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Asa, they made a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart.

Again it may be objected, that we lead men to make these Temperance resolutions who afterwards break them; and thus lead them to add the guilt of a falsehood to the sin of drunkenness. There may be, and doubtless are, cases in which the Temperance members forfeit their word: but let us remember that there is nothing good which man's corrupt heart will not abuse; and that if men will turn that which should have been for their good into an occasion of fresh sin, the guilt lies at their own door. Ah, brethren, the reason why the Temperance resolution, and every other good resolution, is broken, is simply this you make them in your own strength, and not in that strength which alone can support you in your intentions-even the grace of God. And we nothing doubt but that if we act in this spirit, He who approved and blessed the Rechabites for observing the rule laid down by their father, will approve, and bless, and render effectual all our prayerful and faithful endeavours in this good work.

I trust that what has been said has been sufficient to show you, in the first place, the necessity of doing something; and, secondly, to induce you to take the steps we propose, both for your own sakes, and the sakes of your fellowcreatures. My Christian brethren, we most earnestly recommend this subject to your consideration, and the consideration of the respectable and well-informed inhabitants, through whose influence we may hope to work downwards by degrees. I do entreat you to pay serious attention to this subject. Think of the extent of the evil: be convinced that some exertion is necessary: and be not unwilling to undergo a little self-denial when the temporal and eternal peace, not only of your brethren, but it may be of yourselves, is at stake. Look at the example of Him, who laid aside the crown of glory, and the empire of Deity, that he might come down to the womb, the manger, the cross, the grave, for you; and learn to look, not on your own things, but on the things of others also. Let that spirit of love to the bodies and souls of men which was in Christ Jesus, dwell also in you. Seek to make others happy-you will but secure your own. Explain to your children, workmen, and servants, the nature of these institutions. Be not dismayed because false opinions, bad habits, self-interest, and obstinacy, are set in array against this plan of reformation. Every good design will be opposed: I had almost said it could not be good unless it were. for the prince of this world will struggle and contend for his kingdom, even under the garb of an angel of light. And let any little self-denial, ridicule, or shame, you may meet with, stir you up to more prayer, to greater zeal, to deeper diligence in the work and cause of Christ.

Let me

And to you, my poorer brethren, I would add one closing word. most earnestly recommend this society to your notice. We do not want your Imoney-we want you: and let not any of you say, we are about to rob you of your comforts. No; we invite you to separate from the most ungodly practice the world can offer. We want to lead you away from the nightly revel, and the company of the scoffer. We plead with you the cause of your wives and children, and the comforts of a happy home. We would not have your honest,

hard-earned wages go to build up those splendid nurseries of sin, those gintemples which so disgrace our streets. No; but we would have you awake up to the dignity of men; we would have you live and die as Christians, as children of God, as heirs of immortality; we would have you reap that blessing which God has offered to all who walk in his ways and fear him: "For thou shalt eat of the labours of thine hands: O well is thee, and happy shalt thou be. Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine, upon the walls of thine house; thy children like the olive branches round about thy table. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord."

PROVING AND HOLDING FAST THE TRUTH.

REV. T. MYERS, A.M.

ST. VEDAST'S, FOSTER LANE, CHEAPSIDE, APRIL 5, 1835*.

"Prove all things, hold fast that which is good."-1 THESSALONIANS, v. 21.

THE revelation of our God commends itself as much to the reason, as to the faith of mankind. The Bible-that book whence all ministerial instruction must be derived-was written by men inspired by God to make known his will unto the fallen. The teachings of this Book are addressed to every unit of the teeming myriads who walk this earth. It brings unto them the awful message of their ruin, and the consoling message of their restoration. It brings down to each one of us, from the throne of the Highest, the majestic announcement that we all have souls as well as bodies-that, when we have travelled onwards a few weary years through this ensnaring wilderness, there lies beyond the grave an unseen land, where the righteous of mankind shall enjoy for ever the smile of their Creator, and where the sinners of this earth shall endure for ever the flashings of his wrath.

This revelation of the will of the Highest gives us glimpses of his perfect purity, of his glorious holiness, of his relentless justice, and of his boundless love. It brings us the melancholy history of our former glory, and of our present degradation. We read what man was in the early days of creation's freshness, and what he now is after centuries of rebellion. It shews us both the almightiness of the God we have offended, and the utter hopelessness of our turning aside the sword of his justice. But the revelation which tells us that we cannot atone for sin, or robe ourselves in purity, or win back our crown, brings tidings of an atonement offered, and a righteousness wrought out, and the crown won back, and a free way of access opened up unto the mercy-seat.

And this revelation-thus given unto the sons of men in all its fulness, and in all its freeness-appeals unto them as beings of reason, as well as of feeling. Though the Almighty hath a right to command as he pleases-though he hath ever equipped his special messengers with the sanctions of sign and of wonder, that men might never be deceived in the voice of the speaker-still he hath ever invited them to scrutinize the message; he has urged them to "prove all things," and to "hold fast that which is good."

And if you ask, brethren, the reason why we are all bound to attend to the words of this Book, then we remind you, that to each of us there is a soul; and that this soul is a guilty and a deathless thing; that while dwelling in its earthly tabernacle, it contracts each hour fresh stains of pollution, and when it hath * Introductory Discourse at the Afternoon Lectureship.

