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  GENUINE RELIGION THE BEST FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE
  by Archibald Bonar
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Bonar's argument that authentic Christian faith, far from being the enemy of
human flourishing, is in fact the greatest friend of individuals and society. He
demonstrates the practical benefits of genuine religion for personal character
and public welfare.

  Chapters: 8

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 000 - Memoir of the Rev. Archibald Bonar, Minister of Cramond
    2. 0000 - Preface
    3. 01 - The Principles of Religion
    4. 02 - The Experience of Religion
    5. 03 - The Practical Influence of Religion
    6. 04 - The Importance of Religion to the Usefulness and Happiness of the Common People
    7. 05 - The Means which seem best Calculated for Promoting the Knowledge and Spirit of Religion
    8. 06 - A Short Address to Parents and Masters

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  CHAPTER 1: 000 - MEMOIR OF THE REV. ARCHIBALD BONAR, MINISTER OF CRAMOND
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MEMOIR OF THE REV. ARCHIBALD BONAR, MINISTER OF CRAMOND. IN attempting a short
sketch of the life and character of this excellent man, and eminent minister of
Christ, we feel ourselves as about to recall the living image of a friend and
fa­ther, endeared to us by many delightful as­sociations; and we only regret our
utter in­ability to convey to those who knew him not, an adequate idea of that
sterling worth, and that attractive loveliness, which threw an overpowering
charm around his character and ministrations. The Rev. ARCHIBALD BONAR was
de­scended from ancestors who, for several generations, had been distinguished
minis­ters of the Church of Scotland. His great grandfather, JOHN BONAR, was,
for up­wards of half a century, minister of the parish of Torphichen, in the
presbytery of Linlithgow, having been ordained there in 1693, and having
finished his course on earth in 1747. He was characterized by ear­nestness and
energy, combined with much Christian simplicity, in his public appear­ances as a
preacher; by unremitting fidelity and zeal, in his private Iabours; by steady
attachment to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of Scotland; and by
singular piety and child-like humility, in his private walk as a man and as a
Christian. The writer of this memoir conversed several years ago with an old
man, in the parish of Torphichen, who remembered him well; re­hearsed several
anecdotes characteristic of him, and of the times in which he lived; and spoke
with warm interest of the profit and the pleasure which never failed to attend
his catechetical labours and his pastoral visits. The later period of his
ministry was a time of much difficulty and trouble to the church. He felt as
every true lover of Zion will feel, in the divisions of Judah; and often, as my
old friend informed me, did he give utterance to his feelings in public, by
reading, or causing to be sung, "the four score Psalm," as he usually termed
it;-a portion of Scripture beautifully descriptive of a state of depres­sion and
division in the church, and admir­ably expressive of the feelings and the
prayers of those who "mourn for the afflictions of Joseph." When in 1742, the
remarkable revival of religion in the west of Scotland took place, Mr. Bonar,
though then much enfeebled both by age and bodily debility, exerted himself far
beyond his usual strength to make a journey to the spot, that he might
personally witness what he had heard of by report, and contribute, by his latest
efforts in the pulpit, to promote the important and in­teresting work. Mr.
Whitefield, on his visit to Cambuslang, takes particular notice of those
ministers with whom he had inter­course; and among others he mentions, with
peculiar affection, "good old Bonar," whose heart was warmed by the revival, and
the evening of whose days was cheered by the prospect of better times. *
*Gillies’ Life of Whitefield. The elder son of Mr. Bonar of Torphichen, and the
grandfather of Mr. Archi­bald Bonar, was JOHN BONAR, minister of the united
parishes of Fetlar and North Yell, in Zetland, where he was settled in 1729, and
died in 1752. He was a man of eminent classical attainments; a complete master
of Greek and Hebrew; and well acquainted with Chaldee and Syriac; and all his
acquirements he steadily and suc­cessfully applied to the understanding and
elucidation of the Scriptures. He was also respected and esteemed by all who
knew him, as a warm and impressive preacher, and a minister who adorned the
doctrine of our God and Saviour, by a suitable life and conversation. His son
JOHN was minister, first of Cockpen and afterwards of Perth, where he died in
the midst of his days and use­fulness, in 1761. Mr. Bonar, of Perth, was highly
esteemed and respected, as a man of superior talents; and the several
publications which he gave to the world afford ample ground to hope, that if his
life had been prolonged, the church would have derived most essential benefit
from his future labours. His "Observations on the conduct and character of Judas
Iscariot," first published in 1750, has been lately republished, with a short
account of his life. This work went through two editions at the time of its
first appearance; and is deservedly esteemed, as containing an ingenious, and at
the same time, satisfactory argument in favour of the divine mission of our
Lord, drawn from the conduct of the apostate disciple.

ARCHIBALD BONAR was the fifth son of Mr. Bonar of Perth. He was born at Cockpen,
on the 23d of February, 1753. His constitution was naturally so feeble, that he
was scarcely expected to survive the period of infancy. But by degrees, he
ac­quired strength, and though he never was robust, yet he enjoyed such a
measure of health, as enabled him to undergo the studies of youth, and the toils
of maturer age. He was too young, at the time of his father’s death, (1761,) to
be sensible of the loss which he sustained by that event; and it was wonderfully
supplied by the af­fectionate assiduity, and prudent manage­ment of his mother,
who was spared, for ten years, to be a blessing to her family, and who, with her
children, have given an interesting proof of the faithfulness of God, when he
says to the departing saint, "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve
them alive; and let thy widow trust in me." The rudiments of his education, he
re­ceived at the High School of Edinburgh. From that seminary he went to the
Uni­versity; and in both, he made a respectable figure among young men who have
since risen to distinction and eminence in the world. His mind was very early
under the influence of religion. He experienced the power, as well as acquired
the knowledge of saving truth: and made such rapid progress, both in the science
and the practice of the gospel, as to attract the notice and admira­tion of all
who knew him. His serious views were confirmed and quickened by the intercourse
which he had with Mr. George Whitefield, and Mr. Joseph Townsend, of Pewsey,
who, at that time, were occasionally in Edinburgh, and visited in his mother’s
house. Mr. Whitefield marked his piety with much satisfaction, and held with him
many instructive and encouraging conversa­tions. Mr. Townsend, also, who was
nearer his own age, and full of zeal for the gospel, formed with him a close and
affec­tionate intimacy, which could not fail to be both agreeable and useful to
him. He always spoke with gratitude and delight­ of the benefits he had derived
from both; but while he gave strong testimony to those superior apostolic
qualities, with which the former was so conspicuously endowed, yet he
acknowledged still greater obligations to the latter, who, in his public
addresses, and in his private converse, had a warmth of devotional feeling, as
well as a power and an energy in declaring the counsel of God, which was
admirably calculated to awaken, to interest, and to impress the mind of the
youthful Christian. Mr. Townsend has, since that period, risen to deserved
celebrity in the literary and religious world, as a tra­veller, a geologist, and
a divine. The profession for which Mr. Bonar’s friends had at first intended
him, was that of the law. And with this view, he was placed in the office of one
of the clerks of session. He was diligent and attentive in discharging the
duties of his new situation. But his inclination led him decidedly to the work
of the ministry. He declared his anxious wish to devote himself to it. And at
last, with the entire approbation of those to whom he looked for direction, he
re­nounced all views of a secular line of life, and entered upon those studies
which were requisite to fit him for being a minister of the Church of Scotland.
Having gone through a full course of philosophy and theology, at the University
of Edinburgh, he was, with high approbation, licensed by the presbytery of
Edinburgh, to preach the gospel, on the 29th October, 1777, and preached his
first sermon, on the 16th No­vember following, in the New Gray Friars’ Church.
The feelings and views which actuated him on these occasions, are recorded in
his diary, and show what importance he attached to the work in which he was
en­gaging, and what anxiety he had to perform it diligently and efficiently. The
hopes of his friends were not disappointed. His talents and piety soon raised
him to deserved elevation in public opinion. Highly acceptable as a preacher,
and greatly esteemed as a Christian, he speedily acquired popularity of no
ordinary kind; and nearly about the same time he got the offer of two parishes.
He rejected the one which had the largest emoluments, because it was also the
heaviest charge; and prefer­red the other, which though a considerably poorer
living, held out to him the prospect of more comfort and usefulness. This was
the parish of Newburn, in Fife. Its situa­tion was pleasant; its extent limited;
its inhabitants not numerous, but of plain man­ners, well-informed in religious
truth, regu­lar in their attendance upon ordinances, and disposed to cherish
every degree of respect and attachment to their minister. Among this
affectionate people, he was ordained, 31st March, l779. The solemn rites of
ordination were, in his case, accompanied with many interesting and profitable
exer­cises of self-examination; devout medita­tion; and earnest prayer. For days
and nights previous to the event, he "wrestled with God;" and while, with fear
and trem­bling, he undertook the charge of the souls of men, he went forth to
his beloved people in the strength of the Lord, and conveyed to them with
boldness, yet with affectionate earnestness, the message of eternal salva­tion.
At Newburn, Mr. Bonar continued four years; and he often spoke of these years as
the happiest portion of his life. Newburn, he used to say, had indeed been a
Bethel to him; and much as he felt the goodness of God in his subsequent
changes, he never could forget what he had enjoyed, both as a Christian and a
minister, in that peaceful solitude.

He was most laborious in discharging all the duties of the pastoral office; and
there is reason to think, that the ardour of his studies, and the unremitting
eagerness with which he engaged in other departments of duty, rather injured his
health, and mate­rially impaired a constitution not naturally robust. In 1781,
on the death of the Rev. James Morison, the successor of the celebrated Dr.
Witherspoon, in the Low Church parish of Paisley, Mr. Bonar was nomi­nated to
the vacant charge. It so hap­pened, that just at the same time, his valued
friend, Dr. Snodgrass, then one of the ministers of Dundee, had received the
offer of the Middle Church of Paisley, which had been newly erected. The
Commis­sioners appointed for the purpose made ap­plication to both at the same
time; and al­though the consideration of having such a man as Dr. Snodgrass for
a colleague, had no little weight, still Mr. Bonar felt a great repugnance to
dissolve the endeared con­nexion with his people at Newburn, and declined the
call which had been thus ad­dressed to him.

It so happened, that very soon after his settlement at Newburn, he had been
called to preach in the Outer High Church of Glasgow, at the introduction of his
much­-esteemed friend, Dr. Balfour, as successor to Mr. Randall, now the
venerable Dr. Davidson of Edinburgh. Having been thus brought under the notice
of the Chris­tian public of Glasgow, in circumstances peculiarly interesting, he
was soon after urged to accept an offer of the North West Church, then vacant,
by the removal of Dr. Findlay to the Divinity Chair. Reluctant as he felt to
quit his country retirement, he looked upon it as a duty to comply with the call
which had thus been repeatedly ad­dressed to him; and accordingly, after tak­ing
a solemn and affectionate leave of his parishioners; he was settled minister at
Glasgow, on the 17th July, 1783. His labours in that city were uncommonly
ac­ceptable and useful; and he found, in the attention and attachment of his
congrega­tion, proof that his labours had not been altogether unavailing. But,
in a short time, he found also, that the unremitted and extensive ministerial
labours connected with his situation, as well as the constant and unavoidable
bustle of a town life, were likely to prove injurious to him. His health was
impaired, and his constitution likely to suffer. The Church of Cramond, near
Edinburgh, having become vacant, in 1784, an offer was made to Mr. Bonar of the
charge, by the late excellent and distinguished Lady Glenorchy, who had known
him from his youth, befriended him in his studies, and during her life, retained
for him the sincerest esteem and respect. Mr. Bonar cheerfully embraced the
opportunity thus providentially presented of leaving the harassing and incessant
hurry of a town life, and again exercising his labours in a country station. On
the 19th April, 1785, he was accordingly, with the unanimous consent, and much
to the satisfaction of the parish, settled minister of Cramond.

