r 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ®he0lfl5)ical Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 No. Case, 
 
 No. Shelf, :,_ ..^^^ 
 
 No. Book, 
 
 
THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN'S PRIVILEGE 
 
 A HELP TO HIS COMMUNION WITH GOD IN 
 THE PATH OF OBEDIENCE. 
 
 A PASTORAL ADDRESS, 
 
 IN THREE PARTS. 
 
 yl:::. 
 
 By EDWARD' MANNERING, 
 
 Of Holywell Moi(7it Chapel, Curtain Road, Shoreclitch . 
 
 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye tlo them. 
 John xiii. 17. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 SOLD BY R. BAYNES, 28, PATERNOSTER ROW ; 
 
 J. DENNIS, 9, SKINNER STREET ; 
 AND NESBITT, BERNER'S STREET, OXFORD STREET 
 
 1831, 
 
E. JUSTINS AND SON, PRINTERS, 
 BRICK LANE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. Page 
 
 THE COMMUNION WITH GOD WHICH IT IS THE 
 CHRISTIAN'S PRIVILEGE TO ENJOY JN THE 
 DISCHARGE OF HIS SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL 
 DUTIES . . . . .1 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE FLESH, WITH ITS AF 
 FECTIONS AND LUSTS, AND THE CONSEQUENT 
 OBEDIENCE OF THE BELIEVER'S LIFE, SE- 
 CURED BY THE PEACE OF GOD RULING JN 
 THE HEART . • . . 67 
 
 PART III. 
 
 A CAUTION AGAINST THE ABUSES OF CHRISTIAN 
 FRIENDSHIP ; WITH DIRECTIONS FOR ITS IM- 
 PROVEMENT : DESIGNED TO ASSIST THE Sri- 
 RITUALITY OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE . . 108 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 To those, generally, who, born from above, 
 are concerned to walk worthy of their high voca- 
 tion ; and to the people of his pastoral care, in 
 particular, they, having a prior and a special 
 claim on his attention, the Author aflfectionately 
 presents this small Volume, hoping that, under 
 the divine blessing, it will promote the life and 
 power of godliness in their souls, and thus secure 
 that sanctification of life which glorifies the Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 Gross derelictions of christian principle are 
 
11 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 discoverable on every hand : and as attempts at 
 obedience sometimes indispose the believer for 
 devotional exercises— the sufficiency of grace to 
 sanctify him in the place, and at the time of duty, 
 being forgotten — he, too frequently, either mani- 
 fests the spirit of the world in his ordinary pur- 
 suits, or, sighing over them, excuses the sinful 
 infirmities which blot the page of his daily his- 
 tory ; as if it were impossible to be spiritually 
 minded, and to serve God in the discharge of his 
 relative and social duties. 
 
 How few carry their religion into their busi- 
 ness ! and fewer still expect habitual fellowship 
 with God as they toil amid the cares of active life ! 
 But David and Josiah on the throne ; Daniel and 
 his three companions in Nebuchadnezzar's court ; 
 Job in providential prosperity ; Nehemiah in 
 building the walls of Jerusalem ; Boaz and his 
 reapers in the field of harvest ; Joshua and Han- 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. Ill 
 
 nah in the family ; Elisha, " the little maid" who 
 waited on Naaman's wife, and Onesimus (subse- 
 quent to his conversion) in servitude, are all illus- 
 trations and proofs of that spirituality which may 
 and which ought to characterize the christian in 
 every situation. He "can do all things through 
 Christ which stren^theneth him." 
 
 The positions which the Author has taken are 
 such as the habits of these holy characters have 
 supplied ; and being solicitous, not only for the 
 consistent but, for the cheerful obedience of his 
 companions in the kingdom and patience of the 
 Lord Jesus, he has ventured to address them on 
 this subject. And, whatever may be the issue, he 
 has the satisfaction to know that he has written 
 with an eye to the glory of God, whose blessing 
 can render the feeblest eflfort of his servants suc- 
 cessful, and who will withhold no good thing 
 from them that walk uprightly. 
 
IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 It is but necessary to remark, that this pastoral 
 address was delivered to the church and congre- 
 gation assembling at Holyvjrell Mount Chapel : 
 vi^hich circumstance will account to the reader for 
 that familiar style the Author has adopted. 
 
 E. M. 
 
A 
 
 PASTORAL ADDRESS, 
 
 PAUT I. 
 COMMUNION WITH GOD IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 
 
 :\IY DEAR BRETHREN IN THE FAITH AND HOPE OF 
 THE GOSPEL, 
 
 From deep convictions of the connexion sub- 
 sisting between the use of means and soul pros- 
 perity, and from a holy concern for an increase 
 of experimental and practical religion in the 
 church, of which many of you are members, I 
 am induced to address you on the subject of 
 evangelical obedience, believing that, as the grace 
 of God teacheth you to deny ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, the remarks which I have to sub- 
 mit to your attention will not be unacceptable, 
 
 B 
 
2 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 because practical ; especially as you well know 
 that a holy walk before the Lord, is essential to 
 coiijmunion with the Lord. This is a point of 
 moment : for while some shun the doctrines of 
 grace, conceiving their influence to be unholy, 
 or rest in speculative orthodoxy, condemning as 
 legal, and dishonouring to the Spirit, appeals to 
 the conscience for that spiritual deportment of 
 character in the church, in the world, and in the 
 family, which the scriptures declare to be the 
 evidence of regeneration ; there are, even among 
 those to whom it may be said, ** we are persuaded 
 better things of you, even things that accompany 
 salvation," many, whose communion with God is 
 far from being as close and as humble as the 
 conduct predicts it to be ; and others whose ge- 
 neral habits are quite incompatible with that 
 fellowship they profess to hold with the Father, 
 and with his Son Jesus Christ. To awaken 
 attention, therefore, to the vast importance of 
 obedience resulting from union to Christ, is desi- 
 rable; and while the overwhelming responsibili- 
 ties of my pastoral charge plead for your profit 
 and spiritual progress, 1 must stir up your pure 
 minds by way of remembrance, that, adding unto 
 your faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; you 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 3 
 
 may be neither barren nor unfruitful in your 
 profession of the gospel. 
 
 I assure you that I write in the first place for 
 myself, endeavouring *' to point every arrow at 
 my own heart before I level it at yours" — with 
 shame I confess my own unfruitfulness ; and 
 feeling the necessity of running in the way of 
 God's commandments to enjoy his presence, I 
 am impelled to admonish you, sensible that, 
 whatever may be your attainments, and however 
 much nearer you may live to God than I do, you 
 have not apprehended all that for which you were 
 apprehended of Christ Jesus ; and that, however 
 wrong it may be, upon a general principle, to vest 
 the experience of one christian with all the legal 
 peculiarities by which another is to be tried, it is, 
 on this occasion at least, lawful to judge of your 
 condition and necessities by my own ; and to 
 apply to your failures the remedy which, by the 
 Lord's mercy, has been successfully applied to 
 my own. Let us, then, ask ourselves whether 
 our obedience of heart and life be such as chris- 
 tians, with our advantages, are expected to yield ; 
 and whether we have gone to the work of faith 
 and labour of love expecting the assistance the 
 Lord has promised us ? Let us rigidly investigate 
 
4 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 the state of religion in our own souls, and seek 
 the influences of the Holy Spirit, that we may 
 live not to ourselves, but to llim who died for us, 
 and rose again. 
 
 ** Many love to walk in a very careless unwise 
 profession. So long as they can hold out in the 
 performance of outward duties, they are very re- 
 gardless of the greatest evangelical privileges ; of 
 those things which are the marrow of divine pro- 
 raises, all real endeavours of a vital communion 
 with Christ. Such are spiritual peace, refreshing 
 consolations, ineffable joys, and the blessed com- 
 posure of assurance. Without some taste and 
 experience of these things, profession is heartless, 
 lifeless, useless ; and religion itself a dead car- 
 case, without an animating soul. The peace 
 which some enjoy is a mere stupidity. They 
 judge not these things to be real, which are the 
 substance of Chiist's present revvard, and a renun- 
 ciation whereof would deprive the church of its 
 principal supportmenls and encouragements in all 
 its sufferings. It is a great evidence of the power 
 of unbelief, when we can satisfy ourselves with- 
 out an experience in our hearts of the great things 
 in this kind of joy, peace, consolation and assu- 
 rance, that are promised in the gospel. For how 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. O 
 
 can it be supposed, that we do indeed believe the 
 promises of things future, namely, of heaven, 
 immortality, and glory, the faith whereof is the 
 foundation of all religion, when we do not believe 
 the promises of the present reward in those spiri- 
 tual privileges. And how shall we be thought 
 to believe them v/hen we do not endeavour after 
 an experience of the things themselves in our 
 own souls, but are even contented without them. 
 But herein men deceive themselves. They would 
 very desirously have evangelical joy, peace, and 
 assurance to countenance them in their evil frames 
 and careless walking. And sometimes have at- 
 tempted to reconcile these things unto the ruin of 
 their souls."* Oh, that ive may shun this dan- 
 gerous rock, and manifest a holy anxiety for peace 
 and assurance, as well by obedience to the pre- 
 cept, as by faith in the promise ! " Blessed are 
 the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of 
 the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testi- 
 monies, and that seek Him with the whole heart." 
 (Psal. cxix. 1, 2.) 
 
 To enliven your zeal, to accelerate your speed 
 in the heavenly road, and to regulate your deci- 
 
 * Dr. Owen. 
 B 2 
 
6 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 sions on the nature and consequences of obedi- 
 ence, it is necessary to remind you of the honour 
 God confers upon his servants, and of the com- 
 munion with which he indulges them in the 
 discharge of their duty. And should any doubts 
 exist in your minds of the truth of these positions, 
 they will all be removed by a careful examina- 
 tion of our Lord's address to his disciples : «' He 
 that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, 
 he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me, 
 shall be loved of ray Father ; and I will love him, 
 and will manifest myself unto him. If a man 
 love me, he will keep my words : and my Father 
 will love him, and we will come unto hvm, and 
 make our abode with him." (John xiv. 21, 23.) 
 From these words we learn that obedience is 
 the fruit of love ; and that to secure a uniformly 
 holy life, the love of God must be shed abroad in 
 the heart by the Holy Ghost. Profession of love 
 is distinct from its real existence ; for as many 
 deny the power of godliness, who have its form, 
 a flaming profession is often made of attachment 
 to the Saviour and his cause, when the heart is 
 at enmity against him. The deception and hypo- 
 crisy of such persons is sooner or later made 
 manifest, and it happens unto them according to 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 7 
 
 the true proverb, " The dog is turned to his own 
 vomit again ; and, the sow that was washed, to 
 her wallowing in the mire." (2 Pet. ii. 22.) 
 They receive the word with apparent joy, and 
 often, in appearance, outshine the humble and 
 sincere disciple of the Lord Jesus : their words 
 are many ; their movements rapid ; and their mo- 
 mentary efforts predict a long course of hard and 
 efficient labour for the honour of truth : but, the 
 allurements of the world inviting, or its frowns 
 terrifying them, they turn with disgust from their 
 religious prosecutions, and by indifference to the 
 salvation of their own souls, or an infidel hostihty 
 to the truth, blaspheme that holy name by which 
 they were called ; and even persecute those of the 
 Lord's people, with whom their associations were 
 voluntarily identified. 
 
 x\s the apostasy, however, of the nominal 
 professor, presents no solid argument against the 
 reality of personal religion, no failures in his con- 
 duct, no consequences of his departure from the 
 Lord amount to either a circumstantial or positive 
 denial, of the existence of love in the christian's 
 heart. Amid all the wrecks strewed on the shore 
 around us, the vessel of mercy, under the care of 
 the Heavenly Pilot, stems the adverse tide, out- 
 
8 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 lives the threatening hurricane, and moves on 
 with majestic swell, to the port of eternal peace. 
 The christian may question his sincerity : yet a 
 desire for Christ proves his love. With all his 
 fear and suspicion, he cannot rest without the 
 enjoyment of his presence, and must be with him 
 to be happy. Is not this an evidence of love ? 
 Can man ever be reasoned into a determination 
 to associate with his enemy ? The heart that the 
 Spirit has renewed, and without this renewal man 
 is not a christian, must embrace with its warmest 
 affections the Redeemer in all his offices : for 
 whether the Spirit enlightens the understanding, 
 or renews the will ; dethrones idolatry in an em- 
 pire, or in the heart, he designs to glorify Christ 
 as the Saviour of sinners ; and, in pursuance of 
 this covenant purpose, discovers to the soul the 
 beauty of his person, and the sufficiency of his 
 atonement ; which discovery is no sooner made, 
 than he becomes precious, the altogether lovely, 
 and the chief among ten thousand. Love is a 
 grace that adorns the christian character, and 
 obedience, the fruit that it bears. *' If ye love 
 me, keep my commandments;" and thus love, 
 not in word only, but in deed, and in truth. 
 Love to the Saviour's person will cause delight in 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 9 
 
 his ways ; and the eye of faith no sooner beholds 
 his glory, than the will approves his law. It is 
 impossible to love Christ without knowing him ; 
 and equally impossible to love hinm without being 
 anxious to serve him. Love to his person as 
 God and Man is the spring of desire to walk in 
 his paths ; and if the spring be active, the feet 
 will move swiftly to do his pleasure, even though 
 the road be rugged and thornful. The lash, under 
 such excitements as faith in his person supplies, 
 is useless ; the terror of a slave is lost in the de- 
 light of the child ; obedience is then rather plea- 
 sure than toil. '' What shall we render to the 
 Lord for all his benefits toward us ?" is the en- 
 quiry. ** I will run the way of thy command- 
 ments when thou shalt enlarge my heart" — the 
 determination. " Blessed is the man that walk- 
 eth not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand- 
 eth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat 
 of the scornful : but his delight is in the law of 
 the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day 
 and night. And he shall be like a tree planted 
 by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit 
 in his season : his leaf also shall not wither ; and 
 whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Ps. i. 1, 3.) 
 The fruit that love bears varies in charac- 
 
10 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 ter and proportion with times and circumstances ; 
 for while the believer must always be deeply 
 solicitous for the honour of truth, he will mani- 
 fest, when under divine influence, those dispo- 
 sitions and tempers for which occasions call. 
 He serves a good master ; he cannot, he would 
 not, live to himself when, by believing, he re- 
 joices in hope of glory, and deems it an honour 
 to be allowed to work in the Lord's vineyard. 
 Unworthy of his friendship, yet mindful of the 
 mediums through which it flows, he is grateful 
 for opportunities to testify that he is not only a 
 child, but a servant of the King of kings. The 
 fruits that he bears, are " love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
 temperance ;" (Gal. v. 22, 23.) fruits, which the 
 Spirit produces in his heart, and which cannot 
 adorn his life, except he abide in Christ, the 
 living vine. (John xv. 4.) There is, too, a time 
 for bearing each of these fruits ; and, trusting in 
 the Lord, " he shall be as a tree planted by the 
 waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the 
 river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but 
 her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be careful 
 in the year of drought, neither shall cease from 
 yielding fruit." (Jer. xvii. 8.) In the season of 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. U 
 
 prosperity, we look for humility, for gratitude, 
 for benevolence, for poverty of spirit. — In adver- 
 sity, for gratitude, for contentment, for submis- 
 sion. — In temptation, for prayer, for sanctity, for 
 resistance. — In provocation and persecution, for 
 meekness, for long-suffering, for pardon. — In af- 
 fliction, for patience, for faith, for resignation. — 
 In commercial intercourse, for prudential bold- 
 ness, for decision of character, for consistency 
 of habit. — And shall we look in vain ? For 
 fruitfulness at these seasons of trial, these tests 
 of character, the gospel pleads* To be contented 
 in prosperity, when the sky is cloudless, needs 
 no effort; but to rejoice in tribulation for Christ's 
 sake, and to believe that we have enough, and 
 abound, even when providence blights our pos- 
 sessions, and dashes the cup from our trembling 
 hand, requires the free operation of religious 
 principle. To esteem a friend, whose services 
 promote our comfort, is easy : to love the enemy 
 that thrusts the dagger into our hearts, is no facile 
 task. What merit is there in plucking a violet 
 bathed with the dew drops of the morning ; and 
 who ever expects to be praised for admiring the 
 opening rose bud ? " And what glory is it, if, 
 
12 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 when ye be buffetted for your faults, ye shall 
 take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and 
 suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable 
 with God." (I Pet. ii. 20.) "Ye have heard that 
 it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth 
 for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist 
 not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
 right cheek, turn to hini the other also. Ye have 
 heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour, and hate thine enemy : but I say 
 unto you, love your enemies, bless them that 
 curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
 pray for them which despitefully use you and 
 persecute you, that ye may be the children of 
 your Father who is in heaven." (Malt. v. 38—45.) 
 My brethren, the gospel has done but little for 
 you, if you have not followed, in some humble 
 measure, these directions of the Son of God ! 
 This, Oh 1 this is the truth that touches the heart 
 and conscience ! Yet who that has received for- 
 giveness for all his sins through the blood of the 
 cross, dare despise these injunctions ? " For if ye 
 love them which love you, what reward have ye ? 
 Do not even the publicans the same ? And if ye 
 salute your brethren only, what do ye more than 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 13 
 
 othei-s ? do not even the publicans so ? Be ye 
 therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
 heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. 46 — 48.) 
 
 The character and measure of christian fruit- 
 fulness deserve your attention. *'For God is my 
 record, how greatly I long after you all in the 
 bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your 
 love may abound yet more and more in know- 
 ledge, and in all judgment; that ye may approve 
 things that are excellent ; that ye may be sincere 
 and without offence till the day of Christ ; being 
 filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are 
 by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of 
 God." (Phil. i. 8—11.) Asa good tree cannot 
 bring forth evil fruit, nor a corrupt tree good 
 fruit, these are termed " fruits of righteousness," 
 to distinguish them from the productions of the 
 natural heart, which, however excellent and use- 
 ful, are unacceptable to God because they flow 
 not from faith in the truth : — " For whatsoever is 
 not of faith, is sin ;" and they deserve the appel- 
 lation, because they are borne by righteous per- 
 sons ; they spring from a righteous principle ; are 
 regulated by a righteous rule ; and directed to 
 a righteous end. With these fruits the christian 
 should abound ; yea, be filled with them : 
 
14 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 every branch should be fruitful ; every branch 
 should be full of fruit, and bear all kinds of 
 fruit. 
 
 " My heart, my hands, my ear, my tongue, 
 Here's joyful work for you." 
 
