Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

she had then, as she said, but little experience in divine things, and knew but little of God, she kneeled down in a certain field, dedicated herself to him earnestly, and implored his blessing upon all her future plans and situations in life. Such a prayer and dedication could not go unanswered and unrewarded. God heard and accepted her, and endowed her with his choicest gifts; not riches, nor honours, nor ease, nor beauty; these, which too many earnestly covet, are indifferently dispensed to the evil and to the good; but he showered down his grace upon her, that only sure mark of special love and adoption. This incorruptible seed remained in her, and uniformly brought forth corresponding fruits, during a period of more than forty years; for whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him; yea, he cannot sin, because he is born of God: i. e. cannot sin wilfully, presumptuously, deliberately. Sins of infirmity he will be subject to, as long as he continues in the flesh; for the infection of nature doth remain, even in the regenerate,' as the Article speaks; but it doth not rule-the dominion of sin is taken away. It is hated by them, and overcome by the new and better principle implanted from above; so that the general bent of the will and affections is towards righteousness, and the conduct is therefore habitually good and gracious.

"My dear young friends, of every rank amongst us, let me impress this example upon you, and recommend it to your imitation. Devote yourselves early to God. Give him the first fruits of your age, your time, your labour. You will find him a kind and gracious Master. Satan is a hard and cruel tyrant, and his service terminates in eternal death; but the Lord will protect and nourish you. He will make you to feed in green pastures, and lead you forth beside the wa

6

ters of comfort. No really good thing will he withhold from you, if you faithfully serve and obey him; and if you live the life, you will die the death of the righteous, a death full of peace, and joy, and consolation. This was fully exemplified in our beloved sister. Her confidence had been in God through life, and he did not forsake her in the awful hour of death. She was a true believer in Jesus Christ, and therefore, through him, God gave her the victory over all her enemies. The power of sin, which is the sting of death,' was taken away from her by the prevailing influence of the Holy Ghost; the curse of the law, which is the strength of sin, was removed by the satisfaction of her divine Surety, in whose blood and righteousness all her hope of salvation was placed. Satan in vain attempted to pluck her out of her Saviour's hand: she lived to the Lord, and died in the Lord. The feelings and prospects of the real Christian cannot perhaps be more justly or more strikingly represented, than by the following interesting exhibitions of the state of her mind. They who most abound in grace are always most lowly in their own eyes. Like the great Apostle, they look upon themselves as the chief of sinners, because their lively sense of God's free love and undeserved mercy fills them with a deep conviction of their own demerit, and strikes them with a most humiliating feeling of their own sinfulness and ingratitude. Such was her experience. When first she was confined to her chamber, she said, I know I have no good works wherewith to appear before God, nothing that can justify me with him. My only trust is in the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ; and when I am admitted into heaven, I am sure I shall shout, Grace! Grace! louder than any that are there. I am vile, covered with sin; my evil thoughts, any one of them, would sink me

[ocr errors]

down into hell at any time. If God were to enter into judgment with me, I could not answer him one of a thousand. But mercy rejoiceth against judgment, and the beautiful sight of my Saviour hanging upon the cross, is all my comfort and all my hope. Mercy has followed me all my life through, and especially through my years of servitude.' She added, If you should hear any one speak well of me after I am gone, as that I was a faithful servant, or ever did any good, pray turn them all from me, and tell them it was the grace of God in me; that in me was no good thing, for I never did any thing from myself.' Being told of one who, when speaking of the happiness of the righteous in heaven, entirely disclaimed the notion of wages, she cried out, Wages! O, how can poor guilty worms dream of wages? I used often to think, how undeserving I was of wages from my earthly master; but when we talk of wages from God, O they are eternal death! Eternal life is the free gift of God through Jesus Christ. Grace is the foundation and the top-stone.' On being asked, whether she had not had a restless night, she replied, 'I have songs in the night. I lie musing on the goodness of God. He is very merciful to my soul, and gives me such divine comforts, that I do not suffer so much as any body would suppose.' She frequently expressed her strong faith in the Saviour of sinners, and said, • It was wonderful how he had preserved her from her youth in his fear. It was all grace; free, rich, wonderful grace to the vilest of sinners.' She observed, it had been always her prayer, that she might be useful in her generation, serviceable to her fellow-creatures, give glory to God, and then that he would be pleased to take her home before a troublesome old age came upon her, and made her a burden to others. If this her

prayer should be answered, it would be all mercy, for she had nothing in herself to deserve it; she had never done one work that could

