SERMON
II.
HOW
TO CHANGE YOUR HEART.
EZEKIEL xviii. 31.
"Make you a new heart and a new spirit, for why will ye die?"
In the former
discourse upon this text, I discussed three points, viz.
1. The meaning of
the command in the text.
2. Its
reasonableness.
3. Its consistency
with those passages which declare a new heart to be the gift and work of God.
In answer to the
first question, "what are we to understand by the requirement to make a
new heart and a new spirit?" I endeavored to show negatively,
1st. What is not
the meaning of the requirement. That it does not mean the fleshly heart, or
that bodily organ which is the seat of animal life.
2dly. That it does
not mean a new soul. Nor,
3dly. Are we
required to create any new faculties of body or mind; nor to alter the
constitutional powers, propensities, or susceptibilities of our nature. Nor to
implant any new principle, or taste, in the substance of either mind or body.
I endeavored to
show that a change of heart is not that in which a sinner is passive, but that
in which he is active. That the change is not physical, but moral.
That it is the sinner's own act. That it consists in changing his mind, or
disposition, in regard to the supreme object of pursuit. A change in the end
at which he aims, and not merely in the means of obtaining his end. A
change in the governing choice or preference of the mind. That it consists in
preferring the glory of God, and the interests of his kingdom, to one's own
happiness, and to every thing else. That it is a change from a state of
selfishness in which a person prefers his own interest above every thing else,
to that disinterested benevolence that prefers God's happiness and glory, and
the interests of his kingdom, to his own private happiness.
Under the second
head, I endeavored to establish the reasonableness of this duty, by showing the
sinner's ability, and the reasons for its performance.
And under the
third head, that there was no inconsistency between this and those passages
which declared a new heart to be the gift and work of God.
I come now to a
fourth inquiry, to which the discussion of the above named topics naturally
leads, viz. How shall I perform this duty, and change my own heart? This is an
inquiry often made by anxious sinners, when they are commanded to change their
hearts, and convinced that it is their duty to do so, and of the dreadful
consequences of neglecting to obey. They anxiously inquire, HOW SHALL I DO IT?
By what process of thought or feeling is this great chancre to be wrought in my
mind? The design of this discourse is to help you out of this dilemma; to
remove, if possible, the darkness from your minds; to clear up what seems to
you to be so mysterious; to hold the lamp of truth directly before you; to pour
its blaze full upon your path, so that if you stumble and fall, your blood;
shall be upon your own head.
[I. HOW THE HEART
CANNOT BE CHANGED. ]
1st. I observe,
negatively, that you cannot change your heart by working your imagination and
feelings into a state of excitement. Sinners are apt to suppose that great
fears and terrors, great horrors of conscience, and the utmost stretch of
excitement that the mind is capable of bearing, must necessarily precede a change
of heart. They are led to this persuasion, by a knowledge of the fact, that
such feelings do often precede this change. But, sinner, you should understand,
that this highly excited state of feeling, these fears, and alarms, and
horrors, are but the result of ignorance, or obstinacy, and sometimes of both.
It often happens that sinners will not yield, and change their hearts, until
the Spirit of God has driven them to extremity; until the thunders of Sinai
have been rolled in their ears, and the lurid fires of hell have been made to
flash in their faces. All this is no part of the work of making a new heart;
but is the result of resistance to the performance of this duty. These terrors
and alarms are, by no means essential to its performance, but are rather an
embarrassment and a hinderance. To suppose that, because, in some instances,
sinners have those horrors of conscience, and fears of hell before they would
yield, [and] that, therefore, they are necessary, and that all sinners
must experience them before they can change their hearts, is a as unwarrantable
an inference as if all your children should maintain that they must necessarily
be threatened with severe punishment, and see the rod uplifted, and thus be
thrown into great consternation, before they can obey; because one of
your children had been thus obstinate, and had refused obedience until driven
to extremities. If you are willing to do your duty when you are shown what it
is, fears, and terrors, and great excitement of mind are wholly unnecessary:
God has no delight in them for their own sake, and never (sic.) causes them
only when driven to the necessity by pertinacious obstinacy. And when they are
obstinate, God often sees it unwise to produce these great terrors, and will
sooner let the sinner go to hell without them.
