Introductory Essay

By David Russell

The Letters of John Newton have been long and justly esteemed. His chief excellence as a writer, seems to lie in the easy and natural style of his epistolary correspondence. His Cardiphonia he esteemed the most useful of his writings. It consists of letters which were actually written to his friends, and returned to him that they might be printed. They were confidential letters, and are, indeed, “the utterance of the heart.” They breathe a tone of seriousness, affection, and tenderness, which commends itself to the conscience, while it gains the confidence of the reader. You cannot fail to perceive that he speaks the language of firm persuasion, and of deep personal experience. There is nothing of cold theoretical speculation. You feel that you are listening to a man who is telling you what he has himself seen, and felt, and tasted, of the goodness of that God, whose word and service he commends. His heart goes along with all his instructions, for “he speaks because he believes;” it is seen in all his exhortations, for he evidently takes them home to himself; and it breaks forth in all his consolatory addresses, for he is but telling what God has done for his own soul; and, happy himself in fellowship with God, and sympathizing with others in their sorrows and their wants, he is commending to them those springs of consolation which have calmed and purified his conscience, and which continue to cheer and gladden his heart. His social affections were remarkably warm; and when hallowed by the grace of God, the result was a tenderness of feeling, an expansion of heart, and an outllow of affection, admirably calculated to exhibit the ainiableness of genuine religion, to overcome prejudice, and to win over men to vi

the truth. He spoke from the heart to the heart; and powerfully indeed have his writings interested the hearts of all classes of his readers.

The narrative which Mr. Newton published of his early years, serves to throw considerable light on many important subjects in religion; and that eventful portion of his history accounts for much of what continued to distinguish him in his after-life. His mother was a pious woman; and though she died before he was seven years of age, he derived considerable benefit from her instructions. She stored his mind with passages of Scripture, and with religious catechisms and hymns, and often commended him with many tears and prayers unto God. After her death, however, he was permitted to mingle with careless and profane children, and he soon learned their ways. The instructions of his mother, however, could not always be forgotten, and he was often disturbed with convictions. And from this let parents learn to be assiduous in instructing their children. It is no small matter to make the path of guilt unpleasant. Should no fruit appear at the time, should the young even plunge into profligacy, yet the instructions of a father or a mother will at times rise before them like departed ghosts, will imbitter the ways of transgression, and make conviction to flash upon the conscience, in spite of all their efforts against it, and may ultimately be the means of reclaiming them.

The convictions which disturbed Mr. Newton, coupled with a natural fondness for reading, led him to peruse some religious books; and, from a wish to obtain peace to his mind, he began to pray, to read the Scriptures, and to keep a diary. He then thought himself religious. But alas! this seeming goodness had no solid foundation. He soon became weary of it, he gave it up entirely, and even became worse than before. Several alarming and affecting providences produced successively a temporary effect. He took up and laid aside a religious profession three or four different times before he was sixteen years of age. His last reformation of this kind was indeed very vii

remarkable. It continued for more than two years. He then spent the greater part of the day in reading the Scriptures, and in meditation and prayer. He fasted often; he bemoaned his former evils, and he was careful, not only of his external conduct, but of every word of his tongue, and of the workings of his heart. But, after all this, he sunk into infidelity and profligacy.

How true is it, that when the heart of a sinner is penetrated with convictions of guilt, if he does not believe in the work of the Saviour, and thus obtain rest to his soul, he will either sink into despair and give himself up to melancholy, or he will engage in a course of formal and self-righteous obedience and devotion. If the former, then, finding the burden of distress intolerable, he will seek peace to his soul in stifling conviction, and in endeavouring to persuade himself that religion is all a dream. And, if the latter, then finding no enjoyment in devotion, having no regard to religion but as a means of escaping hell; being still under the power of his corrupt propensities; feeling his religion, such as it is, to be nothing but a system of restraints; in a word, being unable to get solid peace to his conscience, and being still haunted by dismal apprehensions, he will be prepared to embrace any system of error which will serve to set his mind at rest in the indulgence of iniquity. He becomes, as Mr. Newton did, gloomy, and stupid, unsociable, and useless. He indulges in fruitless, inactive, and slothful wishes; for the soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.” Prov. xiii. 4. In times of trouble he sinks into sullen and proud resentment against the fancied authors of calamity, for he is destitute of inward support. “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek God.” Psa. x. 4. “They cry out because of the arm of the mighty, but none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?” Job xxxv. 9, 10. The man has just as much religion as makes him miserable; and not being happy in it, he easily gives it up. He knows not the blessedness of the man who is viii

resting his hope for eternity on the work of the Saviour, and who has found rest to his soul where the justice of heaven found it, but is going about to establish his own righteousness. When the force of conviction obliges to abandon beloved ways, they are given up with reluctance, and with some secret reserve. Though a struggle is maintained with the evil workings of the heart, there is still an aversion to true spirituality of mind. He is kept from open pollution, and may even be attentive to the secret services of piety; knowing that a Christian should be heavenly-minded, he may endeavour to work up his heart to a heavenly frame; but there being no proper root in him, he soon becomes weary of this heavy constraint; or, fancying that he has obtained the victory over sin, he has a gleam of joy, arising from the notion that now God has accepted him: but his hopes are soon darkened, for there being no abiding principle within him, his goodness is “like the morning cloud and like the early dew, which soon pass away.” He has recourse to vows and resolutions of amendment, but tljey are weakness itself before the power of temptation.

Now, in this state of mind, a man is prepared to say, “It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that I have kept his ordinances, and that I have walked mournfully before him 1” Being forced to seek shelter from an accusing conscience, and being quite disappointed by all the means which he has tried, the poison of error and infidelity finds him a proper subject for its influence. And if books or companions of such a character come in his way, their principles are readily imbibed. He believes the fatal lie; and now, being free from restraint, he plunges into all manner of excess. Such, in substance, was the case with Mr. Newton.

