^if. 
 
3tt)ara, ^tva forh 
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 LEWIS BINGLEY WYNNE 
 
 A. B.. A.M. .COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, '71 ,'73 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 MRS. MARY A. WYNNE 
 
 AND 
 
 JOHN H. WYNNE 
 
 CORNELL -98 
 1922 
 
Cornell University Library 
 
 arV1608 
 
 The Good Shepherd : a discourse / 
 
 3 1924 031 191 780 
 olin.anx 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tfie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031191780 
 
THE 
 
 GOOD SHEPHERD: 
 
 DISOOTJRSE, 
 
 BY 
 
 J. OLIVER WILSON, 
 
 MINISTEK OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 •' I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say."— St, Paul. 
 > » ♦ 
 
 BALTIMOEE: 
 PRINTED BY FREDERICK A. HANZSCHE, 
 
 No. 234 BALTiMORE STREET. 
 
 i86r. 
 
TO 
 
 THE MEMBERS 
 
 OF the; 
 
 COLUMBIA CHURCH, 
 
 THE 
 
 FOLLOWING PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 BT THEIR SINCERE FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages contain a brief description of the 
 saints under the character of sheep ; their natural con- 
 dition — the cause and manner of their being chosen — ■ 
 their nature in the regeneration — ^their government and 
 final rest. The reader will find this booh to contain my 
 pulpit illustrations, arguments, and language ; which are 
 of a plain character. 
 
 When I took my pen to commit this discourse to 
 paper, my intention was only to produce a pamphlet ; 
 but in touching the different points I thought it expedi- 
 ent to introduce a few more arguments than used when 
 an attempt was made to deliver it in public ; and so in- 
 creased it to its present size. 
 
 As this work is in the form of a discourse, the reader 
 must not expect to find any argument carried to that 
 extent essential to a finished production. 
 
 It is now sent forthwith its doctrines in homely attire ; 
 and if the appearance of its dress should be painful to 
 the educated eye, I humbly beg to be borne with in 
 patience. If any doctriile should prove offensive, I beg 
 the reader to diligently search the Scriptures ; be sure 
 to understand what is herein enforced, compare the two, 
 and if the doctrine is proven false all the apology I can 
 offer will not save it, nor excuse me. If it is justified by 
 the unerring word of God, I have no need to present any 
 apology, whatever, for endeavoring to teach it. 
 
 Hoping the blessing of a kind Providence may follow 
 this little attempt, I now commit it to the consideration 
 of the reader. 
 
 Baltimobe, July, 1867. 
 
THE GOOD 8HEPPIERD. 
 
 Man may be called a worshiping beast, notwith- 
 standing the pride of his natural heart. Every 
 heathen nation worships some kind of a God, if it 
 is not a stock, or stone, or deified man, it is one of 
 the heavenly planets. They must not only have 
 various gods, but gods for various things, as Bac- 
 chus the god of Wine, Apis the god of industry, 
 worshiped by the Egyptians under the form of an 
 ox, Apollo a god of the Greeks and Komans, who, 
 they supposed presided over medicine, divination 
 and poetry. There were also goddesses, as Ate the 
 goddess of revenge. It is truly wonderful to examine 
 the list of deities found among the heathen. The 
 heathen mythology is truly an index of the natural 
 heart in matters of religion, and shows man to be 
 totally destitute of the knowledge of God. The 
 nominal Christian world has nearly as many gos- 
 pels in Christ's name as the heathens had gods. 
 And I defy any man to examine the hundreds of 
 conflicting doctrines, in the absence of his bible, 
 without great confusion ; yet all these inconsistent 
 gospels rest upon one foundation, viz., covenant of 
 works, while the true church rests upon the cove- 
 nant of mercy. 
 
 When we examine the many contending parties 
 on national government, we find they all rest upon 
 one of these three foundations, monarchy, aristoc- 
 racy or democracy. So in religious matters, after 
 all the contentions between the thousands of relig- 
 ionists, they all rest upon the foundation of works 
 
^ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 or grace. This agreement in foundation doctrine is 
 visible among the ancient philosophers. There was 
 a great difference in regard to tKeir modes of reason- 
 ing on their natixral religion^ yet the great body 
 agreed there was a first cause or causes of creation. 
 This religion of the heathen philosophers was un- 
 doubtedly false, nevertheless it proves two things. 
 
 First, it shows to my mind that God delivered to 
 our first parent an unwritten law or rule of conduct 
 ■which was a religion. The fall so unhinged the 
 mind that they could not retain it correctly, yet re- 
 tained an indistinct knowledge of it, (a mere shadow 
 of the law has ever shown itself in . the mind of 
 man) which soon became a corrupt tradition, was 
 handed down from generation to generation, and 
 must have become in some degree a crippled guide to 
 the philosophers. They did not, each, get from his 
 own mind the first idea of religion, independent of 
 foreign knowledge, hence we find these teachers 
 traveling to foreign countries for knowledge no 
 doubt in their religion. This with the open book 
 of nature was taken by them as a guide in religion 
 iind their progress therein proves a second important 
 fact, namely : 
 
 The inability of the human mind to find out God 
 and godlinesss by ancient tradition and nature's 
 book; not that nature's book is worthless, but man 
 is fallen and blinded. These philosophers, with 
 powerful natural minds, with these means as a guide, 
 in defiance of their strong intellect, in attempting 
 to explore the character and will of God have run 
 into some of the most ridiculous nonsense, and it is 
 true not a single man ever came near the truth of 
 God's nature or will. Well did Paul say "the 
 world by wisdom knew not God." When these 
 lofty minds had climbed from step to step in the 
 
INTRODUCTION. S 
 
 path of their wisdom — when they had pursued their 
 various plans of reasoning as the soaring eagle after 
 its lofty flight must finally descend and rest upon the 
 earth, they worshiped the creature rather than the 
 Creator. Noticing this, Paul says, "professing 
 themselves wise they became fools, and changed the 
 glory of the incorruptible God into an image made 
 like unto corruptible man and to birds and to four- 
 footed beasts, and creeping things." (Rom. i. 22, 23.) 
 Now, inasmuch as the wisdom of man, by the means 
 of nature and tradition's book has never yet found 
 out God or his religion, God has thereby shown the 
 necessity of his mercy to give a written revelation. 
 Man is not only naturally unable to find out God 
 and godliness, but to find out his own nature ; there- 
 fore we see in God's written revelation not only a 
 description of his character, but that of man's also. 
 
 Where is the wise man then in our day, who is so 
 foolish as to start out upon his own wisdom to dis- 
 cover God and his religion, when great minds of all 
 ages have attempted it in vain. However, as foolish 
 as it may be, we are surroiinded in every neighbor- 
 hood by parties of this character. It is a natural 
 propensity in man so to do, but it being natural 
 does not destroy our accountability in its practice, 
 we are without excuse. 
 
 Thus-we see man's inability in matters of religion, 
 and the necessity of a written revelation to guide 
 the mind and to establish a foundation for right 
 reasoning ; but this written revelation has not 
 changed the nature of Adam's posterity, the same 
 high estimation of powerful self, with its wisdom, 
 pride, and great general ability in matters of relig- 
 ion yet exists as it did in the heathen philosophers. 
 Since their day customs and laws of nations have 
 changed, many discoveries and inventions have been 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 found out, and education in many ways has under- 
 gone a great change, hut natural power and natural 
 corruption remains the same. Therefore, when the 
 written revelation came to the Jewish nation, it 
 must of necessity suffer of the corruption in them as 
 the unwritten tradition and hook of nature suffered 
 by the general corruption, blindness and ignorance 
 of these ancient philosophers. So we find it to he 
 in the history of the Jews. God gave them a written 
 law, while he passed by the great G-entile world, 
 giving them up to uncleanness and all manner of 
 idolatry. But let us notice how they succeeded with 
 this law. Called against their natural will from 
 idolatrous Egypt, they are made willing to obey the 
 call, by God, who gave it. He leads them out by 
 mighty signs and wonders, through the deep of the 
 Eed sea unto Mount Sinai. There God with his own 
 finger wrote on solid stone, the holy, just and good 
 law, gave full commandment how, when and where 
 they were to worship him, and if human nature had 
 that great power and will upon which ancient phi- 
 losophers rested so long and modern religionists 
 talk so much of, why did they not eagerly grasp the 
 unerring and newly revealed guide and go on unto 
 perfection ? Alas 1 they show themselves to be in 
 the same blind, wandering condition with the new 
 revelation as the others did with their guide. So 
 dull were they that God must raise a man who must 
 act as an earthly guide, who, because a mere man 
 like themselves, must be instructed immediately by 
 God. So far from being enabled to proceed in the 
 truth by natural wisdom, they misinterpreted nearly 
 every commandment and judgment of the Lord. So 
 God must keep a succession of inspired men to keep 
 up a line of true witnesses, but always in every age 
 leaving them a little season to themselves to show 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 them their inability. What was the result? They 
 changed the laws, (in pj'actice I mean,) they offered 
 slain beasts upon the altars, they ran into idolatry, 
 they broke their own promises to obey the law, and 
 were much wiser, in their own conceit, than God's 
 own inspired men. So' strong was the lusting of 
 this natural -wisdom in the Jews^ that the law was 
 not only misinterpreted and misapplied, but the 
 hints of the prophets to the promises made in Christ 
 to Grod's spiritual people were interpreted by their 
 worldly wisdom, all contrary to their true meaning, 
 and during four hundred years wherein God appears 
 to have given them up to their own minds, they be- 
 come so completely under the influence of natural 
 wisdom in interpreting the word of God that the 
 combined party bursts asunder and separates them- 
 selves into different sects, (which is always an 
 evidence of the action of worldly wisdom in matters 
 of religion,) in which situation the Lord Jesus found 
 them. Notwithstanding all their pretensions to 
 holiness at this period, the prophet, years before, 
 called them dry ground, and truly they were dry, 
 void of all vital religion. Being given up of God 
 to follow their own understandings and hearts (see 
 Jer. xxiii. 17,) they became so foolish, and like the 
 philosophers with their Gods, became so wild in 
 their imagination concerning the Messiah, that when 
 he came they knew neither him nor his doctrine, 
 nor the God who sent him. This very bewildered 
 condition of the Jews, was the immediate cause of 
 the crucifixion, "Him being delivered by the deter- 
 minate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have 
 taken and with wicked hands have crucified and 
 slain-." (Acts.) Given up of God, but slain by 
 the Jews ; determined by God, but done by the full 
 and free consent of their will ; righteousness to the 
 
6 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 full on Grod's part, but guilt and treacliery on theirs. 
 What a mixture ! And yet the path of infinite wis- 
 dom winds its way through it ; a confusion to the 
 human mind, yet a path in which no human mind 
 can find a crook or blunder. "0 the depth of the 
 riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. 
 How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways 
 past finding out." (Rom. xi. 33.) 
 
 Thusj we can trace the same vain attempts of the 
 Jews by natural wisdom to find outGod, his character, 
 will and ways, from his written law and prophecies, 
 as we trace through the history of heathen philoso- 
 phers, to find out by their natural wisdom, from 
 the book of nature and from tradition, the first 
 cause of nature's works, and the religion best pleas- 
 ing to that cause. 
 
 Here we have been paying attention to that vast 
 number, both in the heathen and Jewish world, 
 who were suffered by God to trust to their own wis- 
 dom to know God and his ways. We see that 
 neither, ever, by this way found him out; but did 
 not God all this time keep up living witnesses ? — 
 Yes, truly he did. By instructing them in all ages, 
 by his holy spirit. God has ever selected a people, 
 both in the antediluvian and Jewish world ; yea he 
 hath kept an elect in all dispensation of times, pre- 
 pared them to give no attention to the supposed 
 powers of human nature in finding out divine 
 things, but revealed them understandingly to them 
 by his spirit ; did not only give them the revela- 
 tion as the Jews had, but illuminated their mind's 
 to see the beauty of the glory of God, and the 
 blessedness in doing his will. In the antediluvian 
 world, while vain men were in nature going farther 
 and farther from Eden's golden rule, God by the 
 power of his grace selects a lew, the principal of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 wiich were Abel, Enoch and Noah. These illumi- 
 nated by a greater wisdom than that which is 
 natural, protested by precept and by practice against 
 the natural path of man. In the Jewish world, 
 while the great mass of people stumTaled and erred 
 in perusing written revelation by the powers of 
 nature and went backwards rather than forward in 
 finding out God, God always sent his spirit to 
 chosen ones to renew their minds, to give them wis- 
 dom and light to behold him in his revelation, and 
 to be a witness against the corruption of nature. 
 The most eminent of these were Abraham, Isaac and 
 Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Aaron, Caleb, Joshua 
 and the Judges, David, Solomon, Samuel, Nathan, 
 Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and a host of others too 
 numerous to pen down. These were inspired by the 
 Almighty, raised up by his grace to bear witness to 
 the truth of God and godliness, unto which end they 
 even answer to us. Here we behold God's grace and 
 teaching in all its success, running along with the 
 attempts of man's wisdom in divine things, with 
 perfect failure. Now to the Christian age. 
 
 Has human nature undergone a change? Is it 
 more holy? Is it more wise in divine things? Has it 
 more general ability in spiritual matters than in ages 
 anterior to Christ? I amagine an answer coming 
 up from the proud heart, in the affirmative. Stop 
 my good man, whosoever you be, your mind is upon 
 the proficiency in the arts and sciences, in the dis- 
 covery of better forms of government, Sic All this 
 is granted, and it is a great blessing to our lower 
 world, but what has all this to do with the knowl- 
 edge of a spiritual world which we can only know 
 by divine rpvelation ? This is the pillow of delusion 
 upon which many rest their mrntal heads to a con- 
 tinued ignorance of divine things. It is the same 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 pillow on which the worldly wise men of Greece, 
 of Kome, and of Israel rested their heads, (for did 
 not each flatter himself that he had wisdom heyond 
 his ancestors, and does not this voice whisper 
 throiigh every age ? Now, so far as it says we 
 know more of natural things, it is true, hut when 
 it insinuates that this will guide us in spiritual 
 things it is false,) only heat up a little by additional 
 worldly wisdom for us. 
 
 So far as the ability of our natural wisdom is con- 
 cerned in exploring divine things it is no greater 
 since Christ than before him. The only difference 
 between us and the ancients is in education. Natu- 
 ral inability in divine things and natural proneness 
 to evil has ever been the same in all nations and all 
 ages of the world. Christ came into the world and 
 'hegan to publish in full by parables, the grace of 
 God in sending his son into the world, to obey the 
 broken law, magnify and make it honorable, to die 
 for the sins of his sons and daughters, and to fulfill 
 all the prophecies which went before, concerning 
 the Messiah. To show his mission he wrought won- 
 derful miracles. But did the men in his day, by 
 the power of their wisdom, grasp the sublime truth 
 and follow by the turn of the natural will, the meek 
 and lowly Jesus in the the path of meekness ? Nay, 
 but they blasphemed his name. All the preaching 
 he could do (considering him here as the man Christ 
 Jesus), all the miracles he could work, could not 
 turn one individual. In all the vast assemblies 
 there was not one man found with natural ability 
 to clearly understand these wonders and turn of his 
 own will to Jesus. But the Son of God must ccdl 
 them, and by his Father's Spirit, (not by flesh and 
 blood,) reveal himself to their understanding. I 
 can see no more ability, naturally, among the people 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 to receive and understand God and his religion, in 
 the history of Jesus Christ than I can see with the 
 offspring of Ahram in the history of Moses. But in 
 each case they must be called by God's grace, and 
 instructed by the enlightening of God's spirit. 
 
 When we come to the apostles we yet find more 
 evidence of human inability, they preached to many, 
 all heard the apostle's doctrine, but all did not re- 
 ceive it. They published it to the Greeks, but it 
 was foolishness to them; they declared it to the 
 Jews, but being contrary to their notion of the 
 promised Messiah it became a stumbling block. 
 This is how it set when received by natural ability, 
 but the apostle shows those who were called (see 
 1st Cor. i. 22 — -25,) received his preaching of Christ 
 as the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Now 
 this call in the passage referred to in Corinthians, 
 does not mean that outward call or publishing of 
 the gosipel to the mixed multitude, because he says 
 this was done to the great body without effect, but 
 the called party received it in truth, as God's doc- 
 trine, and Christ to them became wisdom. Then it 
 is plain that in Paul's day, man by natural wisdom 
 did not receive Christ, but God's grace was necessarj'' 
 to enlighten the eyes of their understanding, to give 
 them a hearing ear, or new power within to under- 
 stand God and godliness and to love it. But here 
 we find again thousands of people studying Christ's 
 gospel, trying to explore the Christian religion, (or 
 old religion of God with a new name,) by the power 
 of natural wisdom. This gave rise to the corrupt 
 church of Kome. 
 
 There was a people once in Rome who were taught 
 by Christ's spirit to understand and enjoy the re- 
 ligion of Jesus, over whom old Paul had great 
 rejoicing ; but it appears to me knowing what injur^ 
 
'10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 worldly wisdom would do to religion in puffing up 
 the mind, he wrote at large on that subject, (see the 
 first two chapters of his epistle to that church) and 
 we find that in a short time after the apostle's de- 
 parture, some one crept in that pure body, obtained 
 a standing, gained influence, let in graceless pro- 
 fessors, which corrupt part grew rapidly into a 
 majority, and when things became convenient the 
 laws and ordinances were gradually changed. Mr. A 
 thought one way, and Mr. B thought something else, 
 Mr. C became an eminent preacher, and Mr. D was 
 as good, all now leaning to their own understanding, 
 (see Jere. xi. 8.) Natural wisdom takes the place 
 of spiritual, a party spirit the place of the spirit of 
 Christ, darkness, of light; blindness, of sight; and 
 consequently rain glory is sought rather than the 
 glory of God, wisdom of words rather than correct- 
 ness of doctrine, self confidence rather than faith in 
 Jesus, outward rites and ceremonies rather than 
 vital holiness, and vast multitudes sought rather 
 than the heavy laden souls of Jesus. Now, in all 
 these great changes the old saints gradually die out ; 
 and that body of holy brethren so loved of Paul at 
 Eome, is supplanted by an unholy, self-glorifying, 
 graceless body composing one of the worst corrup- 
 tions of the best religion on earth. 
 
 Now, my brethren and friends who may see these 
 lines, here is the reason I have so often warned you, 
 and cautioned you against coldness and carelessness 
 in the church. This lies at the bottom of all the 
 corruption which has ever crept in the visible church 
 of God. In the first place the members become luke- 
 warm, the flesh begins to ascend. In this fleshly 
 ascendency these things are perceptible. In the 
 first place natural sympathy arises, in which the 
 members get to lusting after children. The want of 
 
INTKODTJCTION. 11 
 
 faith and patience in God's promise to bring in his 
 children in due time, "has produced much more 
 mischief in the church than Sarah's impatience did 
 in the family of Abraham ; they have filled her 
 habitations with carnal men, who never fail to mock 
 when the Divine Eedeemer makes a feast of fat 
 things in Zion's mount," (seelsa. xxv. 6.) The doc- 
 trines of grace and the ordinances of the gospel, 
 are the objects of their perpetual contempt ; and 
 they say of Zion spiritual as the Hagarenes said of 
 Jerusalem literally, (see Psa. Ixxxiii. 4, 5 and 6,) 
 "Let us cut them of from being a nation." And it is 
 lamentably true, that the most bloody persecutions 
 that the church ever experienced, were from the hand 
 of professing Christians, and which Ishmael (anti- 
 christ, is the father of twelve princes,) poor Sarah 
 (Christ) has but one son (gospel church). A 
 father comes before the church to receive member- 
 ship, gives in a stumbling crooked history of some 
 kind of experience. This natural sympathy gets to 
 work and speaks upon this wise. " This experience 
 is a little dark, but sister A is a good old member 
 and this is her father, we will try him. And again 
 our church is getting small, &c." Thus the father 
 gains entrance, becomes a visible member. Now in 
 this case the good of Christ's church, the purity^ 
 harmony and peace, the value of the purchase of 
 Christ's blood, is in many instances, never thought 
 of, much less cons al ted. Again, the mother of some 
 member presents herself, or a sister of some mem- 
 ber, or brother, and this natural sympathy is at 
 work bringing in a number of reasons why they 
 should be admitted, notwithstanding the darkness 
 of their experience ; and while human nature (rather 
 than grace and love of God) is thus at work, the 
 devil is by no means idle, but is continually bring- 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ing, to the mind in a misapplied manner, (as he did 
 to Christ, see Matt, iv, 6.) some portion of scripture. 
 For example, it will come into the mind^ while this 
 natural sympathy is at work, "ye must not judge," 
 "have charity." Now the mind should answer such 
 misapplied scripture, as Christ did, hy quoting and 
 applying correctly another text, "the tree is known 
 hy its fruits." 
 
 Again^ an individual presents himself, who is con- 
 sidered very wise and talented. Then the full pow- 
 ers of deceitful nature arises. Only hear the lan- 
 guage of the heart, " Our church is small and all 
 weak in learning, and we are held by the people as 
 an offcast, if he cannot show clear christian experi- 
 ence, we must hold him, he will he the means of 
 bringing in others, and being talented can give us 
 much instruction, moreover, if we do not hold him, 
 some denomination will, we may as well have him 
 as any, &c." Again there comes a great man of 
 wealth, and the members now flatter themselves that 
 much is to be done by way of good to the church 
 through his riches, so when he presents himself he 
 passes beyond a doubt. He enters the church, great 
 things are expected of him, he begins to think, and 
 thinks they should adopt such a plan in regard to 
 the meeting days, or to meeting-house construction, 
 and carries the point. In the next place, perhaps, 
 after he finds he is gaining influence, he proposes to 
 make a small addition to the discipline, succeeding 
 with this, he proposes to make a confession of faith, 
 besides the bible, uses plausible arguments, and hav- 
 ing previously gained the confidence of the church 
 succeeds well. Through his influence the church lets 
 in other applicants as graceless as himself. A majority 
 is gradually gained. Peace and harmony, as the old 
 faithful members fall asleep, is broken up, the cause 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 of Christ no more consulted, the cause of truth cared 
 nothing for, but instead thereof, the cause of a sec- 
 tarian party, and the cause of self-thoughts, and 
 self-wisdom is attended to. And that place where 
 the pure visible church of Christ once met and wor- 
 shipped has so gradually lost its pure members, and 
 in their place gained false professors, that the rising 
 generation not perceiving the subtle change, cannot 
 get it erased from their brains, but what the pre- 
 sent carnal society, is the same old church, because 
 it meets at the same place, where their fathers met, 
 appears to worship the same God their fathers wor- 
 shiped, and hold out to the people that they are the 
 same body. 
 
 Thus the prejudice of the rising generation is 
 gained, and they thereby deluded. These are some 
 of the causes, and the means whereby God plucl^s 
 the candle sticks or churches out of their places. 
 (See Rev. ii. 5.) 
 
 Christ has warned his people of all these things. 
 In Matthew, chap. x. he cautions his saints against 
 this same natural sympathy. "He that loveth 
 father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, 
 and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, 
 is not worthy of me ;" and in another place he men- 
 tions, wives, houses and lands. Notice again. What 
 can he mean, when in another place (Luke xiv.)_he 
 thus expresses it, " If a man cometh to me, and hate 
 not his father and mother, and wife and children, 
 and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, 
 he cannot be my disciple." Does he mean to say 
 we are to despise them ? This cannot be, because 
 we are commanded to despise no man, and again 
 "husbands love your wives," (Ephe. v. 25,) and 
 again ' ' children honor thy parents.' ' 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Now as the spirit of prophecy is suhject to the 
 prophets, and spiritual things must stand to be com- 
 pared with spiritual things, we must conclude his 
 meaning thus : If any man loves not Jesus, as his 
 friend and his Saviour, more than this fleshly con- 
 nection, if he has not more honor for God as his 
 king, more admiration for his glorious attributes, if 
 he does not hold him and his glory first in all 
 things, if he has not the preference to earthly ties, 
 and in point of obedience if He is not first, and the 
 others in their respective places under him, there is 
 no evidence of a conversion to God ; and even obedi- 
 ence to these earthly ties is to be performed as unto 
 God, as something God requires after he has been 
 first served. Human sympathies must be quiet 
 when God's cause comes up, and spiritual feeling for 
 Jesus Christ aroused. And why should Christ not 
 have a higher feeling in our bosoms than any earthly 
 tie? He has borne more and given more for his 
 people. You may point me. to my father and call 
 my attention to his daily labor to feed and clothe 
 me. This is' true, but look at my heavenly Father's 
 care over me to provide me with this earthly parent, 
 to give health and strength, and in his good provi- 
 dence to bless his labor unto the good of his house- 
 hold. Which is the greater? You may point to 
 my mother, and speak of all that she has borne from 
 my conception to my birth, and the care she has 
 taken over me unto manhood. But behold the suffer- 
 ings of Jesus for me, he travailed indeed and in 
 truth. View him in the garden, mocked and scourged, 
 and behold him upon the horrid tree, see the charac- 
 ter of his sufferings, while in the jaws of death for- 
 saken of man, angel and God. When the sword of 
 vengeance was plunged into his heart there was no 
 one to help him in his labor, as in the case of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 mothers, but he trod the winepress of the wrath of 
 God alone and triumphed. You point to my earthly- 
 friends' gifts, but who could do more than to give 
 eternal life and all the spiritual blessings leading 
 to that life. You bid me behold a mother's love. I 
 acknowledge it great; but mother's hearts have lost 
 that love, if not wholly, to a great degree. But see the 
 love of Jesus, eternal, sovereign, free, inseparable 
 and unchangeable. Was ever natural love like this? 
 It is reasonable, then, that our sympathies should be 
 with the Lord Jesus first, then with earthly objects 
 as he shall command. 
 
 Again, Jesus has warned us of the evil of riches 
 by the mouth of Paul, "charged them that are rich 
 in this world, that they be not high minded, nor 
 trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who 
 richly giveth us all things to enjoy." (1st Tim. vi. 
 17.) And we are commanded in like manner not to 
 put our trust in man. No, not his human education, 
 wisdom nor talent, but when the church is in a de- 
 clining state, look to the cause. 
 
 God promised Israel that he should go on and 
 conc[uer the Gentiles in the land of Canaan, that 
 they should succeed in battle^ and should reach the 
 point of possession. But he gave them rules to go 
 by, and when they disobeyed they must suffer the 
 penalty. After crossing Jordan they went on to 
 succeed well. Jericho and other places fell before 
 them, and turning their arms upon Ai they met 
 with a sore defeat; their hearts fainted within them 
 and even old Joshua in a measure gives way and 
 appears to think God's promise had failed. But God 
 causes him to examine Israel, and behold, a cursed 
 thing is found, the fruits of covetousness. This is 
 removed, order restored, and Ai falls as easily as 
 Jericho. Just so is it v/ith the Church. God has 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 promised her success, but not that she should ascend 
 to the eminence without being punished by down- 
 falls for her coldness, idolatry, love of those who 
 carry the purse, &c. Look then, I say, to the cause 
 of declension. If it be coldness pray Grod for more 
 evidence of his love ; if it be the lusting after rich 
 children or worldly great children to advance the 
 church, cast out the accursed notion, and pray God to 
 bring in his people by the power of his truth and 
 keep graceless professors "from creeping in among 
 them. Yea, look unto G-od and not unto man. Ex- 
 amine yourselves is the advice of all revelation. 
 This is the right wisdona from on high, to have con- 
 fidence in no man, neither in thine own natural 
 powers, nor rejoice in thine own works, but to com- 
 mit the keeping of your souls, minds and bodies to 
 the unerring God. This worldly wisdom, and put- 
 ting human ability and opinion in the scale with 
 God's express truth and revelation, has not only 
 marked the natural religionist's character down to 
 the days of popery, but even to our present time. 
 There are way-marks now which have been set up at 
 different times through the period of the reformation, 
 and in this country through the period of only fifty 
 years, which shows to a demonstration the awful con- 
 sequence of putting human wisdom in the place of 
 divine. Yet we have this seal, the Lord knoweth 
 them that are his, and let these depart from iniquity. 
 I have passed over the great body of evidence 
 which can be deduced from sacred history, whenever 
 called for, to show the shocking errors which gene- 
 rate from exploring (or rather attempting so to do,) 
 revelation by human wisdom, because this is not the 
 main subject of my little sheet, but only referred to 
 by way of leading our minds on to rightly conclude 
 the necessity of being taught the meaning of Jesus' 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 words by Jesus' spirit, who must ever be the agent 
 to guide into all truth. Man under grace can de- 
 clare it to the ear, but the Spirit must confirm it in 
 the heart. 
 
 You will say then, if man cannot by the natural 
 powers of his mind grasp the spiritual meaning of 
 God's word, there is no use on the part of the con- 
 gregation in hearing and reading, and no use on the 
 part of the preacher in declaring and exhorting. 
 This appears to many to be a reasonable conclusion ; 
 but every man's reasonableness is in a great meas- 
 ure according to his education. It is neither a wise 
 nor right conclusion. It is not wise, because they 
 who rest upon it show thereby their ignorance of the 
 preacher's foundation of hope in the ministry. The 
 gospel preacher has not, for the foundation of his 
 faith, a supposed ability in natural minds to under- 
 stand and receive Christ with all his glorious gifts 
 as the gift of God. The gospel preacher does not 
 understand, while he is treating upon the law as 
 being holy, just and good, and man as a willful 
 transgressor of it, that there is a natural power of 
 the mind to take this law, measure the deformity of 
 his soul thereby, and so confess all his sins. When 
 treating upon Christ's death and suffering, he does 
 not understand that natural man can by light of 
 nature, look through the letter of the sufferings in 
 the garden and on the cross, and behold the great 
 love of God as the first cause, the atonement of sin 
 which the individual has committed, nor the beauti- 
 ful harmony there of love, law and justice. But 
 this is that in which hfe trusts, and which influences 
 him to go on in his work. 
 
 First, the command of God to do it. 
 
 Secondly, the promise of God that his word shall 
 not return to him void, but accomplish whatsoever 
 
 2 
 
18 INTKODTJCTION. 
 
 he intends (see Isa. Iv. 11) ; that it shall he the in- 
 strument hy which the Holy Spirit will work upon 
 the heart, convincing of sin, righteousness and judg- 
 ment. God has appointed the end, man's salvation ; 
 also the means, the word. So it is written, it pleased 
 Grodto save them by preaching, (Ist Cor. i. 21,) and 
 it is as impossible in the revolutions of time for the 
 means to fail to reach the objects of salvation as it ■ 
 is for the end not to be accomplished ; that is that it 
 is as impossible for providence to fail as for the 
 promise to fail. Which is the same as saying it is 
 as impossible for Grod to stop working out his pur- 
 pose, as it is for Christ to stop interceding, and each 
 are as impossible as it is for Grod to deny himself. 
 
 We conclude then that that which influences the 
 gospel preacher is not the wisdom of man, but the 
 power of God. These few sentences are in answer 
 to the objection to declaring the truth. 
 
 Now a word in answer to the objection to exhort- 
 ing and commanding. In the first place, I under- 
 stand the apostle spoke chiefly in exhortation to re- 
 generated sons and daughters. But admitting this 
 was done on some occasions to mixed multitudes, 
 the objection takes its rise in the ignorance of the 
 intent of exhortation and of commanding, oftentimes 
 in the scriptures. By ignorance I mean this, that 
 a command does not always suppose power in the 
 party commanded to obey, nor does an inability to 
 obey, prove in scripture, an act of injustice or op- 
 pression by the commander. 
 
 Adam was made with ability to obey the law. By 
 transgression he lost it ; but as the cause of trans- 
 gression was not of God, his inability to obey did 
 not lessen God's right to demand ; and so to this day 
 he has a right to exhort them to obedience, and 
 instead of its having a tendency to prove an ability 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 to comply, it proves^ when applied by the "Spirit 
 just the reverse, for by such exhortation to obey, the 
 individual sees the want of power. By knowing 
 what his duty is and understanding it by the light 
 of the Spirit, he is convinced of the want of power 
 to comply, as well as of his duty ; this breaks up 
 his good opinion of native power, and seeing he is 
 not justified in disobedience, seeks to be justified 
 in some way ; is hurled too and fro until at last the 
 same spirit of G-od shows him he cannot be justified 
 in himself, but must be justified by the works of • 
 another, even Christ ; and so is humbled before 
 God, being convinced that he has no natural power 
 to render spiritual or holy obedience to a holy God, 
 by the instrumentality of having his duty so often 
 set before him. Thus we see that in preaching to 
 man, that man's wisdom is not sujBficient in divine 
 revelation, but that he must be endowed with the 
 powers of wisdom from the same source of this 
 revelation, (from God), has a tendency to convince 
 him of the fact, have no more confidence in self, 
 but fall low at the mercy seat. Who is it cannot 
 see this to be better than flattery ? 
 
 We conclude, therefore, there is much use in 
 preaching, when raised up by Providence and 
 filled with God's love and love of the truth for 
 this purpose. The foregoing objections are noth- 
 ing more than fruits of perusing divine rights, 
 causes and effects in revelation, by natural wisdom 
 or light (or rather darkness) of nature. So we find 
 when a man by the light of nature tries to find out 
 God and his will, whether it be a heathen philoso- 
 pher in perusing the book of nature, or civilized 
 Christian in perusing the book of revelation, they 
 are sure to run into thousands of ridiculous notions 
 and ever go farther and farther from truth. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The spirit of inspiration must expound revela- 
 tion ; and in the letter of inspiration, which is 
 that external, doctrinal part which is read and 
 reasoned on, Grod has condescended to use in illus- 
 trating the suhject of revelation, some of the plain- 
 est and most simple natural figures. He has used 
 these to show the rationality of his divine doctrine, 
 to even natural hearers, but particularly to accom- 
 modate the weakness of his new horn spiritual 
 babes, show them by things of nature the clearness 
 and beauty and harmony of that truth which they 
 have been led to embrace, of that salvation which 
 they have been led by the Spirit to receive and hope 
 in, of that nature, which if sons of God, they 
 must surely wear, and of that inheritance unto 
 which they are called, and the nature of that Lord 
 who must lead them through this life unto the 
 blest and final abode. Sometimes he has taken the 
 dove to represent his spirit ; sometimes he has taken 
 the lion to represent himself in judgment ; a king 
 to represent himself as governor of the world and 
 church, and a kingdom to represent his church. 
 Sometimes he has taken a lamb ; without blemish 
 and without broken bones, to represent Jesus as 
 saving all on whom his blood is sprinkled, (see 
 John vi. 39.) Again, a goat with Jewish sins con- 
 fessed over his head, and turned loose in the wil- 
 derness, to represent Christ as bearing away the 
 sins of the Church. To represent the purity of his 
 doctrine over false doctrines, he has chosen good 
 seed, by which a weak saint may more conveniently 
 get a clear view of that pure truth which has been 
 engrafted into his heart by the Spirit. To repre- 
 sent the manner in which this word of truth is de- 
 clared to the world and the various ways in which 
 it is received, he has chosen the sowing of seed. 
 
INmODTJCTION. 21 
 
 Some fell into good ground, or a heart enliglitened 
 hj God's spirit, and took root effectually ; other seed 
 fell in stony ground (or a natural mind which re- 
 ceived it carnally) and started to grow, but bore no 
 fruit ; other fell into thorny ground, (or a heart 
 filled with cares and lusts of the world) and 
 appeared to take root for a time, but that which 
 had the deeper root soon choked it out. Other seed 
 fell into a beaten path, (or heart which gave not 
 even momentary attention) and was immediately 
 caught up by birds ; which is a most excellent illus- 
 tration of the preaching and reception of the gos- 
 pel. At another time he represents that pleasure 
 of paradise which the saints shall enjoy, as an in- 
 heritance of Christ ; that like as an earthly son in- 
 herits his father's estate and marries a wife and she 
 becomes joint heir through the good pleasure of her 
 husband, even so Christ inherits heavenly glory of 
 the Father^ marries or selects a body of people 
 through his good mercy, and brings them to his 
 glory, making them joint heirs with him. 
 
 Again the subjects revealed to the prophets were 
 in many instances shown by curious figures. But 
 of all the figures used in the bible to represent 
 Christ and his cliurch, and the whole manner of 
 salvation thereof, there is none more comprehensive 
 than that of the oriental shepherd and his flock. Be- 
 sides there are but few older figures in the bible. 
 Nearly all the ancient saints appear to be comforted 
 in viewing God through this splendid figure. In 
 the scriptures God is shown to be the shepherd of 
 the world, inasmuch as he governs it in its revolu- 
 tions, and all its productions. He is shown to be 
 the shepherd of Israel after the flesh. " Give ear 
 Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like 
 a flock." (Ps. Ixxx. 1.) God did truly lead Joseph 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and not only him, but all Israel. He gathered them 
 as wild sheep from the mountains of Egypt and ta- 
 med them hy mighty signs and wonders, and by 
 judgments, — led them through the Eed sea, and 
 through a great and terrible wilderness, tried them 
 and proved them — led them over Jordan, and 
 through ages and generations down to the days of 
 Christ. Oftentimes wolves got into the flock, and 
 scattered them in many countries, but the great 
 Shepherd always gathered them in due time. 
 
 There are many portions of scripture in which 
 Shepherd and flock, is found, referring only to Grod 
 as ruler of the Jewish nation, and that nation as his 
 literal people. So I understand, while the prophets 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah, and some others, speak of 
 the spiritual people of Grod, much of their writing is 
 in reference to the Jewish nation. And lam to this 
 day, blinded to that clear sight some persons appear 
 to have of spiritualism in many portions of the pro- 
 phecies. I have often thought that when the mind 
 of some men get fastened upon a subject, they can 
 see it in any direction they may chance to look. I 
 once heard a man spiritualize a pure piece of his- 
 tory. All he said on doctrine and experience I 
 judge was true ; yet that which he selected as ,a text 
 certainly had no more to do with the subject than a 
 passage from the history of the elephant. It was 
 not even an illustration of his subject, and I am in- 
 clined to think much of this kind of preaching is 
 done from the books of the prophets. But while the 
 scriptures speak of literal Israel under the charac- 
 ter of sheep, the churoli of Grod his spiritual people, 
 are spoken of under this particular character, and 
 Grod as their shepherd in particular. 
 
 The first place in scripture the word sheep is 
 found is in Genesis chap. iv. 2 v. "And she again 
 
INTROBUCTION. 23 
 
 bare liis brotlier Abel. And Abel was a keeper of 
 sheep." The first place shepherd is found is in 
 G-enesis xItI chap. , 32 v. "And the men are shep- 
 herds." The good shepherd is a fit emblem of 
 Christ. His constant care over the sheep, in teach- 
 ing them to obey him, to know their respective 
 names, and discern his voice from the voice of rob- 
 bers. His gentleness with the feeble lambs and 
 unable ewes, his gathering them at night in folds, or 
 watchingthemfromthe tent door to see that no prowl- 
 ing wolves or other ravenous beasts attempt to harm 
 them. His diligent search, when they stray, until 
 he finds them, and his care in bringing them back. 
 Likewise the sheep are a good emblem of Christ's 
 saints. Their knowledge of the shepherd's voice, 
 their fondness for him and disposition to fol- 
 low him whithersoever he goeth, their proneness 
 at the same time to wander on certain occasions, and 
 other traits certainly make them a splendid figure. 
 David who was taken from the sheepcots to be king 
 over Israel, who, at the same time, was a saint of 
 the most high Grod, opens his mouth concerning 
 the Lord's care over him, by this beautiful figure, 
 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." 
 He, knowing by experience with what care the shep- 
 herd would lead in winter his sheep into the wilder- 
 ness to hunt the green herbs, and in burning heat 
 of summer bring them back, how he would provide 
 pastures, so that while one was decreasing another 
 was increasing, viewed God in the same light as 
 over him, providing for him daily that he should 
 not want. What a pleasant state that mind must 
 have been in which viewed God in such a light. 
 He continues, "He maketh me to lie down in green 
 pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters." 
 (Psalms xxiii. 1, 2.) Well did David remember 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 how he led his sheep to pastures fresh and green, 
 and how they enjoyed the cooling streams in the 
 heat of the day ; and looked upon himself as enjoy- 
 ing in like manner some blessings from God. 
 Isaiah uses the figure and says, "He (God) shall 
 feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the 
 lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom, 
 and shall gently lead those that are with young." 
 (Isaiah xl. 11.) Zachariah (chap. xiii. v. 7,) says, 
 "awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against 
 the man who is my fellow' saith the Lord of hosts, 
 smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scat- 
 tered;" a direct prophesy in regard to the cruci- 
 fixion of Christ, and was by him quoted, or rather 
 referred to when he fulfilled it. 
 
 Christ uses this figure when teaching his disci- 
 ples the manner of his proceedings in some great 
 judgment to come upon the earth. "When the 
 son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 
 holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the 
 throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gath- 
 ered all nations, and He shall separate them one 
 from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
 the goats, and he shall set the sheep on His right 
 hand, but the goats on his left, (Matt. xxv. 31 — 33.) 
 How clear must have been the idea, and how forci- 
 ble the declaration made by a figure known so well 
 by these disciples. Paul speaks of Christ by this 
 figure, and calls Him that great shepherd of the 
 sheep, (Heb. xiii. 20.) 
 
 Peter also uses it, and speaks of the saints as 
 sheep. "Ye were as sheep going astray, but are 
 now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of 
 your souls." (1st Peter ii. 25.) The apostle 
 here appears to look upon the saint as Christ's 
 sheep from the beginning, but in the course of fal- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 ien nature^ wild and astray^ wandering further and 
 further from the fold of God, hut as hrought hack hy 
 the great Shepherd and put in that position designed 
 for them from the foundation of the world. Christ 
 refers to Himself under this character. " I am the 
 good. Shepherd ; the good shepherd giveth his life 
 for the sheep, hut he who is a hireling, and not the 
 the shepherd, whose own the Sheep are not, seeth 
 the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, 
 and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the 
 sheep. The hireling fleeth hecause he is a hireling, 
 and careth not for the sheep. I am the good Shep- 
 herd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine," 
 (John X. 11—14.) 
 
 This last verse (14) as it comprehends all rel- 
 ative to Christ as a shepherd and His saints as 
 sheep, is here chosen as the foundation of the fol- 
 lowing remarks, which are penned down to show 
 some of the principal marks of difference hetween 
 this natural religion to which I have hinted, in . its 
 various forms in different ages, and that true reli- 
 gion revealed from Heaven. 
 3 
 
CHAPTER I . 
 
 " I AM the good Shepherd, and know my sheep." 
 Christ calls them His sheep. 
 
 First, they are his by gift. "My Father who 
 gave them me, is greater than all, and none is ahle 
 to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (29th 
 verse.) "And this is the Father's will which 
 hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, 
 I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at 
 the last day. (John vi. 39.) Again, "All that 
 the Father giveih me shall come to me," &c., 
 (John vi. 37.) Again, " As-thou hast given Him 
 power over all flesh, that He should give eternal 
 life to as many as thou hast given Him. ' ' (John xvii. 
 2.) Again Christ says in this prayer. "I have 
 manifested thy name unto the men which thou 
 gavest me out of the world ; thine they were and 
 thou gavest them me," &c. (John xvii. 6.) And in 
 Isaiah (viii. 18.) there appears a saying to the 
 same end. " Behold I and the children whom the 
 Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders 
 in Israel from the Lord of hosts." These citations 
 prove to my mind (saying nothing about the ten- 
 dency of all the doctrines, and the actual coming 
 of Christ, in this matter,) to a demonstration that 
 all the sheep of heaven's great Shepherd, from the 
 least to the greatest, were given with the covenant 
 of mercy, by the Father to Jesus, who has not 
 abused nor slighted [the gift, but made every pro- 
 vision for the doing away of their sins, and bring- 
 
SHEEP HOAV CHRIST'S. 27 
 
 ing them sons and daughters to mansions of eternal 
 glory. Made every provision, I say ; made a com- 
 plete atonement for all classes of their sins, from the 
 first transgression of the law even down to the 
 sin of unbelief; even to unbelief, I say, for if 
 that is a sin, it needed an atonement as much as 
 any other error, if no sin, then it is not wrong ; 
 made an end of the law as a covenant of works, 
 by his obedience to it, in which office he is thank- 
 fully received by the believer. 
 
 Not only so, but by the power of his spirit doth 
 mysteriously prepare them to receive, not by con- 
 straint, but willingly, the work of redemption pre- 
 pared by him. Yea, this Holy Spi^rit doth hunt up 
 the saints wherever they are, and perform the work 
 of conversion in them ; for it is evident, when we 
 reflect upon the depraved nature of man, contrary 
 always to God, that a change or new principle of 
 holiness must be wrought, or Christ's work would 
 never be received. And was not this work applied 
 to the heart, and effectually so, to the bringing 
 forth fruits unto eternal life — they could never 
 be benefited by it. And more than this, if this 
 Spirit does not remain with them, so as by his in- 
 fluences through his graces, to restore them when 
 they wander, curb their lusts, propensities and 
 passion, it cannot be said that a full provision has 
 been made for the bringing of God's sheep to their 
 fold above. This is one reason why I cannot receive 
 the Arminian scheme. It sets forth an incomplete 
 work, a dishonor to God, and of no use to man but to 
 deceive himself by. 
 