2. You cannot
change your heart by an attempt to force yourself into a certain state of
feeling. When sinners are called upon to repent, and give their hearts to God,
it is common for them, if they undertake to perform this duty, to make an
effort to feel emotionsof love, repentance, and faith. They seem to
think that all religion consists in highly excited emotions or feelings, and
that these feelings can be bidden into existence by a direct effort of the
will. They spend much time in prayer for certain feelings, and make many
agonizing efforts to call into existence those highly wrought emotions and
feelings of love to God of which they hear Christians speak. But these emotions
can never be brought into existence by a direct effort to feel. They can
never be caused to start into existence, and glow and burn in the mind at the directbidding
of the will. The will has no direct influence over the them [emotions],
and can only bring them into existence through the medium of the attention.
Feelings, or emotions, are dependent upon thought, and arise
spontaneously in the mind when the thoughts are intensely occupied with their
corresponding objects. Thought is under the direct control of the will. We can
direct our attention and meditations to any subject, and the
corresponding emotions will spontaneously arise in the mind. If a hated subject
is under consideration, emotions of hatred are felt to arise. If an object of
terror, of grief, or of joy, occupies the thoughts, their corresponding
emotions will of course arise in the mind, and with a strength corresponding to
the concentration and intensity of our thoughts upon that subject. Thus our
feelings are only indirectly under the control of the will. They are
sinful or holy only as they are thus indirectly bidden into existence by the
will. Men often complain that they cannot control their feelings; they form
overwhelming attachments, which they say they cannot control. They receive
injuries - their anger arises - they profess that they cannot help it. Now,
while the attention is occupied with dwelling upon the beloved object in the
one case, the emotions, of which they complain, will exist of course; and if
the emotion be disapproved of by the judgment and conscience, the subject must
be dismissed from the thoughts, and the attention directed to some other
subject, as the only possible way of ridding themselves of the emotion. So in
the other case, the subject of the injury must be dismissed, and their thoughts
occupied with other considerations, or emotions of hatred will continue to
fester and rankle in their minds. "If a man look on a woman, to lust after
her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart;" he is
responsible for the feelings consequent upon suffering such a subject to occupy
his thoughts.
[II. THE EXERCISE
OF THE WILL, AND THE PLACE OF THE EMOTIONS IN MAKING A NEW HEART. ]
Voluntariness is indispensable to moral character; it is
the universal and irresistible conviction of men, that an action, to be praise
or blame-worthy, must be free. If, in passing through the streets, you should
see a tile fall from a building upon which men were at work, and kill a man,
and upon inquiry you found it to be the result of accident, you could not feel
that there was any murder in the case. But if, on the contrary, you learnt that
the tile was maliciously thrown upon the head of the deceased by one of the
workmen, you could not resist the conviction that it was murder. So, if God, or
any other being, should force a dagger into your hand, and force you against
your will to stab your neighbor, the universal conscience would condemn, not
you, but him who forced you to this deed. So, any action, or thought, or
feeling, to have moral character, must be directly or indirectly under the
control of the will. If a man voluntarily place himself under such
circumstances as to call wicked emotions into exercise, he is entirely
responsible for them. If he place himself under circumstances where virtuous
emotions are called forth, he is praiseworthy in the exercise of them,
precisely in proportion to his voluntariness in bringing his mind into
circumstances to cause their existence.
Love, repentance,
and faith, may exist in the mind, either in the form of volition or emotion.
