knew that it would not do him any good, but wouM help their cause, to set such a person to oppose the preaching ol the apostles, or to speak against it. The time had gone by, for that to succeed. And, therefore, he comes round the other way, and takes the opposite ground, and by setting her to praise them as the servants of God, and to bear her polluted testimony in favor of their instructions, he led people to suppose the apostles were of the same character with her, and had the same spirit that she had, and thus all their efforts were defeated. Paul saw that if things went on so, he should be totally baffled, and never succeed in establishing a church at Philippi. And he turns round to her, and commands the foul spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. When her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they raised a great persecution, and caught Paul and Silas, and made a great ado, and brought them before the magistrates, and raised such a clamor that the directions to sinners. 335 tlie^tocks 63 Sjlllt them UP ^ prison ’ and made their feet fast in Thus, they thought they had put down the excitement. But at midnight Paul and Siks prayed and sang praises, and the pi isoners heard them. This old prison that had so long echoed to the voice of blasphemy and oaths, now resounded with the piaises of God, and these walls, that had stood so firm, now tremoled under the power of prayer. The stocks were unloosed, the gates thrown open, and every one’s bands broken. The jailor was aroused from his sleep, and when he saw the prison doors opened, as he knew, that if the prisoners had escaped, he must pay for it with his life, he drew his sword, and was aboih to kill himself. _ But Paul, who had no notion of escaping clandestinely, cried out to him instantly, “ Do thyself no hurra for we are all here.” And the Jailor called lor a jipht, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before his prisoners, Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?” In my last lecture, I dwelt at some length on the false instruc¬ tions given to sinners under conviction, and the false comforts too often administered, and the erroneous instructions which such persons receive It is my design, to-night, to show what are the instructions that should be given to anxious sinners in order to their speedy and effectual conversion. Or, in other words, to explain to you, what answer should be given to those who make the inquiry, “What must I do to be saved?” In doing it, I propose, I. To show what is not a proper direction to be given to sin¬ ners, when they make the inquiry in the text. II. Show what is a proper ansioer to the inquiry. And s P ec tfy sever al errors , which anxious sinners are apt to fall into. r 1. I am to show what are not proper directions to be given to anxious sinners. No more important inquiry was ever made than this, « What to u h ? saved?” Mankind are apt enough to inquire What shall I eat, and what shall I drink,” and the question may be answered in various ways, with little danger. But when a sinner asks in earnest, “What must I do to be saved 2” it is of infinite importance that he should receive the right answer, it is my desire, to-night, to tell you, professors of religion, what o ans.ver to this inquiry, and to tell you, who are sinners, what you must do to be saved. 1. No direction should be given to a sinner, that will leave 336 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. him still in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. No answer is proper to be given, with which, if he complies, he would not go to heaven, if he should die the next moment. 2. No direction should be given, that does not include a change of heart, or a right heart, or hearty obedience to Christ. In other words, nothing is proper, which does not imply actually becoming a Christian. Any other direction, that falls short of ! this, is of no use. It will not bring him any nearer to the king- j dom, it will do no good, but will only lead him to defer the very thing which he must do, in order to be saved. The sinner i should be told plainly, at once, what he must do or die; and he 1 should be told nothing that does not include a right state of heart. Whatever you may do, sinner, that does not include a right heart, is sin. Whether you read the Bible or not, it is sin, so long as you | remain in rebellion. Whether you go to meeting, or stay away, whether you pray or not, it is nothing but rebellion, every moment. It is surprising, that a sinner should suppose himself doing God’s services, when he prays, and reads his Bible. Should a rebel against this government, read the statute book, while he continues in rebellion, and has no design to obey; should he ask for pardon, while he holds on to his weapons of resistance and warfare, would you think him doing his country a service, and laying them under obligation to show him favor. No, you would say that all his reading and praying, were only an insult to the majesty both of the lawgiver and the law. So you, sin¬ ner, while you remain in impenitence, are insulting God and setting him at defiance, whether you read his word and pray, or I let it alone. No matter what place or what attitude your body is in, on your knees, or in the house of God, so long as your heart is not right, so long as you resist the Holy Ghost, and re¬ ject Christ, you are a rebel against your Maker. II. I am to show' what is a proper answer to this inquiry, “ What must I do to be saved.” And, generally, you may give the sinner any direction, or tell him to do any thing, that includes a right heart, and if you make him understand it, and do it, he will be saved. The Spirit of God, in striving with sinners, suits his strivings to the state of mind in which he finds them. His great object in striving with them, is, to dislodge them from their hiding-places, and bring them to submit to God, at once. Now these objections, and difficulties, and states of mind, are as various as the circum¬ stances of mankind, as many as there are individuals. The characters of individuals, affords an endless diversity. What is to be done with each one, and how he is to be converted, de- directions to sinners. 337 pends on his particular errors. It is necessarv . • ,. errors, to find out what he understands and £ u :ertaln , hl3 be taught more perfectly, to see what poi nts thl Spirh o? Cod £ pressing upon his conscience, and to press the si I mo^7: hlm 10 ChriSt The m0St ™i dir^Telhe tell 1 a S sfn e ne e r r to Itr in ‘; “ d . “ a " d ^ direction, to tell a sinner to repent. 1 say 1 neralh, V 0n ’ the Spirit of God seems not so mf/clfto dire f'.he sinneTsTe? tion to his own sins as tn , ir ? er s atten- tion to Ms own sins as to some other thing „ thTda™ oltTe' apostles, the minds of the people seem to have been a aim ed matniy on the question, whether Jesus was the true Messiah And so the apostles directed much n f ,l • • , . tessian. Ipoint, to prove (hat he was the Chrisf A ml ln f Uct,ons t0 .‘ b * sinners asked them what hey mu S ' do ,h when * ver anxl0 “ s exhorted them to - Believe in ^he Lord Jes/s Christ”' 1 '' 7 $ ^God was striving Krtfc"7nd e Sis'TJ 1 lh7roS n if ' and Gentile „ rtf”"/ P 0mt at u Issue be ‘«'een God and the Jew j and Gentile of those days, whether Jesus Christ was the son of God. It was the point in dispute, to bring a sinner to yield t b Thim Crted qUeStl ° n ’ WaS 1,16 Way the most ^ectually lo 1 At °‘ her tirnes ' >‘.^11 be found, that the Spirit of God is deal- ; ng with sinners chiefly m reference to their own sins. Some- 1 es 10 d ® als ' Vltb them, m regard to a particular duty a- on f e r Per t u a f femi y P ra y er - The sil| ner will be found to be ontestmg that pent with God, whether it is right for him to iray, or whether he ought to pray in his family. I have known riking cases of this kind, where the individual was strug.lin" l , h ' S , P° ln ‘- and as soon as he fell on his knees to pray he lelded hm heart showing that this was the. very point which i ie opint of God was contesting, and the hinge on which his ontroversy with God all turned. That was conversion e efre e ctuarfor n th 0 er r ! Pent 1S . alvva y s P r0 P er ■ but will not always oof f 1 1 ’ , , 1 ma y be some other thing that the sinner eeds to be told also. And where it is the pertinent dire” j n /' lS need not on, y. t0 be told, to repent, but to have it explained WSt c”C a a nd re f P r tan vi u S!nCe thCTe has been *> m«ch iTnftT’ w f 36 philosophy, and false theology, thrown i v wha h t e r bjeCt ' “ beC ° me necessar y.»° ‘ell sinners not y What > ou mean hy repentance, but also to tell them what 29 338 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS you do not mean. Words that used to be plain, and easily un derstood, have now become so perverted that they need to be explained to sinners, or they will often convey a wrong impres sion to their minds. This is the case with the word repentance. Many suppose that remorse, or a sense of guilt, is repentance Then, hell is full of repentance, for it is full of remorse, unut terahle and eternal. Others feel regret that they have done such a thing, and they call that repenting of it. But they only regret that they have sinned, because of the consequences, anc not because they abhor sin. This is not repentance. Others suppose that convictions of sin and strong fears of hell are rei pentance. Others consider the remonstrances of conscience a? repentance ; they say, “ I never do any thing wrong but that 1 repent; that I always feel sorry, I did it.” Sinners must be shown, that all these things, are not repentance. They are not only consistent with the utmost wickedness, but the devil mig 1 have them all, and doubtless has them all, and yet. remains e devil. Repentance is a change of mind, as regards sin itself. It is not only a change of views, but a change of feelings. It is what is naturally understood by a change of mind on any sub iect of interest and importance. We hear that such a man hat changed his mind on the subject of Abolition, for instance, oj that he has changed his view's in politics. Every body under stands that he has undergone a change in his views, his feel ings, and his conduct. This is repentance, on that subject, it it a change of mind. . Repentance, always implies abhorrence of sin. It is feelmfl towards sin just as God feels. It always implies forsaking sin Sinners should be made to understand this. The sinner tha repents does not feel as impenitent sinners think they shoulc feel, at giving up their sins if they should become religious Impenitent sinners look upon religion just like this, that if the} become pious, they shall be obliged to stay away from balls and parties, and obliged to give up theatres, or gambling, or othe things that they now take delight in. And they see not hov they could ever enjoy themselves, if they should break off fron all those things. But this is very far from being a correct viev of the matter. Religion does not make them unhappy, by shut ting them out from things in which they delight, because th< first step in it, is, to repent, to change their mind in regard to al these things. They do not seem to realize, that the person wh< has repented has no disposition for these things, they have given them up, and turned their mind away from them. Sin ners feel as if they should want to go to such places, and wan DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 339 to mingle in such scenes, just as much as they do now, and that it will be such a continued sacrifice, as to make them unhappy. This is a great mistake. I know there are some professors, who would be very glad to betake themselves to their former practices, were it not that they feel constrained, by fear of losing their character, or the like. B Now, mark me. If they feel so, it is because they have no reli¬ gion, they do not hate sin. If they desire their former ways, they have no religion, they have never repented, for repentance always consists in a change of vieAvs and feelings. If they were really converted, instead of desiring such things, they would turn away from them with loathing. Instead of lusting after the flesh-pots of Egypt, and desiring to go into their former circles, parties, | balls, and the like, they find their highest pleasure in obeying God. 2. Sinners should be told to believe the gospel. Here, also, they need to have it explained to them, and to be told what is not faith, and what is. Nothing is more common, than for a sinner, when told to believe the gospel, to say, “ I do believe it.” The fact is, he has been brought up to admit the fact, that the gospel is true, but he does not believe it, he knows nothing about the evidence of it, and all his faith is a mere admission f without evidence. He holds it to be true, in a kind of loose, indefinite sense, so that he is always ready to say, “ I do believe the Bible.” It is strange they do not see that they are deceived in thinking that they believe, for they must see that they have never acted upon these truths, as they do upon those things that they do believe. Yet it is often quite difficult to convince them that they do not believe. But the fact is, that the careless sinner does not believe the gospel at all. The idea, that the careless sinner is an intellect¬ ual believer, is absurd. The devil is an intellectual believer, and that is what makes him tremble. What makes a sinner anxious is, that he begins to bean intellectual believer, and that makes him feel. No being in heaven, earth, or hell, can intel¬ lectually believe the truths of the gospel, and not feel on the subject. The anxious sinner has faith of the same kind with devils, but he has not so much of it, and, therefore, he does nor i feel so much. The man that does not feel nor act at all, on the subject of religion, is an infidel, let his professions be what they , nay. He that feels nothing and does nothing, believes nothing, i This is a philosophical fact. Faith does not consist in an intellectual conviction that Christ lied for you in particular, nor in a belief that you are a Chris- 340 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. tian, or that you ever shall be, or that your sins are forgiven. But faith is that trust, or confidence, in the scriptures, that leads the individual to act as if they were true. This was the faith of Abraham. He had that confidence in what God said, which led him to act as if it were true. This is the way the apostle illustrates it in the eleventh of Hebrews. “ Faith, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And he j goes on to illustrate it by various examples. “ Through faith we ; understand that the worlds were made,” that is, we believe this, j and act accordingly. Take the case of Noah. Noah was i warned of God of things not seen as yet, that is, he was assured j that God was going to drown the world, and he believed it, and 1 acted accordingly, he prepared an ark to save his family, and i by so doing, he condemned the world that would not believe; his actions gave evidence that he was sincere. Abraham, too, was called of God to leave his country, with a promise that he should be the gainer by it, and he obeyed and went out, without knowing where he should go. Read the whole chapter, and you will find many instances of the same kind. The whole design of the chapter is to illustrate the nature of faith, and to show that it invariably results in action. The sinner should have it explained to him, and be made to see that the faith which the gospel requires, is just that confidence in Christ, which leads him to act on what he says as a certain fact. This is believing in Christ. 3. Another direction, proper to be given to the sinner is, that he should give his heart to God. God says, “ My son, give me 1 thine heart.” But here also there needs to be explanation, to make him understand what it is. It is amazing that there should be any darkness here. It is the language of common life, in every body’s mouth, and every body understands just j what it means, when we use i ( t in*regard to any thing else. But when it comes to religion, they seem to be all in the dark. Ask a sinner, no matter what may be his age, or education, what it means to give the heart to God, and, strange as it may appear, he is at a loss for an answer. Ask a woman, what it is to give her heart to j her husband, or a man, what it is to give his heart to his wife, and they understand it. But then they are totally blind as to giving [ their hearts to God. I suppose I have asked more than a thou¬ sand anxious sinners this question. When I have told them, they must give their hearts to God, they would always say they J were willing to do it, and sometimes, that they were anxious to do it, and even seem to be in an agony of desire about it. Then I have asked them, what they understood to be giving their DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 341 if hearts to God, as they were so willing to do it. And very seldom have I received a correct or rational answer from a sinner of any age. I have sometimes had the strangest answers that can be imagined—any thing hut what they ought to say. Now, to give your heart to God, is the same thing as to give your heart to any body else; the same as for a woman to give her heart to her husband. Ask that woman if she understands this ? “ O yes, that is plain enough, it is to place my affections on him, and strive to please him in every thing.” Very well, place your affections on God, and strive to please him in every thing. But alas, when they come to the subject of religion, people sup¬ pose there is some wonderful mystery about it. Some talk as if they supposed it was to take out this bundle of muscles, or fleshy organ, in their bosom, and give it to God. Sinner, what God asks of you, is, that you should love him supremely. 3. Submit to God , is also a proper direction to anxious sin¬ ners. And, O, how dark sinners are here too. Scarcely a sin¬ ner can be found, who will not tell you he is willing to submit to God. But they do not understand it. They need to be told what true submission is. Sometimes they think it means that they should be willing to be damned. Sometimes they place themselves in this attitude, and call it submission; they say, if | they are elected, they shall be saved, and if not, they shall be damned. This is not submission. True submission, is yielding obedience to God. Suppose a rebel, in arms against the govern¬ ment, was called on to submit. What would he understand by I it ? Why, that he should yield the point, and lay down his arms, and obey the laws. That is just what it means, for a sin¬ ner to submit to God. He must cease his strife and conflict against his Maker, and take the attitude of a willing and obe- lient child, willing to be and do whatever God requires. “ Here, Lord, am I; Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?” Suppose a company of soldiers had rebelled, and government nad raised an army to put them down, and had driven them nto a strong hold, where they were out of provisions, and had 10 way to escape, and they should not know what to do. Sup- nose the rebels to have met in this extremity, to consider what s to be done? and one rises up, and says, “ Well, comrades, I im convinced we are all wrong from the beginning, and now he reward of our deeds is like to overtake us, and we cannot i ’scape, and as for remaining here to die, I am resolved not to lo it, I am going to throw myself on the mercy of the com¬ mander-in-chief.” That man submits. He ceases, from that moment, to be a rebel in his heart, just as soon as he comes to 29* 342 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. this conclusion. So it is with the sinner when he yields the point, and consents in his heart to do, and be, whatever God shall require. The sinner may be in doubt what to do, and may feel afraid to put himself in God’s hands, thinking that if he does, i perhaps God will send him down to hell, as he deserves. But! it is his business to leave all that question with God, and not resist his Maker any longer, but give all up to God, make no; conditions, and trust it wholly to God’s benevolence and wisdom r to decide what shall be done, and to appoint his future condi-; tion. Until you do this, sinner, you have done nothing to the; purpose. 