What more clear than that convictions of guilt will not of themselves turn a sinner to God 1 Every believer of the gospel must have such convictions in a greater or less degree. For where there is no sense of guilt, there can be no sense of the need of forgiveixness, and of course the import and glory of the gospel cannot be discerned. But many are the subjects of convictions of sin, who never come to the Saviour. The question then is, have they excited us to flee for refuge to the cross, and to the wondrous work which was finished there in behalf of the ungodly 1 Have we come to this Saviour, guilty and unworthy as we see ourselves to be, and do we rest all our hope for eternity on that one perfect righteousness, through which God appears at once “the just God and the Saviour 1”

Mr. Newton’s case is at variance with the notion that it is absolutely necessary for sinners to be the subjects of a long and an exceedingly awful process of deep conviction of sin previously to their receiving the gospel, Such a notion perplexes the minds of many anxious inquirers. It leads them to imagine that the process in question forms a kind of warrant to come to the Saviour, and a sort of recommendation to his mercy, or a qualification for obtaining the benefit of his work. But there is a wide difference between what excites a sinner to flee to the Redeemer, and that which is his warrant to do so in the confidence of obtaining mercy. Many indeed have been the subjects of severe convictions, and of great alarm and deep distress of mind, before they found peace in the cross. But others have been drawn in a more gentle way. The Lord, in his first call, and his following dispensations, has respect to the situation, temper, and talents of each of his people, and to the particular services or trials he has appointed them for. Why then make the case of some a standard to all? Must not this lead the sinner to busy himself with the inquiry, whether he has sufficiently long, or sufficiently in measure, been the subject of the process in question, and so tmn his mind from the saving truth?

It is enough, then, that such a conviction of guilt be produced, as shall, by the grace of the divine Spirit, excite the sinner to come to Christ, that he may have life. God ought not to be limited; and accordingly INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

experience decidedly shows that neither the same degree nor length of alarm is by any means always employed, even with the same class of characters.

Speaking of himself, Mr. Newton says, “Few, very few, have been recovered from such a dreadful state; and the few that have been thus favoured have generally passed through the most severe convictions; and after the Lord has given them peace, their future lives have been usually more zealous, bright, and exemplary, than common. Now as, on the one hand, my convictions were very moderate, and far below what might have been expected from the dreadful review I had to make, so, on the other, my first beginnings in a religious course were as faint as can be well imagined.”

The humility and modesty of our author are here apparent; but all who are acquainted with his history will acknowledge, that his life was as zealous, bright, and exemplary, as that of many who were led to God in the way he describes.

In the gracious providence of God, Mr. Newton was brought, by means of certain circumstances of danger, to think of his former religious professions — of the extraordinary turns of his life — the calls, warnings, and deliverances with which he had met — the licentious course of his conversation — and his effrontery in making the gospel history the subject of his ridicule, when he could not be sure that it was false. Being delivered from the present danger, he thought he saw in this the gracious hand of the Almighty, and conscious of misery, he attempted to pray. He very properly compares his prayer to “the cry of the ravens.” And certainly there is a wide difference between the formal, hypocritical, and self-righteous prayers which the Scriptures condemn, and which they declare that God will not hear, and the cries of wretched creatures for relief. The former must be sinful, but the latter are in themselves neither morally good nor morally evil, for they but express the instinctive feelings of every percipient being when in circumstances of pain. They contain nothing spiritually good, and therefore cannot be the object of complacency, but neither can they be the object of blame. And that God who pities the irrational animals in distress, and is represented as hearing their cry, is also represented as looking down from his throne in heaven to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death. Now in such a situation was Mr. Newton at this time. His distress was employed as a means in the hands of heaven to lead him to the proper remedy. He felt himself wretched, but knew not how to get relief, and he looked up to God and implored deliverance. While he did this he applied himself to the Scriptures, and he did so, simply to discover what they taught. He was particularly struck with the parable of the prodigal — he saw in it his very case — he dwelt on the goodness of the father in receiving, nay, in running to meet such a son — and he saw in this a designed representation of the goodness of God to returning sinners. And indistinct as his views were of the gospel of peace, there was a marked difference between his present views of the divine mercy and grace, and the self-righteous notions which predominated, when, as he said himself in the language of the apostle, “after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.” God was drawing him with the cords of a man, and with bands of love. The apprehension he now had of the goodness of God encouraged him to cast himself upon him in the exercise of prayer for relief. The relief came — and how 1 He was made to see the exact suitableness of the gospel to answer all his wants. He saw how God might declare not his mercy only, but his justice also, in the pardon of sin, on account of the obedience and sufferings of Christ. His judgment, he says, “embraced the sublime doctrine of God manifest in the flesh, reconciling the world unto himself.” But his views of this precious truth, and of others connected with it, were very imperfect. Through unwatchfulness and temptation he greatly declined for a season. But by means of affliction, he was again awakened to a sense of his xii

condition. Conscious of his weakness, he durst make no more resolves, but committed himself to the Lord. Divine goodness directed him to the cross of the Saviour. After this, the burden was removed from his conscience; and not only his peace but his health was restored, and though subject, as all are, to the effects and conflicts of indwelling sin, yet he was ever after delivered from its power and dominion. Thus did he soon experience the freeness and the suitableness of the gospel to a sinner, when unable to view himself in any other light than that of an ungodly character.

