02.7. What Can I Do?
Section VI.
What Can I Do?
I am willing to believe, that among the readers of this book, there may be, here and there, one upon whom the arguments and appeals presented in the preceding pages will not have been thrown away. You are at length satisfied, that it is your duty to attend to the claims of personal religion. But the subject is so new and strange to you that you know not how to go about it. “I would like to become a Christian. But what can I do? Tell me just what to do, and I am ready to follow your directions.” This is your language. If it is uttered in good faith, (as I, of course, presume it to be,) it is cause for thankfulness. It is a great point gained, when an individual has been brought by the Spirit of God to that state of mind, that he is disposed to ask, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer to this momentous question has been interwoven with the whole texture of this volume, and, in several places, stated in a formal way. But your desire for a more particular explanation pf the subject is reasonable, and shall be complied with, so far as God may enable me to meet your wishes.
Let us first review the plan of salvation. This very phrase, as you will perceive, directs the mind to our lost condition; for he only who is lost, requires to be saved. The ruin in which we were overwhelmed by the apostasy of our first parents, comprises two distinct but inseparable parts or elements: depravity of heart, and subjection to the penalty of the Divine law. The former is set forth in such passages as these: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” “By nature, the children of wrath.” “Every imagination of the thought of man’s heart is only evil continually.” “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “The carnal mind is enmity against God.” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (John 3:6, Ephesians 2:3, Genesis 6:5, Romans 3:23, Romans 8:7, Jeremiah 17:9) The other characteristic of our ruined state is affirmed with equal explicitness. “The wages of sin is death.” “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Romans 6:23, Romans 1:18, Galatians 3:10, Ezekiel 18:4) A reference Bible will direct you to numerous other passages, bearing on each of these points. The doctrine they teach is, that man is by nature and by practice a guilty and helpless sinner. His depravity extends to all his powers; his understanding is darkened; his affections are earthly and grovelling; his will is rebellious; his con science is enfeebled or perverted, and the whole current of his being, instead of tending toward his Creator, is alien from God, and hostile to his character and government. Of course, he is under condemnation. The sentence of the law has gone out against him, and retributive justice waits to visit him with its penal curse.
It is evident, (as formerly intimated,) that the only salvation which can meet the exigencies of a race in this condition, must be of the twofold character of the misery from which they are to be extricated. To employ a familiar illustration, the sinner is in the condition of a criminal, who, while under sentence of death, is attacked with a mortal disease. There are two things which a man in these circumstances needs, neither of which will avail him any thing without the other. He may receive a pardon, but he will still die of his malady. He may be healed of his malady, but he will have to suffer for his crime. He must be both healed and pardoned, or his life is gone. So with the sinner. Tie requires to be forgiven, and to be cured of the fatal leprosy of sin. Forgiveness alone would not fit him for heaven. Neither would spiritual healing. The two must be combined. And in the economy of redemption they are combined. One of them is secured in the renewing of the heart by the Holy Spirit; the other, by the soul’s casting itself upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to be pardoned and accepted, solely through the merit of his atoning blood and perfect righteousness.