 It is expected, also, that this measure of fruit 
 will adorn a christian church in the full enjoy- 
 ment of the means of grace. Responsibility 
 answers to privilege, and devotedness should bear 
 a fair proportion to advantages. My brethren, is 
 this your case ? " What more could have been 
 done to my vineyard that 1 have not done in it ? 
 Wherefore when I looked that it should bring- 
 forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes ?" (Isa, 
 v. 4.) Is not this appeal applicable as well to you 
 as to the Jewish church ? The gospel has been 
 preached to you, the sacraments have been ad- 
 ministered, meetings for prayer and christian 
 communion have been held, and there has been 
 a considerable expenditure of feeling and of 
 friendship amongst you: you have been warned, 
 invited, exhorted, charged, and encouraged. And 
 what fruit have you borne ? Does the vine flou- 
 rish, and the pomegranate bud forth ? Does that 
 remarkable prophecy of Joseph at all develope 
 your character — " He is a fruitful bough, even a 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY, 15 
 
 fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run 
 over the wall." (Gen xlix. 22.) Every spiritual 
 member is necessary and useful. The rich and 
 poor — the old and young — the learned and illi- 
 terate — the weak and strong — the male and fe- 
 male — have all opportunities of shewing their 
 love to Christ ; and though their means of use- 
 fulness are unequal, some being more highly 
 favoured in their souls, connexions, and cir- 
 cumstances than others, yet, if the fruitfulness 
 of each be proportioned to individual advantages, 
 truth will be honoured ; for it is accepted, accord- 
 ing to that a man hath, and not according to that 
 he hath not. Every hour should witness grov/th, 
 and every place consistency ; yes, it is your duty 
 and privilege to bear witness for God in the 
 sanctuary, in the family, in the closet, in the 
 world ; and by the manifest spirituality of your 
 character to commend yourselves to every man's 
 conscience, that, when even your enemies witness 
 your zeal, they may take knowledge that you have 
 been with Jesus, and confess that you are the seed 
 which God hath blessed. "For so is the will of 
 God, that with well doing ye may put to silence 
 the ignorance of foolish men." (I Pet. ii. 15.) 
 "Let your light," therefore, "so shine before 
 
16 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 men, that they may see your good works, and glo- 
 rify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. v. 16.) 
 And are you not anxious to obey God's com- 
 mandments ? that " the righteousness of the law 
 might be fulfilled in you, who walk not after the 
 flesh, but after the Spirit ?" It is your duty to love 
 and obey God, and your happiness as well. You 
 cannot be joyful in a state of alienation from God 
 and of rebellion against him. His favour is life, 
 and in his presence there is fulness of joy ; but he 
 will not indulge his backsliding people with the 
 light of his countenance ; for if they forsake his 
 laws, and keep not his statutes, he will visit their 
 sins with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 
 His covenant cannot fail, nor will he alter the 
 word that is gone out of his mouth ; yet he will, 
 as faithfully, chastise you when you depart 
 from him, as he will comfort you when op- 
 pressed. {Psalm Ixxxix. 30 — 34.) Obedience and 
 love, therefore, are your happiness as well as 
 your duty ; and as you dare not neglect precept, 
 your concern for sanctification ought to be as 
 deep and as practical as for justification. '*0h 
 that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes !" 
 « Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may 
 live and keep thy word." (Psalm cxix. 5, 17,) 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 17 
 
 These were David's desires, and to obey was his 
 ambition ; for while on reflection he seems to 
 have been convinced that the standard of his 
 spirituaUty had been too low, he prays for the 
 assistance of the Holy Spirit, that his Hfe might 
 be more consistent and holy. " Deal bountifully 
 with thy servant;" (Psalns cxix. 17.) favour me 
 with a larger effusion of thy grace, " that I may 
 live, and keep thy word." 1 would be holy, as 
 thou art holy : but, becoming more familiar with 
 the claims of thy love ; comparing my obliga- 
 tions with my actual services, and balancing my 
 responsibilities with my toils, I repent in dust 
 and ashes over mercies abused, privileges neg- 
 lected, duties omitted, and debts undischarged. 
 
 " Dear Lord, and shall I ever live 
 At this poor dying rate ? 
 My love so faint, so cold to thee, 
 And thine to me so great ? 
 
 Are not thy mercies sov'relgn still. 
 
 And thou a faithful God ? 
 Wilt thou not grant me warmer zeal 
 
 To run the heav'nly road ? 
 
 Does not my heart thy precepts love, 
 
 And long to see thy face ? 
 And yet how slow my spirits move, 
 
 Without enliv'ning grace ?" 
 
 My dear brethren, examine the page of your 
 c2 
 
18 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 past history without tears if you can ! How fruit- 
 less ! how changeable has been your life since 
 the Lord called you to himself ! You have pro- 
 fessed the name of Christ, and endeavoured to 
 honour it; but have your efforts amounted to httle 
 more than an attempt at life ? And if you ex- 
 amine the present state of things, must you not 
 plead guilty to heavy charges ? and confess, with 
 Leigh Richmond, ' we are but half awake?' Are 
 you not sometimes more anxious for comfort 
 than for purity ? for pardon than for strength, to 
 redeem those pledges, which your profession has 
 given to the world, of devotedness to the cause 
 of Christ ? You have, perhaps, this day been to 
 the Lord for deliverance from trouble, for a 
 blessing upon your commercial undertakings, 
 for consolation in some domestic trial : but have 
 you fled to the cross for orders as well as for 
 promises? Have the appeals of that cross, to 
 your hearts, for holy obedience, delighted you 
 as much, and as steadily engaged your attention, 
 as its pleas to mercy and justice for your exemp- 
 tion from condemnation, and eventual admission 
 to glory ? Have you not dwelt with rapture on 
 the atonement when you have been insensible to 
 its sanctifying influence ? As a doctrine it has 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 19 
 
 pleased you, when its precepts have not humbled 
 you. Living below your privileges your souls are 
 distressed ; and your habits, not according with 
 your characters, grieve the Spirit by whom be- 
 lievers are sealed unto the day of redemption, 
 and his influences are suspended — then "Awake, 
 awake ; put on thy strength, Zion ; put on 
 thy beautiful garments, Jerusalem, shake thy- 
 self from the dust, and loose thyself from the 
 bands of thy neck." (Isa. Hi. 1, 2.) "It is in- 
 deed high time to awake out of sleep, for now 
 is your salvation nearer than when you believed." 
 (Rom. xiii. 11.) God, "give me understand- 
 ing and I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall observe 
 it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the 
 path of thy commandments too; for therein do 
 I delight." (Psalm cxix. 34, 35.) 
 
 As obedience is the test of character, and love 
 the incentive to obedience, it may be useful here 
 to enquire into the means of enlivening affection. 
 Cause and effect increase and decline together : 
 and obedience can be neither extensive nor per- 
 severing, orderly nor even, if love be absent or 
 inactive. 
 
 "'Tis love that makes our cheerful feet 
 In swift obedience move." 
 
20 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 that energizes resolution, and induces a saciiHce 
 of time, talent, and property to the Redeemer : 
 and as we love him because he first loved us, a 
 believing meditation on his free, unmerited, and 
 everlasting love to you, is the means of increas- 
 ing your love to him. My brethren, attend to 
 this remedy. Lay the ice in sunshine, it must 
 dissolve ; place the cold heart before the altar, 
 it will be warmed, and the vital current of pure 
 esteem will freely flow. Waste not all your'time 
 nor exhaust your *' little strength" by lamenting 
 your disease, but apply to the process of cure, a 
 believing meditation on the love of Christ to sin- 
 ners. If there be not a turning to the Great Phy- 
 sician, you may reflect on your deficiencies for 
 ever, without relief or correction. How can you 
 be melted with divine compassion and tenderness 
 in a freezing atmosphere ! It is possible to weep 
 away your energies, to effect your own paralysis, 
 to sigh your souls into worse than iron bondage, 
 and even to tighten and strengthen the cords that 
 unbelief throws around you by efforts to dissolve 
 them: and this must inevitably be the case if 
 you look exclusively at yourselves. Look unto 
 Christ, and you will be enlightened. Rise by 
 faith, and under the blessed operations of the 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 21 
 
 Holy Ghost, into a spiritual contemplation of the 
 person, work, and giory of Christ; and while you 
 are musing, the fire v^'ill kindle. Look to, and 
 live upon a Saviour's love to your souls, and your 
 love to him will increase ; obedience will be de- 
 lightful ; every thing under control will be sa- 
 crificed to his honour; and the offerings of Ju- 
 dah and Jerusalem will be pleasant as in the days 
 of old. " It may be," writes the great Romaine, 
 " that thou art hindered from living by unshaken 
 faith, because thou hast so little love to God — he 
 ought to have all thy heart, and soul, and mind, 
 and strength ; but it grieves thee to observe what 
 a small part he has of them. This view is always 
 humbling. Our love at best is not what it ought 
 to be. It is not constant; it ebbs and flows. It 
 is not perfect ; the flesh always lustelh contrary 
 to the spirit. It is not what God deserves as pay- 
 ment for love received : who will compute the 
 full value of his love to one redeemed sinner ? 
 On earth it surpasseth knowledge : in heaven it 
 surpasseth all returns of praise. The highest 
 love of glorified saints is only acknowledgment, 
 not payment. They are perfectly humble, and 
 therefore willing that God should have all the 
 glory of their salvation. To him they ascribe it. 
 
22 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 The same mind in thee would refine thy love, 
 and make it something like their's. When thou 
 art considering thy love to God, and ashamed at 
 the sight of it, then look at his. Look especially 
 at his, when thine is little. Believing views of 
 his will increase thine. Thine has nothing else 
 to excite it, or to nourish it. Thou art not called 
 upon to warm thyself with the sparks of thy love 
 to God, but with the pure constant flame of his 
 love to thee. This is to keep up thine. His is 
 the first cause, and thine is but the effect. The 
 experience of his will heal all the infirmities of 
 thine. When thy love is little, unsettled, cold, 
 and dull, then study the divine properties of 
 his : these rightly understood, will increase, settle, 
 warm, and actuate thine afiPections. By believing 
 meditation, thou wilt find a pardon provided for 
 thy little love ; the sense of it will comfort thy 
 conscience. Thy heart will grow hot within thee: 
 while thou art musing, the fire will kindle : it 
 will break out. Thou wilt speak with thy tongue 
 praise and thanksgiving to thy loving God and 
 Father.'* 
 
 Before we consider the honour God confers 
 upon his obedient people, two things must be pre- 
 mised. First, there is nothing meritorious in their 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 23 
 
 obedience ; and, secondly, that to notice it, is an 
 act of condescension in the divine mind. Angels 
 with all their purity of character and plenitude of 
 service cannot merit the favour they enjoy, nor 
 hold their inheritance of bliss by the feeble te- 
 nure their exertions might supply. They are in- 
 debted to the Divine Being for their will and 
 power to serve him ; and every act of homage 
 paid to Deity increases their debt of gratitude 
 to the boundless source of all their enjoyments. 
 They are laid under solemn obligations to love 
 and serve God ; and being dependent on him for 
 all their capabilities for service, so far from their 
 devotedness being meritorious, their obligations to 
 love are increased by the services they render. 
 " His angels he chargeth with folly, and the 
 heavens are not pure in his sight." And as for 
 man's services, poor and few, being meritorious, 
 we spurn the thought with indignation, as the 
 highest insult that can be offered to God. What 
 are his labours worth ? the holiest are impure ; 
 the noblest imperfect. If he would give all the 
 substance of his house for love, it would be ut- 
 terly contemned ; for when he has done all that is 
 commanded him, (and where is the man that has 
 done half?) he is an unprofitable servant, and 
 
24 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 has done but his duty. The favour of God must 
 be enjoyed without recorapence, and the bless- 
 ings of salvation received without purchase : and 
 if man will not receive them upon God's terms, 
 he must lament his destitution amid the terrors 
 of despair. His pride must be humbled before 
 he can walk with God in communion, and his 
 depravity subdued ere he can enjoy settled peace. 
 He must come to the cross as a beggar for salva- 
 tion, receive it as heaven's best boon, and live as 
 a sinner deserving hell, as well for his good works 
 after conversion, as for his bad works before it, 
 yet raised to a sweet hope of deliverance from 
 every curse, by the unmerited favour of a cove- 
 nant God. Let him bring what he may to procure 
 mercy, and he will be denounced, by justice, as 
 deserving to suffer the severest judgments that 
 can fall on Adam's apostate race. *' God resist- 
 eth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." 
 
 Nor can the believer, in the possession of life, 
 any more than the sinner seeking it, merit the 
 favour of God. If he sacrifice his time, talent, 
 property, health, friends, or even life itself, at 
 the shrine of self-renunciation, far from him be 
 the thought of merit ! If he dwell in peace and 
 contentment at home, aiding the extension of the 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 25 
 
 Redeemer's kingdom ; or if he break the tender- 
 est of human ties ; cross seas and continents to 
 publish the Saviour's fame ; toil in the land of 
 perpetual snow, or at the torrid Zone, for the 
 conversion of sinners to Christ ; and perish at last 
 through want ; at the bar of the Eternal he must 
 plead, for his acceptance, the meritorious life and 
 death of the God-man, and enter the New Jeru- 
 salem, not with the fadeless laurel of his own ex- 
 ertions on his brow, but, with his robes washed 
 and made white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 Again ; to notice and to accept the obedience 
 of the righteous, is an act of divine condescen- 
 sion so infinite, that we are lost in wonder as well 
 when told, " God is not unrighteous to forget 
 your work of faith, and labour of love," as when 
 summoned by cherubim to the plain of Bethle- 
 hem, to witness the advent of the Son of God. 
 '* Who is like unto the Lord our God, who 
 dwelleth on high ; who humbleth himself to be- 
 hold the things that are done in heaven, and in 
 the earth." (Psalm cxiii. 5, 6.) Marvellous ex- 
 pression ! to notice the angels that surround the 
 throne, to receive the homage of their hearts, and 
 the adoration of their tongues, requires, on the 
 part of Deity, a stoop, at which angels themselves 
 
 D 
 
26 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 must be amazed. How much more then ought we 
 to wonder at the honour God confers upon us his 
 sinful creatures, by allowing us to engage in his 
 service; and by assuring us that even " a cup of 
 cold water given to a disciple, in the name of a 
 disciple, shall not lose its reward." How humi- 
 liating is this thought to us who, being "made 
 free from sin, and become servants of God, have 
 our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting 
 life !" How completely are all human glories 
 eclipsed ! how mean is man ! how worthless his 
 works 1 Yet wonder, heavens ! and be asto- 
 nished, O earth ! that his services, arising from 
 love to Jesus, and directed to his glory, are 
 vested with an honour, angels are unworthy to 
 share ! 
 
 These are our Lord's words : *' He that hath my 
 commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that 
 loveth me ; and he that loveth me, shall be loved 
 of my Father, and I will love him ;" he shall 
 live in our esteem, and know that we love him. 
 The love by which all his energies of soul and 
 body are directed to our glory shall, after an ex- 
 penditure of its best resources in our service, 
 return to his own soul with double interest : he 
 shall enjoy our love, live upon it, triumph in it, 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 27 
 
 and be made and kept happy by it. Though his 
 way be dark and rugged, for in obeying our 
 directions he must suffer, he shall be more than 
 repaid by those sweet assurances we will give 
 him of his interest in our unchanging love. 
 When the world frowns, we will smile; when 
 gloomy providences threaten his ruin, we will 
 raise his hope of deliverance, and confirm his 
 faith in our protecting care. He shall know, by 
 the gracious teachings of the Holy Spirit, who 
 dwelleth in him as the witness and comforter, 
 that, it is his privilege to walk with us in the 
 closest communion faith can realize and up- 
 hold. He shall prove that our yoke is easy, and 
 our burden light ; that in keeping our command- 
 ments there is great reward; and that our "ser- 
 vice is perfect freedom." We will come unto 
 him to direct, to bless, to encourage him in his 
 work ; to give him peace always by all means ; 
 and he shall never have cause to repent of 
 "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
 sin for a season." We will rest in our love to 
 him, and cause him to rest here too ; in the field 
 of labour the waters of consolation shall flow, and 
 a paradise of bliss shall rise before him to satisfy 
 
28 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 his most enlarged expectations. We will come 
 unto him and make our abode with him : our 
 visits shall not be transient ; and as his suffer- 
 ings abound, his consolations shall abound also. 
 Whoever leaves him, we will not ; he left all for 
 our sakes, and the gospel's, and we will become 
 his great reward, his never-failing portion. He 
 shall live upon the fulness provided in the co- 
 venant of redemption for sinful men, and shall 
 want no good thing in our service. In the days 
 of famine he shall be satisfied, and his inherit- 
 ance shall be for ever. He shall be happier in 
 the work to which we have called him, though 
 life be sacrificed to our claims, than he possibly 
 could have been in the world surrounded with all 
 the luxuries, and adorned with all the honours 
 mortality can lavish on her deluded votaries. 
 Yes, we have blessed him in the path of obedi^ 
 ence, and we will bless him there ; for I will 
 manifest myself to him : 1 will favour hira with 
 such blessed views of my worth and suitableness 
 to meet his exigencies, that he shall rejoice in 
 tribulation, and deem it an honour to be thought 
 worthy to suffer shame for my sake. I will be 
 better to him than his fears, than his hopes. I 
 will keep him humble, and thus make and keep 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 29 
 
 liim happy. He shall have such low views of 
 himself, such exalted conceptions of my person 
 and character, that he shall be constrained to 
 glory in me alone. I will bless him, not for his 
 doing, but in it ; and when he has done my work 
 on earth, I will admit him to my presence in 
 glory, saying, " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 Such honour, my brethren, does the Lord con- 
 fer upon his obedient people ; and such will be 
 your's as you run the way of his commandments 
 with enlarged hearts. Hitherto, perhaps, you 
 have been dark and lifeless in duty ; and are 
 Fiady to enquire what marvellous tidings are 
 t :ese ? Yet, be assured that, if I have brought 
 stv^nge things to your ears, you have not obeyed 
 Christ's commandments at all, or there is some- 
 thing wrong in the motive or design of your obe- 
 dience. You will not, surely, doubt the truth of 
 our Lord's words, nor limit their application to 
 the apostolic age ; for he says, " If any man keep 
 my word, I will manifest myself unto him ;" nor 
 must you nourish either your unbelief, or your in- 
 attention, by supposing that such enjoyments as 
 I have alluded to are more in number, and richer 
 
 in kind, than you can ever expect to realize. 
 d2 
 
30 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 None but the disobedient will deny that God does 
 hold fellowship with his people in duty. " Thou 
 meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righte- 
 ousness, those that remember thee in thy ways ;'' 
 and while duty is relieved of its terror by commu- 
 nion with God, it affords the strongest incentives 
 to diligence that can ever move the human heart. 
 But, probably, you have never expected to hold 
 this fellowship with your heavenly Father in duty, 
 therefore have never sought it ; and if now and 
 then he has indulged you with the consolations 
 of his gospel, you have considered there has, on 
 his part, been such a departure from the ordinary 
 process of operation, as may never again occur. 
 You have not blended into one beautiful whole 
 the distinctive peculiarities of servant and child, 
 and have prescribed to Deity, without being con- 
 scious of it, the place and time of refreshing from 
 his presence. On the sabbath day, in the sanc- 
 tuary, at the Lord's table, in the closet, at the 
 family altar, in conversing with christian friends, 
 in meetings held specially for prayer, you have 
 expected audience with the King of kings, and 
 he has frequently blessed you on those hallowed 
 and consecrating occasions ; but you have never, 
 or but seldom, expected to meet him at the 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 31 
 
 i^f^oiinter, at the mart, in the street ; and your duty, 
 in consequence, has been drudgery, not delight. 
 Need you wonder, then, at your own slothfuiness 
 in the path of obedience ? How can things be 
 otherwise than dark and distressing, when there 
 is such perversion of feeling, and confusion of 
 understanding ? How can a believer be happy 
 in the prospect of duty, without some cheering 
 expectation of meeting his Lord on the road ? 
 And while you are contented without spiritual en- 
 joyments in doing the divine will, the yoke must 
 prove heavy. Study the experience of the man 
 after God's own heart. This is his own testi- 
 mony. *' The statutes of the Lord are right, re- 
 joicing the heart : (not making it miserable) — the 
 commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening 
 the eyes : the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring 
 for ever : the judgments of the Lord are true and 
 righteous altogether. More to be desired are they 
 than gold, yea, than much fine gold ; sweeter also 
 than honey and the honey-comb. Moreover, by 
 them is thy servant warned ; and in keeping of them 
 there is great reward." (Psal. xix. 8, 11.) Thus 
 David's heart was made glad by precept, and 
 in the path of obedience he spent some of his 
 
32 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 happiest moments : the outgoings of the morning 
 and evening rejoiced with him ; and his lute was 
 never toned to sweeter numbers than when he 
 watched his father's flock. " Thy statutes have 
 been my song in the house of my pilgrimage." 
 Nor does this state of mind surprize us ; for when 
 the Lord Jesus manifests himself to the believer's 
 heart, and the Spirit enables him to cry, Abba, 
 Father, every day is a sabbath, every meal a sa- 
 cramental feast, every affliction an ordinance, 
 every place a Bethel, every trial a mercy, and 
 every hour a link in that golden chain of divine 
 love by which he is drawn nearer and nearer to 
 the Lord. Oh ! it is impossible to tell what the 
 soul enjoys when Christ smiles ! it is indeed, to 
 use the language of Bishop Hopkins, in *« an 
 agony of joy ;" it labours to express its love to 
 the Redeemer, and amid the noise and hurry of 
 commercial enterprizes, enjoys a peace which 
 passeth all understanding. " When he giveth 
 quietness, who then can give trouble ? He ma- 
 keth the storm a calm, the waves thereof are 
 still." The cross of Christ is found in the path 
 of obedience, and its glories consecrate even the 
 common occupations of life into spiritual exer- 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 33 
 
 cises, and the place of toil into " the anti-cham- 
 ber of heaven, and the suburbs of the New Jeru- 
 salem." 
 
