ON THE DANGERS OF YOUNG CHRISTIANS. WHO, that has cherished an interest in the progress and prosperity of the Church of God, has not experienced the deepest sympathies of his soul stirred up within him when he has beheld a goodly number of young persons entering the ranks of the professed followers of Jesus Christ? He has rejoiced in their joy, and given thanks to God on their behalf. They have been brought to know and enjoy the truth as it is in Jesus; their hearts are warm with the glow of their first love; their spirits are elated with the delights of that liberty wherewith Christ has made them free, and their new-born hopes of eternal life bear their happy souls

"Beyond this world and time,

Where neither eyes nor ears have been,
Nor thoughts of mortal climb."

It should seem that, for wise and benevolent purposes, the "great Shepherd of the sheep," who "gathers the lambs in his arms, and carries them in his bosom," is graciously pleased, frequently, to impart unto young christians a high degree of spiritual enjoyment, and to permit them to luxuriate in the green pastures of his love; but while they are rejoicing "with joy unspeakable, and full of glory," and are perhaps almost consoling themselves with the idea that their sorrows are all ended, the more thoughtful and experienced christian is aware, that there are dangers of various kinds to which they are exposed, and against which it is well to put them on their guard. Let it be the object of this essay to point out some of the dangers peculiar to young christians, with a view to promote their security against them.

Young christians are the lambs of Christ's flock, the plants in his garden, the babes in the Church, or the recruits of the army of Immanuel. These representations, all of them correct and Scriptural, severally indicate that there is a degree of tenderness, feebleness, and a need of protection and instruction, in young converts, peculiar to themselves; and as Christ and his people display towards them especial tenderness and care, so it is obvious they should themselves be instructed as to their own position and perils, that they may cultivate such tempers, and pursue such courses, as will conduce to their security and improvement.

The absence of matured and extensive knowledge of divine truth is obVOL. 5.-N.S.

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viously a source of weakness and danger to the young christian. He is but slenderly acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, their doctrines and revelations, the precepts they enjoin, and the promises they give, for the guidance and encouragement of God's people. His knowledge of the evidences of divine revelation is in general but scanty, and he is therefore but ill prepared to meet the sophistries of infidelity, or the ruder assaults of hell and sin. How important, that, sensible of his ignorance and need of instruction, he should, as a new-born babe, desire the sincere milk of the word; and that his attention and care should be vigorously employed to secure such knowledge as will make him strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might! How many have fallen for want of being rooted and grounded in the truth!* While there is often danger arising from a want of knowledge, a propensity to indulge in speculative notions as to divine truth is sometimes seen in young christians. They need to be told that there are mysteries in religion which must be received on the simple authority of the inspired volume. We can never understand, for instance, the mode in which the Deity subsists. How the Father, Son and Spirit, are three persons and one God, is not explained to us in the divine word, and is to us incomprehensible. It must suffice us to know, that the true and proper personality and deity of the Spirit, and the essential divinity of the Lord Jesus, are clearly revealed, and give the glory to the Gospel. Beyond a simple submission to the authority of Scripture, in these and other things, we cannot pass; and there is often danger lest the spirit of speculation should lead the young christian to the confines of Socinianism on the one hand, or Antinomianism on the other. It is highly desirable that the spirit of inquiry and research in the mind of the youthful disciple should be encouraged, but he should ever be on his guard against the folly of being wise above what is written.

Are there not many dangers arising from the young christian's want of experience? How little does he know of the christian course! He oft-times resembles a young recruit who is dreaming of victories, promotion, and martial glory, but who has not yet learned the use of his weapons, much less mingled with the crash of arms. "I thought," one said to the writer, "that when I was once become a member of a christian Church all my sorrows were ended." But after life taught him a different lesson. The first joys and hopes are not to be expected uninterruptedly to continue. There are trials and conflicts-there is doubt and darkness. Faith will be tried; the reality of our love to Christ will be tested; and it is "through much tribulation we enter the kingdom." From satan, from his own depraved nature, as well as from the world, trials will come. Let the young christian expect difficulties, and prepare for them. Let him extend his knowledge of divine truth, and live near to God, that the "trial of his faith may be found to praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ;" and that he may not be as those who have no root in themselves, but endure for a little while, and "by and by are offended."