He often expressed the satisfaction he felt in this change; a change which gave
him the quiet of the country, yet in a situa­tion sufficiently near for enjoying
the so­ciety of his valuable friends in Edinburgh. Above all, he was happy in
the field of use­fulness now before him, in a place entirely suited to his
disposition. The people loved him as a preacher and as a man, and anti­cipated
from him all the benefits which may be expected to flow from an able and
faith­ful minister of the gospel-an anticipation which was largely realized, and
in the fulfilment of which, many are now rejoicing around the throne. Here,
therefore, he resolved, and he adhered to his resolution, that he would spend
his remaining days. Nor did he spend them either idly or in vain. He took great
delight in preaching the gospel, and conducted his pulpit duties with great
earnestness and fidelity. He was diligent in visiting and catechising his
parish, and in bestowing those various at­tentions which a Christian people are
en­titled to look for from their pastors, and which no conscientious pastor will
ever think of withholding. The fruits of his labours were soon perceptible, in
the growing con­cern which was felt for religion, and in the evidence which many
gave, by their life and conversation, of their having received the truth in
faith and love. In the beginning of 1787, Mr. Bonar was visited with a severe
domestic trial, in the death of his wife, after an illness of several months.
She was the sister of the Rev. David Black, late of Lady Yester’s Church,
Edinburgh, and a lady, in all re­spects qualified to be the helpmate of such a
man as Mr. Bonar. Their union was cemented by a congeniality of sentiment and
feeling; and the stroke of separation was peculiarly trying. Mr. Bonar fully
mani­fested the resignation, the faith and hope of a Christian; but it was long
before his serenity was fully revived. An illness fol­lowed, which unfitted him
for duty for several months. Having gradually reco­vered strength, he gladly
resumed his la­bours, with a sermon somewhat in the manner and spirit of one of
Dr. Watts’, entitled, "the Privileges of the Living above the Dead," pointing
out the strong and peculiar calls to active exertion in the work of God, arising
from deliverance out of trouble, and restoration to health, after the near
prospect of death.

After remaining more than five years a widower, Mr. Bonar married again, in
1792. His second wife was a cousin-german of his own, by whom he had a pretty
numerous family, and who still survives to feel and to bewail the loss of one of
the best of hus­bands. Their eldest son was cut off at the age of seven, towards
the end of the year 1800. The anguish which Mr. Bonar felt on this occasion; the
anxieties which agi­tated his mind; the consolation which he derived from the
exercise of faith, of prayer, and hope; and the entire resignation with which he
was enabled to give up his dear child to the disposal of his heavenly Father,
are all expressed with beautiful pathos in the pages of his diary, and present
him to our view in the most interesting light in which a Christian can be
contemplated. The rest of his family were spared to him; and they are still
spared, to follow the steps of their venerable parent; to be a comfort to their
excellent mother; and to enjoy, we trust, the favour and the blessings of "a
father’s God." In 1796, he published the small treatise entitled, "Genuine
Religion the best Friend of the People." The title was adopted from a name at
that time much as­sumed, and much misapplied by certain political associations.
But in the treatise itself, the subject of politics is no way touched upon. The
sole aim of the work is to exhibit in a brief, but impressive man­ner, the
nature of religion in regard to doctrine, practice and experience; its
impor­tance in all the relations of life, and the means of promoting it in
individuals and in communities. The work was most fa­vourably received; and has
passed through several editions in Scotland, besides being printed in America,
at the advice, and under the charge of Dr. Morse, of Boston, the celebrated
geographer of America. In 1802 and 1806, Mr. Bonar was called to lament the loss
of two much-esteemed friends, the Rev. Mr. Paul, of St. Cuth­bert’s, and the
Rev. David Black, of Lady Yester’s, Edinburgh. To both of these eminent servants
of Christ, he had been long and fervently attached; and he was called to pay the
last affecting tribute of regard to them by preaching their funeral sermons:
both of which are published, in the two volumes of Mr. Bonar’s sermons
afterwards noticed. The death of these two intimate friends, one of them his
cotemporary, the other se­veral years younger, impressed Mr. Bonar with strong
presentiments that his own la­bours might ere long draw to a close. In 1809, his
health began to decline, in con­sequence of a bad cold, which left the seeds of
an asthmatic complaint, which in time proved too powerful for his frame. For a
good while, however, his ministerial labours suffered little interruption; and
during two or three succeeding seasons, a change of air and of scene for a few
weeks in summer re­cruited his strength. In a letter, which I received from him,
dated November 26th, 1811, there is the following passage which, as it shows the
state of his mind at the time, will be read with interest by all who knew the
estimable writer.

-- "I preached the day after yours came to hand, in our newly repaired church,
and there got a fresh cold, which I struggled with to the following Sabbath, and
was en­abled to preach again, and to hold a long session after, in the Manse.
But next day my last year’s complaints returned with greater violence than ever,
and for some days, neither I nor any of this family ex­pected I would revive,
especially as I had been so feeble during the summer, and my complaints had, for
two months past, been assuming a more alarming aspect than formerly. But, oh my
dear brother, I rejoice to inform you that my mind was most com­fortable amidst
all the gloomy prospect of leaving my flock, and dear family, and, friends. The
everlasting gospel; the faith­ful saying; the all-fulness of Jesus; and the hope
of glory, were brought delightfully to view, and yielded both peace and joy in
believing."

After this illness he was mercifully re­stored to some measure of strength, and
with occasional help from his friends, was enabled to go through the public
duties of the parish. In the summer of 1813, he was not only able for these, but
also for taking some new measures for the spiritual benefit of his people. This
will appear from a short extract of a letter which I had from him, dated 27th
July of that year.

"It will give you much satisfaction to learn that I have founded a Cramond Bible
Society; and it is meeting with far more encouragement than I expected." "Our
Session are cordially uniting with me in some bold measures for repressing the
profanation of the Sabbath, and I have great hopes of prevailing upon all the
Innkeepers through the parish, (by privately and mildly dealing with them) to
shut up their houses from Saturday night, at ten o’clock, to Monday morning at
six. This would be a great reformation here." The subject of the spread of
religion both at home and abroad was always upper­most in Mr. Bonar’s mind; and
when, in 1796, the religious public in Scotland were loudly awakened to the duty
of attempting something for the salvation of heathen and un­enlightened nations,
he cordially co-operated in the establishment of the Edinburgh (now the
Scottish) Missionary Society, although from local circumstances he was prevented
from taking any active part in the conduct of its affairs. It was on the
establishment of this Society that he took occasion to write in the Missionary
Magazine, a very excellent "Letter to a Lady," in defence of Missions in
general, and the plans of the Edinburgh Missionary Society in particu­lar. The
establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society, several years
afterwards, was beheld by him with singular pleasure; and, although prevented,
by local circumstances, from establishing an auxiliary in its support, till
1813, its progress and triumphs were never absent from his heart, or from his
prayers. In the beginning of 1815, he resolved to publish a volume of those
discourses which had so long delighted and profited his hearers. On this
occasion, he wrote me in terms expressive at once, of the elevated devotion of
his heart, and of the amiable plea­santry of his temper and manners.

"Did it not greatly surprise you," says he, "when you heard that the parson of
Cramond, who has so long and so loudly testified against glutting the market
with printed sermons, intends being an author.

"I trust, however, that my motives for this measure, which, I confess, appears
odd to myself, are such as I need not disavow. For more than three years past,
my health has been extremely feeble and fluctuating; so that I have not been
able to carryon my former course of visiting or examining in this extensive
parish. I therefore earnestly wished to leave some memorial of the truths which
I have uniformly taught; on which I have founded my own future hopes; and from
which I have long derived strong con­solation." The volume was published in
1815; it was received with distinguished approbation by the public, and has
already gone through three editions. A second volume was pub­lished from his
MSS. after his death, and the discourses which it contains are distin­guished by
the same excellences which characterize the first. We do not know two volumes of
sermons better adapted for the private and domestic perusal of Chris­tians, and
of Christian families; and we envy not the man who can rise from their perusal
with any other feelings than those of profound veneration for the author, and
affectionate interest in his truly Christian instructions. The second volume is
accom­panied with a well-written memoir of the author, with several extracts
from which we have taken the liberty of enriching the present narrative. It was
drawn up by the author’s younger brother, the late James Bonar, Esq. F. R. S. a
gentleman of distinguished classical and literary attainments; and who united in
a manner rarely exemplified, the character of a profound philosopher with that
of a humble Christian.

During the winter of 1815, and the be­ginning of 1816, Mr. Bonar’s weakness
increased; and it was very evident, both to his family arid friends, that his
continuance in the world could not be long. During the whole of his last
illness, the strength and ardour of his faith were conspicuous; and every thing
that he uttered breathed the spirit of one longing for immortality. It was his
last attempt to repeat the fol­lowing lines of one of Dr. Doddridge’s Hymns:-
"I’ll speak the honours of thy name With my last labouring breath, Then
speechless clasp thee in my arms, The antidote of death."

Nature was at length exhausted; and on the 8th of April, 1816, without any
violent pain or struggle, he entered into his eternal rest. The regrets and the
tears of an af­fectionate people, and a large circle of friends, attended his
remains to the tomb; and a small monumental stone, in the church-yard of
Cramond, marks the spot where his hallowed dust has been deposited, till the
morning of the resurrection dawn. In person Mr. Bonar was of a slender make, and
rather under the middle size. His features were pleasing and animated, and his
countenance indicated great mild­ness and benevolence of heart. When in the
pulpit, or engaged in the devotional exercises at a communion service, his eyes
were uncommonly keen and penetrating. His natural abilities were excellent, and
might have fitted him to excel in any branch of pursuit. But his talents and
acquire­ments were all consecrated to the cross. In company he was lively and
cheerful; entering freely into the ordinary topics of conversation; noticing
with warm benevo­lence every individual, even the youngest or meanest in the
company; and ever anxious to turn the familiar intercourse of life into a
profitable channel. The natural sweet­ness and amiability of his temper were
heightened and purified by the charities of the gospel. To the poor he was a
constant and substantial friend; and with every scheme that promised to
contribute to the temporal or spiritual good of his fellow­-creatures, his heart
did ever beat in unison. Of him it may with peculiar propriety be said, "He was
a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith." He liter­ally "walked
with God:" and no one could long reside under the same roof with him, without
feeling himself in the presence of one who breathed, as it were, an, atmos­phere
of piety; and who, by the equanimity of his temper, and the heavenliness of his
soul, enjoyed a felicity with which a stran­ger cannot intermeddle.

We may here advert to a particular cir­cumstance, which occurred between twenty
and thirty years ago, as illustrative of the estimation in which the character
of this eminent servant of Christ was held, even by those who were not
immediately connected with him. The Rev. David Williamson, a respectable
dissenting minister at White­haven in Cumberland, when publishing a volume of
"Lectures on Civil and Religious Liberty," was pleased to dedicate them "to the
Rev. John Newton, of the Church of England, and the Rev. Archi­bald Bonar, of
the Church of Scotland," as examples eminently illustrative of the prin­ciples
and character which ought ever to distinguish Christians and Christian
minis­ters. His discourses, from the time that he was licensed as a preacher,
were remarked for a complete acquaintance with the word of God, enlarged and
consistent views of evangelical doctrine, and a deep experimen­tal knowledge of
the Christian life. No person can peruse his valuable volumes with­out being
charmed with the good sense, the scriptural arguments and illustrations, the
practical and devotional strain, the beautiful simplicity, and the spiritual
unction, which pervade their contents, and give to them a power and an eloquence
which at once improve the understanding and win the heart. To the delivery of
his sermons he paid par­ticular attention; and all who heard him can testify how
much it pleased, affected, and interested the audience. It was, indeed, hardly
possible to listen to him with indifference, when roused to warmth by the truths
he was uttering. Upon com­munion occasions especially, the deep and solemn
attention with which his exhorta­tions and prayers were received could hardly be
exceeded.

One circumstance, at all times, gave pecu­liar force to his ministrations-the
perfect knowledge which his congregation had of the sincerity and unaffected
feeling from which he spoke. He preached the doctrines of the gospel because he
believed them and loved them, had felt their infinite value to his own soul, and
ardently wished for nothing so much as to see them equally impressed upon
others. His life was a practical commentary on the doctrines he preached. While
he "al­lured to brighter worlds" by his doctrine and instructions, he "led the
way" thither by a conversation and a conduct "becoming the gospel." His doctrine
was decidedly Cal­vinistic; but he afforded a very striking illus­tration of
what has been not unfrequently questioned by its enemies, that the strictest
Calvinism may be associated in close connexion with all that is attractive in
the graces of the Christian character, and with all that is pure and elevated in
the morality of the Christian life.

During the closing scene of life, Mr. Bo­nar felt a good deal of that pious
anxiety, which every faithful pastor must feel, regard­ing the spiritual
interests of his flock, after his removal from them. His latter days were
soothed by the well-founded impression that, on this vitally interesting point,
his ar­dent wishes and prayers would, in all human probability be gratified.
They have been gratified to their full extent, in the ap­pointment to the charge
of such an able, laborious, and every-way apostolic minister as Dr. GEORGE
MUIRHEAD.

R. B.

PAISLEY, June, 1822.


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  CHAPTER 2: 0000 - PREFACE
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PREFACE. To alleviate the anxieties of the laborious poor, and to increase the
happiness of the common people, is the sincere aim of the writer of this
Treatise. As the most effec­tual method of accomplishing this desirable object,
he wishes to recommend to them, and to their families, the knowledge and the
love of real religion: fully persuaded, that this alone can sufficiently support
their minds under the various evils to which they are daily exposed.