 The fellowship the christian enjoys with his 
 God at these times is of the most familiar kind : 
 and duty, when rightly discharged, promotes it. 
 " With faith he has a delightful prospect of duty. 
 God is now at peace with him ; God loves him 
 in his Son. It is his high privilege to enjoy the 
 sense of these distinguishing; favours. For this 
 end he is admitted to walk with his God. What 
 an honour is this ! Having received the adoption 
 of sons, he is blessed with his Father's love, and 
 is taken into near fellowship with him. What a 
 happiness is this ! Son, all " that I have is thine ; 
 it is freely given to thee in Jesus, and thou art 
 now called to enjoy me and mine in thy holy 
 walk." Here duty becomes a privilege. It is 
 exalted and spiritualized into a gospel grace. He 
 is bound to it, but it is by the cords of love. The 
 pleasing bonds of gratitude tie his heart to obe- 
 dience, to a free, holy, evangelical obedience. 
 He obeys not as a slave, but as a son : — not for 
 fear, but because Christ has set him at liberty : — 
 not that God may accept, pardon, and justify 
 him, but because God has done all for him, and 
 
34 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 will do all in hira : — not that he may have hea- 
 ven for his obedience, but because heaven is 
 reserved for hira, and he for it. He therefore 
 looks at duty as greatly refined by the gospel. 
 Every act of it, done in faith, is an act of fellow- 
 ship with the Father and with the Son ; and by 
 the grace of the Spirit, every act brings the Fa- 
 ther's love through the Son's salvation into ex- 
 perience. He has communion with God in all 
 he does. This ennobles duty. It is hereby raised 
 to a divine honour : for it is hereby made to them 
 who are in Christ, the highest privilege they can 
 have on this side of heaven."* 
 
 In every form of well-adjusted government, 
 the scale of administration, whether limited or 
 extensive, must be balanced by some acknow- 
 ledged and efficient laws ; and as Christ is the 
 legislative, as well as the influential Head of his 
 church, his precepts are not arbitrary enactments, 
 nor merciless exactions on our time and atten- 
 tion, but household statutes, the necessity and 
 utility of which none, but aliens, will deny. No- 
 thing is prohibited that we may safely touch, nor 
 enjoined that we may disregard ; he studied our 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY, 35 
 
 best interests in legislating, and our prolit is as 
 much concerned in obedience as his ^lory. Some 
 good people have conceived, that blessings are to 
 be found only in the way of privilege, not of 
 duty ; and acting upon an unwise and unscrip- 
 tural impression, have studied the first parts of 
 the epistles, and turned with indifference from 
 the latter. Of what perversions are not such per- 
 sons guilty ! and how can they expect to profit ! 
 God's blessings are profusely scattered all over 
 the field of revelation, and we shall find, if we 
 seek, them among the practical injunctions of the 
 apostolic writings. Besides, we are not at liberty 
 to reject precepts, seeing they are a part of that 
 word we acknowledge to be precious, and be- 
 lieve to be inspired ; they stand forth on the page 
 of revelation with prominency, to excite our re- 
 verence ; and the apostles were as much under 
 divine influence when they enjoined them, as 
 when they discoursed on the everlasting love of 
 God, and on the sufficiency and perfection of the 
 Saviour's atonement. They were not allowed to 
 state doctrine without precept, and were as 
 anxious to regulate the conduct, as to influence 
 the heart, well knowing that exhortatory ad- 
 dresses formed a part of that vast machinery of 
 
36 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 moral operation which is designed, not only to 
 convert the sinner from the error of his way, but 
 to mould him into the image of the Redeemer, 
 God is our teacher, and without speculating on 
 his process, or despising his measures, it is our 
 mercy to know, and our duty to reduce our 
 knowledge to practice, that he teacheth us to 
 profit, and leadeth us in the way which we 
 should go. With man, errors abound ; but in 
 God's arrangements and executions none ap- 
 pear. " A God of truth, without iniquity, just 
 and right is he." 
 
 Then, as in studying the preceptive page, we 
 discover, not only the wisdom and authority, but 
 the mercy and love of God, we may and ought 
 equally to meditate on his loving-kindness, when 
 consoled and supported, and when admonished 
 and reproved. The precepts are fruits of 
 his love, and but for these directions in the 
 family, in the closet, in the world, and in 
 the church, we should be without one class of 
 evidences to its wisdom ; and a recognition of 
 God's love as a wise love, is essential to our 
 peace and happiness. He is jealous of our hearts 
 and affections ; and knowing that we are prone to 
 wander from the fountain of living waters, and 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 37 
 
 that such a departure would dishonour his holy 
 name, and entail guilt upon our consciences, he 
 has mercifully, and from pure affection, given 
 directions for our walk and conversation. We 
 are in ourselves too depraved and too foolish to 
 choose the safe path ; and Satan and the world 
 offer a thousand allurements to induce a secret 
 or a visible departure from the truth. Is it not, 
 then, kind of God to order our steps by his 
 word, and to constitute it a light to our feet, and 
 a lamp to our path ? Were we thrown into life, 
 with all our responsibilities of name and cha- 
 racter, without the guidance of his holy word, he 
 only knows where we should wander, and into 
 what mazes of error and confusion we should be 
 driven. Our deviations, with all the information 
 and counsel the holy scriptures supply, are too 
 numerous and aggravated : what then would b^ 
 our failures without them ? Oh let us study the 
 precepts as expressions of our Father's love, 
 and rejoice in them as those who find great 
 spoil ! 
 
 *« Such is thy glorious word, O God ! 
 
 'Tis for our light and guidance given ; 
 It sheds a lustre all abroad, 
 
 And points the patli to bliss and lieavcn. 
 
38 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 It fills the sonl with sweet delight, 
 And quickens its inactive powers ; 
 
 It sets our wandering footsteps right. 
 Displays thy love, and kindles our's." 
 
 That communion is held with God in the path 
 of obedience is, further, evident from that de- 
 pendence on divine grace which the promises 
 cherish. *' As the branch cannot bear fruit of 
 itself, no more can ye, except ye abide in me." 
 But for the power supplied by a vital union to 
 Christ, temptation even to indolence cannot be 
 resisted. When mysterious providences concur 
 to weaken our confidence in the creature, and to 
 blast our schemes of earthly joy, we shall forget 
 our holy calling ; and, by either rebellion or dis- 
 contentment, render the existence of our spiritu- 
 ality doubtful, without the assistance of the Holy 
 Ghost. It is as much our duty to depend upon 
 the Lord for strength to obey, as it is to do 
 whatever he commands us. We are not ex- 
 pected to labour in our own strength ; we are en- 
 couraged, yea, commanded to seek supphes from 
 the fulness of Jesus ; and unless we daily receive 
 from his fulness, and grace for grace, we shall not 
 be able to bear the fruit we are expected to 
 yield. For, as the Lord, to prove the existence 
 of his fear and love in our hearts, throws us into 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 39 
 
 a furnace that threatens to consume both ; not 
 knowing, or forgetting, the process of the Holy 
 Spirit's operations, we predict our ruin from 
 those very circumstances which are to make the 
 Lord's care over us manifest ; and to convince the 
 gainsayer that grace is sufficient to induce us to 
 love our enemies, to bless our persecutors, and to 
 rejoice in those dispensations which call for the 
 discharge of the heaviest of our duties. Our help 
 being laid upon one that is mighty, by one pre- 
 cept we are conducted to the field of labour ; by 
 another, to our Master for direction ; and by a third, 
 to the source of energy and strength. Precepts, 
 therefore, as well as promises, lead us to Christ, 
 and are, when understood, the means of our com- 
 munion with the Father in him : but because the 
 tone of the former, does not always, in our ear, 
 harmonize with the latter, we are tempted to think 
 that the one leads us to the cross, and the other 
 from it ; whereas, both concur to point our way 
 to Jesus, and urge our flight to him for all we 
 need. The way of life is but one, yet the peo- 
 ple of God do not all travel precisely the same 
 road ; there is but one way to heaven, there are 
 more ways than one to the cross ; and the Holy 
 Ghost employs a variety of means to drive or 
 
40 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 draw the outcasts home. A doctrine, an invita- 
 tion, a reproof, a promise, an injunction, are all 
 helps to faith when the soul follows hard after 
 God, and walks humbly with him ; and as we 
 have reason to be thankful for sanctified trials, we 
 ought to receive with gratitude the precepts that 
 constrain us to depend upon the Saviour's all- 
 sufficiency. We cannot visit the throne of grace 
 too frequently ; nor do we ever go in faith, what- 
 ever may be the occasion of our supplications, 
 without receiving a blessing. How frequently 
 has he assisted us far beyond our expectations ; 
 and in times of trial enabled us to evince his 
 spirit when, even, we had not faith enough to 
 believe we should be strengthened for our con- 
 flict ! Yes, by his help we have persevered 
 (though with many infirmities and much trem- 
 bling) in the path of obedience unto this day. 
 We are humbled upon a review of our own short 
 comings and misdoings ; and humbled still more 
 by a recollection of the assistance the Lord has 
 afi'orded us. Astonished at our ingratitude and 
 rebellion, we are amazed at his forbearance, and 
 at that continued assistance he imparts for our 
 daily warfare ; " though we believe not, he abideth 
 faithful ; he knoweth our frame, he remembereth 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 41 
 
 that we are dust." Had we been left to ourselves, 
 we should always have yielded to the power of 
 indwelling sin, rendering evil for evil, and rail- 
 ing for railing ; but his grace has been sufficient 
 for us. All that has been wrong on our part is 
 our own ; all that has been right is his. To him, 
 therefore, be all the glory. " O come, magnify 
 the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name 
 together." We cannot but return unto him 
 with gratitude for enabling us to obey any of his 
 precepts. We are thankful : he has disposed 
 our hearts to praise him ; and praising him, as 
 thankfulness is the element of happiness, we 
 are, in that proportion, happy. W"e cannot be 
 joyful in duty without gratitude for strength ; 
 and the echos of the song we raise to his glory 
 *' for imparted favours," awaken in our own 
 souls spiritual delight. In blessing him we are 
 blessed ; and the gift, occasioning gratitude, pro- 
 motes our communion with the giver. And in 
 this way is fellowship with God maintained in 
 duty. Precepts are given — they arise out of 
 divine love — we study the love of God in them 
 — we depend upon Christ for strength to obey 
 them — we are thankful for his assistance — and 
 are rendered happy in his salvation by the 
 E 2 
 
42 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 precept it enjoins. Oh the mercy of our God ! 
 
 how infinite, how boundless ! 
 
 " Awake, my soul, in heav'nly lays, 
 And sing thy great Redeemer's praise ; 
 He justly claims a song from thee : 
 His loving-kindness. Oh how free!" 
 
 Can love like this ever be repaid, or its won- 
 ders told ? It calls us to duty, strengthens us for 
 it, and enables us in it to hold fellowship with 
 the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ : 
 surely with such assistances, motives and results, 
 obedience must be pleasure ! 
 
 " To see the law by Christ fulfiU'd, 
 And hear his pard'ning voice ; 
 Changes the slave into a child, 
 And duty into choice." 
 
 Who would not work for such a Master ! 
 
 My dear friends, let me now reason with you 
 on the subject before us, to excite, (if possible) a 
 more diligent and conscientious discharge of your 
 spiritual, social, and relative duties. I think it 
 must, by the evidences adduced*, have appeared 
 to you that, while irrespective of promises, every 
 responsible human being is bound to obey the 
 divine commandj the believer is privileged to hold 
 communion with God as well in obeying the pre- 
 cepts, as in beheving the promises. What, then, 
 should hinder your fellowship with God in bear- 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 43 
 
 ing the fruits of righteousness ? Why confine 
 your conceptions of true happiness exclusively to 
 those moments when, amid the retirements of the 
 closet, and subsequent to the fatigues of the day, 
 the Holy Spirit grants you " the oil of joy for 
 mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit 
 of heaviness;" as if you were children in the eye 
 of promise, but slaves in the calculation of pre- 
 cept ? I am deeply concerned for your happiness 
 and triumph in duty ; and without detracting, by 
 undue comparisons, from the sanctity of the sab- 
 bath, and the felicity of the sanctuary, I would 
 press one question upon your consciences : in- 
 stead of murmuring at the Disposer of events for 
 the positions you occupy on the theatre of life? 
 are you happy in the path of obedience ? The 
 bonds of moral obhgation cannot be destroyed, 
 nor must you pass by a single precept, till its 
 claims have been practically acknowledged. You 
 would not relinquish your hold o^ pardoning mer- 
 cy for a world ; you must not disregard the ap- 
 peals of legislative mercy, for all that life holds 
 sacred. Christ must be obeyed as well as trusted ; 
 and the reverence due to his priestly office, will 
 induce homage to his kingly authority. Grace 
 holds out the sceptre of pardon to encourage your 
 
44 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 approach to the Mercy seat ; and, from thence, 
 issues her mandates to regulate your life. There 
 is, surely, no reason why the Saviour's yoke 
 should be heavy ; but, a thousand reasons why it 
 should be light : and if it be borne in his strength, 
 to his glory, and his presence be sought and ex- 
 pected on the road, you will find it light and easi/ 
 indeed. Be not terrified at its appearance, nor 
 reason upon the consequences of its imposition ; 
 but take it up in faith, and bear it where the Lord 
 directs you : it is the Redeemer's yoke, and when 
 used, its worth and utility will be known. Re- 
 member, also, that by virtue of direction on the 
 one hand, and by the grace that has abounded to 
 you on the other, duty becomes a privilege, and 
 privilege a duty. Would you alter the divine 
 procedure, or have fewer enactments in your code ? 
 Would you suffer the statute book to lie year after 
 year unopened ? or study its records only to furnish 
 a cold calculating judgment with uninfluential 
 information, while your daily avocations form a 
 striking contrast to the transcript you are bound 
 to make, not with a school-boy's pencil on the 
 canvass, but, by the practical developments of 
 character on the world's vast tabulet ? The Lord 
 requires truth in the inward parts, and in the hid- 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 45 
 
 den part he will make you to understand wisdom : 
 and while his sacrifices are a broken spirit, a bro- 
 ken and a contrite heart, '* He hath shewed thee, 
 O man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord 
 require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mer- 
 cy, and to walk humbly with thy God ?" " Let 
 us make it our business and our work to bring 
 our hearts unto it all our days. My business is 
 not, whether I be rich or poor, wise or unwise, 
 learned, or ignorant, whether I shall live, or die, 
 whether there shall be war or peace with the na- 
 tion, whether my house shall flourish or wither, 
 whether my gifts be many or few, great or small, 
 whether I have good repute or bad repute in the 
 world ; but only, whether I walk humbly with 
 God or not. I have tired myself about many things, 
 this one is necessary : what doth the Lord my 
 God require of me but this ? what doth Christ 
 call for but this ? what doth the whole sanctifica- 
 tion work of the Holy Ghost tend to, but that I 
 may walk humbly with God ?" " In humble 
 walking with God, we shall find peace in every 
 condition. " Learn of me, I am meek and lowly, 
 and you shall find rest to your souls." Let war 
 come on the nation, let a consumption come on 
 my estate, let nearest relations be taken away, I 
 
46 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 shall have peace. The soul that sets up lis rest, 
 and makes it its great concernment to walk hum- 
 bly with God, is brought to his feet, bent to his 
 will, is ready for his disposal ; and whatever God 
 does in the world with himself, his, or others, he 
 hath peace and quietness in it ; his own will is 
 gone, the will of God is his choice."* " Cir- 
 cumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision nothing, 
 but the keeping the commandments of God." 
 " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by tlie mer- 
 cies of God, that ye present your bodies a living 
 sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is 
 your reasonable service. And be not conformed to 
 this world ; but be ye transformed, by the renew- 
 ing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that 
 good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.'* 
 " Owe no man any thing, but to love one ano- 
 ther : for he that loveth another, hath fulfilled the 
 law. For this, thou shalt not commit adultery ; 
 thou shalt not kill ; thou shalt not steal ; thou 
 shalt not bear false witness ; thou shalt not 
 covet ; and if there be any other commandment, 
 it is briefly comprehended in this saying, name- 
 ly, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love 
 
 Dr. Owen. 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 47 
 
 worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is 
 the fulfilling of the law." '* Mortify, therefore, 
 your members which are upon the earth : for- 
 nication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil 
 concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idola- 
 try. But now ye also put off all these : anger, 
 wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication 
 out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing 
 that ye have put off the old man with his deeds ; 
 and have put on the new man which is renewed 
 in knowledge, after the image of him that created 
 him. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, 
 holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, 
 humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering ; 
 forbearing one another, and forgiving one ano- 
 ther, if any man have a quarrel against any : 
 even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And 
 above all these things, put on charity, which is 
 the bond of perfectness.'* 
 
 The social and relative, as well as the personal 
 and more spiritual duties demand attention. " Not 
 slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the 
 Lord." The station, whether humble or exalted, 
 in which providence has placed you, must be 
 occupied in the fear of the Lord ; and you are as 
 much bound to be diligent in your domestic and 
 
48 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 commercial pursuits, as you are to rejoice in hope, 
 to be patient in tribulation, and to continue in- 
 stant in prayer. The servant, however spiritually 
 minded, and anxious to hear, in the sanctuary, 
 what God the Lord will say to her soul, must not 
 neglect her household engagements to attend the 
 means of grace. She is where the Lord placed 
 her ; and as her obligations to servitude are equal 
 to those of her mistress to repay, she is obliged 
 to devote herself to the responsibilities of her ' 
 caUing, believing that God will bless her in her 
 work, and lead her to the fountain, when streams 
 cease to flow. Parents, too, are very frequently 
 bound to sacrifice their sanctuary enjoyments for 
 the temporal benefit and spiritual advantage of 
 their children ; though I fear that many excellent 
 and devoted heads of families neglect their duties 
 at home for the high and spiritual advantages of 
 public worship. I would not, I dare not, check 
 a lawful desire, however fervid and aspiring, for 
 the means of grace, but would rather fan it to a 
 more vigorous flame ; for already many of the 
 Lord's people are too lax in their determinations 
 to worship him in the sanctuary, and suffer a 
 thousand trifling occurrences to detain them from 
 the temple, sometimes on the sabbath, and more 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 49 
 
 frequently at weekly services ; so that the pew is 
 vacated altogether, or filled up but three parts of 
 the time allotted for prayer and praise ; all at which 
 I aim is to regulate the movements by the claims 
 of life. Happy are they whose domestic and com- 
 mercial engagements prevent not their visit to the 
 house of God ! and happy are they, too, who fear 
 to neglect one duty for another. The chamber of 
 sickness ; the field of labour ; the crowded street ; 
 the servant's hall ; the mother's nursery ; are no 
 strange places with God ; in their daily occupa- 
 tions the Lord's people enjoy the manifestations 
 of his love — 
 
 " Where'er they seek him he is found, 
 And ev'ry place is hallow'd ground." 
 