5. Another proper direction to be given to sinners, is to con-\ fess and forsake your sins. This means that they should both; confess and forsake them. They must confess to God their I sins against God, and confess to men their sins against men, and: forsake them all. A man does not forsake his sins till he has; made all the reparation in his power. If he has stolen money,; or defrauded his neighbor out of property, he does not forsake his sins by merely resolving not to steal any more, or not to cheat again ; he must make reparation to the extent of his power. ^ So, if he has slandered any one, he does not forsake his sin by merely saying he will not do so again. He must make repara- j tion. So, in like manner, if he has robbed God, as all sinners 1 have, he must make reparation, as far as he has the power. Sup-; pose a man has made money in rebellion against God, and has withheld from him his time, talents and service, has lived and rioted upon the bounties of his providence, and refused to lay himself out for the salvation of the world; he has robbed God. Now, if he should die feeling that this money was his own , and should he leave it to his heirs—why, he is just as certain to } go to hell as the highway robber. He has never made any sa¬ tisfaction to God. With all his Avhining and pious talk, he has never confessed HIS SIN to God, nor forsaken his sin, for he has never felt nor acknowledged himself to be the steward of I God. If he refuses to hold the property in his possession, as the j steward of God ; if he accounts it his own, and as such gives it! to his children, he says, in effect, to God, “ That property is not yours, it is mine, and I will give it to my children.” He has continued to persevere in his sin, for he does not relinquish the ownership of that of which he has robbed God. What would a merchant think, if his hired clerk should take all the capital and set up a store of his own, and die with it in j his hands? Will such a man go to heaven? “ No,” you say, every one of you, “ If such a man does not go to hell, there DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 343 might just as well be no hell.” God would prove himself infi¬ nitely unjust, to let such a character go unpunished. What, then, shall we say of the man who has robbed God all his life ? Here God set him to be his clerk, to manage some of his |fj affairs, and he has gone and stolen all the money, and says it is his, and he keeps it, and dies, and gives it to his children, as if it was all his own lawful property. Is that man going to k heaven? Has that man forsaken sin? I tell you, no. If he has not surrendered himself and all to God, he has not taken the first step in the way to heaven. 6. Another proper direction to be given to sinners is, f ‘ Choose ye this day , whom ye will serve” Under the Old Testament dispensation, this or something equivalent to it, was the most common direction given. It was not common to call on men to believe in Christ until the days of John the Baptist. He baptized those who came to him, with the baptism of repent¬ ance, and directed them to believe on him who should come after him. Under Joshua, the text was something which the people all understood more easily than they would a call to be¬ lieve on the distant Messiah; it was “ Choose ye, this day, whom ye will serve.” On another occasion, Moses said to them, “ I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing : therefore I choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” The direc¬ tion was accommodated to the people’s knowledge. And it is good now, as it was then. Sinners are called upon to choose— what? Whether they will serve God or the world—whether they will follow holiness or sin. Let them be made to under¬ stand what is meant by choosing, and what is to be chosen, and then if the thing is done from the heart, they wil. be saved. Any of these directions, if complied with, will constitute true conversion. The particular exercises may vary in different cases. Sometimes the first exercise in conversion, is submission to God, sometimes repentance, sometimes faith, sometimes the choice of God and his service, in short, whatever their thoughts are taken up with at the time. If their thoughts are directed to Christ at the moment, the first exercise will be faith. If to sin, the first exercise will be repentance. If to their future course of life, it is choosing the service of God. If to the Divine gov- | ernment, it is submission. It is important to find out just where the Holy Spirit is pressing the sinner at the time, and then take care to push that point. If it is in regard to Christ, press that; if it is in regard to his future course of life, push him right up to an immediate choice of obedience to God. 344 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. It is a great error to suppose that any one particular exercise is always foremost in conversion, or, that every sinner must have faith first,, or submission first. It is not true, either in philosophy or in fact. There is a great variety in peoples i exercises. Whatever point is talcen hold of, between God and I the sinner, when the sinner YIELDS that, he is converted, j Whatever the particular exercise may be, if it includes obedience ! of heart to God on any point , it is true conversion. When he ! yields one point to God's authority , he is ready to yield all. i When he changes his mind, and obeys in one thing, because it [' is God's will , he will obey in other things, so far as he sees it i to be God’s will. Where # there is this right choice, then, when- ' ever the mind is directed to any one point of duty, he is ready .! to follow. It matters very little which of these directions is | given, if it is only made plain, and if it is to the point, so as to i serve as a test of obedience to God. If it is to the point that the ij Spirit of God is debating with the sinner’s mind, so as to fall in j with the Spirit’s work, and not to divert the sinner’s attention from i the very point in controversy, let it be made perfectly clear, and then pressed till the sinner yields, and he will be saved. III. I am to mention several errors which anxious sinners are apt to fall into, respecting this great inquiry. 1. The first error is, in supposing that they must make them- j selves better, or prepare themselves, so as in some way to recom- i mend themselves to the mercy of God. It is marvelous, that sinners will not understand, that all they have to do is to accept ' salvation from God, all prepared to their hands. But they all, j learned or unlearned, at first, betake themselves to a legal course to get relief. This is one principal reason why they will not become Christians at once, just as soon as they begin to attend I to the subject. They imagine that they must he, in some way J or other, prepared to come. They must change their dress, and ! make themselves look a little better; they are not willing to come just as they are, in their rags and poverty. They must have something more on, before they can approach to God. They should be shown, at once, that it is impossible they should be any better, until they do what God requires. Every pulse that beats, every breath they draw, they are growing worse, because they are standing out in rebellion against God, so long as they don't do the very thing which God requires of them as the first thing to be done. 2. Another error is, in supposing that they must suffer a considerable time under conviction , as a kind of punishment, before they are ready properly to come to Christ. And so they DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 345 ! ! will pray for conviction. And they think, that if they are L groimd down to the earth, with distress, for a sufficient time, then God will pity them, and be more ready to help them when he sees them so very miserable. They should be made to understand clearly, that they are thus unhappy and miser¬ able, merely because they refuse to accept the relief which God offers. Take the case of the stubborn child, when his parent stands over him with the rod, and the child shudders and screams. Should that child imagine he is gaining any thino- f 7 agony ? His distress arises from his conviction, and shall he pray for more conviction? Does that make him any : better? Does his father pity him any more, because he stands |f otit ? ^ Who does not see that he is all the while growing worse ? 3. Sometimes sinners imagine that they must wait for differ- ent feelings , before they submit to God. They say, “ I do not think I feel right yet, to accept of Christ; I do not think I am prepared to be converted yet.” They ought to be made to see that what God requires of them is to feel differently. And to say they must feel differently before they obey God, is to say they must feel differently before they feel differently; or to say “ I don’t feel right, because I don’t feel right.” God tells the sin¬ ner to love him, and the sinner replies, “ Lord, I must wait till I feel differently.” . That is, you must wait till you love God before you will begin to love him. Why, sinner, you are not to wait for these feelings, as if they were to come into your mind | some other quarter. What God requires of you, is the present act of your own mind, in turning from sin to holiness, I and from the service of Satan to the service of the living God. ; The very thing required, is to feel right; and do you wait for t ^ese feelings, as if they were not to be exercises of your own ? 4. Another error of sinners, is to suppose they must wait till their hearts are changed. “ What ?” say they, “ am I to be¬ lieve in Christ before my heart is changed? Do you mean i that I am to repent before my heart is changed?” Now, the simple answer to all this is, that the change of heart is the very thing in question. God requires sinners to love him. That is to change their heart. God requires the sinner to believe the gospel. That is to change bis heart. God requires him to repent. That is to change his heart. God does not tell him I o till his heart is changed, and then repent and believe, I md love God. The very word itself, repent , signifies a change i mm d or heart. To do either of these things, is to change your heart, and to make you a new heart, just as God requires. 5. binners often get the idea that they are perfectly willing 846 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. to do what God requires. Tell them to do this thing, or that, to repent, or believe, or give God their hearts, and they say, “ O yes, I am perfectly willing to do that, I wish I could do it, I would give any thing if 1 could do it.” They ought to under¬ stand, that, being truly willing is doing it, but there is a differ¬ ence between willing and desiring. People often desire to be Christians, when they are wholly umoilling to be so. When we see any thing, which appears to us to be a good, we are so constituted that we desire it. We necessarily desire it when it is before our minds. We cannot help desiring it in proportion as its goodness is presented to our minds. But yet we may not be willing to have it, under all the circumstances. It may be that, we prefer upon the whole, that the present possessor should continue to possess it still. Or that we choose to have our friend or child possess it, instead of ourselves. A man may desire to go to Philadelphia on many accounts, while, for still more weighty reasons, he chooses not to go there. So the sinner may desire to be a Christian. He may see many good things in being a Christian. He may see that if he were a Christian he would be a great deal more happy, and that he should go to heaven when he dies, but yet, he is not willing to be a Chris¬ tian. WILLING to obey Christ is to be a Christian. When an individual actually chooses to obey God, he is a Christian. But all such desires, as do not terminate in actual choice, are nothing.' 6 . The sinner will sometimes say, that he offers to give God his heart, but he intimates that God is unwilling. But this is absurd. What does God ask? Why, that you should love him. Now, for you to say you are willing to give God your heart, but God is unwilling, is the same as saying, that you are willing to love God, but God is not willing to be loved by you, and will not suffer you to love him. It is important to clear up all these points in the sinner’s mind, that he may have no dark and mys¬ terious corner to rest in, where the truth will not reach him. 7. Sinners sometimes get the idea that they repent, when they are only convicted. Whenever the sinner is found resting in any LIE, let the truth sweep it away, however much it may pain and distress him. If he has any error of this kind, you must tear it away from him, if you do not mean that he shall stumble into .he depths of hell. 8 . Sinners are often wholly taken up with looking at them- selves , to see if they cannot find something there, some kind of feeling or other, that will recommend them to God. Evidently, for want of proper instruction, David Brainard, was a long DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 347 time taken up with his state of mind , looking for some feelings that would recommend him to God. Sometimes he imagined that he had such feelings, and would tell God in prayer, that now he felt as he ought, to receive his mercy; and then he would see that he had been all wrong, and be ashamed that he had told God that he felt right. Thus, the poor man, for want of cor¬ rect instruction, was driven almost to despair, and it is easy to see, that his Christian exercises through life, were greatly modi¬ fied, and his comfort and usefulness much impaired by the false philosophy he had adopted on this point. You must turn the sinner away from himself, to something else. Suppose he keeps In poring over himself, until he is going into a state of despair. The proper course then is, to turn off his attention from looking at himself, and make him look at some duty to be performed, or make him look at Christ, and, perhaps, before he is aware, he will find that he has submitted to God. His attention was di¬ verted away from himself, to contemplate the reasonableness of God’s requirements, or the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement, or something of this kind, and as he dwelt upon it, he just gave up his heart, and the agony was over. REMARKS. 1. The labor of ministers is greatly increased, and the diffi¬ culties in the way of salvation are greatly multiplied, by the false instructions that have been given to sinners. The consequence has been, that directions which used to be plain are now obscure. People have been taught so long, that there is something awfully mysterious and unintelligible about conversion, that they do not ;ry to understand it. Sinners have been taught these false no- :ions, till now they are every where entrenched behind these sen- iments, such as “ cannot repent,” “ must wait for God,” and the ike. It was once sufficient, as we learn from the Bible, to tell sinners to repent, or to tell them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But now faith has been talked about as a principle , in¬ stead of an act, and repentance as something put into the mind, nstead of an exercise of the mind, and sinners are perplexed. Vlinisters are charged with preaching heresy, because they pre¬ sume to teach that faith is an exercise, and not a principle, and hat sin is an act, and not a part of the constitution of man. And inners have become so sophisticated, that you have to be at t^at pains in explaining, not only what you do not mean, but vhat you do mean, otherwise they will be almost sure to mis- inderstand you, and either gain a false relief from their anxiety, >y throwing their duty off upon God, or else run into despair, ! 348 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. from the supposed impracticability of doing what is requisite for their salvation. It is often the greatest difficulty to lead them out of these theological labyrinths and mazes, into which they have been deluded, and to lead them along the straight and simple way of the gospel. It seems as if the greatest ingenuity had been employed, to mystify the minds of people, and weave a most subtle web of false theology, calculated to involve a sinner in endless darkness. Who that has been in revivals, has not encountered that end¬ less train of fooleries, which have been inculcated, till it has be¬ come necessary to be as plain as A B C, and the best educated have to be talked to just like children. So much have your D. D.’s done to mystify and befool people’s minds, in the plainest matters. Tell a sinner to believe , and he turns round to you, and stares, “ Why, how you talk; is not faith a principle, and how am I to believe until I get this principle?” So, if a min¬ ister tells a sinner the very words that the apostles used, in the great revival at the day of pentecost, “ Repent and be converted, every one of you,” and they reply as they have been taught, “ O, I guess you are an Arminian ; I don’t want any of your Arminian teaching for me; don’t you deny the Spirit’s influ ences ?” It is enough to make humanity weep, to see the fog, and darkness, that have been thrown around the plain directions of the gospel, till many generations have been emptied into hell. 2. These false instructions to sinners, are infinitely worse than none. The Lord Jesus Christ found it more difficult to gel the people to yield up their false notions of theology, than any thing else. This has been the great difficulty with the Jews to this day. that they have received false notions in theology, have perverted the truth on certain points, and you cannot make them understand the plainest points in the gospel. So it is with sin ners, the most difficult thing to be done is to get away these refuges of lies, which they have gotten from false theology They are so fond of holding on to these refuges, because they are called orthodox, and because they excuse the sinner, anc condemn God, that it is found to be the most perplexing, anc difficult, and discouraging part of a minister’s labor, to drive them away. 3. No wonder the gospel has taken so little effect, encum bered as it has been with these strange dogmas. The truth is that very little of the gospel has come out upon the world, foi these hundreds of years, without being clogged and obscured by false theology. People have been told that they must re¬ pent, and, in the same breath, told that they could not repent DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 349 w.. nntil the Iruth itself has been all mixed up with error, so as to produce the same practical effect with error, and the o- 0S pel that is preached has been another gospel, or no gospel at°all. 4. You can understand what is meant by healino- slio-htlv the hurt of the daughter of God’s people, and the danger of doing it. It is very easy, when sinners are under conviction r" sa y some! thing that shall smooth over the case, and relieve their anxiety, so that they will either get a false hope, or will be converted with their views so obscure, that they will always be poor, feeble, wavering, doubting, inefficient Christians. 