Love, when existing in the form of volition, is a simple preference of
the mind for God and the things of religion to every thing else. This
preference may, and often does exist in the mind, so entirely separate from
what is termed emotion, or feeling, that we may be entirely insensible to its
existence. But although its existence may not be a matter of consciousness,by
being felt, yet its influence over our conduct will be such as that the
fact of its existence will in this way be manifest. The love of family and
friends may, in like manner, exist in the mind in both these forms. When a man
is engaged in business, or journeying from home, and his attention taken up
with other subjects, he exercises no sensible or felt love for his family; but
still his preference remains, and is the mainspring that directs his
movements in the business about which he is engaged, in order to make provision
for them. He does not forget his wife or family, nor act as if he had none;
but, on the contrary, his conduct is modified and governed by this abiding,
though insensible preference for them; while at the same time his thoughts are
so entirely occupied with other things, that no emotion or feeling
of affection exists in his mind.
But when the
business of the day is past, and other objects cease to crowd upon his
attention, this preference of home, of wife and family, comes forth and directs
the thoughts to those beloved objects. No sooner are they thus bidden before
the mind, than the corresponding emotions arise, and all the father and the
husband are awake and felt to enkindle in his heart. So the Christian, when his
thoughts are intensely occupied with business or study, may have no sensible emotions
of love to God existing in his mind. Still, if a Christian, his preference
for God will have its influence over all his conduct, he will neither act nor
feel like an ungodly man under similar circumstances; he will not curse, nor
swear, nor get drunk; he will not cheat, nor lie, nor act as if under the
dominion of unmingled selfishness; but his preference for God will so modify
and govern his deportment, that while he has no sensible or felt enjoyment of
the presence of God, he is indirectly influenced in all his ways by a regard to
his glory. And when the bustle of business is past, his abiding preference for
God naturally directs his thoughts to him, and to the things of his kingdom;
when, of course, corresponding feelings or emotions arise in his mind, and warm
emotions of love enkindle, and glow, and happify the soul. He understands the
declaration of the Psalmist, when he says, "While I mused the fire
burned."
I said also, that repentance
may exist in the mind, either in the form of an emotion or a volition.
Repentance properly signifies a change of mind in regard to the nature of sin,
and does not in its primary signification necessarily include the idea of
sorrow. It is simply an act of will, rejecting sin, and choosing or preferring
holiness. This is its form when existing as a volition. When existing as
an emotion, it sometimes rises into a strong abhorrence of sin and love
of holiness. It often melts away into ingenuous relentings of heart; in
gushings of sorrow, and the strongest feelings of disapprobation and self-
abhorrence in view of our own sins.
So faith
may exist, simply as a settled conviction or persuasion of mind, of the truths
of revelation, and will have greater or less influence according to the
strength and permanency of this persuasion. It is not evangelical faith,
however, unless this persuasion be accompanied with the consent of the will to
the truth believed. We often believe things to exist, the very existence of
which is hateful to us. Devils and wicked men may have a strong conviction of
the truth upon their minds, as we know they often do; and so strong is their
persuasion of the truth, that they tremble; but still they hate the truth. But
when the conviction of Gospel truth is accompanied with the consent of the
will, or the mind's preference of it, it is evangelical faith, and in
proportion to its strength will uniformly influence the conduct. But this is
faith existing as a volition. When the objects of faith, revealed in the
Gospel, are the subjects of intense thought, faith rises into emotion:
it is then a felt confidence and trust, so sensible as to calm all the
anxieties, and fears, and perturbations of the soul.
