Memoir of the Reverend David Wilson (1823)
MEMOIR OF
the reverend
DAVID WILSON,
Late Minister of the
UNITED ASSOCIATE CONGREGATION,
OLD CUMNOCK;
Who died on the 17th of December, 1822,
Aged 69 Years.
also,
REFLECTIONS
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
KILMARNOCK
Printed by H. Crawford, Bookseller,
1823.
MEMOIR OF
THE REV. DAVID WILSON
IT is our pastoral duty to announce the death of the Rev. David Wilson, Minister of the United Associate congregation of Old Cumnock who died at Cumnock, on the 17th of December 1822, in the 35th year of his ministry and 69th year of his age. His death is generally and deeply lamented, and he will long be remembered for the diligence, activity, and zeal with which he discharged the public and private duties of the ministerial office. He was very generally known as a most laborious and faithful minister of the gospel; and it was evident, That the uncommon exertions which he continually made for the spiritual and temporal welfare of his congregation Sprung from love to the work itself from compassion to perishing sinners.—and from a desire to promote the edification and comfort of those who believed. He early felt and displayed the power of religion. When very young, he took great delight in reading and committing to memory Ralph Erskine’s Gospel sonnets, (a book which he generally carried about with him till he had worn it to pieces in his pocket); and many of the verses illustrative of Christian experience) and of the blessed fruits of communion with God. he was afterwards accustomed to repeat, in his exhortations at the communion-table, with great effect, A fact which lately came to our knowledge we may mention, as a striking illustration of his early piety. He and another young man, in intimate companion bf his own, built a turf house in the fields, in which they often met for religious conversation and prayer, and often spent whole nights in these pious and improving exercises. Under the disorder which terminated in his dissolution, he looked back on these exercises with great pleasure, and sometimes said, that if he had been then called to put off his earthly tabernacle, he thought that he would have died in the full assurance of faith and hope. Thus feeling the power of divine love, and experiencing the joy, the peace and the hope which spring from faith in Christ, he felt a strong and a growing desire to engage in the work of the ministry; and, after much meditation and prayer, entered, in that course of learning and study, which is preparatory to preaching and defending the gospel of Christ and persevered, till, wider the miles of Divine Providence, he reached the object his devout wishes. That his desire to engage in the ministry was a matter of deep and curious concern to him, is manifest from a letter which lately came into Our hands, and which, it appears, he had written to the friend above-mentioned during the first year of his residence at college. We make the following extract, as all illustrative of his Christian attainments at that period.
"Indeed, my brother, the more that I enjoy my God, the less do I think of my books, far for latter, compared with the former, are taste's and insipid; but yet my soul feels pleasure and delight in these words, “Go feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood:" and when my thoughts recur to them, I feel animated to proceed in the prosecution of my studies. O my soul! mayest thou never forget the day when thy God spoke these words unto thee, when in his own divine manner he delivered to thee the solemn charge, commanding thee to go forth in his name, and proclaim this wonder in the ears of all the people, saying,- Behold at what a price thy God hath bought thee, O ye saved of the Lord! even at a price of which I neither man nor angel can estimate the value O my soul! a goodly price it was indeed that was paid down for thy 'recovery, even the blood of the eternal Son of God in my nature. Mayest thou ever be engaged in speaking to his honour, and praise, mayest thou ever adore him, mayest thou, ever magnify and exalt him! And may God even my God, assign to me whatever he pleases for the exercise of my short life, and may the glory be to him for ever."
Having finished his course of literary and theological study at the College of Edinburgh, and at the Divinity Hall, under the Rev. Mr. Brown and Dr. Lawson, he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Associate Presbytery of Edinburgh. Alter exercising his gifts for a short time in the vacancies, under the inspection of the Associate Synod, he received an unanimous call from the Associate Congregation of Old Cumnock [vacant in consequence of the translation of the Rev. Mr {now Dr.) Hall to Edinburgh.] to the pastoral in spectrum of which, after going through the usual course of trials, he was solemnly ordained by the Associate Presbytery of Glasgow in the year 1788. The interests of this congregation he continues till his death to promote, with a degree of activity, success, and approbation seldom equalled and still more rarely surpassed.