Mr. Newton did not consider himself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word until now; but certainly at the period formerly mentioned, he had embraced the substance of the saving truth. His views of the atonement of Jesus were much clearer than were those of the disciples in the days of our Lord, who did not clearly understand the design of his death, till after he was risen from the dead; and who yet were believe’rs of the blessed truth, that in the goodness of God a way should be provided by which the exercise of mercy would be rendered compatible with the claims of justice. And the faith of many under the ancient economy certainly went no further than this. Mistakes on this subject sometimes arise from dwelling too much on faith, as an exercise apart from its object, and also from dwelling almost exclusively on one particular vehicle of truth, to the neglect of the substance of the truth conveyed. It is not for us to say how small a portion of truth may in certain circumstances become the seed of genuine religion. So far as it goes, it does lead to a measure of confidence in the mercy of God; and it cherishes that humility and contrition of mind, which are opposed to the self-righteous hope of unbelievers. The new perceptions of such a character are indeed feeble and indistinct, compared with those of the man who is taught “the way of God more perfectly;” and they are even in particular danger of being overborne and swallowed up, as they were in our author, in the tumult of natural passions, and in the conflict with xiii

natural slothfulness, and carnal propensities; but they constitute a leaven which will gradually diffuse its influence till the whole soul be leavened. The great defect in his views was, that while he acknowledged the divine mercy in the forgiveness of his past transgressions, he trusted chiefly in his own resolutions as to future obedience; not understanding that all our strength as well as our justifying righteousness must be sought in the Saviour. He had not the advantage of Christian fellowship, nor of hearing the gospel preached; and the few books which came in his way were not of the best kind; while he was in the midst of the same course of evil company, and of bad examples as before. He, however, came gradually to learn more of the truth; and it becomes those who were brought to serious reflection in the midst of the means of grace, and surrounded by every external advantage and encouragement, not to despise such a day of small things as this, but to remember that their attainments, when compared with his, were perhaps far from being in proportion to their superior advantages. What a mercy that we have a Shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arm and carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young!

The declension into which Mr. Newton unhappily fell, was overruled for the cure of his self-confidence, the deepening of his humility, and the enlargement of his views of the glory of divine grace. The good Shepherd restored his soul. “He gave him a distinct and a clear view of forgiveness.” The character of God, as just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly, captivated his heart. The light of divine truth dissipated the darkness which had covered his mind, and put to flight the temptations which had formerly betrayed him. It calmed and composed his heart — it sweetly drew him to the Savioyr as his only hope — and it sajftsfied his soul with unspeakable bliss. Prom that day forward, he lived in the firm persuasion of the gospel. He walked humbly with God. He felt that he had neither wisdom nor strength in himself, xiv

but he also felt that at the same time he was connected with him who is infinitely wise and infinitely powerful. Often does he enlarge, in the following work, on the wisdom and the goodness displayed in the necessity under which believers are laid, of coming daily to the Saviour, as they came at first. They have no such thing as a stock of sufficiency imparted at once. Even on the most common occasions they are constrained, by a sense of indigence, to have recourse to his fulness. He illustrates this by the life of the Israelites on their way to the promised country. They were fed with manna that they might be humbled. Not that this circumstance itself could humble them, but that as the manna could not be preserved, they were kept in a condition of constant absolute dependence from day to day, and were thus made to feel their littleness. Boasting was thus excluded, while gratitude ought to have been excited for the goodness manifested in the unwearied care, and the constant communications of heaven. They were naturally averse to this mode of life, and believers still manifest the folly and perverseness of the natural heart, by an unwillingness to be kept constantly in a state of dependence, and to be necessitated to the very last to come to the Saviour as they came to him at first. Daily are we offending, and daily do we need to apply to the God of all grace. This is indeed humbling. But unbelief, though it steals upon us under the semblance of humility, is the very essence of pride, when it keeps us from immediately applying to the only Physician of the soul. There is indeed such a thing as a cold use of the precious promise of forgiveness, but this is not the spirit of genuine repentance. One of the greatest attainments in the life of godliness is, to be coming daily to the fountain which is opened for sin and uncleanness, and yet be so far from counting it a common thing, that every fresh instance of divine forgiveness yet more humbles and* softens the heart, and increases our sense of the evil and demerit of sin: and of this spiritual attainment the Cardiphonia discovers a very high degree.

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Happy is that man who is in such a case. It was a life of close walking by the faith of the Son of God, which maintained that settled peace and heavenly enjoyment which Mr. Newton so signally experienced. He often speaks of the joy of the Lord as his strength. He felt and saw the evils of his heart, but though abased he did not suffer a spurious humility to mingle itself with the genuine, and to keep him from going afresh to the blood of sprinkling. He dwelt upon the dignity and righteousness, the faithfulness and mercy of his great High Priest, and he committed his all to his care. And he found that the gospel is indeed a glorious provision for the happiness of man. While it proclaims forgiveness, it heals the diseases of the soul, and communicates the purest enjoyment. In a sense of the favour and the love of God, in fellowship with the Redeemer, and in the love and the peace connected with the contemplation of unseen and eternal things, there is a high anticipation of the bliss of heaven. We were formed for fellowship with the Father of spirits; and no other object, nor all other objects taken together, can fully occupy our powers, or satisfy our desires. The benevolent language of the gospel is, “Ho! every one that thirsteth for happiness, come to the fountain of enjoyment.” Why continue to pursue that which never can satisfy? In the most pathetic manner does the God of all grace express his regret, not only because of the rebellion, but also because of the misery of men. He feelingly complains that they have left Him who is the fountain of life, for cisterns, yea, even for broken cisterns which can hold no water. It is as if he had said, “If, in leaving me, ye had gone to a better, or even to an equal fountain of blessedness, I should not have complained. If ye will leave me, choose, if you can, an object which will make you happy, for your happiness is the desire of my heart. But why forsake a fountain for a cistern, and even for a broken cistern, which can yield you neither relief nor enjoyment 1 This is conduct not only deeply criminal, but most foolish, and irrational; it is most dishonourable to me and fearfully ruinous to yourselves.”

In a similar way docs he reason with Israel in Psa. lxxxi. “Hear, O Israel, if you will take my counsel, there shall no strange God be among you. Do not question my kindness, for I am thy best and thy tried friend; I am he who brought you from the land of bondage, and therefore you may well give me your confidence. Do not act as if another God could do more for you than I can, for all your wants I can and will fully supply. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.”