me

his

even

merit any favour from God.' After pointing to a very favourite hymn on that passage in the Revelations, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten,' she said, All my sufferings show the hand of a tender Father, and I bless and praise him for them all. If it please him to shorten my trial, and take early, it will be a great mercy indeed; but if not, I pray that I may have strength to endure, and not dishonour my Saviour by impatience. I only desire, that will may be done in me and by me. I wish not to be troublesome to others; but I am ready myself to suffer more, much more, lengthened sufferings, if thereby my God and Saviour will be more glorified. I am fully sensible, that the unspeakable joys of heaven will far, far more than compensate for the longest, wearisome life here, and the most protracted sufferings. She said that occasionally she had felt a dread of the last enemy, and of passing through that Jordan; but she knew it was Satan's temptation, and that he was sometimes permitted to give the children of God much uneasiness towards the close of life. However, she had prayed that the assault might be removed, and her prayer was heard. She felt that Satan was a vanquished enemy, and believed that the everlasting arm would so support her that she would be carried over dryshod.' She told me afterwards, that Satan was not allowed to buffet her at all, but seemed to be entirely trodden under her feet, and overcome for her by her blessed Saviour.' She prayed that her faith might not fail. I reminded her that her Saviour would secure that blessing to her by his all-prevailing intercession, according to his promise to St. Peter, whom Satan had desired to have,

[ocr errors]

[ocr errors]

gular spiritual gifts. When at any time the family were in distress, she used to say, It is all well; remember, no cross, no crown. At a season of deep affliction in the preceding spring, when it pleased God to take to himself our most dearly beloved child, of whom she was particularly fond, she solaced and encouraged all around her by her pious and appropriate reflections, and frequently observed,

that he might sift as wheat; and by that consideration she appeared to be greatly comforted and supported: She spoke much of her own utter helplessness and sinfulness, but with such strong faith in the Saviour as her Saviour and mighty Deliverer, as could not but exceedingly strengthen and encourage all who heard her. Indeed it was a high privilege to witness her deportment, and the power of grace in her soul. I attended her rather with a viewIt is better to be in the house of to my own edification than hers. mourning than in the house of After receiving the holy sacrament, feasting.' She said, that in the she said on rising, I am greatly course of her illness she had called refreshed, very much refreshed in- to mind all the persons mentioned deed. All the food I have taken in the Scriptures, in other books, has not done me good like this. I or that were known to herself, who feel it all over me; the least drop had gone to glory, and she could of my precious Saviour's blood is find none who had not been tried sufficient to wash my guilty soul, and sifted, and in some way puto cleanse it from all sin, and pre- nished for their sins;' adding, The sent it faultless before the throne of rule is general; we must through his Father.' much tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven.' No murmur ever escaped her lips, or, as I believe, arose in her heart. Thankfulness was the prevailing disposition of her mind. She was very fond of Dr. Watts's Hymn, Come ye that fear the Lord,' and desired it might be read to her one morning : when the last verse was repeated, Then let our songs abound, And every tear be dry; We're marching through Immanuel's ground

"Her patience was most striking and exemplary. She usually lay perfectly composed, as if she endured no pain, whilst her altered tone of voice and expression of countenance occasionally indicated a considerable degree of suffering. She knew that her sufferings were less than her deserts, and was therefore thankful that they were not more severe. How odious must sin be in the sight of God, when even his dearest children suffer so much in consequence of it, and require such purification in the furnace of affliction! This was her prevailing sentiment when in health. She always justly appreciated the nature of the soul, and was convinced of the comparative worthlessness of the body, and looked upon trials of a temporal nature as necessary to purge and purify the children of God. She thought it fit that this body of sin should suffer, that judgment for our offences was righteous and necessary. She was blessed with a remarkably strong mind and sound understanding, as well as with sin

6

To fairer worlds on high;' she seemed to feel it in every nerve, and quite laughed with joy. Her mistress upon one occasion, seeing her in great pain, involuntarily shed tears; for which she mildly reproved her, and entreated that she would only bless God for her.

"Our beloved sister was a woman of prayer. Prayer is the breath of the soul, without which it cannot live. Thereby it draws in strength and nourishment from the Father of spirits. This is what David meant, when he said, in the 119th Psalm, I opened my mouth and drew in my breath, for

2

my delight was in thy commandments.' Those commandments he could neither delight in nor keep without divine grace, and that grace could only be obtained by prayer, therefore he applied to God for a daily provision of this needful succour. So did this servant of God of whom we speak. In the closet, in the family, and in the congregation, she was constant and earnest in supplication. She did not rest satisfied with joining in the public worship, or even in the morning and evening sacrifice offered up by the family, but she likewise poured out her soul to God in private. There she unfolded to him her individual wants, confessed her transgressions, implored his pardon, and besought his grace. By this practice, she sanctified and rendered doubly useful every other ordinance of which she was a partaker. Often when I have been retiring to rest, supposing that all the household had retired before me, have I been struck by observing a light in one of the lower apartments, and upon stepping to the door to see that nothing was amiss, have beheld her prostrate on her knees before her God. Her eyes were too intently fixed on

heaven to notice me, and I of course hastily retired, fearful of interrupting such holy intercourse by an unseasonable intrusion. This has sometimes occurred too at a very late hour, and after a wearisome day of labour; but in that sacred exercise she sought and found repose, refreshment to her body, and true rest to her soul. I believe it was upon no occasion ever intermitted. This practice I would earnestly recommend to all my hear

ers.