VOL. III.

completed its pilgrimage through life," it is appointed for all men once to die and after death the judgment." If the sinners of mankind could put off for ever this appointment to die, aud kill the soul with the same weapons which will kill the body-there would be little need of proving what is good for the soul, or of holding it fast. But this judgment after death-this setting up a throne-this gathering before a judge-this passing away of the tribes of the ungodly to destruction—this calling up of the hosts of the righteous to blessedness-it is this which lays hold upon the conscience, and summons our attention to search out what is good.

It is the special duty of us who are appointed as the instructors of souls in God's revelation, to open up before the people among whom we labour the whole oracles of God; to listen earnestly for the message of the Spirit; and then to give it forth, without pause, without fear, without compromise, and without distortion. We must add nothing to it; we must subtract nothing from it; we must not disguise it, through policy; we must not pare it down, through fearfulness. And yet, on the other hand, it does not become the ministers of the sanctuary to dogmatize with harshness, and thus to force upon mankind any system of doctrines or of duties; but rather to urge each one for himself, by every motive which can stir an accountable being to “prove all things," and then to "hold fast that which is good."

But without further preface we hasten to make that division of our subject, by which, under God's blessing, it may be rendered profitable to you all. We would lay before you, first, some few among the "all things" which may be proved "good; and, secondly, the encouragement to "hold fast" these good things when proved. And may the Lord the Spirit-the only teacher of the faithful-lead us safely away from all error, and guide us securely into all truth!

First, SOME FEW OF THE ALL THINGS," WHICH MAY BE PROVED "GOOD."

We may, first of all, remark, that it is not our intention this afternoon to offer you any proof that the Bible is the Word of God. Not, indeed, that we shrink from the inquiry into the witnesses, so many and so mighty, wherewith the Almighty hath demonstrated that the Bible is from heaven; but because it would be impossible in a single discourse to treat the subject with the copiousness it demands. We hope to have many future occasions of explaining to you the evidences of our religion, both external and internal. Many, we trust, are satisfied on this point; they can say with David, "The Word of the Lord is tried:" they have tried it in affliction and in health-in the darkness of their sorrow, and in the full brilliancy of their joy: and they have proved it “good," and felt it precious. We must, however, assume this point this afternoon, and pass on to shew, how certain doctrines and certain duties which we deem the very corner-stones of man's salvation, may be proved to be " good," and must be "held fast" as precious.

The Lord Almighty, who demands the homage of every being throughout the outspread of creation, has revealed unto us his own character. He is "the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity." He is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity," "righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." He

is "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth ;" but He will not justify the wicked, and will "by no means clear the guilty." He is "the King, eternal, immortal, invisible"—"the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen nor can see."

He is our Creator, and we have disobeyed him. He is our King, and we have spurned his authority, defied his laws, and joined the traitor bands of the Apostate. We have ruined ourselves through sin, and have neither the will nor the power to return unto His favour. Our first father was a being of purity and holiness. No false bias swayed his will; no dark shadow clouded his understanding. His was the image of his Maker in beauty and uprightness. He was free to stand, and free to fall. One test of obedience was given unto him; but the trial, though apparently trivial, o'er-mastered him at once and thus, by one fatal act, he tore from his brow the garland of immortality, and twined the night-shade of death around his temples. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." When Adam fell, evil rushed into his soul, and defiled its faculties; pollution invaded his body, and corroded its energies; so that he who had been unsullied in spirit, and undecaying in frame, became instantly guilty in God's sight, subject to his curse, and meriting his wrath. And from the guilty parent has sprung a guilty race. We all, like lost sheep, have erred and strayed from original righteousness: we have wandered far away from the regions of God's favour, and have no energies by which to travel back over the wastes of alienation.

Now these uncompromising statements, as to God's awful justice, and our own utter degradation, may be "proved" as fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. "But what need," it may be asked, "to concern ourselves with these points of divinity?" Now we undertake to shew, not only that these things may be proved true, but also that they may be proved "good."

You and I, brethren, are placed in this region of sin and of wretchedness, as beings of a high and a glorious destiny. While we dwell in the land on this side the Jordan of death, we may, perhaps, be ignorant of the God who made us, and of the woe in store for us: but inasmuch as this Jordan of death must be passed, and then there can be no escaping the stern sword of justice, or the keen glance of vengeance, it is "good" for the soul to prove for itself its state before God; to know the perfect purity of the law which it has broken, and the utter hopelessness of any efforts it can make to purchase forgiveness. It is "good" for the soul to experience the terrors of the law in this life, that it may escape their execution in the next life. It is "good" for the soul to feel and lament the heinousness of its guilt, that it may seek, ere it be too late, the only way of atonement. It is "good" to know, and to feel thoroughly assured, that the Holy One and the Awful One, is also merciful and gracious; that he has devised a plan by which the guilt of sin may be washed away, and the remission of sins, offered fully and freely to every outcast of mankind.

It may be proved, on the sure warrant of inspiration, that the Father of the human family pitied us in our lost and ruined estate, and hath devised a sure plan for satisfying His own justice, and restoring man to his long-lost image of glory. "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son to die the just for the unjust; that whosoever believeth on him should not perish

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