Such is the spirit breathed in the gospel. And what has not God done, that he might gain our hearts’? When we were sunk in guilt and pollution, he commended his love towards us, in delivering up his own Son for the ungodly and rebellious; and through him he proclaims forgivenesss, peace, and eternal life, as the gifts of divine grace to all who believe. And why does he ask our hearts, but that he may fill them with pure, steady, and permanent bliss?

Mr. Newton has occasionally employed language, in relation to faith and sense, which some who are unfriendly to the truth, have construed to mean that Christian comfort is an unaccountable feeling, and quite independent of any rational ground in the object of belief. Nothing could be further from his intention than such a notion as this. It is only one of those inadvertencies of language into which the most correct thinkers will at times fall, through adopting the phraseology of others without proper refleclion. All positive comfort is sensible; for without some comfortable sensations, there can be no enjoyment. But so far from being opposed to faith, it is the fruit of it. It is not merely a feeling — it is rational joy. The Christian can “give a reason for the hope that is in him.” Such indeed is the structure of the human mind, that there may be insensible communications of an influence from above, which have the effect of preventing trouble or distress from rising to a height to which it would otherwise reach; but this is a different thing from positive comfort. Throughout the letters of Newton, and in the narrative of his life, the most satisxvii

factory reasons arc given for his feelings of comfort and joy. His accounts of himself are not like those biographical writings which dwell almost entirely on the feelings of their subjects, to the exclusion of the causes which made them to feel, What is it to us, that an individual felt now in this way, and then in that, if we are not told what produced his varying sensations? How different are such writings from the Scriptures. When we read there of the hopes and the fears, of the joys and the sorrows of such as feared God, we read also of those truths or causes which produced them. Who, for instance, can read the Psalms of David, the Songs of Isaiah and Zechariah, of Simeon and Mary, or the Apostles’ Epistles, without at once perceiving the spring and foundation of their feelings and exercises? How beautifully has Paul combined a clear view of the state of the workings of his heart, with the fullest displays of the glories of the gospel. We see a man who feels most deeply the power of the truth, and who is sensibly alive to the varied events of the pi-ovidence of heaven: and we are at no loss to understand the views and the motives which influence him. And when biography is written on this plan, it is of great utility. But when otherwise, it is calculated greatly to mislead an inquirer, and to cherish a sort of sentimental sickly piety.

The expression, sensible comfort, is sometimes employed to signify that enjoyment which a Christian has in a consciousness of the healing influence of the gospel, and from the assurance of hope, as distinguished from the state of a man’s mind, who, when viewing himself as a stranger to piety, goes to the Saviour, on the ground of the broad testimony and the unfettered invitations of mercy, which are addressed to sinners indiscriminately: But it is incorrect to say, that the former is walking by sense and the latter by faith. Of what is the healing influence of the gospel the fruit’ and the evidence, but of faith, in the very same testimony and unfettered invitations, which are the encouragement of the sinner when he first comes to the Redeemer, and of the backslider when he returns to xviii

him? And what is the peace which the latter obtains when he thus comes, but the fruit of confidence in the testimony and promise of Heaven 1 It is not an unfounded persuasion, that he is a child of God; but it is that peace which arises from a proper view of the sufficiency of the work of Christ, to justify him, guilty as he is; and from a persuasion, founded on the promise, that through resting his eternity on that work, he shall obtain the blessings of salvation. He has not the same degree of enjoyment as the former; but let this be stated in plain language, and not in words which are apt to mislead. The language in question is also used to denote that flow of the spirits, which, in certain constitutions and circumstances, accompanies the gladdening influence of the truth; but this is in itself distinct from religious comfort. The latter may exist where, owing to constitutional causes, there is but little of the former. There may also be certain parts of the truth believed, which have the effect of producing a degree of confidence in the goodness of God, a persuasion that his favour is life, and a renunciation of false grounds of hope, while yet there is no joy; because other parts of the truth are not properly discerned. Such at one time was the case with Mr. Newton; but even then there was a sensible change produced on his mind.

Having introduced this subject, it may be proper to add, that some have employed language, in relation to the confidence of faith, which would seem to imply that it is the duty of Christians to maintain the persuasion that they are such, even when they have not the least reason to conclude that they are living in the exercise of any Christian principle; and that to question this is the sin of unbelief. But unbelief is calling in question what God has said. The fact of our being believers, granting us to be such, is not the object of faith. Our persuasion of this fact is not properly faith, — it is rather a knowledge of the fact arising from our own immediate consciousness of believing.

In support of the notion in question, it has been arxix

gued that Christians are said to “walk by faith and not by sight.” But the meaning of this obviously is, that while they are in this world, they have not the advantage of the actual and immediate vision of the Saviour, and of the glories with which he is surrounded; but derive all their knowledge of Him and of them from testimony. It is only when “absent from the body that we shall be present with the Lord.” 2 Cor. v. 1-9. The encomium pronounced on Abraham, that “against hope he believed in hope,” has also been so employed, as if, be our state what it may, we should maintain an unshaken confidence that all is well; whereas the meaning simply is, that in opposition to every ordinary ground of expectation, he believed that the promise of God would be accomplished. Rom. iv. 18-21. In a similar way, the address in Isaiah i. 10, has been interpreted. But it is clear, that in the preceding verses the Redeemer is speaking of his sufferings and of his confidence in God, that he should not be overcome, but should finally triumph. And then, as if he had just entered into his glory, he calls, as it were, from his throne, to his afflicted people upon earth, not to be discouraged by the darkness of calamitous providences, but to imitate him in his trust in the Divine character and promises, and to rest assured that all events were working together for their good. Even those who are living by the faith of the Son of God, or who, in the language of this passage, are fearing the Lord, and obeying the voice of his servant, may at times be greatly perplexed, and in heaviness through manifold trials. And then is the time which tries our confidence in God. This Paul felt, when he was pressed out of measure above strength, and had the sentence of death in himself, that he should not trust in himself, but in God, who raiseth the dead. 2 Cor. i. 8, 9. The same spirit of faith which dwelt in the Saviour, dwelt also in him, in accordance with the view now given of the passage in question. 2 Cor. iv. 13, 14.

