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THE WAY OF TRUTH.

REV. T. DALE, A.M.

ST. MATTHEW'S CHAPEL, DENMARK HILL, JANUARY 1, 1835*.

"I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me."-PSALM cxix, 30.

THE earth is peopled by an infinite variety of rational beings; and yet, as in the expressions of the countenance, and the sound and the intonation of the voice, so in the structure of the mind, and in the impulses and affections of the heart, there are perhaps no two persons exactly alike. Hence the child carly acquires the distinctive faculty which never forsakes the man; and becomes intuitively conscious that there is a difference between persons, long before it is able to explain, or competent to discover, wherein that difference consists. The very infant will not usually pass from the mother's arms to those of a stranger, without manifest signs of unwillingness; and the unpractised eye of childhood rarely needs any assistance, or calls for consideration, in fixing upon the familiar face in the midst of many others on which it has been habituated to look; in the workings of the face it perceives nature's own impulse, the universal though unuttered language, the expression of sympathy, interest, confidence, and regard. Hence all know instinctively how to choose whom they may love, and how to abide by the choice when made. The first exercise of the intellect, is to separate from all others the parent, or the protector, or the friend; and the choice, confirmed by habit, becomes a fixed and rooted affection, which grows with our growth, and strengthens with our strength. We do not, indeed, say, that the child in whom intellect is just upon the dawn, is aware of all this; but the reality of the fact is practically manifested, so far as the opportunity is presented of displaying it: for it is not the absence of weeks, or months, or sometimes even of years, that will efface from the youthful heart the features of the most loved countenance, or render the youth:ful ear insensible to the melody of that gentle voice which can proceed from one alone among the millions inhabiting the earth.

Now this allowing for necessary variations-affords a lively image of the manner in which the pliant and ductile mind of youth may be trained to choose, not only "the way of truth," but God, who is truth itself. It is certain, indeed, that He, who is a spirit, cannot be visibly present to the eye, or made sensibly perceptible to the ear: but he can be apprehended by the understanding, and he can be realized in the heart. And if, acting upon this principle from the first, the mother would avail herself of the influence which nature gives her, to * Addressed to Young Persons and Heads of Families.

point the opening intellect to God; and if the father would avail himself of the influence which early impressions give, to instil into the expanding mind the first simple idea of God; and if by both, or whoever may occupy their place, the associations of childhood were intertwined from the first with the practical conception of God here, God there, God everywhere-all objects formed by God, all benefits conferred by God, all trials imposed by God, and even all evils (for wise, though secret purposes) permitted by God-all words uttered in God's hearing, all actions performed in God's presence, all desires open to God's eye-all that is acted, uttered, conceived in secret, recorded and registered for God's judgment—if this were done from the first, the child might be trained, O how frequently! to choose God in heart, as he has chosen his mother, by sense-and to realize Christ by faith, as he realizes his father, by sight-he might be won to enter, almost without a consciousness of effort, that strait gate at which so many agonize, and some in vain; and to tread, almost without a thought of ever diverging or deviating, that strait and upward path of which many in later years have appeared to make trial for a season, but being disquieted or discouraged by the difficulties it presents, have, ere long, drawn back unto perdition.

Now, where there is a choice of persons, it is evident there cau be a choice of things: and while, as to the present state of being, there is a great diversity of sensible objects to divide and to distract the attention of the young, in matters which concern the soul, the choice is greatly facilitated, because it can lie only between two. There may be, indeed, an endless variety of persons who walk in them, but the ways which lead across the wilderness to the grave, our common resting-place-and beyond the grave to the judgment-seat at which we must all stand-and beyond the judgment-seat of God, to the eternal and unchangeable abode of the undying soul, whether it be fixed in dungeons of darkness, or in mansions of unclouded light, in one or other of which every one of us must dwell for ever the ways themselves are only two: and the writer of this divine Psalm has pointed them out to the observation of all, in the most simple and explicit terms; terms which none can mistake or misinterpret, and which all can understand. There is the way of lying, concerning which he prays, "Remove it far from me;" the way of truth, concerning which he professes, "I have chosen it."