It is rarely the case that young christians are sufficiently sensible of the importance of a due attention to the state of their own minds. There is

As there are several treatises which ably exhibit the evidences of christianity, and which may be had for a small sum, it is very desirable that all young christians should peruse some of them. Besides the larger works of Lardner, Paley, &c., "Gurney's portable Evidences of Christianity," "Gregory's Letters on the Evidences," "Evans's Checks to Infidelity," published by the Tract Society, may be particularly recommended. — ED.

within us all a strange propensity to self-righteousness, self-dependence, and self-complacency. These are rocks on which many a young bark has split -snares, by which many a young christian has been taken. They have been led away from the humbling truths of the Gospel; they have grieved the Holy Spirit of God, and gone away backward. Often let the young christian "examine himself." Let him ever remember that it is to the rich mercy of God in Christ Jesus he owes his pardon and his hope. Let him ever keep in mind that his strength is of God, and pray much for the Holy Spirit. Often should he review his course, call to mind his sins and errors, and renew his covenant. It will be dangerous for him, as indeed it is for all, to rest contented without a sense of divine love, and an anxious desire to serve and honour Christ. Some unhappily sink into a kind of spiritual slumber. They attend the duties of religion mechanically; they are thought by their regularity to be alive; but, alas! when a friend comes near them, and speaks to them as the living members of Christ, they are found to be cold, heartless and dead. Let the young then "keep their hearts with diligence, knowing that thence are the issues of life."

The youthful character of young christians is a source of danger. Sometimes, indeed, it is late in life when the attention of men is first directed to religion; but, ordinarily, young christians are young persons; for those who, during their younger years, refuse to regard the overtures of mercy, are not unfrequently left to the hardness of their hearts; and therefore it is proper to consider some of the peculiarities of youth as amongst the dangers of young christians.

While the liveliness, which for the most part is a characteristic of young people, sometimes calls forth from churlish and cynical persons an undue measure of rebuke, it is important to keep in mind the obvious truth, viz., that which is most natural is most easily run to excess. 'Young men" are therefore exhorted "to be sober-minded;" to keep their natural hilarity within the bounds of moderation. There is nothing in true religion which is adapted to make men gloomy, or that is unfriendly to modest cheerfulness, but the excess of levity is destructive to piety, and tends to estrange the best affections from the best things. We cannot, however, be insensible to the fact, that there are occasionally amongst young professors persons of a gloomy, melancholic turn, who regard all cheerfulness as lightness, and who look upon that which is innocent as the frisking of a lamb, as sin. Such persons should examine their own hearts, and they will discover that they have to guard against dispositions far more unlovely, and dangers much more formidable, than those they so scrupulously avoid, and so unsparingly condemn. Whatever may be the peculiarity of the youthful temper, let him guard against excess, and seek to follow Him "who has left us an example."

Some young persons display a large amount of fickleness, and fondness for novelty. In some is seen a great amount of vacillation as to the doctrines they profess. Before they have had time to know perfectly, or to consider maturely any form of doctrine, they seem to have veered round to almost every point of the compass. In others is manifest a love of novelty, which is very pernicious. They are ever wandering from chapel to chapel under its influence. If a blind man, or a black man, or any one with some strange peculiarity about him, is announced to preach, they at once wander from their own place of worship; and to such an extent is this

roving propensity carried, that they are seldom at home. Let young christians guard against this folly. It will prevent their usefulness; it will retard their progress in religion; it will induce a habit of religious dissipation, destructive to those who practice it, besides being injurious in its influence upon others. A friendship to other sections of christians may be displayed without impropriety; but the best rule for those who wish to be honoured and prosperous in religion, is to “ dwell amongst our own people."

Will it be necessary to mention in this place the strength of their natural appetites and passions, as one of the peculiar dangers of youth? Alas, how many have fallen here! Let the young christian be ever on his guard, and watch against all solicitations to sin. Let him be filled with the Spirit, and live dependant on divine grace, that he may "flee youthful lusts."

