02 - The Experience of Religion

CHAP. II. The Experience of Religion.

HAVING spoken of religious knowledge as it respects the doctrines of Scripture, I come now to consider it as it respects the Scripture account of the experience of Chris­tians; the actings of their minds towards divine objects; and the influence of what they believe on their tempers and affections.

All real piety is seated in the heart; and thence, as good seed sown in good ground, it produces those fruits of righteousness which are to the glory of God. No outward forms of devotion; no external profession of piety, however fervent, regular, and conspi­cuous; no exertions for the good of man­kind, however successful and applauded; no sudden emotions of sorrow or joy, under the preaching of the word; nay, no sufferings for the sake of Christ, or zeal for his cause, can entitle us to the character of real Chris­tians, while we are destitute of that repentance, that faith, and that conversion unto God, which have their seat in the heart, which are the breathings of the spiritual life, and which the Scriptures describe as essential parts of real godliness. That God with whom we have to do, searches the heart, and requires truth in the inward parts; that law by which we shall be judged demands the subjection of the whole inward man, and enjoins the love of God with all our heart and mind: that Jesus, on whom dependeth all our hopes of happiness, distinguishes his real disciples by their being born again, renewed in their minds, and setting their affections on things above; and that gospel which publishes the glad tidings of peace to man, testifies the indispensable necessity of being converted and born again. A new creature in Christ; old things done away; the kingdom of God within you; Christ formed in you; strengthened with all might in the inward man; believing with the heart unto salvation:-these are expressions familiar to the inspired writers; and they remind us, that men are no farther religious in the eye of God, than as their religion is seated in the heart, and is influ­enced by those divine principles of unfeigned faith in Christ, and supreme love to him, which Christianity enjoins, and which the Spirit of God inspires.

These remarks are intended to evince this important sentiment, That in order to our deserving the character of real Christians, we must experience the energy of vital religion on our own souls. In what manner that influence exerts itself, comes next to be considered. Here, however, we must tread with cautious steps, lest we substitute the delusions of enthusiasm for the communica­tions of divine grace; or lest, in our zeal against enthusiasm, we condemn the noblest operations of the sacred Spirit.

Concerning the nature of the powers and operations of the mind, learned men have always differed, and probably will continue to differ as long as the world lasts. They are not agreed in what manner the understanding operates on the will, the will on the affections, and one affection on another; far less can they comprehend or explain the operations of divine grace on the under­standing, the will, and the affections, as united and co-operating. But though phi­losophical researches can afford us little aid in tracing the progress of the divine life in the soul, yet we enjoy a more sure word of prophecy, and a more obvious method of illustration, to which we will now attend. That the mind of man is capable of re­ceiving impressions from God is a principle allowed by Heathen sages, as well as by Christian divines. That no man can purify his own mind from all iniquity, is the doc­trine of universal experience. But Scrip­ture further inculcates, that, without the Spirit of Christ, we can do nothing truly good; and that it is God alone who works in man to will and to do what is right. Every just view, therefore, of spiritual ob­jects; every pious sentiment imprinted on the mind; all divine emotions of soul aris­ing from these sentiments; all heavenly de­sires; all holy dispositions; all godlike tempers, and all progressive attainments in in­ward purity, are the fruits of the Spirit, and the evidences of his divine operations.

