Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation: A Book for the Times

When the conscience had become purified and quickened, it would be a check upon the erratic movements of the imagination; and when the disposition was corrected, it would be disinclined to every unholy exercise; so that, in the believer, the disinclination of the will and the disapprobation of the conscience would be powerful aids in bringing into subjection the imaginative faculty. But, more than this, faith in Christ would have a direct influence in correcting the evils of the imagination. It is a law of mind, that the subject which interests an individual most, subordinates all other subjects to itself, or removes them from the mind and assumes their place. As a group of persons, who might be socially conversing upon a variety of topics, if some venerable individual should enter and introduce an absorbing subject, in which all felt interested, minor topics would be forgotten in the interest created by the master subject;—so when ‘Christ crucified’ enters the presence-chamber of the believer’s Soul, the high moral powers of the mind bow around in obeisance; and even imagination folds her starry wings around her face, and bends before Immanuel. When the cross of Christ becomes the central subject of the soul, it has power to chasten the imagination, and subdue its waywardness by the sublime exhibition of the bleeding mercy in the atonement. The apostle perceived the efficacy of the cross in subduing vain reasoning and an evil imagination, and alludes to it in language possessing both strength and beauty, as ‘casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and [mark] bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.’

That these views are not idle speculations, but truthful realities, is affirmed by the experience of every Christian. When the imagination is wandering to unprofitable or forbidden subjects, all that is necessary in order to break the chain of evil suggestion, and introduce into the mind a profitable train of thought, is to turn the eye of the soul upon the ‘Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.’ By the presence of this delightful and sacred idea every unworthy and hurtful thought will be awed out of the mind.

Thus does faith in the blessed Jesus control and purify the imagination of believers.

4. The influence of faith in Christ upon the life: leading man to such conduct as would eventually accomplish the salvation of the whole human family.

It is certain that men have all the faculties which, if rightly directed, would be necessary to enable them to benefit and bless each other. Suppose one individual did all in his power to do others good and make them happy, who can limit the amount of consolation which that man might impart to the children of want and sorrow; or the amount of light he might shed upon the minds of the ignorant; or the rebukes and warnings he might sound in the ears of those who persisted in sin? Suppose a whole community of such individuals, denying themselves the selfish ease and worldly pleasures which the children of this world seek after, and devoting their lives to spread around them the blessings and benefits of the gospel—should individuals or communities desire thus to devote their lives to benevolence instead of selfish effort, it is certain the Creator has endowed them with every faculty necessary to the accomplishment of such a work. They have hearts to love their fellow-men; they have reason and knowledge to learn themselves, and then to instruct others. They can travel to where the ignorant and the needy dwell, either at home or abroad; or, if they feel disqualified personally to do this, they have hands to labour for the means to send others on errands of benevolence throughout the world. That men have been created with the faculties, therefore, to diffuse the blessings which they possess, throughout the world, no one can doubt.

But, secondly—Men are so constituted, that the exercise of those faculties, in a manner that would bless others, would likewise produce a blessing in their own souls. It is a fact in experience, as well as philosophy, that the exercise of any power of the soul, gives increased strength to that power. By exercising their selfish and malevolent feelings, men become continually more selfish and malevolent; while, on the contrary, by exercising self-denial and the benevolent feelings, men become continually more benevolent. Selfishness, all admit, is an evil in the heart. Self-denial is its antagonist principle; and it is by invigorating the latter by exercise, that the former evil principle is to be eradicated. It would, therefore, be the greatest benefit to those who possessed blessings, to induce them to exercise benevolence by communicating them to others.

It follows, therefore, that not only the greatest good of the guilty and the ignorant requires self-denying benevolence in those who have the means and the power to enlighten and guide them to truth and happiness; but likewise, that the greatest good of those possessing blessings is, to impart them to others. ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive;’ because, by the exercise of self-denial to do good, benevolence is strengthened in the soul; and from benevolent exercises arises the blessedness of the spirit. Men are constantly making sacrifices to advance their own aggrandizement, and thus, by increasing their own selfishness, they make themselves more miserable: the great end to be gained, is to lead them to make sacrifices for others, and thus, with others, bless themselves.