 In the second place they are his by purchase. 
 
 Now Christ could not purchase them from the 
 Father, because the Father gave them to him, but 
 Divine justice had a claim on them, in company 
 
28 SHEEP HOW CHRIST'S. 
 
 with the law, and this claim must be settled to the 
 full satisfaction of all parties. Let me illustrate 
 it, and bear with the simplicity thereof^ Mr. A 
 owns a slave which he wishes to present to his son, 
 B, who resides out of his State. This slave has 
 committed an offence against neighbor 0, who holds 
 him accountable, and says nothing but the full pen- 
 alty of the law will suffice. Now, there must be a 
 scheme devised which will carry out the father's 
 will' and yet satisfy all parties. A therefore pre- 
 sents the slave to his son B, B answers the pen- 
 alty of the offence in the slave's place, for the slave 
 •has nothing to give, to the entire satisfaction of C, 
 and yet the slave has not suffered, but escaped un- 
 der the cover of the mercy of B, who stood his 
 surety. So we have seen, the Father gave Christ 
 the people, law and justice held a claim on them, 
 the sheep or people had nothing to pay, Christ 
 therefore must pay the required price to law and 
 justice. Justice claimed blood, as it is written 
 "without shedding of blood there is no remission," 
 (JBeb. ix. 22) the law, obedience to perfection. 
 
 Now, that justice and the law might be satisfied, 
 while the gift was received and mercy exercised, 
 the Son paid the full price to justice and fully satis- 
 fied the law, so that all parties, Grod's love, law and 
 justice might harmonize, and the Son receive the 
 full reward of his agony in the garden and on the 
 cross ; and the wild sheep, or unworthy sinner, the 
 gift of the Father, and purchase of Christ's blood, 
 taken from the wild mountains of corruption and 
 worldly pleasure, and made lovers of holy things 
 and inheritors of a better world. 
 
 So we see it was justice and law which held the 
 claim, and from this party Jesus must purchase his 
 sheep. And he did give the required price, "The 
 
SHEEP HOW CHEIST'S. 29 
 
 good shepherd givethhis life for his sheep." (John 
 X. 11.) "For this is my blood of the New Testa- 
 ment, which is shed for many for the remission of 
 sins." (Matt. xxvi. 28.) " The Bon of man came not 
 to he ministered unto but to minister, and to give 
 his life a ransom for many." (Matt. xx. 28.) Again, 
 "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay 
 down my life." (John x. 17.) "Indue time Christ 
 died for the ungodly." (Eom. v. 6.) "He died unto 
 sin once." (Eom. vi. 10.) "Christ both died, and 
 rose, and revived." (Eom. xiv. 9.) "Christ died 
 for our sins." (1st Cor. xv. 3.) "Jesus died and 
 rose again." "Who died for us." (1st Thes. iv. 
 14., V. 10.) And it is also said. He died, the just 
 for the unjust, that He might bring them to God. 
 Now, to show this redemption-price to be ample 
 satisfaction, and to show that there is no power in 
 inan, or out of him, sufficient to make void this 
 satisfaction, Paul has used it to show the certainty 
 of the salvation of the sheep, the certainty of there 
 being no charge against them. Says he "who shall 
 lay anything to the charge of G-od's elect? It is 
 God who justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ? 
 It is Christ who died, yea, rather who is risen 
 again, who is even at the right hand of God, who 
 also maketh intercession for us." (Eom. viii. 33 — 
 34.) Paul makes it clear here that the highest 
 power is upon the side of the sheep. But Armin- 
 ianism makes the efficacy of this great work of 
 God depend, not upon God's power, wisdom and 
 love, but upon the mere wills and wants of blinded, 
 sinful man. Yea, the whole work of redemption, 
 and consequently the satisfaction and glory of the 
 Eedeemer, rests upon the power and disposition of 
 man. No better are they off than the heathen 
 
30 SHEEP HOW Christ's. 
 
 philosophers, for their reasoning is by the wisdom 
 of the flesh, which wisdom has its basis in human 
 pride of merit. 
 
 Again, these sheep, as they are seen following 
 their Shepherd through the wilderness of the world, 
 may he called His by conquest. He must conquer 
 them, not with the sword, tKe stake, the dungeon, 
 the whipping post; not with flattering lies, not 
 with horrible nonscriptural descriptions of an im- 
 aginary hell fire ; not by the principle of covetous- 
 ness, or vain glory, but by the manifestation of His 
 love. Ah ! they are drawn by the cords of ever- 
 lasting love. By His grace He calls them, not by 
 the lashes of the law. He captures them ; the 
 cords of love are too powerful for them to resist. 
 
 It is now time we were examining into the 
 nature, or natural depraved condition of these 
 sheep, which we will find very different from their 
 new nature described in the history of the regene- 
 rate. Upon this subject difierent views are enter- 
 tained. Some understand their natural condition 
 to be pretty fair before God, yet a few sins laid to 
 their charge. Others believe themselves half de- 
 praved, and by the aid of natural wisdom, conclude 
 that there is a necessity for only a partial Saviour. 
 Others again believe themselves born as pure as 
 Adam was created, but when they arrive at an ac- 
 countable age (an age talked much about, but never 
 yet found out,) their sins are charged to them, (as 
 if God's rights are measured by their abilities,) 
 which sins Christ only came to wash away. ! 
 the ignorance of man concerning his nature, the 
 nature of his God, and God's will concerning him. 
 how many thousands are resting their heads up- 
 on these self made pillows of delusion. But to tell 
 thee thou art deluded in these notions of thine 
 
SHEEP HOW Christ's 31 
 
 own estate, man, is but to batter a brazen wall 
 with balls of wool. But go on, indulge thyself, it 
 is thy fallen nature so to think and do'. But where 
 does the present generation get the first principles 
 of their unscriptural notions of human nature ? 
 Not from the book of inspiration, but from great 
 men. There is not a religious error in existence 
 that has not some name of learning as its author 
 To have learned and talented men called to the 
 number of saints by Grod's grace, is one of the 
 highest blessings given the visible church. While 
 the same character of men without the grace of 
 Grod, in matters of religion, is one of the greatest 
 curses sent upon man. The church is far better off 
 with ten thousand fools, with the fear and love of 
 Grod, and hope of salvation in their, heart, than 
 double the amount of wise men without them. But 
 my reader, let us take notice, that in the Bible hu- 
 man nature is set forth as totally destitute of love 
 to Grod ; and if destitute of love they cannot possess 
 a proper spirit of obedience, and are therefore 
 totally depraved in Grod's sight. 
 
 By total depravity I do not mean, as you may 
 see from the sentence above, that they are desti- 
 tute of a principle necessary to teach them to love 
 themselves, sufficiently to make them do some 
 moral good to others ; I do not mean to say they 
 have no principle in them by nature, whereby they 
 may be taught to fear the law under which they 
 may live ; I do not mean to say they have no prin 
 ciple in their nature to capacitate them to be 
 taught to love their parents or friends ; I do not 
 mean by total depravity, to say, men by nature have 
 no desire to be fond of the world and its goods ; 
 I do not mean to say they have no principle in 
 them to cause them to sympathize with suffering 
 
32 DEPKAVITY. 
 
 humanity, they can be educated to this ; I do not 
 mean to say they have no principle in them where- 
 by they can bfe taught to even worship Grod in a 
 ceremonial manner, throllgh fear and education. 
 The very principle of fear which makes them obedi- 
 ent to civil law, will do this. Indeed man is such 
 a being that he can be educated to almost every- 
 thing, except to know, love, fear and worship God 
 in spirit and in truth, and in the absence of thje priiv- 
 ciple essential to these things, lies the total de- 
 pravity. It is this human ability for earthly 
 education, natural sympathies, love of self, fear of 
 law, this tendency to will-worship and great pre- 
 tensions through pride and vain glory, which is 
 taken, through a mistake, for the gifts and fruits 
 of Grod's spirit, and given as the characteristics of 
 a regentirate man, a man born of the Spirit. 
 
 Come then, adversaries of this doctrine of total 
 depravity, and learn what you mistake for holy 
 parts in human nature, and also what is meant by 
 that term : even what I have already said, a want 
 of the love, fear, and reverence of God, and of that 
 holy principle leading us to glorify God rather 
 than self. / 
 
 You will now carefully follow me, my reader, 
 with a heart in prayer to God, that you may be 
 kept from every erroneous idea on this subject, if 
 any shall be found in the following remarks, while 
 I separate my evidence into several heads. For 
 this surely is the nature of Christ's sheep from 
 their birth : they are roaming about through the 
 world in their own corruption. 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 In the first place we attempt to prove sin as it 
 stands, without a garment to hide its nakedness. 
 
 G-od created the first man of the dust of the earth, 
 and hreathed into- his nostrils the breath of life, 
 and man became a living soul. Now there is noth- 
 ing that we can possibly find in the quality of the 
 clay which formed his body that was sinful", for 
 scriptural reason says it would then have been re- 
 jected. There is nothing found in the composition 
 of the spirit which God put in him that could be of 
 a sinful nature, for it came from the Almighty, in 
 whom there could never be sin. He is the first in 
 existence, being from everlasting, and the first 
 cause of all things pertaining to the creation, and 
 consequently the first law of all things, that eter- 
 nal rule of right. Now if there was no principle 
 of sin in the composition, or maker, of this wonder- 
 ful creature, we conclude God made him good, 
 made him under a law, with full ability in himself 
 to obey that law. God, I say, must have given 
 Adam this capacity, or how could He command 
 more from the work of His hand than he bestowed 
 upon it. This would be contrary to all his other 
 requirements in the scriptures, or in the works of 
 nature. To do such a thing appears to be itself a 
 violation of law. Should God require of the sun 
 to fully illuminate the entire surface of the globe 
 at one time, while He has made both sun and earth 
 and put them in olfice by laws contrary to this 
 
64l depravity. 
 
 command, it would prove at once either a defect in 
 the creation, or want of wisdom in the command ; 
 and neither of these can be said of the Infinitely- 
 correct One. We conclude the ability of Adam in 
 his first state was equal to what God required of 
 him. God declares him to be good. (Gen. i. 31.) 
 But it is not long before an awful sentence is passed 
 upon him by the Creator, which proves him to be 
 a vessel of sin. (see Gen. iii. IT.) What caused 
 this ? Something has occurred ; let us read the 
 account and see. "And the Lord God took the 
 man, and put him in the garden of Eden, to dress 
 it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded 
 the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou 
 mayest freely eat : but of the tree of knowledge 
 of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it : for in the 
 day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 
 (Gen. ii. 15 — IT.) Here the Lord appears to hang 
 Adam's moral ' character in the future upon one 
 point of law ; which must ever be an evidence that 
 the breaking of one point is a transgression before 
 God of the whole law. Passing over the history 
 of the woman's creation, let us read more con- 
 cerning this matter. ' ' Now the serpent was 
 more subtle than any beast of the field which the 
 Lord God had made." Here one might say, is it not 
 as reasonable for a good God to create a bad man, as 
 to create a bad beast ; yes, but the spirit which actu- 
 ated the serpent to commit this crime was the Devil . 
 "And he said unto the woman. Yea, hath God 
 said. Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? 
 And the woman said unto the serpent, we may 
 eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden : but of the 
 fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, God 
 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it,&c. (Gen. iii. 1 — 3.) 
 The serpent then begins a course of reasoning where- 
 
DBPKAVITY. 35 
 
 by he succeeded in beguiling the woman to eat, who 
 enticed the man to do likewise ; and here arose the 
 iirst sin in the new creation ;, and we find it to be a 
 transgression of a command of otie who has the full 
 right to demand obedience. Here then we have the 
 first sin of earth, and its nature. Here we find a 
 great mystery : That man Adam, made pure and 
 placed in the garden, is by transgression, (uot in- 
 fluence of God, for it was God who commanded,) 
 fallen, not only to the losing of his pleasant abode 
 in Eden, but in his very nature. Yea, that which 
 was good has, in a mysterious manner, received, by 
 sin, a corrupt and God-dishonoring principle ; a 
 principle which must develope itself through the 
 generation of man in a thousand sinful ways. The 
 question may be asked, how could Adam sin when 
 God made him pure ? In answer I say, though I 
 cannot express myself clearly, on this subject, I will 
 point you to a few things. Adam was not made 
 under a covenant of grace, like the sheep of Jesus 
 in their regeneration, but under a covenant of works 
 — made under a law. When a creature is made 
 under a covenant of grace, his steadfastness depends 
 upon him who gives the grace. Thus the steadfast- 
 ness of saints is preserved, by God's power, through 
 faith unto salvation, (see 1st Peter i.) But when 
 a creature is made undfer a covenant of works, his 
 steadfastness depends upon him who has the first 
 condition to perform. Now, I can conceive how a 
 pure moral creature, without sinful principles in 
 him, can, through unsuspected evil seduction, do 
 that which violates a law. It is from not distinguish- 
 ing between a legal and a gracious covenant, that 
 arises the notion of falling from grace. Thus, by 
 not seeing two objects clearly, we imagine a third. 
 They who hold ihis doctrire of falling from grace 
 
36 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 reason thus : "If Adam w^s made pure and yet fell, 
 it is nonsense to say we cannot be converted to 
 Christ- and fall." This shows the cause which I 
 have given for this notion to be true. This is how 
 Adam could sin, though pure in his first state. 
 
 Now the penalty of this simple sin of Adam, what 
 was it ? That he should die, surely die ; death was 
 as certain as that he had transgressed. But what kind 
 of death, eternal or temporal, that is, of spirit or 
 body ? Let God do what He pleaseth with Adam's 
 spirit, only the death of the body is here spoken of : 
 " Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." 
 This could not have been spoken respecting the spirit ; 
 for it was not dust, nor could it return to dust. A 
 life of toil and sorrow, with the death of the body, 
 was the penalty of this one sin. Now I understand 
 that all the human race were in Adam when he was 
 placed under this covenant of works ; and that they 
 were in him when he broke it, and fell from purity 
 to depravity. Consequently when the sentence was 
 passed upon him, it was passed upon all in him ; 
 and in this sense Adam's sin is imputed to the 
 whole human race, and the same penalty must be 
 paid by them. And so we findthenew born babe, who 
 could not commit actual sin, manifesting the same 
 depraved nature of Adam, and paying the same 
 penalty as the aged man. 'Kiis is Paul's reasoning 
 on this subject, "Wherefore as by one man sin enter- 
 ed into the world and death by sin, and so death passed 
 upon all men for that all have sinned, for until the 
 law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed 
 where there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned 
 from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not 
 sinned after the similitude of Adam' s transgression . ' ' 
 (Eom. V. 12 — 14.) Again in verse 18 he makes it 
 clear. ' ' Therefore as by the oifence of one (Adam) 
 
DEPRAVITY. 37 
 
 judgment came upon all men to condemnation." By 
 this one transgression we find, then, that Adam and 
 all his posterity broke the covenant of works, incur- 
 red a toilsome life with an end in death ; fell into a 
 sinful state, so that as fast they are born into the 
 world they grow up in iniquity, and give a thousand 
 evidences of total depravity. 
 
 This corrupted principle in nature, after the fall, 
 soon began to manifest itself in repeated crimes ; 
 which shows to us clearly that the human heart in 
 its fallen condition was as sinful, immediately after 
 the fall, as at this present day. I cannot agree with 
 those who say human nature grows more and more 
 sinful. The evil inventions are more numereus, but 
 the principle is the same. To illustrate it : The oak- 
 scion, partakes as much of the nature of oak, as the 
 gigantic tree ; but the number of developments in 
 branches, which the oak will produce, is far greater. 
 So sin in its evil inventions, is increasing every age, 
 but its nature is the same. I do not suppose that 
 even the last evil actjpn that G-od will suffer to be 
 produced in the world, will complete the manifes- 
 tation of the depths of the iniquity of the human 
 heart. 
 
 Behold the evidence of depraved nature in Adam's 
 immediate family, and that when the family was in 
 its infant state. Two* sons are born, one, Abel, 
 is called by God's grace to deny his sinful nature 
 and follow His teaching ; the other, Cain, is left in 
 his natural state. Cain moved on well "until G-od 
 shew He loved Abel much. This tried him ; the 
 fallen nature inherited from his father Adam, boiled 
 over with jealousy, and vengeance filled his spirit. 
 Then he seeks to devise a way, and select a time, to 
 slay his brother. He murders him. Behold ! In 
 the first little family on earth, one of the most cruel 
 
38 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 and cold blooded murders perpetrated. Cain killed 
 Abel for no injury done by him, but simply because he 
 was a favorite with his Creator. Can you find in 
 the annals of history a murder more cruel ! Here 
 we find the first crime murder. The next great evil 
 production of the human heart is lying. Cain upon 
 being asked where his brother was, answered that 
 he know not. Here I perceive there can be no great- 
 er guilt in lying than to lie to God. 
 
 -But to the next crime in the black catalogue ; 
 which is stealing. Now while we cannot find the date 
 of the first exhibition of this evil, yet we have evi- 
 dence that it shew itself at an early period ; since 
 Laban charged Jacob with stealing his gods ; 
 (Gen. xxxi. 30,) which shows that this crime was 
 well known, though Jacob was falsely accused. 
 
 Adultery stands next in order in the bible^ and 
 is first spoken of in Exodus xx. 14. 
 
 Now we come to the giving of the law, or legal 
 covenant, in written form, under which Adam was 
 made. The heart, in its fallen condition, was too 
 evil to retain by tradition, from age to age, the law 
 against sin. So it must be written upon stone, and 
 be read to them daily. And in this written law, we 
 find eight leading sinful branches spoken of, spring- 
 ing out of the human heart. For if there had not 
 been something in the human heart for every precept 
 of the law to oppose and condemn, it would not have 
 been given in separate specifications, as it was to 
 Moses, but in a whole, as it was to Adam. The law 
 reveals them thus: 1. Idolatry. 2. Dishonor to 
 pfirents. 3. Murder. 4. Adultery. 5. Stealing. 
 6. False witness. 7. Covetousness. 8. Taking of 
 God's name in vain. Now from these eight leading 
 sins, calling for eight parts of the law to oppose, 
 spring thousands of smaller corrupt branches; which 
 
DEPRAVITY. 39 
 
 things lie at the bottom of all the misery and wrath 
 in the world. By the law separating itself into dis- 
 tinct sections, so as to strike at the various branches 
 of the one sinful principle, it becomes a mirror into 
 which man may look and see the deformity of his 
 inner man. But blinded humanity does not look 
 deeper into this law than the mere letter ; or only so 
 far as it condemns outward crime ; they cannot see 
 clearly into the spirit of this law, that is they cannot 
 discern this law as reaching to all the thoughts, in- 
 tents, and will of the heart, except by the light of 
 God's spirit. It is from understanding only the 
 letter of the law that, in a great measure, props up 
 the Arminian plan of salvation ; but more about this 
 law in another place. 
 
 Human nature is totally depraved and in that 
 nature must of necessity be ignorant of it. Therefore 
 we find the most foolish, blinded crimes committed. 
 Christ was crucified through ignorance and depravity, 
 and through it many other great sins have been com- 
 mitted ; our state and county prisons, our work-houses 
 and the gallows, all stand up as an evidence of crime, 
 as an index of the depraved condition of humanity. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Secondly. — Sin is shown by the judgments of God. 
 Now, some one will say, God's judgments only prove 
 outward sins. But I will show by his judgments, 
 that we are born w.ith a heart of sin ; if judgment 
 falling upon an individual will prove sin at all. The 
 human family increased,, and ages rolled round, and 
 evil inventions became so numerous ; this fountain of 
 iniquity (the heart,) threw out through its eight cra- 
 ters such a flood of sin ; that God determined to put 
 a stop to it, at least, for a time. He therefore, cau- 
 sed his faithful witness, Noah, to be endowed with 
 wisdom from on high, to build an ark sufficiently 
 large to contain a pair of every species of birds and 
 beasts, together with food enough to sustain them 
 during the awful calamity. For God designed, not 
 to destroy man from the earth, but to destroy the 
 great mass of human beings, together with their ob- 
 jects of sin and blasphemy. But it appears though 
 he bore so long with them, he would not destroy 
 them until he, by the sinfulness of their hearts, set 
 up another witness against them, in addition to their 
 repeated crimes ; for he sends Noah to preach to 
 them. Thus these sins of the antediluvians w6re so 
 great that God repents or rather turns, not in his 
 eternal decrees, or unchangeable mind, but only in 
 his visible providence. All things being ready, Noah 
 and his whole host is gathered into the ark ; the 
 time of judgment has arrived ; the windows of hea- 
 ven are opened ; the fountains of the great deep are 
 broken up ; and this angry element forms the sword, 
 
DEPRAVITY. 41 
 
 in God's hand, to slay the whole race of beings, 
 eight sonls excepted. Mark this is an act of a just 
 and holy God, and yet thousands of beings (infants) 
 perished who knew not their right hand from their 
 left. The new born ba.be suffered the same wrath of 
 an angry God, as the aged man. What a judgment ! 
 What a mark of sin ! But while the great mass of 
 human beings were destroyed, and while Noah was 
 a saint of God, yet the corruption of the nature of 
 his offspring remained the same. The floods abate, 
 the family increase, they branch off in every direc- 
 tion ; build cities, and in a few hundred years, the 
 manifestation of sin becomes so great that the city 
 of Sodom must be destroyed. It appears God has 
 set a boundary line to the sin of every individual, 
 family, neighborhood, city, nation, and lastly to the 
 world. And as he has set bounds to the destroying 
 waves of the mighty ocean, saying, " here canst thou 
 come, but no further," so he hath set a mark for in- 
 iquity, and whenever the sins of any people come to 
 that point, the spring of God's wrath is touched, 
 and the judgment is poured out. Thus the sins of 
 Sodom came up before God, and they must be pun- 
 ished. But as he always delivers his people, so he 
 does here. Just Lot is delivered through angels, 
 then the wrath of heaven is kindled into a flame, 
 and poured down upon the sinful city. And here 
 again the new born babe suffers the same vengeance 
 as the gray-headed man. If human beings are not 
 born in a sinful state, then why those judgments ? 
 Either they are so born, and these judgments just, 
 or they are unjust, at least in the sight of human 
 beings. 
 
 Next we notice God's judgment upon the Canaan- 
 ites for iniquity. God said to Abram by promise, that 
 his seed should inherit the land of Canaan, but 
 
 4 
 
42 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 before tliey could do this they must go down into 
 Egypt and there remain in servitude' four hundred 
 years, until the sin of the inhabitants of Canaan was 
 full, (see Gen. xv. 16.) which is another evidence of 
 this bound which God has set to the sins of nations. 
 When the line had been reached then judgment would 
 come by theswordof Israel. Now behold how wonder- 
 fully God worked events in his providence concern- 
 ing Israel. Four hundred years the generations of 
 Israel were coming and going in ignorance of God's 
 work thorough the revolutions of time, but God had 
 not forgotten his promise to Abram. The genera- 
 tions of the Canaanites rolled on, adding sin to 
 iniquity, but when the four hundred years had ex- 
 pired, and the measure q^ their iniquity was full 
 then God led Israel out of Egypt.; took him as a man 
 taketh his threshing instrument, and fell upon the 
 Canaanites with the most severe judgment ; burning 
 up their towns and destroying with death men, 
 women and children. God's judgment was so severe 
 in this case, that he gave positive command to Joshua 
 to -destroy them, root and branch, old men and 
 infants ; and declares to Israel that this was not done 
 not on account of their righteousness but the Caanan- 
 ites' wickedness. 
 
 Passing over many such judgments on a smaller 
 scale, we come down to the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 We may get a faint idea of this terrible calamity 
 from the prophecy of Jesus Christ, delivered as a 
 lamentation from the top of a hill adjoining the city. 
 Looking through the space of some forty years at 
 the awful judgment, he first describes the sinful 
 state of the leaders of that people. " But woe unto 
 you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye shut 
 up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither 
 go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them who are en- 
 
DEPRAVITY. 43 
 
 tering to go in." Then follows a full description 
 of their crimes, which I here omit, as I shall have 
 occasion to insert it in another place. Then he con- 
 cludes "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killeth 
 the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto 
 thee, how often would I have gathered thy children 
 together, and ye would not. "Behold your house 
 isleft unto you desolate" (Matt, xxiii. 37, 38,) again 
 ' ' and when he was come near the city he wept over 
 it saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least, in 
 this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ; 
 but now they are hid from thine eyes." (Luke xix. 
 41. 42.) ' ' For the days shall cnme upon thee, that 
 thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and 
 compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 
 and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy 
 children within thee, and they shall not leave in 
 thee one stone upon another ; because thou knowest 
 not the time of thy visitation." vs. 44. 45. 
 " When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with ar- 
 mies, then know that the dfsolation thereof is nigh. 
 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mount- 
 ains, and let those who are in the midst of it depart 
 out ; and let not those who are in the countries en- 
 ter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, 
 that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 
 But woe unto them who are with child, and to those 
 who give suck in those days ! for there shall be great 
 distress in the land, and wrath upon the people. 
 And they" shall fall by the edge of the sword, and 
 shall be led away captives into all nations: and 
 Jerusalem sli^ll be trodden down of the Gentiles, 
 ■mntil the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 
 xxi. 20 — 24.) Not only did Christ so beautifully de- 
 scribe this judgment of judgments, but Moses two 
 thousand years before it came, by the spirit of Christ, 
 
44 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 filjoke of some of its horrible features. "'The sword 
 without and terro'i' within, shall destroy both the 
 young man and the virgin, the suckling also with 
 the man of gray hairs." (Deut. xxxii. 25.) Josephus, 
 who lived to witness this awful calamity, describes 
 it as one of the most horrible that the earth ever be- 
 held ; that during the siege a woman was so pinched 
 with hunger, she was forced to eat her own infant. 
 He describes them as running to and fro writhing 
 under the pangs of starvation ; catching from the 
 mouths of each other, the morsel they might chance to 
 find in searching the deserted houses. He speaks 
 of the most awful pestilence as prevailing at the 
 same time ; and after the town was destroyed, and 
 millions of people had perished a portion of the rem- 
 nant was put to death in the most cruel manner. 
 Here we find old men and infants suffering the com- 
 mon wrath , and this great woe is sent from God as a 
 sentence executed upon them, says sacred writ, for 
 their sins. Now if these citations from scripture 
 of God's justice does not show that infants have been 
 in all ages punished by death in this world even as 
 adults ; and if this punishment "of creatures, who 
 have not actually transgressed as adults, does not 
 show the imputation of Adam's sin, and inheritance 
 of Adam's nature, then a reference of God's judg- 
 ments proves nothing in the case ; and there hangs 
 an impenetrable mystery over the infantile race in 
 the destruction of the antedulivian world, of the 
 city of Sodom, of the Canaanites, and of the people of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 We might now go on and speak of drpuths, floods, 
 pestilences, and epidemics, which evils are contin- 
 ually devastating our earth ; but we must proceed to 
 another point of testimony showing the natural and 
 total depravity of the human heart ; which will de- 
 
DEPRAVITY. 45 
 
 mand our most particular attention, and our high- 
 est respect, for it is the declaration of God Himself. 
 
 And in order to be prepared to give this testimony 
 the credence it merits, we must keep our minds upon 
 the character of the witness, the Lord God ; one 
 who cannot he deceived, therefore what He says 
 arises from infinite wisdom ; One who cannot lie there- 
 fore what He says is true ; One who is faithful, therefore 
 He tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but 
 the truth, concerning the natural depravity of the 
 heart. Hear Moses relate this testimony of Jehovah 
 against sin both external andinternal. ' ' And Godsaw 
 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, 
 (this refers to outward or practical sin,) and that 
 every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was 
 ONLY EVIL and that continually." (This refers to the 
 internal natural disposition of the heart.) (Gen vi. 
 5.) Now my reader mark this language, and see if 
 language can be used in a more guarded manner. 
 It is so expressed that no one can find the least par- 
 ticle of ground upon which to base his doctrine of 
 partial depravity. God saw, who could not be deceiv- 
 ed, that not only some of the imaginations, but 
 every imagination was evil. You see not only the 
 thoughts, but the imagination of the thoughts. 
 Can any one dig deeper, and find a motive of the 
 heart which this expression of language does not 
 reach ? Now some one may say, this is true, the 
 heart, is wholly evil, but it is not so at all times. Fool- 
 ish thought. The testimony is full and complete, like 
 the God who gave it. It expressly says these 
 " tho^^ghts and imaginations," are evil "contin- 
 ually," always, with no intermission. 
 
 0, my reader, does this not fall upon your ears as 
 the declaration of a faithful Creator ? Can you doubt 
 but what this is a true description of your own heart ? 
 
46 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 Can you, with this evidence, believe in a partial 
 depravity ? If you can, so be it, but remember God 
 has borne a faithful testimony. So you are without 
 excuse if you hold the opposite doctrine ; and God 
 is clear in your judgment. But we have more tes- 
 timony of God, mark, not of more depravity than 
 expressed above, for that cannot be, but testimony 
 the second time of the same depravity. God man- 
 ifest in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, takes the 
 stand, and bears a faithful witne^ss to the production 
 of a totally depraved nature. Says He. "Out of 
 the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 
 fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies, deceit, 
 cbvetousness, wickedness, lasciviousness, an evil eye, 
 pride, foolishness, &c," (compare Matt. xv. 19; Mark 
 vii. 22.) Here we iind the Lord itemizing the evil 
 productions of the natural spirit, and in this body it 
 is a fact, we find not one good thing mentioned. 
 Why ? Was Jesus like unfaithful man, in describing 
 the condition of the heart ? Certainly not ; man 
 will under prejudice, in speaking of his fellow man, 
 keep back the good, and give all the evil he can 
 find, to make the character as black as possible, to 
 gratify his evil heart. But far be this from the 
 Lord Jesus ; his record was faithful and just, and 
 the reason he has not mentioned one good quality is 
 because there are none to be found. If the unerring 
 testimony of these faithful witnesses does not prove 
 the human heart to be totally destitute of love to 
 the God of holiness, and consequently of a right 
 will to serve Him for His glory, and so prove total 
 depravity, positive declarations, and righteous state- 
 ments prove nothing. This, my friend, is some of 
 the testimony which I offer to prove the wicked 
 state of all human creation, and as Christ takes His 
 sheep from this class it shows their wild state by na- 
 ' ture. Follow me a little farther on this subject. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I GO to the positive attestation of the sheep them- 
 selves. There are three important facts I here 
 mention. 1. God has testified to the wickedness ot 
 the human heart. 2. Man in his unregenerate na- 
 ture, has always denied this statement. 3. When- 
 ever Christ's sheep are called to follow their Shep- 
 herd they declare God's testimony to be true, and 
 preach the same things. They have done it in all 
 ages of the world, wherever God has called them, 
 and how could they he witnesses of God if they did 
 not certify to the same things? David, a saint of 
 the most high God, bears evidence to his fallen na- 
 ture, using this language: "Against Thee, Thee 
 only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight, 
 that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest 
 and be clear when thou judgest." This is relative 
 to the outwa,rd sin, and now he shows the cause of 
 his sin. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in 
 sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalms li. 4, 5.) 
 Enter into the Psalmist's language here, and you 
 will find he bears the same testimony to his nature 
 as was borne by his God. That his entire nature 
 was corrupt, not from association, but from his 
 mother's womb. He was conceived in sin. Can we 
 go farther back than this ? If the conception of a 
 man is not his beginning, where will we find it ? 
 And shapejL, says he, in iniquity, cut out and put 
 together in the fallen state which he inherited from 
 Adam. Those members of his body, which were 
 
48 DEPEAVITY. 
 
 written ia God's book from the foundation of the 
 world, (see Psalms cxxxix. 16.) were put together 
 in the womb according to the nature of the parents, 
 which was sinful. Jeremiah^ a saint and faithful 
 witness of God opens his mouth and describes the 
 depravity of nature in this language: "The heart 
 is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 
 Who can know it?" Mark this reader: "above all 
 things." The common pleasures of youthful life, 
 the glory of the world, the riches of man, the 
 friendship of the world, are all deceitful. They 
 promise great things to us if we will run after them ; 
 but when we go they deceive us, and when all are 
 grasped and enjoyed to the full extent, there is yet 
 left an aching void the world can never fill. They 
 bring with them a thousand stings, through troubles 
 and disappointments, and so show themselves to be 
 deceitful. 
 
 "Whene'er I attempt to pluck the rose, 
 A prickling thom I meet." 
 
 But the human heart surpasses all these, for it has 
 its work in them. What caused the antediluvians 
 to refuse the counsel of Noah ? Nothing save the 
 deceitful heart. Their hearts were fully set in them 
 to do evil, and they flattered themselves that God's 
 judgment would not come. What caused the Sodom- 
 ites to continue in carnal sins, commonly called 
 pleasures ? Nothing save their own deceitful hearts, 
 which flattered them it was not wrong. What 
 caused the Jews to give heed to seducing idolaters, 
 forsake the right mode of worship, and take up with 
 a foolish creed ? Nothing but the deceitfulness of 
 their hearts. What caused them to turn, a deaf ear 
 to the preaching of their prophets, who rose early 
 and taught them the right way of the Lord, told 
 
DEPRAVITY. 49 
 
 them of their errors, and warned them so earnestly? 
 Nothing but the deceitfulness of the human heart. 
 Grod told them when His visitation came upon them 
 they need not fly into Egypt, nor trust to his armies, 
 for it was in vain. But their deceitful hearts dictated 
 otherwise. What caused the Jews to deny Christ 
 and His doctrine? What caused the world to refuse 
 the doctrine taught by the apostles ? It was the 
 deceitful reasoning of the human heart. how 
 warmly it puts forth its deceitful lusts, as so many 
 agents to influence man always against the counsel 
 of God. And what is it to this day that causes the 
 carnal professor of the Christian name, and the 
 profligate man when they hear the true word and 
 doctrine of G-od spoken, in reference to man's fallen 
 nature and God's religion, to turn their backs upon 
 it ? The deceitfulness of human nature. The car- 
 nal professor reasons upon this wise : ' 'I cannot be 
 totally depraved, as I am told, because I have good 
 motives within. My mother taught me that this 
 profession which I have made is right. I have been 
 assured that I was introduced into the church by 
 baptism, when an infant. I keep the rules of the 
 church. I cannot believe I am born corrupt, for I 
 watch little infants and notice how innocent they 
 are. I am satisfied I only have some actual sins, 
 which I can get rid of -by an orderly walk, through 
 the assistance of Christ's blood." So strong is this 
 delusion that nothing but an enlightening of the 
 mind from on high by the Holy Spirit can dispel it. 
 The profligate heart takes hold of the lusts which he 
 is fond of indulging in, covers them with an illusive 
 garment, and reasons that it cannot be wrong to 
 love those lusts which God has given ; if so God is 
 accountable and unjust ; and then dashes headlong 
 
 5 
 
^^ DEPRAVITY. 
 
 into the mire of human corruption. the thous- 
 ands of souls deceived by following the fallacies of 
 human wisdom. Most assuredly man is his own 
 deceiver, considered in his corrupt nature, and led 
 captive by the devil at his own will. And now 
 reader, be careful to pray to God to keep down the 
 misleading tendency of your heart, and give you 
 wisdom from above to rightly understand both your 
 own nature, and that of your Creator. This de- 
 ceitfulness will work in you, saint of God, for 
 the flesh IS unchanged in regeneration ; so beware, 
 It will loUow you in your occupations, in all your 
 dealings with your fellow man, in your visiting 
 and going among worldly sons and daughters, and 
 m your secret retirement. Therefore, "watch and 
 pray, lest you enter into temptation." 
 
 Jeremiali condemned the Jews continually for lis- 
 tening to the teachings of tlieir own hearts and un- 
 derstandings, and tries to show them there is wisdom 
 and knowledge in matters pertaining to religion 
 Irom no source but from the mouth of the Lord! 
 ^otice the following passage from his works- "At 
 that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of 
 the Lord ; and all nations shall be gathered unto 
 it, neither shall they walk any more after the imaq- 
 ■inahon of their evil heart." "But they hearkened 
 not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the coun- 
 sel and in the imagination of their evU hearts, and 
 went backward and not forward." "They obeyed 
 •not but walked every one in the imagination of his 
 evil heart, therefore I will bring upon them all the 
 words of this covenant." "Behold ye walk every 
 one after the imagination oi his evil heart, thattRev 
 may not hearken unto me." " And they said there 
 18 no hope but we will walk after our oiun devices 
 and we will every one do tlie imagination of his evil 
 
DEPRAVITY. 51 
 
 heart." (Jer. iii. 17 ; vii. 24 ; xi. 8; xvi. 12 ; 
 xviii. 12.) Again, "trust in the Lord with all thy 
 heart and lean not to thine own understanding. la 
 all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct 
 thy path." (Prov. iii. 5, 6.) This dark human un- 
 derstandiug God says He will bring low, (see Isa. 
 xxix. 14.) The heart is not only deceitful, says Jere- 
 miah, hut "'desperately wicked." Nay, nothing 
 can surpass it. 
 
 Passing over many blessed witnesses to the natural 
 depravity of the heart, we notice Paul. He quotes 
 largely from Da /id's writing to show that all men 
 inherit this depravity, (see Rom. iii. 10 — 18.) His 
 own testimony runs thus, "The carnal mind is en- 
 mity against God, for it is not subject to the law of 
 God neither indeed can be. ' ' The apostle here shows 
 beyond every shadow of doubt the depravity of hu- 
 man nature, that it neither will nor can bend to 
 God's law which is holy, just and good. The heart 
 must therefore, in following its own evil imagina- 
 tions, hold God's law as hard, unjust and tyrannical. 
 The mist of corrupt nature through which the 
 carnal mind must view God's law, will ever give it 
 this appearance. It is impossible to see a white ob- 
 ject through a black glass ; you may see something- 
 of the shape, but the whiteness can never be seen. 
 So in looking at God's law by the darkened, worldly- 
 wise mind, the letter or general appearance may be 
 seen, but its pureness, its heart piercing attributes, 
 its holiness, justness and goodness cannot be dis- 
 cerned, therefore men blaspheme ; but because their 
 unaided j^owers do not enable them to behold it in its 
 proper light, to whom shall blame bo attached? Surely 
 not to God. God did not make Adam with this 
 blindness, but he received it by his transgression. It 
 is therefore the fault of man himself, that he does 
 
52 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 not see clearly. We find, then, that the experience 
 of ancient saints upholds the doctrine of total de- 
 pravity, or complete aversion of the human heart to 
 Grod's law. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 Wb have, for a little time, been noticing sin as it 
 exists withont a cloak to cover it. We have been 
 taking a view of it in its natural dress. Now we 
 will behold it passing under good names, which 
 shows still more of the wickedness of the human 
 heart. Ashamed and too proud when educated to 
 civilization, to commit sin in its odious shape ; too 
 fond of vain-glory and distinction in the world to do 
 this, the garment of morality is chosen. Behold 
 the, so called polished gentlemen, too proud and too 
 fearful of the law to lay violent hands on his neigh- 
 bor and take from his pocket- his living ; but who 
 can, at the same time, go behind the desk and take 
 the advantage of his customer's ignorance, and by 
 bits and scraps rob multitudes of poor children of 
 their bread. Then he goes to his fellows and speaks 
 about his shrewdness, as he terms it, and the wicked- 
 ness of their hearts causes them to judge it all 
 right. Not only is this harmless sin committed in 
 the counting room, but you can hear traders of all 
 sorts, boasting of their sharpness ; how they were 
 cheated on one occasion, but more than made up for 
 it on some other victim. And then to listen how 
 they will reason away all .the sin of their action, 
 that it was a business transaction, and a customary 
 affair. (I would like to know when we are to be 
 true and honest if not in business transactions ?) 
 This shows how the deceitful heart can cover sin. 
 But never, never can sin be hid from the sight of 
 
54 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 Grod, who searches the hearts and reins of men. 
 Were I to go to the infamous dens of our cities, 
 and there show the vast crowds of polished gentle- 
 men who are midnight guests of these places, (and 
 the same can he said of the other sex,) the unsus- 
 pecting home stayers would he astonished. These 
 crimes are all covered with fair names. 
 
 There is another list of sins committed hy the 
 best class of educated society under the name of 
 innocent amusements; such as horse racing, dancing, 
 card playing, dice throwing and many other like 
 things. On this point the mouths of all the young 
 are open against me, they wa,nt to know what harm 
 there can he in a card. There is no harm in a card, 
 that is true, nor is there any harm in a horse, nor 
 , in a man's foot, neither the floor on which it treads, 
 nor is there any harm in a sword, nor is there harm 
 in an instrument of music. The harm is not in 
 the things used, hut in the use made of these 
 things ; for they are indulged in for no ^other 
 reason than to gratify the foolish lusts of the 
 human heart. They are too proud, and too 
 much afraid of losing a standing in society to 
 go into other and baser sins, and with delusive 
 sophistry they are continually clothing these indul- 
 gences with the fair garments of no harm, fashion- 
 able amusements, and onward they go. My dear 
 young reader, the very thoughts of foolishness are 
 sinful in Grod's sight, (see Prov. xxiv. 9.) much 
 more so the practice of it. But I know, "though 
 thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar, yet will not 
 his foolishness depart from him." (Prov. xxvii. 
 22.) But every man is wise in his own conceit. 
 Go on young people, listen to the deceptions of 
 your own hearts. "Eejoice, Oyoung man, in thy 
 youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of 
 
DEPRAVITY. 55 
 
 thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart, and 
 in the sjght of thine eyes, hut know thou that for all 
 these things God will bring thee into judgment. ' ' 
 (Eccle. xi. 9.) May the Lord enahle you, whosoever 
 is among you of his sheep, to deny the evil of his 
 heart, and to put away evil from your flesh. 
 
CHAPTER' VI 
 
 In the last place let us view sin as it exists under 
 the cloak of religion, the most horrible form it can 
 assume. It is dreadful to commit murder as mur- 
 der, hut to commit it under the garment of religion 
 is shocking in the extreme. A profligate who 
 commits his sin openly, with a kind of honesty, 
 having no disposition to hide it, seems to demand 
 some kind of respect ; but he who, in a lurking, 
 sly manner, commits his crimes under the garb of 
 religion, demands no regard whatever. He acts 
 the hypocrite, the coward, and is undeserving of 
 the least confidence. How much sin is charged, 
 by God, to the religious Jews, by the mouth of 
 Isaiah : "The Lord said, forasmuch as this people 
 draw near me with their mouths, and with their 
 lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts 
 far from me, and their face towards me is taught 
 by precept of man. Therefore will I proceed to do 
 a marvelous work." (Isaiah xxix. 13, 14.) Here 
 we find their mouths and hearts did not go together. 
 Under the garment of religion they committed 
 sin. This the Jews always did. When Christ 
 came on earth he found religion running high, 
 such as it was, a mere name without a nature ; for 
 the people at that very day were called ' ' dry 
 ground," by Isaiah, (see Isaiah liii.) And the 
 greatest charges of sin, brought by our Lord 
 against that people, were sins under the name of 
 religion, under the name of following Moses. Read 
 
DEPRAVITY. 57 
 
 carefully these citations from Christ's list of charges: 
 ' ' Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
 for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, 
 for ye neither go in yourselves nor suffer those who 
 are entering to go in." " Woe unto you scribes 
 and Pharisees hypocrites ! for ye devour widows' 
 houses, and for pretence make long prayers, there- 
 fore ye shall receive the greater damnation. ' ' '^' Woe 
 unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye 
 encompass sea and land to make one proselyte, and 
 when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the 
 child of hell than yourselves." "Woe unto you 
 ye blind guides, which say, whosoever shall swear 
 by the temple it is nothing, but whosoever shall 
 swear by the gold of the temple, he is debtor." 
 ' ' Ye fools and blind, for which is greater, the gold 
 or the temple which sanctiiieth the gold ?" Woe 
 unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye 
 pay tithe of mint and annise, and cummin, and 
 have omitted the weightier matters of the law, 
 judgment, mercy and faith." "Ye blind guides 
 who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." " Woe 
 unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye 
 make clean the outside of the cup and of the plat- 
 ter, but within they are full of extortion and 
 ijxcess." "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites ! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, 
 which indeed appear beautifuloutwardly, but with- 
 in are full of dead men's bones, and of all unclean- 
 ness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous 
 unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and 
 iniquity." (Matt, xxiii. 13—28.) Here Christ 
 charges them, in verse thirteen^ of the sin of de- 
 ceiving men in matters of religion, of palming upon 
 them their foolish doctrines as being the doctrines 
 of God, depriving them thereby of the true knowl- 
 
58 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 edge of the Lord, and in this sense closing up the 
 true church, or as it is sometimes called the king- 
 dom of Grod. I ask the candid ohserver, is this sin 
 not committed in this age? Is not the human 
 heart manifesting its iniquity through the same 
 channel, at this day ? Are not thousands at work- 
 now, teaching the rising generation commandments 
 of men, in the name of G-od, and do they not 
 therehy close up the kingdom of God to them ? 1 
 know they are not Pharisees in name, nor are they 
 Jews after the flesh, but their doctrines spring 
 from precisely the same source ; namely, a heart 
 wJiich has fallen from a covenant of works, creating 
 and strengthening these doctrines in its struggle 
 through pride, to regain its position. 
 