Many are the snares of poverty, and se­vere the hardships experienced by such as
are placed in the inferior stations of life. When suffering under agonizing
solicitude, or cruel neglect, or all the humiliating circumstances of galling
dependence; when the barrel of meal is consumed, and chil­dren weep for the
supplies which their needy parents are unable to impart: when sickness unites
with want to render their habitations dismal; when he on whose in­dustry their
hopes were centred, is pierced by the arrows of death-how pitiable then is the
state of such families! But far more pitiable still, if, under these calamities,
they remain strangers to the satisfying joys, and animating hopes of
Christianity; if they have lived in the mournful habits of im­piety, or are
growing up in all the miseries of ignorance; if, amidst their complicated
trials, felt and bewailed, they are destitute of the soothing consolations which
enable believers to triumph in the midst of adver­sity.

Such ignorance of religion can scarcely fail to be productive of profligacy and
wretchedness. Those who have never been taught to seek happiness in the ways of
God, yet are eager for comfort, and are naturally led to place all their
expectation of enjoying it in the intoxications of vice; their poverty, united
with their ignorance, involves them in many snares, hurries them on to all the
awful excesses of iniquity, and drowns them at last in guilt and perdition.
Whereas, had they been trained up in the paths of piety and righteousness, they
might have maintained an honourable character amidst all the snares of want, and
enjoyed inward serenity amidst all the adversities of life. To attempt,
therefore, the release of many from this mental misery, and to aim at conducting
them forward in the paths of wisdom and peace, cannot be an object un­becoming a
benevolent mind. With this design, and from an ardent desire of pro­moting so
important an object, a friend presents to the commonalty in our land, a plain
directory and monitor, written for their instruction, and sent into the world
with earnest supplications to the Father of all, for its success in promoting
the best in­terests of mankind.


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  CHAPTER 3: 01 - THE PRINCIPLES OF RELIGION
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CHAP. I. The Principles of Religion.

RELIGION consists of three parts: proper principles, proper dispositions, and
proper conduct. The union of these three, forms the character of a religious
person; and if anyone of them be wanting, the other two must be greatly
deficient; for the principles you imbibe will give a direction to the
affec­tions of your heart; and both of these, when uniting their influence, will
determine the general tenor of your conduct.

It will therefore be necessary to lay be­fore you a plain account of those
sacred principles, or doctrines, which real Christians regard as essential to
their hopes and happiness; which are clearly revealed in the word of God; and
which therefore, it greatly concerns yon rightly to understand, firmly to
believe, and constantly to remember. The essential doctrines of Scripture
re­late chiefly to the following particulars: The character and providence of
God;­-the original and present circumstances of mankind;-the love of Christ, as
exhibit­ed in his incarnation, sufferings, death, and resurrection; and still
displayed in his un­remitting care of his church and people:-­the application of
this love through the in­fluences of the Holy Spirit;-and the state of existence
beyond the grave.

Let us attend a little to what the sacred Scriptures have revealed concerning
each of these articles.

1. The foundation of all religious know­ledge is laid in just conceptions of the
Di­vine Being. That there is a God, all nature loudly proclaims, and almost all
nations have readilly admitted. Assuming, therefore, the Being of God as an
allowed principle, the interesting inquiry naturally follows, What is God? what
are his attributes? what no­tice doth he take of his rational creatures here
below? and what is the extent of his dominion and providence. If they who
arrogantly boast that unenlightened reason can guide men to happiness, are
unable to solve these inquiries with satisfaction to themselves or others; if
they can only conjecture: and if their conjectures are liable to be
controverted: then let them not think more highly than they ought of the light
of nature, but let them listen to the dictates of revelation, and learn from
thence what human reason never could have discovered. From the Scriptures we
learn, that the God with whom we have to do, is over all, and before all;
infinitely, and independently, blessed in himself; from everlasting to
ever­lasting, without any variableness, or even shadow of change. As none can
resist his power, so all things are possible with him, for he is the Lord God
omnipotent, which was, and is, and is to come. He is glorious in holiness; and
cannot look upon iniquity without abhorrence. Before him all things are open and
manifest; for the darkness hideth not from him, but is as the light: nay, he
searcheth the heart of the chil­dren of men, and knoweth all their secret
doings.

Great and marvellous are his works. He made the heavens, and all their hosts,
the world and all its inhabitants. He upholdeth them by the word of his power,
and doth all his pleasure amongst the children of men. His kingdom ruleth over
all, and his eyes behold the nations. He wounds and he heals; pulleth down, and
raiseth up; and none can deliver out of his hands. What he hath purposed, he
will accomplish; for the counsel of the Lord shall stand for ever, and the
thoughts of his heart to all genera­tions. Therefore it shall be well with the
righteous; for verily there is a God that ruleth in the earth; but he will
punish the wicked with everlasting destruction. The language of the sacred
volume, when describing the character of God, is inimita­bly sublime; and to
direct your attention to some of these descriptions, is surely the properest
method of imparting just views of his greatness and glory. Psalm cxlv. "Great is
the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. One
generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
The Lord is gra­cious, and full of compassion; slow to an­ger, and of great
mercy. The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are overall his other
works. All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.
They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power. Thy kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth to all generations. The
eyes of all wait on thee, and thou givest them their meat in due sea­son. Thou
openest thine hand, and satis­fiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord
is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. Let all flesh bless his
holy name for ever and ever." To the same purpose you read in Psalm civ. "0 Lord
my God, thou art very great, thou art clothed with honour and with majesty: who
coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens
like a curtain; who maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh on the wings of
the wind; who causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service
of man. 0 Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all;
the earth is full of thy riches. All thy creatures wait upon thee, that thou
mayest give them their meat in due season. What thou givest them they gather:
thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are
troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. The
glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; the Lord shall rejoice in his works."
No less plain, and no less sublime, is the description of the most high God in
the prophecies of Isaiah, the fortieth chapter: " He measureth the waters in the
hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust
of the earth in a measure, and weighed the moun­tains in scales, and the hills
in a balance. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as
the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little
thing. All nations are as nothing before him; and they are counted to him less
than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? and what likeness will
ye compare to him? Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told
you from the beginning? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and
the inhabitants thereof are as grass­hoppers: it is he that stretcheth out the
heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; that
bringeth the princes to nothing, that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up
your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out
their host by number: he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his
might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth. Hast thou not known,
hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends
of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding."

Every thing relating to the divine nature, character, and dominion, revealed in
Scrip­ture, far exceeds what natural reason ever did discover. Reason tells us,
that God is the Maker of all things; but it never disco­vered, that he created
all things from no­thing, and arranged and established them merely by his
sovereign word. Reason can tell us that God is wise and powerful; but it knew
not, till taught by revelation, that he inherits these, and every property of
Deity, independent of every being, in an infinite degree, through everlasting
ages. Reason supposes, that there is a general providence governing the nations;
but it never suggested, that this providence of our God extends to the concerns
of every man, to his most secret purposes, and seemingly most accidental
mercies. But the insufficient information which unassisted reason imparts
concerning God, is peculiarly manifested by the discoveries given us in
Scripture of the adorable Trini­ty.* There we learn, that the Lord our God is
one Lord; that in this unity of God­head there are three persons; that the
Fa­ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, possess the same nature, and attributes,
and es­sence; that therefore, in perfect consistency with reason, as well as
Scripture, we can affirm, that the glorious object of our wor­ship, is the one
living and true JEHOVAH. These are truths, which, while they baffle human wisdom
to fathom, are essentially connected with every part of the great scheme of our
redemption; and are well calculated to silence all human arrogance, to exalt our
ideas of the divine nature, and to make us say, with adoring hosts above, "Who
can find out the Almighty to per­fection!"

* 1 John 5:7. Matthew 28:19. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

2. As the Scriptures have favoured us with satisfying information on the most
sublime and important of all subjects, the nature and character of God; they, in
like manner, equally satisfy our inquiries con­cerning a subject intimately
connected with the former, and highly interesting to all:­-What is man? for what
purpose did he receive existence? and what prospects as to futurity, is he
permitted to entertain? That man, in many respects, resembles the beasts which
perish, is undeniable; like them he eats, and sleeps, and sickens, and dies; is
of few days, and these uncertain and full of trouble. But that man is also more
excellent than the animal creation, is abundantly evident, from the far nobler
capacities which he possesses; a capacity of adoring and worshipping the supreme
Being, of contemplating things unseen and spiri­tual, of holding rational
conversation with fellow-creatures, and of acting such a part in life as his
understanding and reflection unite to dictate.

These various powers, which mark man’s superior dignity above the beasts of the
field, are derived from the Father of our spirits; and are entirely dependent
for their preservation, on his sovereign pleasure. It remained therefore with
him to reveal, whether or not he hath made man immortal. No philosophic
reasonings could have fully determined this question; but the sacred page hath
put this matter beyond all doubt, and clearly testifies, that as man possesses a
living spirit wholly distinct from his mate­rial body, so God hath been pleased
to stamp immortality on the rational soul, and hath said concerning man, he
shall exist for ever.

Nay, Scripture further informs us, that God created man in his own image;
adorned him with all the beauties of perfect know­ledge, righteousness and
holiness; invested him with the dignity of being lord of this lower creation,
and rendered him completely blessed, by the knowledge and enjoyment, the
contemplation and imitation of his God. But alas! this original state of
innocence, dignity, and happiness, was of short dura­tion: mankind soon violated
their almighty Maker’s most righteous laws, and departed from the living God.
Most justly, therefore, were they punished as rebels against his government;
banished paradise, driven from the fellowship of once kindred angels, and doomed
to pain, to death, and everlasting wretchedness.

Such is the present state of man; a state of apostacy from holiness, and from
God; a state of ignorance and dissatisfaction, of de­generacy and guilt, of
uncertainty and fears. Such we feel it to be, and such the Scriptures describe
it. They also reveal the melancholy cause: that in Adam all have fallen; that by
this man’s disobedience man­kind were made sinners; and that condem­nation hath
passed upon all men, because all have come short of the glory of God. No longer
doth the heart of man remain upright or uncorrupted; nor is supreme re­gard to
the will of God now natural to men: for their carnal mind is enmity against him,
and refuses subjection to his law; their heart is deceitful and wicked; they
have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and followed vain imaginations, and
turned everyone to his own ways. The temper, pursuits, and conduct of every man,
from the days of Adam to the present hour; the experience of every na­tion,
whether barbarous or civilized; daily evidences of headstrong depravity, in
oppo­sition to all the influences of education, threatenings and rewards; and
the universal prevalence of ingratitude, distrust, and dis­obedience towards
God, unite their evidence with the testimony of Scripture, that all are by
nature children of wrath, and that it is of the Lord’s mercies we are not
consumed.

3. As the word of God makes manifest the origin, the nature, and evidences of
hu­man depravity, so it graciously reveals the Remedy which God himself hath
provided: it is, therefore, proper, in the next place, to remind you, that
another distinguishing doc­trine of revelation, is the Redemption of Mankind
through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture informs us, that from the be­ginning, the omniscient JEHOVAH foresaw
the apostacy of mankind; and, with tender­est pity, beheld them involved in
circum­stances of misery, from which no human power could redeem: that, in
richest mercy, he laid their help on one able to deliver; and gave up his only
begotten Son to suf­ferings and death; that the Son of God readily engaged to
save men from ruin, by dying as their surety; and that what he freely undertook,
he fully accomplished; for when the fulness of time arrived, he was manifested
in the flesh, was numbered with transgressors, and died for the unjust; to
redeem the lost, to atone for guilt, and bring many sons and daughters to glory.
To aid our conceptions of this Redeemer’s love, Scripture assures us, that the
guilt of sin could not be expiated, nor men redeem­ed, without a sacrifice of
infinite value; and that he who humbled himself to the death of the cross for
us, was none other than the Lord of glory, Immanuel, God with us, in whom
dwelleth all the fulness of the God­head, and who thought it no robbery to be
declared the equal of the Father! This is he who bowed his head on Calvary, and
said it was finished: the Messiah cut off, though not for himself; but to make
an end of sin-­offerings, to make reconciliation for trans­gressors, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness. Need we then wonder that the in­spired
writers speak in the language of rap­ture on this glorious theme; and that they
seem to labour for expressions when attempt­ing to extol the love of the eternal
Father, in giving his only begotten Son to the death for sinners; and the love
of the adored Redeemer, in shedding his precious blood for the remission of the
sins of many?