The Cardiphonia is full of comfort to the afflicted and the tempted. Mr. Newton was indeed” a son of

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consolation.” He had a peculiar talent for entering into the feelings and the views of the distressed. Much of the word of God is applicable to a state of trouble, and can only be understood in circumstances of trial. The gospel of Christ throws light on the most mysterious events of time. He who so loved us as to give himself a sacrifice for our sins, when we were sunk in rebellion, can never cease to care for us. In the midst of all the trials and conflicts of the wilderness, he is showing us the utter emptiness and vanity of the present world, and the insufficiency of the soul to its own happiness, that he may draw us to himself, and lead us to repose on him as our ultimate rest and satisfying portion. And what blessings are the most painful and complicated troubles, if the heart is thereby weaned from the transitory objects of sense, and if every stroke of affliction impels the soul more powerfully towards him who is the inexhaustible fountain of all genuine enjoyment. It is thus that we profit by the heaviest pressures which imbitter this state of tribulation. Such views of the wise and gracious, but often mysterious providences of God, in connection with the gospel of peace, serve to dissolve many of those clouds of perplexity and error which mislead and depress the heart; and they free from that painful uncertainty which, by its distressful agitations, greatly injures at once the holiness and the peace of the soul. They serve to infuse courage, and to impart consolation when all human help is unavailing; when, in the last hours of weakness, languor, and pain, flesh and heart fail; and even in the dark vale of death, when nothing else could yield to the departing spirit, light and life, animation and joy. Whatever changes there may be in our lot, whatever afflictions we may be called to bear, if we live in fellowship with the friend and the Saviour of sinners, our rejoicing will be that he ever liveth; and that beyond this transitory scene, and the many clouds which now intervene, there is an unchanging paradise and an incorruptible inheritance, where” our sun shall no more go down, where the Lord shall be our xxi

everlasting light, our God, our glory, and where the days of our mourning shall be ended!”

The wisdom of God appears in the production, if we may so speak, of the greatest power at the least possible expense of means. By a few strokes of affliction on a single individual he paves the way for the advancement of his holiness and joy, and thus fits him for extensive usefulness. “While he muses, his heart burns;” he hears of the afflictions of others; his own sorrows are relieved in giving vent to his feelings; he rejoices in soothing the anguish of the bleeding heart; the comforted again seek the benefit of more; they request him to cast his gift into the public treasury for the general benefit; and as he does so, he says, with the blended feelings of pious gratitude and benevolent joy, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” Such were the feelings of the apostle of the Gentiles, and such, in- a measure, was the happiness of the author of the Cardiphonia.

The letters of Newton abound with references to a particular providence. Without any admixture of superstition, he habitually recognised in every thing the overruling hand of the Almighty. He indeed walked with God, for in every object and event he traced his operations, and “in all his ways he acknowledged him.” His faith in the providence and grace of his God maintained that composure and cheerfulness of mind for which he was distinguished in circumstances of the most gloomy and discouraging kind. The remarkable incidents in his own life tended to lead him to act at all times “as seeing him who is invisible.” And it is edifying indeed to read his reflections on the superintending care of that God who “fainteth not, neither is weary,” who is “a present help in trouble,” and “without whom not even a sparrow can fall to the ground.”

It seems strange that men should admit a general, and deny a particular providence. They speak as if the Almighty were too great to concern himself with the petty affairs of individuals, though in extraordinary cases he may interfere in what relates to the interests of nations. They even speak as if, amid the greatness and the multiplicity of the affairs of his government, he could not bend to the interests of individuals so mean and insignificant. But what strange” ideas of greatness are these! Do they not degrade the Almighty, and lower our conceptions of his grandeur? Whatever it was worthy of his power to create, it cannot be unworthy of his greatness to preserve and superintend.’ Does not true greatness consist in a capacity of lending the most particular attention to the minute, whilst it embraces the vast l It is this capacity surely, which presents the most overwhelming view of the omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence of God. How delightfully are greatness and goodness blended together, when we are told that he who counts the number of the stars, and calls them all by their names, is the same who bindeth up the broken in heart, and healeth the wounded in spirit! Psa. cxlvii. 2 — 4. While his eye and his arm are abroad upon all worlds, he watches the solitary steps of the wanderer, pities the bereaved mourner, visits the lonely cottage of .affliction, and makes all the bed of the afflicted sufferer. Soothing indeed is the reflection, that we are not overlooked in the crowd, but that our individual concerns are as much regarded as though we were the only care of the Almighty Jehovah. “He knoweth the way that we take;” he is privy to every feeling of the heart, and enters into our every trial; for “the very hairs of our head are numbered.” And why should men presume to mark out what is great and what is little 1 Are not the most important events suspended on matters apparently trivial? Witness the histories of Joseph and Mordecai. And unquestionably the same providence which regulates the greater must necessarily regulate the smaller.

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This is a doctrine fraught with the richest consolation, when connected with the infinite wisdom, the inviolable faithfulness, and the immutable love of “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” How sweet the repose of that heart which rests in the Lord! We are not left to be the sport of blind chance in a fatherless world; we are the objects of the care of him who is every where present, who orders the movements, and satisfies the wants of his innumerable offspring. This truth is in perfect harmony with the personal exertion which is requisite to our obtaining the end we have in view. The Almighty acts by natural means. We are not warranted to expect miraculous interferences. Such expectations cherish a wild enthusiasm, and give unbelievers occasion to ridicule the doctrine of a special providence as the fruit of credulity. Extraordinary visible deliverances, or benefits, serve to manifest the reality of such a providence; but it is not less real when, by the silent operations of nature, the Almighty accomplishes his will.