5. Much depends on the manner in which a person is dealt with, when under conviction. Much of his future comfort and -usefulness depends on the clearness, and strength, and firmness, with which the directions of the gospel are given, when he is under conviction. If those who deal with him are afraid to use ! dje P robe thoroughly, he will always be a poor, sickly, doubting Christian. If converted at all, he will never do much good. | The true mode, is to deal thoroughly and plainly with a sinner, to tear away every excuse he can get up, and show him plainly what he is, and what he ought to be, and he will bless God to all eternity, that he fell in with those who would be so faithful to his soul. For the want of this thorough and searching man¬ agement, many are converted who seem to be stillborn. And the reason is, they never were faithfully dealt with. We may charitably hope they are Christians, but still it is uncertain and doubtful. Their conversion seems rather a change of opinion, than a change of heart. But if, when a sinner is under convic¬ tion, you pour in the truth, put in the probe, break up the old foundations, and sweep away' his refuges of lies, and use the word of God, like fire and like a hammer, you will find that they will come out with clear views, and strong faith, and firm principles, not doubting, halting, irresolute Christians, but such as follow the Lord wholly. That is the way to make strong Christians. This has been eminently the case in many revi¬ vals of modern days. I have heard old Christians say of the converts, “ These converts were born men and women, full grown, they never were children, but have, at the very outset, all the clearness of view, and strength of faith, of old Chris¬ tians. They seem to understand the doctrines of religion, and to know what to do, and how to take hold, to promote revivals, better than one in a hundred of the old members in the church.” I once knew a young man who was converted, away from home. The place where he lived had no minister, and no preaching, and no religion. He went home in three days after 30 350 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. he was converted, and immediately set himself to work, to labor for a revival. He set up meetings in his neighborhood, and prayed and labored, and a revival broke out, of which he had the principal management through a powerful work, which con¬ verted most of the principal men of the place. The truth was, he had been so dealt with, that he knew what he was about. He understood the subject, and knew where he stood himself He was not all the while troubled with doubts, whether he was himself a Christian. He knew that he was serving God, and that God was with him, and so he went boldly and resolutely forward to his object. But if you undertake to make converts, without cutting up all their errors, and tearing away their false hopes, you may make a host of hypocrites, or of puny, dwarfish Christians, always doubting, and easily turned back from a revival spirit, and worth nothing. The way is, to bring them right out to the light. When a man is converted in this way, you can depend on him, and know where to find him.. 7. Protracted seasons of conviction are generally owing to de¬ fective instruction. Wherever clear and faithful instructions are given to sinners, there you will generally find that convic¬ tions are deep and pungent, but short. 8 . Where clear and discriminating instructions are given to convicted sinners, if they do not soon submit, their convictions will generally leave them. Convictions in such cases are gene¬ rally short. Where sinners are deceived by false views, they may be kept along for weeks, and perhaps months, and some¬ times for years, in a languishing state, and at last, perhaps, be crowded into the kingdom and saved. But where the truth is made perfectly clear to the sinner’s mind, and all his errors are torn away, if he does not soon submit, his case is hopeless. Where the truth is brought to bear upon his mind, and he di¬ rectly resists the very truth that must convert him, there is no¬ thing more to be done. The Spirit will soon leave him, for the very weapons he uses, are resisted. Where instructions are not clear, and are mixed up with errors, the Spirit may strive even for years, in great mercy, to get sinners through the fog of false instruction. But not so, where their duty is clearly explained to them, and they are brought right up to the single point of immediate submission, and have all their false pretences exposed, and the path of duty made perfectly plain. Then, if they do not submit, the Spirit of God forsakes them, and their state is well nigh hopeless. If there be sinners in this house, and you see your duty clearly, TAKE CARE how you delay. If you do not sub- DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. 351 i init, >ou may expect tlie Spirit of God will forsake vou, and you are LOST. A vast deal of the direction given to anxious sinners amounts to little less than the popish doctrine of indulgences. The pope used to sell indulgences to sin, and this led to the re¬ formation under Luther. Sometimes people would purchase an indulgence'to sin for a certain time, or to commit some particular sin, or a number of sins. Now, there is a vast deal in protestant churches, which is little less than the same thing. What does t? it differ from this, to tell a sinner to wait ? The amount of it is, telling him to continue in sin a while longer, while he is wait¬ ing for God to convert him. And what is that but an indul¬ gence to commit sin % Any direction given to sinners, that does not require them immediately to obey God, is an indulgence to 3 sin. It is in effect, givingthem liberty to continue in sin against God. Such directions are not only wicked, but ruinous and cruel. If they do not destroy the soul, as no doubt they often do, they defer , at all events, the sinner’s enjoyment of God and of Christ, and he stands a great chance of being lost for ever, wmle listening to such instructions. O, how dangerous it is, to give a sinner reason to think he may wait a moment, before giving his heart to God. 9. So far as I have had opportunity to observe, those conver¬ sions which are most sudden have commonly turned out to be the best Christians.. 1 know the reverse of this has often been held and maintained. But I am satisfied there is no reason for it, although multitudes, even now, regard it as a suspicious cir¬ cumstance, if a man has been converted very suddenly. But the Bible gives no warrant for this supposition. There is not ! a case of protracted conviction recorded in the whole Bible. All the conversions- recorded there, are sudden conversions. And I am persuaded there never would have been such multi¬ tudes of tedious convictions, and often ending in nothing after all, if it had not been for those theological perversions which have filled the world with cannoi-ism. In Bible days, they told sinners to repent, and they did it then. Cannot-ism had not been broached in that day. It is this speculation, about the inability of sinners to obey God, that lays the foundation for all the protracted anguish and distress, and perhaps ruin, through which so many are led. Where a sinner is brought to see 1 what he has to do, and he takes his stand at once, AND DOES IT, he generally does so afterwards, and you generally find that such a person will hold out so, and prove a decided character. Fou will not find him one of those that you always have to 352 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS. warp up to duty, like a ship, against wind and tide. Look at those professors who always have to be dragged forward in duty, and you will generally find that they had not clear and consistent directions when they were converted, and most likely they will be very much “ afraid of these sudden conversions.” Afraid of sudden conversions! Some of the best Christians of my acquaintance were convicted and converted in the space of a few minutes. In one quarter of the time that 1 have been speaking, many of them were awakened, and came right out on the Lord’s side, and have been shining lights in the church ever since, and have generally manifested the same decision of character in religion, that they did when they first came out and took a stand on the Lord’s side. to LECTURE XIX. INSTRUCTIONS TO CONVERTS. Text. Feed my Iambs.”— John xxi. 15 . You, who read your Bibles, recollect the connection in which these words are found, and by whom they were spoken. Thev were addressed by the Lord Jesus Christ to Peter, after he had denied his Lord and had professed repentance. Probably one i °. the « esi §‘ns which Christ had in view, in suffering Peter to sin so awfully as to deny his master, was to produce a deeper work of grace m him, and thus fit him for the peculiar duty to which he intended to call him, in laying the foundations of the ristian Church, and watching over the spiritual interests of the converts It needed a peculiar work of grace in his soul, 0 . ht hlm t°. tfad others through those scenes of trial and temp¬ tation to which the early Christians, in particular, were exposed. t is evident, that, though Peter had special natural qualifica¬ tions for such a work, yet he was quite a superficial saint. He was probably converted before this, but he was weak, and there was leit so much of his natural roughness and turbulence of temper, that he was still ready to bristle up on any occasion, and take offence at every thing that crossed him, so that he was still , ffiiite unfit for that particular work to which he was destined. Christ designed him for such a peculiar service, that it seems something was indispensable to fit him for it, and make him such a saint, that future opposition would not irritate him, nor difficulties dishearten him, nor success and honor spoil him by j lifting up his heart with pride. And, therefore, Christ takes’the I effectual method recorded before us, of dealing with him once for all, to secure a thorough work in his soul. He asked him this question, to remind him, in an aftectin°" manner, at once of his sin and of the love of Christ, “ Simon, son of Jona, lovest thou me more than these?” Strongly imply¬ ing a doubt whether he did love him. Peter answers', “ Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.” He said unto him', “ Feed my Jambs.” He then repeated the question, as if he would read his inmost soul, “Simon, son of Jona, lovest thou me ?” Peter was still firm, and promptly answers again, “Yea, Lord, thou i knowest that I love thee.” Jesus still asked him the question 354 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. again, the third time, emphatically. He seemed to urge the point, as if he would search his inmost thoughts, to see whether Peter would ever deny him again. Peter was touched, he was grieved, it is said; he did not fly into a passion—he did not boast, as he did on a former occasion, “Though I should die with thee, yet would I not deny thee,” but he was grieved, he was subdued, he spoke tenderly, he appealed to the Savior himself, as if he Avould implore him not to doubt his sincerity any longer, “ Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.” Christ then gave him his final charge, “Feed my sheep.” By the terms sheep and lambs here, the Savior undoubtedly designated Christians,—members of his church; the lambs probably represent young converts, those that have but little ex¬ perience and but little knowledge of religion, and therefore, need to have special attention and pains taken with them, to guard from harm, and to train them for future usefulness. And when our Savior told Peter to feed his sheep, he doubtless referred to the important part which Peter w ? as to perform in watching over the newly formed churches in different parts of the world, and in training the young converts, and leading them along to useful¬ ness and happiness. My last Lecture w*as on the subject of giving right instruction to anxious sinners. And this naturally brings me along, in this Course of Lectures, to consider the manner in which young converts should be treated and the instructions that should be given to them. INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. & In speaking on this subject, it is my design, I. To state several things that ought to be considered, in re¬ gard to the hopes of young converts. II. Several things respecting their making a profession of re¬ ligion, and joining the church. III. The importance of having correct instruction given to young converts. IV. What should not be taught to young converts. V. What particular things are specially necessary to be taught to young converts. VI. How young converts should be treated by church mem¬ bers. I. I am to state several matters in regard to the hopes of young converts. INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERT8. 355 I. Nothing should be said to them to create a hove. Nothin? should ordinarily be intimated to persons under conviction cal¬ culated to make them think they have experienced religion, till they nnd it out themselves. I do not like this term, “ experienced religion,. and I use it only because it is a phrase in common use. It is an absurdity in itself. What is religion ? Obedience to God. Suppose you should hear a good citizen say he had experienced obedience to the government of the country You see it is nonsense. Or suppose a child should talk about expe¬ riencing obedience to his father. If he knew what he was say- ing, he would say he had obeyed his father , just as the apostle Paul says to the Roman believers, “Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” What I mean to say is, that ordinarily, it is best to let their hope or belief that they are converted spring; up spontaneously in their own minds. Sometimes it will happen that persons may be really converted, but owing to some notions which they have been taught about religion, they do not realize it. Their views of what religion is, and its effect upon the mind, are so entirely wide of the truth, that they do not think that they have it. I will give you an illustration on this point. Some years since, I labored in a place where a revival was in progress and there was in the place a young lady from Boston. She had been brought up a Unitarian, she had considerable education, and was intelligent on many subjects, but on the sub¬ ject of religion she was very ignorant. At length she was con- victed of sin. She became awfully convinced of her horrible enmity against God. She had been so educated as to have a sense of propriety but her enmity against God became so great, and broke out so frightfully, that it was horrible to hear her talk. She used to come to the anxious meetings, where we conversed with each one separately. And her feelings of opposition to God were such that she used to create disturbance. By the time I came within two or three seats from her, where she could hear what I said in a low voice to the others, she would begin to make remarks in reply, so that they could be heard. And she would say the most bitter things against God, and against his providence, and his method of dealing with mankind, as if God was an infinite tyrant.. She would speak of him as the most unjust and cruel being m the universe. I would try to hush her, and make her keep still, because she distracted the attention of others. Some¬ times she would stop and command her temper awhile, and sometimes she would rise and go out. I have seldom seen a case, where the enmity of the heart rose so high against God. 356 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. One night at the anxious meeting, after she had been very rest¬ less, as I came towards her, she began as usual to reply, but I hushed her, and told her I could not converse with her there, but invited her to my room the next morning, and then I would talk with her. She promised to come, but, says she, “ God is unjust, he is infinitely unjust. Is he not almighty ? Why then has he never shown me my enmity before? Why has he let me run on so long? Why does he let my friends at Boston re¬ main in this ignorance ? They are the enemies of God, as much as I am, and are going to hell. Why does he not show them the truth in regard to their condition ? ” And in this temper she left the room. The next morning she came to my room, as she had promis¬ ed. I saw as soon as she came in that her countenance was changed, but I said nothing about it. “ O,” said she, “ I have changed my mind, as to what I said last night about God, I don’t think he has done me any wrong, and I think I shall get religion sometime, for now I love to think about God. I have been all wrong; the reason why I had never known my enmity before, was, that I would not. I used to read the Bible, but I always passed over the passages that would make me feel as if I was a lost sinner, and those passages that spoke of Jesus Christ as God, I passed over without consideration, and now I see that it was my fault, not God’s fault, that I did not know any more about myself; I have changed my mind now.” She had no idea that this was religion, but she was encouraged now to ex¬ pect religion at some future time, because she loved God so much. I said nothing to make her imagine that I thought her a Christian, but left her to find it out. And, for a time, her mind was so entirely occupied with thinking about God, that she never seemed to ask whether this is religion or not. It is a great evil, ordinarily, to encourage persons to hope they are Christians. Very likely you may judge prematurely. Or if not, it is better they should find it out for themselves, suppose they do not see it at once. They may break down lower than ever, and then they will come out so clear and decided, that they will know where they are. 2. When you see persons expressing a hope, and yet they express doubts too, it is generally because the work is not thorough. If they are convicted, they need breaking up. They are still lingering around the world, or they have not broken ofi effectually from their sins, and they need to be pushed back, rather than urged forward. If you see reason to doubt, cr il you find that they have doubts, most probably there is some t INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 357 good reason to doubt. Sometimes persons express a hope in Christ and afterwards remember some sin, that needs to be con- £?“jL t0 ”?“■ or some case whe re they have slandered, or de- , ftauded, where it is necessary to make satisfaction, and where either their character, or their purse, is so deeply implicated that they hesitate, and refuse to perform their duty. This grieves the Spirit, brings darkness over their minds of course, and justly leads hem to doubt whether they are truly converted. If a soul ' ?„■ ‘™ ly ? 