Now, "the way of truth" is the way of God; for the Lord is the God of truth it is the way of Christ; for, said he, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" it is the way of the Spirit; for "the Spirit beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." And as all that we know of God, and all that we know of Christ, and all that we know of the Spirit-of God who made us by his power, of Christ who redeemed us by his blood, of the Spirit who renews us by his grace-is contained in the volume of the Holy Scriptures, "the way of truth" is the way of God's word; for when Jesus prayed for his disciples, "Sanctify them through thy truth," he added, Thy word is truth." Contrariwise, "the way of lying" is the way of the devil; for "he is a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies." It is the way of our own hearts; for "the heart is deceitful above all things." It is the way of the world; for "whoever will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God;" and "if any man will love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Consequently

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66 the way of truth" is the way of life, however hard, and rugged, and narrow it may seem; for "I am the way, and the truth, and the life:" and "the way of lying" is the way of death, however broad, and smooth, and flattering, and pleasant it may appear; for "there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is death:" and it is the latter of which Christ speaks when he declares that "broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that tread therein;" and of the former that he testifies that "narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it."

Now, it is at once evident from all this, that there is a difference between these two ways, as wide as the gulf which separates heaven from hell; and that the one is, in reality, as much preferable to the other, as God, and Christ, and the spirits of the just made perfect-and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-and patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and all who shall sit down with them in the kingdom of heaven, are to be preferred, as companions throughout eternity, to the devils and ruined souls; as the New Jerusalem, the city that descendeth from God out of heaven, is a more desirable abode through everlasting ages, than dungeons of darkness and prisons of fire, wherein are weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. And so long as God's judgments are laid in order before you, defining and disclosing the two opposing ways, and you distinguish clearly in what direction both are leading, and in what end each must terminate; there will not be, there cannot be, the slightest shadow of doubt in any mind: there will not be a moment's pause to poise the balance, to adjust the standard, to count the cost. "I will choose the way of truth," will be the language of every heart, however large a portion there may be whose practice would return a prompt and positive denial to the declaration, “I have chosen it."

Now, listen a while, my young friends, and I will tell you from God's word, not only what "the way of truth" is, but what is meant by choosing it. O, that when the impression of the present service shall have passed away, and you are again within the dangerous precincts of the world, and encompassed by the snares of the tempter-O that you may be concerned and decided to choose it for it is here the purpose may be formed, and the desire awakened; but it is elsewhere that the steadfastness of either must be tried.

To choose "the way of truth," then, is, first, to determine, with entire honesty of intention, and with full purpose of heart, that you will walk, as far as you know it, in the way of God's precepts-entertaining, not only a confident hope, but cherishing a firm assurance, that so doing you shall attain, sooner or later, when the days of your appointed time are past, to the end of God's promises. And as the word of an earthly parent is received with amplest credit, and the child, when properly trained, never doubts for a moment, that the engagements of a fond, indulgent mother, or the pious and consistent father, will be fulfilled to the utmost latitude of the letter, and in the fullest apprehension of the spirit; so it must be admitted, and established, and acted upon, as a first principle in choosing the way of truth, that what the Lord hath promised, the Lord-who is truer than the father to his first-born, more mindful than the mother of her sucking child-that what the Lord hath promised, he is able, and willing also to perform; and that while all things which are possible to unmatched power, and unmeasured wisdom, contrived by perfect holiness,

and controlled by perfect love, are possible to Him, it is altogether impossible that one jot or tittle should pass from anything he has spoken, until all be fulfilled. And this conclusion is not to be formed once only, as if by a special effort of the mind, and then placed on one side, as if it might be safely forgotten or overlooked: it must have a place in the remembrances of every day. We must strive to awake every morning with a perception of the solemn vow that is upon us; and prefer every day a special prayer for that grace which alone can enable us to remember and to redeem it as we ought.