Now, no one doubts that the whole human family, in the days of Christ, needed the blessing of an enlightening and purifying religion. And no one doubts that the ultimate end of a religion from heaven would be the greatest ultimate good of the entire race. Three things, then, are obvious: 1. That a religion from heaven would be designed ultimately to bless the whole world. 2. That the best good of mankind, as a family, required that they should be the instruments in disseminating this religion among themselves. 3. That the principle of self-denial, or denying ourselves the ease and pleasures of selfishness, in order to perform acts of benevolence, is the great principle by which the operation of spreading this religion would be carried on.

Now, Jesus Christ professed to give a universal spiritual religion; one which encircled in its design, and was to bless by its influence, the whole family of man; and faith he set forth as the great motive-power of the whole plan. The question then is—Would faith in Christ lead men to that method of living and acting, and to the possession of those views and feelings, which would make them instrumental in benefiting each other, and which would destroy selfishness and promote the happiness and interest of the whole family of man, in accordance with the three principles above specified?

1. It has been shown that the example and precepts of Christ become the guide to conscience, and the rule of faith and practice for all believers. What, then, has Christ said and done, to induce men to do each other good, and to unite the race of man in one harmonious and happy family?

The gospel of Christ possesses all the characteristics of a universal religion. It is adapted to human nature: not to any particular country or class of men; but, as has been shown, to the NATURE of the race. Its truths are intelligible, and may be understood by all men, and transferred into all languages. It is spiritual in its character; designed to affect the mind and heart of man; so that wherever intelligent beings are to be found, there it may be introduced into the heart by faith, to correct the spiritual evils of their nature, and produce happiness in the soul.[39]

The precepts and teachings of Jesus are designed and adapted to harmonize the race of man into one happy family. Instead of the abominations and folly of polytheism, he presented before the minds of men one common object of worship; and so exhibited the character of that object, by presenting before the world a grand spectacle of self-denying mercy, that the exhibition was adapted to attract the attention of all, and draw all hearts to one centre of affection.

In all his instructions to regulate the conduct of men, he viewed them as brethren of the same great family, and taught them to consider themselves as such. No retaliation was to be offered for injuries received, but the injured child was to appeal only to the great Parent of the family. No one might treat another as his enemy: and no one was to cease in efforts to do good to another, unless he perceived that those efforts were treated with contempt, and instead of benefiting, had a hardening effect upon the heart.

2. Their lives were to be spent in efforts to impart those blessings which they possessed, to their brethren of the human family who possessed them not. Instead of the unhallowed and anxious struggle which worldly men manifest to raise themselves to power over their fellows, their efforts were to be directed to the opposite end—to raise the ignorant and the needy to the enjoyment of the blessings and privileges which they possessed.

This active and constant effort to extend the blessings which they possessed to others, and to relieve men from their vices and ignorance, was not to stop with their own kindred, or nation, or tongue, nor to be restricted to the grateful, or the deserving; in this respect, their philanthropy was to be modelled after that of their heavenly Father, who causeth his sun to shine upon the just and the unjust. It was to continue during life, and to extend to the ends of the earth. And in proportion as men were found in a condition of ignorance and want, in the same proportion they were to make benevolent exertions to elevate and bless them.

Now, every one can see, that if these precepts were obeyed, strife between individuals and nations would cease, and the glorious process of benevolent effort would go on, until the last benighted mind was enlightened, and the last corrupted heart purified by the power of the faith of Christ.