In the writings of Mr. Newton, the harmony of divine truth is uniformly maintained. It was his object to be influenced and governed by the whole of the doctrines and precepts, the promises and warnings of Scripture in their proper place, and for their several uses. He keeps clear, on the one hand, of the error of those who, confining their attention to the character of man as an accountable agent, dwell almost exclusively on the economy of heaven as a system of moral government, and exhort to the discharge of duty, without properly considering his capacity to be the subject of heavenly influence; and on the other, he avoids the error of those who so represent the nature of the impotence of man and the nature of heavenly grace, as to set aside the commandment of God to believe in the Saviour, and to lull the sinner into a state of careless indifference. “A man’s cannot” he says, “is not a natural but a moral inability; not an impossibility in the nature of things, as it is for me to walk on the water, or to xxiv

fly in the air, but such an inability as, instead of extenuating, does exceedingly enhance and aggravate his guilt. He is so blinded by Satan, so alienated from God by nature and wicked works, so given up to sin, so averse from that way of salvation which is contrary to his pride and natural wisdom, that he will not embrace or seek after it; and, therefore, he cannot, till the grace of God powerfully enlightens his mind, and overcomes his obstacles.”

He invariably exhibits the practical design and tendency of the truth, while he never withholds the most free and unfettered declarations of mercy. He does not attack antinomianism in a controversial manner, but he states those principles which subvert its foundation. There are times and circumstances, however, in which error must be directly opposed, that the simple may be put upon their guard, and that the nature and glory of the truth may be displayed. Witness the tenor of the Epistles to the Galatians and Corinthians. The foundation of antinomianism is in the depravity of the heart; and when it shows itself as it is doing in the present day, it should be decidedly and openly met, that men may be warned of their danger, and the attempts of the enemy be defeated.

It seems strange that any who profess to believe the gospel, should question the obligation of Christians to observe the precepts of the law. The law of heaven is of essential service to believers. It shows them what is contrary to the will of God; it serves to deepen their sense of their innate depravity; it makes them cling to the work of Christ as their only refuge; it excites their admiration of the grace of God, and thus serves to cherish the love of him as the God of salvation; it tells how to express this love; it ascertains the progress which they are making in religion: it warns them of their errors and their danger when they wander from him; and it deepens their conviction of the necessity of abiding in Christ, as at once their Saviour from guilt, and the spring of their sanctification. So far from being set aside by the gospel, it is thereby established. Rom. iii. 81. While the law

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the necessity of such salvation as the gospel exhibits, the latter, on the other hand, strikingly illustrates the requirements of the former, as they regard both our temper towards God and our disposition towards man, while it enforces obedience to its precepts by the principles, at once awful and delightful, which are revealed in the cross.

By the law of God in any given case, must certainly be understood that system of laws which is established for the time being. Each dispensation under which the creatures of God are placed, has peculiar institutions and laws adapted to its special nature and design. Thus the Mosaic economy had many peculiar institutions adapted to a typical dispensation, and to the peculiar character of Israel. All of them, however, were of use, and all of them had for their object some moral end. But there are certain moral principles which remain unalterably the same under every economy of heaven, and out of those principles certain moral precepts necessarily arise under every dispensation with which mankind in the present state can at all be connected. The abrogation of the Mosaic economy as such, could not therefore set aside those moral injunctions which arise out of the indissoluble relation between God and man. We never find that God left any of mankind to whom he revealed himself, without a rule for the guidance of their love to him. He instructed Adam, even when in innocence, how he was to conduct himself; he instructed him after the revelation of mercy to him as a sinner; he instructed Noah, the founder of a new world; and so did he Abraham, the root of the Jewish people. To that people he, in a special manner, delivered his law; and to the Church of Christ, of which that nation was a figure, he hath given many commandments of a moral nature, and institutions adapted to the state of a people called out of the world into holy fellowship with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. But all his positive appointments are designed to answer a moral purpose; they are but means to an end, namely, the promotion of love to God and to man, which is xxvi

the sum of the divine law. None of them, therefore, ought to be despised. And, indeed, none of them can be so without injuring ourselves, for there is, in all of them, an admirable fitness to promote our happiness.

And not only does the Saviour appeal to our love, he also interposes his authority. “Ye are my friends” says he, “if ye do whatsoever I command you.” John xv. 14. It is clear then, that while we are treated, not merely as servants, but as friends, we are enjoined obedience by authority. Hence such expressions as the following: — “Ye know what commandments we give you by the Lord Jesus.” — 1 Thess. iv. 2. “Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. iii. 12. “These things command and teach.” 1 Tim. iv. 11. “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.” 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18. Now, here a being ready and willing to do what is right is represented as a matter of charge or command, because, along with the charge, suitable and sufficient motives to obedience are suggested. Why then oppose the one to the other 1 The authority of God is not only blended with kindness, it is in fact itself a display of” kindness, for it is employed the more effectually to preserve us from that which is our ruin.

To dispense with obedience, were to dispense with our happiness; for in holy likeness to God lies the true blessedness of man. When Christ is called Jesus, “because he is to save his people from their sins,” it is implied, that deliverance from that which is “a transgression of the law,” is the principal part of his salvation. He is “sent to bless us, in turning every one of us away from his iniquities.” If we confine the gospel to the proclamation of pardon, we rob it of its principal glory. Precious as pardon is, it is not to be viewed as an insulated blessing — it is a means to the moral end of our sanctification; and to the latter, it is subordinate. When Jesus said, “The kingdom,” that is, “the reign or government of heaven is at hand; repent ye, and believe the glad tidings,” shows