They further inform us, that the same unparalleled love, which led the Son of
God to suffer and to die, remains to this day as ardent as ever, and shall
remain unaltered and undiminished through everlasting ages. Having, by his own
blood, atoned for the sins of his people, he rose in triumph from the grave for
their justification, ascended to the mansions on high as their representative,
and sat down at the right hand of the Fa­ther; there he sustains the endearing
cha­racter of his people’s compassionate High-­Priest, and righteous Advocate;
intercedes with success in their behalf; renders their services acceptable
through the merit of his own mediation; gives them grace to help in every time
of need; chooses out the lot of their inheritance; makes goodness and mer­cy to
follow them through life; and brings them at last to his heavenly kingdom, to be
for ever with the Lord. These are parts of the exceeding great love wherewith he
loves his redeemed: but the height and depth, and breadth and length of
redeeming love far exceed all the powers of description, and all the conceptions
of men or angels.

Under this article, the love of Christ, are included all the amazing discoveries
made to us in Scripture, of what the Re­deemer hath done, and is now
transacting, and will yet do for his people’s felicity; his early and
compassionate undertaking for their redemption; his constant condescend­ing care
of his church in Old Testament periods, the number, and unutterable variety of
his sufferings, when he deigned to dwell with man on earth; the inestimable
value of the blessings which his meritorious death procured; the manifestations
of his grace to all his chosen, in their conversion, estab­lishment and comfort;
the events he is ac­complishing through the nations, for con­veying his great
salvation to men of all lan­guages; his uniting into one family, the glorified
saints above, the regenerated on earth, and the innumerable company of an­gels;
his communicating to that family all spiritual blessings, as their glorious Lord
and head; and his preparing for all his re­deemed, a state of unutterable,
uninterrupted, and endless glory. But no language or conception is adequate to
this noblest of themes, the love of Christ to fallen men.

4. Another distinguishing doctrine of our holy religion is the agency of the
Di­vine Spirit, in preparing men for the king­dom of heaven. The glorious
subject of this branch of divine revelation, is styled in Scripture the Spirit
of God, the Eternal Spirit, the Third in the sacred Trinity who bear record in
heaven, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of glory-in his name we are
baptized; and to him, with the Fa­ther and the Son, supreme worship is paid in
heaven and on earth. The operations of the Holy Spirit, on the mind of those men
who are chosen to salvation, are these: He convinces of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment; he quickens those who are dead in sins, and makes them alive
unto God; he cleanses them from all their idols, and purifies their hearts
through faith in Christ; he sheds abroad the love of Christ, working to will and
do what is well pleasing in the sight of God; he teaches them what to pray for,
and makes intercession for them; he seals to the day of redemption, and keeps
them through his own power; he witnesses with their spirits that they are the
children of God, and abides with them as a Comforter; he fills them with hope
and patience, strengthens them with all might, and leads them to the land of
uprightness. So necessary are the influences of the Spirit to constitute us real
Christians, that Scripture frequently assures us, that if any have not the
Spirit of Christ, they are none of his; and that they only who are led by the
Spirit are the children of God. The evidence of being so led, is progress in
grace; for the fruits of the Spirit, saith the apostle, are faith, peace, love,
joy, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and temperance.

I have expressed these sentiments con­cerning the Spirit’s influence on the
minds of believers, in the precise words of Scrip­ture, that it may be seen what
an important place this doctrine holds in the Christian scheme; and how far
mistaken those men are, who confine the Spirit’s operations to the first
Christians, and to the inspired pen­men of the sacred writings. By consider­ing
these united testimonies of Scripture as they relate to the agency of the
Spirit, you will be able to trace the gradual progress of the divine life, from
the first saving convic­tions of the Holy Ghost, through his future
enlightening, renewing, sanctifying and comforting operations. But this subject
you will find more largely illustrated in the following chapter, under the head
of Ex­perience in Religion.

5. The last distinguishing doctrine of our holy religion which I proposed to
men­tion, is the State of Retribution beyond the Grave. This may justly be
termed, a doctrine peculiar to the gospel: for though wise men, in different
ages and nations, have longed for future joys; and have con­jectured, that
surely a future state of bliss or of woe is prepared for men, according to their
character and conduct on earth; yet it is only by the revelation which God hath
made in his word, that immortality hath been brought clearly to light. As the
Old Testament and the New are parts of one gradual revelation made to mankind;
as they both testify of one God, and one Saviour, and one gospel; so they unite
in discovering the future and the eter­nal state of things, though with very
dif­ferent degrees of clearness. They show us what shall be hereafter; and
solemn and sublime are the scenes which they represent -the opening of the
clouds of heaven; the descending of the great God, our Saviour, to judge the
quick and dead; the grandeur of his manifestation, in his own and his Father’s
glory, with ten thousands of his angels; the resurrection of the dead, at the
sounding of the trump of God ; the appear­ing of assembled worlds before the
judg­ment-seat of Christ; the separation of the wicked from the righteous; the
irreversible sentence on the ungodly, denouncing ever­lasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord; the changing of the bodies of the saints in a moment,
and rendering them spiritual and immortal; the raptures of the redeemed, when
acknowledged, acquitted, and honoured, before the whole intelligent creation;
the general conflagration, at the command of the sovereign Judge, and the
dissolution of these stupendous works which he now upholds; the opening of the
ever­lasting gates of glory, to admit the ransomed of the Lord; their bowing
before the throne; their being presented to the Father with exceeding great joy;
their celestial songs to him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb that
was slain; their seeing God as he is; their remembering all the way by which he
led them; their being with Jesus, to behold his glory; their being made kings
and priests unto our God for ever and ever! These are the future realities which
revela­tion hath unfolded; these are thy glorious hopes, 0 believer in Jesus!
and these glo­rious hopes we owe to thine atoning sacri­fice, 0 blessed, blessed
Immanuel!


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  CHAPTER 4: 02 - THE EXPERIENCE OF RELIGION
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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.


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  CHAPTER 5: 03 - THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF RELIGION
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CHAP. III. The Practical Influence of Religion.

UNITED with right principles, and ex­perience, religion consists in the
confor­mity of our temper and life to the will of God.

Hitherto we have viewed the saints as seated at their Saviour’s feet, listening
to his gracious words, and feeling the life-giv­ing energy of his promises:
there they could always remain, in blissful intercourse with their Lord. It is
good for us to be here, is their language: here would we stay, and pass our
peaceful days in the admiring con­templation, and satisfying experience, of what
thou hast taught us. But that adored Redeemer, to whose direction and disposal
they willingly submit, sends them back to their friends and families, to tell
what great things he hath done for them; and honours them with this important
commission, "Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good
works, may glorify your Father in heaven." With this sentiment and aim, they go
forth into the world, to act their part in life, and to exhibit that character
and conversation which becometh the gospel of Christ. To honour God before men,
is the lead­ing object which they propose to aim at, in all their pursuits and
actions. They know that their obligations are infinite; and gra­titude
constrains them to live to him, who hath redeemed them from everlasting
de­struction. Animated with this heavenly de­sire of glorifying God, their first
inquiry is after some permanent standard of obedience, and a perfect rule of
conduct, to which they can have recourse, amidst all the variety of situations
in which they may be placed. The language of their hearts is, "Lord, what wilt
thou have us to do? What shall we render to thee for all thy benefits? Speak,
Lord, for thy servants hear: not our will, but thine be done: show us thy way
and we will walk therein." In answer to these sincere requests, the moral law,
explained and exemplified by Christ Jesus, is put into their hands, as the law
of his spiritual kingdom, binding on all his subjects, perpetual in its
obligations, just in all its demands, perfective of the human character,
productive of the highest happi­ness, and addressed to believers with this
endearing inscription, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Piety and benevolence are the leading features in the character formed upon this
pure and perfect law; for therein we are re­minded, that the Lord God omnipotent
is our God, that we are his children, and that mankind are our brethren. When,
there­fore, our conduct is regulated by these unerring and unalterable
principles, every duty enjoined upon Christians is welcomed by us, as wisely
calculated for our personal welfare, and founded on the endearing relations in
which we stand to God and mankind: we then most readily subscribe both to the
justice and goodness of each precept in this holy law: and it well becomes us to
do so; for all these precepts arise naturally from that love to God and man,
which is the foundation and fulfilling of the law. If we love him supremely as
our God, we will worship him alone; and will reverence his name, and sanctify
his Sabbaths. If we regard all mankind as our neighbours, near to us by
partaking of one common nature­-if this law is written on our heart, and if we
act invariably under its influence, we will not injure their character by false
witness, nor their circumstances by fraud, nor their domestic comfort by envying
what they possess: we will not covet, nor kill, nor steal. But though the real
Christian desires to be guided and governed by this perfect rule of
righteousness, he still experiences the painful and powerful influence of that
carnal mind which led him captive in his unregen­erate state, and which is
enmity against the law of God. It may, therefore, tend to ex­plain both the
parts and the progress of practical religion, if, in connection with the several
duties enjoined, we notice the diffi­culties which Christians encounter, when
endeavouring, through grace, to do the will of their heavenly Father. The first
proof of obedience they are called to give, is the opposing their own corrupt
dispositions, in order to attain that self-government, without which no
obedience can be willing, or uniform. Evil passions and appetites are deeply
rooted in all men by nature; and repeated indulgence strength­ens their hold in
many; but they must be resolutely resisted by the Christian, because their
gratification is inconsistent with his progress in grace, and injurious to the
in­terests of religion. The command there­fore is, if thy right eye offend thee,
or cause thee to offend, pluck it out; if thy right hand offend thee, cut it
off; rather suffer loss, and endure pain, than sin against thy God. "Mortify
your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Put on, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kind­ness, humbleness of mind, meekness and
long-suffering: and put off anger, and wrath and malice." The laying aside of
formerly besetting sins, is but a poor attainment, unless we are also clothed
upon with the beauties of holiness, and the ornaments of a Christian temper. The
principal branches of this temper are humility, temperance, patience, meek­ness,
and self-denial. To have these in them and abounding, is the prayer, and aim,
and, in some measure, the attainment of believers.

Conscious of their unworthiness, and weakness, and daily imperfections, they
esteem others more highly than themselves; they admire that forbearance of God,
which spares such cumberers of the ground; they adore that grace which extends
salvation to such unworthy creatures; they confess them­selves less than the
least of all saints; and under the impressions of unfeigned humility, they
ascribe unto God the unrivalled glory of all their happiness and hopes.

Pressing forward to the land of promise, remembering that this is not their
rest, and declaring themselves only pilgrims on earth, they endeavour, through
grace, to be tem­perate in all things, to be contented and resigned in every
situation, to have their con­versation without covetousness, and to use this
world as not abusing it, knowing that the fashion thereof passeth away.

Encompassed with many cares and tribu­lations, they stay themselves on God, and
seek in patience to possess their spirits; to guard against all murmuring and
distrust; to bear the indignation of the Lord, until he pleads their cause; and
to humble them­selves under his mighty hand, until he exalt them in his due
season.

Meekness under affronts is of the highest importance in such a world as this, in
which turbulent and unreasonable men every where abound; whose daily injuries
and reproaches ire so ready to ruffle the temper, and provoke revenge. But learn
of thy Redeemer, O Christian! to be meek as well as lowly: when he was reviled,
he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself
to Him who judgeth righteously. Wherefore, dearly beloved, give not way to
wrath, and avenge not yourselves; nay, love them that hate you, and pray for
them that despitefully use you. The self-denial so strongly urged in Scripture
on all the disciples of Christ, implies a guarding with habitual care, a­gainst
those high imaginations which arro­gantly oppose the humiliating scheme of the
gospel; and mortifying that vain ambi­tion for human applause, which leads many
to mind their own things rather than the things of Christ: but it chiefly means,
the opposing those intemperate and impure de­sires, which lead captive the men
of the world, which are destructive of all inward serenity, and are justly
styled the "ways of bitterness and death." To guard the regenerate a­gainst
these fatal paths, the injunctions to self-denial are many, and plain, and
strong. "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Take heed, lest ye be
overcome with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life. Abstain
from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. Walk circum­spectly, not as
fools but as wise. Love not the world, nor the things of the world; for all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but of the world; and the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof; but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever."

Thus, in describing the conversation which becometh the gospel, we have been
neces­sarily led to consider the temper of the Christian’s mind, and the
operation of his inward dispositions: for though these in­ward tempers are only
manifest to God, yet their fruits are visible to all around; so that the careful
cultivation of the heavenly tem­pers, now mentioned, forms an essential branch
of practical religion. To promote the growth of these tempers, and their
pro­gress towards perfection, is perhaps one of the most difficult labours of
the Christian in this untoward soil. Numerous and pow­erful are the evil
propensities of his deceit­ful heart. Those natural corruptions which he thought
had been wholly cast out by the power of regenerating grace, have still their
root of bitterness remaining; often regain unexpected vigour, spread their
noxious in­fluence, and threaten the destruction of all the graces of the
Spirit.