Emotions of love
or hatred to God, that are not directly or indirectly produced by the will,
have no moral character. A real Christian, under circumstances of strong
temptation, may feel emotions of opposition to God rankling in his mind. If he
has voluntarily placed himself under these circumstances of temptation, he is
responsible for these emotions. If the subject that creates these emotions is
forced upon him by Satan, or in any way against his will, he is not responsible
for them. If he divert his attention, if he flee from the scene of temptation,
if he does what belongs to him to resist and repress these emotions, he has not
sinned. Such emotions are usually brought to exist in the mind of a Christian
by some false view of the character or government of God. So emotions of love
to God may exist in the mind that are purely selfish, they may arise out of a
persuasion that God has a particular regard for us, or some vain assurance of
our good estate and the certainty of our salvation, Now, if this love be not
founded upon a preference for God for what he really is, it is not virtuous
love. In this case, although the will may have indirectly produced these
emotions, yet as the will prefers God, not for what he is, but for selfish
reasons, the consequent emotions are selfish.
[III. WHAT NEEDS
TO BE CHANGED IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE HEART. ]
To change your
heart, as I have shown in the former discourse, and repeated in this, is to
change the governing preference of your mind. What is needed, is, that your will
should be rightly influenced, that you should reject sin, and prefer God and
obedience to every thing else. The question is, then, how is your will to be
thus influenced? By what process is it reasonable to expect thus to influence
your mind? Until your will is right, it is vain to expect felt emotions of true
love to God, of repentance and faith. These feelings, after which perhaps you
are seeking, and into which you are trying to force yourself, need not be
expected until the will is bowed, until the ruling preference of the mind is
changed.
And here you ought
to understand that there are three classes of motives that decide the will: First,
those that are purely selfish. Selfishness is the preference of one's own
interest and happiness to God and his glory. Whenever the will chooses,
directly or indirectly, under the influence of selfishness, the choice is
sinful, for all selfishness is sin,
A second
class of motives that influence the will, are those that arise from self-love.
Self- love is a constitutional dread of misery and love of happiness, and
whenever the will is influenced purely by considerations of this kind, its
decisions either have no moral character at all, or they are sinful. The
constitutional desire of happiness and dread of misery is not in itself sinful,
and the consent of the will to lawfully gratify this constitutional love of
happiness and dread of misery is not sinful. But when the will consents, as in
the case of Adam and Eve, to a prohibited indulgence, it then becomes sinful.
A third
class of motives that influence the will, are connected with conscience.
Conscience is the judgment which the mind forms of the moral qualities of
actions. When the will is decided by the voice of conscience, or a regard to right,
its decisions are virtuous. When the mind chooses at the bidding of principle,
then, and only then, are its decisions according to the law of God.
The Bible never
appeals to selfishness. It often addresses self-love, or the hopes and
fears of men; because self-love, or a constitutional love of happiness, or
dread of misery, is not in itself sinful. By thus appealing to the hopes,
fears, and conscience, the mind, even of selfish beings, is led to such an
investigation as to prepare the way for the enlightened and powerful
remonstrances of conscience. Thus the investigation is carried on under the
influence of these principles; but it is not the constitutional principle of
self-love that finally determines the mind in its ultimate choice of obedience
to God. When, under the combined influence of hope, fear, and conscience, the
mind has been led to the full investigation and consideration of the claims of
God, - when these principles have influenced the mind so far as to admit and
cherish the influences of the Holy Spirit, as that it becomes enlightened, and
is led to see whatduty is, the mind is then ripe for a decision;
conscience then has firm footing; it then has the opportunity of exerting its
greatest power upon the will. And if the will decide virtuously, the attentionis
not at the instant occupied either with hopes or fears, or with those
considerations that excite them. But at the moment when the decision is made,
the attention must be occupied either with the reasonableness, fitness and
propriety of its Maker's claims, or with the hatefulness of sin, or the
stability of his truth. The decision of the will, or the change of preference
is made, not mainly because, at the instant, you hope to be saved or fear to be
damned, but because to act thus is right; [because] to obey God, to serve him,
to honor him, and promote his glory, is reasonable, and right, and just. This
is a virtuous decision: this is a change of heart. It is true, the offer of
pardon and acceptance has a powerful influence, by more fully demonstrating the
unreasonableness of rebellion against such a God. While in despair, the sinner
would flee rather than submit. But the offer of reconciliation annihilates the
influence of despair, and gives to conscience its utmost power.