As a man, Mr. Wilson, though naturally a little quick and warm in his temper, was exceedingly kind, generous, and friendly, and proved an attentive and affectionate husband, a kind friend, and a useful member of society. As a Christian, his sentiments were purely evangelical and practical He was a true Presbyterian and thorough-paced Seceder, warmly attached to the principles upon which the Secession was originally founded, and which the United Church still maintains. In every thing which respected the Christian profession and eternity, he loved and strongly recommended decision and steadiness. Being thus minded, he pointedly condemned men "halting between two opinions—suffering themselves like children to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine," and unduly yielding to mere desire human attachments and local circumstances in the profession of the gospel, and in seeking glory, and honour, and immortality. But while he was a steady and decided Seceder, he breathed in private and in public a benevolent and catholic spirit,—took great delight in Bible and Missionary Societies;—rejoiced in the success of the gospel, by whomsoever it was preached, and fervently prayed with the Apostle, "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity." In short, he was a steady and warm member of a party, but detested every thing like a narrow and party-spirit.
As a minister of the gospel, the divine and mediatorial glory of Christ, the wonders of his love, and the riches of his grace in saving sinners, and his bringing them to glory, according to the gracious purpose of the Father, and by the agency of the Holy Spirit, formed the great and leading, subjects of his preaching, and gave peculiar richness and suitableness to his ministrations. His sermons were plain and scriptural; his style, and manner of delivery, though by no means polished, were warm, animated, and full of natural eloquence, and never failed to interest the heart, and to increase the flame of Christian and devotional feeling. In dispensing the word of life, he took great pleasure in illustrating the excellence and blessed effects of the ordinances of religion, in urging the faithful cultivation of the various graces of the Spirit, and in enforcing the numerous duties of the Christian life. In thus Setting before his own people, and other congregations of the Association where he occasionally, laboured, the whole counsel of God, he commanded general attention, and under the agency of the Holy Spirit, we have reason to believe, was the honoured instrument of saving and comforting many. He evidently wished to spend and be spent for the advancement of the glory of Christ, the salvation of sinners, and the spiritual and temporal prosperity of his own congregation.
He was particularly attentive and diligent in visiting and examining the people of his charge. His congregation was a very large one, and though it lay scattered over an extensive countrywide, he regularly visited and examined the whole of it every year. As this part of his duty was particularly suited to his active disposition and habits, so in the discharge of it he took great delight, and fixed upon a very high standard for the execution of it. In proof of this, in July 1822, after the disease which carried him off had taken firm hold of his constitution, he visited no less than twenty nine families in one day, some of which were situated at the distance of ten mites from his own house. In visiting the sick he was equally attentive and diligent. In the discharge of this duty, it may with truth be said of him, that he was "instant in season and out of season." No species of disease he reckoned as a barrier, no distance disagreeable, no hour unseasonable, when he was called on by affliction to administer the consolations of the gospel. As in this important duty he greatly excelled, so he was very frequently called on to discharge it, not only among his own people, but also among all classes of the community. To the spiritual instruction of the young he also paid particular attention. For those of them under fourteen years or age, He had a class, which went through a course instruction preparatory for admission into his Sabbath evening school, which met regularly during the summer months, and which consisted chiefly of young persons between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four. As he was unremitting in his attention to their spiritual welfare, so to him and his instructions they paid a corresponding affectionate regard. This was so much the case, that hey gradually increased in number; and during the last summer, though he was under the necessity, from the low state of his health, of having recourse to assistance, he was more numerously attended than ever he had previously been, his parting interview with them was very tender and affecting, before they were dismissed, he addressed them in a short exhortation with uncommon fervour and feeling. He seemed to have impressed upon his mind a lively presentiment of his approaching dissolution. He spoke of it as a matter of certainty, and urged them, as one who evidently regarded himself in the immediate neighbourhood of the eternal world, and who had their dearest interests at heart, to "remember their Creator in the days of their youth." He hoped that, though the present was in all probability the last interview he was to enjoy with them, they would still be as active and diligent in their spiritual improvement, as if he still presided over them, and guided them in the acquisition of useful knowledge. His youthful audience was deeply moved, and it was truly affecting to witness the sorrow they manifested in taking their last farewell of their aged instructor; while he, as he shook them by the hand, gave to each his parting blessing.