These themes are the burden of the New Testament. “Except a man be born again, he cannot se the kingdom of God.” “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.” “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever beieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one than believeth.” “Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” “Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.” “He that believeth on him is not condemned; but be that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” “Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” In these and other passages, it is sometimes regeneration, sometimes justification, and again, faith, or repentance, or holiness, which is declared to be indispensable to salvation. All are alike necessary; and are equally included or implied in the work of the Spirit withjn us, and the work of the Savior without us. In the statement just made, I have substituted the word “justification” for “pardon” or “forgiveness,” previously used. The reason is, that man needs more than pardon; he must be “justified.” When a convict is pardoned, he is simply set free from the penalty of the law. If his sovereign should also invite him to his palace, adopt him as a son, exalt him to the highest honors of the realm, and make over to him a title in perpetuity to his kingdom, it would supply an illustration of what God is pleased in his infinite mercy to do for every penitent and believing sinner; and of what, it may be added, must be done in order to his salvation. (John 3:3. James 1:18. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Luke 13:3. John 3:16. Romans 10:4. John 6:37. 2 Corinthians 5:21. Romans 3:22. John 3:18. Hebrews 12:14.) But you will ask, with anxiety, How is this effected? I answer, Through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. As is clearly set forth in the Scripture testimonies that have been quoted, our condition by nature was quite hopeless. In so far as any resources of our own, or of other races of creatures, were concerned, we must have remained forever under the power of that penal death which is the righteous penalty of the Divine law. But “where sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded.” God was pleased, of his mere good pleasure, to send his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Uniting our nature with his own, Jesus stooped to become our SUBSTITUTE, and to expiate our sins with his blood. Assuming our law-place, he rendered to the law that obedience which we had failed to render, and bore that penalty which we had incurred. It was a fundamental principle of the Divine administration, that “without shedding of blood, there could be no remission. The shedding of CHRIST’S blood not only sustained, but “magnified” the law; while it illustrated, beyond any other measure of which it is possible for the human mind to conceive, the dreadful evil of sin, and the boundless love, the inflexible justice, and the immaculate holiness of the Deity. It was as our SURETY he suffered and died. “He bore our sins in his own body on the tree.” “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “Ye are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.” “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” On the efficacy of this sacrifice there can be no question. It was appointed and accepted by the Father; and the least consideration of the subject must suffice to show, that the blood of such a victim has a value sufficient to atone for the sins of unnumbered worlds, if it were the purpose of God so to apply it.
Here, then, is what every sinner needs, — what you need, — a sacrifice which takes away sin, and a righteousness which fulfils all the requirements of the Divine jurisprudence. How can they so become yours as to avail to your justification? The answer which the Scriptures give to this important question, is—by FAITH. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” “God is just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” “This is his commandment, that we should believe on his Son Jesus Christ.” This act is in other places styled, a looking to Christ, receiving Christ, building on Christ, and, more commonly, coming to Christ. For all practical purposes, these expressions may be regarded as equivalent and interchangeable. The sinner, enlightened by the Spirit and word of God, is made sensible of his depraved and miserable condition, of his exposure to the Divine displeasure, and of the worthlessness of his former hopes; and, discovering at the same time the excellency and sufficiency of CHRIST, he receives and rests upon him alone for salvation. In other words, he believes the testimony of God concerning his own sin and ruin. He believes His testimony concerning Jesus Christ, as the propitiation for our sins, our Ransom, and our suffering and atoning High Priest. He believes the gracious assurance, that God will save to the uttermost all who come unto him by Jesus Christ; that none who come shall in any wise be cast out; that “every one who thirsteth,” yea, that “whosoever will,” even though he be the chief of sinners, may come to Christ, and shall be made welcome. This he believes;—not, indeed, without much distrust and many a conflict; and not, ordinarily, without having tried various fruitless expedients for obtaining peace of mind. But, in the end, he believes it; and thereupon, with contrition for his sins, and gratitude for the boundless mercy of God, he accepts the revealed method of salvation, and trusts ill the merits of Christ as the foundation of his hope. Relying upon the righteousness of Christ for acceptance, that righteousness is made over to him or set down to his account—precisely as our sins were laid upon the Savior. As our Substitute, he consented to be “made sin for us,” that is, to have our sins visited upon him, and to be regarded and treated as a sinner in our stead. And his compassionate design in this was, that “we might be made the righteousness of God in him; to wit: that his righteousness (his “obedience unto death,” whereby he fully satisfied the claims of the law) might be so reckoned to our account, that we should be regarded and treated as righteous; or, in other words, be “justified.” It is this closing in with the gospel method of salvation, this cordial assent of the soul to Christ’s invitations, this entire surrender of the heart to him, not only as a SAVIOR to be trusted in, but as a KING and SOVEREIGN, to be obeyed and honored, which constitutes true faith. And if you thus believe in Christ, you will be saved.