Hence arises another important Christian duty, that, namely, of invigorating and
cherishing these heavenly plants by means of religious ordinances. Thus
believers are described in Scripture, as trees of righteousness, planted by the
rivers of water, which bring forth fruit in their season; and are flourishing
even in old age, when others fade. The word of God; the sanctuary and its
impressive solemnities; the secret devotions of the closet and family; these are
the peaceful streams which water the vineyard of the Lord; and these are the
sacred channels through which the almighty Spirit conveys to believers renewed
supplies of life, and strength, and fruitfulness. The word of God is their
counsellor in straits, and companion in the pilgrimage of life; and many in
every age, can say with the Psalmist, "when our sorrows abounded, we would have
perished, unless we had found comfort in thy most perfect word." By the prayer
of faith, they are strengthened with all might in the inner man; and kept in
peace, being staid on God. In his taber­nacles, they behold his power and glory,
and are brought near to God as their ex­ceeding joy. At his table, they remember
his love more than wine; and the fruits of their Redeemer’s death are sweet unto
their taste. With gratitude they welcome every return of that day which God
himself hath consecrated; and which brings them the renewed evidence, that their
Lord is risen, and hath triumphed over death and the grave. With Simeon, they go
up to the temple to worship: with Lydia, they attend to the things which are
spoken of the Lord: with Asaph they meditate on the works of God, and remember
the years of the right hand of the Most High: with devout Cor­nelius, they
worship God in their house: with the disciples going to Emmaus, they take sweet
counsel together, and talk of him who redeems Israel: and with the first
Christians, they continue steadfast in the Apostles’ doctrine, and in
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. The wilful neglect of
these institutions of religion, is not only injurious to the pro­gress of grace
in the soul, but indicates impiety towards God; and proves of perni­cious
consequence to individuals, and fami­lies, and societies, by setting before them
an example of disregard to divine institu­tions. Whereas a regular and
reverential attention to religious worship, in the closet, and family, and
sanctuary, is one of the various methods by which the faithful in Christ adorn
his doctrine, and make their light shine before men.

Having stated the more personal branches of practical religion, let us now
direct your attention to the duties which we owe to others, and which are
therefore styled relative. They are comprehended under these two leading
commands, of loving our neigh­hour as ourselves, and doing unto others as we
would wish them, in similar situations, to do unto us.

These general propositions are explained by particular precepts of Scripture.
"He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee:
do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. Let none of you imagine
evil against his neighbour: speak every man the truth, and execute the judgment
of truth. Comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient towards all
men. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Rejoice
with them that re­joice, and weep with them that weep. Little children, let us
not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth: hereby we shall
assure our hearts before him. But whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion, how dwelleth the
love of God in him!" In these exhortations to relative duties, sincerity,
justice, and kindness, are particu­larly recommended, as important articles in
the conversation becoming the gospel.

Truth and sincerity of speech is of so much importance in society, that without
it, mankind could have no comfort in each other, and no confidence in social
inter­course; therefore religion requires, that a Christian’s words shall
indicate the undis­sembled sentiments of his heart, and shall be followed out by
the conformity of his actions to what he hath spoken or promised: a contrary
conduct is treating with disregard the omniscience of God, and substi­tuting
dissimulation for the godly sincerity which becometh Christians.

Justice and integrity of conduct should ever accompany sincerity in speech; and
will lead the Christian to render to all ranks and relations what they are
entitled to ex­pect; tribute to whom tribute is due, honour to superiors,
gratitude to benefactors, obe­dience to rulers, subjection to parents,
affec­tionate attention to neighbours, and con­stancy of friendship to kindred
and compa­nions. It is not therefore sufficient to ab­stain from contention,
debate, oppression, cruelty, or fraud; Christians are also re­quired to be the
salt of the earth, and the lights of the world; to do good as they have
opportunity; to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to succour the distressed,
and to honour the Lord with their substance: for they whom he hath prospered in
the world, are stewards of the bounties of providence; and are as really bound
by Scripture to sup­ply, as not to rob; to communicate, as not to injure; to
comfort, as not to smite. But this extensive law of justice hath a particular
respect to the relative situation of mankind, regulating the extent of authority
in superiors, and the measure of subjection in inferiors. Such, therefore, is
its lan­guage, as testified in Scripture.-He that ruleth over men, must be just,
ruling in the fear of the Lord. Let every soul be sub­ject to the higher powers:
for the powers that be, are ordained of God, for the pun­ishment of evil-doers,
and the praise of them that do well.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave
himself for it: so ought men to love their own wives as their own bodies; for he
that Ioveth his wife loveth himself.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. Be sober, be
discreet, chaste, keepers at home, obedient to your own husbands. Whose
adorning, let it be the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the
sight of God, of great price.

Ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. Lay up these my words in your heart, and teach them
to your children, speaking of them when sitting in the house, when walking by
the way, when lying down, and rising up.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is good and acceptable to God.
Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise.

Let as many servants as are under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of
all honour, and please them well in all things: not answering again, not
purloining; but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of
God our Saviour in all things.

Ye masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, forbearing
threaten­ing; knowing that you have a Master in heaven: neither is there respect
of persons with him.*

*These illustrations of relative duties are given in the language of Scripture,
but the references are too numerous to he particularized on the margin. We beg
to refer the reader for information on these and other topics, to Dr. Chalmers’
very valuable and use­ful work, entitled "Scripture References." ED. To these
most reasonable rules of righteousness, which flow from the relative situa­tions
of Christians, their Redeemer hath added the new commandment of Love to the
brethren. As their head of influence and privilege, he unites them into one
spiritual family; and requires them to love each other with a purity, constancy,
and endearment becoming fellow-debtors to sovereign grace, and fellow-travellers
to the heavenly glory. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye love one another. This love is pure and peaceable, long-suffering and kind;
it forgives unto seventy times seven; it rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices
in the truth; it warns the unruly, and restores the fallen, in the spirit of
meekness; it com­forts the feeble-minded, and confirms the weak. We are
brethren, is its language, let us not fall out by the way: We have one faith,
one Lord, one hope of our calling, one Father, and one heaven; let us then build
up one another in our most holy faith, and edify one another, and rejoice in the
hope of the glory to be revealed. On the other hand, if, among the Chris­tian’s
kindred or companions, any seem strangers or enemies to that grace which brings
salvation, his duty is, not to irritate them by railing accusation, by haughty
ne­glect, or indignant scorn; but in meekness to instruct; in the gentleness of
advice to recommend religion; in the circumspection of exemplary conduct, to
show its powerful influence; and, in all the importunity of prayer, to plead
with the God of all grace, that by his unmerited, almighty, and sove­reign
grace, he would pluck them as brands from the burning, and call them from
darkness to his marvellous light, and make them joyful with his inheritance.

Such is the nature of practical religion, as delineated in the sacred
Scriptures:-­walking in all the commandments and ordi­nances of the Lord
blameless: living un­spotted from the world; leading quiet and peaceable lives,
in all godliness and honesty: doing good to all as we have opportunity,
especially to such as are of the household of faith: growing in grace: following
after those things which are pure and lovely, and of good report; adding to our
faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, bro­therly kindness,
and charity. The motives to this Christian conduct are numerous, powerful, and
endearing. Thus, we glorify our Father in heaven, and adorn the doctrine of God
our Saviour; and walk before him unto all well pleasing. Thus we live unto the
Lord, and, as he hath given commandment, and according to the example he hath
left us. Thus the life of Christ is made manifest in us, and our light shineth
before the world, and the way of truth is not evil spoken of on our account.
Thus our peace floweth as a river, and we grow in meetness for inheriting with
the saints in light.

Let us then examine our own character: and inquire, What influence religion hath
had upon our hearts and tempers, our words and conduct?

Let us nobly aspire after the highest pos­sible attainments, in that life of
exemplary and uniform holiness recommended by the gospel. And for this purpose,
while we daily rely on the righteousness of the Redeemer for acceptance, and
daily dedicate ourselves to his service, let us also be strong in his might, and
in the exercise of prayer wait on the promised influences of the Holy Spirit, to
hold up our goings, that our foot­steps may never slide: to keep us in the hour
of temptation: to lead us in the ever­lasting way: to sanctify us wholly: to
pre­serve soul, body, and spirit blameless unto the coming of the Lord; and to
make our path shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.


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  CHAPTER 6: 04 - THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION TO THE USEFULNESS AND HAPPINESS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE
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CHAP. IV. The Importance of Religion to the Usefulness and Happiness of the
Common People.

LET it be understood, that this expres­sion, the common people, far from
implying the smallest degree of disrespect, is all along used merely to
distinguish the persons here addressed, from those who, by their superior
station, fortune, or influence, are, in common language, styled the great. But
though neither the middle ranks of life, nor the lowest orders of society, are
excluded by this general term of common people, yet the writer of this treatise
hath chiefly in view that numerous and valuable class of persons who are
employed as tradesmen, labourers, servants, domestics, or apprentices. For their
benefit he hath attempted some de­scription of the nature and influence of real
religion; and now he wishes to rouse their attention to this deeply interesting
subject, and to recommend this religion to their choice, by such arguments as
may be suit­able to their situations, and may come home to their hearts.

Know thyself, 0 man! and respect thy­self, are maxims applauded by the wise, and
worthy the continual recollection of all. They are particularly applicable to
you who are placed in dependent circumstances; and whose inferiority may often
expose you to disesteem, and may sometimes endanger your undervaluing your own
character. To promote this knowledge and respect, be en­treated to think
seriously on the exalted powers you possess, and to look around with attention
upon the station which you hold. In other words, view yourselves both in your
personal and in your relative capacity. To these two points the reasoning on
this branch of the subject shall be confined.

1. Then, think of yourselves in your personal capacity, as rational and immortal
beings. However obscure your lot in life, you possess the same spiritual powers,
are formed for the same noble purposes, and are called to the same exalted
prospects with the most honourable or wealthy in the land. The lowest
circumstances of service, or dependence, or poverty, with all their humi­liating
and mournful attendants, can in no degree diminish the poor man’s intrinsic
ex­cellence. He is the child of providence, the expectant of immortality. These
honours his gracious Creator confers upon him, in common with the wealthiest
potentate on earth. A wretched Lazarus, fed with crumbs from the rich man’s
table; a blind Bartimeus, who sat by the way-side beg­ging, were as really the
objects of divine attention, as Solomon, when arrayed in all his glory. Ye
unknown, unenvied men, ye sons and daughters of poverty; ye are equally with
others the creatures of God; formed by his power, sustained by his merciful
visi­tation, and placed in those very circum­stances which his unerring wisdom
hath judged most expedient. Therefore, as his rational and dependent creatures,
you owe to him the daily tribute of supreme love, of grateful worship, of
unreserved submission, and dutiful obedience. Ask, then, where is God our Maker,
who gives us songs in the night? And what hath the Lord re­quired of us? Learn
his character and his will: follow on to know him; and walk before him, unto all
well-pleasing. As man is born to trouble, so they who move in inferior stations,
are peculiarly ex­posed to numberless distresses; under each of these they
require support and solace to their minds: but that consolation they can­not
expect from the world. Small is the relief, and few the joys, it can impart to
any. The little that it hath, is reserved for those in affluence and power; but
it cruelly leaves the afflicted poor to weep un­pitied and despised. Not thus
unrelenting and cruel is that amiable religion which de­scends from above. She
visits the house of neglected cottagers. She revives the soul of the sorrowful,
and imparts a glad­ness of heart which can only be understood by those who feel
her animating presence. Nevertheless, she disdains to dwell with those who,
however needy, remain unprin­cipled and impenitent; she enters not the
habitation of those who are ignorant of God, who disobey the Gospel and love the
dark­ness; she passes their dreary abode with just indignation; and leaves them
a spectacle, to men and angels, of the complicated horrors of poverty and pain,
when united with ignorance and impiety. Lay up, therefore, a good foundation for
the days of darkness, by union and fellowship with that Redeemer, who giveth
grace to help in every time of need. To you, equally with others, his infinite
merits can extend; for your acceptance the blessings of his great salvation are
held out; and for your conso­lation he proclaims, "Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come, and take of the waters of life freely. If united to this compassionate
Redeemer, and abiding in him, all the ways of providence towards you will be
mercy and peace, and the severest trials in life will work together for your
good. Blessed Gospel of peace, which turns darkness into light, and makes the
valley of Achor, or trouble, a door of hope! Happy the be­liever in Christ,
cheered with the presence of a friend, who is born for adversity, and who
sticketh closer than a brother.