 In verse 14 the devouring of widows' houses, and 
 for pretence making long prayers are the sins there 
 charged. how visible here is the manifestation 
 of the wickedness of the hearty poured out under 
 the cover of religion.. 
 
 In verse 15 we find them charged with the sin of 
 proselyting, and as is the case with all such corrupt 
 parties, there is manifested a great desire for in- 
 crease. They would send out agents in every di- 
 rection to teach their doctrine, and teach it as the 
 religion of God. The Saviour said in so doing they, 
 made disciples of hell. Christ compassed sea and 
 land too, but it was not to make disciples ; that is 
 the aspiration for children, was not the moving 
 cause in him, but this : to bear witness to the truth 
 in the ears of his wandering, bewildered sheep that 
 he might gather together in one fold all those sheep 
 scattered abroad, (see John xi. 52.) And this should 
 influence every gospel preacher, not to make dis- 
 ciples, for when he attempts to do that they will 
 be poor things at best, but to bear witness to the 
 
DEPRAVITY. 59 
 
 truth. Can we not see the same principle at work 
 now which moved these Pharisees ? Undoubtedly 
 we can. The name is not the same, but all thefeatures 
 are. What meaneth all these new societies by 
 which we are surrounded at this day ? On the one 
 hand is a Bible society ; what is this for? To send out 
 agents to collect money (under the pretence of pub- 
 lishing Bibles to give to the poor,) to pay a num- 
 ber of office holders, and spend the residue of the 
 money in- publishing Bibles to Sell to the poor at a 
 reduced price. That it is right to publish as many 
 Bibles as is necessary to supply the people, cannot 
 be gainsayed ; but the correctjiess of the principle 
 upon which Bible societies are generally constructed 
 is very doubtful. -Gn the other hand is a mission- 
 ary society, what means this ? To equip Arminian 
 teachers to go forth and compass sea and land to 
 make disciples ; to teach the same pernicious doc- 
 trines in foreign lands with which they have infes- 
 ted their native country. That it is right to hear 
 the gospel is true, but Arminianism is something 
 separate from the gospel ; and has ever been its 
 enemy under Pharisaism and every other ism. 
 down to the present day. What mean these Sun- 
 day schools ? A voice from their leaders says they 
 are to teach the children the Scriptures, that they 
 may know the truth. But behold the manner of 
 their teaching. Teachers are placed over them 
 who know no more about the Scriptures, as they 
 should be known, than the pupils. As these teach- 
 ers have been instructed in the sacred writings by 
 misinterpretation and misapplication, even so do 
 they teach. These sectarian schools are erected to 
 catch the young mind, and entangle it so as to have 
 the adult in their particular society. Instead of 
 being instituted to teach the doctrines of Christ, 
 
60 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 they infuse into their minds the peculiar tenets of 
 their society, under the name of Scripture ; and to 
 do this ettectually another society is organized, 
 called the Tract Society, from which issues pamphlets 
 containing accounts of miraculous conversions, £0 
 called ; what wonderful things Sunday schools have 
 done ; horrible dea-fti bed scenes ; descriptions of the 
 damned ; and many other things calculated to in- 
 timidate and force the young mind in their notions. 
 horrible ! horrible ! imposition upon the un- 
 suspecting, blinded little ones. Thou who settest 
 up thyself as a guide of the young mind, be careful 
 that thou art well guided thyself; for remember, 
 remember, these little ones are to rule the earth 
 after us. Poison the mind of the child, and the 
 venom will be found in the man, except God is 
 pleased to dislodge it. 
 
 These societies pretend to make Christians ; for 
 they have declared it from their pulpits, that the 
 Sunday school is the nursery of the church, but 
 when their work is turned off, behold a host of par- 
 tisans. No one objects to drawing the child's mind 
 as much as possible to the Scriptures. It is the best 
 book, on many accounts, that can be read ; but 
 prudence must be used in this work, and great care, 
 lest we do them more harm than good. Instead of 
 trying to persuade them they have such great 
 power in spiritual matters, if anything is attempted 
 in this line, it should be to show the awful descrip- 
 tion given them of human nature, and that the 
 power of salvation is in the hands of Christ alone. 
 My reader, the scattered sheep of Jesus were called 
 eighteen hundred years back, without the aid of 
 these Pharisaical inventions, and why can it not be 
 done now ? The pure word of God in that day, 
 published by preachers raised up of God and made 
 
DEPRAVITY. 61 
 
 faithful to their duty, directed by the Holy Ghost, 
 fell into the hearts of Christ's sheep, and worked 
 effectually to the bringing of them to their Shep- 
 herd to know his voice ; and why can He not do it 
 no-w? Is the Lord's arm shortened, or are the in- 
 struments of his warfare, whereby he did once slay 
 the rebellious heart and establish his kingdom, 
 become insufficient for the present time ? Nay. In- 
 finite wisdom has provided a sword (the Word of 
 Grod,) for his Spirit, wherewith he shall go forth 
 conquering and to conquer, both his profligate and 
 hypocritical enemies. Lord Jesus send forth faith- 
 ful witnesses to sound the gospel trumpet in the 
 hearing of thy sheep who are roaming wild in the 
 wilderness of this world. Amen. 
 
 In verse 16 Christ char^^es the Pharisees with fool- 
 ish notions in I'eligion. 
 
 Inverse 23 He charges them with having no vital re- 
 ligion, but that their religion is composed of outward 
 rites and ceremonies. It is scarcely necessary for me 
 to enter into a general application of this state of the 
 Pharisees in Christ's day, to the present time. The 
 nominal christian world, together with hosts of 
 evangelical (falsely so called) societies, have their 
 religion in these outward rites, and ceremonies. 
 They do not pay tithes of "mint and annise, but they 
 have great church ceremonies to observe at stated 
 times, instituted by themselves or their ancestors ; 
 and in their great zeal for church tradition they show 
 themselves to be the children of their fathers. I 
 say their rites differ, but the principle which actu- 
 ated this formal religion is the same, the whole of 
 it is this ; keep up to the rule of youT church and 
 all is well. Conscience is quieted by these perform- 
 ances, done merely as a duty for selfish ends, with- 
 out that principle of love and desire for God's glory. 
 
62 ■ DEPRAVITY. 
 
 without which no religion, no matter under what 
 name, can be worth anything but to deceive the 
 people. In all this we. can see some of the fruits of 
 the artifice of the human heart as they are develop- 
 ed under the cloak of religion. 
 
 How great is the mystery of iniquity ; Paul call- 
 ed it a mystery. Let us notice briefly how it works 
 in starting religious societies under the christian 
 name ; for the wicked heart and devil combined do 
 start them, and they are intended as disguises, 
 under which iniquity may work, and yet be called 
 holiness. Now in the rise and progress of this kind 
 of iniquity there are two characters of actors ; hypo- 
 crites and deluded persons. Sometimes the devil 
 stirs up man's basest motives, so that he will devise 
 a false doctrine, knowing it to be false. Then he 
 moves him to palm it on his followers, who may 
 either perceive the deception and chose to follow it 
 or be deceived by it. Here we see the two characters, 
 and, hence, two starting points for iniquity under 
 the garment of religion. First. An idea arises in 
 some mind from which the man contrives a complete 
 doctrine, and publishes it to the world as Grod's doc- 
 trine. Hence the people are deceived. Secondly. A 
 sentiment is entertained by some man which to him 
 is pleasing ; and he, really thinking it to be accord- 
 ing to truth, takes hold of it, being deceived by his 
 own heart, and announces it to the people, who 
 cheerfully receive it. These are the two points from 
 which all false doctrines come into the world ; and 
 each point we see starts from the deceitful heart. 
 Here we find, no matter whether a man'teaches a false 
 doctrine knowingly or ignoranth , the doctrine is 
 not effected thereby ; it is nevertheless false, its ten- 
 dency just as evil, and its end as destructive. If I 
 drink purposely, a glass of poison the result is 
 
DEPRAVITY. 63 
 
 death. It' I take it thinking it to be wine, its effect is 
 the same. The diiference lieth in my understanding 
 of it. Here is where thousands of hnman beings ■ 
 fall. They imagine that being ignorant of the 
 falsity of a doctrine will excuse them ; and when you 
 tell them that it will not ; they think it very hard 
 that God will not pardon them because of their ig- 
 norance. But they might with as much reason 
 think it hard that God should bring them into the 
 world ignorant, or let them remain ignorant, or 
 that they should die. Sin has demerited all this ; 
 and anything to the contrary is not done by God, 
 because he is under obligation, but purely as an act 
 of mercy. If ignorance would exonerate them, then, 
 all sin would be excusable ; because its origin was, 
 at least in part, in ignorance. The Jews were ignor- 
 ant of Jesus, as being the long promised Messiah, 
 but that did not excuse them at the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. Nay, in and by, our very ignorance, 
 we are destroyed ; indeed it is the grand weapon 
 which is mowing down the human family by thou- 
 ands. 
 
 The manner in wliich some men talk in matters of 
 religion, there is no doubt but that they harbor in 
 their hearts (which is, owing to its tendency to mis- 
 lead,) a secret thought, and hope of pleading ig- 
 norance at the bar of God, and so, upon that ground 
 to escape punishment. I may be perfectly ignorant 
 of my father's debts, but at his death, I being his 
 executor, his creditors, notwithstanding my ignor- 
 ance, will prove the account, and I will have it to 
 answer. Even at the bar of God it will be shown 
 to man that he has transgressed the law, ignorant, 
 or not ignorant. Nothing will make free there but 
 the blood of Christ; that atones for sins willful and 
 ignorant, "all sins." They who suppose that ig- 
 
64 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 noraace of sinning, will excuse them, appear to me 
 to show intentional want of knowledge; and such, 
 persons would do well to notice the fact that, under 
 the ceremonial law, there was a pai'ticular sacrifice 
 for sins of ignorance. This must show that ignor- 
 ance does not exculpate. ^ 
 
 From the two points mentioned ahove, we find 
 that false doctrines start in the world by the devil- 
 ish disposition of man in teaching them willfully ; 
 and the deceitfulness of the human heart in teach- 
 ing them ignorantly. But like the poison their ef- 
 fect is the same. This being the origin of this spe- 
 cies of sin, the progress is as follows : The man, 
 whose intention is to deceive, is a man of learning, 
 (for the devil always chooses such. We find anti- 
 christian societies to contain the most learned men. 
 Hence their schools ; because they well know it takes 
 all the ingenuity the world can afford to prop up 
 falsehood,) or a man of gi-eat infiuence, one who can 
 accommodate himself to all classes, by which pow- 
 ers he succeeds in starting the doctrine. The num- 
 ber of his followers increases, and are much strength- 
 ened in the error, from the fact he is a learned man, 
 a mighty man in eloquence. He, by his ingenuity, 
 gives them good evidence that his doctrine is scrip- 
 tural ; and after his death they become a society, 
 having a name according to their taste. By this 
 time, there are found many other men members of 
 this denomination, capable of public teaching ; and 
 they go forward teaching, some in sincerity, think- 
 ing it truth, others hypocritically, but all preaching 
 the same falsehood, all resting upon the same sandy 
 foundation. They go on gaining ground, and as 
 the denomination grows . many new inventions to 
 draw followers are made — they become great — soon 
 a part of them chooses a certain plan to make disci- 
 
DBPKAVITY. 65 
 
 pies ; the others disapprove of it ; a division follows, 
 and a new religious creature is born into the world; 
 and though of the same nature of the parent, yet 
 it has some new features, which strikes' the fancy 
 of the rising generation, and spreads so rapidly that 
 foolish people conclude it must be the truth ; where- 
 as, they should conclude it to be an evidence of error, 
 for nothing spreads with more rapidity than carnal no- 
 tions covered with the garment of religion. Being 
 tenets, pleasing to the flesh, they spread rapidly, 
 while the name of religion, keeps them from being 
 suspected ; and satan, with a grim smile, turns them 
 about at his will. The old creed is now altered, 
 perhaps a bible doctrine or two added, a new nama 
 is selected, and another false church is joined to the 
 world's number. 
 
 But let us notice, by the way, that men creep into 
 Christ's church, make a considerable figure, show 
 their cloven foot, and then fly off and give rise to a 
 false society. And we must notice that though they 
 go from the true church that makes them no better 
 than the other, for really, all a^ti-christian societies 
 took their rise in this way, as unless a genuine exists 
 there cannot be a false religion ; hence the manner 
 whereby anti-christian sects become an evidence of 
 the existence of God's kingdom. They are no bet- 
 ter for this I say ; if they were God would not purge 
 the church of them, which he does by suffering them 
 to raise contentions, — become disobedient to Christ's 
 laws, — and consequently be expelled. 
 
 A man who starts a false doctrine ignorantly is 
 followed in the same manner ; and when a denomi- 
 nation springs from his teaching, and many teach- 
 ers arise, some will, like those spoken of above, 
 preach, thinking it to be right ; others merely as hy- 
 pocrites ; but all bear false witness, and if not turn- 
 
 6 
 
66 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 ed to the truth, must receive the reward of dishonest 
 teachers. Now my reader from whatis ahove said, this 
 may he concluded, that I do not hold that all who em- 
 brace false doctrines are hypocrites, for surely a man 
 may be as sincere in believing a lie as the truth. 
 But his receiving it as truth, will neither make it 
 true, nor excuse him nor his followers. 
 
 The idea generally entertained, and that by men 
 of good minds, that, if we are sincere in holding — 
 believing — and practising- a certain 'erroneous reli- 
 gion, God will accept our devotion, is, when we re- 
 flect upon God's judgments upon false religionists, 
 most ridiculous. Was this true, it would excuse the 
 heathen idolater, who shows the greatest sincerity 
 in his worship, even to the plunging the dagger 
 into his own heart on great religious occasions. It 
 would have excused the Jews at the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, and on many other occasions before that 
 day. But I do not mean to say God will punish a 
 man for sincerity, but for holding and believing a 
 lie. God permits men to sin, but does not punish 
 them for his permission, but for the demerit of their 
 sin — for following the drawing power of their own 
 lusts. (See James i. 13.) Observe, it is not the firm- 
 ness or .sincerity of faith which saves, but the founda- 
 tion of faith ; God's grace and truth, of which faith is 
 only the evidence. I may firmly grasp, in falling from 
 the top of a tree, a decayed branch, believing it to be 
 sound, but when my weight comes upon it tke 
 branch gives way, and is precipitated with me to the 
 ground, notwithstanding my firm grasp ; whereas if 
 I grasp a branch which is sufficiently strong, though 
 I hold to it not near so tenaciously, I am saved. So 
 with faith. If it is faith in a lie, my faith, lie and 
 all must perish together. But if it is founded in the 
 truth, I must stand as long as it stands. 
 
DEPRAVITY. 67 
 
 I wish it understood that I do not attack men, 
 hut these false doctrines, and their foolishness in 
 holding them. And whether I do this for their de- 
 struction, or salvation ; whether it is done to glorify 
 myself or God, God must judge ; I know my weak- 
 nesses, and temptations in these things. (0 the 
 host of enemies which appear on the field of battle !) 
 I say I war upon the doctrine, but I am aware that to 
 cuffa sportsman's dog, is to attack him. Some men 
 are so righteous they cannot condemn anything, 
 truth nor error ; others are so iincharitable they con- 
 demn, or rather hold out God's condemnation of 
 every thing which is contrary to the harmony of in- 
 spiration. Christ, considered as a righteous man 
 acted in this manner, and on this account was 
 not only persecuted, but finally killed. Yes, the 
 most righteous man who ever lived, was judged by 
 the wisdom of Israel and Eome as the most wicked. 
 A beautiful example indeed of man's wisdom and 
 ability to sit as judge in matters of religion ! And 
 the same mistake made by the Jews concerning 
 Christ is made in every age respecting his followers. 
 The Apostles were like their master, zealous for the 
 one true faith received from heaven, and uncomprom- 
 isingly opposed to all error. Whether I am dream- 
 ing, or in my right mind, I really believe, if the 
 apostle Paul should rise from the dead, (no one 
 knowing him,) and open his mouth in the style he 
 did eighteen centuries ago, he would be treated, 
 (civil law being set aside,) as badly now as he was 
 then. Human nature is the same, the truth the 
 same, iniquity the same, even when, passing under a 
 good name. And why should not the actions of 
 men be the same. I know some will say Christianity 
 is more universal now than then. I know the name 
 spreads further, and civil governments admit it ; 
 but that vital godliness is now more widely diffused 
 
68 DEPRAVITY. 
 
 in proportion to the extent of the human race, than 
 it was then, cannot be proven. It is obvious that 
 the mystery of iniquity doth work under good names 
 which appears to suit the world. Earthy Earth, 
 thy delusions shall be thy destruction. Name, fash- 
 ion, popularity and mad ambition are hurrying you 
 to your awful judgment. But Christ's sheep want 
 something more than name ; for they know that 
 professing Christianity is one thing, possessing it 
 another ; calling upon Christ is one thing, desiring 
 to live to His glory, and doing His revealed will is 
 another. Ah, they know that Christ, who has set 
 nothing hideous in the word of God, has said that in 
 the day of vengeance, many will say unto Him 
 "Lord, Lord have me not prophesied in ihy name, 
 and in thy name," (as if by his commandment) 
 " cast out devils, and in thy name done many won- 
 derful works." (Matt. vii. 22.) Surely this will 
 only apply to those who teach false doctrine in 
 Christ's name, or hypocritically his truth in part. 
 These sheep know that Christ says He will answer 
 such "I never knew you, depart from me ye that 
 work iniquity." (Matt, vii, 21— 23.) But, says one 
 " these arathey who have fallen from grace." Not 
 so, my good friend. Christ expressly says. " De- 
 par t from me I NEVER KNEW YOU. " So this interpretation 
 arose from the deceitful heart. These sayings of 
 Christ are before our eyes ; and let the present 
 condition, or eternal destiny of the writer of these 
 pages be what it may, these things are true and can 
 never be altered. 
 
 " Wide as the world, is Christ's command, 
 Vast as eternity his love, 
 Firm as a rock his tnith must stand. 
 When rolling years shall cease to move." 
 
 While 
 
 " False doctrine like the tree decayed, 
 Must fall to i-ise no more." 
 
CHAPTEE VII 
 
 My reader, I have made a feeble attempt to show 
 you that every individual of the human race, from 
 the date of Adam's transgressions to the jjresent mo- 
 ment, is totally destitute of love to God, or spir- 
 itual life, is wholly depraved. And this I have 
 attempted to prove by reference to the fall, by fla- 
 grant crimes of the deepest dye, from the beginning of 
 the world, by God's judgment upon the whole world, 
 upon cities, upon nations upon individuals, by water 
 by fire, by drouths, by pestilence and by wars ; by 
 the testimony of God, by the words of Christ when 
 on earth, by the declarations of the Saints of the 
 Old Testament and of the New, by sin as it exists 
 under the cover of morality, decency, innocent amuse- 
 ments, and even under the garment of religion. 
 
 Could you climb my reader, to some eminence you 
 would behold on one side the awful practical unright- 
 eousness of man. Army arrayed against army, 
 sword clenched in mortal's hand, and buried in 
 mortals heart; neighbor stealing neighbor's goods ; 
 food and raiment taken from the mouths and persons 
 of wiclows by so called gentlemen ; adultery and 
 fornication committed in every lurking place ; and 
 on the other side behold the sin practiced under the 
 mask of religion, and necessity, by an adulterous, 
 murderous, lying, stealing, character. Then de- 
 scend to the dark secret chamber of the heart and 
 behold the conceiving, and willing, and planing, and 
 purposing of the foregoing iniquity, you would no 
 longer doubt the testimony of the Bible concerning 
 the depravity of man. 
 
70 ■ DEPRAVITY. 
 
 Christ's sheep nuist of necessity be taken from 
 this mixed multitude, and do bear in their nature all 
 the evil we have spoken of, yea, and many of them 
 have indulged in these crimes to the greatest excess, 
 previous to their being brought to the knowledge of 
 the truth of their great redemption, and if in this 
 nature, reason, by all the laws of nature, says 
 that nothing in all immensity of space could have 
 reached them, save the goodness of a sovereign God, 
 who chose them from the beginning to salvation, 
 " who saves them and calls them with a holy cal- 
 ling, not according to their works (though He judges 
 them according to their work) but according to His 
 own purpose and grace which was given them in 
 Christ Jesus before the world began." (2nd Tim. 
 i. 9.) We here find these sheep are called by vir- 
 tue of a grace given them in their good Shepherd, 
 before the world was. We therefore inquire what 
 caused them to have such grace kept in store ? And 
 in the book of revelation which is the only place 
 under heaven where the first self-moving cause can 
 be found, we find it to be the Love of Gob. 
 
LOVE OF GOD 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII, 
 
 Men are apt so judge others by themselves 
 and so carnal men will view God with a carnal 
 mind, and must theretbre of necessity see Him 
 as a carnal God. This was Israel's case, and, 
 hence they looked upon Him as having the parts of 
 themselves. " When thou sa west a thief thou con- 
 sentedest with him and hast been partaker with 
 adulterers. Thou gavest thy mouth to evil and thy 
 tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest 
 against thy brethren, thou slanderest thine own 
 mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I 
 kept silence : thou thouglitest that I was altogether 
 such a one as thyself. I3ut I will reprove th«e and 
 set them in order before thine eyes," (Ps. 1. 18 — 
 21.) Observe, God said this to the wicked, natural 
 man. Then if we judge God's character by man's 
 we must of necessity misunderstandhim. Man posses- 
 ses a passion called love ; but man's nature, being 
 fallen, this passion is as liable to be exercised towards 
 an evil as a good object ; and man loves darkness be- 
 cause his deeds are evil. This principle cannot be 
 brought into exercise without an object to excite it, 
 and judging God's love from his own, he immediately 
 supposes it to be excited by some good and pleasing 
 quality in liimself, which causes him to conclude 
 there must be something essentially good in man, 
 
72 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 and that he cannot be, as many I'epresent him, only- 
 evil continually, because God cannot love evil. Man 
 knowing that his love is Attracted towards an object, 
 because it possesses some alluring characteristic, and 
 that in the absence of that exciting cause his love is 
 withdrawn, while aversion fills its place; concludes 
 that Grod's love is withdrawn when his people be- 
 come cold, that his love is awakened and lost by the 
 presence and absence of obedience, really making 
 the obedience of a creature the cause of God's love. , 
 Knowing that man's love is always influenced by 
 these attributes, he judges that God's love towards 
 him displays itself when some description of his 
 goodness appears. Knowing that he is under obli- 
 gation to love his parents, sisters, brothers, wife 
 and children, and all who show him kindness, he 
 imagines that God is under obligation to all the 
 human race, to love them sufficiently to do some- 
 thing for them in their salvation, though they even 
 destroy that afterwards by disobedience, and there- 
 fore cannot acknowledge his sovereignty. 
 
 Again, knowing his love to be influenced, to 
 some degree, by natural ties, he judges God's 
 love to be deserved, at least in some measure ; and 
 therefore he cannot perceive that it is free and un- 
 merited. Man aware of the fact that his love for 
 an object can be destroyed by an act of disobedience 
 or other offence never more to return, supposes that 
 God's love can be withdrawn so as never more to 
 be regained by any obedience that can be rendered. 
 Hence the notion of sinning away the day of grace, 
 which should be called the day of works. Know- 
 ing this to be the nature of their own love, and 
 viewing God's in the same light, they can never, 
 by natural wisdom, attain to a true knowledge of 
 God's love toward his sheep. Nor can man, by 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 7a 
 
 this kind of wisdom, ever know true religion, as I 
 have before said ; but Grod is our wisdom in every 
 sense of the term, not only as preparing the plan 
 and means of our salvation, and in being our guide 
 and director, but he is our wisdom as the founda- 
 tion from which we must start to reason upon all 
 the gifts, callings and promises of the Holy Spirit. 
 Unless we have some knowledge of God's character 
 as it is revealed, we will never think aright of these 
 promises and blessings of God. 
 
 But so far from love in God being a poor, change- 
 able, misguided passion, it is an attribute, an in- 
 herent quality. The attributes of God known to 
 us are those qualities which characterize Deity in 
 the revelation he has made to us. His attributes 
 so far as we know them, are in all cases like him- 
 self, eternal and unchangeable, without beginning 
 or end of days. If not eternal then he ceases to 
 be ; if not unchangeable then he is not infinitely 
 wise ; for all changes suppose an error or short 
 sightedness in past deliberations, neither of which 
 can be chargeable upon God. 
 
 Now, my reader, as you may have brought to 
 your mind, while reading these lines, some of these 
 Arminian teachings, unwisely picked from sacred 
 writ, I will pause a moment and notice them. 
 
 The first is in Genesis vi. 6. "And it repented 
 the Lord that he made man on the earth, and it 
 grieved at his heart . " In Numbers xxiii . 1 9 , we r ead : 
 " God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of 
 man that he should repent, he hath said and shall he 
 hot do it ? or hath he spoken and shall he not 
 make it good?" Again, you will find the same 
 thing declared in 1st Samuel xv. 29. "The 
 strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is 
 not a man that he should repent." Then notice 
 1 
 
74 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 Psalms ex. 4 ; Hebrews vii. 21. The scripture, 
 therefore, in Genesis cannot mean that God con- 
 sidered man and all his sins, and really wished he 
 had made him by some other plan, or had not made 
 him at all, as mortal man might be sorry for his 
 past work. These quotations plainly contradict 
 this foolish idea, besides this interpretation sup- 
 poses God was ignorant of what would befall man 
 in the garden, and what would be the result of that 
 evil. Again, if he was really sorry that he had 
 made man, he would have destroyed him from the 
 earth, and if- it pleased him, made a new creation. 
 But this he did not do, but preserved eight souls, 
 who carried within them the evil propensities which 
 had caused all the crimes of the antediluvians. 
 What then can be the meaning ? Undoubtedly this: 
 a providential change before human eyes.. Provi- 
 dence had borne with this people a long time, but 
 suddenly God shows them a new link in his un- 
 broken chain of world-government, which chain 
 he formed before the foundation of the world. To 
 human eyes there was a wonderful change in the 
 mind of Deity, before the appointed time for an 
 awful judgment had arrived. This I understand 
 to be the true interpretation of God's repenting, 
 and if you ask me why God so expressed it, I can 
 only give you this reason : the passage is the 
 language of Moses, who was instructed by the 
 Holy Ghost. He, knowing man's weakness to un- 
 derstand, and desiring to make the Jews or Israel- 
 ites receive an idea of God's wrath, expressed it 
 by the term repcntence, or turning as the action of 
 an angry man, for well they knew the result of 
 anger among men. So God has repeatedly repre- 
 sented himself to the Jews as influenced by all the 
 Avhimsical passions of man, as wrath, hatred. 
 
LOVE OF aoD. 75 
 
 jealousy ; and even as possessing the parts of a 
 man's body, as the mouth, nostrils, hands, eyes. 
 Such language was used in order to accommodate 
 it to the weakness of man. But I know not that 
 Grod has ever represented himself as acting in this 
 manner towards his spiritual people, considered as 
 separate from the Jews. But to them, he always 
 revealed himself clearly ; and to this we are in- 
 debted for our direct knowledge of him. In this 
 way I understand all the passages here pointed 
 out, with many others that might be cited : Judges 
 ii. 18 ; Exodus xxxii. 14 ; 1st Samuel xv. 35 ; 2d 
 Samuel xxiv. 16 ; 1st Chronicle xxi. 15 ; Psalmp 
 cvi. 45 ; Jeremiah xxi. 19 ; Amos vii. 3 — 6. I 
 am forbidden by the harmony of revelation, tc 
 think that Grod can efer change. 
 
 Such being the character of God, love, tha' 
 leading attribute exhibited in man's salvation, 
 bears the same nature. It is therefore eternal, 
 yea, God loved the sheep of his pasture from all 
 eternity, not as a body only, but individually. 
 We can learn this fact from no source save that of 
 written revelation ; and there we hear God hearing 
 witness to this truth himself. ' ' The Lord hath 
 appeared unto me of old, saying, yea, I have loved 
 thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving 
 kindness have I drawn thee." (Jere. xxxi. 3.) 
 With an everlasting love. This we would infer 
 from his nature, that if he loved at all it must be 
 from the beginning. Jesus Christ taught the same 
 glorious truth. "Neither pray I for these alone , 
 but for them also which shall believe on me 
 through their word, that they all may be one ; as 
 thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they 
 also may be one in us, that the world may believe 
 that thou has sent me, and the glory which thou 
 
76 LOVE OF SOD. 
 
 hast given me I have given them. I in them, and 
 thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, 
 and that the world may know that thou has sent 
 me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. 
 Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given 
 me he with me where I am, that they may behold 
 ;my glory which thou hast given me, for thou 
 lovedst me before the foundation of the wokld." 
 (John xvii. 20 — 24.) What glorious words are 
 these : " neither pray I for these alone," that is for 
 his eleven disciples then around him, " but for 
 them also who shall believe on me through their 
 word." All who should be turned from darkness to 
 light through the apostles' teaching, which in- 
 cludes every returning sheep in all ages of the 
 world, from their day down*o the last moment of 
 time. 
 
 Keflect, 0, reader, that Jesus Christ prays for 
 all his people in every age of the gospel world. 
 Precious thought ! Can it he possible he prayed 
 for me ? Yea, if he groaned, bled and died for me, 
 if he intercedes for me now at the right hand of 
 the majesty on high, he interceded in that ever 
 memorable prayer which is truly and properly 
 the Lord's prayer. 
 
 But behold the reason of all this : because God 
 loved them as he loved Christ, and loved him before 
 the foundation of the world. V/hat is, therefore, 
 manifest? It is, that as certain as God loved Christ 
 before the world began, he loved every sheep of the 
 pasture at the same period. Who can say in the 
 face of this testimony, that the eternity of God's love 
 towards his church is not true, and who cannot see 
 that such love as this is altogether different from the 
 mei-o passion of love in man ; and also that this love 
 is not found out by man's wisdom, but is only known 
 
LOVfi OF GOD. 77 
 
 by the kindness of God in making us acquainted 
 with it,. in the word ot truth. John the apostle in- 
 forms us that ''Grod is love." (1st John iv. 8.) His 
 mind was so illuminated upon this subject as being 
 the groundwork, and mainspring of the saints re- 
 demption and experience, that he reiterates the 
 word as if unwilling to leave it. He shows even 
 as the other apostles did that Christ's death and 
 sufferings were the evidence of this eternal love. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 In the next place let us notice that this love com- 
 ing from a supreme source must be in itself sovereign, 
 supreme in power. It therefore contains its owa 
 laws whereby it is governed in going forth towards 
 man. The blinded Israelitish world contend for a 
 right to this love upon the ground of being a son of 
 Abraham ; the modern Pharisee would claim it upon 
 the ground of his parents' faith and church member- 
 ship; or upon his infantile baptism; or upon his 
 native spiritual ability to turn at pleasure and do 
 good works, or because of what he has already done. 
 But sovereign love is like the God in whom it dwells ; 
 is found of those who seek it not in this manner, and 
 is made manifest to those who ask not for it. 
 
 It is sovereign, there is no law beyond or above it 
 to which it is answerable; it has therefore a right 
 to dart forth into the bosoms of men of every nation, 
 kindred and tongue under heaven ; a perfect right 
 to pass by the self-righteous Pharisee, no matter in 
 what his righteousness consists, and suddenly light 
 upon an abandoned profligate ; to go beyond these 
 worldly religionists and rest upon the murderer, 
 adulterer and false witness, and no one lias the least 
 right to say " what doest thou." I have found men 
 in all communities, judging God as unjust, when 
 they would hear of his sovereignty. I would like 
 to know by what law they judge him? Injustice can 
 only be known by its infringing upon a law, and 
 if they consider God unjust it must be either by the 
 
LOVE OF (WD. 79 
 
 light of their own hiw, or of some law which (xod has 
 revealed to thein as their guide. " If they judge him 
 by the law of himself, he must ever he justified ; for 
 I defy any man, learned or unlerjned, religious or 
 profane, to discover that God har> revealed any law 
 as binding himself save his own will. Ho is an abso 
 Inte monarch but not a tyranical one. His will is 
 law in heaven ; is the law by which all the creation 
 was formed, is the law by which all the otlier laws 
 of heaven, of natural creation, of the great work of 
 salvation, and the eternal government of the church 
 were made. Indeed all these laws in regard to G-od's 
 works, are nothing more than manifestations of the 
 grand law, his eternal will. "Wherefore should 
 the heathen say where is now their Gol ? but our 
 God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he 
 PLEASED." (Psa. cxv. 2, 3.) 
 
 In another place the Psalmist is yet clearer and 
 appears determined to check all clamor against God 
 on this point. Hear him, "whatsoever the Lord 
 pleased that did he, in heaven and in earth, in the 
 seas and in all deep places." (Psa. cxxxv. 6.) This 
 is carrying out his will in all parts of his creation, 
 and if you will read on further in this psalm you 
 will see it is carried out, and is the law governing 
 all wars, the angry elements, the evil passions of 
 fallen man, and in short all the revolutions of time. 
 I say even man, though his disposition and will is 
 opposed to God's revealed will, yet upon him and 
 by him sliall tlie Lord perform his entire will; so 
 that in the end, notwithstanding all the rebellion 
 of time, there shall not be a spot or blemish upon 
 the eternal glory of the Redeemer. Not a drop of 
 blood shall have been shed in vain, not a groan 
 made in vain^not an attempt to interceed in vain — 
 not a promise made in vain — and not a command- 
 
80 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 meat given in vain. A vain attemjit in either of these 
 would be a siiot in His glory — a weapon in the hands 
 of His enemies. Every saint shall have the i'uU 
 benefit of every eternal promise made to him, the 
 full benefit of the Redeemer's sufferings, and all the 
 blessings connected therewith. And every enemy 
 whether man or devil, siiall receive all the evil 
 promised him ; and shall, at last, after all his earthly 
 pomp and wicked pride, be shown as he really is 
 fully under the mighty hand of Jehovah ; and upon 
 them will He glorify Himself. 
 
 Uo not become confused, my reader, at God's doing 
 all His will, from your knowledge of man as a vio- 
 later of God's revealed will. I say God will iier- 
 form all His will upon wicked man ; and wicked 
 man, in a state of nature, will do, his own wicked 
 and rebellious will ; wherein he stands justly cour 
 demned before God ; who will in the end^ notwith- 
 standing this rebellion, show that he has even by 
 this disobedience, performed his own eternal will 
 in all things ; and will judge man, not for the use 
 lie has made of him^ but for the willful exercise of 
 a wicked principle, for his spirit of contumacy 
 against God"; which God has overcome, and therein 
 glorified Himself, to the disappointment of His 
 enemies. 
 
 His will, then, is law ; and as no man can prove 
 that God has done anything contrary to his own 
 will,, they cannot condemn him by this law. They 
 judge Him then, by the light of their own misguided 
 law of reas(ui ; which is like the light of the blazing 
 comet which shines brilliantly at night, but is en- 
 tirely-eclipsed when the sun appears in his dazzling 
 splendor. So their judgment looks well to their 
 admirers, who grojie about iu natural darkness of 
 mind ; but when the light of revelation comes down, 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 81 
 
 witli the Iciiowledge of Grod the darkness is dispelled. 
 To judge God by a law is absurd. As is the case 
 with ail such judges, they make that portiou of self 
 tl e sovereign. Whatsoever God does must be right, 
 because done according to tliis law, by which alone 
 can be obtained tlie knowledge of what is right ; by 
 which alone, all good laws have come into the world. 
 This love, of which we are speaking, is like our 
 God, just in all its work ; and reigns most gloriously 
 far above all human rights and merits. No matter 
 whom it rests upon we have no authority to say, why 
 not here or there? Why not on my friend, rather 
 than on my eremy ? Why not on this rich man who 
 is in high esteem, rather than on that forgotten, un- 
 fed, unclothed pauper? And well is'itthat this love 
 is sovereign, to rest upon whomsoever it will, and 
 that in justice ; for if man should control the ccmrse 
 of its operation, the world would be in endless con- 
 fusion, for no ten men would see alike. " What !" 
 says one, " not in this matter? All the world would 
 send it by one voice to eveiy individual." They 
 might, under the influence of the fear of wrath ; but 
 as free they would not. What, extend such mercy 
 as this when they withhold the lesser? To know 
 what man wcnild do, we must behold the way of 
 man. When I am told that man in his natural state 
 wovild bestow this great blessingupon his fellows, I di- 
 rect your attention to his works. He will murder you, 
 steal from you, lie to you, and do you injustice, by 
 bearing false witness And can you tell me he would 
 be thus merciful ? Man's inhumanity to man ren- 
 ders him the greatest enemy man can have. If you 
 say the righteous, regenerate people would send this 
 love to all, my answer is, if they are born of the 
 si)irit of God, they would send it no farther than they 
 think God scuds it. For while through human 
 
82 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 sympathy they might wish i<^ confer it even upon re- 
 bellious angels, they must bo reconciled to his will, 
 which is founded in eternal wisdom. They conclude 
 that to whtmisoever God has imparted it, it is right, 
 as infinite wisdom is superior to theirs ; and so sub- 
 mit and adore, and bid their evil thoughts concern- 
 ing God to depart, as promptings of the flesh. Then 
 let us rejoice in its sovereignty, and be thankful tiiat 
 an unerring will governs all thingij. 0, how hard it 
 is for the htiman heart to subrnit to the wa,js of the 
 Lord . 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 This love is not ouly sorereign , but Free ; free to 
 walk in whatsoever path it pleases. Not iree for an- 
 cient Pharisees to trifle with, to win by their giving 
 tithes of all they possess to-day ; and, by an omission 
 of that service to-morrow, lose it ; not/ree for modern 
 Arminians of all denominations to trifle with by de- 
 claring their natural power to receive or reject it at 
 pleasure ; not free as a mere floating blessing, wait- 
 ing for the inclination of the human mind to receive 
 it within its habitation ; not free to be taken up when 
 there is no earthly pleasure at hand to amuse, and 
 put down when wordly pleasure returns witli its 
 winning countenance. This is the sense in which 
 the self-righteous world appears to understand the 
 freeness of God's love. They view it through a car- 
 nal element, a fleshly mist. how clear is the ne- 
 cessity of having the eyes of the understanding en • 
 lightened in order to see the revealed truths of God, 
 in their revealed liglit. The love of God is looked 
 upon by these characters as a wanderer from on 
 high, roaming through the world ; wholly dependent 
 upon the state of the human heart to receive it ; 
 though after reception repairs the heart, (if the heart 
 will let it,) and makes it in some way unknown to 
 them, fit for heaven. God is it possible that earth- 
 ly creatures are so fallen, as to miss entirely the 
 right view of thy love, as a free love. Is it possi- 
 ble that the pride of the fallen heart is so gi'catas to 
 ascend the throne of superiority, and declare doniin- 
 
84 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 ion over thy love, eternal, sovereign, free and un- 
 changeable? their delusion ! their delusion ! They 
 are not injuring that brilliant light of heaven, but 
 are deceiving themselves with a love/ree and yet not 
 free, a creature of their own imagination. As do all 
 men hy nature, they grow up ignorant of (^od and 
 his revelation. 
 
 Reader do you belong to that body who entertain 
 this notion? Do you believe this is the sense in 
 which God's love is free ! If so I })eg one favor of 
 you: set aside, even for a time, that zeal for your 
 doctrine and carefully and prayerfully examine the 
 New Testament to know the truth of God's love, as ' 
 it is in Jesus Christ. 
 
 God's love is free, inasmuch as no species of work, 
 present or foreseen performed by the creature. Lad 
 the smallest influence in drawing it towards him ; 
 but it comes to the creature who is by nature totally 
 unworthy of it. And this love is really and fully 
 received, and appreciated the better, when this sense 
 of its- freedom occupies the mind. It could not be 
 in the least merited by a work present ; because these 
 sheep of Jesus were not born, and therefore could 
 not do any work good or evil. Were not born, I say; 
 that is, when God set this love upon them, for he 
 loved them as he loved Christ, and he loved him be- 
 fore the foundation of the world. (See John xvii.) 
 
 But some will say, a foreseen work of some char- 
 acter was, at least , part of the cause of this love being 
 set upon them. This foreseen work must be either 
 good or evil. It cannot be an evil work, for evil 
 brings condemnation, and not a blessing. It cannot 
 be a good work for two reasons : First — When God 
 took a view at least in time, (and what he saw in 
 time"must have })resented itself before the world was 
 made,) of the condition of human beings, so far from 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 85 
 
 seeing any good work, he saw nothing but evil in- 
 tei-nal and external, as I have shown in treating on 
 depravity. They were all out of the true way, Jews 
 and Gentiles, none did good, no not one. (See Ps. 
 14 ; Kom. 3, 10—18.) Secondly-If there could 
 have been good works foreseen by God, they could 
 have only proceeded from him, or from holy princi- 
 ples given by him in acts of grace, and therefore could 
 not have turned and merited, from their fountain 
 head, higher acts of mercy ; for where merit is found' 
 mercy is lost. But let us suppose some good thing 
 could be with or in man independent of God ; and 
 that this good first directed God's love towards the 
 creature. Then it would follow that God exercises 
 his love according to man's will, inasmuch as he first 
 must see what man would do, before he would or 
 could act. This contradicts the statement of God 
 given in revelation. F^r it is exjjressly said that 
 God worketh all tilings after the counsel of his ow^n 
 will. " In whom also we have obtained an inheri- 
 tance, being predestinated according to the purpose 
 of him who worketh all things after the counsel of 
 his 0W71 will." (Eph. i. 11.) Who can not see the 
 grand and glorious sovereignty of my blessed Lord 
 in these lines ! We conclude, then, whc n God's love 
 rests upon an individual, it comes without any poi- 
 tion of it being merited in any way ; it comes a free 
 gift exercised by Jehovali simply because it so seem- 
 ed good in his sight, and must be so received by man 
 before he can have that exalted idea of God's great 
 kindness, which it so justly merits. It must be re- 
 ceived by man before he can appreciate it, and feel 
 humbled under the mighty hand of God. 
 
 We perceive, also, that this notion that God 
 foresaw that there would be at least some good itn- 
 pulse in man, which would cause his love to rest 
 
86 LOVE OP GOD. 
 
 upon him, arises from the old covenant of works, 
 from which man fell in the garden of Eden. The 
 shadow of that old law is in their hearts, and 
 their minds are educated in it, so that all their 
 ideas on that subject are moulded in the doctrine 
 of merit and reward. And whenever the love of 
 Grod towards his saints is discussed by man under 
 the influence of carnal minds, the doctrine of its 
 free entrance to the heavy laden soul, like that of 
 its sovereignty, and eternity ; is destroyed, and 
 room made for the exercise of human pride, 
 commonly called humility, in which thousands of 
 poor creatures are deceived by proud and dark- 
 minded modern philosophers. 
 
CHAPTBE XI 
 
 This love, which was. the cause of Christ's choos- 
 ing hi's sheep, is also unchangeable. 
 
 It is only necessary, under this head, to say it is 
 as God is ; that which proves him unchangeable 
 proves his love unchangeable also. Were G-od's 
 love changeable, it would necessarily make him 
 changeable, his love being one of his great attri- 
 butes. Man's instability is only made evident by 
 the fluctuations of his propensities and passions, so 
 it would be with God. 
 
 God is shown to be immutable, both by the book 
 of nature, and by the book of revelation. 
 
 In studying the book of nature we perceive that 
 God established the earth under the government of 
 a certain law. This law, in union with the law 
 whereby the sun is established, keeps the earth 
 during each season, at a certain distance from the 
 sun ; so that the laws governing the diffusion of 
 light and warmth can act harmoniously in illumi- 
 nating and heating the earth. The earth must 
 roll around the sun in its predestined path and not 
 deviate. Laws are established to govern this, 
 which is caused by two forces, centrifugal and cen- 
 tripetal. These, acting together, preserve the 
 circular motion of the earth, and consequently 
 causes this lifeless matter to obey the command of 
 its Sovereign, The moon is established by laws, 
 both in regard to her motion around the earth and 
 to her phases. The three productions of the earth, 
 
88 LOVE OF OOD. 
 
 animal, vegetable, and mineral, are controlled by- 
 certain laws. The mineral kingdom continues ever 
 the same, while the vegetable and animal are con- 
 tinually coming and going. A law governs the 
 sun in his apparent rising and setting. There are 
 laws regulating man's physical structure, and a 
 discovery of some of these constitute anatomy. 
 Every part of the human body is governed and 
 held together by some law of God. And we might 
 go into all the component parts of the creation 
 and find the same fact, that they are obeying im- 
 mutable laws. Even an unchangeable law is estab- 
 lished whereby the earth at an appointed time 
 shall undergo a complete change. 
 