“But what,” you may be ready to ask, “becomes of regeneration and repentance. Are not these also essential to salvation?" They are. But will you recur to the views presented in a former part of this Treatise, on the nature of the Spirit’s work upon the heart? This Divine agent, we have reason to believe riot only presents the truth to the mind, but, in some mysterious maimer, ope rates directly upon the mind, so as to enable it to apprehend the truth in its just import. Tie imparts, with the light, the capacity of spiritual vision. (See 1 Corinthians 2:14.) But all this is done without treading upon our free agency. The sinner acts with as perfect freedom in every stage of his conversion—and in the entire development and growth of the spiritual man—as he ever did in rejecting the Saviour, or in prosecuting a secular project. But the Almighty Spirit is there, gently withdrawing the scales from his eyes, unveiling to him his real condition, disclosing the majesty of the violated law, the awful holiness of the Godhead, and the efficacy of the great sacrifice, swaying his reluctant will, loosening his hold upon the world, and, by degrees, leading him on, in penitence, and doubt, and anxiety, toward the cross—and, at length, to the Savior himself. It is while you are “striving to enter in at the strait gate, and occupied with looking to Christ, and as the cause of your doing this, that the Spirit is “working in you to will and to do of his good pleasure.” And it is through the efficacy of his renewing grace that you do, as the first act of the new life he has imparted to you, open your heart to Jesus of Nazareth, and cry, “My LORD and my GOD!” The exercises which precede this receiving of Christ are endlessly diversified. “By the law is the knowledge of sin. “The law is our school-master to bring us to Christ.” And the “lawwork” (as the old divines expressed it) is longer or shorter, milder or more pungent, in different cases. In most of the examples of conversion recorded in the New Testament, it was of brief duration. Witness the dying thief; the three thousand; the jailer of Philippi; the Roman converts. (Acts 28:1-31) In some cases, there was intense anxiety and terror, as with the jailer and the publican. While in others, there seems. to have been no convulsion of feeling whatever, but an humble and grateful reception of a crucified Savior as soon as he was made known: to this class may be referred the instances of the centurion, (Luke 7:1-50) the Ethiopian eunuch, (Acts 8:1-40) and Lydia, (Acts 16:1-40) The same diversity has obtained in later times. Luther was a long while groping his way to the cross—no strange thing certainly, when we consider the circumstances in which he was placed. This also was the experience of Bunyan, and of that great man, Dr. Owen; both of whom passed through protracted and painful conflicts. But in numerous other cases of undoubted conversion, there has been a close resemblance to those Scriptural examples, in which the soul was drawn to the Savior with cords of love.
Nothing is more common than for individuals newly aroused to serious reflection, to insist upon a specific measure of “conviction, as an essential prerequisite to their coming to Christ. That some degree of conviction is demanded, appears from the fact, that no one will seek a Savior until he feels himself to be lost. “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” But the precise extent to which this law-work shall be carried in any given case depends on the sovereignty of God. If Jesus sees fit to send a word, in passing, to the heart of Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, which shall instantaneously transmute him into a disciple; and to consign Saul of Tarsus to three days and nights of blindness and contrition and remorse; neither may complain—Saul, that he experienced too much distress, nor Matthew that he experienced too little. The most intense mental anguish has no merit in it. And the ardent desire for it, on the part of awakened sinners, frequently springs from a subtle spirit of self-righteousness—from a feeling that it would in some way recommend them to the Savior, or move his pity toward them. How fallacious this idea is, might be seen from the fact that individuals sometimes experience the most torturing convictions, without being converted. Of what avail were the convictions of Cain—of Judas—of Felix? Nor is it less important to observe, that the feeling of which I am now speaking, is derogatory to the Savior. It aims at the securing to the sinner himself a share in the glory of his salvation. He would come to Christ with a price in his hand— deeming himself not altogether unworthy of his clemency, because of his tears and his self-reproaches and his mental anguish. Distressed and humbled he may well be: if he could see his sins in all their enormity, his remorse and terror would far exceed any thing he has yet experienced. But there is no merit in this. It has no efficacy to expiate the least of his transgressions. It cannot, in the slightest degree, mitigate his ill-desert. And so long as he trusts in it to make himself less unworthy to be accepted and saved, it will prove an invincible barrier to Ms coming to Christ at all. If we are ever saved, it must be by coming to Christ as miserable, depraved, ruined, and helpless sinners, without righteousness and without strength, feeling that all the merit must be his, that his blood alone can cleanse us, and that it is for God, in His wise and holy sovereignty, to decide, whether we shall be sprinkled with that precious blood, or left to perish. It is to those who are soothing themselves with a complacent righteousness, which as often assumes the type just indicated, as any other, he says, “Because thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.