Connected with this principle, follows another, equally necessary to be mentioned on this subject;-that the Spirit’s opera­tions on the mind are generally through the medium of Scripture, and always in perfect consistency with it. The Scripture revela­tion is complete, and contains all the infor­mation necessary to guide our feet in the ways of peace. The Spirit, therefore, in his agency on the minds of believers makes no new revelation from heaven, nor discovers objects unnoticed in the word of truth: his gracious office is, to make us perceive the meaning, the importance, and the glory of what Scripture testifies; and to bring home, by a particular application, these sacred truths to our understanding and heart. Here then we are naturally led to examine, how the sublime and all-important truths of Scripture, formerly enumerated, affect the mind, when savingly applied by the Spirit. The first evidence of such an application, is self-abasement, and solicitude about peace with God. When the Spirit is come, said the Saviour, he will convince the world of sin. With these convictions his saving operations generally commence; he rouses men from their former insensibility to divine things: he calls their attention to those fu­ture, solemn, eternal scenes revealed in Scripture: he sets before them the majesty, the justice, the sovereign authority, and in­finite holiness of the Lord God Omnipo­tent: he unfolds the perfection of the divine law, its demands of constant obedience, its spirit, its wide extent, and its awful sanc­tions; he convinces them that God will be honoured and obeyed, or will punish the disobedient with destruction; that in de­manding unlimited subjection, he is just to himself, and good to his rational offspring; and that they in withholding it, stand chargeable with ingratitude and rebellion, in all their aggravating circumstances. These sacred truths are imprinted on the heart in lasting characters, through the power of the Spirit; they are contemplated, believed, and acknowledged: and their tendency to hum­ble, and awe, and alarm, may easily be con­jectured. Is this the God who hath every moment sustained us; but whom we have neither feared, nor loved, nor honoured? Are these the invariable demands of the almighty Lawgiver? Doth his immutable law take an impartial cognizance of our thoughts, our tempers, our motives, our words, and our ways? And doth it threaten indignation and woe against all unrighteous­ness of men? What then shall we do to be saved? How can we escape the wrath to come? Our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all our secret sins. How then shall we stand before him? or how can we answer for one of our many, many transgressions? Lord, be merciful to us sinners! Lord, we ab­hor ourselves in thy sight; to us belongs sorrow, for we have sinned, and come short of thy glory.

There is a wide difference between these self-abasing convictions of the Spirit, which are connected with salvation, and the re­monstrances of a natural conscience in un­renewed men. The latter are chiefly ex­cited by the commission of gross, or of out­ward sins, which subject the transgressor to present inconvenience, disgrace, or distress. The former are promoted by a discovery of the opposition which the heart feels to the authority of God, its insensibility to his in­finite amiableness, and its ingratitude for his unmerited goodness: they lead to review our past life with grief and contrition; they excite unfeigned solicitude for reconciliation with an offended God; and, while they con­strain us to confess, that we deserve to per­ish, they make us willing to be saved in whatever manner a holy and gracious God shall be pleased to appoint. The blessed Spirit of illumination and grace, having humbled these awakened men under the mighty hand of God, next leads them to a believing, joyful acceptance of the mercy offered in the Gospel: he gives them to know that God is in Christ, recon­ciling a guilty world to himself; that he hath set forth Jesus as a propitiation for the re­mission of sins; that there is no condemna­tion to them who are in Christ; and that whosoever will, may take of the waters of life freely. Now God appears not only glo­rious in holiness but rich in mercy, a just God and Saviour, a God in Christ, justify­ing the ungodly who believe, and saying in their behalf, "Deliver from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom." Now the cheering dawnings of hope arise in the mind of the awakened sinner. Illuminated by the Spirit, I see a fountain opened for my many iniquities; and I am assured that Jesus died, the just for the unjust, to bring sinners unto God; his blood cleanseth from all guilt; his power saves to the uttermost; his invitations are free and unlimited; and his promise tells me, that he will in nowise cast out. Now arrives the solemn and me­morable hour, of infinite importance to these awakened men, when, through the great Mediator, they approach the throne of the God of peace, when they deliver up the weapons of their rebellion, when they un­feignedly surrender themselves to the grace and the government of the Almighty King of Zion, and intrust the everlasting interests of their immortal souls’ to this all-sufficient Saviour. And now it is, they are made the happy partakers of that faith which is by the operation of the Spirit: they receive the record which God hath given of his own Son; they rely on the great atonement for the pardon of their guilt; they depend on the perfect righteousness of Christ for their justification, in the sight of an offended and infinitely holy God; they plead the expe­rience of his quickening, sanctifying grace; and they lay hold on the covenant of pro­mise, as their security for the enjoyment of all spiritual blessings. So soon as men are thus led to rely on the Saviour for righteousness and redemp­tion, they become new creatures in Christ: old things are done away, and the time past seems far more than sufficient to have wrought the will of the flesh: the high imaginations are laid low, and the affections captivated to the love of Christ; his love constrains them; the influence of sin is opposed; God is su­premely delighted in; and the things of time, however joyous, are counted as the small dust of the balance, when compared with the pleasures which are at God’s right hand. This astonishing change, which, in the hour of reconciliation, passes upon their minds, is styled, the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and the blessed effects of it are growing comfort and holiness; and both of these in all their gradual progress to perfection; are invariably attributed to the residence of the Spirit in the souls of the regenerated. He fills them with peace and with joy, by bearing witness that God hath accepted them through his beloved Son; that his anger is turned away; that he hath adopted them into his family, and given them riot only the honourable title, but all the inestimable privileges of children. That the hope of glory may accompany the joy of believing, the Spirit farther testifies, that if children, then we are heirs, heirs of an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, which God, who cannot lie, hath promised, and which is reserved in heaven for all who love the Saviour. Thus, through views of God as a reconciled Father, through the prospect of immortal joys, and through a noble elevation above this miserable world, they go on their way rejoicing. But these comfortable influences of the Spirit, are diminished or withdrawn, when the people of God indulge in sinful confor­mity to the world, when they act an unduti­ful part to their heavenly Father, or fail to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour. Hence it is evident, that the sanctifying influences of grace are as necessary to our peace and comfort, as the most satisfying assurances of our interest in the divine fa­vour.