From this interesting period his health rapidly declined, and his bodily and mental vigour so quickly forsook him, that he afterwards attempted only once or twice to address his people from the pulpit; and for about a month before his death, he was almost entirely confined to his own house, exhibiting day after day, evident marks of approaching dissolution. Such was the activity to which he was habituated, and such his delight in the public and private duties of his office, that when the hopes of resuming them became fainter, he felt rather uneasy. An impression also, which certainly he had less reason than many others to indulge, that he had done here for Christ, and for promoting the best interests of his beloved people, accompanied with severe bodily pain, in no small degree agitated his mind, and unfitted him for conversation But as the interesting crises approached, his mind became more tranquil, and seemed to lose its strong attachment to the activities of life and on the morning of the last day of his valuable Life, a brother in the ministry having visited him, and engaged in those conversations and exercises suitable to a dying hour, he manifested great serenity of mind, and at last expired in the most gentle and agreeable manner.
From this short memoir, it is abundantly manifest, that the Church has lost a most diligent, zealous, and successful minister; which loss, while it must interest all the lovers of Zion, must press in a particular manner on the affections and feelings of the bereaved widow and congregation. Let all in the ministry be admonished by his death, diligently to discharge the duties of that office. and labour to promote the prosperity of the Church, that they may put off their earthly tabernacle with joy, and be greeted with these exhilarating words, well done, good and faithful servant, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Let those who are looking forward to the ministry, and who are in some measure prepared to fill up the vacancies that death is now and then making in the Church, emulate the virtues of their departed fathers, and even prepare to excel them in activity and usefulness. And let the congregation cordially acquiescence in their bereavement, and love one another with a brotherly love, in honour preferring one another, and look to Christ, the Head of the Church, that he would give them a pastor according to his own heart, who may feed them with understanding and knowledge.
SECESSION.
Hitherto the character of the Secession, both as to the intelligence and faithfulness of its ministers, and as to the piety of its members has been very fair: and we would fondly hope, that the sons, who are rising up to occupy the places which their sires are leaving vacant, instead of tarnishing her reputation, would rather raise it to a higher pitch. Let not the present generation disgrace the memory of their pious ancestors—The world and the church look to them with an expecting eye. Each individual amongst them, both ministers and people, should feel and should act, both in public and in private life, as if the; character of the whole depended on his conduct. Let ministers exert themselves more and more, to promote true godliness in their respective flocks. Let heads of families attend to the cultivation of religion in their domestic circles. Let the young vie with one another, who shall be most distinguished for amiableness of disposition, and tor their zeal and activity in promoting the cause of the Redeemer. Let all classes cultivate a spirit; of earnest and importunate prayer; and thus shall, the blessing come down from the God of glory "like the dew of Hermon, that descended upon the mountains of Zion."
'For my brethren and companions' sake. I wilt now say, Peace be within thee: because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.
REFLECTIONS
on the
DAY OF JUDGMENT.
What a solemn scene, Reader, is here set before you! Not the invention of the fancy of man—but pronounced a reality, on the authority of God. This day is called in scripture 'the day of God—the day of the Lord—the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God—the last day—and to mark its peculiar importance—that day,'—as of all times that can be thought of, the most solemn and interesting.
From the passage of scripture which you have just been reading, you perceive who is to be the Judge on that day—'The Son of man'—JESUS, who, when in this world, was despised and (illegible text)(illegible text)ted of men—who, amid insult and cruelty, ⟨expired⟩ upon the cross on mount Calvary—He ⟨shall⟩ 'come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, and shall sit on the throne of his glory:'
'God hath given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man,' John ⟨v.⟩ 27. Sinners may despise him on the cross; but ⟨they⟩ shall not despise him on the throne; for, '[[Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen,' Rev. i. 7. Before ⟨this⟩ Judge shall be gathered all nations—all the ⟨generations⟩ of men that shall have lived on the ⟨earth⟩, from the beginning to the end of time!—⟨You⟩ need not try to form an idea of this assembly: ⟨your⟩ mind cannot contain it. I wish you rather ⟨to⟩ keep your thoughts at home—to pause, and ⟨reflect⟩, that you yourself shall be one of the ⟨multitude⟩: and when the Divine Judge, 'whose eyes were as a flame of fire, shall, with one ⟨penetrating⟩ glance, discern the characters of these ⟨countless⟩ myriads, and 'shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left;'—you must either, ⟨with⟩ heavenly joy, take your station on the right, ⟨or⟩, with trembling and reluctant despair, join, ⟨the⟩ company on the left. Ask yourself,—'If I ⟨were⟩ to die now, to which of these classes should ⟨I⟩ belong at the judgment?'—The future part of ⟨this⟩ paper may, perhaps, help you to determine ⟨the⟩ question. Meantime, it is one of unutterable ⟨moment⟩; for the sentence of the one shall be an ⟨eternal⟩ blessing, the doom of the other, an ⟨eternal⟩ curse. Those on the left shall go away into everlasting punishment of those on the right, into everlasting; life.