 Now, has Grod ever turned in his mind and com- 
 manded the earth to go in a contrary direction ? 
 Has he made one of the stars the centre of its 
 motion rather than the sun? Has he moved it 
 from its regular orbit, and appointed it another ? 
 Has he commanded it to turn upon its axis from 
 east to west, rather than from west to east ? Has 
 he commanded vegetation to make manifest its 
 qualities in autumn and decompose in spring ? 
 Has he commanded the dark cloud to bring fair 
 weather and the ethereal blue to deluge the earth? 
 Has he commanded the water to dry up the wind, 
 a'nd the wind to extinguish the fire? Has the moon 
 ever manifested any change in her nightly deport- 
 ments ? Does the ofispring of man go upon four 
 legs rather than go upright as God made him? 
 No. In all this vast creation there is not the least 
 evidence that God has changed a single law, but 
 that it remains the same. And why should there 
 be a change, when infinite wisdom, which can 
 neither err nor be deceived, planned the whole of 
 God's works. Every change which man thinks he 
 sees in the revolution of time, is only another link 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 89 
 
 in the unbroken chain of Jehovah's purposes. All 
 nature testifies that Grod is unchangeable, and that 
 man who cannot read his character thus in nature's 
 book, is either possessed of no observation or is 
 miserably blinded by prejudice. Men are therefore 
 without excuse for not knowing these things, 
 having nature's book before them. 
 
 But we have another book which also bears faith- 
 ful witness to the unchangeableness of God. God 
 by the mouth of the Psalmist says, " Mj covenaut 
 will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone 
 out of my lips." (Psa. Ixxxix. 34.) Go out, they 
 do, in infinite wisdom, knowing all things from first 
 to last ; and therefore, we can find no cause for 
 them being altered. I care not what kind of reason- 
 ing may be used against the immutability of God, 
 one thing is sure, when it is proven that He does 
 not exercise dominion over every part of his vast 
 creation he ceases to be God ; and when it is shown 
 that he has turned from his original purpose, or 
 adopted another, immediately will there appear a 
 defect in his wisdom from the beginning, and he 
 will no longer occupy the position of au Almighty 
 and All-wise Creator. vain mortals, when will 
 you be wise, when will you change your notions, 
 arising from a vain imagination, of a changeable 
 deity, and adopt the unerring revelation he has made 
 to you of his unchangeable character? 
 
 The Patriarch Job, who lived two thousand years 
 before Christ came on earth, opens his mouth in the 
 following language: "Neither have I gone back 
 from the commandments of his lips ; I have esteem- 
 ed the words of his mouth more than my necessary 
 food ; but he is in one mind and who can turn him ? 
 And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. 
 For he performeth the things that are appointed for 
 8 
 
90 LOVE OP GOD. 
 
 me and many such things are with liim," (Job xxiii. 
 12 — 14.) This is a plain and truthliil history of 
 God's steadfastness. Knowing this, Job had no 
 idea of altering God's purpose concerning him, but 
 sought comfort through another channel, that when 
 God had performed all his work upon him, he would 
 then come forth as gold. I have, some pages back, 
 cited a number of passages to show God could, not 
 repent, which is the same as changing. I therefore 
 omit a repetition, and cite you to the declaration of 
 God by the mouth of Malachi : " I am the Lord, I 
 change not, therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not con- 
 sumed," (Mai. iii. 6.) That is: Israel were I 
 (God) like mortal man, who can change from day to 
 day, who can purpose to-day and annul to-morrow ; 
 your sins and your iniquities, your repeated rebel- 
 lion and multiplied abominations of every kind, 
 would be sufficient to cause me to consume you in 
 my anger, to sink you nationally to rise no more for- 
 ever. But mine eternal mind is, that Shiloh must 
 come before this nation can fall. I have promised 
 it, I will not repent, but will do that which I prom- 
 ised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God, in speak- 
 ing of rain going into the earth to cause the growth 
 of vegetation, says, " so shall my word be that goeth 
 forth of my month , it shall not return unto me void 
 but shall accomplish that which I please. And it 
 shall prosper whereto I send it." (Isa. Iv. 11.) The 
 Apostle James speaks more strongly in language 
 which cannot be misunderstood. " Every good gift 
 and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh 
 down from the Father of lights, with whom is no 
 VARTABt/ENESS, neither shadow of turning." (James 
 i. 17.) If these plain evidences will not convince 
 you my reader, that God, and consequently his love 
 are unchangeable, I must leave you until a more 
 convenient season. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 This love is always the same, exercised alike to 
 all Christ's sheep, from the least to the greatest, 
 and is inseparable. 
 
 Though the unchangeableness and inseparable- 
 ness of God's love is in one sense the same, yet in 
 another it is not ; the former shows it is always the 
 same, the latter shows it can never be severed from 
 the objects upon which it rests. I call the reader's 
 attention the second time to the following language: 
 "Thou has sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast 
 loved me." (Jno. xvii. 23.) To whom does the Sa- 
 viour have reference here? Surely to his eleven 
 Apostles, and all who "believe on him through their 
 word," which inclules all the people of God, from 
 the day of Christ to the last redeemed son. Now he 
 has plainly shown that God's eternal love is as in- 
 separable from his saints as it is from Jesus. Upon 
 this authority, I can say, God loved his people as he 
 loved his only Sou. He loved him from the "foun- 
 dation of tlie world ; " therefore, he loved all his 
 saints in him from the same beginning. He loved 
 Christ upon the cross, and so loved his redeemed sons 
 in him. He loves Christ in the heavens at his own 
 right hand, and so dearly does he love his saints, yea 
 even those who are to be born hundreds of years 
 hence, that the human family must continue and in- 
 crease until eyery one of those beloved souls is made 
 manifest to the world. When God can turn his 
 back upon his beloved Son in the paradise above ; 
 
92 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 when he can refuse to love him or give ear to his in- 
 tercession, it is then, and not until then, that his 
 love may be separated from his saints. 
 
 Oftentimes the people of God feel that they are 
 forsaken of the Lord, that he loves them not. But 
 0, child of Grod, thy Shepherd is ever the same, his 
 love is always resting upon you. You should not 
 walk by the feeling you may experience, hut by 
 faith in an unchangeable God , and an unseparable 
 love. Our feelings will deceive us, but God's word 
 and promises never can. In these seasons, God's 
 love is not taken from his saints, but he is making 
 them better acquainted with their natural luke- 
 warmness and want of spiritual life. Ah ! the cold- 
 ness is in thee, the dark cloud over thy mind arises from 
 thy sinful nature, rather than the absence of God's 
 love. This darkness and horror which comes over 
 the mind is more of a kind father's chastening rod, 
 than the forsaking of an angry God. It is just 
 Trhat God has promised his people. Hear him by 
 the mouth of the Psalmist, make the whole matter 
 clear: "If his children forsake my law and walk 
 not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, 
 and keep not my commandment ; then will I visit 
 their transgressions with a rod, and their iniqiiity 
 with stripes." Now hear what he says about this 
 love and his eternal purpose. "Nevertheless my 
 loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, 
 nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will 
 I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of 
 my mouth." (Psa. Ixxxix. 30 — 3^.) God here 
 promises to chartise his children when they get out 
 of the right path, which he does oftentimes'by pour- 
 ing into their minds the knowledge of their sins ; 
 this fills them with doubts and fears, causing them 
 to suppose God's love is torn from them ; when in 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 93 
 
 reality, He is correcting them for sin, that they may 
 learn to sin no more ; anil while all this chastening 
 is going on by trials and privations, and various at- 
 flictions, his faithfulness is as unmovable as the 
 mountains round about Jerusalem, and his love as 
 inseparable from them as his eternity from his king- 
 dom of glory. 
 
 Paul says, "The life which I now live in the flesh 
 I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me 
 and gave himself for me." (G-al. ii. 20.) Such is 
 the character of this love ; it rose so high in the 
 bosom of the Son of G-od that it caused him to de- 
 scend into our world, and lay down his earthly life 
 for his sheep ; and could it run so high and then be 
 separated from the begettings of his death ? Surely 
 not. 
 
 The same Paul is very clear in his epistle to the 
 church in Rome on this point. " Where is lie that 
 condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is 
 risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, 
 who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall- 
 separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall ti'ibula- 
 tion, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or naked- 
 ness, or peril, or sword ? Nay in all these things we 
 are more than conquerors, through Him that loved 
 us. For I am persuaded, that neither death nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalites, nor powers, 
 nor things present, nor things to come, nor height 
 nor depth, nor any other creature,. shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord." (Rom. viii. 35 — 39.) The apos- 
 tle asks the question, " Who is he that condem- 
 neth? It is Christ who died." Showing that as 
 Christ has all power in heaven and upon earth, and 
 that it is He who died for our sins, who rose again for 
 our justification, who is even at God's right hand 
 
'94 LOVIS OF GOD. 
 
 I 
 
 making intercession for His people, there can be no 
 power on earth or in heaven to condemn them. He 
 has power over the law, because He has obeyed it 
 Himself unto perfection in His people's stead ; there- 
 fore it cannot condemn them. He has shed His own 
 blood to satisfy divine justice, therefore it can never 
 bring a charge against them.* And God the 
 Father has declared from Heaven that in this 
 work of the Redemer He is well pleased, 
 therefore, the Father will not condemn them. 
 If these condemn them not they must be safe. 
 But Paul goes on to enumerate the smaller things 
 which might be enemies, to try to turn Christ's 
 love from His people. "Shall tribulation?" That 
 is which follows the gospel preacher and gos- 
 pel professors. He says it shall not. Though time 
 may show the stony ground professor to.be no real 
 christian; though it may, through the cares, and 
 pleasures, and riches of this world, expose the base- 
 ness of the thorny ground christian, and expose all 
 manner of hypocricy, yet, it can never separate the 
 Love of Jesus from His real saints^ 
 
 Paul continues to show that this love is beyond 
 all power on earth, and in heaven. For after enu- 
 merating many things, as though he was weary, he 
 concludes by saying, " and no other creature," which 
 includes every thing nr t mentioned by name. Again. 
 " The Father himself lovetli you," says Christ; and 
 is it'Supposable that the Father would love His peo- 
 ple from the foundation of the world, and in the 
 course of time take that love from them. What 
 
 * But while neither the law nor justice can bring a charge 
 against Christ's sheep, yet His lore can bring a charge against 
 them for sin, and unless this love of Jesus does bring a charge 
 against them when they sin, there can be no real godly re- 
 pentence. 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 95 . 
 
 can a man imagine would be sufficient to do this ? 
 It must be either a want of will or an inability 
 to love, and there must be a reason for either of 
 these. Where can it be shown ? Not in revelation, 
 for the sacred writers, who wrote as they were 
 moved by the Holy Spirit from on high, show to a 
 demonstration there is none. 
 
 Is it reasonable to suppose Christ would love Ilis 
 sheep so as to lay down His life in an ignominious 
 manner — descend into the tomb — rise therefrom, 
 and ascend into the heavens, take His seat at God's 
 right hand, and there intercede for them, and then 
 suddenly withdrew that love, and let the sheep for 
 whom he suffered so much, be carried off by the 
 king of darkness. I trow not. If ever Grod's language 
 to Israel can be applicable to any in our day, it is to 
 men who suppose that God's love can be torn from 
 His redeemed people. " Thou though test I was 
 just such a one as thyself." 
 
 To close this point, is it not clear to any judicious 
 reader, that if there can be a sin committed in time 
 sufficient to turn God's love from a saint, a fore- 
 knowledge of that sin would have been sufficient to 
 have kept God's love from ever resting upon the 
 creature. If there could be an enemy manifested in 
 time to turn off this love, would not a foreknow- 
 ledge of that enemy, in God's mind have kept him 
 from letting his love rest upon its object? Cer- 
 tainly it would. To dodge the force of this 
 reasoning you must deny the perfect foreknowledge 
 of God, and when men can go this far, it is mani- 
 fest they are determined to have their own way 
 right or wrong ; and to argue with such is time 
 badly spent. 
 
 We conclude therefore that God's love is eternal, 
 sovereign, firm, unchangeable and inseparable ; eter- 
 
yf) LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 nal, inasmuch as it was from the foundation of the 
 world, declared to be firmly settled upon his sheep ; 
 sovereign, inasmuch as it may justly and righteous- 
 ly rest upon any object God pleases to favor ; and a 
 murmuring at this is rebellion in the sight of 
 Jehovah. The heart that -will not bend and ac- 
 knowledge this, gives but a poor evidence of being 
 horn of God. It is free, inasmuch as God saw noth- 
 ing in the sheep by nature to merit this love in any- 
 wise; but on the contrary, every thing in their 
 thoughts, words and actions to raise his ire ; no not 
 even repentance and faith which some mistake to be 
 conditions of eternal life, for they cannot be experi- 
 enced by men without to some degree a sense of this 
 love of God ; that is to say to be sorrow-stricken in 
 mind for sin against a good God, a man must have 
 some knowledge of His love and goodness to him. The 
 goodness of God does lead men to repentance; it~is 
 impossible then for that eifect which God's love pro- 
 duces in the heart, to be the primary cause of that 
 love. (I sometimes think these persons have refer- 
 ence to a mere natural repentance, which is altogeth- 
 er different from a repentance towards God.) And 
 faith, what is it? An evidence of this very eternal 
 love, as marked by the death, resurrection and as- 
 cension of Jesus, wherein it takes its rise ; and as 
 the Holy Ghost ingrafts it into the heart by the ap- 
 plication of these evidences of this love of God, it is 
 styled the gift of God. It is a free love, because God 
 bestows it upon sinners, without money and with- 
 out price. (Isa. Iv. 1. 2.) It is unchangeable inas- 
 much as it is always exercised towards the sheep to 
 the same degree, because they are loved in Christ who 
 is always loved of the father to the same degree. It is 
 inseparable, inasmuch as no power in man or in 
 heaven, or upon earth, or under he ".arth, can turn 
 
LOVE OF GOD. 9^ 
 
 it from the sheep, while Christ sits as their interces- 
 sor at God's right hand and pleads his own work of 
 redemption. 
 
 Good reader, either this love is as I have represen- 
 ted it or it is not. If it is, there is no such thing as fall- 
 ing, from it, or as it is called from grace ; and to see , 
 whether it is true or not, I invite your careful and 
 prayerful attention to the sacred writings ; consider 
 what I have said, and the Lord give you understand 
 ing in all things. 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 This love is the first cause of the sheep being 
 chosen. Keep this in view my friend, and that which 
 follows will be the better understood. Having loved 
 the sheep who are running wild in sin and iniquity, 
 it is manifest he foreknew them, knew all about 
 them, and that for salvation ; for this is the sense in 
 which I understand the apostle when he says "for 
 whom he (God) did fbrknow, he also did predestinate 
 to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might 
 be the first born among many brethren. ' ' (Rom. viii.) 
 Knowing them and loving them, simply because it 
 BO pleased him, who worketh all things after the 
 counsel of his own will, he elects them or predesti- 
 nates them to eternal life. I wish to be understood 
 here as treating upon the election of Jvll Christ's 
 sheep, from the least to the greatest, regardless of 
 their offices in the visible church. It is not the elec- 
 tion of a certain number to the apostleship, in which 
 sense no other in the flock can ever be elected ; it is 
 not the election of a certain number in all ages to 
 the ministry, in which sense none other can be 
 elected; it is not the election of a certain number of 
 visible members, made visible by obeying the right 
 ordinances in the right way, which constitutes the 
 one visible church, in which sense there must be 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER. 99 
 
 many not elected, (see Kom. xi.)* But it is 
 that wliole number of sheep elected to eternal 
 salvation ; the whole number of redeemed ones, 
 the burden of Christ's sufferings upon the cross, 
 the objects of his mercy at God's right hand. 
 I hope you understand then, reader, that all 
 said here on election and predestination is in 
 reference to that redeemed body. 
 
 The two words signify nearly the same thing 
 Election of Christ's sheep to an inheritance above, 
 signifies, chosen as the object of mercy, selected for 
 eternal life, predestinated in the Divine counsels. 
 Predestinate means to foreordain, to determine by 
 an unchangeable purpose. 
 
 Observe the Apostle says, " whom he foreknew 
 them he also did predestinate." Predestination is 
 one of the most cutting doctrines to the religion of 
 the world that is shown in the covenant of grace ; 
 most cutting because it lays the axe at the root of 
 the tree of universal conditional salvation. It lays 
 the axe at the root, inasmuch as at the presence 
 of it Arminianism dies away, and there is no doc- 
 trine more clearly revealed. And in one sense it 
 is strange that that doctrine which caused the 
 
 *Paul is speaking of tMs election here. For says he "Israel 
 hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election 
 hath obtained it and the rest were bUnded." In the eleventh 
 verse he applies to this "■rest" the word stumble andfasks the 
 question, "have they stumbled that they should fall? God for- 
 bid." Further on he characterises the "rent" by "blindness in 
 part." That blindness in part is happened to Israel until the 
 fullness of the Grentiles be came in. And so all Israel shall be 
 saved, as it is written, "there shall come out of Zion the deliv- 
 erer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Now these 
 Jews who are to be saved with an everlasting salvation in God's 
 own time, were, in Paul's day, so for as being in the chm'ch 
 visible is concerned, not elected, yet the body, to say the least, 
 were elected to eternal life. 
 
100 WOEK OF THE FATHER. 
 
 Apostle to rejoice above measure, that that doctrine 
 upon which he based his assurance of eternal life, 
 and which he used as a foundation of his argu- 
 ment to show that no power could reach Christ's 
 sheep ; should he the great stumhling-hlock to 
 modern professors who make the Apostle their 
 guide, and who boast themselves of their knowledge 
 of his writings. How much there can be of name 
 where there is a total absence of nature. How 
 much a man can be loved whose character is not 
 known. Predestination, relative to Christ's sheep, 
 is very clearly taught in the Bible. But I observe 
 one man carries it far beyond what is written, 
 while another misconstrues it from base to summit. 
 To this last body the majority of human beings ap 
 pear to adhere. They look upon God as, if not 
 quite, very nearly, like unto mortal man. The 
 heathens changed the '' glory of God into an image 
 made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and 
 four-footed beasts and creeping things." Modern 
 professors do but little better, for they change the 
 eternal, all wise, and unchangeable God into a being 
 like unto man. Man is of this wordly nature, and 
 all objects around him are of the same nature ;. his 
 ideas are formed from these objects of nature, and 
 all laws of his body and spirit are according to the 
 same nature, he hears natural sounds with the nat- 
 ural ear ; tastes natural food with a natural mouth ; 
 sees natural objects with natural eyes ; conceives 
 natural thoughts with a natural mind, guided and 
 governed by natural laws ; and therefore must of ne- 
 cessity, when he attempts to explore things not nat- 
 ural, but revealed, explore them by these powers and 
 this light of nature, and consequently can see noth- 
 ing but an image wearing nature's features. There- 
 fore when natural minded men attempt to study the 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER 101 
 
 Godliead, they view him at most as a superior man. 
 They may see something of his power, and dread, 
 but the weakness of a mortal will he found in their 
 description of him. They will sometimes set God 
 forth most gloriously in some points, but are sure 
 to destroy the whole power, wisdom and stability, 
 by some such nonsense as this : "But it all depends 
 upon man's volition, &c." They thus make G-od 
 dependent upon man's disposition, exhibiting him 
 as one in no certain state of mind, and often using 
 language which would influence us to believe him 
 to be as changeable as the winds of heaven ; not 
 knowing what shall happen in small matters at 
 least. These characters appear to despise the idea 
 of God's knowing what shall be their doom. They 
 know it not, and wish to view the Deity by the same 
 light, so that their God is really the reflection of 
 their own image. 
 
 But, if God does not know all things, how could 
 he appoint a day in which he will judge the world ? 
 There is a day set apart by the Lord, when he shall 
 send down his great and last judgment upon all the 
 unrighteousness of man. Not only is the day ap- 
 pointed, but every son of Adam is in God's eternal 
 mind, and every wicked work and every thought is 
 fully known by him. That God, who cannot be blind 
 to a single hair, must know all things ; and in his 
 mind certainly must be fixed the doom of every 
 creature on that great day. And I call God to, wit- 
 ness this day, that I am sincere when I say, I am 
 persuaded, it is fixed in the hi-ghest degree (if there 
 could be degrees) of justice and righteousness. 
 
 Yes, answers one, but God's foreknowledge of an 
 event, and his predestination are two different things. 
 I grant it, God may know a thing and yet not be 
 the author of that thing. He knew the first sin of 
 
102 WORK OF THE FATHER. 
 
 Adam, and all the sins of the human race ; and yet 
 these sins certainly did not emanate from him^^ as all 
 goodnesss does. But as it regards the certainty of 
 an event coming to pass, his foreknowledge and 
 predestination are the same ; if God knows a thing 
 will take place, it must take place, or he knows noth- 
 ing about it. To do away with the idea of events . 
 transpiring just as they were arranged from the 
 foundation of the world, his foreknowledge must he 
 openly denisd. His foreknowledge and predestina- 
 tion are both virtually thrown from revelation, hy 
 the worldly religionists ; they admit it is there, but 
 construe it in such a manner as to destroy both the 
 root of the word, and the strength of the doctrine. 
 I shall refer to one of this character, and as contro- 
 versy is not the intention of my little book, shall 
 therewith content myself. 
 
 The great conditional champion was Arminius ; 
 he was one of the great pastors of Amsterdam, and 
 was educated in the opinions of Calvin ; but think- 
 ing the doctrines of that great man with regard to 
 free will, predestination, and grace, too severe, he 
 began to express his doubts concerning them in the 
 year 1591. He finally left Calvin, and adopted the 
 sentiments of those whose religious system extends 
 the love of God to all the human family, and the 
 merits of Jesus Christ to every individual ; that is, 
 that Christ shed his blood alike for every individ- 
 ual of Adam's race, from begining to end ; and that 
 if Christ did make a full atonement by his blood for 
 every individual they must be saved. Arminius 
 held predestination in this light. God from all eter- 
 nity determined to bestow salvation on those whom 
 he foresaw would persevere unto the end ; and to 
 inflict everlasting punishment upon those who should 
 continue in their unbelief, and resist his divine as- 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER. 103 
 
 sistance", so that election and reprobation were alike 
 conditional. Yet really there is no condition about 
 it, for God saw according to this doctrine, a certain 
 number, who would persevere in good works, and 
 elected them to salvation ; rightly expressed gave 
 them their just due, what they were determined to 
 have, making void grace. I say, according to 
 Arminius, there is no condition, no I will if you will, 
 but Grod sato man would persevere. Now he cannot 
 be deceived, therefore what he saw must come to 
 pass, besides he '^'determined" to save them. On 
 the other hand GrOd foresaw a number would resist 
 his divine influence, and determined to inflict pun- 
 ishment upon them. Now notice the inconsistency, 
 after seeing these men would persevere in unbelief, 
 and determining they should perish for so doing, 
 God sends Christ into the world to suffer and die for 
 those very reprobated creatures. Where is the wis- 
 dom of God in such planning as this? Where is the 
 goodness of God towards Christ, in making him suf- 
 fer for those/oreseewopposers and reprobates ? Where 
 is the justice of God in requiring blood for the same 
 sin, first at the baud of Christ, and then at the hand 
 of those reprobates ? Where is the faithfulness of God 
 to the intercession of his Son, for those blood-bought 
 ones, who are by an irrevocable decree, reprobated 
 to damnation, for hardness of heart and unbelief, 
 the very sins Christ atoned for ! This wisdom, good- 
 ness, justice, and faithfulness which characterizes 
 Jehovah in the revelation, by which must be 
 measured all doctrine, are all buried in the natural 
 fog of human understanding. 
 
 Again, if these sentiments be true, Jesus Christ 
 has done as much for the damned in hell as for the 
 saved in heaven;- and the only difference between the 
 two parties is, one would work and so make good 
 
104 WOKK OF THE EATHBR. 
 
 Christ's atonement, and the .other woukl not; 
 making the actions of creatures the only difference, 
 and, therefore, the only ground of hoasting or 
 glorying ; and consequently making the great sal- 
 vation of Christ, salvation by the deeds of the law. 
 Such was the doctrine held hy the Pharisees, with the 
 exception of the addition of the mere name of 
 Christ. You ohserve, also, that this great man, did 
 not view God as acting in choosing man to salvation, 
 according to the dictates of his own divine mind ; 
 hut brought ahout this salvation and damnation, 
 also, according to the will of man. Is this Paul's 
 doctrine ? Bid the apostle ever hint at such a thing 
 as God beiilg influenced hy a foreknowledge of man's 
 depraved will? The scripture says, " God work- 
 eth all things after the counsel of his own will." 
 (Eph. i. 11.) Isaiah says: " With whom took he 
 counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him 
 in the path of judgment, and taught him knowl- 
 edge, and showed him the way of understanding." 
 (Isa. xl. 14.) If God predestinated the saved to 
 eternal life because he saw they would do good, he 
 did not work this thing after the counsel of his own 
 will.'. If God did, as says this man, predestinate 
 man to life because he saw he would persevere, it 
 follows that man would have pursued the right 
 path without the power of God, for man was going 
 to walk this way hefore God chose him ; and man's 
 foreseen course of action isthecause of God's choosing 
 rather than God's predestination, the cause of good 
 work. 
 
 Therefore God cannot work in his saints both to 
 will and to do of his own goodN pleasure, hut makes 
 it his pleasure to suffer man to carry out these for- 
 seen good motives. What advantage can there he 
 in this doctrine ? I can see none. Its admirers en- 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER. 105 
 
 tertain an idea that it represents G-od as being more 
 merciful than the gospel system does. To me it ap- 
 pears the other way. If I should harbor enmity in 
 my bosom towards man, and be determined to des- 
 troy him, 1 would be very apt to try to create some- 
 thing against him, so as not to be looked upon by 
 man as unjust in taking vengeance. So the admi- 
 rers of Arminianism represent God. They assert 
 that Christ died for those whom they say will be 
 dammed, in order that God may be Justin their dam- 
 nation ; for he provided a Saviour but they would 
 not except him. The reprobates then must perish, 
 and (jod having nothing against them came to this 
 conclusion ; "I will cause my son to die for them as 
 for those, whom I forsee will pei'severe in good works 
 and be saved, not that they will be benefited by his 
 death, but that I may be just in condemning them." 
 If this is not judging God by man's judgment, if 
 this is not taking God to be just such a one as 
 "thyself," I know not where it will apply. No 
 doubt this difficulty arises from their not knowing 
 how God is just in condemning the sinner ; they 
 know not God nor his law ; therefore, they, in at- 
 tempting to preach it, know not what they say^ 
 nor whereof tliey affirm. They are in darkness con- 
 cerning his righteousness ; therefore they go about 
 to establish their own righteousness and will not 
 submit to the righteousness of God. (Eom. x. 3.) 
 The difficulty, concerning God's justice in punishing 
 transgressors is very easily settled. God has a right 
 to claim perfect obedience to his perfect law, as I 
 attempted to show before ; nothing save this can 
 be acceptable to him. Man's inability to render this 
 perfect obedience does not lesson God's right to de- 
 mand it, since the inability was not imposed upon 
 him by the Lord, but acquired as a consequence of 
 
106 WORK OF THE FATHER. 
 
 siu, received ia the transgression. God's sovereign 
 right to deal with his creatures as his own eternal 
 wisdom dictates, is clearly shown in the Bible. To 
 be brief I cite but one passage: " man who art. 
 thou that repliest against God ? shall the things 
 formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou 
 made me thus ? hath not the potter power over the 
 clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto 
 honor, and another unto dishonor ? (Rom. ix. 20. 22.) 
 
 But it may be said God has no right to do wrong ; 
 yes, but by what rule will you judge his action to 
 be wrong ? If by the rule of his eterualjwisdom the 
 action must be right; if by the rule of man's wisdom 
 the decision is worthless, because the wisdom of 
 man is foolishness with God. (1st. Cor. 1. 20.) We 
 conclude therefore that Arminius' idea of predestina- 
 tion is nothing more than a creation of human wis- 
 dom, a poor substitute for the doctrine taught in the 
 Bible. 
 
 The predestination of these sheep, by which they 
 are really made Christ's sheep, was entirely an act 
 of God, without any foresight of good works, faith, 
 repentance or love; done by God alone because he 
 pleased, and no one has a right to say what doest 
 thou. 
 
 To know the date of this act, I must go to written 
 revelation, where I find the following: "and he 
 (God) shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the 
 goats on the left ; then shall the king say unto them 
 on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, 
 inherit the kingdom prepared for you from t\ie foun- 
 dation of the world." (Matt. xxv. 33, 34.) The 
 foundation of the world, and before the foundation 
 of the world,, is the date given of predestination 
 We can start from a revealed date and trace that 
 revelation forward, and do it correctly if we keep 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER. 107 
 
 our minds governed by tlie guide of the revelation ; 
 but we cannot start from a revelation and go back 
 only by our own vain imagination. Much error 
 arises from this practice. When man takes up a re- 
 vealed point and travels onward, simply by the light 
 of his own mind, the Lord only knows what new 
 and foolish things he may fall in with. In this man- 
 ner men, in most every age, have made God predes- 
 tinate sin, as he has holiness. The Lord has revealed 
 to us the predestination of the saints ; this is the 
 starting point, the other the error. Wherever the 
 word predestination is spoken of in scripture, in ref- 
 erence to eternal things, it is in connection with the 
 church, saints, and good works. "Blessed be the God 
 and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed 
 UP with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in 
 Christ, according as he has chosen us m him before 
 the foundation of the world, that we should be holy 
 and without blame before him in love : Having pre- 
 destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus 
 Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of 
 bis will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, 
 wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." 
 (Ephe. i. 3. 6.) I cite a few more passages and pass 
 on ; as I intend, by the permission of Providence, 
 to follow this little book, by another on doctrine, 
 experience and practice. " Who hath saved us and 
 called us with a holy calling, not according to our 
 works, but according to his own purpose and grace, 
 which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
 began." (2nd Tim. i. 9.) " Elect according to the 
 foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctifi- 
 cation of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling 
 ofbloodof Jesus Christ." (1st Peter i. 2.) Peter 
 said on one occasion, " Him being delivered by the 
 determinate counsel, and foreknowledge of God, ye 
 
108 WORK OP THE FATHER. 
 
 have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and 
 slain." (Acts ii. 23.) Here I understand Christ to 
 he set forth as the predestinated head and elder 
 brother of the church, to suffer and die for the body, 
 the church. And if the head is predestinated, the 
 brethren constituting the body must be also ; but I 
 cannot see that God's predestinating Jesus Christ 
 to die for his people, proves he infused sinful incli- 
 nations into his murderers ; Peter did not view it 
 so, but said they did it with " wicked hands." Had 
 these Jews crucified Christ for the purpose of giving 
 a Saviour to the broken-hearted sinners, Peter could 
 never have addressed them in'the style above. God's 
 determinate counsel brought Christ amongst them ; 
 then their bloodthirsty disposition moved them to 
 lay violent hands upon him ; hence their condemna- 
 tion. God did not predestinate Christ to die, because 
 he saw the Jews would kill him, nor did the Jews 
 kill him in their intention, because God predestina- 
 ted it should be. Yet God did determine he should 
 be killed, and he was killed. 
 
 It therefore follows, that the Lord has determined 
 that the wickedness of man shall be foiled in its own 
 intent, but shall work out his own eternal glory. 
 We see in the fourthjchapter of Acts, that Herod and 
 Pontius Pilate with the Jews and Gentiles, and the 
 people of Israel were gathered together to do what- 
 soever God's hand and counsel determined before to 
 be done. It was therefore impossible for the Jews 
 to do otherwise, yet they did it of their own free will ; 
 free I say within certain bounds, for there is no per- 
 fect freedom save that of God . We therefiw-e con- 
 clude that God predestinated from the foimdation 
 of the world the sheep of his fold, because he loved 
 them according to his own good pleasure. 
 
 The work of predestination and election is the 
 
WORK OF THE FATHER. 109 
 
 work of tte Father, who takes the lead in the great 
 salvation of man. He predestinated them to eter- 
 nal glory ; and consequently predestinated all the 
 work done for them and in them ; likewise all 
 spiritual gifts presented to them, and every bless- 
 ing between the date and end of prede'stination. 
 
WORK OF THE SON, 
 
 -CHAPTEK XIV 
 
 These sheep being under the curse of the law, and 
 consequently held by the law and divine justice, a 
 great work must be performed for then, or by them ; 
 whereby they might be delivered from law, and jus- 
 tice. It could not be performed by them because of 
 weakness. There is nothing in all the creation of God 
 that can rise higher than the law under which it is 
 made. The beast of the forest can never take the 
 earthly throne and administer justice to man ; nor 
 can the fish of the sea roam through the wilderness 
 and feed upon the vegetation thereof ; because there 
 are certain laws under which each is made, and they 
 cannot go beyond them. Man is also made under 
 certain laws, and these laws are adapted to his na- 
 ture ; they may therefore go a long way in natural 
 things, butthey cannot get higher.* Man, loving the 
 things of sinful nature, cannot love God ; man, lov- 
 ing sinful and unrighteous self, cannot love him 
 whose nature is entirely different from his own ; and 
 not loving him he cannot be sorry for his sin against 
 him, cannot believe in him, and so can never please 
 him; for "they who are in the flesh cannot please 
 God." (Rom. viii. 8.) Here many would say, if we 
 cannot by any power attain to spiritual knowledge 
 and love, why does God find fault ? why are we con- 
 demned by him because we do not, by our natural 
 strength exercise faith and repentance, and other 
 
 *The law under which man was made, gave him sufBcient 
 power to obey the commands of God before the fall. Since that 
 fall, we are to view him as under the imperfect law of fallen nature. 
 
WORK OF TIIRSON. Ill 
 
 spiritual gifts ? where .is such a thing required in 
 sacred writ ? where has God condemned man for not 
 doing what Adam had no power to do before the 
 fall ? And where can it be shown that Adam was a 
 spiritual man ? This is a creature of imagination. 
 God requires of his spiritual people the exercise of 
 spiritual gifts to whom he has given them, not in 
 nature but in grace ; their slothtulness, through the 
 weakness (rather than strength) of nature, calls forth 
 from the mouth of the Lord many exhortations, ad- 
 monitions, threatenings a^d warnings, and every 
 chastisement. And these things are supposed to be 
 sent to, and required ot natural men ; and so this 
 monster of their imagination appears to them to be 
 in the doctrine of grace. If men would accurately 
 separate the word of truth, they would find that 
 these things which they suppose are required of them, 
 are applicable only to the sons of God. Whatever 
 God required of Adam before the fall could be ren- 
 dered by him because God had given him power to 
 obey ; and until it can be proven that God took from 
 Adam the power to obey, there being nothing in 
 him to cause God to do it, it cannot be shown un- 
 just in God to require of Adam alter the fall of his 
 posterity that obedience which the Lord gave him 
 the ability to render in the beginning. Nor can it 
 ever be shown that a pure God can be satisfied with 
 anything short of a perfect obedience to a perfect 
 law. If the obedience which must be measured by 
 the law, will not run to the end of the law, it is im- 
 perfect, and therefore condenmed by the law. 
 
 This is the condemnation of the human race, and 
 not their refusing to exercise the special gifts of 
 grace which no man by nature has. Condemnation 
 arises from rebellion against a law, whether called 
 law of God or law of Christ. The natural aversion 
 to God and his law, caused the Jews to reject Christ, 
 
112 WORK OF THE SON. 
 
 and causes all mea by nature to do the same. The 
 expression, he that believes shall be saved, and he 
 that believes not shall be dammed, I understand to 
 signify, that faith is the evidence of a man's accep- 
 tance in the beloved, while the absence of it shows 
 man to be under the condemnation of the law ; and 
 not that man is uncondemned before Christ, until 
 he hears of Christ and refuses to believe, and then 
 in refusing becomes condemned. 
 
 This perfect law requires a perfect obedience, but 
 the law could not get this obedience from man be- 
 cause of the weakness of the flesh (which weakness 
 I have dwelt upon before,) so Grod sent his Son into 
 the world to perform this work in man's stead. 
 
 The Son of God was set apart to do this work, 
 from the purpose of the Father, which was from 
 the foundation of the world. This being purposed 
 and fully arranged from the beginning, God could 
 make it known in all ages, to his prophets, and by 
 them we are informed of the coming of Christ. 
 This promise of Jesus was made, by God, in passing 
 judgment upon the serpent. " I will put enmity 
 between thee and the woman and between thy seed 
 and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou 
 shalt bruise his heel." (Gen. iii. 15.) My reader 
 will here permit me to make the same distinction 
 between seed and seeds that Paul makes in the quo- 
 tation of the promise of the same Christ made .to 
 Abraham. God didnot say, I will put enmity between 
 thy "seeds as of many; but as one, thy seed," 
 which I understand to be Christ. (Gal. iii. 16.) 
 He was promised to Abraham. " In thee shall all 
 the families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. xii. 3.) 
 That is in Christ, who is thy seed. Prom this time 
 a favored few had some knowledge of the coming 
 of the Messiah. It would be unnecessary to cite all 
 
WORK OF THE SON. 113 
 
 the propliecies relating to the Christ of G-od ; I will, 
 therefore content myself with a few of the principle 
 citations which shows he was to come, and what was 
 the work to he performed by him. Let us first quote 
 from Job. When all the judgments of God com- 
 mon to man had been poured out, in one body, upon 
 the old Patriarch's head, — when every earthly com- 
 fort was about to depart from him — he makes mani- 
 fest the possession of a superior comfort, in the 
 following language. "I know that my Redeemer 
 liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day 
 upon the earth " (Job xix. 25.) How did Job 
 "know" his Redeemer lived? Surely by promise. 
 God had promised to this amount. That there was 
 one who was able to redeem from all iniquity, and 
 that this mighty one had his eternal mind fastened 
 upon him. He, who cannot lie, nor be deceived, had 
 promised, and in this promise Job was assured, and 
 hence his knowledge. He calls him his Redeemer, 
 because of his office, for Christ was to come to redeem 
 his sheep. 
 
 Wherever there is such an office as this filled, 
 several things are manifest. It supposes a party 
 held in bondage, these are the sheep ; they are, by 
 nature, in bondage to the law, which implies a 
 second party, the master ; the law is their master 
 and a hard task-master it is, requiring perfect obedi- 
 ence of its slaves, which none of them can render; 
 consequently it condemns the whole of them. The 
 next party is the redeemer or buyer. No man could 
 fill this office : no angel could be found able to re- 
 deem ; but Christ Jesus is found able to ransom his 
 people. The fourth requisite is the redemption 
 price. What is it? "Ye are not redeemed with 
 corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your 
 vain conversation, received by tradition from you 
 
 10 
 
114 WORK OF THE SON. 
 
 fathers ; but with the precious blood of Christ, as 
 of a lamb without blemish, and without spot." (1st 
 Peter, _i, 18, 19.) While these sheep were without 
 strength to obey this law, and yet were held by the 
 law^ in due time, before it was too late, Christ died 
 for them. The justice of the law says : blood I re- 
 quire, blood only will satisfy, and blood I will have, 
 " for without the shedding of blood there can be no 
 remission." (Heh. ix. 22.) This is my price and 
 no part can be taken off. Under this the people 
 groan. But that love of God, which was from the 
 foundation of the world, is at work. The Messiah 
 comes, declares his mission, that he came to die for 
 his people. Hear him; " as Moses lifted up the 
 serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of 
 Man be lifted up." " For God so loved the world, 
 that he gave his only begotten Son, ^hat whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life." (Jno. iii. 14 — 16.) And when he 
 came he said : " Sacrifices and offerings thou 
 wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me ; In 
 burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had 
 no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I c^me (in the vol- 
 ume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, 
 God." (Heb. x. 5— T.) This was the will of 
 God, that he should pay the redemption price, and 
 suffer all required to satisfy Divine Justice. The 
 manner of paying this debt we will notice shortly. 
 The next passage, relative to Christ's work as a 
 mediator, which I shall notice, is from the mouth of 
 Isaiah. " The Lord is well pleased for his righte- 
 ousness' sake, he will magnify the law and make it 
 honourable." (Isa. xlii. 21.) Here we must under- 
 stand this to refer to Christ's obedience to the law 
 in his people's stead. Who could magnify God's 
 holy law, or what mortal of Adam's fallen race 
 
WORK OF THE SON. 115 
 
 could loj his pure obedience make it honourable ? 
 Christ says in his great sermon on the mount. 
 " Think not that I am come to destroy the law and 
 the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 
 For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth 
 pass, one jot, or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from 
 the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matt. v. 17. 18.) 
 Can language be more plain? Can the doc- 
 trine of Christ's obedience to the law be clearer ? 
 For whom did he obey the law, for himself or for 
 his people ? Let this question be answered by ask- 
 ing another : Whom did he die to save, himself or 
 his people ? All must answer, not himself, but his 
 people. Then he obeyed the law, not for himself 
 but for his people, and mark that obedience my 
 reader. It was not like man'.s obedience, imperfect, 
 but an obedience wnich magnified the law. Not 
 that it really made the law more pure than before ; 
 but a perfect obedience shining forth from that glori- 
 ous walk of the Saviour, shew the extent of the law 
 and how far it required a man to walk in a holy 
 manner to its satisfaction ; and in the light of this 
 glorious obedience, if the Pharisees had not been 
 so blinded, their own obedience, or righteousness 
 would have died away^ as the rays of light from a 
 dim candle are lost, in the dazzling beams of noon- 
 day. It was an obedience which honoured the law. 
 If all the obedience of every holy man, from Adam 
 down, could be given to the account of one man, it 
 would not confer as much honour upon the law as 
 did the obedience of Christ. 
 
 But it is said that this doctrine would have a ten- 
 dency to establish man in sin ; that he will con- 
 clude, "if Christ has obeyed the law for me, I need 
 not care about obeying it," and so would give him- 
 self over to iniquity. I acknowledge that a misun- 
 
116 WOKK OF THE SON. 
 
 derstanding of this doctrine by men, fully in 
 love witli the lusts, and propensities of the flesh, 
 and the outward influences of the world, might en- 
 courage them in sin. But mark, it is their misun- 
 derstanding of it, not the doctrine, which might do 
 BO. The misapprehension of any portion of reve- 
 lation might lead those to sin who love it. But 
 when an individual possesses a knowledge of this 
 glorious obedience, and has a hope that it was per- 
 formed for him, who groans because of his sinful 
 nature ; the sight of that great love of God necessary 
 to cause him to exact this obedience, sinks into his 
 heart, fills him with shame, because of his ingrati- 
 tude, and binds him, by the everlasting tie of love, 
 in obedience to his Kedeemer forever. This is the 
 influence such a doctrine has upon Christ's sheep. 
 Christ's obedience satisfied the whole law, cere- 
 monial and moral. The ceremonial law we under- 
 stand to be that part of the Mosaic code, relative to 
 rites and ceremonies to be performed in and about 
 the tabernacle of the wilderness, and the temple of 
 Jerusalem. These ceremonies consisted chiefly of 
 sacrifices made, because of the various sins of the 
 people. The burnt-offering, sin-offering, and peace- 
 offering, are the chief offerings spoken of in script- 
 ure. Whenever these offerings were made, they 
 did point to Christ on the cross ; and, in this sense, 
 the gospel was preached by ceremonies to the Is- 
 raelites, though the mass of the people understood 
 not the truth, — could not see to the end of this part 
 of the law. When sin was committed by the peo- 
 ple, a sacrifice was to be made, by the offering up 
 of an animal. When this offering Was made, ac- 
 cording to the whole law, God accepted it as being 
 a type of Christ ; and their Confessed sins were ty- 
 pically washed away, typically done I say, for it was 
 
WORK OP THE SON. 117 
 
 impossible for the blood of a beast to satisfy divine 
 justice, or to cleanse a heart from an evil conscience. 
 There was no virtue in that blood to atone for sin 
 nor holiness in that beast to make it acceptable with 
 a holy Deity ; but the legality of it, — that is its be- 
 ing offered as Grod said it should be, made it so. 
 Christ, after he had obeyed the moral law, answer- 
 ed every precept of its strictest requirements, com- 
 pletely fulfilled this portion of the ceremonial law, 
 because a sin-offering, atoned for sin to the utter- 
 most. " But now once in the end of the world hath 
 he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of him- 
 self." (Heb. 9. 26.) Speaking of saints being 
 sanctified, by Christ, doing G-od's will in their 
 stead, Paul says : " By the which will we are sanc- 
 tified, through the offering of the body of Jesus 
 Christ once." (Heb. x. 10.) " Christ our passover 
 is sacrificed for us." (Cor. i. 5 — 7.) The same of- 
 fering is referred to here. " Christ died for our 
 sins." " Jesus died and rose again." "Who died 
 for us." " In due time Christ died." (1st Cor. xv. 
 3; 2nd Cor. v. 14, 15 ; 1st Thess. iv. 14; v. 10; 
 Eom. V. 6.) Again, Christ "offered himself with- 
 out spot to G-od." (Heb. ix. 14.) "It is appointed 
 unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. 
 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ; 
 and unto them that look for him, shall he appear 
 the second time, without sin unto salvation." (Heb. 
 ix. 28.) These citations refer to Christ as the anti- 
 type of the sin-offering to the ceremonial law. And 
 as the offerings of the ceremonial law were for all 
 kinds of sins, so Christ died for all sin, even for the 
 sin of ignorance, which must be atoned for. "If 
 any soul sin through ignorance, than he shall bring 
 a she goat of the first year for a sin-offering. And 
 the priest shall make an atonement for the soul 
 
118 WORK OF THE SON. 
 
 that sinnetk hj ignorancebefore the Lord to make 
 an atonement for him, and it shall he forgiven 
 him." (Num. xv. 21, 28.) Christ fulfilled this 
 portion of the law, when he shed his hlood for all 
 sins of every character. "If we walk in the light, 
 we have fellowship one with another, and the blood 
 of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. 
 (1st Jno. i. 7.) This is literally so, all sins are 
 atoned for, ever committed by Christ's sheep. Here 
 they, who think sins committed in ignoranee, are 
 excusable on that account, may stop and carefully 
 examine Grod's word on the subject, and not rest 
 any longer upon the pillow of their delusion ; all 
 sin I say, even unbelief if that is a sin is atoned for, 
 if not man must atone for it himself ; and who is 
 he that can atone for any sin in the presence of his 
 maker ? Who is he that is pure enough to stand 
 before him in the office of a priest ? None but Jesus 
 Christ. If he has not atoned for it, no man living 
 possessing it can be saved. But blessed be the wis- 
 dom of Grod, it saw all the sins of his people, and 
 so prepared the sacrifice to cover the whole. The 
 high priest under the law of Moses was only typical 
 of Christ, and he did fulfil the priesthood, for he 
 was the true and real High Priest of God ; who was 
 made not after the order of Aaron, but after the 
 order of Melchisidec^ abiding a priest forever. Paul 
 speaks of Christ as the true high priest, as follows : 
 "For he testifieth thou art a priest forever after 
 the order of Melchesidec. " " And inasmuch as not 
 without an oath he was made priest, for those priests 
 were made without an oath ; but this with an oath 
 by him who said unto him, the Lord sware and 
 will not repent, thou art a, priest forever after the 
 order of Melchisidec. " " By so much was Jesus 
 made surety of a better testament. " And they 
 
WOKK OF THE SON. 119 
 
 truly were many priests, because they were not suf- 
 fered to continue by reason of death." But this 
 man because he continueth ever, hath an unchange- 
 able priesthood." "Wherefore he is able also to 
 save them to the uttermost that come unto Grod by 
 him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
 them." " For such a high priest became us, who 
 is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, 
 and made higher than the heavens." "The law 
 maketh men high priests, which have infirmity ; 
 but the word of the oath, which was since the law, 
 maketh the son ; who is consecrated forever more." 
 (Heb. vii. lY, 28.) Here we have a full descrip- 
 tion of Christ as high priest, and consequently an 
 evidence that Paul understood him as the real and 
 Great High Priest of Spiritual Israel. And the re- 
 deemer is shown, under no figure, as making an 
 atonement for his people, and as satisfying law and 
 justice in their stead, so completely as that of the 
 high priest. And in following Christ here we can 
 get a clear view of his atonement, which subject we 
 dropped a few pages back. 
 