 I offer no apology for introducing Mr. New- 
 ton's apposite remarks on this subject. " Be 
 cautious," he says, " that you do not degenerate 
 into the spirit of a mere hearer, so as to place the 
 chief stress of your profession upon running hither 
 and thither after preachers. There are many who 
 are always on the wing ; and without a due re- 
 gard to what is incumbent on them in the shop, 
 in the family, or in the closet, they seem to think 
 they were sent into the world only to hear ser- 
 mons, and to hear as many in a day as they 
 
50 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 possibly can. Such persons may be fitly com- 
 pared to Pharaoh's lean kine : they devour a 
 great deal, but for want of a proper digestion, 
 they do not flourish ; their souls are lean ; they 
 have little solid comfort, and their profession 
 abounds more in leaves than in fruit. If the 
 twelve apostles were again upon earth, and you 
 could hear them all every week, yet if you were 
 not attentive to the duties of the closet ; if you did 
 not allow yourself time for reading, meditation 
 and prayer ; and if you did not likewise attend to 
 the concernments of your particular calling, and 
 the discharge of your duties in relative life, I 
 should be more ready to blame your indiscretion, 
 than to admire your zeal. Every thing is beauti- 
 ful in its season ; and if one duty frequently 
 jostles out another, it is a sign either of a weak 
 judgment, or of a wrong turn of mind. No pub- 
 lic ordinances can make amends for the neglect of 
 secret prayer ; nor will the most diligent attend- 
 ance upon them justify us in the neglect of those 
 duties, which by the appointment and command 
 of God we owe to society.'* Oh for that wisdom 
 which cometh from above ! that in all things we 
 may approve ourselves as servants of the living 
 God! 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 51 
 
 After all, there raay be some among you un- 
 conscious of the believer's happiness in duty. 
 Allow me to ask the reason of this : certainly, 
 God has made ample provision for your joy, and 
 even triumph, in obedience ; and it is his revealed 
 will that by faith in his promised assistance, you 
 should go on your way rejoicing, even though 
 J)recept involve you in difficulty. The error then 
 is with you, not with God ; and among the rea- 
 sons of your darkness and distress, the following 
 will perhaps strike you. 
 
 1. Your understandings on the plan of salva- 
 tion are confused ; you err in vision, and stumble 
 in judgment ; and, not being established in the 
 truth, you confound cause with effect, faith with 
 works, expecting joy and peace even when the 
 heart is under the influence of unbelief. The 
 work of Christ is finished. " There is, therefore, 
 now no condemnation to them which are in him, 
 who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
 They were chosen in him before the foundation 
 of the world, that they might be holy and without 
 blame before him in love, nor can they ever 
 perish : because he lives, they must live also. 
 But you have forgotten these important truths ; or 
 disregarded them as non-essentials ; or, perhaps. 
 
52 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 shunned them because others have abused them : 
 and thus, while you have questioned the perfec- 
 tion of the Saviour's priesthood, or dishonoured 
 the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul, as if the 
 atonement were inadequate to meet the demands 
 of divine justice, and the power of grace insuf- 
 ficient to secure the final perseverance of the 
 saints, you have denied yourselves the use of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus ; and while the heart has 
 been unaffected by its recognitions, the life has 
 been unassisted by its influence. " It is a good 
 thing for the heart to be established with grace," 
 for you cannot be happy in your work if carried 
 about with every wind of doctrine. An error in 
 judgment may disturb the peace of the soul, when 
 it cannot effect a separation from the love of God. 
 No galley-slave can work harder, or to less effect, 
 than the christian, whose views of the plan of 
 salvation are unscriptural. 
 
 2. A legal spirit prevents communion with 
 God in duty : it nourishes pride under the garb 
 of affected humility ; takes the crown of gold from 
 the ark of the covenant ; and with the language of 
 meekness on the lip, enthrones self-consequence 
 on the heart. If conscious of having discharged 
 your duties consistently, you indirectly ground a 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 53 
 
 plea on the work effected for the Lord's presence ; 
 and if conscience, placing all your efforts before 
 the divine standard, discover your deficiencies, and 
 press your unworthiness into the calculations you 
 make of the nature and measure of enjoyments, 
 then you conceive that God m\\ neither bless 
 your souls, nor accept your services, because they 
 are impure, and these imperfect. With such a 
 spirit, how can you expect to find Christ in duty ? 
 for while you thus pervert the clearest and most 
 obvious truths of revelation to nourish, either 
 your despondency in failure, or, your pride in 
 success — the chastisements of the rod, not the 
 blessings of the promise must be expected. *' Their 
 sorrows shall be multiplied, who hasten after 
 another God;" and to idolize either your graces, 
 or your works, by glorying in the former, and 
 mingling merit with the latter, is to " quench the 
 Spirit." The Lord will be honoured as Priest and 
 King too ; and with zeal to serve him, there must 
 be a dependence on his merits for acceptance. 
 
 *' Let not conscience make you linger, 
 Nor of fitness fondly dream ; 
 All the fitness he requireth, 
 Is to feel your need of him : 
 This he gives you, 
 'Tis his Spirit's rising beam. 
 F 2 
 
54 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 3. Another reason of your bondage in duty, 
 may be, that you have forgotten the character of 
 God as your Heavenly Father ; and, viewing him 
 as a censorious judge, and yourselves rather as 
 slaves than as children, the rod of terror awes 
 when the sceptre of grace ought to allure. The 
 principles of adoption are to mark and influence 
 the believing character ; this is the injunction, 
 *« Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear chil- 
 dren, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved 
 us" — be godlike in your conversation and move- 
 ments:, but as children live and act. What will 
 not a child do for so gracious and kind a Father r 
 Forget, however, that you are children, and that 
 God is your Father, and no arguments that can 
 be used will be powerful enough to induce a per- 
 severing and delightful regard to the obligations 
 of your high and holy calling. 
 
 ** Law and terrors do but harden, 
 All the time they work alone : 
 But a sense of blood-bought pardon. 
 Soon dissolves the heart of stone." 
 
 4." Again. Perhaps you have been unwilling 
 to yield to the divine command. Can you, when 
 indisposed to serve God, expect the blessing pro- 
 mised to the diligent and persevering ? Woe be 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 55 
 
 unto them that are at ease in Zion, for storms 
 will gather around the indolent! He that knows 
 his Lord's will, and does it not, shall be beaten 
 with many stripes ; but the diligent soul shall be 
 made fat. '* The desire of the slothful killeth 
 him : for his hands refuse to labour." " The slug- 
 gard will not sow by reason of the cold, there- 
 fore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing.'' 
 My brethren, God loveth a cheerful giver ; and a 
 mind willing to labour in his cause shall not 
 remain unblest : but on what ground rest your 
 hopes of happiness, when, like the sluggard, you 
 cry, " yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a Httle 
 folding of the hands to sleep ?" certainly not on 
 scriptural — for thus it appeals to the conscience of 
 the slothful, " How long wilt thou sleep, slug- 
 gard ? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep ? 
 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, 
 and thy want as an armed man." Reluctance is 
 the cause of much distress in duty. 
 
 5. Another reason, and the last I shall men- 
 lion, of this distress is, that, too frequently, your 
 own comfort, advantage, honour, and prosperity, 
 weigh in your calculations, and the Lord's glory 
 is partially or entirely forgotten. In prayer ; in 
 hearing the word ; in surrounding his table ; in 
 
56 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 conversing with christian friends ; in visiting the 
 sick ; in relieving the poor ; in contributing your 
 property to support the Lord's cause ; in pro- 
 moting the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom 
 
 o to 
 
 in heathen lands ; in distributino; religious tracts 
 among the poor at home ; in teaching the chil- 
 dren of sabbath schools ; and in every other de- 
 partment of christian labour, how frequently 
 have you lost sight of the glory of God ! Selfish 
 feelings and motives have been nourished by 
 every shilling expended, by every sacrifice made, 
 by every tear shed in the cause of God. This — 
 this, my brethren, is one cause of the Lord's ab- 
 sence from your souls in duty : this feehng ope- 
 rates like blasting mildew on the fruit you bear, 
 and the Sun of Righteousness refuses to shine on 
 the withering herb. Your conversation cannot 
 be right in motive, nor correct in application, if 
 its end be not the glory of God ; and it is not to 
 him that converses, but to him that orders his 
 conversation aright, that God has promised to 
 shew his great salvation. " Whether therefore, 
 ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to 
 the glory of God. Ye are bought with a price : 
 therefore glorify God in your bodies, and in your 
 spirits, which are God's. And whatsoever ye do 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 57 
 
 in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by 
 him : knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive 
 the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the 
 Lord Christ." 
 
 I shall close this part of my address with a few 
 directions, anxious as I am that your harp should 
 be tuned as well for the road as for the sanc- 
 tuary ; that the father at his business, the mother 
 in the nursery, the servant at his work, and the 
 youth at his studies, should enjoy the fellowship 
 with God which, in writing these pages, it has 
 been my design to cultivate. 
 
 1. Remember you are not under the law as a 
 covenant of works, but under grace. Christ has 
 obeyed the precept, and suffered the penalty of 
 the law for you, as Mediator of the new cove- 
 nant ; and by virtue of his propitiatory sacrifice, 
 you are delivered for ever from its curse. " Ve- 
 rily, I say unto you, he that heareih my word, 
 and believeth on him that sent me hath everlast- 
 ing life, and shall not come into condemnation ; 
 but is passed from death unto life." Hear this 
 and rejoice. " For when you were in the flesh, 
 the motions of sins which were by the law, did 
 
58 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 work in your members to bring forth fruit unto 
 death. But now you are delivered from the law, 
 that being dead wherein you were held, that you 
 should serve in newness of spirit and not in the 
 oldness of the letter." You are under the charge 
 and care of grace. Grace has provided for all 
 your necessities ; engaged to bestow her treasures 
 upon you with her accustomed beneficence ; erect- 
 ed a throne where you may meet your God and 
 Father ; opened a fountain for your sins and un- 
 cleanness; promised you her protection in this 
 world, and an abundant entrance into the 
 mansions of glory prepared for all who love 
 God. Grace has translated you from the king- 
 dom of darkness into the marvellous light of the 
 gospel ; and is daily proving to you that though 
 your responsibilities are awful, they are also 
 pleasing, " for her ways are pleasantness and her 
 paths peace." 
 
 2. Recollect, also, that your obedience is not 
 to procure God's favour, but to evince your gra- 
 titude for mercies bestowed. His love is everlast- 
 ing : it cannot be merited nor ever be repaid : 
 yet, though your most devoted services fall far 
 short of the acknowledgment you are ' bound to 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 59 
 
 make of its wondrous deeds, you must not, you 
 dare not relinquish attempts, however humble 
 they may be, to spread its fame. 
 
 " Brightuess of the Father's glory, 
 
 Shall thy praise unutter'd lie ? 
 Fly, my tongue, such guilty silence ! 
 
 Sing the Lord who came to die. 
 From the highest tlirone in glory, 
 
 To the cross of deepest woe ; 
 All to ransom guilty captives — 
 
 Flow my praise for ever flow." 
 
 3. ** Give all diligence to make your calling and 
 election sure, for if ye do these things, ye shall 
 never fail." Your success in the labours of love 
 depends, in a great measure, upon your knowing 
 that you have eternal life. You may reach hea- 
 ven, and be numbered with the glorified, without 
 ever having arrived at the full assurance of faith, 
 " for whosoever calleth upon the name of the 
 Lord shall be saved ; and the Lord taketh pleasure 
 in them that fear him, in those that hope in his 
 mercy ;" yet, without the spirit of adoption you 
 cannot run the race set before you with comfort* 
 nor enter the valley of the shadow of death with 
 triumph. Life in the soul is an evidence of re- 
 demption, and a proof that you cannot perish ; 
 but, if guilt be not removed from your con- 
 
60 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 sciences, if you have not come to the blood of 
 sprinkling, you cannot be joyful in God as your 
 Father and portion. Without an assurance of 
 your personal interest in Christ, you may go on, 
 but your progress without it must be slow ; in 
 doubt, and with a bare feeble hope in hira, you 
 will obey some of his commandments, for grace 
 will teach you to live godly ; yet without peace in 
 believing you cannot serve him cheerfully nor 
 extensively. The great business of your lives 
 ought to be to glorify the Father for choosing 
 you, the Son for redeeming you, and the Holy 
 Ghost for regenerating you : but how can you 
 glorify the God of your salvation, by walking in 
 all the paths of holy obedience, while you remain 
 in distressing doubt as to your interest in his un- 
 changing love ? The first point to be settled, is, 
 the reality of your conversion, and the certainty 
 of your interest in Jesus. If this be settled upon 
 scriptural grounds ; if your conduct and conver- 
 sation prove that you are not in the flesh but in 
 the Spirit ; if your vital union to Christ be mani- 
 fest by the fruits of righteousness; if you are 
 sealed unto the day of redemption by that Holy 
 Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of your 
 inheritance ; and if He bear witness with your 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 61 
 
 spirits that you are the children of God, then in- 
 deed, and not till then, will you go on your way 
 in duty rejoicing ; then you will learn the holy 
 art of doins; much work in little time, with com- 
 parative ease to yourselves, and all your efforts 
 will be directed to the glory of God. Gospel 
 liberty will produce obedience, and faith in the 
 promise, and devotedness to the God who gave 
 it, must increase together; and when you are 
 brought into the liberty of the gospel, *' for where 
 the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty,'* those 
 mental powers which, during the period of soul 
 trouble, turned upon yourselves in the moment- 
 ous inquiry, " what shall I do to be saved ?" 
 will yield to the claims of his holy gospel. No 
 ordinary services will then satisfy you ; no dan- 
 gers will deter you from prosecuting your work ; 
 onward you will move, for onward will be your 
 motto. The joy of the Lord will be your 
 strength ; and by the discharge of one duty you 
 will be prepared for the discharge of another. 
 "If a man love me, he will keep my words. I 
 will manifest myself to him." Is not the soul 
 happy in the manifestations of the Lord's pre- 
 sence ? Indeed it is ! and if those manifestations 
 
 G 
 
62 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 which change the desert into paradise, enliven 
 the path of duty, who would not walk therein ? 
 "Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with 
 so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside 
 every weight and the sin which doth so easily be- 
 set us, and let us run with patience the race that 
 is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author 
 and Finisher of our faith," &c. 
 
 4. Do not judge of the Lord's will by provi- 
 dences, but by promises; nor conclude that in 
 the path of duty no trials await you. Duty leads 
 to suffering ; and in following the Lord's direc- 
 tions, heavy trials must be expected. It will be 
 with you in truth, as it was with the disciples in 
 fact. " Jesus constrained his disciples to get into 
 the ship, and to go to the other side before unto 
 Bethsaida." They obeyed their Master, and 
 were found in the path of duty. But mark the 
 consequences. " And when even was come, the 
 ship was in the midst of the sea. And the sea 
 arose by reason of a great wind that blew, and 
 he saw them toiling in rowing, for the wind was 
 contrary to them ; and it was dark, and Jesus had 
 not come unto them." In this case, suffering 
 marked obedience : and while Jonah for rebel- 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 63 
 
 Jion was overtaken by tempest, these disciples 
 were exposed to danger in rendering homage to 
 the Son of God. How mysterious are the Lord's 
 ways ! Peace and war ; joy and sorrow ; light 
 and darkness, all mark, in their turn, the way 
 of duty. But, my brethren, on one thing you 
 may depend, — all the sufferings you endure in 
 the path of obedience, are designed to promote 
 your communion with God, to secure your de- 
 pendence upon God, and to increase your hap- 
 piness in God. Your graces are tried that you 
 might try the promises ; you are driven from the 
 creature that you might not forget your resting- 
 place ; and brought nearer to the Lord by those 
 afflictions which threaten your ruin. " Who then 
 is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth 
 the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness 
 and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of 
 the Lord, and stay upon his God." And if he 
 have not communion with the Lord beneath a 
 cloudless sky, on the ocean where winds are pil- 
 lowed, he will commune by faith in the stormy 
 night, as the billows roll, with his wisdom, 
 power, and faithfulness ; and though for a mo- 
 ment, in the war of elements, he lose sight of Him 
 who is mightier than the waves of the sea, the 
 
64 COMMUNION WITH GOD 
 
 wandering eye shall again fix on the heavenly Pi- 
 lot, and everlasting song succeed the momentary 
 
 sigh. 
 
 " My Saviour, can I follow thee, 
 
 When all is dark before ? 
 When midnight rests upon the sea, 
 
 How can I reach the shore ? 
 Oh let thy star of love but shine, 
 
 Though with a feeble ray ; 
 'Twill gild the edge of ev'ry wave, 
 
 And light my gloomy way." 
 
 " God is my Father in Jesus, and I know he 
 has bowels of the tenderest affection for me. I 
 ought not, it would be base in me to question it, 
 since he has shed his love abroad in my heart 
 by the Holy Ghost. His way is become mine. 
 1 have set out to walk with my divine Friend 
 and Father, hoping to enjoy his presence ail the 
 way to heaven. I would not aim at getting any 
 new title to his love, but to have new enjoyment. 
 Every day I am seeking more knowledge, and 
 for more experience of his abundant love to me 
 in his beloved Son. And for this end I would 
 walk with him in his way — not to buy his love, 
 it is inestimable — not to merit it, free grace and 
 merit cannot stand together — not that I may de- 
 serve it for my walk — not that he may give it me 
 
IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 65 
 
 for walking with him, but that in walking with 
 him I may enjoy what he has already given me. 
 His love is a free gift. I would by faith enjoy it 
 in time as I hope by sense to enjoy it in eter- 
 nity. Whatever blessing, strength, victory, or 
 comfort, I stand in need of, I look to the fulness 
 which he has laid up in Jesus, and from thence I 
 receive it. I read my title to it, and I take pos- 
 session of it, for nothing done in me, or by me, 
 but. in and for the free grace of his Father and 
 my Father. While I can live thus by simple 
 faith, I find I am enabled to go on well. The 
 sense of his free, covenant, everlasting love keeps 
 my heart happy, and makes walking with him 
 my delight. 
 
 «* This day, my soul, thou art called upon to 
 maintain peace with him in thy conscience, and 
 love to him in thy heart — peace like his, flowing 
 from the sense of his being perfectly reconciled 
 to thee — love like his, the happy fruit of his un- 
 changeable love to thee. Never forget that he is 
 thy God, the God of peace. He stands related to 
 thee in the dearest and most indissoluble bonds 
 of love. He is thy Father in Jesus. Keep a 
 sense of this always fresh upon thy mind, and 
 
 thy steps will be ordered aright. Nothing will 
 g2 
 
66 COMMUNION WITH GOD, &C. 
 
 be able to stop thee in the way to heaven, or to 
 seduce thee out of it, but every thing will bring 
 thee forward."* 
 
 Is this the experience and the practice of the 
 christian who, being justified by faith, has peace 
 with God, and rejoices in hope of his glory ? 
 Then, my brethren, emulate his confidence, and 
 press toward the mark, for the prize of your high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 E. M. 
 
 * Romaiue. 
 
PART II. 
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE FLESH, WITH ITS AFFEC • 
 TIONS AND LUSTS, AND THE CONSEQUENT OBE- 
 DIENCE OF THE BELIEVER'S LIFE, SECURED BY 
 THE PEACE OF GOD RULING IN HIS HEART. 
 