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Mark i. 15, hfs language evidently implies, that one great design of his coming was to subject men to his dominion, and that this was a part of the good news which he had to announce to the world. No doubt he referred to the speedy accomplishment of that sacrifice on which his kingdom is founded, and to his investiture with supreme authority, as the great evidence of its acceptance, and the great security of all who should put their trust in it; but he evidently includes the establishment of his kingdom in the heart, and the exercise of his authority over a holy nation and a royal priesthood. And as the whole economy takes its name from this, it is evident that its great and ultimate object is to restore us to the image of God. “The reign of heaven,” could not be the appropriate designation of an economy, the only, or even the principal design of which was, the mercy which appears in forgiveness. On no other principle could Christ be denominated a king, than on that of his exercising authority, and ruling by means of laws. Objections to the idea of authority, as if it were associated with something stern and forbidding, betray the most unworthy notions of the law of God, and of the nature and design of obedience. The revelation of pardoning mercy is the foundation of other blessings. It is, in particular, the moral means by which we are delivered from the dominion of sin. A sense of unpardoned guilt, and the dread of vengeance, foster the enmity of the heart against God. Not that it ought to be so, or that this result is without blame; for this were to say, that a sinner, when condemned, has an excuse for his disaffection to God. Independently of the revelation of mercy, it is the duty of the sinner to obey the divine law; for, otherwise, no sin could have been committed after the first; whereas, men are represented as daily multiplying their transgressions, and their redemption is entirely ascribed to grace. The question, then, wholly respects a fact. And as it is a fact, that while the fear which hath torment prevails, the sinner does not return to God, it is a striking proof of his abundant goodness, that he not only has

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given his Son to be a propitiation for sin, but that while he makes use of his law to give the knowledge of sin, he employs the revelation of his mercy and his grace to subdue the enmity of the heart; and thus condescends, as it were, to meet the feelings and situation of the guilty and rebellious.

Now, if such be the previous obligation of the sinner, it is utterly inconsistent with the nature of moral government, and with the great design of mercy, that Christians should be freed from obligation to keep that law, the sum of which is love to God and to our neighbour. The requirement of love is founded in the nature of the relation between God and a rational creature. And the gospel of Christ, while it exhibits him as a Saviour, does so, by showing how he magnified and made honourable the law of heaven, by suffering its penalty and obeying its precepts. His salvation consists in bringing the redeemed to be of one mind with himself; and since the law was written in his heart, it must also be written in theirs. The great object of heaven in the forgiveness of sin, is to impart and to cherish that filial temper which esteems duty a privilege, and which identifies obedience with happiness. When believers are said to be free from the law, the reference is to the abolition of the Mosaic economy, which has been superseded by the death of Christ, or to that deliverance from the condemning sentence of the unchangeable law of righteousness, which is obtained through forgiveness. But for this very reason, they are under increased obligations to obey its precepts. Accordingly, though freed from the Mosaic yoke, and from the law in general, as the rule or procuring cause of acceptance with God, “they are under the law to Christ.” 1 Cor. ix. 21.

It is vain to deny the obligation of the law, by representing the gospel as the rule of obedience; for the gospel is not a rule of conduct, but a message of peace and of reconciliation. It is true, that it gives such transcendent discoveries of the character of God, as to call for higher degrees of love than could have been required before; but let it be remembered, that the

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divine law must ever require that Jehovah he loved according to the revelation given of his character at the time; so that perfect conformity to the law consists now in loving him as he is revealed in Christ.

It is also vain to say that the Spirit, and not the law, is our rule; for that which excites to obedience, as does the influence of the Spirit, is quite a distinct thing from the rule of obedience. The promise is, that the law of God shall be written in the hearts of the subjects of the covenant of peace; and this is effected “by the Spirit of the living God,” 2 Cor. iii. 3; but this supposes the previous existence and constant obligation of that very law.

It has been said that Christians are ruled by love, and not by the law. And it is true that they do not obey from a principle of slavish fear; but they are not so ruled by love, as to exclude the ideas of obligation on their part, and of authority on that of God. What indeed is conformity to the law, but the exercise of love 1 for there is not an act of obedience that is not comprehended in the general precept of love. So far from love to God being incompatible with subjection to authority, it is itself the subject of an express commandment. The precept which requires it, is denominated the first and great commandment of the law. And this, so far from converting obedience into a task, is a powerful means of cherishing the warmest affection; for why does God ask the supreme love of our hearts, but because he himself loves us, and in this way seeks our highest blessedness and glory?

If it be said that the prevalence of love renders a law unnecessary, it is sufficient to say in reply, that the Scriptures expressly declare, that ‘’this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments,” 1 John v. 3; and that those only are the friends of the Saviour, who do whatsoever he commands them. John xv. 14. Love is indeed the great principle of Christian obedience; but it cannot be also the regulator. Love in creatures such as we are, is often like a ship with full sails, but without a pilot at the helm. The love which is required, is love to God with all our understanding,

as well as with all the heart; and this certainly implies not only that our love should rest on just perceptions of his character as revealed to us, but that it should also be exercised in conformity to the revelation of his will. Mark xii. 33. Even the angels in heaven, whose hearts certainly glow with love, are represented as doing his commandments, and hearkening to the voice of his word, that they may know his will and do it with alacrity. Psa. ciii. 20, 21. And, with reverence be it said, when the Saviour himself appeared in the form of a servant, his love to the Father was, in certain respects regulated in its exercise by the divine commandment. And why then speak as if love were in itself incompatible with subjection to a rule, when Jesus himself was “made under the law 1” He was so, indeed, that he might redeem from its curse; but he could not be so to free from its claims of obedience; for in the keeping of God’s commandments lies the happiness of man.

Love, indeed, will not require an explicit precept for every thing, but still it will be guided by the spirit of the law; and it is the expressed regard for the will of God, which is contained in the services of his creatures, that renders them acceptable. Love will, no doubt, to a certain extent, dictate itself what is fit to be done; but then, what it thus dictates to be right, has as really the force of a law, as though it had been, in expi’ess words, commanded. The common judgment of mankind, and of course, that of Christians, so far informs them what is right and what is wrong; but what right reason dictates, has the authority of a law, and is in fact at bottom but the application of a rule. We read of some, who, though destitute of a written revelation, were a law to themselves. They were not without law in every sense; for their thoughts accused and excused them, so that they must still have had a standard to judge by, though not a written one. Rom. ii. 14, 15.