 The temple at Jerusalem, where the high priest 
 must ofiiciate, was divided into two apartments by 
 an immense veil. The first was called the Holy 
 Place, and the one beyond was called the Most Holy. 
 At the door of the Holy room, was erected a large 
 brazen altar, upon which the offering must be 
 burned. The high priest once a year offered a gen- 
 eral atonement for Israel, he put on his breast-plate, 
 upon which was written the names of the twelve 
 tribes of the children of Israel. Behold him now as 
 he stands, properly attired for the work ; the Israel- 
 ites standing around, their sins confessed, the victim 
 produced, the altar prepared, and the basin ready to 
 receive the blood. Now see Jesus in this world, in 
 
120 WORK OP THE SON 
 
 his priestly attire ; the time comes when he must 
 officiate; the sheep stand in his eternal mind; the 
 hook of their sins is opened to his piercing eye, so 
 that not one, even to the most secret thought, can he 
 concealed. See him confessing all these sins over 
 the head of thelamh to he offered, which is himself; 
 acknowledging them as his hy imputation ; see the 
 breastplate of his heart containing all their names, 
 yea, the names of thousands of poor earthly despised 
 creatures, upon whom the proud of the world look 
 with contempt. See the alter, his own G-od-head, 
 which miist sanctify the gift upon it, all is ready. 
 Jesus says, my time is come, he fled miraculously 
 whenever an attempt was made to take him before; 
 but now the long promised time has arrived. He 
 eats his last supper, and as the priest by the altar 
 drew the knife to slay the victim, Jesus opened his 
 soul to divine justice and hows in the garden of Geth- 
 semane. Hear the groans from him, when' the first ' 
 strokes of the dagger pierce his heart. "My soul 
 is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death." The 
 knife is raised yet higher, and justice plunges it again : 
 "0 my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
 from me." But he willingly suffered, "nevertheless 
 not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matt. xxvi. 38, 39.) 
 The high priest of the law lifts the sacrifice on the 
 altar, behold Jesus the lamb, resting on his Godhead, 
 he is crowned with thorns, blindfolded and buffeted, 
 then nailed to the cross. The sword of divine jus- 
 tice, or justice of the law, is now raised to its highest 
 degree, and with the arm of almighty wrath is 
 buried into the soul of the victim ; and by that stroke 
 is fully erased from the book of remembrance before 
 God, every sin committed by every sheep of this pas- 
 ture. Behold him suspended between heaven and 
 earth ; hear him cry out in anguish beneath this 
 
WORK OF THE SON. 121 
 
 awful stroke, "my Grod ! my Grod ! why hast thou 
 forsaken me." (Matt, xxvii. 46.) Not only forsa- 
 ken by the Jews ; not only forsaken hy his disciples 
 and denied by Peter ; not only by those angels who 
 ministered to him in the wilderness,, and in the gar- 
 den ; but by G-od his father. If just in the jaws of 
 death to be forsaken of all earthly creatures, by all 
 heavenly creatures, and by Grod himself is not hell, 
 we can have no idea of punishment of spirit. the 
 agony of that spirit. The earth, the sun, the rocks 
 and the graves were disturbed. If that load of 
 sia borne here by the Son of God, was so great as to 
 compel yonder centre of light to hide himself in 
 clouds of darkness, to cause this terrestrial ball to 
 tremble beneath ; to force the solid rocks to burst 
 assunder ; to cause the graves to cast out their dead, 
 and God to turn his back upon the Sa/iour ; what 
 would have been the consequence had it been poured 
 upon your heads, sons of G-od. 
 
 Now see the high priest of the law, take the blood 
 of this victim, and go alone beyond the veil into 
 the Holy of Holies, having on the breast-plate, and 
 there appear before the mercy-seat, and, by this 
 blood, intercede for the children of Israel. So Christ 
 after making the atonement in the world, entered 
 into the holy place made without hands, that is 
 into heaven itself, and appears in the presence of 
 God for all those for whom he made the atone- 
 ment and whose names are upon the breast-plate of 
 his heart. There he stands at God's right hand, 
 holding every name in his heart, for he loves them 
 with an everlasting love, pleads upon his own pre- 
 cious blood, and asks the forgiveness of his people 
 on account of what he has done in satisfying divine 
 justice, and rendering perfect obedience to the law ; 
 in which the Father has declared himself to be well 
 
 11 
 
122 WORK OF THE SON. 
 
 pleased, and tas given all power into the hands of 
 the Son ; (Matth. xxviii. 18.) who is "exalted to be 
 a Prince and a Savior for to give repentance to Is- 
 rael, and forgiveness of sins." (Acts v. 31.) And 
 can it he possible, that he should do all this on the 
 cross, satisfy justice and law, to the pleasing of 
 God perfectly ; enter the courts above with the 
 names of the purchased upon his heart ; plead for 
 them even before they are brought into the world, 
 and after all, these sheep be lost? The abiding 
 remembrance, in the mind of the Father, of the 
 agony of his only begotten Son, forever forbids it. - 
 I care not how strongly, a mighty Arminius, a 
 Clark, or a Wesley may argue against it. When 
 the kind Father of heaven can turn a deaf ear to 
 the pleading of his faithful Son, then, and only 
 then, one of these sheep, for whom Christ made 
 atonement, may perish, under the curse of the law. 
 Thus the Kedeemer has performed the condition 
 of his sheep's eternal salvation. Now in this ac- 
 tive and passive obedience to the law, there is the 
 creation of a righteousness, which. Christ does not 
 want for himself. As a man, he was righteous 
 without this mediatorial work ; as God, he had a 
 righteousness from everlasting. But, as a surety 
 of his people, this righteousness is for them. This 
 work of Jesus is imputed to his people, as their sins 
 ■were imputed to him ; he suffered, not for a sin of 
 his own ; even so they are justified, not for right- 
 eousness of their own. Christ bore their sins ; they 
 bear his obedience or righteousness. Hear Paul on 
 this point : "He hath made him (Christ) to. be sin 
 for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made 
 the righteousness of God inhim." (2d Cor. v, 21.) 
 Now, when God's sheep are brought before him^ 
 the law of justice accuses them ; but this justice con- 
 
WORK OP THE SON. 123 
 
 sented to pour its wratli upon Jesus instead of 
 them, and did fully satisfy itself upon him : there- 
 fore they are acquitted from all things, all parts of 
 the law from which they could not be justified by 
 the law of Moses. (Acts xiii. 39.) The imputa- 
 tation of this righteousness is the cause of all the 
 blessings, which follows it. Namely, — First — - 
 Christ's intercession in heaven ; then the gifts of re- 
 pentance, faith, love, hope. And love leads on to 
 a cheerful obedience to all Christ's commandments, 
 as soon as the individual is made acquainted with 
 them. So that this doctrine of the imputation of 
 Christ's righteousness, leads Christ's sheep on to 
 obedience, and to the glorifying of their Lord, 
 rather than to sin ; as the enemies of this doctrine 
 affirm, who seek to be justified, at least in part, by 
 their own righteousness. They assert if Christ's 
 righteousness, justifies man before Grod, man can 
 go in sin, for he will be sure to be saved. "They" say 
 so, it is true ; but the glorious doctrine does not 
 say so, but speak on this wise : We have nothing 
 to do to secure our eternal salvation, to secure our 
 right to the heavenly inheritance ; Christ has done 
 that, (this is the point of difference between Armin- 
 ianism and the teaching of the gospel,) and holds 
 that right, with an almighty grasp, high over" the 
 heads of all enemies, so that none can pluck it out 
 of his hand. But on the other hand, we have 
 everything to do that should result from our 
 love and obedience to that Jesus, who endured so 
 much for our freedom. This very freedom they 
 deny, for they are the religious children of the an- 
 cient Pharisees; who, "being ignorant of G-od's 
 righteousness, went about to establish their own 
 righteousness, and would not submit to the right- 
 eousness of God." (Eom. x. 3.) 
 
124 WORK OF THE SON. 
 
 The Pharisees, in their own estimation, needed 
 not the full benefit of this remedy of the Great Phy- 
 sician ; so these modern workers must do something 
 hy way of addition to Christ's work. what fool- 
 ish, hlinded mortals we are hy nature, to presume 
 to put our works of righteousness upon a footing, 
 with the righteousness of the holy child Jesus ; 
 which is done hy man whenever he believes that 
 Christ, by His work, has made his salvation possi- 
 ble, and that he by his acts which he calls performing 
 the condition, can make it certain. But some try 
 to evade this glaring presumption, by saying they 
 believe they are justified wholly by the imputation 
 of Christ's righteoiisness, which is imputed to the 
 whole world ; but by their works of righteousness 
 it is secured to them as individuals. But this is, 
 to my mind, far from right, as bad as the other. For 
 this Righteousness of Christ is either given or sold to 
 the individual ; if given, then nothing is required 
 of the individual by way of a work, to seeure it. 
 If sold to them, then, inasmuch as the price of an 
 article is generally supposed to be the value of the 
 article, their work of righteousness, no matter what 
 the work is must be esteemed equal in value to 
 Christ's righteousness. If it is said, •' no, the 
 performance requited of man in order to obtain an 
 interest in this righteousness, is much less than 
 Christ's righteousness." Then there is displayed 
 a perfect mockery of Christ's righteousness. Be 
 honest, reader, if you hold this doctrine, and say 
 we cannot wholly surrender religious pride ; we 
 cannot give up boasting entirely. Let the natural 
 world choose what it may as the ground of its jus- 
 tification before God, sheep of his pasture abide 
 ye, by. the apostle's doctrine: " Therefore by the 
 deeds of the law there shall be no flesh be justified ; 
 
WORK OF THE SON. 125 
 
 for by the law is tlie knowledge of sin . But now 
 the righteousness of Grod without the law is man- 
 ifested, being witnessed by the law and the pro- 
 phets ; even the righteousness of God which is by 
 the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them 
 that believe." 
 
 How clearly does the apostle here do away with 
 all self-righteousness and establish that of God ; 
 hear Paul's argument further : " If Abraham were 
 justified by work, he hath whereof to glory, but 
 not before God, for what saith the scriptures? 
 Abraham believed God and it was counted unto 
 him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh 
 is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt, 
 (mark this) but to him that worketh not, hut believ- 
 eth on him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is coun- 
 ted for righteousness, (not the action of faith but the 
 object, for faith is only the medium through which 
 the knowledge of the imputation of this righteous- 
 ness passes ;) even as David also deserveth the bles- 
 sedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteous- 
 ness without works, saying blessed are they whose 
 iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 
 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not im- 
 pute sin." (Eom. iv. 2 — 8.) The Apostle has 
 here proven from the Old Testament the imputation 
 of Christ's righteousness. Much might be brought 
 to mind by entering into an investigation of this ci- 
 tation ; but as my limited space forbids, I shall con- 
 tent myself with making a few more quotations to 
 establish my position, and pass on. Paul hinted 
 at this doctrine, when he withstood Peter for his in- 
 consistency. "A man is not justified by the works 
 of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even 
 we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be 
 justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the 
 
126 WORK OF THE SON. 
 
 ■works of the law." (Gal, ii. 16.) Again, " For 
 as by one man's disobedience, many were made sin- 
 ners ; so by the obedience of one shall many be 
 made righteous." (Kom. v. 19.) Could language 
 be plainer to show tliat Christ's people are justified 
 by the obedience of the Son of God. This is the 
 righteousness Paul wanted to be clothed with to 
 appear before God, for he had no confidence in any 
 other. He obeyed his master, but the grace of his 
 master caused his obedience. "By the grace of 
 God I am not what I am." Again, in speaking of 
 his work for his master, he says "the love of Christ 
 constraineth us." There was, therefore, nothing 
 here he could strictly call his own. ' ' For I have sul- 
 fered the loss of all things and do count them but 
 dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in 
 
 him, NOT HAVING MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS 
 OF THE LAW, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH THE FAITH 
 
 OF Christ, the righteousness which is of God by 
 FAITH." (Phil. iii. 8, 9.) So this man, Christ, was 
 -righteousness, says he to the Corinthians : " But 
 of him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is 
 made unto us wisdom and righteousness." (1st 
 Cor. i. 30.) We have produced sufficient proof to show 
 that Paul had no idea of being justified by any 
 other righteousness save Christ's imputed to him. 
 But the doctrine of the imputation of Christ's right- 
 eousness was no new thing, we have seen David had a 
 knowledge of it; and we find Daniel testifying to 
 it also. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 
 people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the trans- 
 gression, and to make an end of sin, and to make 
 reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlast- 
 ing righteousness. (Dan. ix. 24.) Jeremiah, like- 
 wise declares this righteousness in the boldest style: 
 "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
 
WORK OF THE SON, 127 
 
 raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king 
 shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judg- 
 ment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah 
 shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and 
 this is the name whereby he shall be called : the lord 
 OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jcr. xxiii. 5 — 6.) We conclude, 
 therefore, from the work of the Eedeemer, and the 
 testimony of inspired writers, that a man is justified, 
 before God, because of what Christ performed in his 
 stead, called in Scripture the righteousness of 
 God. 
 
 Now, we have before us the work of the Son, and 
 could anything have caused Christ to perform such 
 a mighty work, save divine love ; a love eternal, 
 unchangeable, sovereign, free and inseparable. To 
 accomplish this ground-work a love was necessary, 
 of which we cannot form an adequate idea. 
 
 We have spoken of the wild and sinful nature of 
 Christ's sheep, of the love of God as the primary 
 cause of their election, of their predestination of the 
 Father, of their redemption from the curse of the 
 law, and the bond of justice by the Son, who has 
 secured to them all the blessings of the new cove- 
 nant, which are here given by the Lord himself: "I 
 will put my laws in their mind, and write them in 
 their hearts, and I will be to them a God and they 
 shall be to me a people." "I will be merciful to 
 their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities 
 will I remember no more." (Heb. viii. 10—12.) 
 These promises involve all blessings here and here- 
 after. And I ask, the question, does this not show 
 Christ to be the Good Shepherd ? Could he do so 
 much for his flock and not be good ? 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 We must now see how this finished work of re- 
 demption is applied to these sheep, so as to hecome 
 beneficial to them. All that we have said before 
 was regarding the nature of the sheep as derived 
 from Adam ; and concerning what was done with- 
 out them and before many of them came into exis- 
 tence. 
 
 We must now see what is done in them. This 
 embraces the work of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The work of the Holy Spirit is looked upon by 
 many, in the same light in which they view that of 
 the Father and the Son. That is to say, they con- 
 sider the Father as predestinating man to life, be- 
 cause he foresaw he would persevere in good M'orks ; 
 and the Son as redeeming all if they would perform 
 some condition ; so they view the Spirit as striving 
 with all men to get them to will to come to Christ, 
 that he may convert them. And to sustain this 
 idea they refer to such a passage as this : "And the 
 Lord said my Spirit shall not always strive with 
 man, for thathe is flesh." (Gen. vi. 3.) I under- 
 stand that at the time the Lord spoke thus the 
 wickedness of man was great in tlie earth, warnings 
 had been given, perhaps by Noah repeatedly, and 
 as these warnings were dictated by the Spirit, 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 129 
 
 thougli preached by man, it is said the Spirit strove, 
 and inasmuch as man's spirit was sinM, and there- 
 fore contrary to God, it is said the Spirit strove with 
 man. 
 
 Another example is often produced to sustain 
 their favorite notion: "Ye stiiF-necked and uncir- 
 cumsised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the 
 Holy Grhost, as your lathers did, so do ye." (Acts 
 vii. 51.) What strange things people can see when 
 they are determined to see them. How did these 
 Jews resist the Holy Ghost, and how did their 
 fathers resist it, and who were the fathers referred 
 to ? They were those Israelites of the wilderness 
 as is clear from Stephen's discourse. They resisted 
 the Holy Ghost, not his direct influence on the 
 heart, (which no power on earth or in hell can 
 withstand,) which is exercised in calling a sinner to 
 serve Christ in truth, hut the mere verbal preaching 
 of those men whom God raised up. He was resisted, 
 then, in this sense. The fathers were so completely 
 under the influence of a carnal mind, that when 
 man, whom God raised up to testify to his truth, 
 preached the truth in their ears, instead of receiv- 
 ing it as godly men would have done, they laid 
 violent hands upon them, and believed them not. 
 The next verse shows this to be the nature of the 
 striving of the Spirit, and of the resistance of the 
 fathers: "For" says Stephen, "which of the 
 prophets have your fathers not persecuted? and 
 they have slain them which showed before the 
 coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been 
 now the betrayers and murderers." So then, noth- 
 ing more was meant than they would not give credit 
 to the preaching of the prophets, but followed their 
 own hearts, which were darkened ; and in this sense, 
 whenever Christ is preached in the hearing of any 
 
130 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 man, and that man does not love and embrace tlie 
 doctrine, he resists the Holy Ghost. In fact, in 
 this sense, every man's nature, being opposed to 
 holiness, resists the holiness of the Lord. 
 
 But that direct influence of the Spirit upon the 
 heart is altogether a different thing. The outward 
 preaching of the gospel is resisted every day by 
 fallen nature, but when the Spirit of Christ gets to 
 work in the mind, and breaks up the fond conceit 
 of the innocence of sin, the man may bear against 
 it, but he must gradually give in to its powerful 
 conviction. 
 
 As the Father is infinite in power, and has pur- 
 posed the salvation of the sheep ; and as the Son 
 is infinite in power and has wrought out the salva- 
 tion of the sheep ; even so the Holy Ghost is infi- 
 nite in power and will apply this great work 
 effectually. What the Father purposed it was im- 
 possible for the Son to fail to perform ; and what 
 the son has performed, it is impossible for the Holy 
 Ghost to fail to apply effectually. That is, it is 
 impossible for Infinite Wisdom to begin a work 
 and not carry it on to perfection. For it all ema- 
 nates from God, from first to last, whether it be the 
 purpose or the paying the redemption-price, or the 
 applying the work of redemption to the spirit. 
 
 The calling of the Holy Ghost, is the first work. 
 The Apostle says to the brethren at Eome in opening 
 his epistle ; " To all that be in Eome, beloved of God, 
 called to be saints." And such expressions as 
 "called of God," "called of Christ," mark 
 many pages of the New Testament. God does not 
 call his people because they first call upon him. for 
 they never call upon him in the right manner, 
 until he has first called them. I wish it under- 
 stood that all I now say about the calling of God 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 131 
 
 except when I give a mark of distinction, is in ref- 
 erence to the internal calling of the Spirit, not the 
 outward appeal of the gospel. 
 
 The internal invocation of God, or the Holy 
 Grhost, is clearly taught iii scripture, both by pre- 
 cept and example. And we find the subjects of the 
 callings of God are underthefirstinfluenceof thespirit 
 before they really know it. Abraham, Isaac and Ja- 
 cob, Samuel, David and Amos, were all called of God. 
 They did not take it into their minds to turn from the 
 world, previous to the first influence of God's spirit ; 
 but the Spirit arrested them, enlightened them, and 
 taught them the nature and character God ; which 
 they never would have sought after, because they 
 knew nothing about him, and therefore had no love 
 for him. So far from these sheep seeking their shep- 
 herd while roaming through the wild forest of sin, 
 they run from him, and do feed, greedily, upon the 
 vanities of the world, its riches, fashions, and pride. 
 They gratify, as tar as they can, tho. lusts, propensi- 
 ties, and passions of the flesh. They are murderers, 
 audulterers, fornicators, thieves, false witnesses, 
 blasphemers, drunkards. This is their nature in- 
 herited from Adam. 
 
 But the Good Shepherd knows his sheep, and, 
 therefore, girds on his sword, and goes out by the 
 power of his Spirit to gather them in, which is by 
 this very calling of the Holy Ghost. For our infor- 
 mation, let us see how he called them in the days of 
 his humiliation. 
 
 Behold him as he stands by the lake Gennesaret. 
 His eye revolving, rests upon Simon's ship ; entering 
 it he prays Simon to thrust out a little from the land ; 
 commanded him to cast his net into the sea ; and 
 upon so doing, obtained an abundance of fish. 
 When Simon beheld these, he fell down at Jesus' 
 
132 WOEK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 knees, saying, " depart fmm me ; for I am a sinful 
 man Lord." (Luke v. 1—11.) Taking Simon's 
 answer for my guide, I am compelled to conclude 
 that lie was effectually called, called to receive, a 
 knowledge of his sins. " Depart irom me, for I am 
 a sinful man." Could any man save a convicted 
 sinner, say this in the spirit in which Simon spoke ? 
 Was this a mere formal acknowledgment of sin, 
 arising only from education, such as profane men 
 make daily, without knowing or caring what they 
 say? Certainly not. It was the acknowledgment 
 of sin arising from an internal conviction, a heart 
 work, wrought hy the Holy Spirit, hy which he 
 spake, an acknowledgment no man can make unless 
 impelled to it by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Again, notice Simon says, "I am a sinful man 
 Lord;" hy which he acknowledged Jesus to he the 
 Lord. This saying of Simon's therefore shows four 
 things : first, he was convinced of his own wicked- 
 ness ; secondly, he was convinced that Jesus was 
 the Lord from heaven ; thirdly, hecause of his sin- 
 fulness he felt he was not fit to remain in his pres- 
 ence ; and fourthly, by these evidences is manifested 
 an internal call of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 With Simon was found James and John; and 
 unto Simon Jesus said, " fear not, from henceforth 
 thou shalt catch men." And the historian says, 
 they forsook all, and followed him. 
 
 Again, Mark says : "Now as he walked by the 
 sea of Gallilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his 
 brother casting a net into the sea: for they were 
 fishers. And Jesus said unto them : Come ye after 
 me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 
 And straightway they forsook their nets and followed 
 him." (Mark i. 16—18.) "Porsookall and followed 
 Christ." Was this the result of the mere outward pro- 
 
WORK OP THE SPIRIT. 133 
 
 mulgation of the truth ? Was it the mere external 
 invocation of tlie gospel ? If so, then the outward 
 call of the gospel is sufficient to overcome man's 
 sinful and self-righteous condition, and to gather 
 the sheep into the fold. And if this is so, it follows 
 that all who hear the gospel, are in like manner 
 overcome hy its constraining influence to immediate- 
 ly forsake all, and follow the meek and lowly Naza- 
 rene. 
 
 But we all know this is not the fact, for many 
 are called in this outward manner, but few are 
 chosen, or inwardly called by the Holy Grhost. 
 
 The Saviour has shown that out of four classes of 
 men who hear the outward call, but one receive it 
 into the heart effectually. The word falls upon the 
 ears of some, and is immediately caught away by 
 the devil. It falls upon others, who without under- 
 standing it, receive it into their minds quickly ; but 
 the grace of this word, not being then the great 
 profession, is soon at an end when troubles arise 
 because of this profession. Again, another class hear 
 it and catch it in the same way, but after a while the 
 allurements of the fashionable world root it up, 
 because it is not established in the heart by grace ; 
 or if you please, because it is not sent home to the 
 heart by the power of God's spirit, and in this man- 
 ner called by him. But the fourth class of hearers 
 are represented as hearing the word, understanding 
 it, and receiving it into an honest and good heart, 
 and as bringing forth good fruit, some to sixty fold, 
 and some to an hundred fold. (Matt. xiii. 3, 9.) 
 
 While the words, ''Follow me" fell from the 
 mouth of Jesus upon the ears of Simon, the Holy 
 Spirit buried them in his heart, and at the same 
 time, so enlightened his mind as to cause him to 
 know that this was the Lord ; and whether he clear- 
 
134 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ly understood it to be that great call from this 
 world, to the kingdom of Christ, at that moment 
 or not, one thing is clear, it was that call, for he 
 immediately left all and followed Jesus and from 
 that day never ceased to do so. 
 
 We have got more evidence of this call as being 
 the work of God. On a convenient occasion, Christ 
 addressed his disciples in this manner : " Whom 
 do men say that I, the Son of man am ? And they 
 said, some say that thou art John the Baptist ; some 
 Elias ; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 
 Christ then puts the. question to them. " But who 
 say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and 
 said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God." Mark, my reader, this is the same Simon 
 who confessed his sinfulness and unworthiness, and 
 acknowledged Jesus as Lord in the ship, which is 
 the acknowledgement here made. Now behold 
 Christ's answer. "'And Jesus answered and said 
 unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Borjona ; for 
 flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
 my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. xvi. 13 — 17) 
 ' ' Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee. 
 Thou wast not taught, Simon, to know me as 
 God's Son, by the lawyers and doctors of the Phar- 
 isees, nor by the scribes of the law, neither in thy 
 infancy, nor after thou becamest a man of years. 
 No theological school imparted to thee this knowl- 
 edge, but my Father who is in heaven." God the 
 Father, by the power of the Spirit, opened the heart 
 of Simon to under8t9,nd the things of Christ, even 
 as Lydia's heart was opened under the sound of the 
 gospel from the apostle's mouth.. 
 
 The next example of this effectual calling is re- 
 corded in the fifth chapter of Luke. And after these 
 things he went forth and saw a publican, named 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 135 
 
 Levi sitting at the receipt of custom : and lie said 
 nnto him. " Follow me. And he left all rose up and 
 followed him." And, as an evidence that this call 
 went heyond the ear, and reached down into the 
 heart, Levi went into his own house and made him 
 a great feast. And what evinces it yet more fully, 
 is that he was one of the great apostles to declare 
 to the world the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
 Did Simon go in search of Christ ? Did Jesus stand 
 and wait for that poor fisherman to ask permission 
 to become one of his followers ? Did Levi pass 
 along the street, and behold Christ begging sinners 
 to come to him and be his disciples, take pity on 
 him, and run to him? No, had Jesus waited for 
 this, he would have remained without disciples to 
 this present time. But he called them. Here I in- 
 sert a few passages in which can be seen this effectual 
 calling of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 "For the promise is unto you and your children, 
 and to all who are afar off, even as many as the 
 Lord otjr God shall call." (Acts ii. 39 ) To the 
 church at Rome, Paul says : " Among whom are ye 
 the called of Jesus Christ." (Rom. i. 6.) In trying 
 to comfort the afflicted sheep of the same flock, he 
 says : " And we know that all things work together 
 for good to them that love God, to them who are 
 the called according to his purpose." (Rom. viii. 28.) 
 The same Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth, 
 expresses both the outward and inward call of the 
 gospel : " The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks 
 seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, 
 to the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks 
 foolishness." Here the outward call of the gospel, 
 or public preaching of the word to the two grand 
 divisions of the human family, was foolishness, 
 "But" says the apostle "unto them which are 
 
136 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 CALLED, botli Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
 God, and the wisdom of God." (1st Cor. i. 22—24.) 
 Here the gospel was received as glad tidings of sal- 
 vation from on high. The gospel has ever been 
 foolishness to blinded man, because it sets forth a 
 glorious Kedeemer, for whom he has no desire, and 
 (because it exhibited his erroneous knowledge con- 
 cerning his sinful state before God, and of the ceiv 
 tainty of his coming to judgment. 
 
 -But not only do men, who make no pretensions 
 to religion, look upon the gospel as foolishness, but 
 many bearing the christian name appear to boast in 
 Christ, and yet have no correct idea of hia plan of 
 redemption, and when it is set forth in its original 
 beauty, is by them held in derision. But see how 
 differently it is viewed by those who are called. 
 It becomes to them, " Christ the power of God, and 
 wisdom of God." And in the introduction of this 
 letter the apostle addreses these saints as being cal- 
 led of God ; "Unto the church of God which is at 
 Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus 
 CALLED to be saints, with all that in every place call 
 upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 Again, I have occasion to quote second Timothy 
 first chapter and ninth verse. " Who hath saved us 
 and called us with a holy calling, not according to our 
 works but according to his grace." 
 
 The Apostle Jude has left us but one short letter, 
 but in that is established the effectual calling of 
 Christ's sheep. "Jude the servant of Jesus Christ, 
 and brother of James, to them that are sanctified 
 by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, 
 and CALLED." And lastly, an angel declared to 
 John on the Isle of Patmos, this calling, and 
 showed it to be effectual, saying, "These shall 
 make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall over- 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. IST 
 
 come them, for he is Lord of lords and king of kings, 
 and they that are with him are called, and chosen, 
 and faithful." (Rev. xvii. 14.) 
 
 We next go to the history of Paul of Tarsus. 
 The first account we have in the Scriptures of this 
 great man, is found in the book of acts, (Acts vii. 
 58,) under the name of Saul. He was a Jew, born 
 ill the city of Tarsus, a town in Cilicia, and brought 
 up in Jerusalem at'tho feet of Gamaliel, a celebra- 
 doctor of the law, and was consequently a strict 
 Pharisee. The Apostle gives a brief account of 
 himself to his brethren atPhilippi: "Circumcised 
 the eighth -day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe 
 of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touch- 
 ing the law, a Pharisee ; concerning zeal, perse- 
 cuting th& church ; touching the righteousness 
 which is in the law, blameless." (Phil. iii. 5, 6.) 
 We find here he was of the tribe of Benjamin, and 
 by nature was surely filled with that spirit ascribed 
 to the son of Jacob, by the old patriarch, who in 
 the blessing said, "Benjamin shall rave as a wolf, 
 in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at 
 night he shall divide the spoil." (Gen. xlix. 27.) 
 No man could have acted the wolf more completely 
 than did Saul of Tarsus. He bears witness against 
 himself, that he persecuted the Church of God and 
 wasted it, entering into every house, arresting men 
 and women who confessed Christ, and committing 
 them to prison, to be punished for their faith in 
 Jesus. Sex made no diiference with him. The 
 tender female must suffer as well as the stout male. 
 His object was not to know the sex, but the prin- 
 ciples held, and as conduct is the index of the heart, 
 it was not difficult to find the followers of Christ. 
 
 He was fully persuaded, in his own mind, that he 
 was doing God service in punishing these creatures, 
 
 10 
 
13S WORK OF THE SPIRIT, 
 
 yea, it was a fruit of liis religion ; and in doing it 
 did fulfil the saying of Christ to his disciples ; ' 'they 
 sliall put you out of the synagogues, yea, the time 
 cometh, that whosoever killcth you will think that 
 he doeth God service." ,(John xvi. 2.) 
 
 This Saul was a hlasphemer, a desperately wicked 
 man, and yet we find a great portion of the word of 
 God in the New Testamer.t was written by him. 
 This very wicked man becomes a zealous preacher 
 of the gospel. This Christian destroyer becomes 
 a most noble leailer of the heavenly band. He 
 who attempted to extinguish the light of the flam- 
 ing gospel, became the most determined to carry it 
 to foreign lands. Like a blazing comet, which in 
 early times use to spread consternation over all 
 the world, he filled the idolaters' hearts with terror, 
 and made even their governors tremble before him. 
 The light which shone through this" irresistible 
 preaching caused the darkness of Pharisaism and 
 paganism to muster all the forces of persecution 
 and slander to war against this great power. But 
 he, or rather the grace of God by him, overcame 
 them all, as he most humbly and righteously 
 teaches. But how came this man Saul to take this 
 mighty turn ? How was he led in this way ? Do not 
 become angry, my reader, when I say he was not 
 educated to it by man, Paul was not taken, when 
 a child, and placed under the care of a doctor of 
 divinity to be made a preacher of the gospel ; for in 
 his childhood, the gospel was only known to be; 
 hissed at. So far from being educated in the doctrines 
 of the gospel, he was placed while yet a child under 
 the care of a Pharisee, as we have noticed, and was 
 educated in their religion ; just as our American 
 children aire taken by the many contending and 
 conflicting sects to be moulded into religionists ; 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 139 
 
 and wlicn made what are tliey ? Flaming 
 professors, zealous advocates of -tbe doctrines of 
 their peculiar sects, being ignorant of the true 
 nature of Christ and his kingdom ; mere cohlers 
 who spend their time in trying to splice law 
 and gospel and thereby construct a monstrous 
 doctrine, part grace, part works, ascribing all 
 the glory to G-od, but the foundation to them- 
 selves. Saul of Tarsus was thus reared up, and 
 consequently like his teacher, knew nothing but 
 Pharisaism. Our cou'^try is now full of Sunday 
 school teachers pretending to interpret the Scrip- 
 tures, to tell what the prophets taught, what the 
 apostles declared, and what the Saviour revealed, 
 when really they, themselves, are just as ignorant 
 of the pure gospel system, and the kingdom of 
 Christ as those whom they attempt to teach ; and a 
 :gre'at body of the members of Arminian churches 
 are thus made, and are consequently mere crea,tures 
 of human education. 
 
 Saul was strjctly inculcated in all the doctrines 
 of the then popular religion, held forth as the re- 
 ligion -revealed from heaven through Moses and the 
 prophets. These sons of our day, are educated in 
 the, popular religion of our age, which is agreeable 
 to the world, and is held up to the blind and igno- 
 rant as the religion of Gcd, delivered by Christ and 
 his disciples. 
 
 When Paul arrived at man's estate he became a 
 preacher of Pharisaism, taiight it with as much 
 zeal as he ever taught the true knowledge of the 
 Lord arfter his call by Jesus, and felt fuUy persuaded 
 he was doing God service ; and so a man may in 
 this day, preach- in the most zealous manner a lie, 
 a wroiig doctrine, in the name of Christ as he is 
 educated in it, and feel fully persuaded that God re- 
 
140 WORK OP THE SPIRIT, 
 
 quires it of him; so prone is human nature to delu- 
 sion. A man, therefore, ^yho preaches a false doc- 
 ■ trine in all sincerity is deceived himself, and io a 
 deceiver of others. 
 
 There are four classes of preachers in the world, 
 A man may preach a lie in hypocrisy, and he may 
 ■ • preach a lie in sincerity. He may preach the truth 
 in hypocrisy, and he may preach it in sincerity. The 
 - gospel preacher is a man who preaches the doctrines 
 revealed from heaven, as they are in the scriptures, 
 unmixed with human tradition, and the writings of 
 earthly fathers. He preached it, not because he 
 was taught ifhy his parents, not for the purpose of 
 introducing himself to the puhiic, not for the sake 
 of vain glory, nor of strife, nor of filthy. lucre, but 
 for love of the truth, and love of Jesus Christ 
 its divine aiithor and grand witness. Unless the 
 mind is stored with the revealed doctrines, their 
 truthfulness established in the_heart,.and the Spirit 
 moved to teach them by the constraining love of 
 Jesus, for the glory of God and the comfort of the 
 subjects of his kingdom, the preacher has but a 
 meagre evidence that Grod has raised him up.to de- 
 clare his truth. Such a gospel preacher was Paul. 
 We see then he was not influenced to it by education ; 
 because the doctrines in which he was instructed; 
 were directly opposite to those which he taught after 
 his conversion. 
 
 Paul did not turn from Pharisaism to Christianity 
 for the sake of gain ; for had he designed acquiring 
 worldly riches by preaching, hia correct knowledge 
 of the doctrines of Christ, as being very unpopular, 
 would have tbrbiddfen him. The tenets in which he 
 was educated would have been very suitable for this 
 2)urpose ;-and if he had chosen to put these down he 
 would not have accepted Christ's doctrine, but some 
 
WOEK OF THE SPIRIT. 141 
 
 compromising system of religion, whereby he might 
 have managed to please all parties, get into their 
 favor, and by these means obtain wealth. For the 
 doctrine of Christ was objectionable to all nations. 
 The philosophers derided it, the J ews despised it, 
 and the day Paul entered Kome it was everywhere 
 spoken against ; and the greatest evidence that he 
 did not embrace it for the sake of filthy lucre, is 
 that he labored with his own hands at his trade, 
 while he passed through the country scattering the 
 glorious news of salvation. 
 
 He did not enlist in this cause for vain glory, for 
 as before said, it was the most unpopular docti-ine 
 under heaven. Instead of its being calculated to 
 gain him applause, it sunk him in the estimation of 
 the fashionable religionists of that day, and subjected 
 him to allmanner of persecution. Instead of raising 
 him before the world, it placed him in the dungeon, 
 put his feet in the stocks, encompassed him with 
 chains, laid bare his back to the rod, and made him 
 a target for those expert in throwing stones. Here 
 is a i-ecital of the honor and glory Paul received of 
 the world: " Of the Jews five times received I forty 
 stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, 
 once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a 
 night and a day have I been in the deep. In 
 journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of 
 robbers, in perils by own countrymen, in perils by 
 the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the 
 wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among 
 false brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in 
 watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
 often, in cold and nakedness." (2 Cor. xi. 24— 2T.) 
 And what was the old Saint's feelings under all these 
 losses and troubles? Did he feel as one who had 
 preached the gospel for vain gloiy, and that he was 
 
142 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 deceived ? No, ibr when speaking about what he 
 lost among the Jews, as his brethren after the flesh; 
 and among the Pharisees, as his brethren by relig- 
 ious Education, he says: "But what things were 
 ■gain to me 1 count lost for Christ, yea, doubtless, 
 and I count all things but loss ibr the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom 
 I suffer the loss of all things, and do count them 
 but dung." (Phil, iii. 'if, 8.) What a noble resig- 
 nation ; could the education of man beget this? No, 
 nor any other earthly influence. 
 
 This great man himself says, " But as we are 
 allowed of God to be pvit in trust with the gos- 
 pel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men but 
 God, who trieth the hearts. For neither at any 
 time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor 
 a cloak of 'Covetousness ; God is witness. Nor of 
 men sought we glory, .neither of you, nor yet of 
 others, when we might have been burdensome as the 
 apostles of Christ." (1st Thess. ii. 4 — 6.) He sought 
 not his own glory, but the glory of God. 0, my 
 reader, how deceitful is human nature ; even while 
 the gospel preacher is'striying to decliire the tiiith 
 of God for his glory, this lust of self-glory will arise, 
 and often spoil the preacher's godly.joy. 
 
 Nor did Paul turn from Pharisaism to Christianity 
 because he was possessed of a spirit of contention and 
 strii'e. His zealous preaching was not merely to be 
 in opposition to others. He taught his discii)les to 
 abstain from strife ; " Strive not about words to no 
 profit) but to tlie subverting of the hearers." 
 (2nd Tun. ii. 14.) And again says he to Timothy : 
 "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing 
 thafthfiy do gender strife. And the servant of the 
 Lord must not st/rive, but be gentle unto all men, 
 apt to teach, patient." (2nd Tim. ii. 23, 24.) 
 
WOKK OF THE SPIRIT. 143 
 
 Now let US observe what is taught by such pag- 
 sages as these : "Eebuke them 'sharply," ''I with- 
 stood him to the face, because he was to blame" 
 (G-al. ii. 11.) "Beloved when I gave all diligence 
 to write unto, you of the common salvation, it was 
 needful for me to write unto you and exhort you, 
 that you should earnestly contend for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints." (Jude i. 3.) Paul's habit- 
 •ual- manner of withstanding, in the boldest style, 
 all who- held doctrines contrary to his gospel, wheth- 
 er the governor in his palace, or the mean man on 
 the corner of the market, and his uncompromising 
 opposition' to all sectarian doctrities, teaches us this 
 lesson ; that there is, in human nature an inclina- 
 tion to an unlawful and undifying strife; and that 
 P'aul exhorted his disciples to crucify thig evil, but 
 at the same time, to boldly condemn all false doc- 
 trines, whether preached by professed christians, or 
 ■by Pharisees,; and with a Godly zeal and love for 
 Christ, established in knowledge, promulgate the 
 one Lord's one go8,j)el. I say they were to zealouisly 
 do it ; not influenced by the blind zeal indulged in by 
 Paul when a Pharisee, which was without knowledge, 
 but by that zeal which filled his bosom after his con- 
 version, which was according to knowledge- 
 Zeal may be compared to fire. When fire is burn- 
 ing upon the hearth, according to the design of the 
 builder, how pleasiantly it warms the atmosphere of 
 the room, becaiiseit is burning according to wisdom. 
 But when it breaks out upon the house top, there 
 is not a more destructive element in God's creation. 
 So .zeal, when it is governed by Christ's truth, when 
 it is established in knowledge, is a beautiful orna- 
 ment in the christian, character.; but when it goes 
 forth without knowledge, there is nothing more de- 
 structive to both religion and politics, nor more fool- 
 
144 WOEK OF TUB SPIRIT. 
 
 isli in its nature. Fired in the soul of a Saul of Tar- 
 sus, ,it could drag men and women before earthly 
 tribunals, already spotted with the stain of iniquity, 
 and there have them beaten without mercy. Es- 
 tablished in divine knowledge, and guided by the 
 golden rules of the gospel, in the soul of a Paul of 
 Jesus, it could lead him to earnestly contend for the 
 divine truth, in its doctrine, experience, and prac- 
 tice, with all classes of men from the highest mon- 
 arch to the meanest slave, and that, too in kindness 
 and in meekness. From Eaul's precepts and actions 
 .we are forced to conclude, that he' was not moved to 
 preach the gospel by a spirit of strife.. 
 
 But, my reader, hewas called of God ; called from 
 the religion of the Pharisees, with all their foolish 
 rites and ceremonies, contrary to his whole course of 
 religious education, and consequently contrary to his 
 own natural will. Contrary to his natura,l will, I 
 say, for it is evident he willed to do all he could for 
 the cause of his favorite religion, which lie thought 
 Avas pleasing in the eyes of God. Behold how easy 
 it is for the most learned in human wisdom to bo 
 ■wholly deceived in spiritual matters. His whole 
 mind was taken lip in this cause, and so far did he 
 run in this way that, at last, he obtained letters 
 from the High Priest of his city to go out of his 
 bounds even to Damascus, to bind and bring up to 
 Jerusalem all who were called Christians, who 
 would not curse Jesus. Header, bear in mind this 
 condition of Paul's spirit, and you may see whether 
 the first inclining of Paul's heart towards Christ, 
 was from the power of his nature, (or some kind of 
 grace worked into nature, as some call it,) or by the 
 powerful and effectual call of Christ. 
 