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There are two questions-so simple in terms that every child may be able to propose them, and yet in substance so densely significant that the most advanced Christian can never overrate the mercies which they include, or overpass the obligations which they imply there are two questions which, if asked and answered at the commencement of each recurring day, would be sufficient, not only to recommend, but to enforce, the choice of "the way of truth :" and these are-"What has God done for me this night?" and, "What am I to do for God this day?" "How many," may the young Christian exclaim-" How many have laid down exhausted, and risen unrefreshed! How many have been full of tossings to and fro to the dawn of the day! How many who were crying at evening, Would God it were morning! are now exclaiming at morning, Would God it were evening! How many, in the thoughts of their head upon their bed, have pondered over images of horror, and prospects of darkness! How many have been started from sleep by the strugglings of an uneasy conscience, or scared with dreams, and terrified with visions! How many have gone to rest without a God to shield them; and, had the murderer's stealthy step invaded their midnight sleep, or had the flames seized upon their dwelling, would have awakened in the grasp of a more fearful murderer, from whose power none could rescue-or in the consciousness of fiercer flames which the floods of many oceans could not quench or cool! But I have laid me down in peace, and slept; for the Lord sustained me; the Lord made me to dwell in safety and now that I am entering upon another day, that I am commencing another stage of life, what shall I render unto the Lord for all his goodness unto me? How shall I set forth his glory? How shall I set forth his praise? How shall I prove that I desire to be his, and have received and realized the assurance that he is willing to be mine? How, but by choosing the way of truth; by walking in the only path that can lead me to his presence in the end; by taking his Word as a light to my feet, and as a lamp to my path; by answering like ancient Samuel to the voice that calls to me as a child, ‘Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth;' by repeating from my heart, as he said, 'Seek ye my face,' Thy face, Lord, will I seek;' by devoting myself to the practical obedience of those Holy Scriptures, which are able to make me, as they made the youthful Timothy, wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Young as I may be, and lowly as I may seem-little worthy of the notice, and little entitled to the regard of any but those who love me-not perhaps for myself, but because I am theirs-I, a youth, a child, almost an infant, am yet called upon to glorify God, to serve the Lord Christ, to reflect the graces of the Spirit-to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling -to wean my heart from earth, and to prepare my soul for heaven. O mighty and momentous work! a work to which the patriarch, or the prophet, or the

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apostle, would not be competent if left to his own endeavours; but to which I, though least and lowest in the kingdom of heaven, shall be made equal if I only seek the means; for 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me:' he hath declared that the Father hath hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them unto babes; and therefore I know that the babe may effect with him what the perfect man will in vain attempt without him; and therefore, though I am the dullest of the dull, and the weakest of the weak, I am only the fitter subject for his glorious working; for it is amid darkness that light shines forth, and strength is made perfect in weakness: when I am weak, then am I strong, if only the power of Christ shall rest upon me."

While, however, to such "the way of truth" is, first, to determine that we will, if God help us, walk faithfully and constantly therein; it is next to be careful that, so far as lies in our power, we act out what we have determined; that we do not, like too many, ask one thing in our prayers, and seek another in our practice; that we do not through the after stages engage in any occupation, or devote ourselves to any amusement, or join ourselves to any society, by which our early approach to God may be made to seem hypocrisy, and our very petitions be turned into sin. If it were sufficient for the soul's health and safety, to utter a few prayers, and to read a few verses out of Scripture, at the commencement of the day, and we were then to be at liberty to follow wherever inclination, or fancy, or caprice, might lead—not only all children, but all men and women, would be religious at once; that is, they would profess to serve God, and in reality serve Mammon earth would be at once turned into a heli by the way, and yet all would expect in the end to inherit and to enjoy heaven. But as it is not only at the waking hour, or in the lessons of early morning, that the child obeys the mother's voice, and heeds the father's eye, but that voice and that eye retain their power and influence throughout the day; and within sound of the one no evil would be admitted, and within sight of the other no evil would be allowed; so, should it not be the same when the eye of our heavenly Father is ever on us, and when the voice of the Saviour is ever sounded in our earswhen we never attempt to do wrong, and seldom omit to do right, without the reproof in one case, and the remonstrance in the other, of the disturbed and disquieted conscience, ever prompt to take alarm, the messenger and the minister of God's Holy Spirit—and when if we will not take heed and check ourselves in them, a cloud (and now I know I am speaking according to the experience of some of my young friends who have felt seriously) a cloud seems to darken upon the eyes, and a burden to press on the heart, and the very things which should minister to our comfort, and promote our happiness, lose all their former relish, and make us silent, serious, and sad? O, if the child who is early taught to utter prayers, were taught, with equal care and diligence, that the eye of his God is upon him after he has risen from his knees-that at every instant, and in every place, it enwraps him, it encompasses, it penetrates him, it pervades him; if the child who is early taught to read his Bible, were instructed, with equal care and diligence, that, when the volume has been closed, and the words have ceased to tremble on his lips, or vibrate on his ear, the spirit of them must be studied, and reflected in his life-that when he goeth it must lead him, and if he desire that while he sleepeth it should keep him, and when he walketh it

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