0 " Terte f,’ , t lat on sorne P 01nt they are neglecting duty. They f should be searched as with a lighted candle, and brought up to the performance of duty, and not suffered to hope until they do it. Ordinarily it is proper just there to throw in some plain | se . a rehmg truth, that will go through them, something that will wither their hopes like a moth. Do it while the Spirit of God is dealing with them and do it in the right way, and there is no danger of its doing harm. # V. T ^ lllust *; ate this: I knew a person, who was a member of : rnnd f rch, ^ ut r an 6 hypocrite, proved to be so by her conduct, and afterward fully confessed to be so. In a revival ° u-i '^{° n S le ^ aS awakened and deeply convicted, and after a while she got a hope She came to a minister to talk with him j about her hope, and he poured in the truth to her mind in such t“ er aS l -° annibllate a H her hopes. She then remained ™„f n r co ^ vlctlon many days, and at last she broke out in hope V m - /j 16 ™ lr {> ster kn ew her temperament, and knew what she needed, and he tore away her hope again. And then she broke down, clear to the ground, so that she could not stand or go. So deeply did the Spirit of God PROBE her heart, that for a time, it took away all her bodily strength. And then she rZL ° Ut Bef0re ’ Sh? had been “e oflhe proudest rebels against God s government that ever was, but now she be- -ame humbled, and was one of the most modest, tender, lovely 1 ha ^ 6 6V f known ’ And such she remained. No doubt that was just tne way to deal with her. It was iust the ‘.reatment that her case required. ^ It is often useful to deal with individuals in this way Some persons are naturally unamiable in their temper, and unlovely I P ° r m m ? nt ' , A , nd V s P articularI y important that such jersons should be dealt with most thoroughly whenever they irst begin to express, hope in Christ. Unless the work with bem is, m the first place, uncommonly deep and thorough, they vill be vastly ess useful, and interesting, and happy, than they otherwise would have been, had the probe been thoroughly and 358 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS, skilfully applied to their heart. If they are encouraged at first, without being thoroughly dealt with, if they are left to go rig t along, and not sufficiently probed and broken down, these un¬ lovely traits of character will remain unsubdued and will be always breaking out to the great injury, both of their personal peace, and their general influence and usefulness as Christians. 1 It is important to take advantage of such characters while they are just in these peculiar circumstances, so that they can be moulded into proper form. Do not spare, though it should be a child, or a brother, or a husband, or a wife. Let it be a thorough work. If they express a hope, and you find they bear the imao-e of Christ, they are Christians. But if that appears doubtful _if they do not appear to he fully changed, just tear away their hope, by searching them with the most discriminating truth, and leave the Spirit to do the work more deeply. If still the image is not perfect, do it again—break them down into a child-like spirit, and then let them hope. They will then be clear and thorough Christians. By such a mode of treatment, I have often known people of the crookedest and hatefulest natural char¬ acter, so transformed in the course of a few days, that they ap¬ pear like different beings. You would think the work of a whole life of Christian cultivation had been done at once. Doubt¬ less this was the intent of our Savior’s dealing with Peter. He had been converted, but became puffed up with spiritual pride and self-confidence, and then he fell. After that Christ broke him down again, bv three times searching him with the inquiry, “Simon, son of Jona, lovest thou me?” after which, he seems to have been a stable and devoted saint the rest of his days. . 3. There is no need of young converts having or expressing doubts as to their conversion. There is no more need of a per¬ son doubting whether he is now in favor of God s government, than there is for a man to doubt whether he is in favor of our government or another. It is, m fact, on the face of it absur , for a person to talk of doubting on such a point if he is intelligent and understands what he is talking about. It has long een sup posed to be a virtue, and a mark of humility, for a person o doubt whether he is a Christian, and this notion that there is virtue in doubting is a device of the devil. “ I say, neighbor, are you in favor of our government, or do you prefer that ol Kus- sia “ Why, I have some hopes that I love our own govern- ment, but I have many doubts.” Wonderful! “ Woman, do you love your children'?” “ Why, sir, I sometunes have a trem¬ bling hope that I love them, but you know the best have doubts. .. Wife, do you love your husband?” “ I don t know I some- INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNO CONVERTS. 359 times think I do, but you know the heart is deceitful, and we ought to be careful and not be too confident.” Who would have such a wife? “ Man, do you love your wife, do you love your larmly ? “ Ah, you know we are poor creatures, we don’t know our own hearts. I think I do love them, but perhaps I am de¬ Ordinarily, the very idea of a person’s expressing- doubts, ren¬ ders his piety truly doubtful. A real Christian has no need to doubt And when one is full of doubts, ordinarily you ought to doubt for him and help him doubt. Affection to God is°as B mucha matter of consciousness as any other affection. A wo¬ man knows she loves her child. How ? By consciousness. She I I s consclou s of the exercise of this affection. And, then, she sees it carried out into action every day. In the same way a Christian may know that he loves God, by his consciousness of this affec¬ tion, and by seeing that it influences his daily conduct in the case of young converts, truly such, these doubts gen- • erally arise from their having been wrongly dealt with, and not sufficiently taught, or not thoroughly humbled. In any case they should never be left in such a state, but should be brought,’ it possible, to such a thorough change, that thev will doubt°no longer; It is inconsistent with the greatest usefulness, for a ■Christian to be always entertaining doubts. It not only makes ■ him g,oomy, but it renders his religion a stumbling block to sin- ners. What do sinners think of such religion? They say i‘ Ihese converts are always afraid to think they have got any f' lea • ^ he y are always trembling, and doubting whether it is a reality, and they ought to know whether there is any j .fling in it or not; for if it is any thing, these people seem to have t, and I am inclined to think it rather doubtful. At any rate, will let it pass for the present; for I don’t believe God will I , ~ i ill ^ what appears so uncertain.” No, 1 ^eerful, se ^ e d hope in Christ, is indispensable to usefulness, nd therefore you should deal so with young converts, as to lead hem to a consistent, well-grounded, stable hope. Ordinarily this aay be done, if pursued wisely, at the proper time, and that is at lie commencement of their religious life. And they should iot be left till it is done. I know there are some exceptions, there are cases where the est instructions will be ineffectual, but these generally depend n the state of the health, and the condition of the nervous sys- •m. . Sometimes you find a person incapable of reasoning on a ;' rtam topic, and so their errors will not yield to instruction, ut most commonly they mistake the state of their own hearts, 3G0 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. because they judge under the influence of a physical disease. Sometimes persons under a nervous depression will go almost into despair. I will not take time now to show the connection, but persons who are acquainted with physiology will easily ex¬ plain the matter, and this will make it plain that the only way to deal with such cases is first to recruit their health, and get their nervous system in a proper tone, and thus remove the physical cause of their gloom and depression, and then they will be able to receive and apply your instructions to the state of their minds. But if you cannot remove their gloom and doubts and fears in this way, you can at least avoid doing any positive harm, by giving them wrong instructions. I have known, even experienced Christians, to have the error fastened upon them, thinking it was necessary, or was virtuous, or a mark of humility to be always in doubt, and Satan would take advan¬ tage of it, and of the state of their health, to drive them almost into despair. You ought to guard against this, by avoiding the error in teaching young converts. Teach them that instead of there being any virtue in doubting, it is a sin to have any reason to doubt, and a sin if they doubt without any reason, and a sin to be gloomy, and disgust sinners with their des¬ pondency. And if you teach them thoroughly what religion is, and make them SEE CLEARLY what Cod wishes to have them do, and lead them to do it promptly and decidedly, ordi¬ narily they will not be harrassed with doubts and fears, but will be clear, 'open-hearted, cheerful and growing Christians, an honor to the religion they profess, and a blessing to the church and the world. II. I proceed to mention some things worthy of consideration in regard to their making a profession of religion, or joining the church. 1 . Young converts should, ordinarily, offer themselves for ad¬ mission to some church of Christ immediately. By immediately, I mean that they should do it the first opportunity they have. They should not wait. If they set out in religion by waiting, most likely they will always be waiting, and never do any thing lo much purpose. If they are taught to wait under conviction, before they give themselves up to Christ, or if they are taught to wait after conversion, before they give themselves publicly to God, by joining the church, they will probably go halting and stumbling along through life. The first thing they should be taught, always is, Never to wait where God has pointed out your duty. We profess to have given up the waiting system, let us carry it through and be consistent., INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 361 While I say it is the duty of young converts to offer them* a ; selves to the church immediately, I do not sav that they should, p 1 in cases * be received immediately. But the church may, and have an undoubted right to assume the responsibility of receiv- I tliem immediately or not. If the church are not satisfied in the case, they have the power to bid candidates wait till they can N ma ^ e inquiries, or in any other way obtain satisfaction, as to their i character and their sincerity. This is more necessary in large cities than it is in the country, because the church is liable 1 o receive so many applications from persons that are entire stran- gers, where it is necessary to make inquiries before admitting them to communion. But if the church think it necessary to postpone an applicant, the responsibility is not his. He has not postponed obedience to the dying command of Christ, and so he has not grieved the Spirit away, and so he may not be essen¬ tially injured if he is faithful in other respects. Whereas, i i he had neglected the duty voluntarily, he would soon get into the dark, and very likely backslide. If there is no part icular reason for delay, ordinarily the church ought to receive them when they apply. If they are sufficiently instructed on the subject of religion to know what they are doing, and if their general character is such that they can be trusted as to their sincerity and honesty in making a profession. I see no reason why they should delay. But if there are sufficient rea¬ sons, in the view of the church, for making them wait a reason¬ able time, let them do it, on their responsibility to Jesus Christ. They should, however, remember, what is the responsibility they assume, and that if they keep those out of the church who ought fto be in it, they sin, and grieve the Holy Spirit. ! It is impossible to lay down particular rules on this subject, applicable to all cases. There is so great a variety of reasons which may warrant keeping persons back, that no general rules 'an reach them all. Our practice, in this church, is to propound persons for a month after they make application, before they are received to full communion. The reason of this is, that the Session may have opportunity to inquire respecting individuals who offer themselves, as so many of them are strangers. But n the country, where there are regular congregations, and all he people have been instructed from their youth in the doctrines ; >f religion, and where every body is perfectly known, the case s different, and ordinarily I see no reason why persons of fair character should not be admitted immediately. If a person has tot been a drunkard, or otherwise of bad character, let him be 31 362 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERT3, admitted at once, as soon as he can give a rational and satisfao tory account of the hope that is in him. That is evidently the way the apostles did. There is not the least evidence in the New Testament, that they ever put off a person that wanted to he baptised and join the ciiurch. I know this does not satisfy some people, because they think the case is different. But I do not see it so. They say the apostles were inspired. That is true; but it does not follow that they were inspired to read the characters of men, so as to prevent their making mistakes in this matter. On the other hand, we know they were not inspired in this way, for we know they did make mistakes, just as ministers may do now, and, therefore, it is not true that their being inspired men alters the case on this point. Simon Magus was supposed to be a Christian, and was baptised and admitted to the communion, and remained in good standing till he undertook to purchase the Holy Ghost with money. The apostles used to admit converts from Heathenism immediately, and without delay. If they could receive persons who, per¬ haps, never heard more than one gospel sermon, and who never had a Bible, nor attended a Sabbath-school or Bible-class in their lives, surely it is not necessary to wake up such an outcry and alarm, if a church thinks proper to receive persons of fair character w 7 ho have had the Bible all their lives, and been trained in the Sabbath-school, and sat under the preaching oi the gospel, and who, therefore, may be supposed to understand what they are about, and not to profess what they do not feel. I know it may be said that persons who make a profession of religion now, are not obliged to make such sacrifices for their religion as the early believers were, and, consequently, people may be more ready to play the hypocrite. And, to some extent, that is true. But then, on the other hand, it should be remem¬ bered, that, with the instructions which they have on the subject of religion, they are not so easily led to deceive themselves, as those who were converted without the previous advantages of a religious education. They may be strongly tempted to deceive others, but I insist upon it, that, with the instructions which they have received, the converts of these great revivals are not half so liable to deceive themselves, and take up with a false hope, as they were in the days of the Apostles. And on this ground I believe that those churches Avho are faithful in dealing with young converts, and who exhibit habitually the power of re¬ ligion, are not likely to receive so many unconverted persons, as the Apostles did. It is important that the churches should act wisely on this > I INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 363 point. Great evil has been done by this practice of beeping persons out of the church a long time to see if they were Ohris- tians. This is almost as absurd as it would be to throw out a young child into the street, to see whether it will live; to say, if it lives and promises to be a healthy child, we will take care of it, when that is the very time it wants nursing, and taking care of, at the moment whqn the scale is turning, whether it shall live or die. Is that the way to deal with young converts ? Should the church throw her new-born children out to the winds, and say, if they live there, let them be raised ; but if they die, they ought to die. I have not a doubt that thousands of converts, in consequence of this treatment, have gone through life, and never have joined any church, but have lingered along full of doubts, and fears, and darkness, and in this way have spent their days, and gone to the grave without the comforts or the usefulness which they might have enjoyed, simply because the church, in her folly, has suffered them to wait outside of the pale, to see whether they would grow and thrive, without those ordinances which Jesus Christ established particularly for their benefit. Jesus Christ says to his church, “ Here, take these lambs, and feed them, and shelter them and watch over them, and protect them:” and what does the Church do? Why, turn them out alone upon the cold mountains, among the wild beasts, to starve or perish, to see whether they are alive or not. This whole system is as unphilosophical as it is unscriptural. Did Jesus Christ tell his churches to do so? Did the God of Abraham teach any such doctrine as this, in regard to the children of Abraham? Never. He never taught us to treat young con¬ verts in such a barbarous manner. It is the very best way that could be taken to render it doubtful whether they are converts. The very way to lead them into doubts and darkness, is to keep them away from the church, from its fellowship, and its ordi¬ nances. I have understood there is a church, not very far from here, who have passed a resolution that no young converts shall be admitted till they have had a hope for at least six months. Where did they get any such rule? Not from the Bible, nor the example of the early churches. 