 Let us read the history, wherein the unprejudi- 
 ced mind can get a clear and satisfactory under- 
 
WORK OP THE SPIRIT. 145 
 
 standing of a real call. " And Saul yet breathing 
 out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples 
 of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired 
 letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if he 
 found any of this way, whether they were men or 
 women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." 
 Does this not clearly show the state of Paul's 
 mind at the time he is recorded to be converted? 
 Could any one be imbued with a greater degree of 
 bitterness, or a more determined spirit of venge- 
 ance ? But as he journeyed did he thus reason with 
 himself; "I am doing wrong. This Jesus is the 
 son of Grod, and he has died for my sins, he begs me 
 to accept his grace. I will do it ;" and then turn 
 back and serve Christ. Nay, but he was hurried 
 on to the miserable work by the devil and fallen na- 
 ture combined. " And as he journeyed he came near 
 Damascus ; and suddenly there shined round about 
 him a light from heaven." Suddenly, at a time 
 when nothing could fill his mind but the commis- 
 sion, which he bore with him, and perhaps at the 
 very moment when he was planning how he should 
 use his cunning in detecting these poor souls, a light 
 of an uncommon kind dazzles his vision so com- 
 pletely, and confounds him to such a degree, that the 
 earth is sought for a resting place, or rather stands 
 ready to receive the confounded man. " And he fell 
 to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, 
 "Saul, Saul." Here is the call of one from on high. 
 Here is the beginning of wisdom. Here is the first 
 movement towards the new life. But what said the 
 voice? "Why persecutest thou me?" Here is a 
 perfect example of God sending home to the heart 
 of a sinner, a conviction of his sinfulness, and is an 
 effectual calling, very different indeed from the ex- 
 ternal protest against sin. How often had that man 
 
 13 
 
146 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 heard the. witnesses of Christ preaching Jesus as 
 the long promised and expected Messiah, hut it was 
 an idle tale in his ears. All the persuasion of man 
 never could convince the natural spirit of its sinful- 
 ness, hut on the contrary only had a tendency to 
 arouse his indignation, and jSire up his destructive 
 zeal for pushing the persecution more fiercely. All 
 that could he related concerning the wonderful 
 works of Jesus, in healing the sick, giving sight to 
 the hlind, opening the mouth of the dumh and rais- 
 ing the dead, could not, without the grace of God, 
 convince the human heart of Jesus and the ressur- 
 rection. And not only were the efforts made, in that 
 day, insufficient to convince unless applied by the 
 Holy Grhost ; but it is so, even now. A full state- 
 ment of these great acts which are read and heard, 
 day by day, fails to convince people of their sin 
 and unrightousness. And yet, in the face of all 
 this, they inform me they have ample power in them- 
 selves to turn to God. But here, when the Lord 
 Jesus, by the convincing power of his Spirit 
 spoke, the word came too powerfully to be resisted. 
 Light sprang within the mind, darkness began 
 to abate, and the conquered rebel, pierced by 
 the Spirit's sword, wielded by the mighty hand of 
 Jehovah, tremblingly says : "Who art thou, Lord? " 
 Suffer me to remark here, that this anxious inquiry 
 is never made except when the individual is 
 convincingly assailed by the Spirit of Jesus. 
 Mark the manner in which he asks the ques- 
 tion. It is with great anxiety, and the an- 
 swer is intently looked for. And thus it comes : 
 " I am Jesus whom thou persecuteth." how ter- 
 rible, what a shock ! The whole spirit is awe-struck. 
 If he had only said, "I am Jesus," and so ended 
 the answer, how much milder would have been the 
 
WOEK- OF THE SPIRIT. 147 
 
 blow ; but how awful. when be added "whom ihou 
 persecuteth." The words of Nathan to David "Thou 
 art the man ;" (2d Sam. iii. 6,) were truly cutting 
 and unequi vocable. But what a mental agony 
 must have been Saul's when the connection between 
 the two words "thou" and " persecutest" was seen 
 by him. His thoughts flew to the commission he 
 bore. "0 that this had never been obtained." 
 Quicker than thought the recollection of the pile of 
 coats at the murder of Stephen, may also have 
 passed before him ; and who can tell the pouring 
 into his mind the rememberance of his acts as a per- 
 secutor ; they now truly appeared as crimes not 
 against the poor saints, but against this Jesus ; the 
 Holy Spirit now giving light to his mind to see them 
 in their real wickedness. the sinking, down, 
 down, of that man. Well did he say some years 
 afterwards, " When the commandment came sin re- 
 vived, and I died " This crime of persecution which 
 he thought, when committing it, was acceptable ser- 
 vice to God, which had through the deceitfulness of 
 his heart, appeared unto him in garments of right- 
 eousness, is now shown to him by the Holy Ghost, 
 and Jesus, who takes away the false garment by en- 
 lightening the mind to behold its true nature ; an 
 enlightening which never could be accomplished by 
 moral education, nor any power of man being a 
 prerogative of the Spirit. " Sin revived," came out 
 and showed its monstrous form, and Paul died to all 
 hope in his past life. 
 
 But the spirit which-thus cast him down can raise 
 him again. For when he said "I am Jesus whom 
 thou persecutest," the spirit convinced the man 
 that it was Jesus, and that all he said was a true 
 record which God had kept of his crimes. A never- 
 dying confidence took possession of him, and a new 
 
148 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 voice is heard from this new born babe, "Lord what 
 wilt thou have me to do?" The proud-hearted, 
 full-grown man is talking like an infant. For the 
 first time Saul prays. The synagogues no doubt had 
 often rung with the voice of his prayer, but here lie 
 prays ; and truly in this prayer is every mark of a 
 new born babe. "Lord" here is indeed a change. 
 This Jesus was the object of his contempt ; his joy 
 and religion was to root out his name, now he calls 
 him Lord. How much is acknowledged here ; but we 
 pass on. " What wilt thou have me to do ?" First, 
 Paul acknowledges Jesus as his master, and himself 
 as Christ's servant. Secondly ; he recognises his 
 sovereignty, his right to command whatever he 
 pleases. In the third place he avows his own igno- 
 rance of his duty as a servant. From this we may 
 learn that a man can be born again, may have a 
 will ready to serve G-od, and yet be ignorant of that 
 which the Lord requires of him. This certainly 
 was Paul's case, for he was born again, or else 
 there is no difference between the conduct of a re- 
 generate man and an unregenerate man. In the 
 fourth place, there is exhibited a resignation 
 to the will of Jesus, a disposition to do anything ; 
 and this resignation was the source of the sanctifi- 
 cation of the spirit in Paul, which in after days 
 bore such fruit as this: "I am willing to die for 
 the name of the Lord Jesus." Is there not truly 
 manifested in this new man's prayer every feature 
 of a helpless infant, crying for the sincere milk of 
 the word? Well did the Saviour say "except ye 
 be converted and become as little children ye shall 
 not enter into the kingdom of heaven. " (Matt, xviii. 
 3.) Not become holy as a little child is holy, as 
 some erroneously imagine, for a little child has all 
 the seeds of evil in it, that afterwards appear by 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 149 
 
 wicked words and actions in manhood. But in a 
 spiritual point you must be as dependent on me for 
 all things, as a child is upon its parents ; for the 
 word "Converted" is the key of the passage. 
 
 Now some one may say, all you have said about 
 Paul's conversion is true; hut Paul's conversion is 
 no guide to man's now ; for his was miraculous, and 
 consequently different from other men's. The part 
 of Paul's conversion which I have noticed here is 
 not miraculous, I have only brought forward that 
 internal call from darkness to light, from the king- 
 dom of satan, to the kingdom and service of God. 
 I have only presented that which must take place 
 in any man before he can see the kingdom of Christ, 
 either in this world by its blessedness, and comfort, 
 and promises, or beyond the bounds of time in 
 eternal glory. You need not be arrested on the 
 road to Damascus, but you must be arrested by the 
 same power of the same spirit, through the same 
 unadulterated truth of Jesus. You need not see a 
 bright light about you, (I cannot say I have any 
 confidence in these wonderful sights in conversion,) 
 but you must have a portion of the light in the 
 mind to behold yourself a sinner, and to behold the 
 things of Grod. You need not hear a sounding 
 voice with the external sense of hearing ; but the 
 voice of the meek and lowly Jesus must sink into 
 the spirit ; for his s^eep know his voice and follow 
 him. You need not see his form, but you must 
 behold his glorious character, and his ability and 
 willingness to save, and that to the uttermost, 
 those who come to God by him. You need not be 
 struck blind as Paul was, nor experience any of 
 those outward miraculous occurrences which were 
 essential in Paul's case ; not to make his right to 
 heaven more secure, for the blood and righteous- 
 
150 WOEK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ness of Jesus had secured that, but wMcli were 
 requisite to qualify him as an apostle, and a faith- 
 ful witness of Christ. But that which Paul expe- 
 rienced internally of sin, must be experienced by 
 every heaven-born soul, to a greater or less degree. 
 Not that all saints undergo a conviction of the same 
 actual sins of Paul, but they will eat the bitterness 
 of their own peculiar sins. 
 
 We therefore find in Paul's conversion a very 
 clear and effectual calling by the Grod of heaven ; 
 and let proud man say what he will about having 
 natural power, or a kind of grace given in nature, 
 to repent and believe, we find no such power in 
 Paul ; and as Paul's mind was first arrested by the 
 spirit before he had correct religious thoughts, so 
 every regenerate person must be also acted upon ; 
 it may not be done so suddenly and so powerfully, 
 but it must be efiected by the same agent, who 
 works to what degree he pleases, in whom, when, 
 and where he please, but who always accomplishes 
 the same result ; begetting children after his own 
 image, so that as he is holy, even so must they be. 
 And without holiness no man shall see the Lord, 
 for it is the fruit of the spirit. 
 
 From a brief investigation of some effectual call- 
 ings recorded in the scriptures, we find that accom- 
 panying the calling, or immediately after it, comes 
 repentance, and this repentance is a work of the 
 spirit. Men may talk of repentance as though they 
 enjoyed the power to exercise it at pleasure, and the 
 result of such presumption is they die without ever 
 making use of that power ; and if they were to be 
 judged according to their boasting, they would be 
 doubly damned, for never using an ability which 
 they asserted they possessed. However, I presume 
 they know no difi'erence between natural, or as 
 some call it, legal repentance, and godly repentance. 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 15 1 
 
 Eepentance is used in the scriptures, in several 
 senses, but I shall only here speak of two kinds, 
 Natural or legal repentance consists of sorrow for 
 having committed an offence against a superior, a 
 ruler, or a common master, and springs from a 
 knowledge that the superior will inflict punish- 
 ment for the offence ; and this is the result of the 
 operation of the principle of self-love. This kind 
 of repentance can be exercised towards God, as a 
 master who will punish. Indeed, an individual 
 may be so alarmed from hearing awful descriptions 
 of hell fire, that he can be made exceedingly sorry 
 that he ever did anything which would subject him 
 to punishment. This repentance is natural, a;nd by 
 itself only works death. But godly repentance is 
 altogether a different thing. It is a sorrow in the 
 heart arising from a sight of its own internal vile- 
 ness and promptings to outward sinfulness, not 
 merely against a severe master, but a good Grod, a 
 portion of whose goodness the individual plainly 
 perceives. We may portray this spiritual convic- 
 tion and sorrow for .sin as follows : The individual 
 is not merely convinced that he has transgressed 
 outwardly. All men are naturally suspicious of 
 themselves in this respect, and it is this which 
 they refer to when they say they are vile sinners in 
 one moment, and yet take pleasure in sin the next. 
 But the man is convinced that the thoughts and 
 intents of his heart, which the world cannot know, 
 are sinful in the highest degree. He is convinced 
 that God searches the heart in all its dark cham- 
 bers, and that no secret sin can be hid from him. 
 There is a new view of God's law, a conception of 
 it never received before. Before this great change 
 was produced in the heart, the law was viewed as- 
 
152 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 only extending to outward voluntary transgres- 
 sions. The letter of it could only be seen. But 
 in' this genuine conviction of the Holy Ghost, the 
 spirit of the law is seen, and this is what Paul 
 meant when he said, "I was alive without the law, 
 hut when the commandment came, sin revived and 
 I died." (Kom. vii. 9.) Paul was never without 
 the written law, for we have seen he was thoroughly 
 instructed in it from his youth. He must, there- 
 fore mean he was ignorant of the spirit of it, and 
 when he says the commandment came and he died, 
 he means, the full purport of the law entered into 
 his heart and condemned all his inner man, so that 
 he died to all hopes, as I before said, of self-justifi- 
 cation. The law to a quickened man may be com- 
 pared to a glass, in which he can view all his 
 features, and so arrive at a perfect knowledge of 
 his appearance, which he could not have obtained 
 by examining his faceinhis shadow. So when the 
 spirit of the law is opened up to his mind, he be- 
 holds thereby the wickedness of his human nature, 
 and perceives the thoughts of his heart to be all 
 vile before the Lord, which he could not see from 
 understanding the mere letter, or written precepts 
 of the law. I do not pretend to say when man is 
 convinced of sin by the work of the Spirit, that he 
 sees the depths of the iniquity of the human heart 
 to their full extent, for he continues to see more 
 and more, as long as he lives ; and oftentimes, I 
 have no doubt, an increased knowledge of sinful- 
 fullness in the minds of persons who have long 
 experienced a hope in the work of redemption, 
 causes them to fear they were not rightly convinced 
 in the beginning. The depravity of their hearts 
 being fully exhibited to them, there is, to a greater 
 or less degree, made known to them the goodness 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. l53 
 
 of that Grod whose law they have transgressed. 
 Upon this arises a heart-felt sorrow, feeling that 
 they are in a condemned condition. In this call, 
 with this conviction, there is implanted hy God's 
 spirit, a principle of holiness, which causes a 
 thirsting after God, though condemned before him, 
 and pricked in the heart, not knowing what to do 
 to be saved, and, in this situation, sometimes they 
 are suffered to wander a long time, crying "what 
 must I do to be saved?" (Acts xvi. 30.) They go 
 from place to place, consult one and another as to 
 what the will of the Lord is, sometimes join a 
 so-called church, stay a while, get ho real comfort, 
 attempt to keep the law strictly in every respect, 
 but the more they have to do with the law the more 
 vile they see themselves. 
 
 They will sometimes get to making covenants 
 something like this : "0 Lord, if thou wilt forgive 
 my sins I will keep thy law in this and that point, 
 I will love my enemies, do good to my neighbor, 
 forgive all who trespass against me, keep my mind 
 stayed on Thee and do many things." Strange 
 that people convinced by God's spirit of the sinful- 
 ness of the human heart could make such promises ; 
 but they do, and after they are made, but a short 
 period of time passes before they find that they are 
 the first party to break the self-made covenant. 
 Then the awful state of mind ; the wound is made 
 worse. What shall I do. Lord save, or I perish, is 
 their continual cry. Thus they do repent and inas- 
 much as this sorrow is caused by the Holy Spirit's 
 implanting within them a principle of holiness con- 
 vincing them of the sinfulness of the heart, and 
 also bestowing upon them a knowledge of God's good- 
 ness, it is the work of God, and does not belong to 
 man naturally, I here offer some passages of scrip- 
 
154 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ture to prove that it is a work of God. Peter was 
 of this mind, and holdly declared that Christ was 
 the giver of repentance. "Him hath God exalted 
 with his right hand to he a Prince and a Saviour 
 for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of 
 sin." (Acts V. 31.) When Peter went to the Gen- 
 tiles the first time, and preached Christ, on his re- 
 turn the Christians, who were Jews by nature, 
 brought a charge against him for so doing, but he 
 expounded to them the whole matter by order ; and 
 they being satisfied that Christ's blood was shed for 
 Gentiles as well as Jews, glorified God and said, 
 "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted re- 
 pentance unto life." (Acts xi. 18.) Paul in his letter 
 to the Roman brethren is very plain, and says to 
 certain characters: "Despisest thou the riches of 
 his goodness, and forbearance, and long sufiering ; 
 not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee 
 to repentance f (Rom. ii. 4.) The same old father 
 in Christ, in giving to his son Timothy advice con- 
 cerning his conduct toward men fond of disputing, 
 tells him not to strive, but to be gentle and patient; 
 and that he must in "meekness instruct those who 
 oppose themselves ; if God peradventure will give 
 them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." 
 (2d Tim. ii. 25.) These Scriptures either prove that 
 repentance and godly sorrow are the work of the 
 Holy Ghost, or they prove nothing at all. 
 
 But, in this distressed condition, these convicted 
 souls go mourning until, sooner or later, God by his 
 providence, by which he works nut all purposes 
 concerning his sheep, brings them to hear or read 
 themselves, some such a passage as this : "Come 
 unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and 
 I will give you rest." They read this, ponder over 
 it, and endeavor to comprehend its meaning. At 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 155 
 
 first their conclusion may be this : it signifies that 
 God will save all his people. It is a promise made 
 to the church. Thus a man by his unaided mental 
 abilities will explain it, and conclude there is no 
 room for himself. Now, if man has so much 
 power to come to Christ naturally, why does he not 
 come when in this state of mind. To my view it is 
 evident if there was any such power in man, he 
 would use it now to get peace to his mind. But 
 that there is none it is evident, for he may lie at the 
 door of such an invitation as this for a long time. 
 But sooner or later, the same kind Shepherd who 
 sought him in the wilderness of sin, who by the 
 power of his Spirit gradually led him on to repent- 
 ance, also opens his imderstanding, as he did that 
 of his disciples when on earth, to behold himself as 
 the heavy laden sinner described in the invitation. 
 He reads over and over and meditates, and prays 
 that he may find that rest, yet he is even led thus, 
 for he cannot take the rest in Jesus of himself. But 
 behold the thing becomes clear. Heavy laden souls 
 are invited, that means souls burdened with guilt 
 and condemnation, this is my case precisely. Then 
 unfolds the plan of salvation clearly, which perhaps 
 the individual has understood in doctrine, at least 
 in an imperfect manner, for years. It is made 
 clear. He sees that the sins which have pressed 
 him so sore, that the evil nature which he has la- 
 mented so long were atoned for by Jesus when he 
 hung on the cross. The book of his sin kept by 
 the Lord has been opened and brought before his 
 face to his entire confusion. But lo ! he beholds 
 the Eedeemer as stepping in between, taking his 
 place and answering to divine justice and law for all 
 faults, while he is forgiven. He beholds the cross. 
 He sees justice and mercy and the law all meet at 
 
156 WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the cross, and acknowledge themselves as com- 
 pletely satisfied. A new faculty is given to him, 
 which is faith, by which he lays hold of the work 
 of redemption and applies it, not to the whole flock, 
 hut to his individual self ; and which enables him 
 to look upon the promises with a brilliant hope that 
 they are his. Thus Jesus applies his blood to the 
 Spirit and takes away the sins which made him 
 mourn. 
 
 Thus, in losing their guilt, because Jesus died to 
 satisfy justice and to redeem them from the curse of 
 the law, the sheep of Christ have their hearts 
 sprinkled from an evil conscience. Sin is taken 
 away not by making fair promises to do better in 
 the future ; nor in consideration of some work or 
 works done in times past ; but only because the 
 blood of Christ has been shed for the chief of sin- 
 ners. How eagerly do the sheep receive this blood 
 of atonement, and feed upon the blessed peace it 
 gives to the conscience, They want to roam no 
 more through the wild forest of the world, to gather 
 from the trees of sin those fruits which are vanities, 
 the taste of which is ever bitter to the new born 
 soul. That Shepherd whose voice to them,, while 
 in the bewildered state of nature possessed no sweet- 
 ness, is now pleasant beyond description. "The 
 voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon 
 the mountains, skipping upon the hills, my beloved 
 is like a roe, or a young heart; behold he standeth 
 behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, 
 showing himself through the lattice. My beloved 
 spake and said unto me, rise up my love, my fair 
 one, and come away." (Cant ii. 8 — 10.) Why was 
 no sweetness observed in the Shepherd's voice be- 
 fore ? Either because there was none in it, or be- 
 cause there was no taste in the sheep for it^ And 
 
WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 157 
 
 as the melody of Christ's voice is the same yester- 
 day, to-day and forever, conclude that they were 
 not sensible of it, because there was no holy prin- 
 ciple within them to enable them to perceive it. 
 That Shepherd, whose voice was strange in their 
 ears, they now know, and nothing is so pleasant as 
 to hear him call. With cheerful hearts they answer, 
 and no voice can give such comfort, as that sound, 
 "go in peace, thy sins. are forgiven thee." 
 
 The voice of strangers they will not follow ; and 
 when many false sheep turn from Zion's way, and 
 the Shepherd says will ye also go ? They answer in 
 their hearts, Lord, to whom shall we go, thou hast 
 the words of eternal life. Old things with them 
 are past away, old fears, old pleasures, and though 
 the principle of sin yet remains in them they put a 
 curb upon it, and desire to be free from it. Behold 
 all things become new, new pleasures, new fears, 
 new doubts. 
 
 Now to this point we find the great Shepherd has 
 led his sheep, has brought them from the wilder- 
 ness of sin, where they roam, running wild without 
 a knowledge of God, and without hope, and con- 
 vinced them of sin, brought them low in the dust 
 to repent of their sins, has shown to them his kind- 
 ness, on the bloody tree, and by his blood washed 
 away all their sin, and they receive him with open 
 arms ; Christ bringing them to him is the ccdUng; 
 their receiving of Jesus is their conversion. The 
 call is the voice going from Jesus to them whereby 
 they are made obedient ; their conversion is the act 
 of their turning to him. We now have these sheep 
 led to the fountain of blood opened up at Jerusalem, 
 when they, by faith, bathe to the washing away of 
 their sin and uncleanliness. 
 
FEUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 Now let us view tlie nature of these sheep in the 
 regenerate state. And how can we get at this na- 
 ture better than to examine the character of their 
 Spirit of which they are horn. As a natural son 
 wears the features of a natural father, even so a re- 
 generate son hears the features of his Father. What 
 is the character of God of whom they are horn ? 
 He declares himself to he holy. The Holy Ghost is 
 so called because of holiness, and as the Spirit is 
 holy, so are those who are horn of him. The word 
 of God, called the word of truth, by which they are 
 horn, is holy, and they are said to he ^'begotten" 
 through that truth. These sons are born, not of the 
 will of men or the flesh, but of God. The follow- 
 ing citations are clearly to the point: "Who were 
 born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor 
 of the will of man, but of God." (John i. 13.) 
 ' ' For though ye have ten thousand instructors in 
 Christ, yet have ye not many fathers ; for in Christ 
 Jesus I have begotten jon through the gospel." (1st 
 Cor. iv. 15.) "Of his (God's) own will begat he 
 us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind 
 of fir st fruits of his creatures . ' ' (James i . 1 8 . ) "Be- 
 ing born again not of corruptible seed, but of incor- 
 ruptible, by the word of God which liveth and 
 abideth forever." (1st Peter i. 23.) In these passages 
 
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 159 
 
 we find God to be the begetter, and the holy word 
 to be the instrument. This is why the gospel is 
 sent to all nations, that the redeemed of the Lord 
 may return and come to Zion, with songs of the joy 
 above. The agent and the instrument both being 
 holy, it naturally follows the work also must be 
 holy, and hence they are thus addressed: "Ye are 
 a chosen generation, a royal priest-hood, a holy na- 
 tion, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth 
 the praises of him who hath called you out of dark- 
 ness into his marvelous light." (1st Peter ii. 9.) 
 
 They are therefore of a holy nature, and wear the 
 image of God. " For whom he did foreknow, them 
 he also did predestinate to be conformed to the im- 
 age of his Son." (Rom. viii. 29.) "But we all with 
 open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
 Lord, are changed into the same image from glory 
 to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2d Cor. 
 iii. 18.) Paul says to the Colossians, "ye have put 
 off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new 
 man which is renewed in knowledge after the im- 
 age OF HIM who created HIM." (Col. iii. 9, 10.) 
 Here it is very clear that in some measure, even in 
 this life, there is a likeness of the Lord in the new 
 principle of the heaven born soul. Now, because of 
 this new principle, there are new fruits ; and because 
 these fruits do not proceed from the fleshly creation, 
 or native power and goodness,' but from this heart- 
 work in the regeneration^ they are called the fruits 
 of the Spirit. As the natural man's existence pro- 
 duces natural works or fruits and these works bear 
 the impress of his fallen condition, even so the new 
 born spiritual man produces fruits of his holy prin- 
 ciple, and these fruits are an evidence that he is 
 born again. 
 Paul is very clear on this subject, he gives us the 
 
160 FKUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 fruits of tlie unconverted sinful heart, and also 
 those of the spiritual heart. Says he, " Now the 
 work of the flesh are manifest which are these : 
 Audultery, fornication, unclean ness, lasciviousness, 
 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, 
 wrath, strife, seditions, heresis, envyings, murders, 
 drunkenness, revellings, and suchlike, of the which 
 1 tell you hefore as I have told you in time past, 
 that they which do such things, shall not inherit 
 the kingdom of God." (Gal. iii. 19—21.) These 
 fruits give e»ridence of the condition of the human 
 heart, for out of the heart proceedeth all these 
 things, as we have shown from the testimony of our 
 Lord. And men who practice these things cannot 
 please God. They proceed from a fallen nature 
 inherited, not of God, hut in the transgression, and 
 therefore they cannot he acceptahle with him. For 
 who can add to his glory. Ah, after all the glorify- 
 ing of God hy his saints in the world, hy doing 
 things unto his glory, nothing is really added ; but 
 all good works of righteousness, will he shown at 
 last tohethe work of God the Spirit. And he can say : 
 mine own hand hath gotten me all this. So that 
 God is glorified in them, rather than hy them. 
 
 The apostle after giving the fruits of the flesh 
 gives the fruits and qualities of the new born sons. 
 " But the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
 long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
 nesSj temperance; against such there is no law." 
 (Gal. iii. 22, 23.) How difierent are these fruits in 
 their source, nature and end, from those above, of 
 the flesh. Different in their sources. One comes 
 from the corruption of fallen nature, the other from 
 the work of the Spirit. Different in their nature. 
 One is earthly, sinful, devilish, the other holy, and 
 in all goodness and righteousness and truth." (Ephe. 
 
FRUIT OP THE SPIRIT. 161 
 
 V. 9.) By these fruits a holy principle is manifes- 
 ted ; and so the Lord saith a tree is known by its 
 fruits. It is not necessary to treat upon the works 
 of the flesh again, as we have already discussed 
 that subject ; nevertheless, we must refer to it, after 
 a while, as it aflects the saints of God. We will, 
 therefore, only reflect awhile upon these fruits of the 
 Spirit. The catalogue opens with, " love," not the 
 love of the world, of its riches, its glory, nor the 
 love of self in any way. Nay, it is a new love, or 
 principle, not the animal passion of love. It is 
 spiritual in its nature, inasmuch as it is the work of 
 the Holy Ghost and is caused or begotten by the 
 love of God, which is, in a measure, shown to the 
 saint in his first joy at the cross. " We love God 
 because he first loved us." It is spiritual in its 
 objects, because it rests not on earthly things as 
 such, but aspires to heavenly things, God is the first 
 object, the Father, Son, and Spirit. The children do 
 love God. These sheep esteem their "Good Shep- 
 herd, "as the chief among ten thousand, and the 
 one altogether Irfvely. And that man is condemned 
 who loveth not our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity 
 and in truth. 
 
 The things of God come next. His law, which 
 blinded man calls unjust and hard, at least in the 
 thoughts of his heart, by these redeemed sons is looke 
 upon as "holy, just, and good." Holy in all its 
 jjrecepts, reaching down to the thoughts and intents 
 of the heart ; just in condemning every evil thing 
 in nature, whether in principle or in practice ; good 
 in all its offices, and they love it because of its holy 
 nature. They love the doctrines of God concerning 
 their salvation. As the glorious doctrine of redemp- 
 is unfolded, they see its necessity, and its ability to 
 clear them ; and their souls, by the light of the 
 
 14 
 
162 FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 spirit, doth view its -wisdom, grace and general 
 beauty, and folding it to the heart, they love it ex- 
 ceedingly. The doctrines of election is presented. 
 They see how God, because of his great love, pre- 
 destinated them to this happy state here, and a far 
 better one hereafter ; and that their being brought 
 to the knowledge of the truth was in consequence 
 of this ; and as it is natural for a child to love the 
 mother who bore it, so they love these doctrines of 
 truth of which they are born. 
 
 They love the promises, those of thffe life, such 
 as, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee ;" "as 
 thy days are, so shall thy. strength be;" "all 
 things shall work together for good." They truly 
 treasure those of the life to come, which they can 
 only, while here below, receive by hope, which hope 
 they obtain in their birth ." "Blessed be the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according 
 to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto 
 a livdy hope." (1st Peter, i. 3.) These prpmises 
 of a heavenly inheritance are brought nigh, and re- 
 ceived by faith, and loved, and as ^ey love God for 
 his holiness, they will also love those who are born 
 of his Spirit, who enjoy the same blessing and live by 
 the same hope. Hence the love of the brethren 
 towards each other. 
 
 The saint loves the brethren, not because they are 
 rich, or in high esteem in the world, or because 
 there is blood tie, or any other relationship. Such 
 love as this towards one called a brother, or a sister 
 has no part of this fruit of the spirit in it. But 
 they love them because of their heavenly birth, 
 which is evidenced by their obedience, not to the 
 foolish rites and ceremonies of worldly religious 
 parties, but to the commandments and ordinances 
 of the one , new testament of Christ. 
 
FKUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 163 
 
 The next in order is "joy ;"and it is only necessa- 
 ry to say that it is joy in God, his works, provi- 
 dence, judgments, promises, not in wordly amuse- 
 ments, which belong to the flesh. Nor should they 
 have great joy in those things which God permits 
 his people to enjoy, except as so many gifts of God 
 for which gratitude is always due. 
 
 "Peace," such pe9,ce as arises from a persuasion 
 that Jesus has atoned for the individual sins is that 
 which is referred to, and which is the result of the 
 whole work of Christ. 
 
 "Long suffering." This is to be exercised toward 
 all men, but especially toward the brethren ; bear 
 long and forgive, even as Christ hath forgiven. Ee- 
 member the mortal with whom the saint must bear, 
 is not perfect, but weak and blind, and erring. The 
 saints must, under trials of this kind, remember 
 that, when they were running wild in nature, in- 
 dulging themselves in all manner of vice, and im- 
 morality, God was " long suffering," and by good- 
 ness brought them back ; and if they wish to show 
 themselves born of God, they must show they pos- 
 sess this godly principle, because the child must 
 bear the image of the parent. 
 
 " Gentleness." They must not behave themselves 
 in that blustering, retaliative manner so character- 
 istic of the flesh ; but be gentle, mild, and so imi- 
 tate the Good Shepherd, who was meek and lowly 
 in spirit ; " who, when he was reviled, reviled not 
 again ; when he sufiered, he threateued not ; but 
 committed himself to God who judgeth righteously. 
 (1st Peter ii. 23.) God is the avenger of his people, 
 and into his hands they should commit their cause. 
 
 " Faith." Here it is said that faith is the fruit 
 of the spirit, and if a fruit of the spirit, it cannot 
 be obtained by natural ability. Not faith in man is 
 
164 FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 meant, but in God and his promises. The scripture 
 shows clearly that faith is the gift of the Holy- 
 Ghost or God. I quote a few texts and pass on. 
 "Lord increase our faith." (Luke xvii. 5 ) When 
 Peter wrought a cure, by the power of God, on a 
 certain occasion, the people heing astonished, he 
 said : "And his (Christ's) name through faith in his 
 name, has made this man strong whom ye see and 
 know ; yea thefaithwhich is by him." (Acts iii. 16.) 
 Here we find that it comes hy Him. After the apos- 
 tles had returned from a long and successful tour 
 among the Gentiles, they gathered the church to- 
 gether, and told all that had come to pass, "And 
 how God had opened the door of faith unto the Gen- 
 tiles." (Acts xiv. 27.) " For what if some did not 
 believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of God 
 without effect?" (Rom. iii. 3.) It is here styled 
 the faith of God. " Faith cometh by hearing, and 
 hearing by the word of God." (Rom. x. 17.) 
 Again, " Having these gifts differing according to 
 the grace that is given to us whether prophesy, let 
 us prophesy according to the proportion oi faith." 
 (Rom. xii. 6.) Again, " Peace be to the brethren, 
 and love with faith from God the Father, and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph. vi. 23.) It is called an 
 operation of God. "Buried with him in baptism, 
 wherein also je are risen with him through the 
 
 FAITH OF THE OPERATION OF GoD." (Col. ii. 12.) It is 
 
 said to be one of the treasures brought to us by 
 grace, in the same sense that the heat of the sun is 
 one of the blessing sent to us by the sun, and which 
 always accompanies its beams. "And the grace of 
 our Lord was exceeding abundant, ■with faith and love 
 which is IN CHRIST JESUS." (1st Tim. i. 14.) Cbrist 
 is not only declared to be its author, but its finish- 
 er. "Looking unto Jesus who is the author and 
 
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 165 
 
 finisher of our faith." (Heb. xii. 2.) It is a. thing 
 obtained through the righteousness of God. "Simon 
 Peter, — to them that have obtained like precious 
 faith with us through the righteousness^ of God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ." (2nd Peter'i. 1.) Now if 
 this faith in being the operation of God — in being 
 the production of the grace of God — in coming 
 through the righteousness of Jesus Christ — in being 
 the fruit of the Spirit, and Jesus Christ's being 
 shown as its author and finisher, and being prayed 
 to for it, is not shown to be a gift of God, rather 
 than a production of the natural mind, nothing can 
 be proven by a variety of expressions. Tliis faith is 
 possessed by God's people, and it has for its object 
 not their own good works, not their own fidelity, 
 not their own power, not their own promises which 
 they may make to do better in time to come, but God ; 
 his finished work of salvation, his faithfulness, his 
 power, his wisdom ; and thus by faith God is re- 
 ceived, in these points, as their God, their guide, 
 director, and protector. 
 
 The next, and last, is " Temperance." This is 
 to be exercised not only in abstaining from the ex- 
 cessive use of spirituous liquor, but all things that 
 are lawful to use. There are societies in the world 
 called "temperance societies." But I have two ob- 
 jections to them. First. — Judging from their rules, 
 they are not correctly named. They should he call- 
 ed abstinence societies ; for they make their members 
 keep wholly from ardent spirits, and thus are in- 
 temperate ; for you cannot be temperate in the use 
 of a thing that is entirely out of use. Moreover, in 
 depriving them entirely of the use of spirits by oaths 
 and vows, they prepare them to become the greatest 
 drunkards we have. The other objection to uniting 
 with these societies is, that the church of Christ is 
 
166 FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 a much, better temperance body, established upon 
 better principles than any other on earth. And the 
 sons of temperance, would do well if they would 
 examine the scriptures rather, they peruse the lives 
 so called of temperate men. These people of God 
 are not debarred from the use of the good and law- 
 ful things of the world, but are required to be tem- 
 perate in them. " Let your moderation be known 
 to all men." (Phil. iv. 5.) Some christians appear- 
 to think that they must keep from the unlawful 
 things, but can go as far as they please in things 
 permitted. iBut these are the things in which they 
 are to be temperate. 
 
WAEFARE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII 
 
 Bui, my reader, while I have been giving the na- 
 ture of the call, and new birth, and the glorious fruita 
 of this calling, do not understand me to be teaching 
 that this birth changes human nature, so that the 
 christian exercises these gifts without any trouble. 
 So far from it, there is a continual warfare between 
 the new principle of life in the spirit, and the old 
 principle of sin, A principle of spiritual life and 
 holiness is planted by the spirit of efesus in the spirit 
 of man, which in the regenerate state, governs and 
 reigns over the spirit ; yet the old nature of soul, 
 body and spirit, continues, and on every oppor- 
 tunity overcomes as far as possible, the new man. 
 This holy principle exhibits itself in a new will, yet 
 the old inclination to evil remains to annoy, and to 
 overcome, and to lead astray. A spiritual mind is 
 manifested, but a fleshly mind is found to torment 
 the believer, I call it a fleshly mind because I know 
 of no better term, I am aware that learned men 
 are great men, have both preached and written in 
 defence of a complete change of the entire man ; and 
 have boldly denied this principle of sin, which I say 
 remains in the child of God; I do say it, for it is 
 so, that that which is born of flesh, remains flesh, 
 the evil thereof will never be completely destroyed 
 ijQtil death, nor will it be changed until the morn- 
 
168 WARFARE. 
 
 ing of the resurrection. They who teach to the con- 
 trary, teach falsehood, and do not agree with Paul's 
 nor John's testimony, nor with the experience of all 
 saints. G-od forhid that I should make the apostle 
 teach what he did not design, and rather than such 
 a production should go forth, I would commit it to 
 the flames, knowing the awful judgment which rests 
 upon him who lies in the name of God. But I say 
 Paul taught that there is a new man, and an old 
 man, as he terms it in the believer. 
 
 When speaking to the Roman brethren about the 
 law, he says "for we know that the law is spirit- 
 ual, but I am carnal, sold under sin." Some say 
 Paul is here characterizing a wicked man, or speak- 
 ing of himself before conversion ; the first assertion 
 cannot be so, for he uses the personal pronoun I, 
 which certainly stands for Paul, the writer. More- 
 over, by looking further back in this chapter it can 
 be seen that he begins this statement by taking up 
 a right conception of the law, and showing how, 
 when rightly understood, it did make manifest sin 
 to him in exercise. This will not apply to wicked, 
 blinded men, and therefore cannot apply to blinded, 
 wicked Saul, but further on in the account it is very 
 clear that it is applied to Paul in his christian life. 
 He continues; " for that which I do, I allow not ; 
 for what I would, that do I not ; but what I hate 
 that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I 
 consent unto the law, that it is good." Can it be 
 said that the natural man is always hating his nat- 
 ural thoughts, words and actions^ and agreeing 
 with God's law that it is right that they are con- 
 demned ? Can it be said that a man who loves the 
 world and the lusts of the flesh, can at the same 
 time hate them, because contrary to God's law 
 while he is running after them with greediness. 
 
WARVARB. 169 
 
 saying in his heart to Grod, " depart from me, I de- 
 sire not the knowledge of thy ways?" No, this is 
 not the voice of such a one. Paul continues and 
 says; "now then it is no more I that do it, hut 
 sin tSat dwelleth in me." What do we see in this 
 double man ? Surely a new principle of life with- 
 in, at war with the body of sin, "It is no more I 
 that do it," that is, my mind is not set upon sin ; 
 these sins are not by my consent ; I protest against 
 them ; I despise them ; I would be free from them ; 
 they are my tormentors ; I have in my nature a 
 whole body of propensities lusts, and passions ; they 
 break out upon the right hand and upon the left, 
 but not by my will; therefore it is ;iOt I, Paul, 
 properly, but this remaining corruption. He says 
 further, " for I know that in me, (that is in my flesh,) 
 dwelleth no good thing." He did not say, for I 
 know that in me there dwelleth no good thing ; for 
 there was a good work of grace in him, and lest he 
 should be misunderstood he adds, " that is in my 
 flesh ; ' ' which I understand to be that corrupt na- 
 ture of man. If all the sinless perfectionists only 
 understood their nature as the apostle understood 
 his, how much better it would be. 
 
 But the apostle goes on to make it yet clearer, 
 that his human nature remained unchanged, while 
 his spirit was to serve God day and night. " For 
 to will is present with me, but how to perform that 
 which is good I find not. For the good that I 
 would, I do not ; but the evil which I would not, 
 that I do. I find then a law, that, when I would 
 do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in 
 the law of G-od after the inward man. But I see 
 another law in my members waring against the law 
 of my mind." If this does not expressly declare 
 two natures, it certainly has no meaning. A law 
 
 15 
 
ITO WARFAEE. 
 
 in his mind, or rather of his mind, the principle of 
 holiness, called the inward man, and declared to 
 delight in Grod's holy law ; while another law, or 
 principle, even corrupt nature, is manifested in the 
 flesh." The one opposing the other. Dci^ the 
 natural man delight in the Taw of God ? Nay, hut 
 it is his enemy. The carnal mind is not suhject to 
 the law of God, neither indeed can he. Therefore 
 this is the new mind spoken of as a law, and is 
 none other than the work of the Spirit. This old 
 nature does not only war, hut the apostle says it 
 "hrings into captivity to the law of sin which is in 
 my memhers." Leads captive, that is, gets to a 
 greater or less degree, influence over the godly 
 man's thoughts and words, and sometimes actions. 
 
 The child of grace would keep his mind upon 
 God, upon his laws, upon his promises, his won- 
 derful work and righteous judgments ; hut he can- 
 not, for there is always some evil thought present 
 to annoy him. In purposing, there is always some 
 evil suggestion. When an injury is done, when 
 the man would exercise forgiveness, hehold ven- 
 geance and anger arise. When he would extend 
 the hand of charity towards the needy, hehold a 
 selfish thought endeavors to draw it hack. And 
 from these evil workings within, arises wrong words 
 and wrong actions. 
 
 But hehold the state of the children of God 
 when they come to think of these evils in them. 
 "0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me 
 from this hody of death?" Wretched indeed! 
 They rememher the love of their Eedeemer, and the 
 language of their heart is : "How conld I even 
 think, or speak, or act so unrighteously against 
 Jesus, who has shown such kindness." Their soul 
 faints within them. This is godly, sorrow and 
 works true repentance. 
 
WAEPAKE. 171 
 
 The apostle concludes: "Itliank God througli 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I 
 myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the 
 law of sin." This is the true character of the 
 Christian, a man with two natures at war with 
 each other. The flesh with all its laws of sin 
 must perish in the grave ; not one can follow into 
 the paradise of God. And all devotions of a fleshy 
 nature must perish also. But the regenerate, the 
 inner man, whichhungers and thirsts after righteous- 
 ness must go to glory. That spirit which caused 
 Paul to say, "I would do," went to heaven ; that 
 which prompted hira to declare, "1 do not," went 
 to the pit of darkness ; and the body which con- 
 tained it must there remain until Christ raises it 
 and fashions it lite unto his own glorious body. 
 
 But the apostle always writes in other places as 
 though he was not wretched but free. How are we 
 to understand this ? It is understood in this way : 
 He was wretched in his nature ; these imperfections 
 tormented him, called for repentance ; his nature 
 was condemned ; but yet he felt free from condem- 
 nation, inasmuch as Christ had made an ample 
 atonement, not only for his outward sins, but all 
 for the internal evil seed of his nature ; so he was 
 free in and through Christ. " There is, therefore, 
 now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ 
 Jesus, (i. e. washed from their whole corruption 
 by his blood, and justified by his work) who walk 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Could 
 this be said of a wicked man, that there is no con- 
 demnation — that he is in Christ? Certainly not. 
 Yet this is said of the character of whom Paul 
 speaks in this place. (Rom. vii. T — 25 ; viii. 1.) 
 
 In writing to the Galatians the same apostle 
 says : ' ' The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and 
 
172 WAKFARE. 
 
 fhe Spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary 
 the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the 
 things that ye would." In this is clearly seen the 
 two principles ; and understaad this is the descrip- 
 tion not of wicked natural men, but the Christians 
 of Galatia ; for the letter is dedicated to the churches 
 there. John says: " If we say that we have no 
 sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in 
 us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just 
 to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all 
 unrighteousness. If we say that we have not 
 sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in 
 us." (1st John i. 8 — 10.) And our Lord told his 
 disciples this truth concerning the weakness of the 
 flesh : ' ' Watch and pray lest ye enter into temp- 
 tation the Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is 
 weak." (Matt. xxvi. 41.) 
 
 Because of this fact, are given all those exhorta- 
 tions, admonitions, and warnings, found in the 
 apostle's writings to the churches. They were 
 given that they might be useful to keep them from 
 running astray ; and not, as some suppose, to keep 
 them from falling from God's grace. (The grace is 
 the very power of their standing, and if this could 
 give away, it would be a useless thing to man with- 
 out strength.) Nor do these warnings and exhor- 
 tations, suppose a native power in those to whom 
 they are sent, to be spiritual ; but on reflection, 
 we find they were always given to the people of 
 God, who have strength given them by God's grace. 
 Nor does the fact of their having strength by grace, 
 do away with the necessity of exhortation to duty, 
 when there is this drawback through the weakness 
 of the flesh. These exhortations often arouse the 
 unwatchful souls when gradually running into 
 temptation, not by natural power, but by the power 
 
WAEFAEE. . 173 
 
 of that gracious lioly principle within them. God 
 has appointed the end ; he has also appointed the 
 means to hring about that end. Reader, you have 
 before you a brief description of the nature of these 
 sheep in their regenerate state, as they are when 
 called to Jesus by the power of his Spirit. How 
 different is this life to that lived by them in their 
 natural state as born of Adam. The life they 
 then lived was that taught them by human wisdom. 
 They spent their time in making provision for the 
 flesh to fulfil its lusts ; to enjoy all manner of fool- 
 ishness. They walked in ignorance, not always of 
 worldly religion, but of the true character of Grod 
 and his kingdom. Now that body can say, in the 
 callings of Grod : "I am crucified with Christ, 
 nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in 
 me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live 
 by the faith of the Son of God^ who loved me and 
 gave himself for me." (Gal. ii. 20.) 
 