It was necessary, in connection with these precepts, that some motive should be presented to cause men to deny themselves, in order to act in accordance with them. Now it has been shown that the believer acts in view of the character and will of Jesus. Christ, therefore, in order to give these precepts moving power upon the souls of men, identified himself with his needy creatures, and sanctioned the duty which he prescribed to others, by conformity to it himself; so that these precepts, given to govern men’s conduct in this life, he made the rule of judgment in heaven’s court of equity, and by them the decision will be made out, which will settle, finally, the spiritual destiny of men. ‘Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me.’ Thus Christ identifies himself with the most needy of mankind, and receives an act of kindness done to them, as done to himself. When the love of Christ, therefore, constrains men, he has so exhibited his will, that it constrains them to act for the good of each other. Those that love Jesus, therefore, and expect his favour, must serve him by doing good to others.

Moreover, Christ has sanctioned these precepts by his own example. His life was a life of self-denying labour, for the benefit of our race; and his command to everyone is—‘Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow me.’ Thus, by Christ’s precepts, by his example, and especially by his identifying himself with those in need, that method of life is sanctioned which alone could make man the benefactor of his fellows—unite the human family in one happy brotherhood—and make them blessed in doing each other good, in the faith of Christ.

Those that love Jesus will desire to do his will—will find their happiness in obeying him; and that will is, that they should labour to benefit his creatures. Those who believe in and love Jesus will have their conscience regulated by his precepts and example. Thus, the conscience of believers is set (if I may so express it), so that it will regulate the movement of their life in such a manner, as finally to work out the salvation of a world lying in wickedness.

It follows, therefore, that faith in Jesus Christ is directly designed and adapted to strengthen men’s benevolent affection, and to produce in believers that active desire and effort for the good of others which will necessarily produce the dissemination of the light and love of the gospel throughout the whole habitable world.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE DESIGN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEANS OF GRACE.

It has been shown that, constituted as we are, the manifestations made of the character and attributes of God in the Scriptures are adapted to produce the greatest good in the human spirit; and in order that that good may be effected, it is necessary that the truths of the Scripture be brought into contact with the soul, that it may be impressed and influenced by them. The truths and manifestations of revelation are the elements of moral power, which, apprehended by faith, are effective in purifying the fountain of life in the soul, and in rectifying and regulating its exercises; it follows, therefore, that the requirement to bring those truths before the mind in a particular manner would be a duty necessarily connected with the revelation of the doctrines, as directions for taking the medicine are connected with the prescription of a physician into whose hands a patient has submitted himself. Now, prayer, or worship, is one method by which the truths and manifestations of revelation are directly brought before the contemplation of the soul. Prayer brings the mind to the immediate contemplation of God’s character, and holds it there, till by comparison and aspiration the believer’s soul is properly impressed, and his wants properly felt. The more subtle physical processes and affinities become, the better are the analogies which they furnish of processes in the spiritual world. The influence of believing prayer has a good analogy in the daguerreotype. By means of this process, the features of natural objects are thrown upon a sensitive sheet, through a lens, and leave their impression upon the sheet. So when the character of God is, by means of prayer, brought to bear upon the mind of the believer—that mind being rendered sensitive by the Holy Spirit—it impresses there the Divine image. In this manner the image of Christ is formed in the soul, the existence of which the Scriptures represent as inspiring the believer with the hope of glory.

In the introductory chapter it was shown that the impulse which leads men to worship proves a curse to the soul, where the objects worshipped are unholy, and that the only remedy for the evil was the revelation of a holy object for the supreme homage of the human soul. So soon as a righteous and benevolent God is presented before the mind, then prayer becomes a blessing instead of a curse to the soul. Look at the subject in the form of a syllogism:

Man, by worshipping, becomes assimilated to the moral character of the object that he worships:

The God of the Bible, as manifest in Christ Jesus, is the only perfectly righteous and perfectly benevolent Being ever worshipped by man.

Therefore, man can become righteous and benevolent in no other way but by that worship which will assimilate him to the God of the Bible.