 MY DEAR BRETHREN IN THE FAITH AND FELLOW- 
 SHIP OF THE GOSPEL, 
 
 "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to 
 the which also ye are called in one body ; and 
 be ye thankful." (Coloss. iii. 15.) A more im- 
 portant exhortation than this cannot be found in 
 the writings of St. Paul. It is one of those prac- 
 tical remedies for moral failures which, when- 
 ever applied, produces the most salutary and 
 beneficial effects : nor, without its daily applica- 
 tion, can any man maintain that spirituality of 
 mind, which is life, and which sheds a hallowing 
 influence over his tempers and actions. I have, 
 already, reminded you of the obedience you are 
 expected to yield, and of the happiness it is your 
 privilege to enjoy in keeping God's command- 
 
68 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 ments: and, while the transition from the facts 
 admitted to the duties they involve has been 
 natural and easy, and such as must have com- 
 mended itself to your consciences, I despair of 
 your ever reaching that high standard of spiri- 
 tual dignity, and of realizing that full measure 
 of sanctified bliss, to which that commendation 
 tends, except the peace of God rule in your 
 hearts. To all the directions of the bible, and 
 to the appeals of the ministry you will, perhaps, 
 reply, " the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the 
 spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary the 
 one to the other, so that we cannot do the things 
 that we would." (Gal. v. 17.) But are there no 
 means of weakening the old, and of strengthen- 
 ing the new man, that, upon the subjection of 
 the one, and the prosperity of the other, there 
 may be a^iore full surrender of body, soul, and 
 spirit, to the Lord Jesus? To this important 
 question I now invite your serious attention ; and 
 depending upon the promised assistance of the 
 Holy Spirit, hope to prove that the crucifixion 
 of the flesh, with its affections and lusts, and the 
 consequent obedience of the life, are secured by 
 the peace of God ruling in the heart. Pray for 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 69 
 
 divine teaching in this matter. — " Consider what 
 I say, and the Lord give you understanding in 
 all things." 
 
 The arrangements of infinite mercy for the 
 salvation of man admit of systematic analysis: 
 and as their several scales have been reduced by 
 the sacred witers to an organization of doctrine, 
 of experience, and of precept, the attentive and 
 persevering student of the holy scriptures can ex- 
 hibit at outline of 
 
 ** Redemption's mystic plan, 
 That salutary source of life to man." 
 
 All, however, is not gold that glitters ; nor do 
 all those men who write or speak of the gospel, 
 enjoy its peaceful, and manifest its sanctifying in- 
 fluence. To know the truth as a revealed system, is 
 one thing ; to receive the truth as the power of God 
 unto salvation, is another : and while knowledge 
 without enjoyment may satisfy the nominal pro- 
 fessor, the true believer cannot rest in, nor be sa- 
 tisfied with, the form of godliness. The doctrines 
 of grace are not axioms, cheerless as the disqui- 
 sitions of heathen philosophy, but elements of 
 life ; and he who understands the loving-kind- 
 ness of the Lord and has tasted that he is gra- 
 cious, is conscious of the efficacy of the gospel, 
 
70 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 having received it in demonstration of the Spirit 
 and of power ; and is desirous of bearing much 
 fruit, that the Lord may be glorified. 
 
 The peace of God which passeth all under- 
 standing, rules in the heart in which Christ is 
 formed the hope of glory ; and as nothing is more 
 essential to prosperity in the divine life than the 
 existence and reign of peace in the soul, " May 
 the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace 
 in believing, that ye may abound in hope, 
 through the power of the Holy Ghost." Rom. 
 XV. 13. 
 
 First, the peace that rules in the heart must 
 be considered in its relation to God, its author. 
 The God of Jacob is the God of peace ; and is 
 known, as such, through revelation only. The 
 world by wisdom knows not God : though the 
 heavens declare his glory, and the firmament 
 sheweth forth his handy work, no trace of cre- 
 ating power can make the discovery a helpless 
 sinner needs. To tell man, guilty and con- 
 demned, where salvation is to be obtained, and 
 who is the Saviour, is the province of revelation. 
 He possesses no intuitive light on this subject, 
 nor, in his search for mercy, can human reason 
 point his way. No records but those of inspira- 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 71 
 
 tion proclaim deliverance to the captives, and 
 the opening of the prison to them that are 
 bound ; in these, only, we learn that God was in 
 Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not im- 
 puting their trespasses unto them ; that he can 
 be just, and yet the justifier of him who believ- 
 eth in Jesus. The act of choosing sinners in 
 Christ, is attributed to the Father ; not that his 
 love was anterior to the love of Christ, or to that 
 of the Holy Ghost's, for " there are three that bear 
 record in heaven, and these three are one :" yet, 
 as in the administration of grace, order and re- 
 gularity are two of its constituent pecuharities, 
 and as each of the Divine Persons in the God- 
 head shares the glory of the mighty scheme, 
 while the Son redeems, and the Spirit sanctifies, 
 the Father's love is described as the source of 
 spiritual blessings. God, the offended party, 
 devised means for the salvation of the offend- 
 ing, adequate in nature and influence to their 
 exigencies, and to the demands of his righteous 
 law. *' He so loved the world, that he gave his 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life !" (John iii. 16.) To display the holiness of 
 his nature, and the immutability of his law, he 
 
72 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 appointed, in ihe person of his Son, a sacrifice 
 for sin ; to prove the nature of his love, and the 
 riches of his grace, he passed by transgressors, 
 and bruised their Surety. *« All we like sheep 
 have gone astray, we have turned every one to 
 his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the 
 iniquities of us all. It pleased the Lord to bruise 
 him : he hath put him to grief. He was op- 
 pressed, and he was afflicted ; for the transgres- 
 sion of his people was he stricken." (Isa. liii.) 
 " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that 
 he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propi- 
 tiation for our sins." (l John iv. 10.) Mercy 
 triumphed in relieving human misery ; justice 
 was satisfied with the atonement made for ini- 
 quity ; God was angry with sin, yet loved the 
 sinner, and through the Saviour he appointed, 
 became at peace with the saved. *' Fury," he 
 says, " is not in me :" (Isa. xxvii. 4.) his sword 
 is sheathed, his thunders are silent, he is pleased 
 with Christ, and pleased with all those whom 
 he hath purchased with his blood. He is at 
 peace with them — no terror frowns his eye, or 
 wrath surrounds his throne. He rests in his 
 love, will not alter his purpose ; and his gifts 
 and callings are without repentance. He has 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 73 
 
 blessed them with all spiritual blessings in hea- 
 venly places in Christ ; and the issue of his 
 providential dispensations will manifest his care 
 over them, and his love to them. Fury is not 
 in him— the poverty that seizes, the fire that 
 tries them, is peaceful ; their afflictions are sent 
 and controlled by a God of love for their pro- 
 fit; they shall be as severe as necessary, as mild 
 as possible. To his tried people he thus speaks 
 — hear it, ye mourners, and rejoice, — he speaks 
 as a friend. " In a little wrath I hid my face 
 from thee for a moment ; but with everlasting 
 kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the 
 Lord, thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters 
 of Noah unto me : for as I have sworn that the 
 waters of Noah should no more go over the 
 earth, so have I sworn that 1 would not be wroth 
 with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains 
 shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my 
 kindness shall not depart from thee ; neither 
 shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith 
 the Lord, that hath mercy on thee." (Tsa. liv. 
 8 — 10.) The God with whom you have to do, 
 is a God of peace, and your conceptions of his 
 character, as peaceful, are essential to your com- 
 fort. Your unbelief, indeed, cannot make him 
 
 H 
 
74 THE PEACE OF GOD f 
 
 unfaithful ; yet every view taken of his power, 
 and every providence that exercises patience, 
 will increase distress, unless you believe that you 
 are dependent upon a God of peace. " I know 
 the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the 
 Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give 
 you an expected end;" (Jer. xxix. 11.) and 
 however severely he may try you, for his gold 
 must be purified, he will be mindful of his cove- 
 nant, and prove that ** like as a father pitieth 
 his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear 
 him." (Psalm ciii. 13.) 
 
 Secondly. Peace was procured by Jesus Christ. 
 The plan of salvation, originating in the grace 
 of the Eternal Three, was executed by Christ, 
 who, dying the just for the unjust, brought sin- 
 ners unto God. Salvation is by grace. Man 
 has destroyed himself; is the victim of his own 
 apostasy ; and if saved, an infinite price must be 
 paid for his ransom. He has broken God's law 
 in thought, word, and deed ; and entailed upon 
 himself its threatened penalties. By it, he can- 
 not be justified ; it is unyielding in its decisions ; 
 it will not revoke its sentence ; nor withhold its 
 merited punishments. Before sin entered, he 
 lived in communion with God ; but his rebellion 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 75 
 
 armed the attributes of Deity against him, and 
 rendered their position, once pleasing and de- 
 lightful, hostile to his comfort, and full of terror 
 to his guilty conscience. God and man, in con- 
 sequence of the fall, became contending parties ; 
 the thunders of heaven uttered their execrations, 
 and lightnings blazed his awful doom. Reprieve, 
 however, was granted, provisions having been 
 made for his salvation. By his Father's permis- 
 sion, and at his Father's call, Christ undertook 
 the work of redemption, engaging to satisfy di- 
 vine justice by answering all the demands of 
 the righteous law in his perfect obedience, and 
 vicarious death ; by bearing in his own body on 
 the tree all the sins of the people whose cause 
 he mediates, and by enduring the punishment 
 those sins deserved. This work he finished, 
 " blotting; out the hand-writing; of ordinances 
 that was against us, which was contrary to us, 
 and took it out of the way, nailing it to his 
 cross." (Coloss. ii. 14.) He appeased the wrath 
 of heaven ; destroyed the sting of death ; divested 
 the grave of her power ; and made peace by his 
 blood. "Who," then, "shall lay any thing to 
 the charge of God's elect? It is God that justi- 
 fieth ? Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
 
76 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who 
 is even at the right hand of God, who also 
 maketh intercession for us." (Rom. viii. 33, 
 34.) All judicial conflict is over: the Prince of 
 Peace is enthroned in glory : and, from the once 
 dense cloud, issues, across the cheerless desert, 
 twilight, more peaceful than the dawn of crea- 
 tion, when the morning stars sang together, and 
 the sons of God shouted for joy. 
 
 The motive to this stupendous undertaking 
 was, love — love, strong as death, mightier than 
 the grave. He saw the arm uplifted for the de- 
 struction of his people ; presented himself to the 
 blow in their names ; and voluntarily consented 
 to die that they might live. He would not, he 
 could not, suffer them to perish : he knew the 
 sufferings he m.ust endure, yet, he becomes in- 
 carnate, and, having obeyed his Father's will, 
 prepares to offer himself a sacrifice for sin, and 
 10 fight for his people. See— the conflict is 
 near. Yonder stands Justice with the iron rod — 
 with the cup, into which the vials of divine ven- 
 geance have been poured — that rod he must feel, 
 that cup he must drink. He approaches — he 
 drinks — he prays, " my Father, if it be possi- 
 ble, let this cup pass from me." (Matt. xxvi. 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 11 
 
 39.) He tastes — his human nature shudders, and 
 again he begs that, if the removal of the cup be 
 possible, it may pass from him. He thirsts, and 
 pants. His cries are dolorous — on his eyelids 
 sit the shadow of death — the vital fluid starts 
 from the vein — he pleads exemption, but justice 
 is inflexible — he must die. Then, summoning to 
 the aid of his human nature the succours of the 
 divine, he submits to the stroke ; '' he is brought 
 as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep be- 
 fore her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not 
 his mouth." (Tsa. liii. 7.) He takes the cup of 
 trembhng and drinks, nor leaves a dreg behind. 
 Convulsed, the earth discloses her slain — the 
 rocks divide — the sun is shorn of his glory — the 
 songs of heaven are suspended — angels minister 
 to the incarnate sufferer, and there is darkness 
 over the earth until the ninth hour. But the 
 scene brightens — all heaven is summoned to 
 witness the issue of the mystic war — the Saviour 
 cries, " it is finished ! — it is finished!" The angels, 
 
 *' Who brought his chariot from above, 
 To bear him to his throne ; 
 Clap their triumpliant wings, and cry, 
 The glorious work is done." 
 
 The conflict is over — the storms have wasted 
 h2 
 
78 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 their fury — the Father smiles on the deserted soul 
 of his beloved Son — (beloved though bruised) — 
 Satan retires confounded — mercy pours forth her 
 harmony of song— the harps of the skies are 
 toned to unaccustomed melody — hope smiles — 
 faith triumphs — God and the sinner meet, and 
 meet to part no more for ever. Hail ! thou un- 
 exampled lover of thy chosen race! To thee 
 belong the wisdom, and the power, and the 
 glory ; on thy head be the crown ! 
 
 " Hail, Prince of life, for ever hail, 
 
 Whose unexampled love ! 
 Moved thee to quit the realms of bliss. 
 
 And royalties above. 
 
 " Go, return, immortal Saviour, 
 Leave thy footstool, take thy throne ; 
 
 Thence return, and reign for ever. 
 Be the kingdoms all thy own." 
 
 Thirdly. As man by nature is alienated from 
 God, he must be born again before the reconci- 
 liation thus effected by Jesus Christ can influ- 
 ence or delight him. The remedy for human 
 guilt is the atonement ; and it is the province of 
 the Holy Spirit to apply it. *' By the law is the 
 knowledge of sin ;" and those convictions of hu- 
 man depravity which invariably precede a reli- 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 79 
 
 ance on the Saviour for pardon, are the results 
 of its application to the heart. Jt arrests, tries, 
 and condemns the sinner ; and when he is thus 
 convinced of sin, his apprehensions of death are 
 vivid ; he regards God as unpropitious and an- 
 gry, and being ignorant of the righteousness of 
 Christ, trembles on the verge of despair.''* 
 
 Those who have thus been led and taught can 
 feelingly enter into the experience of St. Paul. 
 ** Is the law sin ? God forbid. Nay, I had not 
 known sin, but by the law : for I had not known 
 lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not co- 
 vet. But sin, taking occasion by the command- 
 ment, wrought in me all manner of concupis- 
 cence. For without the law, sin was dead. For 
 I was alive without the law once : but when the 
 commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 
 And the commandment, which was ordained to 
 life, 1 found to be unto death. For sin taking 
 occasion by the commandment, deceived me ; 
 and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy ; 
 
 * As some of the Lord's people are more deeply convinced of 
 sin than others, it may here be necessary to observe, that, that 
 degree of conviction only is absolutely necessary which teaches us 
 our need of a Saviour, and leads us to him for salvation. God is a 
 Sovereign, and in this respect as in all others, deals with his peo- 
 ple as he pleases. 
 
80 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 and the commandment holy, and just, and good.'' 
 (Rom. vii, 7—12.) 
 
 The Holy Spirit having, in this way, con- 
 vinced them of their true state by nature, and 
 of the impossibility of justification by the deeds 
 of the law, teaches them to cry for mercy, and 
 awakens in their hearts a lively hope of deliver- 
 ance from their perilous condition. He reminds 
 them of the fountain opened for sin and unclean- 
 ness, and of the righteousness which justifieth 
 the ungodly ; bids them welcome to the refuge, 
 yea, assures them that the provisions of the gos- 
 pel are for the poor, for the halt, for the maimed, 
 for the blind ; that whosoever will, may come, 
 and take the water of life freely ; that whosoever 
 cometh to Christ, he will in no wise cast out; 
 and that whosoever liveth and believeth in him 
 shall never perish. But cheerful as are these 
 tidings, and encouraging as may be their influ- 
 ence, they have not yet, by believing, entered 
 into rest; and scenes more terrific than they 
 behold could not be pourtrayed. Conscious alike 
 of their need of Christ, and of their inability 
 to apply the benefits of his atonement ; knowing 
 that, as to redeem from the curse of the law was 
 the work of the Redeemer, to impart the virtue 
 
RULING iN THE HEART. 81 
 
 of his sacrifice to the heart is the work of the 
 Spirit, they cry, 
 
 ** Descend, Holy Spirit, the dove, 
 
 And visit a sorrowful breast; 
 My burden of guilt to remove, 
 
 And bring me assurance of rest. 
 Thou only hast power to relieve, 
 
 A sinner o'erwhelm'd with his load, 
 The sense of redemption to give. 
 
 And sprinkle his conscience with blood." 
 
 The moment of deliverance, at length, arrives ; 
 and, by the blood of the covenant, they are sent 
 out of the pit wherein is no water. Guilt is re- 
 moved from the conscience, the love of God shed 
 abroad in the heart : returning unto their rest, 
 the Lord having dealt bountifully with them, their 
 souls are delivered from death, their eyes from 
 tears, and their feet from falling ; slavish fear is 
 cast out ; the Holy Spirit is to them a Spirit of 
 wisdom, of power, of love, of joy, and of a sound 
 mind ; and dwells in their hearts, not as a spirit 
 of bondage, but of adoption, crying, Abba Father ; 
 teaching them to live by faith on Christ, to walk 
 by faith with God in communion, and to recline 
 on his bosom amid the speechless raptures of 
 conscious bliss. Their heaven now begins,— they 
 know the joyful sound ; walk in the light of the 
 
82 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 Lord's countenance ; rejoice in his name all the 
 day; and in his righteousness are exalted above 
 the fear of death, to the happy privileges of those 
 who know that their iniquities are forgiven, and 
 their sin covered. " Blessed are they that are in 
 such a case, yea, blessed is the people whose God 
 is the Lord," *' They go out with joy, and are 
 led forth with peace ; the mountains and the hills 
 break forth before them into singing, and all the 
 trees of the field clap their hands." God is at 
 peace with them, they are at peace with God : 
 their delight, their communion is mutual; and 
 they sing that new song which none can learn 
 but the redeemed. Afflictions are now reckoned 
 not worthy to be compared with the glory already 
 manifested in the soul, and shortly to be revealed 
 in heaven ; and as faith in the Saviour's blood 
 produces confidence in the Father's care, reliance 
 on his promises, and submission to his will, they 
 cheerfully obey his directions, and rejoice in being 
 thought worthy to suffer shame for his sake. His 
 service, even to sacrifice and to death, is perfect 
 freedom ; influenced by principles corresponding 
 to their new names and heavenly natures, they 
 run the way of his commandments with delight, 
 and walk in love as dear children : for as there 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 83 
 
 are privileges which cannot be used, and duties 
 which cannot be discharged till the peace of God 
 rules in the heart, there are sacrifices which can- 
 not but be made, and feelings which cannot but 
 be evinced when brought into the liberty of the 
 gospel. To whom much is given, of the same is 
 much required, Happy ! happy spirit ! thou art 
 indeed filled with all joy and peace in believing, 
 abounding in hope through the power of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 *' The world, indeed, makes little account of 
 this, and imagines there is nothing more easily 
 attempted than to please God, and obtain the for- 
 giveness of guilt ; but the real penitent, that has 
 wandered in dark ways, and through a night of 
 desertion, severely has felt and knows what sin is, 
 and has had a perception in his consciences how 
 formidable are the terrors of Almighty justice, 
 and the devouring flames of divine wrath. All 
 sense of pleasure is lost to such a one ; and he 
 strives above all things with restless anguish and 
 groans, to gain the discovery that his sins are 
 pardoned ; which sure pie 'ge of salvation he no 
 sooner receives a glimpse of, rising in his mind, 
 but he will declare with David, *' Blessed is lie 
 whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is 
 
84 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 covered : blessed is the man to whom the Lord 
 iraputeth not iniquity." The believer is then as 
 much eased and animated as if an insuperable 
 load was moved and taken off from him ; all his 
 former fear, anxiousness, distress of conscience, 
 vanish away, disappear ; he is become possessed 
 of the greatest peace, and embraced into the sweet 
 bosom of his reconciled God and Father. A pa- 
 radise seems to open to him, after having been 
 forced to wander so long in a bare and comfort- 
 less desert. 
 