We are continually exposed to danger and temptation of one kind or other, and therefore stand in constant need of help and strength. The grace of yesterday will not supply the wants of to-day. God for our good keeps us in a constant state of dependence upon him for every good, spiritual and temporal; and justly requires us to ask that we may have, and seek that we may find; to knock, that the door of mercy may be opened to us. Hence our Saviour has instructed us to pray, that he would

6

give us day by day our daily bread,' under which metaphor every thing we require of him is included; and it implies that we should seek it every day.

[To be continued.]

A SHORT COMMENT ON A GLOOMY PASSAGE IN A
MODERN POET.

"IF each warm hope at once hath died,
Then sinks the mind a blighted flower,
Dead to the sunbeam and the shower;

A broken gem, whose inborn light

Is scattered, ne'er to reunite."

Widow of Crescentius, by Mrs. Hemans.

THERE is a dew shall bathe the flower,
A beam which yet can grant it power
To bloom the fairest of the field,
Or crushed, a precious perfume yield.
There is a balm of matchless worth
Shall bind the "broken gem" of earth,
And bid its scattered rays unite
In one bright glow of heavenly light,
The dews of grace shall gently shower
"Secret refreshing" o'er the flower;
The Sun of Righteousness shall shine,
And robe the gem with light divine.

ESTHER.

REVIEW OF BOOKS.

Letters and Conversations on These remarks have been sug Preaching. By S. T. Sturtevant. gested to our minds by the perusal Baynes, 1822. Pp. xii. & 384. of the works before us. They are The Preacher; or, Sketches of all intended to instruct or assist in original Sermons. 4 Vols. 12mo. the art of preaching, and each of Baynes, 1822–23. them may doubtless be perused Sketches of Sermons. 4 Vols. 12mo. with considerable benefit by those Holdsworth, 1822-23. for whom they are written. THE art of preaching is of very great importance, and of very difficult attainment. Its importance, indeed, can scarcely be estimated too highly. It was the subject of the Saviour's parting injunction to his disciples; and however inferior may be in comparison of prayer, in the experience of the private Christian, or in the estimation of any, it must ever be remembered, that the preaching of the Gospel is the divinely appointed means of promoting Christianity in the world, and of exciting men to " pray every where, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting."

it

But to preach well is unquestionably a difficult attainment. It is one thing to secure the approbation of an audience, it is another to interest and affect the heart. Yet until the heart is affected, until conviction of sin, true repentance, living faith, and entire devotion, are produced in the soul, whatever may be the acceptance with which in other respects a minister may have laboured, he must, as to the great ends of preaching, be said to have laboured in vain.

The preacher's experience, indeed, will usually, as Mr. Newton has somewhere intimated was the case with himself, consist of two parts. At the beginning of his course, the inquiry will be, What shall I say? As he proceeds, he will inquire, To what purpose shall I say it? In proportion to his own personal religion he will, usually speaking, arrive with greater rapidity at the latter inquiry; but until he has reached this point, his discourses will seldom be productive of much permanent advantage.

JUNE 1823.

The volume of Mr. Sturtevant, both as to its design and its execution, is far superior to the other works. Its object is to assist those preachers who are destitute of better help in the composition of their own discourses, and to furnish them with the means of giving an original cast to the divisions and discussions, and thus to relieve them from the painful and mortifying necessity of adopting the outlines and skeletons, and preaching the printed discourses of others.

He introduces his subject by a series of letters, in which, among other topics, he gives some directions for attaining an acquaintance with the original languages of Scripture, an attainment highly desirable by all who would be good scribes, thoroughly instructed for the kingdom of God, but requiring a degree of labour and perseverance which the persons for whom he writes can seldom bestow. He next proceeds to give some directions with respect to public prayer, the choice of books, the selection of texts, and the general parts and divisions of a discourse, and then introduces a series of conversations on subdivisions, propositions, application, the sources from which matter may be derived for filling up a discourse (in which he notices separately the twenty-seven topics of Claude), and on the mind or disposition required for the work of the ministry. Throughout the whole publication Mr. S. freely uses the valuable work of Claude on the composition of a sermon, and illustrates his positions by copious extracts from the most distinguished preachers and writers of

GG

« EdellinenJatka »