3. In examining young converts for admission to the church, their consciences should not be ensnared by examining them too extensively or minutely on doctrinal 'points. From the manner in which examinations are conducted in some churches, it would seem as if they expected that young converts would be all at w 364 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. once acquainted with the whole system of divinity, and able to answer every puzzling question in theology. The effect of it is, that young converts are perplexed and confused, and give their assent to things they do not understand, and thus their conscience is ensnared, and consequently weakened. Why, one great de¬ sign of receiving young converts into the church, is to teach them doctrines, but if they are to be kept out of the church till they understand the whole system of doctrines, this end is de¬ feated. Will you keep them out till one main design of receiv¬ ing them is accomplished by other means? It is absurd. There are certain cardinal doctrines of Christianity, which are em¬ braced in the experience of every true convert. And these, young converts will testify to them, on their examination, if they are questioned in such a way as to draw out their knowledge, and not in such a way as to puzzle and confound them. The ques¬ tions should be such, as are calculated to draw out from them, what they have learned by experience, and not what they may have got in theory before or since their conversion. The object is, not to find out how much they know, or how good scholars they are in divinity, as you would examine a school, or a num¬ ber of young men striving for a premium. It is to find out whether they have a change of heart , to learn whether they have experienced the great truths of religion by their power in their own souls. You see therefore how absurd, and injurious too, it must be, to examine as is sometimes done, like a lawyer at the bar, cross-examining a suspicious witness. It should rather be like a faithful physician anxious to find out his patient’s true condition, and therefore leading his mind, by inquiries and hints, to disclose the real symptoms of his case. You will always find, if you put your questions right, that real converts will see clearly those great fundamental points, the divine authority of the scriptures, the necessity of the influences of the Holy Spirit, the divinity of Christ, the doctrine of total depravity and regeneration, the necessity of the atonement, jus¬ tification bv faith, and the eternal punishment of the wicked. By a proper course of inquiries you will find all these points come out, as a part of their experience, if you put your questions in such a way that they understand them. A church session in this city have, as we are informed, pass¬ ed a vote, that no person shall join that church till he will give his assent to the whole Presbyterian Confession of Faith, and adopt it as his “rule of faith and practice and Christian obedi¬ ence.” That is, they must read the book through, which is about three times as large as this hymn-book, and must under- INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 3 65 stand it, and agree to it all, before they can he admitted to the church, before they can make a profession of religion, or obey the command-of Christ. By what authority does a church say that no one shall join their communion till he understands all the points and technicalities of this long confession of faith? Is that their charity, to cram this whole confession of faith down the throat of a young convert, before they let him so much as come to the communion ? He says, “I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and wish to obey his command.” “Very well, but do you understand and adopt the confession of Faith?” He says, “ I don’t know, for I never read that, but I have read the Bible, and I love that, and wish to follow the directions in it, and to come to the table of the Lord.” “ Do you love the confession of faith? If not, you shan’t come,” is the reply of this chari¬ table session, “ you shan’t sit down at the Lord’s table, till you have adopted all this confession of faith.” Did Jesus Christ ever authorise a church session to say this—to tell that child of God, who stands there with tears, and asks permission to obey his Lord, and who understands the grounds of his faith, and can give a satisfactory reason of his hope, to tell him he cannot join the church till he understands the confession of faith ? No doubt, Jesus Christ is angry with such a church, and he will show his displeasure in a way that admits of no mistake, if they do not re¬ pent. Shut the door against young converts till they swallow the confession of faith! And will such a church prosper? Never. No church on earth has a right to impose its extended con¬ fession of faith on a young convert, who admits the fundamen¬ tals of religion. They may let the young convert know their own faith on ever so many points, and they may examine him, if they think it necessary, as to his belief; but suppose he has doubts on some points not essential to Christian experience, as the doctrine of Infant Baptism, or of Election, or the Persever- ! ance of the Saints, and suppose he honestly and frankly tells you he has not made up his mind concerning these points. Has any minister or church a right to say, he shall not come to the Lord’s table, till he has finished all his researches into these sub¬ jects ? That he shall not obey Jesus Christ till he has fully made up his mind on every such point, on which Christians, ac¬ knowledged and devoted ones too, differ among themselves? I would sooner cut off my right hand than debar a convert under such circumstances. I would teach a young convert as well as I could in the time before he made his application, and I would examine him candidly as to his views, and after he was in the church, I would endeavor to make him grow in knowledge as 31 * 366 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. he grows in grace. And by just as much confidence as I have that my own doctrines are the doctrines of God, I should expect to make him adopt them, if I could have a fair hearing before his mind. But I never would bid one, whom I charitably be¬ lieved to be a child of God, to stay away from his Father’s table, because he did not see all I see. or believe all I believe, through the whole system of divinity. The thing is utterly irrational, ridiculous and wicked. 4. Sometimes persons who are known to entertain a hope, dare not make a 'profession of religion for fear they should be deceived. I would always deal decidedly with such cases. A hope that will not warrant a profession of religion, is manifestly worse than no hope, and the sooner it is torn away the better. Shall a man hope he loves God, and yet dares not obey Jesus Christ? Preposterous. Such a hope had better be given up at once. 5 . Sometimes persons professing to be converts will make an excuse for not joining the church, that they can enjoy religion just as well without it. This is always suspicious. I should look out for such characters. It is almost certain they have no religion. Ordinarily, if a person does not desire to be associated with the people of God, he is rotten at the bottom. It is be¬ cause he wants to keep out of the responsibilities of a public profession. He has a feeling within him, that he had rather be free, so that he can by and by go back to the world again if he likes, without the reproach of instability or hypocrisy. Enjoy religion just as well without obeying Jesus Christ! It is false on the face of it. He overlooks the fact that religion consists in obeying Jesus Christ. III. I am to consider the importance of giving right instruc¬ tion to young converts. Ordinarily, their Christian character through life is moulded and fashioned according to the manner in which they are dealt with when first converted. There are many who have been poorly taught at first, but have been afterwards re-converted, and if they are then dealt with properly, they may be made something of. But the proper time to do this is when they are first brought in, when their minds are soft and tender, and easily yield to the truth. Then they may be led with a hair, if they think it is the truth of God. And whatever notions in religion they get then, they are apt to cleave to for ever afterwards. It is almost impossible to get away a man’s notions that he got when he was a young convert. You may reason him down, but he cleaves to them. How often is it the case where persons have INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 367 been taught certain things when first converted, ars^ thev af¬ terwards get a new minister, Avho teaches somewhat differently these people will perhaps rise up against him as if he was goin^ to subvert the faith and carry away the church to error and throw every thing into confusion. Thus you see that v’ouno- converts are thrown into the hands of the church, and it de¬ pends on the church to mould them, and form them into Chris¬ tians of the right stamp.—Much of their future comfort and usefulness depends on the manner in which they are instructed at the outset. The future character of the church, the progress of revivals, the coming of the millenium, depend on havingrio-ht instruction given, and a right direction of thought and life to those who are young converts. IV. I am to mention somethings which should not be taught f to young converts. 1. “ You won’t always feel as you do now.” When the young convert is rejoicing in his Savior, and calculating to live for the glory of God and the good of mankind, how often is he met with this reply, « You won't always feel so.” Thus prepar¬ ing his mind to expect that he shall backslide, and not to be much surprised when he does. This is just the way the devil wants young converts dealt Avith, to have old Christians tell them your feelings will not last, and that by and by you will be as cold as we are. It has made my heart bleed to see it. When the young convert has been pouring out his warm heart to some old professor, and expecting to meet the wxirm burstings of a kindred spirit responding to his own, what does he meet with? . This cold answer, coming like a northern blast over his soul, ‘You Avon t always feel so.” SHAME! Just preparing the young convert to expect that he shall backslide as a matter of course; so that when he begins to decline, as under the very influences of this instruction it is most likely he Avill, it produces no surprise or alarm in his mind, but he looks at it just as a thing of course, doing as every body else does. I have heard it preached as Avell as prayed, that seasons of backsliding are necessary to test the church. They say, “ Avhen it rains, you can find water any Avhere: it is only in seasons of drought that you can tell Avhere the deep springs are.” Won- i derful logic! And so you would teach that Christians must get cold and stupid, and backslide from God, and for Avhat reason? Why forsooth, to shoAV that they are not hypocrites. Amazing! You would prove that they are hypocrites in order to show that they are not. 368 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. Such doctrine as this is the very last that should be taught to young converts. They should be told that now they have only begun the Christian life, and that their religion is to consist in going rn in it. They should be taught to go forward all the time, and "row in grace continually. Do not teach them to taper off their religion, let it grow smaller and smaller till it comes to a point. God says, “ The path of the just, is as the shining light, that shineth more and more to the perfect day.” Now whose path is that, which grows dimmer and dimmer until the perfect night ? They should be brought to such a state of mind, that the first indications of decay in spirituality or zeal will alarm them and spur them up to duty. There is no need that young converts should backslide as they do. Paul did not backslide. And I do not doubt that this very doctrine, “You won’t always feel so,” is one of the grand devices of Satan to bring about the result which it predicts. 2. “ Learn to walk by faith and not by sight.” This is some¬ times said to young converts in reference to their continuing to exhibit the power of religion, and is a manifest perversion of scripture. If they begin to lose their faith and zeal, and to get into darkness, some old professor will tell them, “ Ah, you can’t expect to have the Savior always with you, you have been walking by sight, you must learn to walk by faith and not by sight.” That is, you must learn to get as cold as death, and then hang on to the doctrine of the Saint’s Perseverance, as your only ground of hope that you shall be saved. And that is walking by faith. Cease to persevere and then hold on to the doctrine of persever¬ ance. “ One of guilt’s blunders, and the loudest laugh of hell.” And living in the enjoyment of God’s favor and the comforts of the Holy Ghost, they call walking by sight! Do you sup¬ pose young converts see the Savior at the time they believe on him ? When they are so full of the enjoyments of heaven, do you suppose they see heaven, and so walk by sight? It is absurd on the face of it. It is not faith, it is presumption , that makes a backslider hold on to the doctrine of perseverance as if that would save him, without any sensible exercises of god¬ liness in his soul. Those who attempt to walk by faith in this way had better take care, or they will walk into hell with their faith. Faith indeed ! Faith without works is dead.—Can dead faith make the soul live? 3. “Wait till you see whether you can hold out.” When a young convert feels zealous and warm-hearted, and wants to lay himself out for God, some prudent old professor will cau- i INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 369 !'■ lion him not to go too fast. “You had better not be too for¬ ward in religion, till you see whether you can holdout- for if you take this high ground and then fall, you will disgrace re¬ ligion. That is, in plain English, “ Don't do any thino- that constitutes religion, till you see whether you have relic ion.” Religion consists in obeying God. Now these wise teachers I . 1] - vvioc icacuers tell a young convert, “ Don’t obey God till you see”— what? till you see whether you have obeyed him—or, till you see whether you have gotten that substance, that mysterious thino- w.nch they imagine is created and put into a man, like a lump of new flesh and called religion. This waiting system is all alike, and all wrong. There is no scripture warrant for tell¬ ing a person to wait, when the command of God is upon him and the path of duty before him. Let him go alono- Young converts should be fully taught that this is the only consistent way to find out whether they have any relio-jon._ The only evidence they can have is to find that they are heartily engaged in doing the will of God. To tell him to wait, there¬ fore, before he does these things, till he first gets his evidence, is reversing the matter, and is absurd. 4. “ Wait till you get strength, before you take up the cross.” I nis is applied to various religious duties. Sometimes it is ap- plied to prayer, just as if prayer was a cross. But I have known young converts advised not to attempt to pray in their families, or not to attempt quite yet to pray in meetings and social circles. “ Wait till you get strength.” Just as if they would get strength without exercise. Strength comes by ex¬ ercise. You cannot get strength by lying still. Let a child he in the cradle all his life, and he would never have any strength, he might grow in size, but he never could be any thing more than a great baby. This is a law of nature. There is no substitute for exercise in producing strength. The body as every one knows, can be strengthened only by exercise.—• It. is so in the nature of things. And it is just so with the mind.. It is so with the affections, so with the judgment, so with conscience. All the powers of the soul are strengthened by exercise. I need not now enter into the philosophy of this._ Every body knows it is so. If the mind is not exercised, tho brain will not grow, and the man will become an idiot. If the affections are not exercised he will become a stoic. To talk to a convert about neglecting Christian action till he gets strength, is absurd. If he wants to gain strength, let him go to work. 5. Young converts should not be. made sectarian in their feelings, i hey should not be taught to dwell upon sectarian / 370 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERT& distinctions, or to be sticklish about sectarian points. They ought to examine these points, at a proper time, and in a proper way, and make up their minds for themselves, according to their importance. But they should not be taught to dwell upon them, or to make much of them in the outset of their religious life. Otherwise there is great danger that their whole religion will run into sectarianism. I have seen some most sad and melancholy exhibitions of the effects of this upon young con¬ verts. And whenever I see professed converts taking a strong hold of sectarian peculiarities, no matter of what denomination of Christians, l always feel in doubt about them. When I hear them asking, “ Do you believe in the doctrine of election?” or, “Do you believe in sprinkling?” or, “Do you believe in plung¬ ing?” I feel sad. I never knew such converts to be worth much. Their sectarian zeal soon sours their feelings, eats out all the heart of their religion, and moulds their whole charac¬ ter into sinful sectarian bigotry. They generally become mighty zealous for the traditions of the elders, and very little concerned for the salvation of souls. V. I proceed to mention some of the things which it is im¬ portant should be taught to young converts. 1. One of the first things young converts should be taught is to distinguish betiveen emotion and principle in religion. Do you understand me? I am going to explain what I mean, but I want you to get hold of the words, and have them fixed in your mind. What I want is to have you distinguish be¬ tween emotion and 'principle. By emotion, I mean that state of mind of which we are con¬ scious, and which we call feeling , an involuntary state of mind, that arises of course when we are in certain circumstances or under certain influences. There may be high-wrought feel¬ ings, or they may subside into tranquillity, or disappear en¬ tirely. But these emotions should be carefully distinguished from religious principle. By principle I do not mean any sub¬ stance or root or seed or sprout implanted in the soul. But I mean the voluntary decision of the mind, the firm determina¬ tion to act out duty and to obey the will of God, by which a Christian should always be governed. When a man is fully determined to obey God, because it is RIGHT that he should obey God, I call that principle. Whether he feels any lively religious emotion at the time or not, he will do his duty cheer¬ fully, and readily, and heartily, whatever may be the state of his feelings. This is acting upon principle, and not from emotion. Many young converts have mistaken views upon this subject, INSTRUCTION’S TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 371 and depend almost entirely upon the state of their feelings to g °/°™ ard V" , y Y S ° me wil1 , j 10 ' lead in a P ra y er meeting, unless they feel as if they could make an eloquent prayer. Multitudes are influenced almost entirely by their emotions and they give way to this, as if they thouglit themselves under no obligation to duty, unless urged on by some strong emotion. t hey will be very zealous in religion when they feel like it when their emotions are warm and lively, but they will not act iout religion consistently, and carry it into all theconcerns of life feeling 16 fe lgl ° US only as they are im peUed by a gush of Young converts should be carefully taught, when duty is be¬ fore them to do it. However dull their feelings may be, if duty calJs, do it. Don't wait forffiplino- Km nn it “ix/r—* the very emotionsfor which you would wait will he called into exercise when you begin to do your duty. If the duty is prayer, for instance, and you have not the feelings you would wish, do no. wait foremotions before you pray, but pray, and open your mouth wide. And in doing it, you are most likely to have the emotions for which you were inclined to wait, and which con- stitute the conscious happiness of religion. 