And further, as it has been demonstrated that righteousness and benevolence produce the rectitude and the happiness—the greatest good—of the soul, man can gain the great end of his being only by that worship which assimilates his nature to the moral image of God.

It follows, therefore, that prayer is a necessary and most important means of grace—a duty growing out of the nature of the case, and a duty upon which depends, in a great measure, the well-being of the human spirit. The apostle understood the philosophy of this subject when he said: ‘But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ Therefore it is that the commandment that men should pray is presented in the Bible in every variety of language; and it is constantly repeated by the inspired writers and by the Son of God himself, who commended, by his precepts and example, private, social, and public prayer; and who taught by a parable that ‘men ought always to pray, and not to faint.’

The importance of strong desire and importunity in prayer.

It is impossible to produce grateful feelings by granting a benefit for which the recipient has no desire. If a child asked for bread when it was not hungry, and if, while the child had no feeling of want, its unfelt request was answered by its father, it could neither appreciate the gift nor be grateful for it. The soul is so constituted, as has been fully shown, that it must really feel the need of the benefit before it can appreciate its importance, or be grateful for the favour received. So it is in the case of the suppliant in prayer: if he has an anxious desire, a spirit of importunate solicitude, for the blessing which he asks, when he receives it, gratitude and praise will, as the consequence of gratified desire, spring up in the heart. Now, mark, if there were not a feeling of importunate desire in the mind of the suppliant, God could not be glorified, nor the creature benefited, by an answer to prayer. God could not be glorified, because his goodness would not be felt and acknowledged in the answer. And the creature could not be benefited, because it is the feeling of gratitude and praise in his own heart which constitutes the spiritual blessing, so far forth as the suppliant himself is concerned; and this exercise is produced only so far as it is preceded by dependent and anxious desire for the blessing sought. When the supplication is for spiritual blessing upon another individual, two minds are blessed by the answer, the individual prayed for and the individual who prays. And if a thousand individuals desired spiritual mercies for that soul, God would be glorified by a thousand hearts, and a thousand hearts would be reciprocally blessed by the answer. The time may come when all the angels in heaven, and all the saints upon earth, will be blessed by mercy bestowed upon a single individual; when the last unregenerated sinner stands in solitary and awful rebellion upon the earth, should tidings be circulated through earth and heaven that he had submitted himself to God, and that his affections began to take hold on Christ, every being in the universe who had strongly desired the conversion of the last sinner would feel the thrill of ‘glory to God and good-will to men’ arise in his soul. It follows, therefore, that a fervent, importunate state of mind is, from the nature of the case, necessary, in order that God may be glorified, and man blessed, by the duty of prayer. It was in view of these constitutional principles that Jesus constantly taught the necessity of desire and importunity, in order that mercies might be received in answer to the supplication of saints.[40]

The importance of faith and a spirit of dependence upon God, as concomitants of acceptable prayer.

The necessity of faith, as a primary element in all acceptable religious exercises, has already been noticed. A feeling of entire dependence upon God for spiritual mercies is the only right feeling, because it is the only true feeling. As a matter of fact, the soul is entirely dependent upon God for spiritual mercies; truth, therefore, requires that our dependence should be acknowledged and felt.

But further, without faith in God as the immediate bestower of mercies in answer to prayer, he could not be honoured for blessings received. Suppose two individuals desired with equally strong feelings the same blessing, and that both received it: each would rejoice alike in its reception; but suppose there was this difference in their state of mind—one regarded the blessing as coming immediately from God in answer to prayer, the other did not: the result would be that the one who had faith in God would be filled with love to his Maker for the mercy, the other would rejoice in himself, or, at least, he would not rejoice in God. In the one case, God would be honoured and praised for his acts of grace; in the other, he would neither be honoured nor loved for his goodness. We do not present this illustration as applicable in all its bearings—because we do not suppose that the unregenerate ever truly desire spiritual blessing till they are convinced of sin—but it will make the point clear to the reason of everyone, that God cannot be honoured without faith; and, therefore, ‘without faith it is impossible to please him.’