It may be, that amid the variety of topics which offer themselves for consideration in examining this vital question, you find your mind confused. Let me say then, that the duty of one who desires, without longer delay, to make his peace with God, is perfectly simple and plain. It is defined in that expression so often cited, “COME UNTO ME, and I will give you rest.” You have but this one thing to do. You need not (now) perplex yourself with inquiring, whether the Spirit has changed your heart; nor whether your repentance is yet deep enough to “authorize” you to believe in Christ; nor whether your motives in desiring to be saved are altogether pure; nor with any thing else pertaining to your own exercises. Your warrant, your sole warrant, for coming to Christ, is contained in his word, not in your feelings. It is as much addressed to you as to any other human being; as much as it was to any one among the myriads who have appropriated it and found mercy. It is well to examine your heart by the light of Scripture, to review your life, and to lay to heart the years that have been spent in impenitence, and the mercies that have been abused; but the exclusive contemplation of these things will divert your thoughts from the Savior. And it is in looking to this that the sinner soonest learns to appreciate the evil of sin, the baseness of his ingratitude, and his infinite obligations to redeeming mercy. This, in fact, is genuine repentance; the repentance which flows from a discovery of the divine mercy, in connection with the purity and spirituality of the moral law. “They shall look upon ME whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn.” It is when the sinner has been led by the Holy Spirit to the Savior; when he looks upon him he has pierced, and beholds the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, that he abhors himself’, and repents in dust and ashes. Then it is he sorrows after a godly sort; sorrows, not because he dreads the punishment of sin, but because he feels the intrinsic evil of sin, and sees that it has been committed against a God of infinite goodness, who has been all his life loading him with blessings. Here is the repentance which is unto life; and it is so far from being restricted, as “inquirers” are apt to suppose, to the dawn of religion in the soul, that it forms an essential part of the daily experience of the Christian, until he exchanges his body of sin and death, for the beatific life of heaven. It should be added, too, that in many cases, as with President Edwards, Christians experience far more humbling and affecting discoveries of their deep depravity in after years, than they did at their conversion.
If these views are correct, the question which now concerns the reader, is, ARE YOU WILLING TO COME TO CHRIST? Do you see and feel yourself to be, by nature and by practice, a lost and helpless sinner? Is it your earnest desire and purpose, God helping you, henceforth to hate aid forsake all sin? Are you ready to give up the world, that is, the supreme love of the world, and devotion to its interests, for the love and service of God? Have you seen the insufficiency of your own morality, of your orthodox creed, your hereditary faith, your reformation, your contrition, your prayers, your religious observances, to entitle you to forgiveness, or recommend you to the divine compassion? Are you prepared to renounce all dependence upon these things, and to cast yourself upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, to be washed from your sins in his blood, to be justified only through his righteousness, and henceforth to wear his yoke, to own him as your Lord, and to spend the remainder of your life in his service? If you can answer these questions in the affirmative, what hinders that you should now come to Christ, and receive him as your all in all? “Unworthy,” you doubtless are; but who ever came to Christ, being worthy? The Leeling of “worthiness” would actually exclude you from his offer: for he “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” If you come to him at all, it must be just a you are. Here is the way in which you must come; described so well, that I see not how any uninspired pen could describe it better “Just as I am—without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidd’st me come to thee—
O Lamb of God, I come!
“Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot— To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,—
O Lamb of God, I come!
“Just as I am, though tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings within, and foes without—
O Lamb of God, I come I “Just as I am—poor, wretched, blind:
Sight, riches, healing of the mind, Yea, all I need in Thee to find,—
O Lamb of God, I come!
“Just as I am, thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, Because thy promise I believe—
O Lamb of God, I come!
“Just as I am—thy love unknown has broken every barrier down;
Now to be thine, yea, thine alone—
O Lamb of God, I come!”
(I learn through a private channel, that this beautiful Hymn was written by Miss ELLIOT, of Torquay, England.)