PATH OF SAINTS, 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII, 
 
 The shfipherd leads his sheep out, and feeds them; 
 so it is with this Good Shepherd. We left him, 
 some pages back, with the sheep at the cross. We 
 have beheld them as partaking of the peace and first 
 joy of the cross. But mark, this first joy is limited 
 to the degree of knowledge of the Redeemer on the 
 cross. That is to say, they generally know only 
 that Christ died for their sins, which they have been 
 convinced of, and which has made them mourn, 
 which is indeed an evidence that he has died for 
 all the transgressions they can ever commit. But 
 their minds are not upon this j)oint at this time. 
 They are rejoicing in the sight of the cross, as the 
 Redeemer actually hung upon it for sin. But this 
 Great Shepherd must lead them on further, for there 
 is a growth in grace, and in a knowledge of the 
 truth : and their advancing in this is what is meant 
 by his leading them. 
 
 He leads them, first, to look further back and en- 
 quire deeper into this love, shown upon the cross. 
 Sometimes he leads them here, by suffering them to 
 doubt, which doubt may arise from the knowledge 
 of some sin committed. Being conscious of this, 
 they fear that love will be removed ; their mind is 
 put to work to know more about this love ; when at 
 
PATH OF SAINTS. 1T5 
 
 length, they are led to see that it was not only exer- 
 cised towards thenij at the time the cross was erected, 
 but from the foundation of the world ; by which 
 they are more thoroughly convinced of its inexpres- 
 sible riches and its greatness than they ever con- 
 ceived of before. "Can it be possible, that I, who 
 am so vile by nature, was loved by the Creator, 
 before I was born, yea, even before the foundation 
 or the world ? That he then viewed me as being 
 in Christ, even as he now has made me experience 
 that it is so?" Thus they are led to see that this love 
 was from the beginning. They are, then, led on 
 to see it as a sovereign love ; how it rested on them 
 not because God saw they merited it ; but because 
 it so pleased him, who, they are convinced, worketh 
 all things after the counsel of his own will. They 
 acknowledge its sovereignty, and thereby experience 
 great joy. _ 
 
 The devil gets to work now, and acting in union 
 with the deceitfulness of human nature, it comes 
 into the mind, " Perhaps I am deceived in think- 
 ing I have a part in this love ; what could have been 
 in me to have merited it? What could God have 
 seen in me worthy of this love?" Then the spirit 
 sinks. But lo ! the Good Shepherd leads them to 
 see the freeness of this love ; that God loved them 
 freely — ^Ibr he saw nothing but vileness — ^but, for 
 his own purpose, he chose them as vessels of mercy, 
 and loved them as freely without their merit, as 
 Christ died for them without their help. how 
 comforting this free love. What a weapon against 
 the next temptation of satan ; and how humble it 
 makes them, to know they possessed nothing to en- 
 title them to this love, and only obtained it by the 
 free will of God. What food is here found. They 
 feast upon that love which is as strong as death. 
 
1Y6 FOOD OF SAINTS. 
 
 At other times they become cold and dull, and 
 they imagine God's love is taken from them in part, 
 which would suppose it to change. Then they cry, 
 how long, Lord, wilt thou hide thy face forever, 
 wilt thou be iavorable no more ? And God, for 
 some backsliding, may suffer them to remain in 
 this condition for a long while; the Lord will 
 chasten his people. But in due time the Good 
 Shepherd leads these afflicted sheep to see that the 
 changeableness is in themselves ; that God's love 
 which took away these sins, is unchangeable. And 
 here they feed upon this view of the love of God. 
 
 fears sometimes attack their minds, that in some 
 future day, their internal evils of nature, or out- 
 breaking of sin, or some external enemy, may sepa- 
 rate God's love from them. Indeed many weak 
 sheep of Christ tremble whenever they see a sin 
 committed by themselves, from a dread of this love 
 being separated from them ; and it is exceedingly 
 difficult to tell to what extent these fears may 
 run. But isoon, as in other troubles, the Good 
 Shepherd, causes them to know that his love is 
 inseparable; that no power on earth f?an separate 
 them from him. These earthly powers may tor- 
 ment them by God's permission, which he intends 
 as a chastisement for sin, and so worketh it out for 
 their good ; but they can never separate the love of 
 Jesus from them. When this is brought to their 
 minds, it is a food " sweeter than the honey, and the 
 honey comb." Thus the love of Christ is made to 
 them, in its many manifestations, precious food. 
 And it was prepared for them before the world 
 began, and is kept in grace, and administered at the 
 time it is needed, by the dispensation of providence. 
 Not only is this love made food to the sheep, but 
 the doctrines of election and predestination, which 
 
FOOD OF SAINTS. 1V7 
 
 is such worthless chaff to worldly religionists, are 
 the very kernel of the wheat to their souls. 
 
 This Good Shepherd also leads his sheep out to 
 the pastures, found in his great and glorious offices. 
 In their private meditations, they consider him as 
 their high priest. They heboid the type, the Jewish 
 high priest, how he gathered the Israelites together ; 
 slew the sacrifice at the great altar before the tem- 
 ple ; how he caught a portion of the blood, and, alter 
 offering the sacrifice, with this blood did enter the 
 most holy place ; they view him with the breast- 
 plate on, having thereon the names of the tribes of 
 Israel, how he alone, in ihis place, did intercede for 
 the multitude. Then their minds are led to Jesus the 
 true high priest, how he was the priest and the 
 lamb to be sacrificed. They behold him with the 
 everlasting sacrifice on Mount Calvary ; see his God- 
 head as the great altar, see him killed, and die as a 
 Lamb, without spot and without blemish. They be- 
 hold him by his own blood, enter heaven itself, 
 having the names of all his sheep, not on an out- 
 ward breastplate but inscribed, by eternal love in 
 his heart. They are led to see him in the presence 
 of God, making intercession for these sheep upon the 
 ground of his death. They are brought to conclude, 
 that he must prevail, and their salvation is certain. 
 
 Who can express the joy, the comfort and peace, 
 experienced by these sheep, in such a rich pasture 
 as this. They feed upon him as their Redeemer, 
 Mediator and Intercessor ; and the confidence they 
 have in their prayers, is based upon the interces- 
 sion of their shepherd. 
 
 The Good Shepherd leads his sheep into other 
 parts of the holy pasture, the field of his promises, 
 and there by faith they feed upon them. He has 
 promised them that all things shall work together 
 
ITS FOOD OF SAINTS. 
 
 for good, to those who love God, who are the called 
 according to his purpose ; and that the ' ' light aiflic- 
 tions which are but for a moment, shall work out for 
 them a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of 
 glory." He has declared that he will never leave 
 them nor forsake them ; that if they forsake his law, 
 he will visit their iniquity with stripes, but his 
 loving kindness he will not utterly take from them, 
 nor suffer his faithfulness to fail. He has declared 
 to them that he has all power in heaven and upon 
 earth, and that whatsoever they shall ask in his 
 name, according to God's will, if it is best for them 
 to have it, he will give it to them. So they have 
 confidence in him, and feed time after time upon 
 this heavenly food. They really live upon the 
 bounty of their Lord, looking forward to their de- 
 parture. When the anticipated terrors of death 
 fill them with dread, the promise is extended 
 to them there ; and the comfort of the soul is, my 
 Jesus will be with me ; he who supports the sheep 
 through life, will not, in the most trying moment, 
 leave them. Then such a promise as this, "I will 
 not leave you comfortless," fills them with joy, 
 which is meat and drink indeed. Thus they go in 
 and out, and find pasture. 
 
SHEEP ASTRAY 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX . 
 
 Those who are acquainted with sheep, know they 
 have something in their nature which causes them 
 to stray, and shepherds sometimes have consider- 
 able trouble with them. As sheep in the animal 
 world, have a tendency to stray, and thereby give 
 much trouble to the shepherd, so it is with 
 Christ's sheep, they have a wildness in their na- 
 ture, which causes them to run astray on many oc- 
 casions. This wildness is the old body of sin, of 
 which we have spoken. The evil inclinations of na- 
 ture become snares and traps to catch them. 
 These snares may be summed up under these heads : 
 Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. 
 The lust of the flesh goes to work first, in the 
 thoughts. It can transform itself into a very inno- 
 cent looking object ; it will hold a veil before the 
 eyes of the mind sometimes causing this thought, 
 "It is no harm to do this thing." The tempted 
 answers, yes it is, nay says the tempter, it is not. 
 Although it would be harm to do this thing un- 
 der certain circumstances, in your peculiar situation 
 it would not ; and on the back of this the mind is 
 influenced to look at some examples of this kind. 
 Look at such a zealous professor, he has gone far- 
 ther than this ; and the next thing is, the poor 
 
180 SHEEP ASTRAY. 
 
 sheep is found straying, by committing the act, 
 whatever it may chance to be. Behold the deceit- 
 fulness of the human heart. It would not exhibit 
 the temptation in its true form, because the soul 
 would see that it was wrong and overcome it ; but 
 strips it as much as possible of all its sinful ap- 
 pearance, by referring to circumstances, and the 
 custom of others; just as though man's conduct 
 was to be the christian's guide, rather than the word 
 of God. 
 
 How far a sheep may thus stray is not easily 'told, 
 but it is evident that on many occasions, they go a 
 long way into the wilderness, and their Shepherd 
 suffers them to go on, until they go just far enough 
 to be convinced by sad experience, that they did sin 
 in the indulgence. And the conviction is brought 
 about as follows : sooner or later, this veil of no harm 
 to do this thing under the circumstances, is taken 
 away, and behold the harm is seen very clearly. 
 The soul sinks, and sometimes in these cases the 
 pangs are as great as in the iirst conviction of sin. 
 Shame covers the face ; their Shepherd now leads 
 them back, through contrition of soul, in confes- 
 sing their sin and praying for mercy ; which is gran- 
 ted at the Shepherd's good pleasure. I insert one 
 example of a sheep who strayed on one accasion, 
 through the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, by way 
 of an illustration of what has been said. 
 
 King David was a saint of the Most High God, 
 and being endowed with wisdom from on high, ho 
 was well acquainted with the laws of God, and was 
 very zealous for them. Moreover, he was a man 
 under the inspiration of the Almighty, and has left 
 upon record many prophecies in his Psalms. This 
 king, lived in a day when it appears God suffered 
 such rulers to have more than one wife. Whether 
 
SHEEP ASTRAY. 181 
 
 Grod ordained tliey might have more than one or 
 not, it was so among the saints. He was strong in 
 the faith and withstood many temptations, for being 
 king he had no douht some very trying times. But 
 he must stray. On a certain day it came to pass 
 while Joab with the children of Israel were fighting 
 the battles of David, that the King in the eventide, 
 "arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof 
 of the King's house ; and from the roof he saw a 
 woman washing herself; and the woman was very 
 beautiful to look upon." Lust conceived in this 
 man's heart, and this woman must be brought. 
 But how can we understand this ? Is it possible 
 that this old saint, a man after God's own heart, 
 did, premeditatedly and wilfully, go into that which 
 he knew was a sin in God's sight? No, certainly 
 not. How can a saint commit a sin of this sort ? 
 To sin wilfully proves a wolf instead of a sheep. 
 
 But this man is blinded by lust and the deceitful- 
 ness of sin. A king could have more than one wife. 
 Tliis privilege was taken by the deceptions of sin iu 
 his nature to put a veil over his eyes, and hide the 
 fact from him that while he could have more than 
 one wife, it was wrong to take another man's, and 
 that by so doing he was committing adultery, which 
 was a great sin. He was blinded, and in this blind 
 passion went on from sin to sin ; did not only com- 
 mit adultery, but murder, by putting the husband 
 of this woman in the front of battle, that he might 
 be killed. But, nevertheless, he was a sheep of 
 God's fold, and could not go entirely astray to re- 
 turn no more. Therefore the Shepherd of Israel 
 goes out to bring back this sheep. Behold the 
 wonderfiil manner by which he does it. 
 
 God sends his servant Nathan to him to bring his 
 sin before his mind. Nathan approached him thus : 
 
182 
 
 SHEEP ASTRAY. 
 
 "■'There were two men in one crty ; and one rich 
 and the other, poor. The rich man had exceeding 
 many flocks and herds, but the poor man had noth- 
 ing save one little ewe lamb. And there came a 
 traveler unto the rich man and he spared to take of 
 his own flock, but took the poor man's lamb, and 
 dressed it for the man that was come unto him." 
 What effect did this have upon David ? It kindled 
 his anger ; so much was he opposed to such impo- 
 sition and unrighteousness that he said, "as the 
 Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall 
 surely die." "And Nathan said to David, thou art 
 the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel." 
 how heavy did this fall upon the heart. "Thus 
 saith the Lord," he knew was the forerunner of 
 something awful. First the Lord brings his good- 
 ness, before him: "I annointed thee king over 
 Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. 
 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy mas- 
 ter's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house 
 of Israel and Judah." " Wherefore hast thou 
 despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil 
 in his sight ? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite 
 with the sword of the children of Ammon, and 
 hast taken his wife to be thy wife." Then the Lord 
 informs David that much evil shall befall him, 
 which did come upon him in his life-time. But 
 how did this act upon David ? Did he attempt to 
 hide his sin ? No. But, as every saint must do 
 when God finds him in forbidden paths, he confessed 
 his sin, and said, "Ihave sinned against the Lord." 
 And Nathan said unto David : "The Lord also 
 hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die." (M 
 Samuel 11th and 12th chapters.) We have here an 
 example of a saint sinning by being blinded by the 
 deceitfalness of sin. We see, also, that while a 
 
SHEEP ASTRAY. 183 
 
 sheep of God can thus go astray, God will find him 
 and bring him back. We have an example how he 
 does it : by sending his servants to declare his word_, 
 and as his sheep know his voice, when the word is 
 spoken, their sin is made apparent to them, and in 
 godly sorrow they confess it. Instead of having 
 this effect upon the carnal professor of the Christian 
 name, he will always deny it, and go further and 
 further into it. We observe that while God forgives 
 them their sin, yet he corrects them for straying, in 
 many ways. This departure from the right path 
 appears to have rested upon David's mind as long 
 as he lived. In composing his songs he seems to 
 refer to it: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned 
 and done this evil in thy sight." (Psalms li. 4.) 
 
 I speak of one more evil whereby God's people 
 run astray, which I suppose, with what has been 
 said, will be sufficient to give an idea of the straying 
 of these sheep. This evil is self-confidence. There 
 is more or less of this clinging to every new convert, 
 and, by the way, to some old saints. Christ will 
 purge his sheep from this evil, to keep them from 
 having any other foundation for confidence save 
 himself. This self-confidence sometimes will de- 
 ceive the christian ; cause him to think he is much 
 stronger than he really is, even in grace. Occasion- 
 ally it works in this manner : " God has called me 
 and renewed me in the spirit of my mind ; I can- 
 not be overcome by sin any more, for grace 
 will hold me up." But the Lord will teach such a 
 one, by sad experience, that he carries about with 
 him a body of death, which will prove rebellious on 
 every opportunity. God will show him he can never 
 fall from His grace ; that it is really the work 
 of grace, to let him come under the influence of his 
 human weakness ; and then show him, even therein, 
 
184 SHBBP ASTRAY. 
 
 lie has trusted to himself, and taken the wrong view 
 of grace. It is really the grace of God, which 
 makes the saint acquainted with his sinful self, 
 in hundreds of ways, by suffering him to come 
 uader the influence of the evil and then showing the 
 way of escape. There are many troubles seen by 
 saints having too much confidence in self. I here 
 give a well known example. 
 
 When Jesus had about finished his earthly min- 
 istry, and the time being at hand for him to depart 
 out of the world, he said unto his disciples, "all ye 
 shall be offended because of me this night . ' ' Peter 
 answered, and said unto him. " Though all men 
 should be offended because of thee, yet will I never 
 be offended." This man was so zealous for his mas- 
 ter, that he thought he could do any thing for his 
 cause, or in his defence. Jesus as much as tells him 
 it was self-confidence. " Verily, I say unto thee, 
 that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt 
 deny me thrice." Had he understood the Lord, he 
 could have seen an unequivocal declaration indepen- 
 dent of any contingency, which, whenever used in 
 the scripture, denotes an absolute certainty. But 
 self confidence gained upon him, and instead of his 
 saying, "Lord, by thy strength, I will not," he 
 waxed bold, and said, " Though I should die with 
 thee, yet will I not deny thee." Jesus then com- 
 manded them to watch, while he prayed. In his 
 agony he poured out his prayer to his Father. 
 Coming back to the disciples, he found them asleep. 
 He then addressed Peter, " Watch and pray, lest 
 ye enter into temptation," as if in reference to his 
 fate, which would soonoccur. Jesus prayed again, and 
 returning informed them that he was at hand who 
 should betray him. " And while he yet spake, lo, 
 Judas, one of the twelve caniej and with him a 
 
SHEEP ASTRAY. 185 
 
 great multitude, with swords and staves, from the 
 chief priests and elders of the people." Judas 
 hailed hlto, and kissed him, by which act he was 
 pointed out to the multitude. Violent hands were 
 laid upon him, and preparation made to take him off. 
 But behold this Peter shows his human courage is 
 not yet at an end ; for he draws his sword and cuts 
 off the ear of the high priest's servant. But Jesus 
 commands him to go no further, telling him that 
 all who take the sword must perish by the sword. 
 And, to show him that he needed no carnal weapons 
 to defend him, he said : " Thinkest thou that I 
 cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently 
 give me more than twelve legions of angels ? But 
 how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus 
 it must be?" Christ needed no carnal weapons to 
 defend him when on earth ; needed no iron and steel 
 to spread his doctrines then, nor does he need any 
 now. His kingdom is from above, it is heavenly, — 
 it is peaceful. It forbids and condemns all strife, 
 and therefore condemns all attemps to extend its 
 bounds, by the use of any coercive measures. Its 
 subjects are of a heavenly birth, they have sworn 
 allegiance to their king of peace, and he has com- 
 manded them to turn their attention to the interest 
 of his kingdom ; and, notwithstanding all the fair 
 reasoning that can be produced by the combined 
 wisdom of the world, it never has been, nor ever 
 can be, shown, that it is right for followers of the 
 meek and lowly Jesus, for inheritors of the kingdom 
 of peace, to run so far in the interests of the king- 
 doms of the world, as to take sword in hand, and 
 murder man, made in the image of God, merely to 
 sustain a particular notion. Peter must put up his 
 sword. This done, the disciples flee, and Jesus is 
 carried before the high priest at his palace, where 
 
 16 
 
186 SHEEP ASTRAY. 
 
 are assembled a multitude to hear him. But Peter 
 followed him, afar off, and caine to the palace also. 
 Then the council proceeds to try him, aad many 
 witnesses appeared, and gave their testimony against 
 him. But the evidence did not agree. However, at 
 last, came two witnesses and spoke the same thing. 
 Then the high priest interrogated him, but could 
 get but little from him. Then they pronounced him 
 guilty of death, and began to prepare him for that 
 end, by spitting upon and buffeting him. 
 
 All this time Peter sat without in the palace, 
 knowing what was going on, and seeing his mas- 
 ter condemned to death ; his self-confidence begins 
 to sink, the power of the Uoman guard is before his 
 eyes, trembling lays hold on him. Ah, he is left, 
 for a little season, to the mercy of himself. A maid 
 appears, and, casting her eye around, rests it upon 
 Peter, and, perhaps without any evil design, says, 
 "Thou also wast with Jesus of Gallilee." Down 
 falls his courage. 0, the thought, I will be killed 
 with him. Then looking up answers, " I know 
 not what thou sayest." " And when he was gone 
 out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said 
 unto them that were standing by, this fellow also 
 was with Jesus of Nazareth. Again he denied with 
 an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while 
 came they that stood by, and said to Peter. Surely 
 thou art also one of them, for thy speech betrayeth 
 thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, 
 I know not the man." Behold how God, even that 
 Jesus, who carries the world in his hand, wrought 
 his providence here, and caused throe persons to 
 ask Peter if he was not a discii)le, that he might 
 deny him thrice. The liistorian says. " And im- 
 mediately the cock crew." Was this a miracle? 
 Did the Lord make the cock crow here as if suddenly. 
 
SHEEP ASTRAY. 187 
 
 and out of his natural course ? Certainly not. But 
 the Lord had so arranged it in the dispensation of 
 his providence, that this cock shouhl be, by his na- 
 ture, brought near enough to crow in Peter's hear- 
 ing, and thereby bring to his mind the words of 
 Christ. And I understand that by circumstances, and 
 occurrences, in the providence of God, his words of 
 truth are often brought to the minds of his people. 
 The mojnent the cock crew, Peter remembered the 
 words of Jesus, who at the same moment looked 
 upon him. Peter had strayed for some time in this 
 self-confidence, but now he sees his error! His bold 
 assertions that he would die before lie would deny 
 his master, nov/ make him ashamed. He is con- 
 vinced his confidence here was too much in self, that 
 human pride stood too high. His shepherd assisted 
 him. "And he went out and wept bitterly," as every 
 child of grace will do, when made to see his stray- 
 ing ; and as every hypocrite will not do, but go 
 further and further, always hiding his sins. 
 
 Now what is the teaching of all this? It is that 
 Peter trusted too much in his human pride and cour- 
 age ; his Good Shepherd knew the evil consequences 
 of such a state, and first teaches him by precept, that 
 he was weak ; but Peter not being impressed by the 
 above precept, Jesus sends it home to his heart by 
 his own sad experience. And, unless this kind of 
 teaching is felt, we have great reason to fear that 
 we are not children of God. 
 
 Now the result of all this was, that Peter, by this 
 fall, was made better acquainted with the deceiving 
 tendency of his nature ; was deprived of much of his 
 self-confidence ; and consequently was drawn nearer 
 to Jesus, in point of faith and humility. He was 
 made more humble, was taugh to give more earnest 
 heed to the exhortation of his Shepherd. " Watch 
 
188 SHEEP ASTRAY. 
 
 and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." And I 
 think we may safely conclude he never was so posi- 
 tive ahout what he would do after that. Thus we see 
 this evil which made him suffer so much pain, filled 
 him with such confusion and caused his weeping to 
 be so hitter, was worked out for his good. 
 
 If any one should say that Peter was not convert- 
 ed at this time, I call his attention to one of the 
 most beautiful confessions of faith in the New Tes- 
 tament. I have before cited it, but I give it again. 
 Christ on a certain occasion said to his disciples, 
 ' 'Whom do men say that I the son of man am. ' ' And 
 they said, some said that he was one character^ and 
 some another. But when he asked them, whom they 
 said he was, Peter said : " Thou art the Christ, the 
 Son of the living God." And Jesus told him that 
 flesh and blood had not revealed it unto him, but his 
 heavenly Father. And if this does not prove him a 
 christian indeed, it will be a difficult matter to find 
 one in the New Testament. 
 
 If it be said he fell from grace, the assertion is 
 denied by the Lord. For when he was eating his 
 last supper with his disciples, he turned to this same 
 Peter, and, in reference to that very temptation no 
 doubt, said, " Simon, Simon, behold satan hath de- 
 sired to have thee, that he might sift thee as wheat. 
 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." 
 (Luke xxii. 31, 32.) If Jesus prayed that his faith 
 should not fail, all the powers of earth and hell 
 could not destroy it. And it is blasphemy to say it 
 could fail as a principle, which caused the beautiful 
 saying, " Lord to whom shall we go." (John vi. 
 68.) As an evidence it ever abided with him, the 
 man wept bitterly when Jesus convinced him of his 
 sin of denying him, which his self-confidence had 
 led him into. 
 
SHISEP ASTfiAY. 189 
 
 These slieep are also led astray by the natural 
 passions. The passion of anger, which belongs to 
 the flesh, and which is not destroyed in the new 
 birth, is a daily tormentor of the christian's peace. 
 In an unguarded moment this passion is aroused, 
 and thoughts of an evil nature arise in the mind, 
 wrong words are uttered, and sometimes a very im- 
 proper course is taken, which on reflection is seen, 
 even by the individual, to he contrary to his own 
 w^ill, and sinful in the sight of Grod. And a child 
 of God will always feel a deep sorrow in his heart 
 on sxich occasions ; not simply because he has injured 
 himself, but because it is opposed to the law of his 
 master. No christian can compromise with anger, 
 because it is the work of the flesh ; it will arise in 
 this world of crosses, but give it no vent. "Be ye 
 angry and sin not ; let not the sun go down upon 
 your wrath." (Bphes. iv. 26.) How can ye then, 
 little flock, be angry one with another, yea, quarrel 
 and take vengeance, and thereby put weapons in 
 your enemies hands, to fight you with? Kemem- 
 ber "Vengeance is mine, Iwill repay saith the Lord." 
 (Rom. xii. 19.) The exercise of this anger can so 
 blind the mind, that all the good qualities in the 
 object of its rage, are entirely hid, and no doubt men 
 have gone so far under its influence, as to hurl with 
 an unmerciful hand, their brother out of the church. 
 These things ought not to be. 
 
 The love of earthly things leaves its footprints in 
 the dark part of the christian's life. They present 
 themselves with all their deceitful allurements, 
 and lead the soul astray. High station in life, with 
 all its vain glory, presents itself. The hungering in 
 human nature, for these things is aroused, and of- 
 tentimes the christian is led a long way into this er- 
 ror. But " mind not high things, but condescend to 
 
190 SHEEP ASTRAY. 
 
 men of low estate." (Rom. xii. 16.) And, again, 
 " Love not the world, neither the things that are iu 
 the world." (1st John ii. 15.) The christian should 
 love the lawful things of this world only as gifts of 
 God, in which ho can be glorified. There is a great 
 deal of idol-woi'ship among christians of our day, in 
 loving too much the things of the world on their 
 own account. 
 
 Envy is another infirmity of the flesh whereby 
 the sheep are led astray ; and there is no path in 
 which Christ's sheep run astray so destructively, 
 both in regard to the object of it , and to him who 
 runs in it. The new principle of holiness and life 
 in the christian speaks in this manner : ' ' Let no 
 man seek his own, but every man another's 
 wealth." (1st Cor. X. 24.) When this fleshly prin- 
 ciple arises, it acts like anger, blinds the mind 
 oftentimes so completely that almost every thing, 
 even in a brother or sister, is seen in an envious light. 
 Even their spiritual gifts are often the cause of its 
 exercise, yea ; even among preachers it is plainly 
 seen, and one cannot becomingly speak, as he ought 
 to, of a superior in spiritual gifts. 0, what a cloud 
 obscures the beauty of the tehnple of God in this age ! 
 " If one lives in the spirit, let him also walk in the 
 spirit, let us not be desirous of vain glory, provo- 
 king one another, envying one another." (Gal. v. 
 56.) Wherever envy is found exerting its influence, 
 there is confusion and every evil work. 
 
 The sheep also stray often in paths of new and 
 strange doctrine. The world is always getting up 
 some new thing under the name of religion, which 
 is apparently supported by Scripture ; which blinds 
 the eyes of the poor sheep to such an extent that 
 they are always ready to believe it, and perhaps go 
 a long way into its foolishness. And they are not 
 
REIGNINS GRACE. 191 
 
 only led astray hj the arguments of worldly re- 
 ligionists, but sometimes a prominent preacher, 
 even of the gospel order, gets a little wise, above 
 what is written, and in his own imagination, digs 
 A'ery deep into some dark and obscure portion of 
 Scriptiire, and produces a doctrine which is new, at 
 least in some of its features, and thereby leads 
 astray both himself and thos5 who hear him ; and it 
 is hard to say how far even these gospel preachers 
 may be permitted to go, or what evil may be done 
 by them, before the Good Shepherd brings them 
 back to repent in sack-cloth and ashes. No Chris- 
 tian should have coniidence in his natural wisdom 
 in studying the word of the Lord, for he is ever 
 liable to misunderstand it. He should, therefore, 
 ever seek the Spirit's guidance. - There are tvvo 
 paths : the path of man's way, and the path of 
 God's commandments. The imperfections of the 
 flesh are always tending towards carnal counsels, 
 such as make men wise in their own conceit. The 
 new man is always tending towards the command- 
 ments of the Lord. And notwithstanding the great 
 mystery manifested in a Christian's running so far 
 into unrighteousness, it is certain that the new 
 mind cannot be fed by carnal doctrine nor by carnal 
 practice. It is, as it were smothered, while lust is 
 gratifying itself. And the result of this is, wherever 
 the new man finds he is not being fed on the truth, 
 the poor sheep is pierced through with much sorrow. 
 The ancient saints knew this ; they were aware of 
 this weakness, and that they could only withstand 
 it by inward strength from God in grace. Hence 
 their seeking of him late and early. " Teach me 
 thy way, Lord, and lead me in a plain path, be- 
 cause of mine enemies." (Psalms xxvii. 16.) Mark, 
 this is not the language of a new beginner in the 
 
192 REIGNING GRACE. 
 
 cause, but an old veteran of the Lord of Israel. It 
 is true the saints of Grod grow stronger in grace as 
 they advance towards the glorious state, but we 
 must not understand this strength as many do, as 
 if consisting in the man's increased ability. This 
 is growing, not in grace, but in power of self. But 
 he that grows in grace is the man who thinks 
 less and less of self-confidence, and of everything 
 connected with self. To become more acquainted 
 with one's own deceitful nature, by heart-felt expe- 
 rience, or the teaching of the Spirit, is to grow in 
 that part of grace stronger in the Lord. To grow 
 in acquaintance with one's own inability to under- 
 stand the things of the Spirit, and his liability to 
 err in judgment in these things, and so look more 
 earnestly to G-od for wisdom and guidance, is grow- 
 ing in grace in this point. For the knowledge of 
 the inability doth evidence the presence of more 
 grace, and where grace is, native power in spiritual 
 things cannot be in much exercise. To grow in ac- 
 quaintance with the vanity and foolishness of the 
 most fashionable things of this world ; to be enabled 
 to see them as they are loved and run after by chil- 
 dren of the world, as wrong and sinful in Grod's 
 sight ; is to grow in grace in that point. For this 
 knowledge doth evidence that God hath mercy upon 
 the man to rescue him from the common blindness 
 of the world. But, mark, reader, this knowledge 
 of the vanity of these worldly things, which is the 
 teaching of the grace of the Spirit, is distinguished 
 from a common knowledge which some men have, by 
 its being accompanied by godly love and a desire to 
 glorify God, in the abstinence therefrom. Every 
 abstinence that is not on God's account, is not 
 spiritually a good work. The more a Christian 
 knows of the insufficiency of his own good works. 
 
REISNING GRACE. 193 
 
 or righteousness, to staad before the holy God, the 
 more he sees of the necessity of the imputation of 
 Christ's righteousness to him ; the more he sees of 
 its beauty ; and consequently the more earnestly 
 will he pray for a sense of its imputation to him, 
 to bear him up against the unbelieving tendency of 
 human nature, and thereby grow in grace. The 
 more he sees of the sinfulness of his own human 
 heart in general ; the more he sees his need of a 
 daily supply of the constraining influence of the 
 Spirit of Jesus by the power of divine love to keep 
 him in the plain path ; the more he grows in grace. 
 Even in the persecutions, and distresses, and priva- 
 tions, coming because of the truth, there is a growth 
 of grace. " When I am weak, then am I strong." 
 (2d Cor. xii. 10.) I do not mean to say that weak- 
 ness brings grace, for the grace of God cannot spring 
 from the weakness of man ; it would then be the 
 grace of man. But a right knowledge of these 
 things accompanied by a right desire to abstain 
 from them for God's sake, does give evidence of that 
 grace. The tree bears the fruit, not the fruit the 
 tree. Therefore, to become a tool is to be wise ; to 
 become weak is to be strong ; and to hate this carnal 
 fallen world in the right manner, is to love the 
 glorious inheritance above. 
 
 Now, if these things are true the old saint gene- 
 rally sees more need of Christ's strength and wis- 
 dom, to keep him in the path of the Lord, than the 
 young one, who has yet to be chastised severely to 
 be brought to a higher degree of knowledge of the 
 path of truth. Knowing these things, no wonder 
 the old faithful servants of God watch over the 
 young with such care, as those who are to give ac- 
 count, and give them so fiiany godly exhortations. 
 The Psalmist, from his knowledge of the weakness 
 
 n 
 
194 KEIGNING GRACE. 
 
 of nature in religion says : "Make me to go in the 
 path of thy commandments, ior therein do I delight. 
 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, turn away 
 mine eyes from beholding vanity ; and quicken thou 
 me in thy way." (Psalms cxix. 35 — 3T.) " Hold 
 up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip 
 not." (Psalms xvii. 5.) And there is not a path in 
 wliich the sheep of Christ may not stray, but what 
 these old men of God have sometime in their lives, 
 dreaded, and prayed to God, in whom was their 
 strength, to keep thtm therefrom. 
 
 The manner of Christ's bringing back his sheep, 
 is in all cases by .applying his word, in its riches of 
 love and of mercy ; which by its powerful drawings 
 bi-ings them back. They are not driven back agai7ist 
 their wills, by the mere lashing of the law. The 
 love of the Good Shepherd is sworn to keep them 
 in the right path, and hence the final preservation 
 of the' saints. 
 
BAPTISM, 
 
 CHAPTEE XX, 
 
 Cdrist leads his slieep through the wilderness of 
 this world. The Oriental shepherd went before his 
 sheep, and led them from place to place, wherever 
 he pleased, over hills and through valleys, now 
 climbing some craggy mountain, now resting upon 
 the margin of some cooling stream. They are 
 sometimes named ; so Christ saith, " He that enter- 
 eth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To 
 him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his 
 voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and lead- 
 eth them out. And when he putteth forth his own 
 sheep he goeth before them, for they know his 
 voice." (John x. 2 — 4.) Jesus calleth out his own 
 sheep by name and leads them throiigh thousands of 
 trials, temptations and crosses. He leadeth them 
 through the wilderness of politics, through the per- 
 plexities of the family circle, through the midst of 
 friends and foes, and through evil report and good 
 report. His .sheep follow him whithersoever he go- 
 eth ; whatsoever he commands, they love, and in 
 keeping of the commandments there is great re- 
 ward. 
 
 A man may say he has faith, and yet not obey the 
 commandments. But that,faith which will not lead 
 to obedience, is a dead faith. Obedience makes faith 
 perfect ; that is, in the presence of man, obedience to 
 
196 BAPTISM. 
 
 a right rule proves it to be true. Not that works 
 make faith perfect before God, but that faith which 
 is given by God, always induces to obedience, by 
 which it is known to the world. "Show me thy 
 faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith 
 by my works." (James ii. 18.) I have heard men 
 reasoning themselves out of obedience to Christ in 
 his ordinances, by referring to his grace as the only 
 thing which could sa'/e them ; that his grace saved 
 them and that obeying the ordinances would make 
 them no better, that they were not essential to sal- 
 vation ; and so live in disobedience to Jesus Christ. 
 No work a man can do will save him^ that is true. 
 Submitting to tlid ordinance of baptism will not 
 save him, nor will the partaking of the Lord's Sup- 
 per ; but the submission to these ordinances are es- 
 sential to obedience, and obedience is the only test of 
 love to Jesus Christ. Now as the sheep of this great 
 Shepherd follow Jesus Christ whithersoever he go- 
 eth, they must follow him into the burial of baptism. 
 
 He will conduct them even through it ; and he 
 does it by the spirit of love, which is, by him im- 
 planted in them, whereby, they are joined to him, 
 and therefore, take a pleasure in doing his will. 
 Whatever their Shepherd commands is right ; and 
 it is only necessary for them to know that he com- 
 mands in order to insure their prompt obedience. 
 And if there is any duty clearly imposed upon them 
 in the New Testament, it is baptism. 
 
 Jesus commands his people to obey this ordi- 
 nance, both by his own example, and by a special 
 command through the mouths of his apostles. In 
 the beginning of the setting up of the kingdom of 
 God, there came forth into the wilderness of Judea, 
 a strange man with a new doctrine. He was cloth- 
 ed with camel's hair ; wore a leather girdle about 
 
BAPTISM. 197 
 
 his loins, and fed upon locusts and wild honey. And 
 as he came he preached, saying : "repent ye, for the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand." This stranger is 
 called John the Baptist, and here is the origin of 
 that name which has ever since been held, by the 
 real church and faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ. 
 He was called the baptist, because he baptized. We 
 find great multitudes came out to hear him, and he 
 made a particular demand of all who applied for 
 baptism, which was that they should " bring forth 
 fruits meet for repentance." By this we learn they 
 could not receive the ordinance without giving evi- 
 dence of repentance towards God, and faith in the 
 coming Messiah. In Acts xix. 4, 5, Paul also 
 shows John did require them to believe. We find 
 here their mere declaration would not do, but they 
 must bring fruits sufficient to prove their repent- 
 ance. As John baptized these candidates, behold 
 great multitudes of Pharisees came out, perhaps 
 supposing that John was administering a Jewish 
 rite, and that they would have a part in it, as they 
 were the seed of Abraham. But John surprises 
 them by saying : " Think not to say within your- 
 selves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say 
 unto you, that Grod is able of these stones to raise 
 up children unto Abraham." This showed them 
 that John was not administering a Jewish ceremo- 
 ny, but a new thing, which belonged to the king- 
 dom of Grod then about to be set up in a visible 
 form, as separate from the Jewish national worship- 
 ing assembly. 
 
 This is what I understand from that saying, 
 " the kingdom of heaven is at hand." There al- 
 ways had been subjects of Grod's government on 
 earth ; the coming of the kingdom does not sup- 
 pose there never had been spiritual worshipers pre- 
 
198 BAPTISM. 
 
 vious to tlie coming of Jolin ; but indicates tlie 
 gathering together of these subjects, under a sepa- 
 rate form of government from that of the Jewish 
 religion; These ancient subjects, holy men of God, 
 must have been under the Jewish dispensation, con- 
 tent to assemble with the nation, and keep the rites 
 and cerenionies of the law ; for the time had not 
 come for the gathering of these holy ones under 
 newly revealed laws ; though they did look forward 
 and feed by hope in him that was to come, upon 
 the same food which is the nourishment of saints 
 since the days of Christ. The prophets searched 
 diligently what time the sufferings of Christ, and 
 the day that should follow, should take place. 
 There was a time penned down in God's eternal 
 book, in which these people should be called out, 
 and put in a separate body, under separate laws. 
 These laws were kept hid through ages and gener- 
 ations, until the time arrived, then they must be 
 made known, and the sons of God must be gather- 
 ed together, to worship no more necessarily at Jer- 
 usalem, with the mixed multitude, but to obey 
 these new laws and ordinances, and so be identified 
 thereby as a body or kingdom unlike all the king- 
 doms of the earth. And so it is written that Jesus 
 should die, not for the Jews only, "but that he 
 should gather together in one the children of God 
 that were scattered abroad." (John xi. 52.) And 
 God shall gather these sons together. We find then 
 the organized kingdom of Jesus to be, not a place 
 where men shall go to become saints, or sons, but a 
 place where the saints may go to find holy associa- 
 tion, and to glorify God. We find that the laws 
 and ordinances of this kingdom, are not to be obey- 
 ed by men to constitute them sons, and secure their 
 eternal salvation ; but that they arc laws of which 
 
BAPTISM. 199 
 
 none have the i-ight to enjoy the benefit but the sons 
 of God. By obedience to these laws they do not 
 obtain Christ, but confess Christ. Here is the stumb- 
 ling-block to a great body of christians of the pre- 
 sent day, which causes them to fall into some of the 
 most ridiculous errors. Now this John was not the 
 first man to preach to the sons of God, all the pro- 
 phets did this ; but he was the first mai sent, when 
 the time came to set up this kingdom by its newly 
 revealed laws, to gather, by promiilgation of the 
 gospel, these scattered sons. Now the introduction 
 into this visible kingdom was by baptism, this new 
 doctrine of that day But how was Johii to know 
 out of the vast multitude who came to him, 
 who were the sons of God ? They are but two ways 
 by which he could know them : by God's testimony 
 directly to him, or by certain marks visible in those 
 who came forward. The former God did not chose 
 to adopt, the latter certainly did exist. There was a 
 sign in them whereby John knew them, and when 
 they exhibited this, he administered the baptism. 
 This sign was evidence sufficient to prove repentance 
 towards God, and acknowledgment of the Messiah. 
 Ye need not come then Pharisees, claiming 
 your right because ye are the children of Abraham ; 
 that will only show your right to the Jewish altar 
 and temple ; but you must show the marks of the 
 descendents of a higher father than Abrahem. And 
 you, sons of America, need not come saying, my 
 father, or my mother, was a believer. The faith 
 of your parents gives you no niore right to this or- 
 dinance, neither in infancy, nor in adult years, 
 than did Abraham's blood in the veins of the Phar- 
 isees give them a right in John's day. Indeed it 
 is the same principle in human- nature, which 
 causes parents to demand baptism for their infants, 
 
200 , BAP^flSM. 
 
 upon the faith of the parent, that caused the Phar- 
 isees to demand christian haptism of John because 
 they were children of Abraham. But as I have re- 
 ferred to haptism, not to enter into a full discussion 
 of the subject, but only so far as is necessary to 
 show the path the Good Shepherd walked in, I 
 proceed. 
 
 As John thus baptized believing adults, Jesus 
 came to him from Galilee to be baptized also ; for 
 he had now arrived at adult age. But John for- 
 bade him, for he knew him, saying; " I have need 
 to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" And 
 Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so 
 now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteous- 
 ness. Then he suffered him." Now from this we 
 learn that baptism is not intended to save men, for 
 Jesus was the Son of God of whom you cannot men- 
 tion salvation. We also learn that baptism is an 
 act of obedience to the Lord, to be submitted to by 
 the sons of God, because John received it of the 
 Lord. Again, I find a complete obedience cannot 
 be effected without it, for Jesus says : "thus it be- 
 cometh us to fulfil all righteousness . " " Thus , " by 
 this act, and what Jesus has said, who dare gainsay? 
 Thus the sheep are led to go and ask for bap- 
 ■ tism, for their Shepherd has gone before them in 
 this very path, and to follow his voice they must 
 walk in the same way. 
 
 The deceitful heart may point out another road, 
 and, flatter man that it will do as well ; but God 
 shall judge him, for he follows his own imagina- 
 tion and not the voice of the Shepherd. And inas- 
 much as Christ went before them, to a true minister 
 of God to be baptized, they must do ^likewise. And 
 as it surely is hard for some to know who is the 
 true minister, I recommend them to examine care 
 
BAPTISM. 201 
 
 fully tlie character of the true minister as recorded 
 in the New Testament, and pray God in the dispensa- 
 tion of his providence to send them to such a one 
 only. A son or a daughter of God, thus striving 
 to obtain this knowledge will succeed, for his faith- 
 ful God will enable him to do so. 
 
 Jesus was thus baptized. The history proceeds 
 thus : ' ' And Jesus when he was baptized, went up 
 straightway out of the water. ' ' From this we learn 
 that he walked down into the water, since no man 
 can come out of the water who never was in it. He 
 was baptized, or immersed, or dipped in Jordan, a 
 stream about twenty yards wide, and in places five 
 or six feet deep, large enough for ships to sail upon ; 
 but represented by pedo-baptists to be too small to 
 immerse a man in. How foolish! They have either 
 not read their bible, or have an evil conscience ; for 
 the bible informs us of Jordan, and also that there 
 is an abundance of water in Jerusalem. Inasmuch 
 as the Good Shepherd was buried in the water, 
 even so his sheep must follow him. Thou hast no 
 excuse then, man, whomsoever thou art, who hast 
 a good hope through grace, knowing thyself as a 
 sinner, and Jesus as the only Saviour, in refusing 
 to follow the Good Shepherd. His path in this or- 
 dinance is clear, moreover we have the examples of 
 all the New Testament saints as walking in this 
 path, and their repeated command to all believers, 
 to walk in the same. 
 
 Jesus commands it, and who is he, whose heart 
 is touched by the love of this Good Shepherd, that 
 can refuse. My views of those texts strained from 
 the scriptures by pedo-baptist preachers, to prove 
 their authority for infant baptism, can be seen in 
 the following lines, with which I end this point: 
 
202 BAPTISM. 
 
 First by a man, John was his name, 
 Jews were baptized, in Jordan's stream, 
 When they had satisfaction given 
 That they'd repented towards heaven. 
 Some teachers tell us we ai'e wrong, 
 And for proof do argue strong, 
 " Let little children come to me.'' 
 But in the bible I can't see 
 Where Jesus Christ ever advised 
 Believers to have their babes baptized ; 
 But often in his will I see 
 Believers should baptized be. 
 In Galatians chapter three. 
 Examine close, you'l plainly see, 
 That christians into Jesus were 
 Baptized, and of his joy made heir. 
 They did put on the Son of God 
 By strict obedience to his word ; 
 But babes can't in the Lord have faith 
 To this, Amen, experience saith. 
 Buried with him, the Apostle said. 
 Who once was numbered with the dead ; 
 Raised with him from the watery grave, 
 By faith which we of God must have. 
 But infants can't be buried nor rise, 
 With Christ, through faith in anywise, 
 For faith they never can possess. 
 Though they in heaven may find rest. 
 Paul taught the jailor's family all, 
 And baptized them great and small ; 
 But of infants we have proof. 
 That there was none beneath his roof, 
 For all that were baptized had faith 
 And rejoiced, the scripture saith. 
 But this a babe can never do ; 
 The man sermd God, his Jwusehold too. 
 There's Lydia next, some do take hold 
 And war against truth's pathway bold, 
 And say her household by St. Paul 
 Was baptized, young infants and all ; 
 But when we go unto the Book, 
 And o'er its record closely look. 
 We find no proof that Lydia had 
 A husband then, or any dead. 
 Cluispas believed, with all his hosts, 
 The Lord in whom St, Paul did boast ; 
 No infants, then, could have been there 
 Or else they in that faith did share. 
 