It is necessary, according to the foregoing view of the subject, in order to offer acceptable prayer, that men should possess a spirit of faith and dependence upon Christ. The principle upon which Christ acted in relation to this subject, as well as his instruction concerning the duty of prayer, fully confirm the preceding thoughts. He seldom performed an act of mercy, by miracle or otherwise, unless those who received the mercy could see the hand of God in the blessing:—‘If thou canst believe, thou mayest be cleansed,’ was his habitual sentiment. As if he had said—Your desire for the blessing is manifest by your urgent requests: now, if you can have faith to see God in the blessing, so that he will be honoured and praised for conferring it, I will grant it; but if you have no faith, you can receive no favour.

And, again, in order that the believer might be brought into a state of dependence, and have his faith quickened every time that he presented his supplications to God, Jesus said, looking forward to the time when he would have perfected his ministry and atonement—‘In that day ye shall ask me nothing,—whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name’—that is, depending on me, the atoning, interceding Saviour—‘he will do it;’ and in another place he promised, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do.’ Thus does the instruction of the Saviour make the believer entirely dependent upon Christ himself when he approaches the mercy-seat of the Most High. As the Jews were constantly to call to mind the deliverance from Egypt, in order that their feelings might be moved to love, dependence, and faith towards their temporal deliverer, so Christians are to call to mind the deliverance from spiritual bondage by the sacrifice of Christ, in order that they may realize their dependence, and be inspired with a spirit of faith and love towards their spiritual Deliverer. And because believers can thus depend upon Christ, and feel the mercy of God as it is manifested in the atonement, they are constituted priests ‘to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.’

2.—PRAISE.

The truth which has been demonstrated in previous chapters is again assumed, that the manifestations of God, in Christ Jesus, would, when brought into efficient contact with the soul, produce that active holiness in the heart which is man’s greatest good. And as the end to be accomplished depends, under God, on those truths which are developed in the great plan of mercy being impressed upon the mind and the heart, it follows that those means would be used which, from their nature, are best adapted to give influence and impressiveness to the great truths of revelation.

The influence of music upon the emotions of the soul is well known to every one—

the soul is awakened, and invited by the spirit of the melody to receive the sentiment uttered in the song. Sweet, affecting music—not the tone of the piano, nor the peals of the organ—but a melodious air, sung by strong and well-disciplined voices, and accompanied by the flute and viol—such music reaches the fountains of thought and feeling; and,

it tinges the emotions with its own hues, whether plaintive or joyous; and it fosters in the heart the sentiment which it conveys, whether it be love of country or of God, admiration of noble achievement, or of devoted and self-sacrificing affection.

The power of music to fix in the memory the sentiment with which it is connected, and to foster it in the heart, has been understood in all ages of the world. Some of the early legislators wrote their laws in verse, and sang them in public places; and many of the earliest sketches of primitive history are in the measures of lyric poetry. In this manner the memory was aided in retaining the facts; the ear was invited to attend to them; imagination threw around them the drapery of beauty, dignity, or power; and then music conveyed the sentiment, and mingled it with the emotions of the soul. It was in view of the power of music, when united with sentiment adapted to affect the heart, that one has said: ‘Permit me to write the ballads of a nation, and I care not who makes her laws.’