I anticipate the feeling with which some of my readers may listen to this representation. “I would like to feel thus, but I do not. I am willing to do any thing which may inspire me with these feelings, and aid me in coming to Christ. What am I to do ?“ I reply, that the commands of God and his gracious invitations, call for an immediate compliance. All things are ready. The Savior bids you look to him, and live. The present is his time: it should be yours. Such are the uncertainties and perils of life, that a single day’s delay may transfer this question from a world of hope to a region of despair. I urge you then to go to Christ “just as you are,” without an hour’s procrastination. But if you still ask, “What can I do to increase the interest I begin to feel in this momentous subject, and to assist me in entering upon a Christian life ?“ I answer, by suggesting again the following things, which you can and should do.
1. You can deliberately make up your mind as to the duty of attending to the subject of religion at this time. Count the cost of doing it. (Luke 14:25-33.) And determine, as the grace of God may enable you, whether you will from this time make it your paramount concern, to seek an interest in the blood of Christ, and to serve him.
2. You can faithfully exert yourself to put away all known sin. You may be free from gross vices, but you can not be free from sin. You may be proud, or vain — ambitious — passionate —petulant — resentful — avaricious — deceitful — censorious — or addicted to levity and foolish jesting. (“Foolish jesting.” It is not sufficiently considered, how hostile this habit is to serious reflection. There are persons who make it their vocation to say witty things. They are looked to in all companies to make the fun. Like the king’s fool at the ancient courts, they are expected to turn every thing into ridicule; and, conscious of their calling, they are perpetually essaying puns and pleasantries. Not to comment on this practice as a matter of taste, about which opinions might differ, there cam be no question that it is most unfriendly to religious thoughtfulness. The individual who is so unfortunate as to be addicted to it, will find it a great impediment to his salvation. His good purposes will speedily succumb to his levity; and he may barter his soul for the paltry reputation of a humorist.) You may have sudden into unworthy practices in your business. You may be excessively fond of gay amusements, and the frivolities of fashionable life. You may be chargeable with the habitual desecration of the Sabbath; at least, in the way of neglecting its ordinances. It is impossible to cover this ground by an enumeration of specific sins. But take the decalogue, and, with the assistance of any good exposition, (such as the commentaries and catechisms supply,) endeavor to discover to what sins you are prone. And, looking upward for help, begin at once to forsake and watch against them. Many persons appear to suppose that it will be time enough to put away their sins, and discharge every known duty, after they shall have become Christians. This is not the way to be saved. “Turn yourselves, and live ye.” (Ezekiel 18:2.) “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:7) The first thing to be done, is to forsake your evil way, and even your evil "thoughts." Any unwillingness to do this may well lead you to distrust your own sincerity in professing a desire to enter upon a religious life. There is no more decisive characteristic of one who is really “striving to enter in at the strait gate,” than a careful and humble watching against all sin, whether in thought, word, or deed.
3. As closely allied to the counsel just given, you can, to a considerable extent at least, avoid scenes and associations which are hostile to serious reflection. Religious thoughtfulness is too much an exotic in your breast to thrive without being sheltered and nurtured. It may be impaired, and possibly extinguished, by frivolous talking, by gay amusements, by light reading. Nay, the very shame of the cross, and the stifling of convictions, (Mark 8:38, John 12:42-43,) may efface your impressions.
4. While shunning these adverse influences, you can court those of an opposite character, which will fortify you in your good purposes, and aid you in your efforts. Pre-eminent among these are the services of the sanctuary, both on the Sabbath and during the week. I mention the last because of the repugnance you may have felt to going to a weekly lecture or prayer-meeting. There is a feeling on this point among many persons, as irrational as it is pernicious. You certainly, if you are in earnest in seeking your salvation, will not disparage these social religious meetings. You will gladly avail yourself of the valuable assistance you can derive from them in the way of subduing the worldliness of your spirit, emancipating you from the bondage of things visible and transitory, and bringing you into a closer fellowship with Christian ordinances and Christian people. It is well to breathe the atmosphere of a house of prayer. It is in the sanctuary, too, that God’s truth is published and explained; and there the omnipotent Spirit most frequently works his miracles of mercy in the conversion and salvation of sinners.