It is appointed for all to die, and after death cometh the judgment; and after
judg­ment followeth the eternal state of existence. Whatever, then, may be the
outward condi­tion, or the inward perplexities of any of the common people, they
are daily hastening to immortal glory, or endless woe. That poor wretched
profligate, who is clothed with rags, yet staggering with drunkenness; who hath
brutified his senses by intemperance; who so daringly blasphemes his Maker, and
so loudly implores damnation on himself; even he possesses an immortal soul, and
soon shall he stand before the impartial tribunal of a sovereign Judge. 0 that
he would consider his latter end; and would lay to heart, in the days of his
merciful visitation, the things which belong to his everlasting peace! Yes, the
servant, the labourer, the tradesman; nay, that needy, naked, hungry pensioner
of the benevolent; each hath a treasure of unspeakable value to secure, or to
lose: his soul is immortal, all his temporal difficulties shall soon be
forgotten in the uninterrupted pleasures of heavenly glory, or the unutterable
agonies of future wrath. This life is the only pe­riod allotted him to prepare
for eternity: his season of grace is uncertain; his day de­clines, and his
departure is at hand! What scene on earth is more affecting than the death of an
ignorant, unprincipled, poor man, who hath toiled hard through life to gain a
scanty subsistence, but never thought of an hereafter, who enjoyed but little
comfort in this world, and is dying without any well-grounded hope of happiness
in the next?

Ye children of industry and indigence, direct your attention to the
representation now given: consider yourselves in your per­sonal capacity,
inheriting like powers, and exposed to like trials with your superiors: the
subjects of God’s moral government; journeying through a world of sin and
mis­ery; possessing immortal natures, and daily ripening for an unalterable and
endless state. If then there is a reality, a power, and a com­fort in religion;
if it is productive of present peace, and can be advantageous to any of mankind,
it must be of peculiar avail to you. You need its divine influence to regulate
your affections, to elevate your desires, to dispel your fears, to purify your
hearts, and to render you happy in God, independent of all earthly joys. You are
capable of en­joying these influences, and of feeling their glorious power to
keep from fainting in the day of adversity; and you are encouraged from
Scripture to ask, and to expect more abundant consolations in Christ, than they
who experience not the tribulations of life. Let religion then be the guide of
your steps, and the solace of your minds. Choose this better part which cannot
be taken away; prefer it as the one thing needful; delight yourselves in the
Lord; abide in his words, and walk as he hath given commandment: then shall ye
know, that Wisdom’s ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

"If thou criest after knowledge, and lift­est up thy voice for understanding; if
thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then
shalt thou under­stand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Take
fast hold of instruction, let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life. Forsake
her not, and she shall preserve thee; exalt her, and she shall bring thee to
honour. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace; and shall deliver to
thee a crown of glory." Prov. ii. and iv.

2. Let us next consider, that numerous class of men whom providence hath placed
in inferior stations, as forming an important branch of the community, and
connected with society by various relations.

Here a succession of interesting circum­stances present themselves to view; and
the value of religion appears with peculiar lustre as happily calculated to
render men upright in service-constant in conjugal life-dutiful
children-affectionate parents-and use­ful citizens. To servants of every
description, Chris­tianity addresses its exhortations with ener­gy, and
affection: it cautions against mur­muring at the allotments of an unerring
Father; it requires them to abide in their calling with the Lord: it gives them
direc­tions for the regulation of their temper, words, and conduct; and it
assures them, that by acting a proper part in their several departments, they
shall shine as lights be­fore men, and shall adorn the doctrine of God their
Saviour.

Many are their dangers, and great their need of intimate acquaintance both with
the principles and the power of Christianity. Separated from the eye and care of
their parents, they are entered upon an ensnaring world, are scattered through
many families, and have many duties to discharge, many difficulties to
encounter, and many tempta­tions to resist: nothing less than cleaving to the
Lord with full purpose of heart, can pre­vent their wandering into those paths
in which destroyers walk.

However unfashionable the opinion, yet it accords with Scripture and
observation, that unfeigned piety is an essential requisite in the character of
a faithful servant. Mas­ters can have little dependence on the truth and
honesty, the temperance and sobriety, of any under them, who have not the fear
of God before their eyes; who disregard his ordinances, or profane his awful
name: such will feel but little restraint from the terrors of an earthly master,
when tempted to false­hood, or fraud, or self-indulgence. Nothing less than the
grace which bringeth salvation, can effectually teach them to deny all
un­godliness, and worldly lusts; and to live so­berly, righteously, and godly in
the world: and nothing but the love of Christ shed abroad in the heart, can
constrain them to the performance of commanded duty; espe­cially of those
necessary and self-denying duties which contradict depraved disposi­tions, and
natural propensities to evil.

Most wise in its nature, and most bene­ficial for society, is the language of
Scrip­ture to those under authority: "Obey them who have the rule over you; be
clothed with humility; lay aside all wrath and ma­lice; put on the ornaments of
meek and quiet spirits; be faithful in that which is least, and, in due time,
God will make you ruler over many things; be diligent in busi­ness, fervent in
spirit, serving the Lord." Religion requires them to resist the solici­tations
of the wicked; to curb the sallies of passion; to beware lest they be overtaken
by intemperance or impurity; and to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of dark­ness. It forbids their doing evil that good may come; and it charges
them to speak the truth in love, and not lie one to another; to be sober minded,
and not deal in matters too high for them; to do their own work quietly, and not
stir up strife; to follow peace with all men, and that holiness with­out which
none can see the Lord.

Such are the amiable counsels of our holy religion, such the character of
upright ser­vants, and such the men worthy of being encouraged and employed. But
where are such domestics, labourers, apprentices, and servants to be found?
Alas! the conduct of the far greater part is in direct opposition to all these
heavenly precepts. Unfaithful to their trust, deceitful in their words,
dis­honest in their transactions, violent in their tempers, and sensual in their
gratifications: they too often prove the ruin of companions, the disgrace of
society, the dishonour of their friends, and disturbers of the families where
they reside. Instead of rising into notice and esteem, or treasuring up for
future support, they render themselves objects of public indignation, and
involve themselves and their families in infamy and want.

Never will any effectual reformation, in sentiments or manners, be witnessed
amongst any class of servants, until, through grace, they submit to the laws of
God, and become Christians, not in name, but in heart and life. Other expedients
for reforming them have been tried, but always have failed: and the experience
of ages hath proved, that it is religion alone, when exerting its practical
influence: it is Christianity, when experienced in its power: it is the Gospel
of Christ, when known, loved, and obeyed, which inclines and enables dependent
men, who earn their bread with the sweat of their brow; to labour without
murmuring, and to lead quiet and peaceable lives in all honesty and godliness.

These remarks may be extended to ano­ther station of life, even more important
than that of service. When persons have entered into the nearest and tenderest
of all human connections, what can so firmly secure their conjugal fidelity, as
the immutable bond of religion? or what can so effectually perpetuate their
conjugal happiness, as that un­dissembled affection which the Gospel of peace
enjoins and inspires? On the other hand, whence ariseth that domestic
wretchedness, so often heard of in the habitations of the common people? Whence
is it, that the closest of human ties, which hea­ven appointed as the perfection
of human felicity, so often proves the fatal source of constant and increasing
torment? The reason is, the married pair entered into that sacred relation
untutored, unprincipled, and irreligious: and therefore continue strangers to
that regard, constancy and happiness, which result from the united influence of
piety and love. Adverse to piety, and un­influenced by love: oppressed with
poverty, and soured by fatigue: the unhappy pair seek not to sooth each other’s
sorrows, nor to promote each other’s comfort: but serve up every meal with
unavailing complaints, and imbitter every solitary hour by mutual reproaches.

Behold we show you a more excellent way.-Say with Joshua, Whatever others do, as
for us, and our house, we will serve the Lord. Learn of Jesus to be meek and
lowly: delight yourselves in the Lord, and acknowledge him in all your ways;
this will lighten the pressure of your poverty, will sweeten your converse,
after the fatigues of the day, and will teach you to enjoy the bounty of your
God, in the homely fare which your honest industry hath gained.

Many are the advantages of uniform godliness in the marriage-relation: it
re­strains wrath and bitterness: it suppresses strife and contention; and its
happy ten­dency is to deliver from evil and self-tor­menting passions. Nor is
this its only aim: it is also productive of another effect, sin­gularly
beneficial to society; securing a faithful adherence to the matrimonial vow, and
guarding, by the most solemn sanctions, against all criminal conduct. The
violation of the marriage-bed is one of the most hei­nous and most cruel of all
transgressions: against none are the warnings of Scripture more frequent, or its
threatenings more alarming. Nor doth it only forbid impure actions, but all
lascivious language, all irregular desires, and all pollution of the mind. In
the spirit of true benevolence, the sacred volume invites Christians to the calm
tranquillities, and soothing joys, of domestic life; and, with equal ardour for
their happiness, it deters from all those ap­proaches to vice, and all those
criminal ap­petites and indulgences, which end in bit­terness and death. Let
husband and wife receive these sayings, and though poor, be virtuous; though
perplexed, comfort each other; and though toiling through life, live in love;
and thus lessen, by bearing each other’s burdens.

Religion next addresses you as parents; and commands you to bring up your
chil­dren in the admonition of the Lord. If you neglect this duty, you are
murderers of their souls; nor will any inferiority of sta­tion, any multiplicity
of cares, or any dili­gence in business, excuse that neglect. Solemn and binding
were your engagements at the baptism of your children, to instruct them in the
truths of Scripture: to restrain them from evil; to pray for them, and with
them; to educate them according to their station; and to employ your influence,
af­fection, and authority as parents, in pro­moting their temporal and spiritual
welfare. Perform your vows unto the Lord: devolve not all the spiritual charge
of your families upon pastors or teachers; nor think that their labours can
warrant your omission of instruction, example, and prayer.

Such are the injunctions of religion upon parents; and hence its importance to
society is manifest. Were the children of the commonalty trained up in the fear
of the Lord, they would not, through life, remain cumberers of the community,
troublers of God’s Israel, ignorant as the untutored Indian, and obstinate as
the fierce barba­rian. But can it be expected, that parents will bring up their
children for God, if they themselves are enemies to him in their minds; if, in
this land of light, they are perishing for lack of knowledge; if, amidst the
most plentiful means of instruction, they willingly sit in darkness, and in the
shadow of death? Infatuated parents! pity the offspring which God hath given
you; they grow up around your table as olive-plants; they cling to you with fond
affection; they listen to your talk with admiring silence; they receive from
your hands the crumb, and the cup, with eager gratitude; and their wishful
looks, and unfolding powers, entreat your attention to their mind, and to their
future usefulness. If no other argument could be produced for your walking in
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, this one might rouse you,-the fate
of your children; the danger of their perishing through your neglect; and the
obligations you are under, to teach them the know­ledge, and fear, and love, of
their Creator and Redeemer.

While religion, as a heavenly visitant, administers these wholesome counsels to
the heads of families, she looks around upon their offspring with mildest
countenance; and affectionately enjoins them to dwell together in unity, to obey
their parents in the Lord, and to honour their father and mother, that their
days may be long in the land of the living.

Another relative character which the common people hold in society, arises from
their connection with the community; and the most effectual method of rendering
themselves good citizens, and virtuous sub­jects, is by their becoming sincere
Chris­tians. The gospel teaches them, that they are accountable to God for all
their actions; that his word must regulate their measures in society; that, in
the station he allots them, they must act with integrity and honour; and that
with their conduct in life, is connected the prosperity or the ruin of their
country. Let men, however needy or obscure, be habitually impressed with these
laws of revelation: this will induce them to lead quiet and peaceable lives, to
render tribute and honour where due, and to obey their superiors in the Lord.
But if ever they set aside these divine laws, or consider their conduct in
society as unconnected with their duty to God, separate morality from religion,
or substitute the one for the other: then farewell all public virtue,
tranquillity, and order: all regard to distinguishing privileges, all reverence
for laws, all coun­tenance from heaven. These guardian an­gels will then hasten
their departure from our once happy land: and leave an ungrate­ful nation to all
the calamities of idleness, injustice, and oppression, to all the direful
effects of divine indignation.

Know then your own importance, ye whom Providence hath placed in the inferior
ranks of life. You are happily free from the vexatious toil of managing the
national concerns, you need not perplex yourselves, or others, with visionary
schemes of public government, and you would be but ill-em­ployed in attempting
to alter laws, which the experience of ages hath proved to be wholesome, but you
have far more impor­tant and honourable work to pursue: a never-dying soul to be
saved, a family to rear, an example to set before many, and a Saviour to honour
upon earth. Were the common people sincerely reli­gious: did they act upon the
principles, and conformably to the precepts of Scripture: did they encourage, by
their example, a spirit of sobriety, industry, and honesty: did they bring up
their children in a reve­rence for the ordinances of God, and send them forth
into the world fortified with the sentiments of revelation: who can tell what
blessings they might prove to the places where they reside, and to the nation at
large? nay, who can calculate how wide their usefulness might extend, and how
long it might be perpetuated? Succeeding gene­rations might reap the blissful
fruits of their piety, while their children’s children con­tinued to instruct
their families in the hea­venly truths, and examples, transmitted from their
forefathers. But if the general­ity of the common people degenerate into
in­fidelity, licentiousness, and all immoral con­duct, the evil produced will be
equally wide, and equally lasting.