2. Young converts should be taught that they have renounced the ownership of all their possessions , and of themselves , or if they have not done this they are not Christians. They should not be left to think that any thing is their own, their time, property, in- | fluence, faculties, bodies or souls. “ Ye are not your own •” all belongs to God ; and when they submitted to God they made a 1 } free surrender of all to him, to be ruled and disposed ‘of at his pleasure. They have no right to spend one hour as if their hme was their own. No right to go any where, or do any tiling, lor themselves, but should hold all at the disposal of God md employ all for the glory of God. If they do not, they lught not to call themselves Christians, for the very idea of Deing a Christian is to renounce self and become entirely con¬ secrated to God. A man has no more right to withhold any higg from God, than he has to rob or steal. It is robbery in the lighest sense of the term. It is an infinitely higher crime than, t would be for a clerk in a store to go and take the money of his fployer, and spend it on his own lusts and pleasures. I mean, hat for a man to withhold from God, is a higher crime against hihu than a man can commit against his fellow man, inasmuch i is God is the owner of all things in an infinitely higher sense han man can be the owner of any thing. If God calls on them o employ any thing they have, their money, or their time, or to 372 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. give their children, or to dedicate themselves, in advancing hia kingdom, and they refuse, because they want to use them in their own way, or prefer to do something else, it is vastly more blama- hie than for a clerk or an agent to go and embezzle the money that is intrusted him by his employer, and spend it foi his family, or lay it out in bank stock or in speculation for himself. God is, in an infinitely higher sense, the owner of all, than any employer can be said to be the owner of what he has. And the church of Christ never will take high ground, never will be disentangled from the world, never will be able to go forward without these continual declensions and backslidings, until Chris'* tians, and the churches generally, take the ground, and hold to it, that it is just as much a matter of discipline for a church member practically to deny his stewardship as to deny the di¬ vinity of Christ, and that covetousness fairly proved shall just as certainly exclude a man from communion as adultery. The church is mighty orthodox in notions , but very heretical in practice, but the time must come when the church will be just as vigilant in guarding orthodoxy in practice as orthodoxy in doc¬ trine? and just as prompt to turn out heretics in practice as here¬ tics that corrupt the doctrines of the gospel. In fact, it is vastly more important. The only design of doctrine is to produce practice, and it. does not seem to be understood by the church, that true faith “ works by love and purifies the heart, that her¬ esy in practice , is proof conclusive of heresy in sentiment. The church are very sticklish for correct doctrine and very careless about correct living. This is preposterous. Has it come to this^ that the church of Jesus Christ is to be satisfied with correct notions on some abstract points, and never reduce her orthodoxy to practice? Let it be so no longer. It is high time these matters were set right. And the only way to set them right, is to begin right with those who are just entering upon religion. Young converts must be told that they are just as worthy of damnation, and that the church cannot and will not hold fellowship with them, if they show a covetous spirit, and turn a deaf ear when the whole world is calling for help, as if they were living in adultery, or in the daily worship of idols. 3. Teach them how to cultivate a tender conscience. . I have often been amazed to find how little conscience there is, even among those who we hope are Christians. And here we see the reason of it. Their consciences were never cultivated. They never were taught and told how to cultivate a tender con¬ science. They have not even a natural conscience. They have dealt so rudely with their conscience, and resisted it so often, instructions to young converts. 373 that .it has got blunted, and does not act. The usefulness of a conscience 8re Youn7 endS °," lT? win £ ho "' to cultivate his conscience. Young converts should be taught to keep their con- sc.ence just as tender as the apple of the eye. They shouW watch their conduct and their motives, and Ft their motives be so puie and their conduct so disinterested as not to offend or in¬ line or stifle conscience. They should maintain such a habit of listening to conscience, that it will be always ready to give forth ° n aH occasions - It is astonishing to see how rlhd H CO f^ nCe may L be Cultivated h Y a P*°P« c <>urse. If y attended to, it may be made so pure, and so powerful, that I d„Tv ^f p01K eXact1 ^ 10 lhe word of God - Present any duty to such a Christian, or any self-denial, or suffering, and only show him the word of God and he will do it without a word In a few months if properly taught and attended to, young converts may have a conscience so delicately poised that the weight of a feather will turn them. Only bring a “ Thus saith the Lord,” and they will be always ready to do that, be it what it may Tl/ot c ° nv ^ ts f hould be taught to V ray without ceasing. lha is, they should always keep up a watch over their minds and be all the time in a prayerful spirit. They should be taught to pray always, whatever may take place. For the want of rmht instruction on this point many young converts suffer loss and , get far away from God. For instance, sometimes it happens that a young convert will fall into some sin, and then he feels as if he could not pray, and instead of overcoming this he feels so dis- t tressed l T hat h V VaitS for the keen ed §‘ e of his distress to pass away. Instead of going right to Jesus Christ in the midst of ' 1118 'agony, and confessing his sin out of the fulness of his heart and getting a renewed pardon and peace restored, he waits till aJl the keenness of his feelings have subsided, and then his re¬ pentance, if he does repent, is cold and half-hearted. Let me te you beloved, never to do this, but when your conscience presses you, go then, right to Christ, confess your sin fully, and pour out your heart to God. Sometimes people will neglect to pray because they are in the j dark, and feel no desire to pray. But that is the very time when they need prayer. That is the very reason why they ought to pray. You should go right to God and confess your coldness and darkness of mind. Tell him just how you feel, j Tell him “ O Lord, I have no desire to pray, but I know I ought to pray And the first you will know, the Spirit may come, and lead your heart out in prayer, and all the dark clouds will 32 pass away. 374 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 5. Young converts should be faithfully warned against adopt¬ ing a false standard in religion. They should not be left to fall in behind old professors, and keep them before their minds as a standard of holy living. They should always look at Christ as their model. Not aim at being as good Christians as the old church members, and not think they are doing pretty well because they are as much awake as the old members of the church. But they should aim at being holy, and not rest satis¬ fied till they are as perfect as God. The church has been greatly injured for the want of attention to this matter. Young con¬ verts have come forward, and their hearts were warm and their zeal ardent enough to aim at a high standard, but they w r ere not directed properly, and so they soon settle down into the notion that, what is good enough for others is good enough for them, and therefore they never aim higher than those who are before them. And in this way the church instead of rising with every revival higher and higher in holiness, is kept nearly stationary. 6. Young converts should be taught to do all their duty. They should never make a compromise with duty, nor think of saying “ I will do this as an offset for neglecting that." They should never rest satisfied till they have done their duty of every kind, in relation to their families, the church, Sabbath Schools, the impenitent around them, the disposal of their property, the conversion of the world. Let them do their duty, as they feel it when their hearts are warm ; and never attempt to pick and choose among the commandments of God. 7. They should be made to feel that they have no separate in¬ terest. It is time Christians were made actually to feel that they have no interest whatever, separate from the interest of Jesus Christ and his kingdom. They should understand that they are incorporated into the family of Jesus Christ, as members in full, so that their whole interest is identified with his. They are embarked with him, they have gone on board, and taken their all. And henceforth they have nothing to do, or nothing to say, except as it is connected with this interest and bearing on the cause and kingdom of Christ. 8. They should be taught to maintain singleness of motive. Young converts should not begin to have a double mind, on any subject, or let selfish motives mingle in with good motives in any thing they do. But this can never be, so long as Chris¬ tians are allowed to hold a separate interest of their own, dis¬ tinct from the interest of Jesus Christ. If they feel that they have a separate interest, it is impossible to keep them from re- garding it, and having an eye to it as well as to Christ’s in- INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. 375 t&rest, in many thing's that they do. It is only by becoming entirely consecrated to Grod, and giving up all to his service, U that the y can ever keep their eye single and their motives pure! 9. They should set out with a determination to aim at being useful in the highest degree possible. They should not rest satisfied with merely being useful, or remaining in a situation where they can do some good. But if they see an opportunity where they can do more good, they must embrace it, whatever may be the sacrifice to themselves. No matter what it may , cost them, no matter what danger or what suffering, no mat* ter what change in their outward circumstances, or habits, or employments it may lead to. If they are satisfied that they will on the whole do more good, they should not even hesitat 3 . Flow else can they be like God? Flow can they think to bear the image of Jesus Christ, if they are not prepared to do all the good that is in their power ? When u man is converted he comes into a new world, and should consider himself as a new man. If he finds he can do the most good by remaining in his old employment, let it be so. But if he can do more good in some other way, he is bound to change. It is for the want of attention to this subject, in the outset, that Christians have sot such low ideas on the subject of duty. And that is the reason why there are so many useless members in our churches, i, 10. They must be taught not to aim at comfort but useful¬ ness in religion. There are a great many spiritua -picuicS in the churches, who are all the while seeking to be happy in re¬ ligion, while they take very little pains to be useful. They had much rather spend their time in singing joyful hymns, and in pouring out their happy feelings in a gushing tide" of exultation and triumph, than to spend it in agonizing prayer for sinners, or in going about and pulling dying men out of the fire. They seem to feel as if they were born to enjoy themselves. But I do not think such Christians show sudh fruits as to make their ex¬ ample one to be imitated. Such was not the temper of the apostles. They travailed for souls, and laboured in weariness and painfulness, and in deaths oft, to save sinners. Nor is it safe. Ordinarily, Christians are not qualified to drink deep at the fountain of joy. In ordinary cases, a deep agony of prayer for souls is more profitable than high flights of joy. Let young converts be taught, plainly, not to calculate upon a life of joy and triumph. They may be called to go through fiery trials. Satan may sift them like wheat. But they must go forward, not calculating so much to be happy as to be useful, not talking about comfort but duty, not desiring flights of joy and triumph, 376 INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. but hungering and thirsting after righteousness, not studying how to create new flights of rapture, but how to.know the will of God, and do it. They will be happy enough in heaven. There they may sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. And they will in fact enjoy a more solid and rational happiness here, by thinking nothing about it, but patiently devoting themselves to do the will of Go this proves that he is guilty of all; in other words, that he does not, from the heart , obey at all. A man may pray half of the time and have no religion; if he does not keep the command¬ ments ot God, his very prayer will be hateful to God. “ He thtit turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer j shall be abomination.” Do you hear that ? If a man refuses to obey God s law, if he refuses to comply with any one duty hatefu? 01 Pray ’ 116 HaS n ° religion - llis veI T devotions are 6. Young converts, by proper instructions, are easily brought to be “ temperate in all things." Yet this is a subject greally neglected in regard to young converts, and almost lost si he may have to what is right , still his conduct is not accept¬ able unless it be done under the full tide of emotion. He will therefore often wait till these emotions first exist in his mind, before he addresses himself to the performance of duty. But converts should know that the way to call emotion or feeling into exercise, is to engage, from principle, in the performance of duty. And that whenever a man engages in the performance of duty, from a regard to the authority of God, he may expect in this way, to call into exercise those feelings for which young 1 converts are so apt to wait. A growing regard to the authority I of God, a strengthening of the purpose of obedience, a more firm and constant adherence to what is right, and to what God re¬ quires because it is right, at once constitutes, and is an evidence of, growth in grace. 3. Another important evidence of growth in grace is more love to God. By this I do not mean that there will be in all 420 .GROWTH IN GRACE. i cases a conscious increase of emotions of love to God. But that there will be a strengthening- of real attachment to God’s char¬ acter and government. This may be illustrated by the opera¬ tion of a growing attachment to our country, or to our families. Very young persons are apt to have but little love for their country. But as they grow older, and have more experience, if the government is good, their attachment to it increases, until in the decline of life you will see an aged patriot with his crutch and his gun, ready to turn out and hobble to the field of battle, to repel the invaders of his country’s peace. I do not mean by this that increasing love to God leads individuals to use carnal weapons, in either building up or defending his government.— But that if they are true friends to God, the longer they live un¬ der his government, the more confidence they have in him, and the more attachment to him. And this increased attachment will evince itself in a growing veneration for all the institutions of religion, for the Sabbath, and for all the commands of God. It is true, where there is a growth in principle, there is com¬ monly a proportionate increase of feeling. But this is not al¬ ways so. There may be various causes for the mind’s exer¬ cising less of felt emotion, while it actually increases in the strength of holy principle. But let there be no mistake on this subject. I have said that by principle I mean a regard to what is right, and a fixed determination to do that which is duty. Let no one say, therefore, while he neglects his duty , and his heart is cold, that he is growing in principle, although he has less feeling than others. To grow in principle is to grow in obedience. And it is in vain for a man who neglects his duty, to profess to be grow¬ ing in grace. 4. Another evidence of growth in grace is when a person in¬ creases in love to men as well as love to God. Growing Chris¬ tians show by their lives that they become continually more and more inclined to do good to men. Their hearts become more and more enlarged in benevolence to all men. Young converts are apt to be chiefly influenced by a special and par¬ tial regard to individuals, their relations, or their former com¬ panions or neighbors. But as they grow in grace these cir¬ cumstances makeless and less difference in their feelings, towards their friends and towards others. Their hearts expand, they have more and more feeling for the heathen, and for all the world. As they increase in piety, they feel more and more a desire that the ivorld should be converted to God. They have more and more heart-breaking agony at the dreadful state of men in their sins. And their views and affections rise and expand, until they GROWTH IN GRACE. 421 *• > feel, like God, their bowels of compassion yearn for all men tha‘ they might repent and be saved. Beloved does it appear so to you ? Is this your state of mind ? Are you more and more weighed down with the idea that men are going to hell ? And have you greater and greater desires that the world should be converted to God? 5. Those who grow in grace feel more and more self-loathing They have greater humility and self abasement. I suppose the saints will increase in this to all eternity. I see nothing in this inconsistent with the happiness of heaven. It seems to me that to all eternity as the ages roll round, the saints will feel con¬ stantly, more and more, how much they deserve to be sent to hell for their wickedness. As they see the development of God’s government, and the displays of his infinite -goodness, the}’' will be more and more impelled to exclaim, “ O how wicked I was, what an infinite wretch, how much I deserve to lie in hell rather than to be in heaven.” It is so here in this world. Growing Christians more and more loathe thems.elves, and wonder how God could have spared such wretches. Job, when he was in darkness, justified himself throughout. He declared that his prayer was pure, and that he did not deserve these ca¬ lamities. And Gctd had said he was a perfect and an upright man. He did not mean that Job was perfectly sinless, for it was not true that he was perfect in .this sense. But God meant to say, he was sincere. This is the meaning of the word perfect here. And it is generally the meaning of it in the Bible He meant to say that Job was honest in religion. Job remained in this darkness, and all the while justifying himself, for a long time, but by and by he had clear views of God, and all his self-justi¬ fication was gone, and he cried out, “ I have heard of thee by hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Such deep self- abasement was the natural result of clear views of God. So it was with Isaiah. I have been confounded when I have heard some persons talk of their purity, and of being entirely pure from their sins, and of being perfect. They must have vastly different views of themselves from what Job and Isaiah had. What did Isaiah see? He says, “I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the tempfe. Above it stood the seraphim ; each one had six wings, with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, Holy, HOLY, is the Lord of hosts; the whote ear*h is full of his glory ” What was the effect of a view 'J 36 422 GROWTH IN GRACE. God on his mind? “ Wo is me i” said Isaiah, “ Wo is me, for I am undone, hecaijse I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts f” Hear that man saying that he is perfect, that he is pure from his sins. Is he? 1 ask again, Is he? I doubt that man. What! When Isaiah had but a glimpse of God, and of heaven, it was so holy that he was overwhelmed, he could not endure it, his self-abasement was so great that until an angel took a live coal from off the altar and touched his lips, and assured him his sins were forgiven, he was in despair. This is the natural result of having a clear view of God. It makes a person sink down in self-abasement lowei, and lower, and LOWER, so that when he comes into the presence of God, he wants to find a place so infinitely low before God, words cannot express it. Beloved, do you know any thing of this? L)o you grow in grace in this lespect? Do you feel day by day as if you wanted to get lower and lower in the dust before God ? Have you ever felt so that you could say in truth, as President Ed¬ wards did : “ O that I could get infinitely low before God !” . 6 - An increased abhorrence of sin is another mark of growth in grace. When a person feels day by day less and less dis¬ posed to compromise with sin, with any sin, in himself or in others, it is a sign that he is growing in grace. Is it so with you, beloved? Have you daily less and less fellowship with sm in all shapes, m YOURSELF and in others? Do you feel more as God feels towards sin ? 7 He who grows in grace has less relish for the world.