5. You can devote a portion of every day to the devout reading of the Scriptures, and other religious books. Of such vital importance is this, that it would be impossible to insist upon it too strongly. It was by the study of the Bible he found in the convent of Erfurt, that Luther was gradually led into the truth, and so, in the end, equipped for the Reformation. The Rev. Thomas Scott, the Commentator, whose praise is in all the churches, commenced his ministry in the established Church of England, as a decided Socinian. And it was through the blessing of God on his private study of the Scriptures, that he became, some years after, an able expounder and defender of the faith he had once destroyed. The “FORCE OF TRUTH,” the narrative in which he has portrayed the struggles of his powerful intellect in escaping from the bondage of error, is one of the most interesting and instructive books of our Christian literature; aud you would do well to read it. The radiant career of Mr. Wilberforce as a Christian statesman, is to be traced, under God, (remotely at least,) to his perusal of the Greek Testament with his friend, the Rev. Isaac Mimer, as they travelled together from England to Nice.
These cases, which might easily be multiplied, illustrate the importance of a diligent study of the Scriptures. The entrance of God’s word giveth light. The Holy Scriptures “are able to make thee wise unto salvation.” You will not study them in vain. Let your reading, for the present, be chiefly in the New Testament, with the book of Psalms. You will probably find it profitable to take up one of the Gospels, say the Gospel of John, and read it continuously. In connection with it, read some of the Epistles, say Philippians, Hebrews, 1 Peter and 1 John; and then other portions, both of the New Testament and the Old. A judicious Commentary, like Scott or Henry,, may be of essential service to you. And whether you use a commentary or not, the examination of parallel passages, as indicated in the reference Bibles, will throw a great deal of light on the sacred text, and present familiar truth to your mind in new and engaging aspects. With the reading of the Scriptures, you should have in hand some other suitable books. I know of none more appropriate than those mentioned in a former section. To these may be added, the Pilgrim’s Progress, Newton’s Letters, Jay’s Morning and Evening Exercises, Baxter’s Call, and his Saints’ Rest, Dr. J. W. Alexander’s Thoughts on Family Worship, James’s Anxious Inquirer, Henry’s Anxious Inquirer, Memoir of Dr. Gordon, (or the “Christian Philosopher triumphing over death,”) and the lives of Luther, Bunyan, Henry Martyn, Wilberforce, Hannah More, Alexander, Payson, Neff, M’Cheyne, and others of kindred character. Books of this sort will be almost certain to fix your attention: your mind will be kept in. contact with religion; and the more you read, the more will your feelings become enlisted in the subject.
6. You can confide your views to some kind and judicious Christian friend—and with great advantage. This is a point where many stumble. A sinful pride puts them upon concealing their thought fullness until they shall have become established in the hope of the gospel: then they mean to lay aside all disguise. The too common effect of this is, to smother and destroy their seriousness altogether. You surely have some friend in whom you can trust,—your pastor, if no one else; and you could not gratify him more than by going to him on such an errand. Give him the opportunity, and he will explain many things which may perplex you. He will point out your mistakes and dangers. He will sympathize with you in your trials and temptations. And although he can do nothing effectual for you, but simply say, with John the Baptist, “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!" yet he may do this in such a way as shall, by the divine blessing, greatly help you in finding the road to the cross.
7. I waive various other points, to say, in conclusion, you can pray. And pray you must, if you would be saved. Pray you will, if you are not practising self- deception. I mention this last, because it must be combined with all the other duties which have been specified, or they will be nugatory. Without prayer you can neither put away your sins, nor shun evil associations. Without prayer, the services of the sanctuary may but harden you; the private study of the Bible will be dry and repulsive; and the counsels of Christian friendship will fall upon reluctant ears. We have not the slightest reason to expect that we shall ever understand the gospel, or ever be renewed, or pardoned, or saved, without prayer. There is nothing more indispensable; nothing which promises more affluent returns. it is one of the endearing titles of the Deity, the Hearer of Prayer. (Psalms 15:2.) We are everywhere exhorted to pray. “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near;”—a command addressed to those who are immediately told, “Let the wicked forsake his way,” etc. (Isaiah 55:6-7.) “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13.) “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” “Ask, and it shall be given you.” (See the whole passage, Matthew 7:7-11. See also Php 4:6. 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Hebrews 4:16. James 1:5. 1 John 5:14-15.) Among the promises connected with prayer, that of the Spirit’s influence is pre-eminent. (See Luke 11:13.) As there is no blessing we so much need, so there is none which is so freely promised. Let this be your encouragement. The Holy Spirit can do for you all that you require. He can remove all your difficulties on points of doctrine. He can guide you into the truth. Tie can resolve all your questions of duty. He can preserve you from self-deception. He can awaken in your breast an ingenuous sorrow for sin. He can take away your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. He can unveil to you the glorious character of the Redeemer, and lead you, a willing and joyful captive, to his feet. He can transform you into a new creature in Christ Jesus, make you as holy as you have been corrupt, prepare you for heaven, and bring you there. Are not these blessings worth praying for?