Bear with me a little, Reader for I have your soul’s good at heart, while I endeavour to set before you, shortly, the characters and respective dooms of these two classes of men
The characters, I think, will be unfolded to you, together with the ground on which the sentence is pronounced upon each if you attend, with a serious mind, to the following brief remarks.
It is plain from the scriptures, that men shall be judged according to their works. Consult in your Bible the following passages, and study the connection of each of them. Matth. xvi. 27. 2 Cor. v, 10. Rom. ii. 6. Rev. xx. 12, 13. xxii. 12. Eccles xii. 14. From these passages, it is evident, that men’s works are to be brought into judgment.
But if this be the case, may we not well inquire. ‘who is able to stand before the Holy Lord God?’ 1 Sam. vi. 20.—Mark the character, 'the Holy Lord God.’ The law of this God is, and must be, like himself, infinitely holy, just, and good. Rom. vii. 12. The sum of it is, ‘Love to Him with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind,’ Mark xii. 29, 30 i.e. the perfection of obedience in heart and life. And surely, the infinitely Holy, and infinitely Good, does not, in this law, demand more than he has a right to claim. Of this law, you and I, and all our fellow men, are transgressors. This law, therefore, lays all of us under a sentence of condemnation. Its language is, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them,’ Gal. iii. 10. Be not startled at this; I allow it involves myself as well as you. Nay, there is not among men one exception; for ‘There is none righteous, no, not one,' Psalm liii 1—3. ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,’ Rom. iii. 23. The only question is, Have you transgressed? if you have, it is an inference which you cannot possibly deny, that you cannot be justified on the footing of a law which you have violated—.'Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in God’s sight,’ Rom. iii. 20. You may frame a law for yourself; but you cannot oblige the eternal God to judge you by your own inventions. Though works then are to be wrought into judgment, no works performed by a guilty creature, can be the ground of his acceptance with God. Study this point.
Must we then despair?—No, my dear friend; no, blessed be God, we are not shut up to despair—From our Lord’s words, with which I began this address, we see, that though many shall be condemned in that day, many also shall be accepted and blessed; and the address of the judge to each, when properly attended to, will show us on what grounds. Observe what he says to them on his right hand, ‘For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came into me,’ Matth. xxv. 35, 36. The righteous express their surprise at his mentioning their works of regard to himself, when so very few of them had ever seen his face in the flesh, so as to have had any opportunity of doing what he ascribes to them. ‘When saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick, or in prison and unto thee? verse 37—39. He solves the seeming difficulty by his reply. 'In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me,' verse 40. In like manner as to those on the left hand he charges them with not doing what the others had done, 'I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not,' ver. 42, 43. And when they too express wonder that they should be charged with omitting what they never had opportunity to do, 'Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?' ver. 44. he explains and confirms the accusation, by a similar reply, 'In as much ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me', ver. 45.
Now the works enumerated, lead us, at once, into the characters of those who do them, and of those who do them not. Remark, particularly, their nature. They are works of charity, and labours of love, performed to the disciples or brethren of Jesus for his sake. Jesus considers them as done to himself; therefore they must be such works as are done for his sake. The performance of these works is the evidence of the operation of certain principles: the want of the works proves the absence of these principles.—When you speak of doing any thing for the sake of another, you mean, that you do it from love to him. The works ascribed to those on the right hand, show, that love to Jesus is the grand feature of their character, the governing principle of their conduct: And this love arises from the right knowledge and faith of his name. The want of these works, on the part of those on the left hand, manifests them to have been, when in the world, such as neither knew, believed in, nor loved the Saviour!
This leads us directly to the reasons of their respective sentences.—The one class belong to Christ, the other are none of his. The one have built their hopes upon him, and they are not disappointed; the other have trusted to refuges of lies, and these are now swept away. The one are his brethren, the other his enemies.
Reader, dost thou believe on the Son of God? the question is important; for 'he that believeth, shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.' Have you ever duly considered the end for which he came into the world, the dignity of his character, and the nature and perfection of his work? He came into the world, he himself says, 'to seek and to save that which was lost,' Luke xix. 10. 'His name was called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins,' Matt, i. 21. He is a Divine Saviour—'Immanuel, God with us,' Matth. i. 22, 23—'God manifest in the flesh' 1 Tim. iii. 16—2Jehovah our righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 6.—He who rejects him, rejects at once the counsel and the work of the eternal God.