When the effects of music and poetry upon the soul are considered, we can perceive their importance as means of fostering the Christian virtues in the soul of the believer. They should be used to convey to the mind sublime and elevating conceptions of the attributes of Jehovah; to impress the memory with the most affecting truths of revelation, and especially to cherish in the heart tender and vivid emotions of love to Christ, in view of the manifestations of Divine justice and mercy exhibited in his ministry, his passion, and his sacrifice.[41]

There cannot be found, in all the resources of thought, material which would furnish sentiment for music so subduing and overpowering as the history of redemption. There is the life of Jesus—a series of acts Godlike in their benevolence, connected at times with exhibitions of Divine power and of human character, in their most affecting aspects. And as the scenes of Christ’s eventful ministry converge to the catastrophe, there is the tenderness of his love for the disciples, the last supper, the scene in Gethsemane; the Mediator in the hall of judgment, exhibiting the dignity of truth and conscious virtue amidst the tempest of human passion by which he is surrounded. Then the awful moral and elemental grandeur of the crucifixion; the Saviour, nailed to the cross by his own creatures, crying, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;’ and then, while darkness shrouds the sun, and ‘nature through all her works gives signs of woe,’ he cries, ‘It is finished, and gave up the ghost.’ Thus did the dark stream of human depravity roll,

Such exhibitions of sublimity and power, when clothed with the influence of music, and impressed upon a heart rendered sensitive by Divine influence, are adapted to make the most abiding and blessed impressions.

It follows, from the preceding views, that in selecting the means to impress the mind with religious truth, and the heart with pious sentiment, music and poetry could not be neglected. There is not in nature another means which would compensate for the loss of their influence. We do not mean to say that their influence is as great as some other means in impressing the truths of revelation upon the soul; but their influence is peculiar and delightful, and without it the system of means would not be perfect.

We see, therefore, the reasons why music and poetry were introduced as a means of impressing revealed truth, both under the old and the new dispensations. Moses not only made the laws, but he made, likewise, the songs of the nation. These songs, in some instances, all the people were required to learn, in order that their memory might retain, and their heart feel, the influence of the events recorded in their national anthems.

Music held a conspicuous place in the worship of the temple; and under the new dispensation, it is sanctioned by the express example of Jesus, and specifically commanded by the apostles; the example is given in connection with the institution of the eucharist, which was to commemorate the most affecting scene in the history of God’s love; and the command is in such words as indicate the effects of music upon the heart: ‘Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Upon this subject, as upon some others, the apostolic churches fell into some abuses; yet the high praises of God and the Lamb have always been celebrated in poetry and music by the church of Christ. One of the first notices of the Christians by pagan writers speaks of them as ‘singing a hymn to Christ, as to a God;’ thus showing that the principles established in the preceding views were recognised by the early disciples, who used music as a means of fostering in their hearts love to the Saviour.

As in the case of the primitive Christians, so every regenerated heart delights in such spiritual songs as speak of Christ as an atoning Saviour. And those only are qualified to write hymns for the church whose hearts are affected by the love of Jesus. On this account some of the hymns of Cowper, Charles Wesley, Watts, and Newton, will last while the church on earth lasts, and perhaps longer. Thousands of Christian hearts have glowed with emotion, while they sang,

Or,

Thousands have been awakened to duty and to prayer, by that solemn hymn,

And it would not have been possible for any but a Christian poet to have written the lines,

3.—PREACHING.

It has been said that the truths and manifestations of revelation are the elements of moral power, which, being brought into efficient contact with the soul, are effective in rectifying and regulating its exercises. A medicine may be prepared in which are inherent qualities adapted to remove a particular disease; but in order to the accomplishment of its appropriate effect, it must be brought to act upon the body of the patient. And if the disease has rendered the patient not only unconscious of his danger, but has induced upon him a deep lethargy of mind, it would be necessary that the physician should arouse his dormant faculties, in order that he might receive the medicine which would restore him to health. So with the moral diseases of the soul; the attention and sensibilities of men must be awakened, in order that the truth may affect their understanding, their conscience, and their heart. Whatever, therefore, is adapted to attract the attention and move the sensibilities, at the same time that it conveys truth to the mind, would be a means peculiarly efficient to impress the gospel upon the soul.