It is of no avail to say, that you are not yet “good enough” to pray; that your heart is too callous; that you could not pray with “pure motives;” and that God would not hear your prayers. All these are the suggestions of pride and unbelief. It is setting up your own caprices, or, at least, your own misconceptions, against the clear authority of God. It is impossible for you to examine the Scripture testimonies on this subject, with any degree of candor, without perceiving that he has made it the imperative duty of everyone to pray; and that you have no reason to look for his blessing, except in answer to prayer. Besides, if the corrupt state of your heart, the selfishness of your motives, and the ascendency of the world over you, disqualify you for praying, when are these obstacles to be removed? and how? It is just the case of a sick man waiting to cure himself, before he sends for a physician. Undoubtedly, it is that “evil heart of unbelief” which constitutes the grand hinderance to your salvation, and which makes it impossible for you, not oniy to pray aright, but to read the Scriptures aright, to hear the preaching of thern gospel aright, or to d.o any thing else in such a manner as to receive the approval of a holy God. But what are you to do? Will you shut up your Bible, will you absent yourself from the sanctuary, will you cease from all further efforts to secure your salvation, because you are too sinful to do these things as they ought to be done? You cannot but see the sophistry of this pretext. It is because you are full of sin, you ought to pray. Pray as the publican did. Pray as the dying thief did. Pray as the father of the demoniac child did: “Lord, I believe: help thou mine unbelief.” Pray thus, and continue praying, and you will not pray in vain. To imagine that you have no right to pray in your present condition, is a sheer illusion. You have no right to abstain from praying. To suppose that it could do you no good, is a kindred mistake. Try the experiment. Unfit as you feel yourself to be for it; conscious that your heart is still selfish and worldly; ashamed, it may be, to look up to God, and take his name upon your lips; make the effort. These very impediments only show how much you need to pray. And it will surprise aild encourage you to find how certainly they will yield to earnest and habitual prayer.
Such, then, is the answer to your inquiry, “What can I do to become more deeply interested in religion?”
YOU CAN DELIBERATELY MAKE UP YOUR MIND, AS TO THE DUTY OF ATTENDING TO THE CLAIMS OF RELIGION.
YOU CAN FAITHFULY EXERT YOURSELF TO PUT AWAY ALL KNOWN SIN.
YOU CAN, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT AVOID SCENES AND ASSOCIATIONS WHICH ARE HOSTILE TO SERIOUS REFLEC TION YOU CAN COURT SUCH INFLUENCES AS ARE OF AN OPPOSITE CHARACTER.
YOU CAN DEVOTE A PORTION OF EVERY DAY TO THE DEVOUT READING OF THE SCRIPTURES AND OTHER RELIGIOUS BOOKS.
YOU CAN CONFIDE YOUR VIEWS TO SOME, KIND AND JUDICIOUS CHRISTIAN FRIEND. AND YOU CAN PRAY.
All these things you can do. You can persevere in doing them. And you have far more encouragement to set about the work, than you have to prosecute any secular scheme or business whatever. Are you willing to make the trial? An eternity of joy or misery may hang upon your decision. What shall it be? Will you still neglect the great salvation? Or will you, in humble dependence upon the Spirit of God for all needful grace, begin at once TO CONSIDER THE SUBJECT OF PERSONAL RELIGION? The End