 " The foundation of all this blessedness is 
 this : — that when the soul has faith, a knowledge 
 of Christ, and the ineffable virtue and value in 
 bis bleeding wounds ; when it has clear and be- 
 lieving sights of this, and the Holy Spirit assists 
 to enlighten it in the views of his expiating death, 
 and the power of his resurrection, what can it do 
 otherwise but think with fullest persuasion that 
 all his transgressions are purged away by the 
 pardoning mercy of God, and for ever hid in the 
 sweet savour of this perfect sacrifice ; nay, those 
 offences that were counted the most enormous, 
 an apprehension of the unpardonableness of which 
 faith had not strength enough to overcome, even 
 these, when set in competition with the more 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 85 
 
 large and immense sea of Immanuel the Redeem- 
 er's incomprehensible blood and merits, are but 
 as a drop to the universal ocean ! Nor are his 
 remaining indwelling infirmities, that yet he is 
 very far from making light of, and is his daily 
 study to be purified from, able, while he is walk- 
 ing in the light, to force him in quitting hold of 
 that sweet heavenly confidence he enjoys from 
 Christ in the Father."* 
 
 He is not, however, perfect ; and though the 
 joy of the Lord is his strength, he cannot boast 
 an exemption from suffering. Rest introduces 
 conflict; and war with sin and Satan is the issue 
 of conversion. Happy in the Lord, yet miserable 
 in himself, he exclaims, *' Oh wretched man that 
 I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death;" and finding another law in his mem- 
 bers, warring against the law of his mind, he is 
 frequently led into captivity ; so that, while he is 
 filled with joy and peace in believing, the flesh 
 lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against 
 
 * Zimmerman on the Knowledge of Christ. A work translated 
 from the German by Brown, at the request of that late revered 
 servant of Christ, the Rev. James Hervey, who termed it his bo- 
 som companion, and said, " It was the first book that introduced 
 him to a clear light and understanding of the gospel ; and the first 
 that had been blest to his experiencing any true established rest 
 and quiet in his .soul." See preface to translation. 
 
86 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 the flesh, and these being contrary the one to the 
 other, he cannot do the things that he would. To 
 be carnally minded is death : to be spiritually 
 minded is life and peace. If he, therefore, through 
 the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, he shall 
 live. Two points must now be examined. The 
 first is, that the crucifixion of the old man is 
 essential to a happy progress in the divine life. 
 The second, that the peace of God ruling in the 
 heart assists this crucifixion, and strengthens the 
 believer for his daily conflict and work. 
 
 '' The old man," is a scriptural expression, 
 and is used to denote the depravity of human 
 nature, and the corruption, or sin, that remains 
 in the heart of every regenerated person ; and if 
 the following scriptures be examined, it will be 
 found that other phrases, beside the one in ques- 
 tion, are used to express the same thing. (Eph. 
 iv. 22. Col. iii. 9. Rom. vi. 6. vii. 18—21. John 
 iii. 6. Gal. v. 17.* In every believer there are 
 two opposite principles, nature and grace; two 
 contrary laws, the law of the mind, and the law 
 
 * In tbese passages, " the old man" — " my flesh" — " anoUier 
 law"—" the law of sin" — " (he body of this death"—" the evil thnt 
 is present with me"— " tiie flesh tliat lusteth"— are expressions 
 designed to represent the sin or deiiravity that remains in the heart 
 after regeneration. 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 87 
 
 of sin. Both natures are distinct and contrary 
 in their designs ; the flesh opposes the spirit in 
 all her movements, the spirit opposes the flesh in 
 all its exercises : the one delights in what the 
 other abhors ; one condemns what the other ap- 
 proves. " The fact is, the two principles live at 
 one time, act at one time, and will be found in 
 one and the same person at all times and in all 
 things while he lives upon earth."* Grace must 
 conquer, but nature exerts sufficient power to 
 render the conflict severe ; nature will not relin- 
 quish her efforts for victory, grace cannot ; for 
 while Satan regulates and encourages the flesh, 
 Christ animates and strengthens the spirit. 
 
 Indwelling sin is termed a law ; and '' a law,'* 
 observes Dr. Owen, " is taken either properly for 
 a directive rule, or improperly for an operative 
 effective principle, which seems to have the force 
 of a law. In its first sense, it is a moral rule, 
 which directs and commands ; and sundry ways 
 moves and regulates the mind and the will as to 
 the things which it requires and forbids. This is 
 evidently the general nature and work of a law. 
 Some things it commands; some things it forbids 
 
88 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 with rewards and penalties which move and 
 impel men to do the one and avoid the other. 
 HencCj in a secondary sense, an inward principle 
 that moves and inchnes constantly unto any ac- 
 tion, is called a law. The principle that is in the 
 nature of every thing moving and carrying it to 
 its own end and rest, is called the law of nature. 
 In this respect, every inward principle that incii- 
 neth and urgeth unto operations and actions suit- 
 able to itself is a law. See Rom. viii. 2o The 
 powerful and effectual working of the Spirit and 
 grace of Christ in the hearts of believers is called 
 the law of the Spirit of life. And for this reason 
 does the apostle here call indwelling sin a law. 
 It is a powerful and effectual indwelling principle 
 inclining and pressing unto actions agreeable and 
 suitable to its own nature. Now, that which we 
 observe from this name, or term, of a law, attri- 
 buted unto sin, is, that there is an exceeding 
 efficacy and power in the remainders of indwell- 
 ing sin in believers, with a constant working 
 towards evil. Believers have experience of the 
 power and efficacy of indwelling sin. They find 
 it in themselves ; they find it as a law. It hath 
 a self-evlBencing efficacy to them that are alive 
 to discern it ; they that find not its power are 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 89 
 
 under its dominion. Whosoever contend against 
 it shall know and find that it is present with thenij 
 that it is powerful in them. He shall find the 
 stream to be strong who swims against it, though 
 he who rolls along with it be insensible of it."* 
 The subjection of the old man, is, therefore, 
 essential to the believer's happiness : for whence 
 arises the rebellion of the will against God, and 
 the indisposition of the heart to serve him, but 
 from indwelling sin ? These are the affections, 
 not of the new, but of the old man ; they are the 
 fruits of the flesh, and the operations of that law 
 of sin which wars against the soul. Afflictions 
 may occasion rebellion, just as sin by the holy 
 commandment takes occasion to work in us all 
 manner of concupiscence, but the old man is the 
 cause of it. Were our wills absorbed in God's 
 will, and perfectly reconciled to his ways, with 
 consciences purged from dead works by the blood 
 of Christ, we should be as happy in the furnace 
 as Paul and Silas were in the prison ; the cross 
 would increase, not diminish our comfort ; we 
 should go into the gloomy vale where adversity 
 reigns with as much delight as we ascend the 
 
 * Dr. Owen, v. 13, pp. fi, 8. 
 T 2 
 
90 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 mount, where rise the luxuries of life ; God 
 would be blessed, as well when he takes, as when 
 he gives ; leaning on our Father's arm and con- 
 fiding in his care, we should rejoice that the 
 management of our concerns, whether trifling or 
 momentous, is with him ; not daring to dictate 
 how he ought to reveal his love, nor the way 
 in which he should lead, his procedure, when 
 dark and mysterious, would satisfy our faith, and 
 excite our confidence- Though he slay us, we 
 should trust in him, exclaiming with a christian 
 in an enviable state of mind, " I have seemed 
 to see a need for every thing God gives me, and 
 to want nothing he denies me." But how, amid 
 the painful vicissitudes of this life, can we be 
 happy, rejoice in tribulation for Christ's sake, 
 and sing the Lords song in this strange land, 
 if the old man be not crucified with Christ ? As 
 the deeds of the body are mortified, submission 
 to the will of God is easy; without this mor- 
 tification, resignation is impossible. St. Paul, 
 on one occasion said, " I know that in me, (that 
 is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing ; for 
 to will is present with me, but how to perform 
 that which is good, I find not." — (Rom. vii. 18.) 
 And on another, forming, indeed, a striking con- 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 91 
 
 trast, and leading to the most delightful conclu- 
 sions, — " Not that 1 speak in respect of want ; 
 for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, 
 therewith to be content. I know both how to be 
 abased, and I know how to abound ; every where, 
 and in all things, I am instructed, both to be full 
 and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer 
 need." (Phil. iv. 11, 12.) And why, it may be 
 asked, cannot we, at all times, and in all circum- 
 stances, thus yield to divine arrangements } Why 
 are we not able to take pleasure in infirmities, in 
 reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in dis- 
 tresses for Christ's sake ? the main reason is, the 
 old man in us is less mortified than it was in him ; 
 self is not so fully denied ; the flesh is not so 
 effectually crucified. The old man was alive in 
 St. Paul when he gave this remarkable proof of 
 his reconciliation to the will of God ; the perfect 
 satisfaction, therefore, with which he viewed the 
 divine appointments, could neither be traced to 
 the eradication of indwelling sin, nor be attributed 
 to any natural inactivity of the corrupt principles of 
 the human heart to oppose that which is good : the 
 crucifixion of the old man, not his annihilation, nor 
 even a change in his disposition, is all which can 
 be accomplished here; at this the apostle aimed, 
 
92 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 and by grace it was most happily secured. The 
 process and the object of pursuit are precisely the 
 same with us. To be resigned to the will of God 
 is to be happy ; but that happiness is dependent 
 on the mortification of the flesh with its affections 
 and lusts. As grace triumphs over nature, and 
 the inward man is renewed, the internal conflict 
 will proceed to the honour of the great Captain 
 of salvation, and to the settled comfort of the 
 soul in the knowledge of God. 
 
 " Act but the infant's gentle part. 
 Give up to love thy willing heart ; 
 No fondest parents' melting breast 
 Yearns like thy God's to make thee blest. 
 Taught its dear mother soon to know, 
 The simplest babe its love can shew ; 
 Bid bashful, servile fear retire, — 
 The task no labour can require. 
 The sov'reign Father good and kind 
 Wants but to have his child resign'd ; 
 Wants but thy yielding heart — no more — 
 With his rich gifts of grace to store. 
 He to thy soul no anguish brings. 
 From thine own stubborn will it springs ; 
 That foe but crucify, tby bane. 
 Nought shalt thou know of frowns nor pain. 
 Come, backward soul, to God resign. 
 Peace, his best blessing, shall be thine j 
 Boldly recumbent on his care, 
 Cast thy/elt burden only there." 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 93 
 
 We now observe that the old man is govern- 
 ed, and brought into subjection, by the peace 
 of God ruling in the heart. Guilt on the con- 
 science weakens grace and strengthens nature ; 
 and as every species of existence has its element, 
 when the soul lives below her privileges, ceases 
 to hold fellowship with Christ in his sufferings, 
 and, by consequence, loses her spirituality, in- 
 dwelling sin rises to more than ordinary vigour ; 
 and, on the contrary, when the heart is well puri- 
 fied by faith in the blood of Christ, and the con- 
 science is made and kept peaceful by an applica- 
 tion of the atonement, the deeds of the body are 
 mortified. The closer we live to the cross, the 
 more entirely will our affections be weaned from 
 the world ; and the subjection of natural feeling, 
 the enlargement of the soul in the ways of God, 
 the aboundings of spiritual life, are the results of 
 peace ruling in the heart. He who is made free 
 from the law of sin and death by the law of the 
 Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, will walk, not after 
 the flesh, but after the Spirit ; and if he walk in 
 the Spirit, he shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh : 
 for when conscience joins issue with justice to 
 proclaim his reconciliation to God, his affections 
 become heavenly ; the world has bat little influ- 
 
94 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 ence on his mind ; faith is active in realizing the 
 efficacy of the atonement, in drawing water from 
 the wells of salvation ; hope is lively in her ap- 
 prehensions, and love ardent and impassioned in 
 her desires. Then^ he knows that he is the Lord's ; 
 that, as he is bought with a price, his body and 
 spirit are the Lord's ; and he labours to yield 
 his members as instruments unto righteousness. 
 What peaceful hours he now enjoys ! how happy 
 are his exercises ! Faith carries all his care to 
 Christ, and returns laden with blessings from his 
 fulness ; faith triumphs, because grace reigns ; and 
 works, because peace rules : the soul is purified 
 in obeying the truth through the Spirit, and then 
 rejoices in God, as her God, believing, that he 
 v/ill guide her with his counsel, and afterward 
 receive her to glory. 
 
 " Take heed, my brethren, lest there be in any 
 of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing 
 from the living God." Unbelief promotes the 
 growth of the old man, and is one of the most 
 formidable enemies of the new. It is employed 
 by Satan to hinder communion with Christ, and 
 to disturb his peace in the soul. If faith decline, 
 the capabilities of indwelling sin to distress you, 
 (for destroy you it cannot) will increase ; the lusts 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 90 
 
 of the flesh will bear you away captive ; and, 
 before you are aware of the tempter's access to 
 the heart, he will enter. Remember, that peace 
 entered the soul by believing the record which 
 God gave of his Son, and that onhj by believing 
 can it be preserved. Faith precedes peace in the 
 order of gospel liberty ; and joy springs from the 
 peace that faith produces, A life of faith is 
 essential to a Hfe of peace ; and the faith, from 
 which peace arises, is justifying, or, that which 
 has for its object, principally, the blood and righ- 
 teousness of Christ. The more you know of 
 Christ as Priest, the more cheerfully will you 
 bow to his sceptre as King. The heart not 
 shielded by faith in the atonement, is easily 
 pierced by the fiery darts of the wicked one ; 
 and the very attempt to crucify the ilesh with its 
 affections and lusts by any other mode than by 
 prayer to the Holy Ghost for his sanctifying in- 
 fluence, than by faith in the Redeemer's sufl"er- 
 ings, at any other place than at the cross, will 
 vest your adversary with power which he will 
 not fail to employ against you. It is true, he who 
 is governed by natural principles, may preserve 
 himself from those immorahties of conduct and 
 perversions of right feeling, which ruin the health 
 
96 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 of the profligate, and blast the reputation of the 
 dishonest ; but this process, well as far as it goes, 
 cannot avail to the crucifixion of the old man : 
 vicious habits may be curbed, and a moral tone 
 be given to feeling, but while iniquity is checked, 
 a self-righteous spirit may be fostered. Thou- 
 sands escape the giddy vortex of dissipation, who 
 perish at the imaginary shrine of human merit. 
 But, to him who lives upon a crucified Saviour, 
 and goes forth both to his battle and to his 
 work in the strength of the Lord, victory is sure. 
 The peace of God, ruling in the heart, curbs the 
 old man both in its profane and pharisaical pro- 
 pensities ; it arms the soul against sin, and in- 
 duces a more entire dependence on the merits of 
 Christ for acceptance with God ; it elevates and 
 chastens the affections, while it assists and regu- 
 lates their prosecution, for His honour who died 
 that we might live : " God forbid that I should 
 glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus ; by 
 whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto 
 the world." (Gal. vi. 14.) " I am crucified with 
 Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me ; and the hfe 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.) 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 97 
 
 With these convictions and assurances, and 
 with peace enthroned on the heart, the believer 
 is prepared for conflict with Satan, with the 
 world, and specially with indwelling sin. He is 
 taught, and enabled «' to put off, concerning the 
 former conversation, the old man, which is cor- 
 rupt according to the deceitful lusts ; to be re- 
 newed in the spirit of his mind, and to put on 
 the new man, which after God is created in righ- 
 teousness and in true holiness." (Eph. iv. 22.) 
 Peace is his safeguard ; and, assisted by the Holy 
 Ghost, (for peace ruling, is the Holy Ghost reign- 
 ing,) it leaves no avenue to his heart unclosed, 
 no passion unwatched, no sense unrestrained. In 
 temptation it raises a cry to the great deliverer for 
 his assistance, and repels the tempter with, " how 
 shall I do this great wickedness and sin against 
 my God ?" how can I crucify the Saviour afresh, 
 and put him to an open shame ? He is my Lord, 
 and him only will I serve. *' Get thee behind me, 
 Satan ; he teaches my hands to war, and my 
 fingers to fight." 
 
 '* He makes the glorious victory mine, 
 And his shall be the praise." 
 
 By faith I live, walk, and triumph : I am the fee- 
 blest child in my Father's family ; yet, strength- 
 
98 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 ened by his Spirit, I stand in the evil day. His 
 peace rules me, his word guides me. The sense 
 I have of interest in his favour keeps me humble 
 and makes me joyful ; he discovers to me my 
 poverty, teaches me to seek his promised bless- 
 ings, and supplies all my need according to his 
 riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. He secures my 
 dependence upon himself by keeping me inwardly 
 poor ; and as I see and feel my nothingness, he 
 shews me my completeness in his Son. The 
 world becomes less and less interesting ; Christ 
 increasingly precious. When brought low, he 
 helps me; when distressed, he comforts me ; and 
 by various disappointments, teaches me to de- 
 pend upon him for all my temporal and spiri- 
 tual mercies. He enables me to glorify him 
 passively, by receiving from his fulness, and 
 grace for grace ; and actively, by praising him 
 for those supplies of his Spirit, which are freely 
 vouchsafed to meet my daily exigencies. To his 
 cross I am encouraged to repair with all my in- 
 firmities and my difficulties ; to him I breathe the 
 plaintive sigh ; and before I call, he answers ; 
 and while I am yet speaking, he hears. My 
 affections are more intensely fixed on his glori- 
 ous person ; he makes me willing to be his servant 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 99 
 
 and his child ; and as my happiness depends on 
 being his, on being conformed to his image, and 
 on living to his glory, *' what things were gain to 
 me, those I count loss for Christ ; yea, doubtless, 
 I count all things but loss and dung for the excel- 
 lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." 
 (Phil. iii. 8.) Oh thou blessed ! blessed Jesus, 
 *' whom have I in heaven but thee ! and there is 
 none upon earth that I desire beside thee." With 
 thee, and thy peace ruling in my heart, I am 
 joyful even in tribulation ; and amid the anticipa- 
 tions of the tomb, my brightest hopes are awa- 
 kened. Yes, I have all, and abound : for having 
 thee, what else can I desire } thou hast given me 
 the earnest of ihe Spirit, the foretaste of glory; 
 and ere a few more fleeting days have passed, I 
 hope to see thee as thou art ; to awake up in thy 
 likeness, and to be for ever satisfied. But, know- 
 ing that thou hast done all things well, and being 
 satisfied with thy determinations, though to die now 
 would be gain, *' all the days of my appointed time 
 will I wait, till my change come." (Job xiv. 14.) 
 As every believer mourns declensions in the 
 life and power of grace, "and is subject unto 
 many decays, partly by surprisals in temptation," 
 it is of importance to know by what means it 
 
100 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 pleases God to maintain in the heart that happy 
 state of things to which an allusion has just been 
 made. God, is a God of order ; and his work in 
 the hearts of his people is begun and carried on 
 by the administration of laws which he himself 
 has established, and from which, in the execu- 
 tions of his plans, he never deviates : for how- 
 ever free and sovereign be the reign of grace, she 
 rules by a setded process, and conducts her ope- 
 rations by a regularity which nothing can dis- 
 turb. It must, then, be admitted that, while 
 there are blessings to be received and enjoyed 
 on earth, there is an appointed medium through 
 which they flow ; and, that to receive them, we 
 must be numbered with those to whom they are 
 promised. To rejoice with the believer, we must 
 believe ; and while it is certain, they who are 
 born of God shall live for ever, it is, also, certain, 
 that if we walk carelessly before the Lord, we 
 shall incur his displeasure and receive his chas- 
 tisement. 
 