There are but two avenues through which moral truth reaches the soul. And there are but two methods by which it can be conveyed through those avenues. By the living voice, truth is communicated through the ear; and by the signs of language it is communicated through the eye. The first of these methods—the living voice—has many advantages over all other means, in conveying and impressing truth. It is necessary that an individual should read with ease in order to be benefited by what he reads. The efforts which a bad reader has to make, both disincline him to the task of reading, and hinder his appreciation of truth. Besides, a large proportion of the human family cannot read, but all can understand their own language when spoken. In order, therefore, that the whole human family might be instructed, the living speaker would be the first, and best, and natural method.

The living speaker has power to arrest attention, to adapt his language and illustrations to the character and occupation of his audience, and to accompany his communications with those emotions and gestures which are adapted to arouse and impress his hearers.

It is evident, from these considerations, that among the means which God would appoint to disseminate his truth through the world, the living teacher would hold a first and important place. This result is in conformity with the arrangements of Jesus. He appointed a living ministry, endowed them with the ability to speak the languages of other nations, and commissioned them to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

In connection with this subject, there is one other inquiry of importance. It concerns not only the harmony of the gospel system with the nature of things, but likewise the harmony of apostolic practice with what has been shown to be necessary in order that the truths of the gospel might produce their legitimate effect upon the mind.

It has been demonstrated that a sense of man’s guilt and danger must exist in the mind before there can be gratitude and love to the being who removes the guilt and rescues from the danger. It has likewise been noticed, as a self-evident principle, that before repentance there must be conviction of sin. A sense of guilt and error must necessarily precede reformation of life. A man cannot conscientiously turn from a course of life, and repent of past conduct, unless he sees and feels the error and the evil of that course from which he turns. To suppose that a man would turn from a course of life which he neither thought nor felt to be wrong or dangerous, is to suppose an absurdity; it follows, therefore, that the preacher’s first duty, in endeavouring to reclaim men to holiness and to God, would be, in all cases, to present such truths as were adapted to convict their hearers of their spiritual guilt and danger. As God has constituted the mind, repentance from sin and attainment to holiness would for ever be impossible on any other conditions.

But the same truths would not convict all men of sin. In order to convict any particular man, or class of men, of sin, those facts must be fastened upon with which they have associated the idea of moral good and evil, and concerning which they are particularly guilty. Thus, in the days of the apostles, the Gentiles could not be convicted of sin for rejecting and crucifying Christ; but, it being a fact in the case of the Jews that all their ideas of good and evil, both temporal and spiritual, were associated with the Messiah, nothing in all the catalogue of guilt would be adapted to convict them of sin so powerfully as the thought that they had despised and crucified the Messiah of God.

On the other hand, the heathen, upon whom the charge of rejecting Christ would have no influence, could be convicted of sin only by showing them the falsehood and folly of their idolatry; the holy character of the true God, and the righteous and spiritual nature of the law which they were bound to obey, and by which they would finally be judged. The first preachers of the Gospel, therefore, in conformity with these principles, would aim first, and directly, to convince their hearers of their sins, and in accomplishing this end, they would fasten upon those facts in which the guilt of their hearers more particularly consisted. And then, when men were thus convicted of their guilt, the salvation through Christ from sin, and its penalty, would be pressed upon their anxious souls; and they would be taught to exercise faith in Jesus, as the meritorious cause of life, pardon, and happiness.

Now, the apostolical histories fully confirm the fact that this course—the only one consistent with truth, philosophy, and the nature of man—was the course pursued by the primitive preachers.

The first movement, after they were endowed with the gift of tongues and filled with the Holy Ghost, was the sermon by Peter, on the day of Pentecost, in which he directly charged the Jews with the murder of the Messiah, and produced in thousands of minds convictions of the most pungent and overwhelming description. At Athens, Paul, in preaching to the Gentiles, pursued a different course. He exposed the folly of their idolatry, by appealing to their reason and their own acknowledged authorities. He spoke to them of the guilt which they would incur if they refused, under the light of the Gospel, to forsake the errors which God, on account of past ignorance, had overlooked. He then closed by turning their attention to the righteous retributions of the eternal world, and to the appointed day when man would be judged by Jesus Christ, according to his gospel.