— He has less and Hess desire for its wealth, its honors, its pleasures. A desire for these things has less and less influ¬ ence, as a motive, m his mind. He seeks wealth and honor onl y as instruments of glorifying God and of doing good to Wh ° ^ 2 ro ™ n 2 in ? race becomes less fond of woj dly company and worldly conversation, and reading world¬ ly bootfs, or newspapers. You see a growing Christian im?U? e m iness ’ ynj 1 bnd he cares very little for imeM«gence of any kind, unless it has a bearing some way or other, upon the kingdom of God. You will find him rathe! seeking alier tne most spiritual things he can get hold of. He will seize hold of the most spiritual books to read. He will love & C r n r rsati .™ of the raost spiritual Christians. si. v ' a ? d lf P oss ‘Me attend the most pun.-ent and searching spiritual preaching. 1 & ’ I GROWTH IK GRACE. 423 f i t 4 j i ! | I 1 | I 3. Increasing delight in the fellowship of the saints, is another evidence of growth in grace. The growing Christian loves to unite with others in acts of devotion, and other religious exer¬ cises, and loves to enjoy religious intercourse. Do you know what this is, beloved? Do you increase in this? 9. He who grows in grace finds it more and more easy to exercise a forgiving spirit, and to pray for his enemies. There is nothing in which men, who are in their natural state, more resemble the devil, than in their harboring angry and revenge¬ ful feelings toward those who have injured them. A young convert often finds it hard to forgive. When he feels himself injured, very often he finds he cannot pray. That wrong comes .right up before his mind, and he cannot pray. Now r if he lets it rankle in his bosom, till he gets angry, it is most likely he will backslide. He does not mean to be angry, but if he does not heartily forgive the one that he thinks has done him wrong, it will run on till darkness fills his soul, and his revengeful feelings will destroy his religion. If a person is growing in grace, he will find it more and more easy to forgive. He will find that he is less apt to lay up any thing against another, and that it costs him less trouble to get over supposed injuries, so as to be able to pray. Do you find this to be so, you who hear me to night; is it easier for you to forgive, can you forgive the greatest injuries at once, so that nothing of the kind can come up between you and God, to hinder your prayers ? 10. Growing more charitable is an evidence of growth in grace. I do not mean by charitable, that he should be more ready to be¬ lieve every body a Christian who professes to be so. But he is more ready to ascribe a person’s apparently wrong conduct to mistake, or misapprehension, or some other cause, than to direct evil intention. Nothing more satisfactorily shows the Christian. If you find an individual inclined to put the best construction on actions, whenever they are susceptible of two constructions; as, for instance, if an act appears on the face of it to be unkind¬ ness or neglect, and the individual is apt to think it was not designedly wrong, but only done through a mistake, or some other motive of that kind, you have evidence that such a prison is growing in grace. 11. Having less and less anxiety about worldly things is an evidence of growth in grace. A growing Christian will more and more perfectly obey the command, “ Be caieful for nothino-,” that is, Be not anxious, “but in every thing by praver 0 and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God ” All anxiety about the woiid is '4 424 GROWTH IN GRACE. wicked. Persons who grow in grace have more and more confidence in God, and less and less love for the world, and of course will be less liable to feel anxiety about worldly things. 12. Becoming more ready to bestow property is a sign of growth in grace. If a person is growing in grace he will be more and more ready to give, and willing to give ALL that is in his power. He will rejoice to be called on. He will give m< re and more yearly. If he gives from right motives he will be glad when he has given. And the more he gives, the more he loves to give. His giving will be a part of his religion, and he will grow in it just as in prayer. Now you know, the more a person prays, the more he loves to pray. Do you find this evi¬ dence that you are growing in grace? Is it more and more a pleasure to you to give, according to your ability, for everv good object, according as you have opportunity ? Do you crive according to your ability, or do you give only just as much as is necessary to keep up appearances ? 13. He feels less and less as if he had any separate interest. “‘ S , a f aat ‘ bln .S’, m re p;-d to growth in grace, to feel that all y ate .s rtst s, and that you have absolutely no separate n ° Pr '™ te Intere l t in 1,vin S- or in dying, or in holding nntn !h y ’ V ^ ‘ ldre , n ’ 0 f ^aracter. “ Whether we live, we livf unto the Lotd, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord- whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s ” This is a great and solemn lesson to learn. Persons who grow in orace feel that their time, talents, property, life itself, have value °onlv m their relation to Christ’s kingdom. ’ 7 14. It is an evidence of growth in grace where a person be¬ comes more willing to confess faults before men. It is a great learn M ^ t0 men ' ll is a often hafdto am. Men aie willing to confess to God, because they have not so far to stoop, to do this. But to confess fully and frankly in ^rTce S th great St ? f ° r a proud heart But w/en they grow as frankiv h M ^ JUSt 38 S °° n confess a fault ’ and confess as frankly, to a servant, or an enemy, or the lowest member of souety, as to the most exalted individual. Do you know this ? o y ou feel it less and less painful to confess a fault ? There STA", 1;n °r lliS0 '7 heart - tbat bas not found a struggle 6 can cSs to Cod l* , ‘° C ° nfeSS to individua ls- A man » ft.fl? c° G J od - but man y cannot without a struggle confess a fault to a friend ora servant, or an enemy. But She grows o fnv Ce bo h dv W ' be , C °T read y'° confess - iPhe has done wrong a ?7 b , od y' y™’ t0 ‘he entire universe. If he is perfect!? humble, he will be willing to confess, if all the universe should GROWTH IN GRACE. 425 If yon cannot do this, be sure' you are not growing in ! grace, if you have any grace. 15. Growing in grace raises a person more and more above the world. The growing saint regards less and less either the good or ill opinions of men. He feels that it is of little importance, only as it may affect his usefulness. I do not mean by this, that a person should have a proud contempt for the opinions of his fellow men. He may feel and manifest this, and instead of having more evidence of weanedness from the world, he will have evidence of his consummate pride. But I if a person is growing in grace, only let him see his DUTY, and he will not turn aside although public opinion should be all against him. He will not do, or omit to do, any thing, but from a regard to the glory of God. The frowns or the flat¬ teries of the world will not be taken into the account when he sees his duty. It is amazing to see how much of what appears to be religion, is, after all, a mere obsequious yielding to public opinion, instead of yielding obedience to God. Public opinion requires that those who have made a profession of religion should do so and so, and therefore they do so. IV. I am to show you how to grow in grace. This is a highly important subject to young converts, that they should know how it is done. 1. They should watch. They should watch against their besetting sins. (1.) Levity. I need not enlarge on this any farther than to say, that it is the besetting sin of many persons, and unless they place a tenfold watch at the door of their lips, they will never grow in grace. Once yielding to a spirit of levity, may grieve the spirit and put out your light for a day, and giving way once, but makes way for a repetition, so that unless you begin with decision and continue with great prayer and watchings, •to keep down the spirit of levity, you are undone. (2.) Censoriousness. Young converts are particularly in danger of this. They enter upon religion full of ardor, and they are soon amazed at the coldness and apathy of old profes¬ sors. And they have room to be amazed. Heaven and earth are amazed at the manner in which old professors lay stumbling blocks before young converts. And it is no wonder that young converts, when they see such things, should imagine, in the warmth of their feeling, that such professors have no religion. And so they are liable to Say hard arid' censorious things. But they ought to learn carefully to distinguish between the deep principles of ripe Christians, and the lively feelings of young 36* III' r it , n » hear. 426 GROWTH IN GRACE. converts. If they keep this in mind, they will not be so likely to misjudge. And whatever may be their sober judgment about the state of others, young converts ought to be very care¬ ful what they say of them. Don’t keep talking about the faults of others. Do not speak censoriously of any. If you do, you will grieve away the Holy Spirit, and you will not grow in grace. (3 ) Anger. How many Christians are injured by letting their temper rise. If they are women, they fret at their ser¬ vants. Men fret at their clerks, or at those who are in their employ, or they get angry with the government, or with their neighbors, go to finding fault in some way or other, that shows they do not watch their temper. How can they grow in grace ? (4.) Pride. Guard against pride and vanity in all their forms. Be very careful never to purchase an article of dress or furniture, or any thing calculated to foster vanity in your mind. Woman, you are going to buy a bonnet, be careful not to get one that will make you think of it when you wear it Alas ! how much pains some people take to foster their own bad passions. The devil might go to sleep, in regard to some C tiristians; he has no need to lie in wait to tempt them, they empt themselves, they are doing the very things that are calcu- ae o pufi them up with pride. Such foolishness is enough o make them the ridicule of Satan. Young females, young men be careful, watch against this. In how many places has “V hC hlSt °/ y ' During the winter a revival, many con¬ vened all engaged ; spring comes, and somebody sets them all ne ™ fashl ' on > an <* then where is your prayer-meet- if ’ A? re are ^ e . se y° un & converts taken in the snare and all gone off to worship the goddess of fashion. I mean that by degrees the young ladies and others are drawn off from com versation and thinking upon religion, to conversing and think- thft e^t? m neW m 1 dress or equipage, or some vain thing m F S ? mt n allty ’ ^ eaves them in great darkness ft, r /dhshness m all its forms. Here is the great root of all he difficulty. This is the foundation, the fountain, the sub- s ance. and sum total of all the iniquity under heaven. Watch duct’ Sr 1 COnstantJ y’ ® ee where self conies out in your con- to it’th n r n S6 ‘ “ gUa / d ' If y° u are ™king a bargain, see would Jn y r' d ° ” 0t ac i‘ ^ r ° m selfish motives - Deal just as you If 11? fi r Were d 5 n * Do as y° u would be done by. y If you find you are disposed to act selfishly, shut down the gate, Stop here. If you are about to deal in any other rvay than ) ou would if God stood visibly before you—STOP. The devil GROWTH IN GRACE. 427 is in that bargain. You never will grow in grace unless you are exceedingly on your guard against self in your bargains. If you find this mighty self coming in to interfere, bid him to stand away. “ Stand away, self, you are not to speak here, I am doing business for God.” You cannot grow in grace, until you stop the mouth of this “ self.” (6.) Sloth. This is an evil, great enough to ruin the world How many converts stop and decline by sloth. In plain terms they get lazy. Like idle servants, they saunter about as if they had nothing to do, they will not take hold of the work, they are mere eye-servants, unprofitable enough, a moth to the church. (7.) Envy. If you see others going ahead of you in pros¬ perity, in influence or in talents, examine your feelings, and see whether you are pleased at it. If the sight gives you pain, or make you uneasy, beware. (8.) Ambition. By this sin angels fell, and it is impossible to grow in grace without suppressing it. (9.) Impure thoughts. We are so much under the influence of sensible objects that unless we watch diligently, before we are aware, we are perverted with impure thoughts. It is necessary to make a covenant with our eyes, and with our ears too, and all our senses, or they will prove the inlet of temptation and sin. If you find yourself in danger, turn your thoughts away instantly. If you let your mind run on, it is impossible you should avoid impure thoughts. Here is the responsibility, the will can control the thoughts, you can think of one thing or you can think of another, as you please, and thus control your emo¬ tions, and therefore you are responsible for them. Let an in¬ dividual suffer his thoughts to dwell on a subject, and he cannot but be affected by it, and he is responsible for the effect because he can govern his thoughts. In all such cases, I tell you, GO AWAY, turn off your mind, or impure thoughts will fester in your soul, till they prove a gangrene.. 2. Another direction for growing in grace, is, Take care iff exercise all the Christian graces. If a little child does not ex¬ ercise its faculties, it will never be any thing but a child. Rock it in a cradle till it grows to man’s size, and it is still m a state of babyhood. It is impossible that the muscles should have strength but by exercise. It is equally impossible that the oraces of a Christian should grow and have strength, if they are not exercised. Here I wish to suggest a thought for you to dwell upon. The soul thinks by using the brain, just as it sees by using the eyes, or hears by using the ears. And the brain needs exercise, in order to have strength, just as much as any other part 428 GROWTH IN GRACE. of the body. What4s it that gives power to the mind that stu¬ dies. The exercise of the brain. Any power of the mind, in¬ tellectual or moral, increases by exercise. You know that the more you use your arm, the more powerfully you can use it, and with the more ease. See that musician, how he moves his fingerson his instrument, with what precision, and almost with the rapidity of thought. So it is with the mind that uses the brain. By exercise it gains the brain so entirely under control, that it can throw itself at once into any act, exercise, or attitude, and is never at a loss, or taken by surprise. Just so with the Chris¬ tian graces, they must grow and be cultivated by exercise. It is just as absurd to expect that the mind can readily and pow¬ erfully throw itself into them , without practice, as to"expect that it shall throw itself readily and powerfully into any intellectual operation without practice. Exercise yourself especially in those things where you find yourselves most deficient, whether the defect arises from your previous habits, or constitutional temperament, or circumstances of life. If you are exposed to a particular sin, guard there. If you are deficient in a particular grace, exercise that. (1.) Suppose you are naturally wordly minded, and in danger of being carried away by the love of the world. Shut down the gate, and determine that you will on no account add to your wealth, or lay field to field. Do nothing of the kind. What would you think of any body who should go to re¬ claiming a drunkard by filling his cellar with wine and all sorts of tempting liquors ? "Y ou would say he was deranged. Not a particle more beside himself than is that professor of religion, who knows he is inclined to love the world, and yet will go on adding to his wealth. He needs no devil, he tempts himself, he takes the most effectual course to destroy himself. If you are tempted to indulge a worldly spirit, pour out more and more give often, give liberally, give heartily, bountifully, increase your gifts, give to every object, give away every thing you have on earth if that is necessary to knock on the head this hateful spirit Relieve yourself from the temptation to hoard up the wealth of this world. Carry this out, and you will find that the more you give, the more you gain advantage, and your soul will grow in grace. (2.) Suppose you are in danger of being flattered and lifted up with pride. As a reasonable being you are bound to know nns and be on your guard. There is a woman who has a hus¬ band, doating cn her, and wants to dress her up like a graven image and worship her. Be firm and say, “ I am not going to GROWTH IN GRACE. 