 Peace is a fruit of the Spirit : he produces and 
 maintains it; and as it cannot rule in the heart 
 when guilt is upon the conscience, infirmity and 
 failure disturbs its blessed reign. Whatever, 
 therefore, is calculated to bring the heart into 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 101 
 
 subordination to the will of God, and to induce 
 sanctity of life, must promote the reign of peace ; 
 and on the contrary, whatever pollutes the affec- 
 tions, dissipates the mind, and indisposes it for 
 communion with Christ, prevents it. How often 
 is the Spirit grieved ! and how innumerable are 
 those incidents which separate us from our be- 
 loved ! How, then, can peace be preserved, and 
 by what means can its reign be continued ? 
 Isaiah at once meets the difficulty ; " Thou wilt," 
 said he, "keep him in perfect peace, whose 
 mind is stayed on thee ; because he trusteth in 
 thee." (Isa. xxvi. 3.) To stay upon God is the 
 christian's privilege; but it is an act of faith, 
 and can be done by faith only. Faith can stay no 
 where but on God, and its reclension on him 
 renders the christian stable amid the fluctuations 
 of feeling and the changes of life, and prepares 
 him for any conflict into which he may be 
 thrown. Is he burdened ? with his mind stayed 
 upon God he is supported, for underneath him 
 are the everlasting arms, and the eternal God is 
 his refuge. Is he journeying to a land of rest ? 
 he steps on with confidence, for he leans on Je- 
 sus his guide ; he descends the valley and climbs 
 
 the rugged mount without fear. Is he called to 
 K 2 
 
102 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 fight his way to the kingdom, and to endure 
 hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ ? are 
 his enemies mi2;hty and numerous, and is he 
 naturally weak and timid ? he fights well — he 
 smiles at Satan's rage, and sings defiance to the 
 gates of hell ; nothing shakes his confidence ; and 
 even in the field he rejoices as if every foe were 
 slain, as if he were proclaimed and crowned a 
 conqueror. " Though an host should encamp 
 against me, my heart shall not fear : though war 
 should rise against me, in this will I be confi- 
 dent." Is he persecuted for righteousness sake? 
 he is happy even in the prison or at the stake ; 
 and at midnight, though in chains, sings praises 
 to his God, Is he poor in this world ? are his 
 providential supplies for himself and family but 
 few ? yea, is the flock cut off from the fold, and 
 is there no herd in the stall .^ he prays, and 
 waits, and believes that his Heavenly Father will 
 provide what is necessary. Is he launched on 
 the sea of life ? does tempest threaten his ruin, 
 as if the ocean were his cradle, and the wave his 
 pillow ? he sleeps as safely and sings as sweetly as 
 if in a calm, and " with Christ in the vessel he 
 smiles at the storm." Is he tempted by Satan, 
 who, standing at his right hand to resist and 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 103 
 
 accuse him, echos the curses of the law he has 
 broken, and pourtrays the mount that burns ? he 
 is quiet from fear of evil ; and however just be 
 the accusations, knowing that the blood of Jesus 
 cleanseth from all sin, he points to the cross 
 where hung the victim for his guilt, and if he 
 weep (for a sight of that mournful tree melts his 
 heart) he weeps for the Lamb that was slain, and 
 his tears are tears of joy. Is he conscious of the 
 near approach of death ? he gazes upon the king 
 of terror with a smile, and, looking unto Jesus, 
 cries, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 
 in peace according to thy word : for mine eyes 
 have seen thy salvation." Does he anticipate 
 "the wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds," 
 when, amid blazing elements and assembled mil- 
 lions, he will see the Judge on his throne ? he 
 sings, 
 
 " Bold sliall I stand in that great day, 
 For who ought to my charge shall lay ? 
 While through his blood absolv'd I am, 
 From sin's tremendous curse and shame." 
 
 But how, it may be inquired, can we account 
 for this stability and joy } At the approach of 
 death and judgment the wicked tremble : and 
 even many of the redeemed are all their life-time 
 
104 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 subject to bondage through the fear of death — 
 but this man is always confident — and, indeed, 
 well he may be — for see, his mind is stayed on the 
 God of Peace ; he leans on the Prince of Peace ; 
 and the Spirit bearing witness with his spirit that 
 he is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus 
 Christ, how can he be otherwise than calm and 
 happy ! Did he stay upon any thing out of God 
 he would fluctuate and lose his peace ; and how- 
 ever apparently stable might be the object of his 
 dependence, he would not, he could not, be joy- 
 ful. But, stayed on the Lord, he is kept in per- 
 fect peace. He possesses peace ; he found it when 
 he found Christ, and through Christ had access, 
 by the Spirit, to the Father ; and it is preserved, 
 for the God on whom he stays is the God of his 
 salvation ; a God that never changes, a rock that 
 never moves ; and while he stays here, nothing 
 can move him. He is kept in peace — in perfect 
 peace* — Observe this, he does not keep himself, 
 but the God on whom he depends keeps him in 
 peace, and so completely absorbs his attention, 
 ;ind occupies his faith, that his concern is not, 
 how he shall stand the trying day, brave this 
 shock, bear this load, and manage when heart 
 and flesh fail : — No — he is enabled to leave all 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 105 
 
 these things with God ; he has confidence in his 
 care and affection ; he is wilUng that he should 
 choose the cup he shall drink and the road he 
 shall take ; his concern is to glorify his Heavenly 
 Father, and to delight himself in the abundance 
 of peace and truth. He has now no time, nor in- 
 clination, to be sinfully anxious about this life, for 
 he reads his title to a better ; and as he knows 
 that all things concerning his life and death are 
 settled, that he cannot have one affliction more 
 than the Lord pleases to send him ; that both the 
 inward and the outward cross are necessary for 
 his well-being as a child of God, inasmuch, as 
 sanctified afflictions are among the means the 
 Spirit uses to keep him both humble and happy; 
 that he shall die when, and where, and how his 
 Heavenly Father pleases ; that on leaving this 
 mortal body he shall enter the kingdom prepared 
 for him, and be for ever with, and for ever hap- 
 py in, the Lord. Knowing this, his understand- 
 ing having been reduced to practise, he patiently 
 *' waits the great teacher death," exclaiming, " My 
 heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed ; I will 
 trust and not be afraid." 
 
 In this way is peace preserved, and by these 
 means does it rule. Oh ! that we may recline 
 
106 THE PEACE OF GOD 
 
 on the blessed Jesus till, delivered from every foe, 
 and sheltered from every storm, we unite with 
 the spirits of the just made perfect in ascribing 
 wisdom, and power, and honour, and glory, and 
 blessing to the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 How delightful are his anticipations whose 
 mind is stayed upon the Lord ! Who that lis- 
 tens to his musings can pronounce him unblest ! 
 Is he not happy ? amid his contemplations on the 
 love of Jesus, and as faith waits its full disclosure, 
 these thoughts strike him — 
 
 ** But how must his celestial voice 
 Make ray enraptur'd heart rejoice, 
 
 When I in glory hear him. 
 While 1 before the heavenly gate, 
 For everlasting entrance wait. 
 And Jesus on his throne of state, 
 
 Invites me to come near him. 
 
 Come in, thou blessed, sit by me. 
 With mine own life I rausom'd thee, 
 
 Come, taste my perfect favour ; 
 Come in, thou happy spirit come. 
 Thou now shalt dwell with me at liome. 
 Ye blissful mansions make him room, 
 
 For he must stay for ever." 
 
 My brethren, let the peace of God rule in your 
 hearts, and the bliss of this man is your's, with 
 all his capabilities for extensive and persevering 
 
RULING IN THE HEART. 107 
 
 obedience. '\Be careful for nothing ; but in every 
 thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiv- 
 ing let your requests be made known unto God. 
 And the peace of God which passeth all under- 
 standing, shall keep your hearts and minds 
 through Christ Jesus." "Finally, brethren, what- 
 soever things are true, whatsoever things are 
 honest, whatsoever things are just, v/hatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
 whatsoever things are of good report, if there 
 be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think 
 on these things." 
 
 E. M. 
 
PART III. 
 
 A CAUTION AGAINST THE ABUSES OF CHRISTIAN 
 FRIENDSHIP; WITH DIRECTIONS FOR ITS IM- 
 PROVEMENT: DESIGNED TO ASSIST THE SPIRI 
 TUALITY OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 
 
 MY DEAR BRETHREN, 
 
 The friendship of the world is enmity with 
 God ; and even human associations, professedly 
 christian, may lose the sanctity of their character, 
 and destroy that spirituality they are designed to 
 promote. To be cautious, therefore, in the selec- 
 tion of companions, and to regulate the princi- 
 ples of companionship, is at once your duty and 
 privilege. 
 
 Knowledge of the Saviour is increased by the 
 use of means ; and when you meet for spiritual 
 communion, the conversation being in heaven, 
 and the love of Christ the absorbing theme, a 
 halo of glory is thrown around the social cir- 
 cle; and the interchange of thought, on subjects 
 bearing the impress of eternity, leads to the 
 most delightful conclusions. " As in water, face 
 
A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY., &C. 109 
 
 answereth to face, so the heart of maii to man :*' 
 and, "did not our heart burn within us ? is an in- 
 terrogation that frequently arises out of fellow- 
 ship with those, whose fellowship is with the 
 Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Come, 
 and hear what God has done for my soul, is a 
 cheering invitation; and tlie details of the rich 
 in faith are encouraging to the weak believer. 
 When christians declare the way in which God 
 has led them ; and how, to use the language of 
 Mr. Romaine, " he has endeared himself to their 
 hearts by continual favours;" their brethren, who 
 either know or seek the truth, are refreshed ; the 
 Saviour, whose deeds are rehearsed, rises in their 
 esteem, and they join in ascribing all honoui 
 and glory, to him who sitteth upon the throne, 
 and to the Lamb for ever. " As iron sharpen - 
 etb iron, so doth a man the countenance of his 
 friend;'* for "as ointment and perfume rejoice 
 the heart, so doth the sweetness of a man's friend 
 by hearty counsel." Faith in her exercises, is as- 
 sisted by faith in her details ; love is moved in 
 her efforts to please, by love in her attempts 
 to console; joy, by being communicated, in- 
 creases ; and the coalition of spiritual feeling is 
 the identity of interest, and the union of effort. 
 
110 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 to crown the Saviour Lord of all. " Behold, 
 how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to 
 dwell together in unity." Sweet emblem of the 
 bliss of heaven, where pleasure rolls her living 
 flood ! *' It is like the precious ointment upon 
 the head, that ran down upon the beard, even 
 Aaron's beard ; that went down to the skirts of his 
 garments ; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew 
 that descended upon the mountains of Zion ; for 
 there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life 
 for evermore." 
 
 Happy, indeed, are those christians who meet 
 for spiritual communion ! Its legitimate tendency 
 is the purification of the believing heart, and 
 the increase of joy and peace to the honour of 
 the great Master of these religious assemblies. 
 The Lord delights in the fellowship of his peo- 
 ple ; hearkens to their sighs as well as to their 
 songs ; draws near to them in the manifestations 
 of his Spirit ; and enriches them with his opening 
 and closing benediction, "Peace be unto you.'* 
 When they look, he smiles ; when they call, he 
 answers ; nor will he suffer them to meet in vain 
 when they meet for his glory ; he blesses them, 
 and makes them blessings to each other : so that 
 the backslider has been restored, the mourner 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. Ill 
 
 comforted, the wavering established, the youthful 
 convert nourished — by spiritual conversation, 
 " The tongue of the wise is as choice silver ; and 
 understanding, being a well-spring of life to him 
 that hath it, the words of his mouth are as deep 
 waters, and the well spring of wisdom as a 
 flowing brook." How beautiful, how expres- 
 sive, are the petitions of Mr. Newton ! Oh that 
 they were admitted into the regulations of social 
 life ! then would the cottage of the poor, and the 
 drawing room of the rich, be as the house of God 
 and the gate of heaven : — 
 
 *' May he by whose kind care we meet, 
 Send his good Spirit from above ; 
 Make our communications sweet, 
 
 And cause our hearts to burn with love. 
 
 Forgotten be each worldly theme, 
 
 When christians see each other thus ; 
 
 We only wish to speak of him, 
 Who liv'd, and dy'd, and reigns for us. 
 
 We'll talk of all he did and said, 
 
 And sufFer'd for us here below ; 
 
 The path he mark'd for us to tread. 
 
 And what he's doing for us now. 
 
 Thus as the moments pass away, 
 We'll love, and wonder, and adore : 
 
 And hasten on that glorious day, 
 
 Wlien we shall meet to part no more." 
 
112 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 " Then they that feared the Lord spake often 
 one to another, and the Lord hearkened and 
 heard it ; and a book of remembrance was writ- 
 ten before him for them that feared the Lord, 
 and that thought upon his name." 
 
 But have you not, my brethren, reason to be 
 jealous, lest you corrupt one another from the 
 simplicity that is in Christ, and deaden, rather 
 than enliven, spirituality ? . How often is Christ 
 either partially or entirely forgotten when you 
 meet ? The failures or successes of the neighbour ; 
 commercial loss or gain ; political intelligence ; 
 and a thousand minor subjects too often occupy 
 the attention and the hour that ought to be de- 
 voted to the holiest of purposes. The world is 
 the principal figure in the scene, and Christ the 
 dull shading of the whole. His name, his righ- 
 teousness, his promises, and his glory are intro- 
 duced, as topics of conversation, but sparingly, 
 if at all ; and if conscience will not allow the 
 evening to close without prayer, the chapter is 
 read, the knee is bent, the petition is preferred 
 with lukewarraness, as if the Lord's service were 
 a weariness, and the form of godliness an accept- 
 able substitute for its power. How many per- 
 sons, whose professed attachment to the doctrines 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 113 
 
 of grace is sufficiently influential to induce a 
 dissatisfaction with the sermon in which Christ 
 is not the Alpha and Omega, would retire with 
 equal dissatisfaction from that social circle from 
 which all were excluded who could not give a 
 reason of the hope that was in them, and who 
 were not determined not to know any thing, save 
 Jesus Christ, and him crucified ! It is, indeed, 
 natural to talk of the cares and revolutions of 
 this world; and, to a certain extent, commercial 
 intercourse is necessary and cannot be avoided, 
 for even the redeemed occupy important positions 
 in the great scale of national existence. Yet is it 
 not reasonable to expect that, when they meet, 
 their conversation will be as becometh the gospel 
 of Christ, that they will speak to the Lord's glory, 
 and to their mutual edification of the things they 
 have handled, and tasted, and felt of the word of 
 life, and thus provoke one another to love and to 
 good works, "teaching and admonishing one ano- 
 ther, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, 
 singing with grace in their hearts to the Lord ?" 
 Seasons of christian communion are seasons of 
 refreshing from the presence of the Lord ; they 
 vest the affections of the heart with more than 
 ordinary sensibility, and are means of grace to 
 
114 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 the doubtful and downcast. Doubtless, the mi- 
 nistry or the gospel is one of the glories of the 
 church, and the standing ordinance for the con- 
 version and edification of sinners ; yet God is 
 frequently a sanctuary to his people when they 
 unite to rehearse his righteous acts, and to offer 
 on the domestic altar their spiritual sacrifices. 
 The Sun of Righteousness shines in the parlour 
 as well as in the sanctuary ; the waters of salva- 
 tion flow as freely through the hallowed precincts 
 of a good man's house, as through the temple. 
 God is not confined in his operations, nor li- 
 mited to a few mediums of communication ; he 
 blesses his people whenever they meet for prayer 
 and praise. 
 
 Oh ! then, when will you be wise ! when will 
 you think, and speak, and act in character ! The 
 idle talk of professors, and the trifling loquacity 
 of some church members is fraught with incal- 
 culable mischief: they occupy the chair of judg- 
 ment when they ought to appear at the bar of a 
 christian ordeal ; they take the seat of the scor- 
 ner, if not the bench of the legislator, and, 
 without evidence, risk the most unjust of ver- 
 dicts on the character and conduct even of their 
 superiors in knowledge and in faith. To such 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 115 
 
 persons, nor are their numbers few, how touch- 
 ing is our Lord's reproof! "Why beholdest 
 thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but 
 considerest not the beam that is in thine own 
 eye ? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother. Let 
 me pull out the mote out of thine eye ; and, be- 
 hold, a beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypo- 
 crite : first cast out the beam out of thine own 
 eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out 
 the mote out of thy brother's eye." 
 
 The temptations awaiting you in the parlour, 
 as well as at the exchange, are many, and refined, 
 and by their speciousness Satan carries on his 
 work to an alarming extent. His object is to give, 
 if possible, an unholy turn to conversation, and 
 thus to prevent that sweet communion of saints 
 which imparts to life some of its pleasing and 
 most endearing peculiarities. He cares not how 
 the time is occupied, nor by what means thought 
 is amused, so that fellowship with Christ is 
 interrupted. Much prayer and watchfulness 
 are, therefore, necessary to render human inter- 
 course profitable. When christian friends anti- 
 cipate the hallowed luxuries of a social hour, 
 they should fervently beseech the great Head of 
 the church to spiritualize their affections, that 
 
116 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 they might, out of the abundance of their en- 
 joyments, be able to " breathe their thoughts in 
 words that burn," and edify one another in love. 
 Prayer should mark their meeting as well as their 
 separation ; for unless God condescend to bless 
 them, the occupations and occurrences of this life 
 will exclude all practical thought on the law, on 
 faith, and on judgment to come. Satan aims to 
 engross the first five minutes of the evening, and 
 if he succeed, he will, in all probability, command 
 the hour. It is well to begin the day with God, 
 and as one of the fathers observes, ** to v/ash the 
 soul before the body ;" and it is as desirable to 
 commence that evening with God which is set 
 apart for friendly intercourse. How can God's 
 blessing be expected unless it be sought? and if 
 sought, it will be found, "for if ye, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
 how much more will your heavenly Father give 
 his Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" 
 
 My brethren, are you not conscious of having 
 yielded to the tempter in many instances ? Has 
 not evening after evening been spent with your 
 brethren in the faith, when more has been said 
 of the man, than of the Master ? when the world 
 so completely engaged your attention that re- 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 117 
 
 deeming love was forgotten ? Soul distress is 
 sometimes attributable to the unsanctified influ- 
 ence of friendship ; and may not the unfruitful- 
 ness and languor of which you often complain, 
 be traced to some recent or distant interview with 
 a friend ? Did you direct him tO the cross, did 
 he point you to Jesus when, amid the common 
 salutations of life, vividness marked your feeling, 
 and pleasure moved your tongue ? Did you not 
 meet and part without inviting each other to 
 contemplate the beauty and glory of the Sa- 
 viour ? Did you not forget that he was your life, 
 your light, and your all ? Perhaps your conver- 
 sation was trifling, and instead of coming to the 
 great question, *' Saw ye Him whom my soul 
 loveth ?" did you not, by your conduct, say, 
 *« What is thy beloved more than another be- 
 loved ; and who is the Lord that I should obey 
 him ?'.' Then, watch and pray lest you enter into 
 temptation. Yea, let the husband and the wife 
 be jealous of each other lest they love the crea- 
 ture more than the Creator, and become hin- 
 drances, rather than helps, in the ways of the 
 Lord. Let the parent be jealous of the child, 
 lest it become an idol. Let the members of 
 christian churches be jealous of their pastors, 
 
118 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 and let them be jealous of their flocks, lest the 
 glory that is due to the Lord be given to his 
 servants, lest pastoral visits lose that spirituality 
 which is essential to the edification of both the 
 visitor and the visited ; and death remove, from 
 a sphere of usefulness, the man that steals the 
 heart for which the Saviour pleads. Let those 
 whose mutual attachment is strong as the ties of 
 life, and who habitually interchange the social 
 visit, be jealous, lest, from false delicacy, they 
 connive at each other's infirmities, and heal 
 when they ought to wound. 
 
 ** Our dearest joys and nearest friends, 
 The partners of our blood ; 
 How they divide our wavering minds, 
 And leave but half for God. 
 