BAPTISM. 203 
 
 Stephanas' household did believe, 
 
 And Christ's baptism did receive. 
 
 All of these were ministers, 
 
 No infants here my Pedo Sirs. 
 
 In Matthew, chapter third, we see 
 
 That Jesus came from Galilee 
 
 Unto John, the Harbinger 
 
 Of righteousness, to do his share. 
 
 Down in the water Jesus went. 
 
 And John, according to consent. 
 
 Buried him in the liquid grave ; 
 
 This in the word of truth we have. 
 
 Out of the water Jesus came 
 
 After his burial in the same ; 
 
 And here 'tis plain for all to see 
 
 The sanction of the Deity. 
 
 Down came the Spirit like a dove 
 
 And lit upon the Lord of love, 
 
 The Father cried, this is my Son ; 
 
 And Chi'ist has taught that they are one. 
 
 Now to the Eunuch let us go. 
 
 And see what Pedo's there can do. 
 
 But there we find then- hold is lame. 
 
 Since in the Scripture they've no name. 
 
 A servant of Candace, a queen, 
 
 Who to Jerusalem had been. 
 
 Was reading in Isaiah's book 
 
 While on his heart the Lord did look ; 
 
 The Spirit ordered Philip to 
 
 Instruct the Eunuch what to do; 
 
 Who in the chariot with him rode. 
 
 And preached of Jesus Chiist, the Lord. 
 
 He preached to him the gospel of 
 
 The Lord of life, who reigns above ; 
 
 And part of it we find to be 
 
 Baptism, in the name of three. 
 
 The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 
 The one eternal Lord of hosts. 
 
 Who lives and reigns above the sky, 
 
 Beyond the reach of mortal eye. 
 
 When the Eunuch heard the word 
 
 His faith leaned on the Son of God, 
 
 And for Baptism did apply. 
 
 When he saw there was water nigh, 
 
 Philip immersed him in the stream ; 
 
 Of sprinkling him he never dresimed ; 
 
 Nor would he baptize him unless 
 
 He, faith in Jesus, did confess. 
 
204 BAPTISM. 
 
 Buried with Christ were Cluistians first, 
 Whose bodies long haye laid in dust ; 
 But now we've teachers plentiful 
 Who place their feet on Jesus' rule. 
 O may God's word laid open be, 
 To all who have it may they see 
 The doctrine the apostle taught. 
 And to the Saviour's feet be brought. 
 May wisdom, Lord, reign on the earth 
 That men may know the Saviour's worth, 
 That they may see that they are undone. 
 But for the grace of Thy dear Son. 
 
LORD'S SUPPER 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 The Good Shepherd in leading his sheep through 
 the watery grave, gives them great peace and joy 
 of soul ; not by putting away the filth of the flesh, 
 but by their having a sense of their obedience to his 
 command. The joy is so great that all that was 
 said against them, and their desire to be baptized, 
 is entirely drowned ; yea, though discarded byfather 
 and mother, sister and brother, husband or wife, 
 this joy of soul cannot be destroyed. For the Saviour 
 is able to turn the hearts of the fathers to the chil- 
 dren, and the husband to the wife, and can make 
 all rough places smooth. 
 
 Being baptized they are introduced into the visible 
 church, and are now commanded by the voice of 
 their beloved to show fortli his death until he shall 
 come again, without sin, unto salvation. They are 
 led to the table of the Lord. But what hand is put 
 forth to lead them there? Not the unyielding law, 
 but the hand of love. Having a sense of the love 
 of their Redeemer as being fastened upon tliem, 
 who were unworthy, which they have by a knowl- 
 edge of his suflering for them, and of the bread and 
 wine as emblematical of his body and blood, they go 
 to the table viewing it as a memorial of his grace. 
 And their joy in taking a seat there is not in the 
 bread and wine as such, but in the obedience to his 
 
206 " . lord's supper. 
 
 voice, and the privilege of sitting at his table. 
 Though often they^go with heavy hearts, because, 
 being without a sense of his love, and of their wel- 
 come, they cannot enjoy it. 
 
 This ordinance belongs to the church, and must 
 not be carried out of her bounds. It was at first 
 administered to a body of apostles, and from that 
 time was ever kept in the church. But now, in 
 many cases, there is a thing called the Lord's sup- 
 per, carried hither and thither, used in the church 
 and out of it. But no man can show one instance 
 in the Scriptures, where the supper was ever admin- 
 istered save in a body of baptized believers. With- 
 out scriptural baptism there can be no visible church. 
 By scriptural, I mean that which was practiced at 
 the date of the scriptures, as acknowledged by the 
 Lord, and nothing but what is acknowledged by 
 him. John, by this baptism, drew the first line of 
 church visibility in the world ; and who is he that 
 has authority to pull down this ancient landmark? 
 But mark, it was a right baptism, administered by 
 an authorized administrator, according to right 
 laws, unto proper subjects. Where there is no 
 scriptural visible church, there can be no power to 
 administer the supper. 
 
 A man may say he has faith in Jesus, has ex- 
 perienced all things common to Christians, and 
 plead admittance, though he has no baptism ; but 
 there is no better way to prove his fidelity to his 
 Lord than to obey his ordinance, and to refuse to do 
 it, and yet claim to be his, is to reject the counsel 
 of God. (See Luke vii. 30.) 
 
 I say if the scriptures are a guide, no one has a 
 right to the table but a baptized believer, because 
 there is no instance on record where it was admin- 
 istered save to that body. Common S'jnse says it was 
 
lord's supper.' 207 
 
 to be admiuistered, to this body alone, or it was 
 not. If it was not, then everybody may partake of 
 it who chooses to say he believes in Jesus Christ, 
 and then a disorderly body we would have indeed. 
 If it is to be administered to this body alone, then 
 where is the authority to give it to others ? Even 
 those who plead for open communion dare not go to 
 the bible to prove to, but make use of human tra- 
 ditions, the opinions of men and natural sympathy* 
 And what are all these worth in matters of religion, 
 as evidence, when compared with the scriptures?" 
 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 
 your ways my ways, saith the Lord." (Isa. v. 5. 8.) 
 Whenever the scriptured church opens her door to 
 the Lord's table, for. an individual^ who refuses to 
 submit to that rule of Jesus, which stands at the 
 head of its visibility, she takes the law in her own 
 hands, and does it at her own responsibility. And 
 if she does not repent, that is turn from this prac- 
 tice, the Lord will remove her candlestick out of its 
 place in a few generations. That is he will blot out 
 her visibility, for one error after another will follow, 
 until where the church of Christ once flourished, 
 
 *"Open the door of your churches," said a celebrated preacher 
 to Dr. Newman, " and we do not fear the result." Again the 
 Pedo-Baptists assert : "by (the Baptist) adopting the plan of open 
 communion they practically concede the validity of our (Pedo) 
 baptism, as respects both mode and subject ; as they profess to 
 act only from plain examples or apostolic precepts." (see Modem 
 Immersion not Christian Baptism, by W. Thorn, Winchester.) 
 
 " Mr. R. Hall's effort in England was a counterpart to Socinus' 
 in Poland, an enforced illustration of Jessey's views, and a re- 
 spectable clothing of John Bunyan's, Turner's, Ej^land's and 
 others' sentiments on the open question. Mental error is sanctioned 
 as was pleaded by Robert Robinson, of Cambridge. Disobedience 
 becomes tolerated, which is presumption in mortals ! ! ! "We as- 
 sert fearlessly, that a benevolence which diverts or relieves the 
 creature from performing the least duty enjoined by the Lord, is 
 a false human charity, which will meet with retribution." 
 
208 ERRORS OF PROTESTANTISM. 
 
 will be found a corrupt body. It is the Lord's table, 
 not man's. The Lord gave it, gave laws to govern 
 it, which show that anybody is not to come to it, but 
 only certain characters. And who is he that is so 
 daring as to disregard these laws, and consult his 
 own natural feelings in this sacred matter ? 
 
 When the subjects of Christ's real church protest 
 against this open scheme, do not understand, mine 
 enemy, that it is narrow-heartedness, for it is not I 
 assure you, but faithfulness to their Lord whose good- 
 nessthey know. Thepath their Shepherd laiddown is 
 the path they strive to walk, in, and they strive le- 
 gally. They know the voice of their Shepherd, and 
 him they will follow, though all the world is against 
 them. They do often have sympathy for men out- 
 side of the church, from their knowledge of their 
 experience, who judge them cold-hearted because 
 they will not associate with them in church capacity, 
 But why will they not? Not because they think 
 themselves better, not because they are bigoted, but 
 because the other will not submit to the plain com- 
 mandment of the Lord. And how can they so sin 
 against the Lord as to break the order of his house. 
 The real christian thus acts because the love of Christ 
 constraineth him. He knows that if he pleaseth 
 man, he cannot be the servant of Jesus. Thus they 
 follow their shepherd withersoever he goeth, and 
 that path is a path of peace to their souls. 
 
 Again. The voice of their shepherd is a guide to 
 them in receiving men into ^he visible church. I 
 find the sects around me in this day to have laws 
 for this thing of their own making. If an individ- 
 ual has been raised up in a church nursery (Sunday 
 school,) and does not swear or partake freely of spirit- 
 ous liquors, he can enter, at least upon trial, and if 
 he continues to walk in this course, then he is re- 
 
ERRORS OP PROTESTANTISM. 209 
 
 ceived into full fellowship. Where can you find 
 authority in the New Testament for this kind of pro- 
 ceeding ? Others only wish to know if the innocent 
 babe has one believing parent, this gives a right, to 
 what they call baptism, which if it was true would 
 be the introduction into the church. Where is 
 authority in the Bible for this manner of doing 
 Grod's service ? Is this in accordance with the com- 
 mission ? Nay, in the absence of their proof, is 
 their condemnation. The commission given by Jesus- 
 Christ a short time before his ascension, runs thus : 
 "All power is given unto me in heaven and upon 
 earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, bap- 
 tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Grhost. Teaching ttuem to 
 observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
 you, and, lo, I am with you always, unto the end 
 of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 18— 20.) The first 
 thing to be done, was to teach all nations. Mark 
 is a little difierent in the phraseology, and makes the 
 meaning of the Lord more obvious on this point. 
 He gives it thus : " Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the gospel to every creature. He who be- 
 lieveth and is baptized shall be saved, but he who 
 believeth not shall be damned." (Markxvi. 16, 17.) 
 They were to preach to all wherever the Lord sent 
 them, and those who believed the doctrine they 
 preached, which alone is contained in the sacred 
 writings, were to be baptized, this baptism being 
 one of the doctrines they preached. This faith, 
 necessary to baptism was not to be a mere historical 
 faith, which makes a great to do in point of profession , 
 but nothing in point of practice, but a faith in which 
 there was a dedication of the heart and life to Christ. 
 This faith in the true doctrine is the leading rule to 
 
 18 
 
210 BREOKS OP PROTESTANTISM. 
 
 admission into churcli fellowship. Under this law 
 the church is to act, in the examination of an ap- 
 plicant for admission. 
 
 They are to examine them carefully, by the laws 
 of Christ to the best of their ability, as men faith- 
 ful to their master, in whose work they are engaged. 
 They must do \i prayerfully , as men bound to act, 
 yet incapable of doing so by the power of human 
 wisdom alone. Indeed in every case of admission 
 they should pray God that no one should pass into 
 their number, unless he be the proper subject for 
 communion. It is difficult to tell the vast amount 
 of peace and comfort enjoyed by a church thus hum- 
 bling herself before the Lord, in taking in members, 
 I regard it as a very nice point. There is a great 
 need of study of God's word, and prayer for a right 
 understanding thereof, lest they should receive 
 those unworthy, or reject those who are worthy. 
 It is also difficult to tell the flood of confusion, 
 strife, and grief, occasioned by a looseness in this 
 point ; the body of combustible matter thus accu- 
 mulated is increased by other transgressions, until 
 the pile becomes so large that the whole mass is set 
 on fire ; and the whole body, the true saint and the 
 pretenders, are carried to an awful distance from 
 the true discipline. How many heart-broken saints 
 are scrambling from broken parts of this awful 
 wreck, occasioned by this looseness of the church 
 in her peaceful and prosperous state. Prosperity 
 comes first, then a high mind, then\i fall. If hu- 
 man sympathy is consulted rather than the laws of 
 Jesus, the end will be according to the work. The 
 Shepherd should be followed as his voice doth direct, 
 and the end thereof is peace and prosperity. 
 
 He must be followed also as his voice doth direct 
 in excommunicating members. I regard the New 
 
EXCOMMUNICATION. 211 
 
 Testament as sufficiently full on this point, though 
 brief. It guides the church in dealing both with the 
 common transgressors, and the seditious. By the 
 common transgressors I mean those who violate the 
 moral law of Christ, and trespass against their 
 brethren. If one brother does that which wounds 
 another's feelings, the one injured has a perfect 
 rule to guide him in the right way of proceeding. 
 He is not to go to this one and the other one, to 
 complain and search for spots in his brother's char- 
 acter and circulate them ; this is the work of fallen 
 nature. But he is to go first to the offending 
 brother and tell him how he has injured him ; and 
 that must not be done in anger, for anger is the 
 fruit of the flesh, as we have before seen, and that 
 would only arouse the same evil in the other, and 
 60 make the wound greater than before. I have no 
 doubt but many have failed in obtaining satisfac- 
 tion because they have gone in this way. It must 
 be done in the spirit of meekness, earnestly, truth- 
 fully, but gently. If he fails to get reparation 
 he is not to act unadvisedly, but to take one or two 
 more brethren and go to him with these^ that they 
 may hear what he has to say. If he will not hear 
 them, if after all has been done that caa be, outside 
 the church, with no effect, then he is a subject for 
 the church's action. And if when brought before 
 the church he will not hear them, (but let the 
 church remember, she is only to examine and judge 
 him according to the laws of Jesus Christ,) then 
 let all the brethren look upon him as an expelled 
 man. (Matt, xviii. 15, 18.) 
 
 If a brother violates a law of God by coming 
 fully under the dominion of some iieshly propensity, 
 lust, or passion, to the dishonor of the cause of 
 divine truth, he must be summoned before the church. 
 
212 CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 
 
 If the charge is verified, and the offender will not 
 suhmit, nor confess, the church must eject him ; not 
 to he counted as an enemy, hut, even in this situa- 
 tion, to be admonished as a hrother. (2nd TheSvS. 
 iii, 15.) And they should watch him carefully, to 
 ^ee if there can he found any marks of godly sorrow 
 for the offence ; not that the sorrow is necei^sary to 
 wash away the sin, or to influence God to forgive, as 
 some vainly suppose ; hut it is a sign whereby God 
 shows the church that such an offender is his child ; 
 for God's children have his holy seed in them, and 
 the natural consequence is when they have sinned 
 their hearts must ache, sooner or later ; and hy this 
 the church is to he guided. When this sign is found 
 they must comfort them and take them in ; for hy 
 omitting a timely restoration, the devil will get 
 the advantage of them. (2nd Cor. ii.) Sedition or 
 open insurrections are to he dealt with instantly, in 
 the severest legal manner ; for such conduct is evi- 
 dently the work of the corruptions of man. Heresy 
 is to he dealt with differently, hy permitting more 
 time for reflection on the part of the offender, he- 
 cause a hrother may teach a false doctrine in ignor- 
 ance, and gentle treatment may convince him of his 
 error. Such a one must, in the first place, he ad- 
 monished hy the hrethren in the spirit of love ; and 
 this need not he done in a corner, hut openly, that 
 the world may know the order of the holy body, 
 and therehy he a light in a world of darkness. All 
 necessary argument must he used to win the heretic, 
 and if the first attempt fails, it must he tried again ; 
 and if the second proves fruitless, he must he reject- 
 ed. "Knowing that he that is such is suhverted 
 and sinneth, heing condemned of himself." (Titus 
 iii. 10, 11.) 
 
 " I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep, 
 and are known of mine," Having treated upon the 
 
CHEIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 213 
 
 Good Shepherd and the character of his sheep, I 
 now notice briefly the clause, "Know my sheep." 
 This declaration is full of comfort and consolation. 
 Uttered by the Redeemer, it comes with that faith- 
 fulness and truthfulness, which characterizes him 
 throughout God's revelation. It comes with that 
 tenderness and love which becometh him who loved 
 unto death. "Know my sheep." First. — Christ 
 knows who they are even to the last generation. He 
 knew righteous Abel, Enoch, and Noah from the be- 
 ginning ; and when the time arrived for their con- 
 ception, the laws of nature, ordained by God, so 
 worked as to produce these heings. They were born 
 as predetermined by the Lord ; and were conducted 
 under his government, to the appointed time when 
 they were to become witnesses of God before the an- 
 tediluvian world. He knew Abraham, Isaac and 
 Jacob, and all the prophets and Old Testament 
 saints ; and had their names penned down in his 
 eternal book, (see Rev. xvii. 8 ;) and at the appoint- 
 ed time did make them manifest to the world. He 
 knew them and, therefore, as I before said, all the 
 laws of the universe had to be obedient and work out 
 their end. ~So matter where they were, whether 
 keeping sheep on Mount Horeb, as Moses ; or keep- 
 ing them in the wilderness, as David; when the time 
 came, they heard his voice and obeyed. And even 
 throughout all the dispensation of time, he knows 
 who are his sheep. 
 
 Secondly. — He knows where they are. They are 
 scattered throughout the human race, in all gener- 
 ations, among every kingdom, tongue, and nation 
 under the heavens. His promise is that they shall 
 be gathered together. And here let us notice that 
 God's promise and providence goes together. His 
 promise is the manifestation of the purpose ; his 
 
214 CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 
 
 providence is the work of carrying it out to the de- 
 termined end. He promised Jesus Christ to his 
 saints, from the foundation of the world. The work- 
 ing of his providence in bringing about this is truly 
 wonderful. Time rolled on, one event after another 
 transpired, and at length God notices one of the 
 sons of Sarah, Ahram by name, and calls him say- 
 ing : " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy 
 kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land 
 that I will show thee." (Gen. xii. 1.) Ee then 
 promises this Abrafe two things : One was, that he 
 would give to his seed the land of Canann ; the other 
 was, in him should all the nations he blessed. In 
 regard to the first promise spoken of, it is evident 
 that God's providence fulfilled it. Abram was told 
 he could not have the land himself, but it was to be 
 given his seed, not in his day, but after the lapse of 
 four. hundred years. 
 
 The sins of the Oanaanites must be filled up to 
 their measure. Abraham lived on through many 
 years ; Isaac was born unto him. Jacob was born unto 
 Isaac, and twelve sons were born unto Jacob. God 
 told Abraham that this seed should go into bond- 
 age, but did not tell whereby it should be done. 
 When these twelve sons of Jacob were about grown, 
 behold one whose name was Joseph was in much fa- 
 vor with his father. The others became jealous, and 
 purposed to destroy him, as they were at work in the 
 field. They lay violent hands upon him, and one 
 proposes to kill him, but another objects ; finally he 
 is put in a pit, until some conclusion is arrived at 
 for his disposal. In the meantime an Ishmaelite 
 passes by, and suddenly some of the brethren con- 
 clude to sell him to this tradesman. A contract was 
 effected for twenty pieces of silver. This man car- 
 ried him down into Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar, 
 
CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 215 
 
 one of Pharoah's officers. In all this the providence 
 of God can be seen ; and it makes use even of the 
 wickedness of man to bring about the purposed 
 thing. Joseph said himself that God sent him into 
 Egypt. Yet we find these brethren were moved by 
 envy, to sell their brother. The overruling of pro- 
 vidence reached even down to their thoughts ; for 
 while one said, we will kill him, another said, not so, 
 lest his blood come upon us. God brought him into 
 the world for an end unknown to them, and there- 
 fore overruled the mind of those who were for slay- 
 ing him, causing them to adopt the counsel of the 
 other. And as this was going on, God brought to 
 that spot the Ishmaelite. God brought them, for 
 while they were on their trading expedition, and by 
 their own minds were led that way. it was God who 
 really brought them there. All the purposing they 
 might have done in their childhood, concerning their 
 occupation, could not have prevented their being 
 tradesmen, nor interfered with this journey into 
 Egypt. Moreover when they came into Egypt, God 
 prevents any manfrom buying Joseph until they came 
 to Potiphar, by whomhe was purchased. God did not 
 do this by miracle, but by the general order of circum- 
 stances. Joseph is taken to the king's abode, and 
 here the Lord is with him in all his trial, to comfort 
 him and establish him. And those who brought 
 false charges against him, and did try thereby to 
 pull him down, only raised him the higher, and in 
 this position God shows his great design. A famine 
 .spreads itself throughout all Egypt and Canaan ; so 
 much so, that old Jacob must send to the king of 
 Egypt for corn. Joseph is then fouud to be ruler 
 over all the stores of that country, and by making 
 Pharoah acquainted with his father's destitute cir- 
 cumstances, receives an invitation to send for him, 
 
216 CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 
 
 to come down with, all his house. Jacob is sent for, 
 and upon hearing of his son's glory in Egypt, goes 
 down with all haste, taking with him his entire seed. 
 And thus the promise of God to Abraham that his 
 seed should go down into Egypt is fulfilled. And 
 that they should be evil-entreated, was fulfilled upon 
 this wise. Joseph died, and so did Pharoah^ and 
 another king arose, who knew not the sons of Abra- 
 ham, but took them and made slaves of them. And 
 then the Israelites, as a nation, knew not the purpose 
 of God, nevertheless he remembered his promise, 
 and things were apparently slumbering four hun- 
 dred years, yet God was working out his purpose ; 
 and when the end came he did bring out this peo- 
 ple, and establish them in the land of Canaan, and 
 so fulfilled the promise made to Abraham concern- 
 ing his natural seed. But another promise is yet 
 to be fulfilled, which said, " in thy seed shall all the 
 families of the earth be blessed." And the same di- 
 vine providence continued to overrnle the vile pas- 
 sions, and lusts of the Israelites, until the appointed 
 , time for Christ (who was the promised seed) to come 
 had arrived. 
 
 This governmenb of God so controlled the evil of 
 the seed of Abraham, that it kept them in existence 
 as a nation, until Jesus made his appearance. God 
 knew in what generation Jesus should appear ; the 
 time ajid place was appointed. Even so the Great 
 Shepherd knows where every poor sheep is in every 
 generation. He has promised them life, hath died for 
 their sins, and worked out a complete righteousness to 
 justify them from all spots and blemishes before the 
 grand court of heaven. Having done all this he 
 will find them out by sending hjs word to them ; 
 which is done in two ways. First by the direct 
 guidance of God's spirit, whereby the primitive 
 
CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 217 
 
 preachers were sent to the heirs of salvation. The 
 prophets of old were sent in this way ; the Lord 
 would appear to them hy some great vision, and 
 thereby inform them whom to go to, and when to go 
 and what to say. 
 
 The apostles in lilce manner, on some occasions, re- 
 ceived orders directly from the Holy Ghost, where 
 they must labor. I insert three examples. After 
 Philip had been preaching some time, on a certain 
 occasion, "the angel of the Lord spoke unto him say- 
 ing, arise and go towards the south, unto the way 
 that goeth down from Jerusalem, unto G-aza which is 
 desert. And he arose and went, and behold a man 
 of Ethiopia, an eunuch, who had come to Jerusalem 
 to worship, was returning ; and setting in his 
 chariot, read Bsaias the prophet. Then the spirit 
 said unto Philip, go now and join thyself unto this 
 chariot." (Acts, viii. 26. 29.) Philip obeyed the 
 command, found the eunuch reading in the part of 
 Isaiah called the fifty-third chapter in our English 
 bible. He inquired of the eunuch if he understood 
 what he read, he said he did not understand of whom 
 the prophet was speaking. Philip then read with 
 him, and preached to him Jesus, from that scrip- 
 ture which the eunuch was reading ; and the conse- 
 quence was he knew the voice of his Shepherd, 
 embraced his doctrine^ and was baptized ; after which 
 he went on his way rejoicing. 
 
 The second is that of Peter. There was a 
 Gentile whose name was Cornelius, who was a de- 
 vout man, whom the Lord commanded by his angel 
 to send men to Joppa for one Simon, who would in- 
 struct him what he must do. He sent by order, and 
 as the messengers drew near the place, Peter went 
 upon the top of the house, at which he was staying, 
 to pray ; and while there he fell into a trance, in 
 
 19 
 
218 CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 
 
 whicli the Lord shew him a vision, to show him 
 that the G-entiles were objects of salvation even as 
 the Jews. When he came to himself he wondered 
 what the vision meant, for as yet he did not under- 
 stand it. Just at this time the messenger arrived, 
 and the Spirit commanded him to go with them 
 douhting nothing, for he had sent them. He then 
 went with them to the house of Cornelius ; preach- 
 ed Christ ; Cornelius believed ; and the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost was upon them. From this circum- 
 stance Peter was convinced that salvation was not 
 confined alone to the Jews, as was supposed by Jew- 
 ish converts before this. This notion held by Jew- 
 ish believers, that Christ's blood was shed only 
 for the Jewish nation, I think gave rise tti that 
 saying of John : ' ' And he is a propitiation for our 
 sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole 
 world." (1st John ii. 2.) John was a Jewish con- 
 vert, and was writing to converted Jews, who held 
 the opinion above stated, for sometime. John cor- 
 rects them by saying that he died for both Jews and 
 Gentiles, or the "whole world," as I believe the an J 
 cients designated the two nations. We find, then, 
 that Peter was sent by the Spirit, by direct com- 
 mandment. 
 
 The third case is that of Paul. The history runs 
 thus : ' ' Now when they had gone throughout Phry- 
 gia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden 
 of the Holy Ghost, to preach the word in Asia ; af- 
 ter they were come to Myria they essayed to go into 
 Bithynia : but the Spirit suffered them not. " " And 
 a vision appeared to Paul in the night : There stood 
 a man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying, come 
 over into Macedonia and help us." (Acts xvi. 6 — ■ 
 9.) Several facts are here visible. In the first place 
 we learn, that a preacher of the gospel may take it 
 
CHRIST KNOWS HIS SHEEP. 219 
 
 into Ms mind to go where he is not sent. For Paul 
 here attempted to go into Asia and Bithynia, but the 
 Spirit would not suffer him. Yet the commission 
 said go into all the world. No contradiction, but 
 he must not go at this time. Next we see the Spirit 
 commanded him to keep from one place, while, by a 
 vision, it commanded him to go to another. Thus 
 tlie Spirit did, in the days of miracles direct the 
 preachers, without the general government of prov- 
 idence, on particular occasions. So well did God 
 know where his sheep were, that he commands Paul, 
 when in Corinth not to be afraid, saying: "But 
 speak and hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, 
 and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for i 
 
 HAVE MUCH PEOPLE IN THIS CITY." (ActS Xviii. 9, 10.) 
 
 The Lord knows where his people are, and since 
 the days of miracles are ended, sends his preachers 
 from place tS place by the overruling of his common 
 providence. A preacher may attempt to go to a par- 
 ticular place to spend his life in preaching, but God 
 who knows where his sheep are, will by circum- 
 stances throw him perhaps in altogether a different 
 direction. Moreover he will turn them about by 
 crosses and trials, slights, and privations, until all 
 the sheep he has designed tliey shall carry the news 
 to, are gathered in. And indeed God's preachers 
 look to him to be thus guided and turned about, 
 wheresoever he pleases. They know not where to 
 go, nor whom to go to individually ; but pray God 
 they may be thrown by his providence in proper 
 places. I do not only understand that all the 
 sheep shall be gathered by the Lord sending his 
 word to them by his providence, as fulfilling a 
 promise made to the sheep, but also as fulfilling the 
 promise made to Jesus, when these sheep were 
 given him. 
 
220 Christ's sheep know him. 
 
 Jesus does not only know who they are, and 
 where they are, hut he knows them in all conditions 
 of life, knows them in tattered garments as well as 
 in grand attire, in mean hovels even as in dazzling 
 mansions. child of Grod, if after the world, 
 mean and low is your condition, judge not the love 
 of your Eedeemer thereby, remember he sees not as 
 man sees, looks not upon the dress and circum- 
 stances of the outer man, hut looks down into the 
 hidden man of the heart. Therefore the apostle says : 
 "Who's adorning let it not be that outward adorn- 
 ing of plaiting the hair, and of weaving of gold, or 
 of putting on of appaiel ; but let it be the hidden 
 man of the heart in that which is not corruptible." 
 (1st Peter iii. 3, 4.) He knows them in prosperity 
 with all its temporal pleasures, in adversity with all 
 its temptations. 
 
 " And am known of mine." Eeader, what is all 
 your profession of Christianity if you know not 
 Christ? It is like a ship without a sail, a train 
 without a locomotive. A knowledge of Christ is 
 essential to the enjoyment of the promise of eternal 
 life. Christ says it is eternal life. " This is life 
 eternal, that they might know thee the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." 
 John xvii. 3.) It was this which cheered old Job 
 imder his trying affliction. "I know that my Re- 
 deemer liveth." Paul also expresses this knowledge 
 in his beautiful confession of faith: "I know whom 
 I have believed, and anl persuaded that he is able to 
 keep that which I have committed imto him against 
 that day." (2d Tim. i. 12.) All the sheep of the 
 Lord's pasture have known their Shepherd in all 
 ages of the world, up to the present time, and must 
 so continue unto the end. 
 
 Now what shall I call the fold? Not this world, 
 
FOLD. 221 
 
 for it is a wilderness ; not the church as considered 
 a witness in the world, for that is the flock of sheep. 
 But as a fold is a place of rest and there remains a 
 rest for the people of God, not found below on the 
 battle ground, but beyond the bounds of time, I 
 shall call that place of repose the fold ; that in- 
 heritance above, which is only received by faith and 
 hope while 'in this world. Peter speaks of this in- 
 heritance in the following language: "Blessed be 
 the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ which 
 according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us 
 again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incor- 
 ruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 
 reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the 
 power of God through faith unto salvation." (1st 
 Peter i. 3 — 5.) It is the saint's inheritance by be- 
 ing married to their Shepherd, not by natural gene- 
 ration. Christ, the only Son of the Father, inherits 
 all things ; the bench of judgment, for it is said 
 the Father judges no man, but hath comnaitted all 
 judgment to the Son ; the saints, the angels, and 
 the glory of God. Christ inheriting this glory has 
 married the sheep, and conseq[uently they become 
 joint heirs with him to this upper kingdom, as says 
 Paul : "If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and 
 joint heirs with Christ." (Rom. viii. 17.) In 
 their regeneration a lively hope springs up, of this 
 glory of God, wherein they rejoice in traveling 
 through this world. Notwithstanding the great 
 reasonings of worldly wise men to disjoint the con- 
 fidence of saints in this eternal home with Jesus, 
 they have the promise in God's book of reasoning, 
 which is brief and conclusive, and it adds no little 
 to their strength in bearing up against the trials of 
 this life. Its nature is superior to all the inheritan- 
 
222 FOLD. 
 
 ces of earth, "Incorruptible," tlie inheritance of gold 
 or land, or merchandise, is corruptible, must decay, 
 and consequently all the glory, honor, and pride, 
 thereof must perish also. But this remains, when 
 worlds exist in their present form no longer, it then 
 is as durable as the purpose of him who gave it. 
 It is " undefiled." The poor sheep while in the 
 world are defiled by the depravity of nature. The 
 church is often defiled by graceless professors, but 
 this inheritance is not defiled by any unlawful thing 
 or person. Flesh and blood cannot enter there. 
 The corruptible, and sinful propensities, lusts, and 
 passions, cannot enter there. Fleshly love, pride, and 
 desire is not known , there . The spirit of the saint can- 
 not carry the principle of corrupt nature there, but 
 must leave it behind in the body of flesh where it be- 
 longs. But the spirit of the saint does go there ; is 
 received by the Lord Jesus, for he quickened it. 
 Not that he changed even its sinful nature as in the 
 fall ; this would be turning sin into holiness, the 
 work of the devil would be made a subject for heaven. 
 But that spirit of man which was created by the 
 Lord, before the fall, has planted within it a princi- 
 ple of spiritual life. The saint's spirit I say is 
 taken by Jesus and kept, far beyond the reach of all 
 trouble, and vanity. This is so, or some dying saints 
 as well as living ones have made a grand mistake. 
 Jesus our elder brother, when about to die on the 
 cross said : " Father into thy hands I commend my 
 spirit." (Luke xxiii. 46.) Christ's spirit was in 
 the hands of Grod always while on earth ; therefore 
 this saying signifies that it went into his Father's 
 hands in a different sense, to that while in the flesh. 
 Stephen, when dying, used similar language, say- 
 ing: "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." (Acts. vii. 
 59.) This was not his body nor his mere breath. 
 
FOLD. 223 
 
 Paul says: " We know that if our earthly house of 
 this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
 of Grod, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens." He does not say after the body is raised 
 we have a house, hut when this tabernacle is pulled 
 down. He means the spirit goes to the upper rest, when 
 separated from the body. He continues : " There- 
 fore we are always confident knowing that whilst 
 we are at home in the body, we are absent from the 
 Loi'd." Then he reverses it by saying : " We are 
 confident, I say, and willing rather to he absent 
 from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 
 (2nd Cor. v. 11.) In what sense can a man be ab- 
 sent from the body and present with the Lord, 
 except in the spirit. This plain language needs no 
 comment. In speaking of the upper Jerusalem to 
 the Hebrew brethren he says : " Ye are come unto 
 mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, to 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
 company of angels, to the general assembly and 
 church of the first born, which are written in heaven, 
 and to Grod the judge of all, and to the spirits of 
 Just men made perfect." (Heb. xii.) I understand 
 these spirits, since they are of just men made per- 
 fect, to be those out of the body. Moreover to my 
 mind it is evident, Paul understood a spirit could 
 be separate from the body of flesh, or he would 
 have known very readily, when he was caught up 
 into heaven and heard glorious things, whether he 
 was in the body or out of it. Whereas, he says he 
 did not know, (see 2nd Cor. xii.) The spirit there- 
 fore does go to Jesus, where it rests, until Christ 
 shall come the last time to make a final gather- 
 ing. And I humbly confess that this doctrine is of 
 great comfort to me, though so foolish in the ears of 
 many. You may say my reader, " You are very 
 
224 FOLD. 
 
 weak to take comfort from this point." I confess 
 it ; I am so weak I want all the bible comfort I can 
 get. 
 
 When the body dies it goes to the dust as it was 
 before ; but let no one suppose it remains there for- 
 ever ; neither let any man suppose a new body is 
 created. This could not be a resurrection. But the 
 body is raised from the grave, not natural as buried, 
 but spiritual, the same body, even as Christ's own 
 body in which he suffered, which was laid in the 
 tomb, was raised again and went into heaven. Now 
 if that body which God made pure before the trans- 
 gression, looses all its sinful lusts in the. death, and 
 can be renewed or changed to a spiritual one, why 
 can not that spirit which was made pure and 
 united to the body, be freed from all its imperfec- 
 ^tions, and in its spiritual birth be fit for heaven ? 
 I can see no reason whatever. I will not be sur- 
 prised, should I live to hear men in time, boldly 
 deny the resurrection of the body> We have men 
 now trying to deny immortality as far as they can, 
 but so far from proving it, they involve themselves 
 in a labyrinth of difficulties, in which they must 
 forever remain. 
 
 When Christ shall come and call for his saints, 
 they thall appear in their spiritual bodies, and in 
 this union be caught up in the heavens with the 
 Lord, and shall ever remain in his immediate pres- 
 ence and glory, which was ordained for them before 
 the foundation of the world. Thus the sheep are 
 led from the wilderness of this world to mansions 
 above, to the praise and glory of the Redeemer. 
 
 The Saviour's there in gloiy bright, 
 Fai', far, beyond poor mortals sight, 
 No eye but faith's can view the place. 
 Or see Iinmanuel's smiling face. 
 
CONCLUSION. 225 
 
 Jesus is there upon his throne, 
 The great eternal corner stone, 
 Upon which a house must be 
 Builded for all eternity. 
 
 Immanuel's there, the Living Head 
 Of all the Sheep both quick and dead. 
 The Head of that innumerable band 
 Which ever reigns at God's right hand. 
 
 The man of Calvary he is there, 
 Enveloped in celestial air. 
 The eternal sun doth on him shine. 
 Around him flows its light divine.^ 
 
 Jesus Christ has gone before. 
 And left behind an open door ; 
 A door that never can be closed, 
 Though attacked daily by God's foes. 
 
 If thou great Lord art gone before. 
 And reached the glorious heavenly shore, 
 Why should I want to stay behind, 
 And be to richer comforts blind? 
 
 O grant Good Shepherd to thy sheep. 
 That grace, from feai- of death to keep. 
 To stay then- minds on thee alone. 
 And cheerfully go, whene'er called home. 
 
 Now my good reader you have read my assertion 
 of the doctrine of total depravity, that it is the con- 
 dition of all Christ's sheep or people. I hope you 
 understand me, that it lieth not in the absence of 
 earthly wisdom, or wisdom belonging to the arts 
 and sciences ; not in the absence of a principle in 
 nature upon which may be erected a will-worship of 
 a worldly character ; not in the absence of a prin- 
 ciple upon which may be budded a moral education ; 
 but, in the absence of spiritual wisdom,, to discern 
 and understand spiritual things ; in the absence of a 
 right love of God ; of divine things, both those which 
 are given to the saints in this life, and those 
 
226 CONCLUSION. 
 
 promised in that to come-; in the absence of a prin- 
 ciple of holiness ; and in short, in the absence of any 
 spiritual quality, or desire. I ask you not to receive 
 this because I have written it, but examine all the 
 scriptures to which I refer you on this point ; not the 
 bare passages only, lest you should think I have 
 detached them to suit my purpose, but examine 
 carefully their whole connection, and receive the 
 doctrine from the scripture. I have told you that 
 this being the condition of the human family, the 
 sheep could never have been saved by their own 
 strength, but that God's love was towards them 
 from the beginning. 1 have told you the character of 
 this love, that it is like the Grod who exercises it, 
 eternal, sovereign, free, unchangeablCj and insepa- 
 rable. Tou have read my statement of the sheep's 
 passage from death to life, of their new nature, of 
 the warfare they have in this life, how they follow 
 their, Shepherd in his ordinances and command- 
 ments, and what their end is: an eternal rest with 
 him in^a world which no man can accurately des- 
 cribe. 
 
 And I will now inquire after your present condi- 
 tion, which I hope will not be taken amiss. There 
 are four classes of men in the sight of heaven. 
 
 First. The Unconverted. — That is, those who 
 care nothing about the religion of Jesus Christ ; but 
 think the great to do about Christ, his kingdom, 
 laws, &c., is more a matter of speculation than 
 anything else. They know they, like all men, must 
 die, but build their hopes upon some foundation 
 of their own making, or such as has been received 
 from their predecessors . They have their-pleasure in 
 the world, its goods and pleasures, and consequent- 
 ly their hearts are set on things below. God suffers 
 them to prosper in the world, and grow fat, for 
 
CONCLUSION. 221 
 
 some wise purpose. And from this they think they 
 are safe, they cannot be so wicked in the sight of 
 God, or he would not give them these good things. 
 And this they say, hecause they do not know, that 
 God causes his sun to shine on the just and unjust 
 in natural blessings, that this is the same kindness 
 administered to beasts. The Psalmist says, " 1 was 
 envious of the foolish, when I saw the prosperity 
 of the wicked. For there are no bands in their 
 death, but their strength is firm. They are not in 
 trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like 
 other men. Therefore pncZe compasseth them about 
 as a chain, violence covereth them as a garment. 
 Behold they are the ungodly who prosper in the 
 world." (seePsa. Ixxiii.) Again, "When the wick- 
 ed spring as the grass and when all the workers of 
 iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroy- 
 ed forever." (Psa. Ixxxxii. 7.) Do you, reader, 
 come under this character ? Are you careless and 
 unconcerned, following naturally as the beast, the 
 propensities and lusts of nature ; if so what are your 
 hopes, how do you expect to end your life ? What 
 excuse will you have for foolishly throwing away 
 your time, in following divers lusts and fashions of 
 the world ? Will the world be your judge before 
 whom you are to be arraigned after death ? Will 
 the manner or rule of the world be the law by 
 which you shall be judged ? Nay, but the eternal 
 God of holiness and of righteousness, shall be the 
 judge, and his holy law shall be the rule of judg- 
 ment. And he will condemn you for your willful 
 service to the lusts of the flesh, of the eyes, and 
 pride of life. You are ignorant of the true char- 
 acter of God, and of your own nature. But how 
 came you ignorant ? Have you carefully and pray- 
 erfully read the bible ? No. It is of all books the 
 
228 CONCLESION. 
 
 most uninteresting. It is so dry. You do not fancy- 
 it. It condemns you. Then your ignorance is a 
 willing ignorance. These characters are spoken of 
 by Peter, (see 2nd Peter iii. 5.) You have amind, 
 and a body ; the mind you give over to the use of 
 the lusts of nature, to purpose and plan, for carnal 
 enjoyment, regardless of the gloryfying of God. 
 
 The members of the body, the hands, the eyes, 
 the feet, the tongue, you yield as instruments of 
 unrighteousness, and glory in it. To make provi- 
 sion for the glory, honor and enjoyment of the flesh, 
 is theheight of your ambition. And this jou willingly 
 pursue. Herein is your condemnation, and Grod is 
 just in judging you, for he did not create in you this 
 wicked sinful nature, but it was received in the wo- 
 ful fall of man. " He that soweth to the flesh shall 
 of the flesh reap corruption." (Gal. vi. 8.) May 
 you reflect, reader, if this is your condition, upon 
 your past life, and not give yourself more and more, 
 over to the hardness of heart, for your end must 
 come sooner or later. 
 
 The second class is the awakened man. He who 
 has been so enlightened in the spirit of his mind by 
 the Holy Spirit of Jesus as to see, first the spirit of 
 the law of God, to see it as being holy, just, and 
 good, as condemning not only the actions, but the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart. To see their sins 
 as being against a holy and good God ; this is a fea- 
 ture peculiar to a true conviction of sin ; and in the 
 second place to see that they are corrupt and fallen 
 creatures before heaven. This conviction is accom- 
 panied by a holy principle, bending the mind towards 
 God. If you are in this situation my reader, great 
 is your trouble. Your daily cry is what must I do 
 to be saved ? And you know by experience, better 
 than I can tell you, your sufferings of mind. God's 
 
CONCLUSION. 229 
 
 holy character before you, his law with all its heart- 
 condemning power over yoxi, demandinga perfectobe- 
 dience, saying, " cursed is every one who continue th 
 not in all things written in the law to do them," 
 with a conviction of your sinfulness and weakness, are 
 truly calculated to render yoa wretched. 
 
 But I recommend to you the gospel, which I have 
 attempted to describe. Its invitations, " Come unto 
 me all ye who labor, and are heavy laden and I will 
 GIVE you rest." "Ho every one who thirsts, come ye 
 to the waters." "If any man thirst let him come 
 unto me and drink." These belong to such as you. 
 And may the Lord bring you to see your salvation 
 clearly through the great work of Christ; may guilt 
 and condemnation be removed from your spirit by 
 the application of the blood of Jesus ; and may you 
 feel an assurance within of being justified before 
 God, by what Christ did for you, in obeying this 
 very law as a covenant of works which condemns 
 you so much. Be of good courage, read the New 
 Testament carefully, and pray Grod you may be en- 
 lightened more and more, to see the salvation by 
 the cross. For you cannot get the spiritual sense 
 of God's word, without the mind is enlightened by 
 the same Spirit who inspired those who wrote the 
 scriptures. You might as well try to understand 
 the things of nature, without having a natural 
 spirit of man, or natural understanding. 
 
 The third class are those who are begging God to 
 forgive their sins because Christ died. They are, at 
 least in a measure, persuaded that there is no other 
 way of pardon. If you are in this situation, my 
 reader, it is well. If you have not already a hope in 
 Christ, it must here arise. Be of good courage and 
 move on. 
 
230 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fourtli class are those who have hope in Christ 
 that their sins are all pardoned for his name sake ; 
 that though condemned hefore God in nature, they 
 are justified now through what Christ did for them 
 as their surety. They are men who feel some assu- 
 rance of being welcomed to a throne of grace in 
 prayer in Christ's name ; who expect to be saved 
 entirely through his love, or be condemned by the 
 law forever ; men who obey Jesus, and are zealous 
 for his doctrine, not because they suppose it will 
 assist in their salvation, but through love to him 
 who died for them. Header if this is your condition, 
 blessed are you. The doctrines then of total de- 
 pravity, of salvation, wholly by the love of God, 
 the work of Jesus, the experience of saints, and 
 their final rest, spoken of in my little book do not 
 offend you, but fill you with joy and peace. May we 
 meet in the mansion of the Good Shepherd, and 
 know even as we are known. 
 
 The End.