Sanctification means the continuance and progress of that spiritual life which was be­gun in believers, when renewed in the spirit of their mind. An infant of a day; hath all the parts and faculties which he shall enjoy when he arrives at manhood; but these, while in infancy, are imperfect and feeble: they grow with his growth, and strengthen with his years. Thus is it with the man of God: sanctification confers no new principles, capacities, and pursuits; but it invi­gorates those which the new creature already possesses, and cherishes them gradually, un­til he arrives at the fulness of the stature of a man .in Christ. Being renewed in his mind, he sets his affections on things above; he presses forward for the prize of his high calling; he lives under the power of the world to come; he loves the Saviour with all the ardour of supreme delight, and consecrates his talents to the honour of God. In filial submission, he resigns his interests to the divine disposal, saying, " Father, not my will, but thine be done." He studies through grace, to walk humbly with God; and it is his daily endeavour to enjoy nearer and more constant fellowship with the Fa­ther, and the Son, through the Spirit. This delightful intercourse, while it elevates his views to heaven, neither leads to presumption, nor fills with arrogance: on the con­trary, it promotes the sincerest humility, under lively impressions of his own unwor­thiness; and excites to watchful circumspection, lest he provoke the holy One of Israel to withdraw his gracious communica­tions.

Such is the gradual progress of the work of grace on the hearts of believers, and such are the feelings of the soul when led by the Spirit: they do unite the ardour of trium­phant joy in God, with deepest humiliation for past offences; the confidence of children, with the reverence of godly fear; the com­fort of pleasing God, with the conflicts of self-denial; the hope of glory to be revealed, with the fear of seeming to stop short in the heavenly journey. 0 happy, though hid­den life! May I live the life of the righte­ous! may I daily experience their abhor­rence of sin; their gratitude for redeeming love; their joy in the Saviour; their fearful­ness of offending; their jealousy over them­selves; their mortification of earthly affec­tions; their eagerness to glorify God; their esteem of the saints; their elevation above the world, and their ardent longings for heaven! Your hearts reply, Amen; let us also delight ourselves in God.