 The fondness of a creature's love, 
 How strong it strikes the sense ; 
 
 Thither the warm affections move. 
 Nor can we call them thence." 
 
 ''Nothing will console or enrich us in the 
 neglect of intimate fellowship with Christ. We 
 must walk with God at any rate, or our souls 
 will die. Even christian communion will form 
 a most empty substitute for this hallowed inter- 
 course. The command is, " enter thy closet, and 
 shut thy door" — shut out, not only vanity and 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 119 
 
 the world, but, even for a time, the communion of 
 saints. The soul may lose its spiritual vigour in 
 any company but that of God, in the best as well 
 as in the worst ; in the church as well as in the 
 world." Every movement and association that 
 clashes with fellowship with God, must be re- 
 linquished ; for as there is in his presence a ful- 
 ness of joy, and in his absence a darkness that 
 may be felt, his visits more than compensate for 
 the loss of social bliss, and the light of his coun- 
 tenance is more calculated to elevate, than are 
 the frowns of the world to depress. Unless de- 
 cision of character give uniformity to habit, and 
 the Lord's favour be esteemed above the bosom 
 companion, we shall often be with the social 
 party when we ought to be at the family altar ; 
 and as often be with our families when we ought 
 to be in our closets. Sweet as may be the iden- 
 tities of friendship, and painful as may be a 
 separation from those we love, they must not ab- 
 sorb that time and attention in public which are 
 due to God and to the soul in private. To receive 
 the Lord's blessing we must be where that bles- 
 sing is to be found; and however singularly 
 conducive to soul prosperity is fellowship with 
 the Lord's people, we must remember that vain 
 
120 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 is the help of man, and that without a close 
 walk with God religion in the soul must decline. 
 When social meetings are protracted to a late 
 hour, family worship, or private prayer, or per- 
 haps both, are neglected, or hurried through 
 in confusion ; for if the excitements of the 
 day have been excessive, the tenth or the ele- 
 venth hour of the evening pleads for the weari- 
 ness of the flesh, and solicits the invigorating 
 influence of sleep ; and, too frequently, the knee 
 bends at the altar with reluctance, while the odour 
 of the evening's sacrifice ascends but faintly to 
 the Guardian of the midnight hour. 
 
 Prudent arrangements will. assist your manage- 
 ment of time ; and firmness, marked by discre- 
 tion and humility, will enable you to give to 
 every hour the attention for which your respon- 
 sibility calls, and to the duties of life that portion, 
 of the day which they legally claim. The in- 
 viting engagements of sociality, hallowed as they 
 may be by deep devotion, must be regulated, lest 
 they prevent or disturb the felicities of the lonely 
 hour. If our friends take us from the Lord, or 
 keep us from the Lord, or disturb our commu- 
 nion with the Lord, ihey are culpable for break- 
 ing in upon our retirements, and demerit reproof 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 121 
 
 for allowing them to interfere with our sa- 
 cred exercises. We are told of a person wlio, 
 when his official duties detained him from the 
 family or closet at the hour devoted to their 
 high consecrations, would leave the tumult 
 of business and retire for a few moments for 
 prayer, lest at a later hour, or by physical ex- 
 haustion, he should be tempted to neglect, or to 
 hurry through the exercises which he knew to be 
 essential to the prosperity of his soul. And it is 
 said of Colonel Gardiner, that he always had two 
 hours with God in a morning. If his regiment 
 marched at four, he would be up at two. 
 
 '* O lost to virtue, lost to manly thought, 
 Lost to the noble sallies of the soul, 
 Who think it solitude to be alone," 
 
 How true is the adage — the christian is never 
 less alone than when alone. Retirement is a re- 
 lief of which he should, as often as possible, avail 
 himself. The lamp will burn more steadily when 
 sheltered, than in storm ; and the fruit that evades 
 the touch will preserve its bloom. 
 
 " In secret silence of the mind, 
 My heaven and there my God I find." 
 
 Assistance is doubtless useful . and it is the 
 
 M 
 
122 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 duty of the strong christian to lend his arm to the 
 weak ; but he is obliged to take the quiet walk 
 in the vineyard, and to lave his thirst at a stream, 
 specially his own, because directing its course 
 through a medium which he only can follow. 
 Communion of saints is sometimes an interrup- 
 tion ; and though Peter may come down from 
 the mount of glory, his visit to John is not always 
 seasonable : if the latter be leaning on the bosom 
 of his beloved, and wrapt in the vision of his 
 charms ; he needs not the touch of the former, 
 though his hands might drop with myrrh, and his 
 fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh. Who can 
 lack society with Jesus ? and when the soul is 
 indulged with his presence and blessing, that 
 problem is easily solved, " alone, yet not alone." 
 Christ is all in all. Is not the friend, then, as well 
 as the foe, to be dreaded ? Who would not watch 
 and pray against the plunderers of his peace 
 and comfort ? If the master of a house knew 
 what hour the thief would come, he would watch 
 and guard his property: and shall not we be 
 careful of our spiritual riches ? Our salvation 
 cannot be lost, our joys may ; and the whisper 
 of mercy may be hushed even by a trifling inci- 
 dent. Friends rush in, " where strangers fear to 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 123 
 
 tread," and, without thought, obtrude on the heart 
 the deadly snares of refined temptation. The 
 friend, then, is to be suspected ; for how can that 
 intercourse be profitable in either immediate or 
 remote results, that is not sanctified by the Holy 
 Ghost ! And if the social circle be left with a mind 
 more earthly and dissipated than that which en- 
 tered it, where is the evidence of the communion 
 having been sanctified ? For some years before 
 the death of the great Mr. Hervey, he visited but 
 very few of the principal persons in his neigh- 
 bourhood. Being once asked, why he so seldom 
 went to see the neighbouring gentlemen, who yet 
 shewed him all possible esteem and respect ? he 
 answered, **I can hardly name a polite family, 
 where the conversation ever turns upon the things 
 of God. I hear much frothy and worldly chit- 
 chat, but not a word of Christ ; and I am deter- 
 mined not to visit those companies where there is 
 not room for my Master as well as for myself." 
 Oh that the Lord's people would follow the ex- 
 ample of this holy man 1 then would they prove 
 that, 
 
 *' Friendship's the wine of life, 
 that 
 
 Smitten friends are angels, sent 
 
 On errands full of love." 
 
124 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 My brother, " knovv'st thou what a friend con- 
 tains ?" A christian ** friend is worth all hazards 
 we can run !" Ye masters and heads of families ; 
 ye members of the household circle, where the 
 christian altar is its centre; ye visitors to the 
 drawing room, and to the poor man's tent ; ye 
 visited, who bid those welcome to your boards of 
 hospitality, whose connexion with you, either by 
 congregational or relative ties, has entwined their 
 best interests around your hearts ; ye members of 
 this church, whether old or young, whether your 
 names have been but recently entered on its 
 records, or whether for the third of a century you 
 have here drank the sacramental cup — while 
 friendship has been your motto, has the cross of 
 Christ been the standard around which you have 
 invariably rallied the associations of public and 
 of private life ? Are ye prepared to tell the world, 
 the church to which you belong, and the humble 
 enquirer who now interrogates you, that no pangs 
 of conscience disturb your meditations on chris- 
 tian intercourse ? that your reflections on the 
 hours devoted to thje friendly visit are remorse- 
 less ? If not, *' I beseech you, brethren, suffer the 
 word of exhortation : for I have written a letter 
 unto you .in few words." And, , 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 125 
 
 First. In your intercourse with each other, 
 seek the Lord's presence. For *' sweet indeed, 
 and inestimably precious are the minutest, the 
 most glimmering, and most transient views of in- 
 terest in the Father's electing grace, and in the 
 unsearchable merits of Christ. For the Holy Spirit 
 to visit us with the light of his countenance, and 
 to bless us with the knowledge of salvation, by 
 bearing vv^itness with our spirits that we are the 
 children of God, is at once the certain earnest, 
 and richest foretaste of that consummate bliss pre- 
 pared for the vessels of mercy before the founda- 
 tion of the world. The ordinances of the gospel 
 are a kind of half-way house where God meets and 
 communes with his children on the road to heaven. 
 These are the windows and the lattices through 
 which the King of saints displays part of his beau- 
 ty and glory to the eye of faith. Communion with 
 God leaves a calm and a sweetness upon the soul, 
 which are remembered after many days, as a vase 
 of rich perfume, or of odoriferous unguent, scents 
 the air with fragrance even after the vessel that 
 contained it is stopped up, and put by."* 
 
 Secondly. When the Saviour favours you with 
 
 * Toplady. 
 M 2 
 
126 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 the visits of his grace, endeavour to detain him. 
 Jacob detained him, when, by the prayer and 
 effort of faith, he obtained the blessing he im- 
 plored — " I will not let thee go except thou bless 
 me.'* The church detained him : '* she held him in 
 the galleries, and said, it was but a little I passed 
 from them, and I found him whom my soul 
 loveth. 1 held him, I would not let him go until 
 I had brought him into my mother's house, and 
 into the chamber of her that conceived me." The 
 women at the sepulchre detained him. " As they 
 went to tell his disciples, Jesus met them, sayin^v^ 
 all hail ; and they came and held him by the feeV^^ 
 and worshipped him." The disciples on their 
 journey to Emmaus detained him. " And they 
 drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and 
 he made as though he would have gone further. 
 But they constrained him, saying, abide with us, 
 for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent, 
 and he went in to tarry with them." Aim ye, 
 who know his worth, to detain him, " for happy is 
 the man that findeth wisdom ; she is a tree of life 
 to them that lay hold upon her," and happy is 
 every one that retaineth her. 
 
 Thirdly. Be jealous of every thing that would 
 disturb or <?rieve him, '' Let those who have 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 127 
 
 comfort be afraid of sinning it away."* How 
 careful was the church of her enjoyments, and 
 how affecting are her words : " As the apple-tree 
 anaong the trees of the wood, so is my beloved 
 among the sons. I sat down under his shadow 
 with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my 
 taste. He brought me into his banqueting-house, 
 and his banner over me was love. His left hand 
 is under my head, and his right hand doth em- 
 brace me. I charge you, O ye daughters of 
 Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the 
 field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till 
 he please." As if she had said, Christ is the 
 altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thou- 
 sand. He is my beloved and my friend ; he has 
 won my affections, and with him I am happy. 
 At home and abroad, in t)ie church and in the 
 world, he is to me more precious than rubies. 
 What are friends, heahh, and property to him ! 
 He is the pearl of great price, and more to me 
 than all that the world can give. Amid the sor- 
 sows of life, his consolations cheer me ; and in the 
 prospect of death, he prevents my fear. Matters 
 are now brought to a pleasing issue. He is mine. 
 
 MatllK'w Heiiiv, 
 
128 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 and I am his. He has made me willing to be 
 governed exclusively by his word and Spirit ; I 
 lie down in his pasture, drink the waters of life, 
 and am refreshed. Oh ! the bliss of communion 
 with Jesus ! it is unspeakable and full of glory ! 
 
 *' I cannot live contented here, 
 Without some glimpses of his face ; 
 
 And heaven, without his presence there, 
 Would be a dark and tiresome place." 
 
 I therefore dread a separation, for I dwell in 
 Mesech, and sojourn in the tents of Kedar. When 
 I would do good, evil is present with me; the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil, unite to oppose me 
 in my spiritual career, and concur to tempt me 
 to leave the best of friends. Oh ! thou great and 
 condescending Saviour, keep me near thyself. 
 
 ** A moment's intercourse with thee, 
 
 Is worth a year's delay." 
 ** When earthly cares engross the day, 
 
 And hold my thoughts aside from thee ; 
 The shining hours of cheerful light, 
 
 Are long and tedious years to me. 
 And if no evening visit's paid. 
 
 Between my Saviour and my soul ; 
 How dull the night, how sad the shade, 
 
 How mournfully the minutes roll." 
 
OF THE S(3CIAL CIRCLE. , 129 
 
 Therefore, would I be jealous of his presence, 
 and charge all about me, by every thing that is 
 dear and lovely, not to disturb nor wake him till 
 he please. I adjure you, ye daughters of Jeru- 
 salem, not to displease my heavenly Friend. My 
 affections, my judgment, my will, my enemy, 
 my friend, my wife, my husband, my child, my 
 father, my mother, my brother, my sister, I 
 charge you all that ye disturb not the Lord Jesus ! 
 My afflictions, my mercies, my temptations, my 
 privileges, my duties, my enjoyments, my busi- 
 ness, my losses, my gains, my disappointments, 
 I charge you all that ye stir not up, nor awake 
 my love till he please ! What shall I do without 
 him when Satan tempts; when flesh and heart 
 fail ; wh^n death's terrific blast chills the vital 
 current in the vein ; " when the silver chord of 
 life loosens apace ; when the last pins of the 
 earthly tabernacle are taken out ; when the limbs 
 quiver ; when the pulse forgets to beat ?" then, 
 ah ! then, what shall I do without him who has 
 conquered death and the grave ! I cannot spare 
 him : no, without him how black the banner that 
 waves o'er Jordan's flood ! how terrible the grave ! 
 But if he be with me in the manifestations of his 
 grace, I shall be happy, my soul will sing herself 
 
130 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 to rest, and amid the crash of material dissolution, 
 there will be 
 
 " A gentle wafting to eternal life." 
 
 I charge you then, ye believers in the Lord 
 Jesus, and especially the members of this church, 
 to embrace every opportunity for spiritual in- 
 tercourse. Christian friendship is sweet indeed. 
 Faithful to her professions, and assiduously anx- 
 ious to wipe the tear from the care-worn cheek, 
 she does not shrink from her duty because its 
 claims are heavy ; but sacrificing whatever is dear 
 to her, to relieve the objects of her tender soli- 
 citude, she labours to impart " the oil of joy for 
 mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit 
 of heaviness.*' She has access to the promises of 
 grace, to the covenant of mercy, and enriches 
 herself that she may enrich. She is skilful in her 
 administrations, sincere in her counsels, wise in 
 her arrangements, and sympathetic in her appeals. 
 She goes from the throne laden with blessings, 
 and invites the poor to the feast. To the trem- 
 bling penitent she " unfolds the page that shews 
 how sin can be forgiven ;" bids the fainting lean 
 on the Saviour's everlasting arm ; and never chants 
 more sweetly than when she whispers, 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 131 
 
 "' Mourning souls, dry up your tears, 
 
 Banish all your guilty fears ; 
 See your guilt and curse remove, 
 
 Cancell'd by redeeming love." 
 
 Finally, my brethren, maintain the dignity of 
 your character and the sanctity of your profes- 
 sions. Invite one another to hear, and be not 
 ashamed to tell, what the Lord has done for your 
 souls. Waste not the hour professedly conse- 
 crated to the communion of saints, in worldly 
 chit-chat, but let the commanding subject of a 
 Saviour slain and a Saviour glorified absorb your 
 attention. Are ye friends of the heavenly Bride- 
 groom ? shew yourselves friendly. Become the 
 helpers of each other's joy, but not the plunder- 
 ers of each other's peace. Meet for prayer. The 
 cause of Christ prospers by prayer. Let meetings 
 for christian communion be held in your houses 
 when domestic and commercial circumstances will 
 allow of these arrangements: let love be your 
 motto, and holiness your law, and decision your 
 watchword, and spirituality your ambition, and 
 the glory of God and communion with him, the 
 end of all your pursuits, and I expect speedily to 
 see your *' righteousness going forth as bright- 
 ness, and your salvation as a lamp that burneth." 
 
132 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 " Arise, shine, thy light is come, and the glory 
 of the Lord is risen upon thee." 
 
 ** O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk 
 in the light of the Lord." — We live in a dark and 
 sinful world, where but a few scattered rays re- 
 lieve the gloomy scene around us ; and where the 
 followers of the Lamb, though enlightened from 
 above, are so obscured, that they can scarcely be 
 distinguished from those who sit in darkness, and 
 in the valley and shadow of death. Their lamps 
 are but floating specks in the atmosphere, only 
 now and then visible : and even when seen, the 
 glimmering disappoints the hope it raises — it is 
 not sufficiently distinct and steady to convince the 
 unbeliever that it was kindled at the altar of inspi- 
 ration. Shall we not, then, be concerned to live 
 in the Spirit ? that we may ivalk in the Spirit ? 
 O ! let us be anxious to hold fellowship with 
 Christ in all places, that we may in every place, 
 and among all people, shine in light borrowed 
 from the Sun of Righteousness. We have too 
 long slumbered in the shades : and but for some 
 peculiarities of habit which distinguish the no- 
 minal christian from the openly profane, what 
 has there been, in our profession of the truth, to 
 awaken irresistible conviction in the mind of the 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 133 
 
 sceptic, that we have been with Jesus ? Could 
 the sanctuary, the closet, the parlour, the social 
 circle, the place of business, disclose their ob- 
 servances of our indifference to spiritual exer- 
 cises, and our abuse of mercies, and our neglect 
 of privileges, and our waste of time, surely at 
 such a disclosure, as this would be, had angels 
 tears to shed, they would weep at our criminal 
 negligence in the ways of wisdom ! Indeed— 
 indeed, we have been satisfied with the shell of 
 christianity_Oh, when shall we possess the 
 kernel ! We have measured ourselves by our- 
 selves ; and, not daring to be singular, have fol- 
 lowed man's example instead of Christ's. The 
 member has been contented with the pastor's 
 degree of spirituality and devotedness; and if the 
 child and the servant have copied the parent and 
 the master, they have concluded all is well: 
 when even, perhaps, each has declined in the 
 life and power of godliness. 
 
 Our views of experimental and practical reli- 
 gion are too complex : we are too nice on some 
 points, too lax on others : we lavish attention on 
 trifles, and disregard weighty matters. So alive 
 are we to the influence of those peculiar views of 
 Jhe gospel, which education may have given us. 
 
134 A HELP TO THE SPIRITUALITY 
 
 and so extremely prone to judge of things di- 
 vine by the opinions of those to whom we have 
 taught to yield obedience, that no ordinary effort 
 of faith is required, calmly, and without preju- 
 dice, to examine the truth, and to investigate our 
 own motives and conduct : we think too much of 
 what we are in man's eye, too little of what we 
 must be in God^s. 
 
 Let us then, my brethren, be sober, and gird 
 up the loins of our minds; and be specially 
 careful and solicitous to promote their spirituality 
 with whom we associate. '* Let us provoke one 
 another to love and good works, and so much 
 the more, as we see the day approaching." Here 
 we have no continuing city — the fact of our dis- 
 solution is revealed that we might be prayerful ; 
 the time is concealed that we might be watchful. 
 And if death terminates not our earthly existence 
 within the limits of a few fleeting weeks, a thou- 
 sand circumstances may occur to lessen our means 
 and opportunities of usefulness. " Work, there- 
 fore, while it is called to-day : for the night Co- 
 meth in which no man can work." 
 
 " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye 
 do them." 
 
 Trusting that the Lord will condescend to bless 
 
OF THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. 135 
 
 what I have written to your edification, and that 
 he will, by the help these pages may afford, ren- 
 der you fruitful in every good word and work, 
 
 Believe me. 
 
 Your faithful friend, 
 
 E. Mannering. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 E. JUSTINS & SON, Printers, 41 , Brick Lane. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 69, line 7, for witers, read writers, 
 
 74, 25, for punishments, resid punishment. 
 
 77, 5, for shadow, read shadows. 
 
 80, 22, for pourtr ay ed, read portrayed. 
 
 100, 7, for f.ree«^20?<.s, read execution. 
 
 — 25, for disturbs, re-dd disturb. 
 103, 2, for pourtr ays, redid portrays. 
 Ill, 20, for f/yv/, read rfzft/. 
 
 134, add, been, to the end of the second line, 
 
 — 18, for terminates, read terminate. 
 
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