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  CHAPTER 7: 05 - THE MEANS WHICH SEEM BEST CALCULATED FOR PROMOTING THE KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRIT OF RELIGION
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CHAP. V. The Means which seem best calculated for promoting the Knowledge and
Spirit of Religion amongst the Common People.

1. THE foundation of all religious knowledge and attainments, must be laid in a
proper acquaintance with the sacred Scrip­tures, and a constant attention to
them as the unerring rule of faith and conduct. Without this heavenly guide, the
children of men would wander in perpetual uncer­tainty and danger; but by
following this light of truth, which shineth in a dark world, they are led into
the paths of peace, are filled with consolation, and go forward from strength to
strength, until they appear before God in Zion. To the poor the gospel is
published; by this they are made wise to salvation, and taught how to purify
their way. Though the glimmerings of reason, when united with the improvements
of philosophy, may be supposed to be of some advantage to men of refinement; yet
what benefit can these yield to men unaccustomed to argue, unfit to detect the
subtleties of the arrogant, and so much occupied by daily labours, as to enjoy
little leisure for perusing the multiplied volumes of the learned? The God of
wisdom and compassion hath pitied their circumstances, and hath not withheld
from them, a plain and perfect revelation of his will; it shines before them as
the bright morning-star, leading their attention to the glorious Sun of
Righteousness, and conduct­ing many sons and daughters to glory. Follow ye,
therefore, this true light, which descendeth from heaven; search the sacred
volume with diligence, humility, and prayer; and hold converse with it daily, as
with a beloved companion. Examine its doctrines, rejoice in its promises,
observe the path of duty it prescribes, and contemplate with de­light the
glorious objects it exhibits. Thus seek for wisdom as for hid treasures, and
thus apply your hearts to understanding. The Scriptures are intended for the
benefit of all ranks, and are adapted to the circumstances of every character;
therefore all are required to know the truth, to have the word of Christ
dwelling richly in them, and to regard the things which belong to their
everlasting peace. But they who hate instruction, who love the darkness, who
re­ject the counsel of God, and obey not his gospel, are threatened with
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

If God commandeth all to search the Scriptures, must not the neglect of this
ex­press command, be both sinful and danger­ous? Yet some pretended Christians
have extolled ignorance as the mother of devo­tion. Such a daring sentiment
insults the kindness of that God, who deigned to re­veal his will to men; and
betrays so much malevolence against the truth, as may well excite our
indignation and sorrow. The arrogant pride of popery, in substituting human
inventions for the ordinances of God, is not more fatal and delusive, than the
cruel conduct of her priests, in with­holding from the common people the free
perusal of the Scriptures. But we have not so learned Christ: we know that with
him is no distinction of persons; that his voice is to the children of men; that
all kindreds and people are commanded to walk in his light, and to make his
statutes their songs in their pilgrimage.

Men and brethren, prize your privileges, and rejoice that the word of truth is
in your habitations, and in your hands. Your fa­thers sat in darkness, under
popish delusion: but this land where your fathers dwelt, is become a valley of
vision. Ye are rescued from the dominion of tyrannic priests: the ministers of
the sanctuary are not permitted, by our holy religion, to lord it over your
faith: ye are required to try their doctrines by the law and the testimony,
before you receive them with all readiness: the word is nigh you, it is
translated into your own language, it is given you almost without price; and no
mean is left untried, to encourage your daily perusal of the sa­cred volume.

O how highly favoured is this island above many other nations! The Sun of
Righteousness has not yet dispelled from their boundaries, the clouds of
ignorance, error, and idolatry-the prophets and apostles are scarcely known
among them, ex­cept by the pencil of the painter-the in­spired writings of these
holy men are de­tained in the repositories of priests-the waters of salvation
are stopped in their courses, by the mighty bulwarks of super­stition-the
fountain opened by the Son of God, for purifying many nations, is shut up by the
daring Vicar of Christ-the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the
people, is guarded from the approaches of the needy by mercenary hirelings-and
the glorious light of the gospel is involved in the mysterious darkness of
gloomy subtleties. But the God of Zion will ere long arise, and plead his own
cause; he will shake the kingdoms of the earth, he will gird his sword on his
thigh, and he will go forth in the chariot of his gospel, from conquering to
conquer. May his word run, and have free course, and be glorified! May the
tumults of the people terminate in the triumphs of the Redeemer’s kingdom! and
may his bles­sed religion be preserved amongst us in all its purity, experienced
in all its power, and perpetuated to latest ages!

Since to you is given the gospel of salvation, prize this privilege, and improve
it with care: count all as loss for the excel­lence of the knowledge of Christ:
read his word with delight and attention, with humi­lity and reverence, with
faith and firm as­sent, with application of what it reveals to your own
circumstances, and with fervent supplication for the teaching of the Spirit,
that you may understand the Scriptures, may embrace the promises, and may walk
in the truth.

2. A spirit of religion will never prevail in any community, where there is not
a general and regular attendance on the preaching of the word. This, therefore,
is earnestly recommended to families, both as a duty and a privilege.

Thanks unto the God of our fathers, the sublime and sanctifying doctrines of
grace are, even in this age of error, taught by many, with sincerity, plainness,
and power. Many faithful ministers, of various denominations, harmoniously unite
in the de­claration and defence of the record which God hath given: they testify
the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh: they preach Christ
crucified, as the foundation of hope for guilty creatures, and as the Author of
eternal redemption to all who obey him. This comfortable con­sideration, united
with the many important ends of public worship, warrants the exhor­tation now
given, to frequent the house of God, if you desire progress in religion.

Though it is a common complaint, that little space is reserved in churches for
the accommodation of the poor, and though the complaint may not be wholly
groundless; yet in almost every city and parish, there are churches reared by
various sects, where the same gospel is preached, where the poor may find easy
access, and where they will be instructed in the truth as it is in Jesus. Since,
then, there are places pro­vided in this land of liberty, where you may worship
God according to your consciences, and since ministers are willing to instruct
all who come to them, why should you perish for lack of knowledge? Why ne­glect
the means of improvement? And why refuse a willing attendance on the public
ordinances of divine institution? That attendance may not perhaps be al­ways
followed with the desired effects: some may long enjoy the means of the grace,
and remain unenlightened and unre­newed; still they are engaged, as becometh
creatures, in waiting on God, and worshipping him; they are in the sanctuary,
where he manifests his glory, and exerts his saving power; they are in the place
where he pro­mises to meet with his people, and to bless them.

Under these impressions, it is earnestly recommended to all in the community,
that they conduct their children to some proper place of worship on the Lord’s
day, and teach them to listen with reverent attention to the truths delivered.
Pernicious and alarming are the consequences, when the common people forsake the
worshipping of God in the sanctuary: every religious and moral principle soon
becomes effaced from their remembrance; all the restraints of character and
decency are burst asunder: those sacred hours in which others are en­gaged, with
heavenly devotion, in public worship, are spent by these neglecters of God’s
house, in the haunts of intemper­ance, in depredations on their neighbour’s
property, or in forming associations dan­gerous to families, and destructive to
do­mestic order. Considering it therefore as a duty enjoined by religion, as a
matter of policy for the welfare of society, as a matter of prudence for the
comfort of families, and as a mark of compassion for the souls of the perishing,
let parents, masters, and supe­riors endeavour, by all the influence they can
employ, by rewarding the complying and reproving the froward, by exhortation and
authority, to prevent their domestics or ser­vants, their tenants or children,
from ne­glecting the assemblies of the saints; let them also endeavour to
promote among the poorest of the people, a regular attendance upon the public
worship of God every returning Sabbath.

3. A third means of improvement in religion, is a careful application to the
several exercises of closet devotion. Under this particular may be included,
profitable read­ing, pious meditation, and secret prayer. Though each of these
merits a separate consideration, yet their influence upon each other is so
natural and intimate, that there seems no impropriety in classing them
to­gether. A daily searching of the Scriptures hath already been urged: and
therefore the pro­fitable reading now to be recommended, re­fers to the serious
perusal of books of piety. All have not equal opportunities for this profitable
employment: yet the most laborious and hard wrought in our land, have their
hours of recess from the fatigues of business, and their seasons of rest and
leisure. With­out proper caution, these may prove dan­gerous periods, by leading
the unemployed into follies and crimes, which will entail upon them lasting
distress and wretchedness. To prevent such miseries, improve your lei­sure hours
in the perusal of the writings of the pious. Thanks unto God, we are fa­voured
with a variety of valuable publications, which are well calculated both to
please and to edify; which contain no dan­gerous tenets; which attempt not to
pro­mote devotion without principle, or piety without morality; but which are at
once evangelical, practical, and plain. A Flavel, a Watts, an Owen, a Hervey,
and a Dod­dridge, though dead, yet speak to us in all the eloquence of animated
address, of un­adulterated doctrine, and of genuine piety. In our own day, a
Newton, a Venn, a Walker, and a Witherspoon, have given to the world amiable and
just representa­tions of evangelical truth. To all these I might add, as worthy
of perusal, and hap­pily adapted to the capacities of the meanest, the labours
of a Boston, a Bunyan, and an Erskine. All these authors now named were men
eminent for their piety, and use­ful in their day: their spirit breathes in
their works; and their praise will be long perpetuated in the church. Modern
re­finers of a religion which is perfect in itself, and can admit of no
improvement by modern discoveries, may affect to despise the writ­ings now
mentioned, and may load them with the reproachful names of enthusiasm and
vulgarity. Nevertheless, if you peruse them with care, you will find them rich
in sentiment, and profitable for your instruction in righteousness; and if you
are so fortu­nate as to bring your own household, and the families around, to
read and relish what these books contain, you will be doing all essential
service to the interests of religion.

Serious meditation on divine things, is another important branch of
closet-devotion. It is not reasonable, that the objects of time should occupy
the chief attention of immor­tal men; that they should mind only earthly things,
and be only careful about worldly concerns. It becomes them to allot proper
intervals for spiritual contemplation; to re­tire often from the business and
the bustle of the world: to call themselves to frequent and strict account; to
examine if they are in the faith; to try their tempers and con­duct by the law
of God; to inquire what progress they are making in their prepara­tions for an
everlasting state of existence: and to live under realizing impressions of the
future world. The want of religious knowledge, and habitual neglect of serious
consideration, prove the ruin of thousands. What real or persevering religion
can be expected from an uninformed, undisciplined, unthinking mind? and how
unavailing must be all the means of grace, if men will not allow them­selves
leisure to examine their real state before God, to ponder the things which
be­long to their salvation, and to meditate on the all-important doctrines,
promises, and precepts of Scripture? Small attention is necessary to give the
objects of sense their full force; these are ever present, and their influence
is powerful: but of what is un­seen and everlasting, a more fixed recollec­tion
is indispensably necessary. This, in some measure, removes the distance between
heaven and earth; brings spiritual objects near to the believing reflecting
mind; in­creases that faith which is the substance of things hoped for; and
derives from these un­seen realities, far nobler joys than can be obtained from
the most inviting pleasures of sin.

Retire, therefore, by yourselves, into the fields or the closet, to meditate on
heavenly themes: contemplate what hath been, what is, and what shall be
hereafter. Mark the ways of Providence; and trace, with admir­ing
acknowledgment, the doing of the Lord to yourselves, your families and your
kin­dred. Look forward to future, but certain and approaching scenes: an
expiring world, a general judgment, an unalterable state. How must these solemn
prospects moderate your eagerness for the passing fashions of the world, and
quicken your progress to­wards Zion. Meditate on heaven, as the land of rest,
and the sure inheritance of all the redeemed; contemplate their joys and their
employments, and long to be united with the just made perfect, and with the
in­numerable company of angels. Above all, let the meditations of God and the
Redeemer be sweet unto your thoughts. Contemplate your heavenly Father’s mercy
and faithful­ness, his infinite glory, and his condescend­ing care. Look unto
Jesus the author of eternal redemption: admire his transcendent excellence, his
sufferings and triumphs, the blessings he hath purchased, the mediation he now
accomplishes, and the happiness prepared for all his followers. Inquire if you
have good hope through grace, that you are among the number of his followers? if
you love him more than all? if you abide in him as your Saviour and Sanctifier?
and if you have been made willing to deny your­selves, to take up your cross and
to follow Christ? Thus, by uniting serious self-in­quiry with heavenly
contemplation, you will experience the accomplishment of the apos­tle’s
declaration, that to be spiritually-minded is life and peace.