The manner in which the apostles presented Christ crucified to the penitent and convicted sinner, as the object of faith, and the means of pardon, and the hope of glory, is abundantly exhibited in the Acts of the Apostles, and in their several epistles to the Churches.

Thus did God, by the appointment of the living preacher as a means of spreading the Gospel, adapt himself to the constitution of his creatures; and the apostles, moved by Divine guidance, likewise adapted the truth which they preached to the peculiar necessities and circumstances of men.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE AGENCY OF GOD IN CARRYING ON THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THAT AGENCY IS EXERTED.

In relation to the character of the agency, the solution is clear. The agency by which the plan of salvation would be carried forward to its ultimate consummation would be spiritual in its nature, because God is a Spirit, and the soul of man is a spirit, and the end to be accomplished is to lead men to worship God ‘in spirit and in truth.’

In relation to the mode of the Spirit’s operation, some things belong to that class of inquiries upon which the mind may exert its powers in vain.—The mode by which God communicates life to any thing in the vegetable, animal, or spiritual world lies beyond the reach of the human intellect. But although man cannot understand the modus operandi of the Divine mind in communicating life, yet the manifestations of life, and the medium through which it operates, are subjects open to human examination. Whether the influence of the Spirit be directly upon the soul, or mediately by means of truth, the end accomplished would be the same. The soul might be quickened to see and feel the power of the truth; or, by the spirit, truth might be rendered powerful to affect the soul. The wax might be softened to receive the impression, or the seal heated, or a power exerted upon it, to make the impression on the wax; or both might be done, and still the result would be the same. It is not only necessary that the metal should be prepared to receive the impression of a die, but it is likewise necessary that the die should be prepared and adapted to the particular kind of metal—the image and the superscription of the king put upon it—the machinery prepared and adapted to hold the die and apply it to the metal; and after all these things necessary are done, the coin can never be made unless power is exerted to strike the die into the metal, or the metal into the die. So it is in the processes of the spiritual world; the material [mankind] must be prepared. The die [the truth of the gospel system] must be revealed and adapted to the material; and the image to be impressed upon human nature [the Lord Jesus Christ] and the superscription [glory to God and good-will to men] must be cut upon the die. Then the means of bringing the truth into contact with the material must be provided; and after all these preparations and adaptations, there must be the power of the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process, and to form the image of Christ in the soul.

The foregoing is a complicated analogy, but not more complicated than are the processes of the animal and spiritual world. Look at the human body, with its thousands of adaptations, all of them necessary to the system, the whole dependent upon the use of means for the supply of animal life, and yet deriving from God its rational life, which operates through and actuates the whole. In like manner the Spirit of God operates through and guides the processes of the plan of salvation.

The Scriptures reveal the truth clearly, that the Spirit of God gives efficiency to the means of grace. And not only this, but he operates in accordance with those necessary principles which have been developed in the progress of these chapters. Christ instructed his disciples to expect that he would send the Holy Spirit; and when he is come, said Jesus, ‘He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment;’ that is, the Holy Spirit will produce conviction of sin in the hearts of the unsanctified and impenitent:—the office-work of the Spirit of God in relation to the world is to convince of sin. In relation to the saints he exercises a different office. He is their Comforter. He takes of the things that belong to Jesus, and shows them to his people.[42] That is, he causes the people of God to see more and more of the excellency, and the glory, and the mercy manifested in a crucified Saviour; and by this blessed influence they ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.’ Christ, by his ministry and death, furnished the facts necessary for human salvation: the Holy Spirit uses those facts to convict and sanctify the heart. Paul, in a passage already noticed, alludes to the influence of the Spirit operating by the appointed means of prayer, or devout meditation. ‘But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’