Fourthly, You
cannot change your heart by attending to the present state of your feelings. It
is very common when persons are called upon to change their hearts, for them to
turn their thoughts upon themselves, to see whether they possess the requisite
state of feeling; whether they have conviction enough, and whether they have
those emotions which they suppose necessarily precede a change of heart. They
abstract their attention from those considerations that are calculated to
decide their will, and think of their present feelings. In this diversion of
their mind from the motives to change their heart, and fixing their attention
upon their present mental state, they inevitably lose what feeling they have,
and for the time being render a change impossible. Our present feelings are
subjects of consciousness, they have a felt existence in the mind; but if they
be made, for a moment, the subject of attention, they cease to exist.
While our thoughts are warmly engaged, and intensely occupied with objects
without ourselves, with our past sins, with the character or requirements of
God, with the love or sufferings of the Savior, or with any other subjects,
corresponding emotions will exist in our minds. But if from all these, we turn
our attention to our present feelings and attempt to examine them, there is no
longer any thing before the mind to make us feel; our emotions cease of course.
While a man steadily looks at an object, its image is painted on the retina of
his eye. Now, while he continues to direct his eye to the object, the image will
remain upon the retina, and the corresponding impression will be upon his mind;
but should he turn away his eye, the image upon the retina would no longer
remain; and should he direct his attention to the mental impression instead of
the object that caused it, the impression would at once be effaced from his
mind.
Instead,
therefore, of waiting for certain feelings, or making your present state of
mind the subject of attention, please to abstract your thoughts from your
present emotions, and give your undivided attention to some of the reasons for
changing your heart.
[IV. THINGS TO BE
CONSIDERED TO INDUCE THE STATE OF MIND WHICH CONSTITUTES A CHANGE OF HEART.]
Remember, the
present object is, not to call directlyinto existence certain emotions,
but, by leading your mind to a full understanding of your obligations, to
induce you to yield to principle, and to choosewhat is right. If you
will give your attention, I will try to place before you such considerations as
are best calculated to induce the state of mind which constitutes a change of
heart.
1. Fix your
mind upon the unreasonableness and hatefulness of selfishness. Selfishness
is the pursuit of one's own happiness as a supreme good; this is in itself
inconsistent with the glory of God and the highest happiness of his kingdom.
You must be sensible that you have always, directly or indirectly, aimed at
promoting your own happiness in all that you have done; that God's glory and
happiness, and the interests of his kingdom, have not been the leading motive
of your life; that you have not served God, but have served yourself. But your
individual happiness is of trifling importance, compared with the happiness and
glory of God and the interests of his immense kingdom. To pursue, therefore, as
a supreme good, your own happiness, is to prefer an infinitely less to an
infinitely greater good, simply because it is your own. Is this virtue?
Is this public spirit? Is this benevolence? Is this loving God supremely, or
your neighbor as yourself? No, it is exalting your own happiness into the place
of God; it is placing yourself as a center of the universe, and an attempt to
cause God and all his creatures to revolve around you as your satellites.
Your success, in
pushing your selfish aims, would ruin the universe. A selfish being can never
be happy until his selfishness be fully gratified. It is certain, therefore,
that but one selfish being can be fully gratified. Selfishness aims at
appropriating all good to self. Give a selfish man a township, and he covets a
state; give him a state, and he longs for a nation; give him a continent, and
he cannot rest without the world: give him a world, and he is wretched if there
is nothing more to gain. Give him all authority on earth, and while there was a
God to rule the universe, his selfish heart would rankle with insatiable
desire, until the world, the universe, and God himself were prostrate at his
feet his ambition could not be satisfied, his selfish heart could not rest. If,
then, you could succeed in your selfish aims, your success would subordinate
and injure, if not ruin every body else.