Professing Christians, placed by Provi­dence in laborious or dependent stations
of life, excuse their neglect of this duty, by pleading their want of time, and
continual employment. But surely this reasoning cannot apply to the Sabbath: or
if it does, they themselves are highly culpable, for en­gaging in any service
which admits not of their sanctifying the day of God. That sacred and blessed
day is not theirs, to give to worldly business: nor their masters to dispose of:
it is consecrated to the God of their lives, and the rock of their salvation: it
hath work assigned it peculiar to that one day in seven; and in this work the
public and private exercises of religious worship are mercifully interwoven:
amongst these, the duty now recommended claims its ad­mission: and some portion
of the morning and evening of every Lord’s day ought to be set apart for
spiritual meditation.­-Squander not then these precious hours in unprofitable
visits or idle converse; but retiring from every eye, delight yourselves in God,
and let your souls follow hard after him: review the general tenor of your
tem­pers through the past week, and your con­duct both towards God and man:
compare your dispositions, pursuits, words and ac­tions, with the law and the
gospel: confess the plagues of your heart, and the trans­gressions of your life:
renew your accep­tance of the Saviour, and dedication to his service: and
contemplate, with growing joy, the height, and depth, and breadth, and length of
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let the reading and hearing of the
word, and all the solemn services of that hallowed day, instead of preventing,
promote and encourage this heavenly employment: so shall the reviving worship of
the Christian Sabbath on earth prove a pleasing earnest of nearer intercourse
with God in the Zion above. But heavenly contemplation need not be confined to
one day in seven; it may be en­joyed amidst the ordinary transactions of daily
business: nay, every occurrence in life, every mercy and affliction, every
temptation or escape, every danger or deliverance -should aid you in rising from
the creature to God, and in setting your affections on -the things which are
above. Every return­ing evening it becomes you to inquire, What hath been your
state and temper of mind, amidst the varying events of the day? what duties have
been cheerfully performed, or sinfully omitted? what temptations have been
boldly resisted, or shamefully complied with? what trials have been patiently
en­dured, or fretfully spurned at? what graces of the divine life have been
exercised, and what have been neglected? what time hath been happily gained from
indolence, or car­nal indulgence? and what endeavours have been used for
promoting the good of others, or the honour of religion? Such self-exa­mination
should be strictly attended to, and considerably enlarged every Lord’s day
ev­ening, every return of your birth-day, every first day of the year, and
always before par­taking of the sacrament of the supper.

Another happy mean of promoting in the mind the true spirit of religion, is
daily, earnest secret prayer. This may well be esteemed by Christians an
important duty, and an inestimable privilege. So necessary is it for the
progress of real goodness, that without prayer, all the other means already
recommended, would be of little avail; and so advantageous is it to the
Christian, that the follies of the world will be lightly es­teemed, when
intercourse with the God of all grace is enjoyed. No duty can be more
reasonable, than that frail creatures should daily acknowledge, with gratitude
and re­verence, their dependence upon God, and their obligations to the Giver of
all good: no service can be more acceptable to heaven than the morning and
evening sacrifice of humble adoration and fervent intercession, through the one
Mediator; and no attainment marks more strongly the Christian’s progress in
religion, than a praying spirit; by which is meant, a delight in approaching to
God as the hearer of prayer; and un­folding, with undisguised freedom, our sins
and sorrows; a turning every day’s events into arguments and matters for
supplication; and a persevering continuance, in humbly pleading for promised
blessings. That praying spirit which all should cul­tivate, meets with violent
opposition from the pride and levity of the human mind; the former inclining to
live as if indepen­dent of God; the other leading to an indo­lent superficial
performance of a mere ex­ternal form, vainly dignified with the name of prayer.
But every lover of real religion must resist these temptations; must seek,
through grace, to continue instant in prayer: and even when unable to order his
cause through reason of his ignorance, or through the prevalence of unbelief,
must, with sighs, which cannot be expressed, heave the wish­ful desire to that
righteous Advocate, who maketh continual intercession: and hope for the Spirit
to help his infirmities.

You who are considered as placed in the obscurer ranks of life, and for whose
benefit this publication is chiefly intended, ought particularly to rejoice in
the privilege of prayer. It is the provision which your heavenly Father hath
made for your consolation in this weary wilderness; allowing you, at all times,
freedom of access to the throne of his mercy; and assuring you that his ear is
ever open to the cry of the hum­ble. Through that compassionate Re­deemer, who
is your prevalent Advocate, you have access by one Spirit, to the Father. Go,
therefore, to him with all your difficul­ties; unfold to him the secret griefs
which you cannot safely intrust with any compa­nion; rely on his wisdom for
guidance, and on his almighty power for protection; en­large your desires after
heavenly enjoy­ments; and plead the accomplishment of his gracious promises.
Thus by the prayer of faith, you will be strengthened, estab­lished, and
comforted; and by making all your wants known, with supplication and
thanksgiving, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your
heart and mind, through Christ Jesus our Lord.


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  CHAPTER 8: 06 - A SHORT ADDRESS TO PARENTS AND MASTERS
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CHAP. VI. A Short Address to Parents and Masters.

EVERY head of a family hath an authority and influence, which, if rightly
improved, may considerably promote the progress of religion among the inferior
orders of the community.

All parents, however obscure and needy, are bound, by the command of Scripture,
to bring up their children in the knowledge of the Lord: and every master of a
family hath in charge, not his own soul only, but the careful inspection of all
his servants. He is to them a head and guardian: and he ought, like Abraham, to
teach his household to keep the way of the Lord. To him, and to every parent,
belongs the charge given to Israel, recorded in Deut. vi. 6. " These words which
I command thee, saith the Lord, shall be in thy heart; thou shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way: and thou shalt
diligently teach them to thy house­hold."

Education and instruction are two im­portant duties incumbent on the heads of
every family; giving all diligence that their children and servants be taught to
read the Scriptures, and be instructed in the princi­ples of religion. Both of
these duties are mutually connected, are of much importance to the welfare of
society, and are essential to the spiritual interests of individuals.

Unless your children are taught to read the word of God in their own language,
every other mean of communicating religious knowledge will be of little avail;
and that little, of short duration. When they grow up in life, their minds will
remain unfurnish­ed; their leisure evening hours will hang heavy on their hands;
and their usual relax­ation from the tediousness which ignorance begets, will be
sought in the fatal joys of intemperance and the wretched abodes of vice.

Every observer of mankind may perceive, that these are the dismal effects of
neglected education in youth; and that this neglect is becoming too general
among the families of the common people. Too many parents, in the inferior
stations of life, foolishly suppose, that if they can procure food and rai­ment
for their children, they have sufficient­ly discharged their duty; that teaching
these children to read, is unnecessary labour, or unprofitable expense; and that
their early days are far more usefully employed in earn­ing a little pittance,
than in learning to read the Scriptures.

Cruel parents! is it thus you care for the souls of your offspring? is it thus
you pre­pare them for acting an honourable part in life? and is it thus you
fortify them against the dangerous temptations of an ensnaring world? Have you
forgot your engagements at the baptism of your children; and your vowing before
heaven and earth, that you would educate them in the fear of the Lord, and make
them acquainted with what his word reveals and requires? How false have you
proved to these vows! and how regard­less of your solemn obligations! Your
chil­dren are uneducated; and are likely to re­main unprincipled through life:
they will soon be beyond the reach of your instruc­tion, under the dominion of
others, and engaged in the service of their masters; may it not be feared, that
there they will act a wretched part, until their intemperance; dis­honesty, and
fraud, are detected, and they themselves loaded with infamy and disgrace? To
you, their parents, will be greatly owing their vices, and their miseries. You
taught them not, in early days, to dread the paths of the destroyer: you
implanted not in their forming minds the seeds of religious know­ledge; nay, you
cruelly unfitted them for acquiring that knowledge, by withholding from them the
blessing of education. Ex­cuse not this conduct, by pleading your own ignorance;
for that ignorance is both wilful and criminal. Say not, that your little
in­come could not defray the charges of their education. In every city, nay, in
almost every village, a wise government, or a generous public, have provided
means for the free education of indigent children; in such schools, though the
higher branches of education are most reasonably excluded, yet so much is
introduced, as may enable even the poorest, to peruse the word of God with
distinctness; to carry on the common com­merce of life; and to correspond with
their parents, though far separated from their habitation.

How inexcusable are those parents, who keep back their sons and daughters from
being educated, when the means are pro­vided, and the education generously
offered without reward! Nor less criminal are those parents, who, though able to
defray the charges of procuring necessary learning for their children, do
withhold such education, that they may squander the profits of their labours in
drunkenness and profligacy: the enormity of this guilt is great beyond the power
of description; and the infatuated parents, upon whom it is chargeable, are
treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.

Ye benevolent masters, into whose ser­vice such ignorant youth have entered,
con­sider yourselves as bound, by every tie of humanity and religion, to remedy
this awful evil, and to obtain necessary education for these neglected children.
Driven by poverty from the dwelling of their careless parents, they have been
led for shelter to your abode, and seem to supplicate your bounty for provision
to their starving minds. Act the part of a parent; alleviate their miseries;
pity their ignorance; provide the means of their education; allow them lei­sure
hours for their improvement; excite their emulation; encourage them to excel,
and reward their progress in knowledge. Thus be a father to the fatherless; and,
in due time, they may repay your parental attention with the esteem, fidelity,
and obe­dience of children. The other duty earnestly recommended to heads of
families, is the religious instruc­tion of their children and servants. Your
enabling them to read, is laying a foundation for their comfort and usefulness
through the whole of life. But it will also be of essential service, if you can
aid them in forming just sentiments of the religion they profess; in
understanding its doctrines and duties; in tracing their mutual connec­tion; and
in perceiving the purifying influence which every part of religious truth should
have on the temper and conduct. For fulfilling this duty, by a method easy to
yourselves, and advantageous to your fa­mily, let me recommend to your attention
the catechisms of our church. They con­tain a valuable and comprehensive summary
of the Protestant religion. In them the sublime doctrines of Christianity, its
glo­rious privileges, and its pure precepts, are stated with accuracy, are
arranged in order, and expressed in language as plain as the subject will admit.
Cause your children and servants to learn these catechisms: ex­plain their
meaning; and allot proper sea­sons for examining their progress in the knowledge
of Christian principles. No season can be more suitable for this profitable
employment, and none can surely be more convenient for persons in your
cir­cumstances, than the evening of the Lord’s day: you are not then fatigued
with labour, nor encumbered by the interruptions of worldly business. That
sacred day is ap­propriated for the purposes of obtaining and imparting heavenly
knowledge; its precious hours must not be squandered in the circle of friends,
nor in the walks of public resort, nor in business, nor in recreations; these
are allowed in six succeeding days of each revolving week; one day of seven, is
the day of God; he claims it for his own; he separates it for himself; and wills
not that its hallowed joys should be molested or abridged. He commands his
people to keep it holy, as a day of peculiar inter­course with heaven; and to
seek their de­light in those spiritual duties which become the followers of a
risen Saviour. Every man, therefore, who bears the Christian name, ought to
venerate the Sabbath. But heads of families, in busy or inferior stations, may
particularly prize this day of sacred rest; and ought carefully to guard against
the misimprovement of its valuable hours. The duties of the closet must neither
be omitted, nor superficially performed: the duties of the sanctuary, if
attended with re­verence, will yield sublimest satisfaction: yet let not these
exclude the delightful exercises of family instruction and devotion. If these
are omitted: if the members of your families, are not attended to, they will
increase, by their bad example, that general profanation of the Sabbath which
you so justly lament. Suffer, therefore, the word of exhortation. On every
returning even­ing of that hallowed day, convene your children, domestics and
servants; recom­mend religion to their attention and esteem; inquire into their
conduct, and devotions, during the former part of the day; remind them of what
they heard in the house of God; examine if they have committed to memory what
you formerly appointed; com­mend the diligent; encourage to farther
im­provement; and close this profitable duty with suitable counsels, and with
the delightful solemnities of family-worship. Perhaps you murmur at this
directory for the devo­tions of a Sabbath evening; and deem it too rigid for
this refined age, and so heavy a burden, that neither you nor your children are
able to bear it: but all the duties now enjoined, are agreeable to Scripture;
have been the practice of the saints in every age; are conducive to the comfort
of domestic life; and, through the power of promised grace, may be performed by
all, with ease, and pleasure, and advantage.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/bonar-archibald-genuine-religion-the-best-friend-of-the-people/
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