It cannot have escaped observation, that there are some dangers to which young christians are exposed arising out of the position they occupy both in the Church and the world. When they have entered into the Church of God, they are occasionally sometime before they are quite at home in their new relations. Some are retiring, and do not soon find companions, and are in danger of becoming isolated, and of not acquiring that sympathy with the Church which it is desirable they should feel. Others are naturally forward, and are in danger of regarding themselves as overlooked, if they are not noticed by the senior brethren as they would wish. There are those who have formed in their minds an ideal standard of excellence, to which they imagine all christians attain; but when they discover the errors and failings of real christians, they are apt either to be disgusted with all professors, or to become practical Antinomians. In the Church, too, sometimes faction arises, and the young and inexperienced are in danger of becoming a prey. Many are defiled when roots of bitterness spring up and trouble Israel. Let the young christian cultivate the spirit of modesty and brotherhood, and ever follow the things that make for peace.

The position of young christians in the world is often very full of difficulties. Some are members of families that are not pious. Some are servants in such families. Some have to labour in shops and mills where there is much irreligion. In all these circumstances there is danger. The young professor is often an object of banter, of reproach and persecution. Snares are laid around his path, and many watch for his halting. He needs all the firmness, all the caution, all the wisdom that he can possibly acquire, in order to walk safely. Let him ask wisdom of God, and seek his help from day to day. Let him be resolved to do his duty in the station in which he is placed; never on any account to do evil; and while he avoids returning evil for evil, be courteous, kind and obliging to all, so that all may see that he is "blameless, harmless and without rebuke."

To pursue the subject farther would, perhaps, be desirable; so as to notice the dangers arising out of unsuitable matrimonial connections, those arising out of worldly cares, &c. But as I have already exceeded my intended limits, I must conclude with one word of advice to all young professors.

Settle it in your minds that there will be many difficulties to be surmounted in journeying toward heaven. Seek that none of those difficulties may be increased by your own imprudence. Be careful in all things to seek the guidance of God, and the help of his Spirit, and then he will lead you, and bring you to a city of habitation. Resolve with the Psalmist,

"Thy counsels, Lord, shall guide my feet

Through this dark wilderness.

Thy hand conduct me near thy seat,

To dwell before thy face."

EXPERIENTIA.

REFLECTIONS IN A COURT OF JUSTICE.

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."—Rom. xiv. 10. Two or three years ago I entered the County Hall in Derby at the time of the Assizes, and continued there while several culprits underwent their trials. Of course I heard the indictments which were preferred against them; the depositions and cross-examinations of the witnesses; the defences attempted by the prisoners; the verdicts returned by the juries, and the final decision of the court on their respective cases. My mind, however, was not exclusively occupied with what was to be seen and heard in that place, but was also engaged in reflecting upon the repeated declarations of the Bible relative to a future and universal judgment. I was led to anticipate (with some measure of appropriate feeling) that solemn and eventful crisis to which the apostle Paul is directing our attention in the passage I have placed at the beginning of this article, and on which I would offer a few additional remarks. May they alarm the careless sinner, arouse the slumbering professor, and stimulate all who read them to "give diligence that they may be found of God in peace without spot and blameless." It is not my intention at this time to prove that the Lord Jesus is the person "ordained" to be our final judge, or to show how perfectly qualified he is for the important office; let me rather, with becoming reverence, attempt a short comparison, or specify two or three points of resemblance between the Son of God and those venerable functionaries who preside in our courts of justice, and are acknowledged as legal authorities throughout our native land.

1st., Then, our judges are persons of considerable dignity, or elevated rank; hence, the titles they bear, the robes with which they are invested, the attention which is paid them wherever they go, and the extraordinary deference with which they are habitually treated. Look at them as they enter our towns, or as they sit in our public halls, and you will instantly perceive that they are not common men, but are highly exalted above the generality of the human race. Well is not "the Judge of all the earth" a person of very high rank indeed? Is he not "the image of the invisible God?" and had he not " 'glory" with his eternal Father "before the world began?" Do any ask what are his titles? We answer, "He is Lord of all," 66 He is Prince of the kings of the earth." Do any inquire, "What attention is paid Him, or with how much deference He is treated?" We reply, "All the angels of God are commanded to worship Him. A name is given to Him which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess him Lord to the glory of God the Father." Do any wish to know how he will appear? and how he will acquit himself at the grand assize? Let them wait awhile, and they will learn by personal observation, for "every eye shall see Him." Meantime, we all may profitably meditate on such de