In order to save his people from their sins, the eternal 'Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst men,' John i. 14. By his perfect obedience, the spotless righteousness of his character, he magnified the Divine law, and made it honourable.—By voluntarily suffering unto death—shedding his blood on the accursed tree—and bearing the curse in his soul, under the hidings of his Father's countenance, Matth. xxvii. 46 he made a complete atonement for sin, glorified the holy justice of God, in connection with his infinite mercy—and rendered the salvation of those for whom he suffered, honourable to the righteous government of God, and to all the perfections of his nature; so that the very pardon of sin, for the sake of Jesus, is the strongest expression of the Divine abhorrence of it.
When Jesus bowed his head on the cross, and gave up the ghost, he said, with special reference to the work given him to do, 'It is finished.'—Compare John xvii. 4. with xix. 30. God confirmed this as a true saying, by raising him from the dead. For the resurrection of Jesus testified the same thing, with the voice from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' Matth xvii. 5 2 Pet. i. 16, 17.—The work of salvation, then, is done. The righteousness and atonement of Immanuel, form the ground, the only ground, the all-sufficient ground, of a guilty sinner's hope towards God. You cannot add to this work—you must not take from it. To attempt either the one or the other is to destroy its efficacy for your salvation. To seek any other way of being saved, is to give God the lie, 1 John v. 10. and wilfully to damn your own soul. 'This is the stone which was set at nought, by the Jewish builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,' Acts iv. 11, 12. ‘We pray you, (says Paul,) in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for as that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,’ 2 Cor. v. 20, 21. It is he who believes what is testified of Jesus, that is reconciled to God, and shall stand in the judgment. For to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.—even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 'Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin,’ Rom. iv. 4—8. And ‘it is of faith, that it might be by grace,’ Rom. iv. 16. For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. vi. 23. Though the gospel reveals salvation by free grace alone, leaving no merit to the sinner, yet is there deep guilt in rejecting it. 'He that believeth in him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already; because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and in loved darkness rather than light, because deeds were evil,’ John iii. 18, 19. See too, 2 Thes. i. 8—10. ii. 10—12.
The charade's of such as believe in Jesus, will for correspond to that which he describes in his account of the judgment. For no man can be a believer in Christ without loving him—and no one can love him without being his wiling and obedient subject and servant. 'Lovest thou me? said Jesus to Simon Peter. 'Lovest thou me' says Jesus to each of us. 'He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me,' Matth. x. 37. 'If any man,' says one of his apostles, 'love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha,'—accursed at his coming, 1 Cor. xvi 22. Dost thou love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity? with thy heart, thy whole Heart, and in his true character, as the Divine and only Saviour?—if you do, you will obey him. 'If a man love me, he will keep my words.—He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings,' John xiv. 21—24. Professions of faith and love are all vanity and emptiness, if you are not 'constrained by the love of Christ, to live to him who died for sinners, and rose again.' If you are living in sin, or if the world has the chief room in your hearts, you are none of his. He will say to you in that day 'I never knew you.' —For, 'if any man love the world, the love of the Father,' and consequently the love of the Son, 'is not in him.' 1 John ii 15. The love of Jesus will operate particularly by love to his people.—'This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,' John xv. 12 xiii. 34. 35. 'Every one who loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him, l John v. 1. Do you then love the people as Jesus? you may perhaps be fond of some of them, because they are otherwise connected with you in life. But this is not the love of the brethren, by which Christians 'know that they have passed from death to life,' 1 John iii 14. Do you love them as such? 'because they belong to Christ?' Mark ix. 41.; on account of his image in them? Does your love lead you to count them 'the excellent of the earth' to have delight in them? Psalm xvi 3 Do you like their society? or, do you rather prefer the intercourse of the wicked' and the worldly? your love in word only, or is it in deed and in truth?
Examine your character by these remarks, that you may be able to answer the question, 'were I to die now, on which hand should I stand in the judgment?'—they who know, believe in, love, and obey the Saviour, we have seen, shall be placed on the right, and obtain the sentence of mercy.—while those who are destitute of the knowledge, faith love, and obedience of Jesus, shall stand on the left, and receive the sentence of wrath. 'These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal,' Matth. xxv. 46.