429 M I be worshipped. I worship God myself, and will not be m idol for man.” I have known some Christian women, who, when asked how they could wear such and such expensive dresses, say, “ O, it is to please my husband, he is a worldly man, and loves to see me wear them, and he can afford it, and so I gratify him.” Suppose now he should build a temple, and set up an altar in it, and then wish you to stand up there and be his god¬ dess, and let him offer incense, and some one should say, “ How is this ? I thought you professed to worship Jehovah, and do you stand up here to be worshipped yourself?” You should reply, “ O, I do it to please my husband, he is an ungodly man, and wishes to do so, and I like to gratify him, I hope in this way to lead him along, and retain an influence on his mind, that in God’s time I hope to make him a Christian.” Why, you have just as much right to say this, as you have to be decked out in all this gaudy drapery of fashion, and made an idol of in the way you are. REMEMBER, you are a servant of Jesus Christ, and you have no right to yield to any mortal, that authority which belongs to HIM. And besides, this pretence of doing it to please your husband, is, in nine cases out of ten, all a sham. You do it to please yourself Beware. If you are inclined to be proud, guard against it as against the gates of death. (3.) If you find that you are reluctant to confess your faults, break right over it, and confess to every body that you have injured. ° Practice it on all occasions, till you get the victory. Victory will come at last, if you are thorough. But there is no other way to get the upper hand of your evil propensities. If you indulge the feeling, you are just as certainly ruined, as a man who loves liquor is sure to become a drunkard, if he con¬ tinues to drink. If he does not deny himself of every thing that can intoxicate or excite his appetite, he is gone. So with you, if you do not resist where you are exposed, you will just as surely go to hell as there is a hell. .... - 5. Exercise decision of character. In nothing is decision of character so indispensable as in religion. In nothing else aie there so many influences bearing against a man, and so many things that are calculated to turn him back from his purpose. To walk with God a man must walk contrary to the course of this world. He must face public sentiment, and go abreast, not unfrequently, of the opinions of all the world, and nearly of all the church. If on the one hand, he can be awed by opposition, or on the other courted by smiles and flattery he Jri be certain not to make headway, and stem the tide that is bearing him away from God. Very few persons exercise suf- 430 GROWTH IN GRACE. ficient decision to maintain a spirit of prayer. No person can enjoy the spirit of prayer, who does not maintain a conscience void of offence, towards God and man. He must he willing to know, and do, all his duty. If he draws back from doing what he sees to be duty, or if he neglects to search and know what his duty is, he cannot enjoy the spirit of prayer. But most men are so much the creatures of public sentiment, so easily deterred by enemies, or kept away from duty by the flatteries and persuasion of friends, that they grieve the Spirit of God, get into a temporizing, man-pleasing, man-fearing spirit, that dishonors God, and freezes the sOul. A man must maintain great firmness of purpose, and great decision of character, to be undeviating in the performance of secret duties. Men are so apt to neglect secret prayer and private duties, when they do not at the time feel like engaging in thern, that without uncom¬ mon energy of character, even the form of private duties will be more or less punctually attended to, according to the state of feeling in which the Christian finds himself at the time. 6. To grow in grace, a man must possess great meekness. Meekness is patience under injuries. If a man suffers him¬ self to be fretted by opposition, and thrown into a passion by obstacles that are thrown in his way, he may rest assured that featan will manage to keep him in such a state of mind, that he will by no means grow in grace. A want of meekness is a sad defect in Christian character. A spirit to resent every thing is extremely unlovely, unchrist-like, and wicked. And perhaps there are few things that more disarm professors of re¬ ligion, and nullify their influence as Christians, than a disposi¬ tion to fret. If a Christian does his duty, he must take it for granted that he will meet with opposition. And as long as the church is in such a state as it now is, he must expect often to receive the most determined opposition from those from whom much better things ought to have been expected. In such cases he must learn to possess his soul in patience, and let pa¬ tience have its perfect work. When he is reviled, he must learn not to revile again. And if he is persecuted, to threaten not. Many individuals seem to attach great importance to their own reputation, and suppose themselves obliged to defend their character, for the honor of religion. I am afraid of this spirit. It seems to me exceedingly unlike the spirit of Christ who made himself of NO REPUTATION. He was reviled and slandered, and all manner of evil spoken against him, and yet he seems to have manifested no disposition to spend his time in going about, hunting up the authors of those slanders. He GROWTH IN GRACE, 431 i i ; I :t i L never acted as if he supposed that his honor, or the success of his gospel, required him to do so. And why the servant should be thought above his master, I do not know. Y. I will mention some things that are evidences of declension. Those of you who were present at the last lecture will recol¬ lect that I preached on backsliding, and in the course of it men tioned several things that are evidences of backsliding, or de clension. I will now mention several others, that ought to be kept in view, as evidences of declension. 1. The person who grows weary of being asked to give for promoting the kingdom of Christ, is evidently declining. He says, “ Now I think I have given about enough, there seems to be no end to it, and I mean to stop; there are so many agents constantly begging, it is time to break it up.” You hear a man talk in that style, depend upon it he is either a hypocrite, and has never given from right motives at all, or he is a back¬ slider, and is declining rapidly in piety. It is plain, that where a man gives from right motives, the more he gives, the more he loves to give. This holds just as true in regard to giving, as praying. If you find a man sick of giving to promote the kingdom of Christ, are you to call that man pious? Suppose he should get sick of praying, and say, “ There is no end to this, I may as well stop first as last, for if I go on in this way, by and by I shall have to pray all the days of my life.” Would any body pretend to give him the character of a pious man? 2. Becoming backward to converse on the subject of religion, and particularly to converse on spiritual and experimental, and heart-searching points, is evidence of declension. Young converts, when they are in the ardor of their first love, delight to pour out their hearts in spiritual conversation. They love to talk of the things of the kingdom. And when they lose their relish for this, you may be sure they are declining in piety. 3. When a person is less disposed to engage in the duties of devotion, public, social, or private, it is a sign of declension. If he does not love so well to pray, and read his Bible, and draw near to God, he must be declining in piety. 4. Taking more delight in public meetings than in priva's duties and secret communing with God, is another evidence o\ a declining state. Those who enjoy religion enjoy themselves nowhere so well as in secret. If you find it necessary to have the excitement of a meeting to stir up your feelings and create an interest in devotion, it is certain you are declining. 432 GROWTH IN GRACE. 5. Feeling less delight in revivals of religion, is a sad token ct declension. The young convert delights in revivals. How eagerly he seizes the newspaper to see where there are revivals. How he dwells on such blessed outpourings of the spirit. But when he declines in piety, he becomes less anxious to know about revivals. Revival intelligence no longer gives such joy, or causes such bounding of heart, as it once did. When you see a professor of religion uninterested in accounts of revivals and in hearing of the conversion \>f sinners, be sure he is in a state. ' - •*.. 6. A person that becomes captious about measures used in promoting revivals, is in a declining state. If you find your¬ self growing very much afraid of the measures that good men pursue, and that God owns and blesses, for promoting revivals, you are evidently declining. If-your heart was set on the object, then so long as you saw the object was gained, and sinners were brought in, the particular means by which it was done would give you no manner of concern unless they were manifestly wicked, and certainly you would not be disposed to take it for granted that they are wicked and unscriptural. But where you see people, I do not care who they are, beginning to be suspicious and captious and fretful about the means by which revivals are carried on, their heart is in a bad state. I do not mean to speak it unkindly, or disrespectfully, but I say it is a simple matter of fact that it is so. Men never act in this way when they are greatly engaged in promoting an object. They do not spend all their strength in finding fault with the means. See to at man who is deeply engaged in carrying on an elec- tioneermg campaign. Do you find him captious about measures ? What does he ask ? “ Is our candidate elected ?” Not, “ Was the vote carried by new or old measures?” You’ would laugh at any man who should pretend to be zealously engaged in promoting a cause, if his first question and greatest concern was about the measures, and if he lost all his interest in the event unless it was accomplished by new or old measures. No doubt the devil laughs, if they can laugh in hell, to hear a man pretend to be very much engaged in religion, and a great lover ol revivals, and yet all the time on the look-out for fear some new measures would be introduced. Such conduct is not natural, and people will not believe such professions of zeal for VI. I am to show how to escape from a state of declen¬ sion. GROWTH IN GRACE. 433 i* 1. You must admit the conviction that you are in a state of declension. One of the greatest difficulties with backsliders is to make them feel that they are backsliders. You continually hear them making excuses. They will not admit that they are I in this sad state. When the condition of the backslider is described ever so plainly, they are exceedingly loth to admit that it means them. And until they admit this, there is no remedy. 2. Apply to yourself all that God says to backsliders, just as if you were the only individual in the world in that con¬ dition. 3. Find out the point where you began to decline. See what was the first cause of your backsliding, and give that up. You will often find this first cause where you did not expect it, in some things which you called a little matter, or that you tried to ( make yourself believe was not a sin. Multitudes have been kept down in this way, and perhaps have been trying hard for sanctification while holding on to some darling idol or some sensual indulgence. I'knewaman who stood out in defending I the use of tobacco, till it became a lust that eat out his spirit of prayer. Using some soft word, calling it a comfort or a me¬ dicine, or even baptizing it by a Christian name, and calling it a blessing of Providence, will not answer. God does not call it so. How many keep themselves in a state of decline and pretend not to know why it is so: “ O, no, I cannot tell why I should be so long in the dark;” when they are laying out God’s money to indulge their own appetite or pride. God will always hold them at arm’s length, and will frown upon them when they pray, unless they search out and remove the cause of their de¬ clension. 4. Give up your idols. Whatever you find occupies your thoughts, and calls you off from serving God, get rid of it, if you can. If it is an article of property, dispose of it in some ' way, give it away, sell it, burn it, away with it, rather than have it stand between you and God. 5. Be careful to apply afresh to' the Lord Jesus Christ, for pardon and peace with God. Go to him just as you did at first, as a guilty, condemned sinner, more deserving of hell than ever. Apply to this fountain, which is set open in the house of David for sin and uncleanness. Confess your sins fully, and forsake them, and thus return to God, and he will have mercy on you, and will heal your backslidings, and remember your iniquities no more. 37 * 434 GROWTH IN GRACE REMARKS. 1. There is no such thing as standing still in religion. People talk as if religion was something they could cover up and keep, just as people cover up fire to keep it when they want to go to sleep, and then when they wake up in the morning, find a good bed of coals, all ready to kindle up again. This is all a mistaken idea. Religion is not such a kind of thing as they suppose. Religion consists in obedi¬ ence to God. And when a man has no obedience he has no religion. 2. The idea that persons grow in grace during seasons of declension, is abominable. I have often, heard people say, that it is necessary that revivals should pass away, in order to give religion time to take deep root. Nothing can be more ridicu¬ lous than to suppose a person can be making advances in reli¬ gion, when in a state of declension. Their whole progress is the other way. 3. There are but few persons that do grow in grace. It is astonishing to see how little the generality of professors grow in grace. I have no doubt, that if persons would do as they might, and give the attention to it that they ought, the ge¬ nerality of professors might grow more in six months than they now do in all their lives. They might do more to counteract and remove all that is bad and to cultivate all that is good. One great reason why people do # not grow in grace, is the erro¬ neous idea they have of religion itself. Religion ha§ been too much looked upon as something separate from obedience to God. And hence people set themselves down in inaction, and wait for God to do a work in them, instead of setting them¬ selves at work to obey God. This notion of physical depravity and physical regeneration, and physical sanctification is the great curse of the church It leads Christians astray, and hin¬ ders their growth in grace. How many, instead of setting themselves resolutely to obey God, and setting their faces as a nint against all sin, with a determination to break up all old habits and associations, by repeated acts of resistance, passively commit themselves to the stream, and expect to be wafted home to glory in this lazy way, without the trouble of a conflict. 5. We see the great fault of ministers. How much they are to blame. How little pains they take tW 1 E» UP h° Ung COnve f rt ?; Go now over the ground where here have been some of the greatest revivals, and what will GROWTH IN GRACE. 435 you see ? Instead of finding the young converts built up in their most holy faith, growing in grace, and adorning the doc¬ trine of God our Savior, you hear all, old and young, com¬ plaining of general coldness. “ O ’tis a time of great stupidity, our church seem to be fast asleep, I do not know what we are coming to.” Whereas, if ministers had only gone to work, when there was a revival, and when young converts were brought in, had trained them up to work, taught them how to grow in grace, pointed out their dangers, rebuked their sins in season and in love, they might still have been growing Christians, an honor to Christ, and the strength of the cause, and the revival might have been pro¬ longed, and souls converted, to this day, Now where is their blood, and at whose hands will it be required ? One great reason why ministers do so little to make young converts grow in grace, is because they grow so little in grace themselves. I say it in kindness, but my duty requires that I should say it plainly to my brethren. Their studies are intellectual, and of course their progress is intellectual, and often they do not grow in grace, as it is necessary they should, in order to lead the church forward in Christian experience. They do not go into the subject at all lengths so that they can come forth from the very depths of spiritual experience, and teach the church I dp not mean to say, that this is so with all Ministers, but it is evi¬ dently so with many. 6. Unless ministers grow in grace, it is impossible for the church to grow. Ministers may preach the truth, but they will not enter into the experience of Christians, so as to meet their wants, or tell them what to do in their various spiritual circum¬ stances, or warn them of their danger, or tell them howto meet or escape it. The minister must have experience, or he will be a blind leader of the blind. Like people like priest, is a maxim founded on principles of correct philosophy. 7. Great pains should be taken by young ministers to grow in grace. I have found that many young men have been stopped trom enterin 0- on a preparation for the ministry by witnessing the ex¬ perience of others in this respect. Others have been driven to the conviction that they must stop studying or lose their piety. There is no need of this, if they would start right. O that I could make all young men hear this. There is no necessity that young men, preparing for the ministry, should decline. An yet how many do we find, that come out of college with hearts 436 growth in grace. » a T h ' hr0Ugh beca r they 7 e minht ™ . * grievous 1 hi ng* biLit‘neeL £Z “ 1^?^ ^ •“ contact with the young men preparing for the LmstrTand mea^ts foTtop^fudyfo^ aJgL Vp all'C^f ^ a " T^'S'illonly Si" 1 Th C0Ver ^ s P^4™wfog ^ They will lead the I f h T f e worse ‘han no ministers,- church will folW t^tinfoter ^ , Th , e them back from God thev J f h mimster ^ads churches must be on thlirLard ag inst kT° TT^ , t™ 6 young men fj rm ] v p llf i • At ? nbt . s ?vil. I would tell are growing Christrans. "° ° * ministers . unless they oveTJounLmen a a n ndLhe r n 1,y ^ feel ‘ h ,'> a ” d sh =>ll watch the cfiurch fo evervstenof th yaUng f 6 " sha11 fee} lhis watch of and urging them fo ^ ho LlhL tCeLtl! be™ L ttlTSSSl Z Cas¬ io the almost entirenfidect of'Llf L lnte | le F tuaI str cngtH, to the church never can convert the“ g ‘do ^ seminaries of learning anv (Treat effort tn > e s c e J n our feelings ofyouno- m en°? I anneal toe CU ' tlVate ,he moral been there * The • 1 a P.P ea , 1 , t0 ever y young man who has ihTzeCL aH forTe iLeliC'Th:’ ^ The T“*- the lists, from the nature n f tho ^ le Y°ung wan who enters spirituality. And if he does no° S f S ^ firm tone of break up "his habits he wilT los “ d proves, and his heart lies waste -P ty ‘ n Hls lntelJect im- ble that he does not feel rio-ht but ^ C °! f^ e> j 16 is sens i * was studying Euclid Then ho^ 3S 1 * 6 P romoted as if he pretty sermon fZ tn.t a , g0eS on ’ learns to write a preach his cold, forma! ^vritimr fb accordir] £ to ruJe « and than the molten calf The rein ^ U ° m ° Te ° f God in h God is not with him nor 1 T -t ,' he u has ™ Holy Ghost— he has more brains than heart P h! 6 that he should be, when vert the world ? There must he 1 S i UCh j ministr y con - re must be a genera] understanding on GROWTH IN GRACE. 437 i this subject. The Education Society must see to it, the ministers must see to it, the churches must see to it, young men them¬ selves must see to it, and must be made to feel that the church has her eye on them, and expects them to maintain deep piety, or the world never can be converted. 7. It is just as indispensable in promoting a revival, to preach to the church, and make them grow in grace, as it is to preach to sinners and make them submit to God. Many seem to think that if they can only get people converted, the whole ground is gained, and that they will grow in grace of course without any special aid. But the fact is, that young converts will no more grow in grace, without being properly preached to, than sin¬ ners will turn to God without being preached to. I he truth, in the hands of the Holy Ghost, is just as essential to the one as to the other. If he converts a sinner, it is by employ¬ ing truths preached, which are adapted to that. And if he causes a convert to grow in grace, he must employ truths preached, which are adapted to that. The perseverance of the saint depends just as entirely upon having truth aaapted to his state, as the repentance of a sinner depends on having truth adapted to his state. Until Christians give up entirely the idea of a physical religion, and understand that santification con¬ sists in obeying the truth, the church never will go along. There has been an oversight on this subject, in many protracted meetings, where almost all the preaching has been aimed for the conversion of sinners. In such meetings, at least half the preaching should be to the church. And it should be adapted to their "state. The church must be preached to, where they are, just as sinners must be preached to where they are 8. See why revivals cease. When there is a revival, and Christians are aw r ake, and get to *• a certain point, and then are carried no farther, the revival will cease of course. If the church is kept advancing, the revival Avill not cease. If the instructions given, and the measures pur¬ sued, keep the church going ahead, and the young converts growing in grace, the revival will go on. Let the minister keep pouring in the truth where they are, let him know fully, from time to time, the state of the church, and find out just what they need, and treat them thoroughly, and not suffer tnem to stand still for the Avant of being searched, and probed, and uiged aloncr in their course, and the revival may gam strength and power all the time. If the means could be made to bear upon the church, and upon the young converts, to Keep them out of 438 GROWTH IN GRACE. the way of sinners, and to keep them continually advancing in holiness, the revival would never cease. O, brethren, I wish you had patience, and I had strength enough to go on farther. There are so many points I wished to dwell upon before I closed this important subject. But if the Lord spares my life, I hope to have another opportunity of bringing them before you, when I return to the citv in the fall. J THE END. #