But though love, in connection with the judgment, will, to a certain extent, dictate what is right to be done, it cannot do so in every case. There are many

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circumstances and dispensations, in which the path of duty cannot be ascertained, without an explicit revelation. Hence the necessity and the advantage of those particular rules, which are laid down for our guidance in the various relations and conditions of life. And in regard to things, about which we have only general principles and rules to walk by, the prevalence of holy tempers and dispositions will lead to a proper decision. Love, in a word, will prompt us to do whatever is pleasing to God. Yet we must, by some means or other, know what is pleasing to him, before we can thus properly express our affection. 1 Thess. iv. 1. No matter in what way the will of God be made known; for in whatever way it is revealed, its obligation is the same, so far as the revelation extends. And the appeals which are made to love, are made to it as the exciting principle to action, rather than its rule.

The laws given to sinful creatures must certainly differ from those given to perfectly holy beings; but still a rule is given even to the latter; for the holiness of angels is a doing of the will of our Father who is in heaven. Angels, as well as mankind, must be bound by the eternal law of love; but the special manner in which they are called to express their affection, must, of course, correspond at once with their particular nature as creatures, and with the condition in which they exist. The particular prohibitions which have been given to mankind, are proofs of their being considered as depraved creatures; and hence the apostle has said that the law (meaning, of couse, the law as it stands) is not made for a righteous man. 1 Tim. i. 9. Such prohibitions, as he proceeds to mention, are very different from the original prohibition delivered to Adam, and would not have been issued, had man been in a state of innocence. But who would infer from this, that Adam was not under a law 1 And is it not a display of wisdom and of great kindness, that the law given to mankind in their present state, so distinctly warns them of their danger, by prohibitions which suppose their existence of corruptions which, if xxxii

not restrained or mortified, will prove the death of all

happiness 1

Nothing can be more plain, than that the particular laws given by God for the regulation of his creatures, must correspond with their circumstances. The question then must be, are the precepts of the law of God suitable or unsuitable to the present circumstances of believers in Christ? And that they are really suited to their circumstances, is evident from the fact, that even the select disciples of the Saviour were addressed by him as not beyond the danger of falling into the most heinous offences, and are accordingly solemnly and affectionately warned against them. Luke xii. 41 — 46. And that these admonitions were designed, not for them only, but for all his disciples in after ages, is clear from the consideration, that the primitive Christians were frequently admonished against similar evils, and even against crimes still more abominable. Rom. xiii. 13, 14; 1 Cor. v. 9, 10, and x. 6 — 14; Ephes. ix. 17 — 32; Col. iii. 5 — 11. It is clear, then, that in the present state the renovation of believers is imperfect, and does not supersede the necessity of the law of God, as it presently stands, for their guidance. In the passages now referred to, an appeal is made to their fears, as well as to their gratitude and love. In our present imperfect state, our obedience is not wholly left to the more generous influence of the latter principles. It merits our attention, too, that when certain duties are enforced, there is an express recognition of the authority of the law. As for instance, the duties of children to their parents, which are enforced by an express repetition of the fifth commandment. Ephes. vi. 1, 2, 3. And when certain evils are condemned, the very form of the commandments is employed, as in James ii. 8 — 13, where a number of offences are enumerated in the express language of the law, and where the evil of respecting persons is declared to be a sin against the laio, and a solemn warning is given, that he shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy. Hence such expressions as the following:

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“He that loveth another, hath fulfilled the law.” Rom. xiii. 8. “Whosoever committeth sin, transgrcsseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law” 1 John iii. 4. Now, if there be no sin that is not “a transgression of the law,” it follows that there can be no rule that is not comprehended in the law. In a word, let the commandments of the law be considered, and the conscience of every Christian will say, that there is not one of them which he can break without blame, or obedience to which is not connected with his happiness.

Christ declared that he had not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil them; and having said this, he proceeded to explain the moral precepts of the law in their spirituality and extent, as reaching to the thoughts and the desires of the heart; and to enforce them on the consciences of his disciples. Matt, v. 17 — 32. He taught that all the law and the prophets hang on the two great commandments of love to God and love to our neighbour, thereby declaring that the moral injunctions of the law of Moses and also of the prophets continue to be binding. Matt. xxii. 37 — 40. And after enjoining the universal law of equity, that we do to others as we would that they should do to us, he enforces it by saying, “For this is the law and the prophets.” Matt. vii. 12. Now, since instead of representing himself as teaching and enjoining what is altogether new, he enforces the duties of piety and humanity, by referring to the law and the prophets, he obviously teaches, that the moral injunctions of the latter constitute the law of his kingdom. There is no necessity for confining the moral part of the divine law to the ten commandments; for granting that every moral precept may be deduced from them, yet there were many such precepts delivered by Moses and the prophets besides them. It was of importance that the people should not be left to ascertain their duty by mere inferential reasoning, however solid. And on this principle our Lord and his apostles have given many broad, palpable, and express commandments, in relation to moral conduct, xxxiv

without always marking their connection with the Decalogue, even where such connection cannot be questioned. It is the whole of the divine precepts collectively, which constitute the law of God. And though the fundamental principles of his law must ever be the same, yet those principles are applied according to the nature of the special dispensation under which his creatures are placed. Attention to this is of importance in reflecting on the law of heaven. And Mr. Newton, in a letter on the right use of the law, has justly observed, that “clearly to understand the distinction, connection, and harmony between the law and the gospel, and their mutual subserviency to illustrate and establish each other, is a singular privilege, and a happy means of preserving the soul from being’ entangled by errors on the right hand or the left.”

In a word, the law of God, though it be the language of authority, is also the voice of friendship. It is authority which is exercised for the more effectually influencing us to keep the only path which can lead to blessedness, And the man who, in the faith of the gospel, walks humbly and obediently with God finds the truest liberty, and his greatest happiness, in serving his gracious Father and his rightful Sovereign.

DAVID RUSSELL,

Dundee, 28th Sept. 1824.