I shall detain your attention but a little longer to impress upon your mind this solemn, affecting termination of the transactions of the great day. The opposite states into which these two classes of men shall enter, are fully contrasted in the Sentences pronounced upon them by the Judge, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,' Ver. 34—'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared tor the devil and his angels,' ver. 41 Here we see
The presence of Jesus, on the one hand; an absence from him, on the other. 'Come,' says He, to those on the right—'Depart from me'—to those on the left. Blessed invitation! Dreadful banishment!—The blessedness of heaven is sometimes summed up in being with Christ—'Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world,' John xvii. 26.
Reader, it you have already tasted that the Lord is gracious, you will learn, from what you have been reading, to look upward with gratitude, for the exercise toward you of sovereign distinguishing grace—to look forward with humble confidence, your hope resting on the finished work of Immanuel—to look around you on your brethren in the Lord with fervent, pure, operative love—and on the world lying in wickedness, with tender, earnest, and active compassion.
1. Gratitude to God for his distinguishing grace, is one of the leading features of the Christian character. Fully persuaded, that salvation 'is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,' Rom. ix.16. and that but for the free exercise of Divine mercy, he would have remained 'a child of wrath, even as others;' the believer's language is, and it comes from the fulness of his heart—'Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but to thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake.' Psalm. cxv 1. 'I will praise thee, O Lord with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for evermore: for great is thy mercy toward me; thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell, Psalm lxxxvi. 12, 13.—'Bless the Lord, O my soul.'—It is the delight of his heart to be an eternal debtor to the sovereign freedom of saving ⟨grace⟩. He would not have the honour, if it were ⟨offered⟩ to him; he is infinitely better pleased that ⟨we⟩ should belong to his God and Saviour ⟨Cultivate⟩ this becoming temper of mind, ye who know ⟨the⟩ Lord. Never forget, that in life, death, and ⟨judgment⟩, it is grace alone that makes you to ⟨suffer⟩ from the world lying in wickedness.
2. It is only on the footing of that grace which ⟨reigns⟩ through righteousness unto eternal life ⟨by⟩ Jesus Christ our Lord,' Rom v. 21 that you ⟨can⟩ look forward with any composure or ⟨confidence⟩ to the judgment-seat of God. You have (illegible text)t this confidence—Was it not a view of the ⟨entire⟩ freedom and fulness of this grace that first ⟨produced⟩ it? then 'hold the beginning of your confidence steadfast unto the end,' Heb. iii. 14. 'Little children, abide in him'—in his doctrine—in his love—in his ways—'that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming,' 1 John ii. 28.
3. The brethren of Jesus should love one ⟨another⟩. Hatred of one who belongs to Christ, is ⟨hatred⟩ of Christ himself; for his language is ⟨applicable⟩ to the feelings of the heart, as well as to ⟨words⟩ and conduct; 'in as much ye did it ⟨not⟩ to me!' How serious the thought of ⟨harbouring⟩ any feeling but love towards an object of ⟨the⟩ love of Jesus! of Christ's heart and ours thus ⟨suffering⟩! 'A new commandment,' says Jesus ⟨to⟩ his disciples, 'give I unto you, that ye love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' ⟨John⟩ xiii. 34, 35. Seest thou a man, of whom ⟨you⟩ have reason to think that he shall stand with ⟨you⟩ on the Lord’s right hand, when he comes in his glory?—If you can harbour dislike to such a one in your heart, you have reason to suspect your ever meeting him there. 'We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren: he that loveth not his brother abideth in death.'
4. If you feel the value of that gospel, the faith of which has filled your soul with joy and peace, which comforts your heart in afflictions, and sustains your mind in the prospect of the terrors of death, and the awful solemnities of judgment you will not feel indifferent to the state of ⟨your⟩ perishing fellow-sinners around you. 'Horror hath taken hold upon me,' says David, 'because of the wicked who forsake thy law. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law, Psalm cxix. 53, 139. Let the situation of such draw forth your tenderest compassion—let your compassion excite you. as far ⟨as⟩ you have opportunity, to 'teach transgressors ⟨the⟩ way of the Lord, that sinners may be ⟨converted⟩ unto him,'—let it lead you to the throne of ⟨grace⟩ in earnest, affectionate prayer, for any of ⟨your⟩ kindred yet in the gall of bitterness—for the ungodly and careless in the circle of your acquaintance—and for the universal diffusion of ⟨the⟩ knowledge of the saving name of Jesus—that "men may be blessed in Him, and all nations call him blessed!"
FINIS.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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