Is this right? But
could you succeed in subduing the universe to yourself, then your happiness
would not be obtained; for a selfish moral agent cannot be happy. Could you
ascend the throne of Jehovah; could you wield the scepter of universal
government; could you appropriate to yourself the honor and the wealth of the
entire universe; could you receive the homage, the obedience of God and all his
creatures, yet the very elements of your nature would be outraged, and while in
the exercise of selfishness, conscience would condemn you, the very laws
of your moral constitution would mutiny; self- accusation and reproach would
rankle in your heart, and, in spite of you, you would be forced to abhor
yourself.
Again. While you
are selfish, all moral beings must hate and despise you; and it is impossible
for a moral being to be happy under the consciousness of being deservedly hated
and despised. The love of approbation is a law of our nature, it is laid in the
very constitution of the mind by the hand that formed it. It is, therefore, as
impossible for us to be happy under the consciousness that we are deservedly
hated, as it is that we should alter the very structure of our being. It is in
vain, therefore, for you to expect to be happy in the exercise of selfishness.
God, angels and saints, wicked men and devils, the entire universe of moral
beings must be conscientiously and heartily opposed to you while you sustain
that character - while conscience gives forth the verdict that you deserve
their hatred, and pronounces you unfit for any other world than hell.
[2. Consider
the guilt of selfishness.]
In the next place,
look at the guilt of this. No thanks to you, if there is a vestige of
virtue or happiness in the universe. If your example should have its natural
influence, and not be counteracted by God, it would, like a little leaven,
leaven the whole lump. If all your acquaintances copied your example, and their
acquaintances theirs, and so on, you can easily see that your influence would
soon destroy all benevolence, and introduce universal selfishness and rebellion
against God. No thanks to you, if there is an individual in the universe that
respects the government of God. You have never obeyed it, and all your
influences have been against it; and if God had not been constantly wakeful in
using counteracting influences, his government had long since been demolished,
and virtue and obedience, and love to God and man had been banished from the
world.
Again, your
influence has tended to establish for ever the dominion of Satan over men.
Selfishness is the law of Satan's empire. You have hitherto perfectly obeyed
it; and as example preaches louder than precept, you have used the most
powerful means possible to induce all mankind to obey the devil. If God has a
virtuous subject on earth, if all men are not in league with hell, and, by their
example at least, shouting forth, "O Satan, live for ever!" no thanks
to you, for the legitimate tendency of your conduct had been to produce this
horrible result.
Again, no thanks
to you, if all mankind are not for ever lost. You have done nothing to save
them. Your whole life has had a natural tendency to destroy them. Your neglect
and contempt of God have exerted the strongest influence within your power to
lead them in the way to death. You have done nothing to save yourself, and, by
neglecting your own soul, you have virtually said to all around you, your
family and friends, to all who are near and afar off "let religion
alone," "who is the Lord that we should obey him, or what profit
should we have should we pray unto him?" You need not thank yourself, nor
expect the thanks of God, nor of the universe, if any soul from earth is ever
saved.
Now, look at the
guilt of this. The guilt of any action is equal to the evils which it has a
natural tendency to produce. Now look at this. Your selfishness has the
natural, and, if unrestrained, the inevitable tendency to ruin the world, to
destroy God's government, to establish Satan's, and to people hell with all
mankind.
[3. Consider
the reasonableness and utility of benevolence(to love your neighbor as yourself).]
Next, look at the
reasonableness and utility of benevolence. Benevolence is good will.
Benevolence to God, is preferring his happiness and glory to all created good.
Benevolence to men, is the exercise of the same regard to, and desire for their
happiness, as we have for our own. Benevolence to God, or the preference of
God's happiness and glory, is right in itself, because his happiness and glory
are infinitely the greatest good in the universe. He prefers his own happiness
and glory to every thing else, not because they are his own, but because
they constitute the greatest good. All beings, when compared with him, are less
than nothing, and vanity. His capacity for enjoying happiness or enduring pain
is infinite, not only in duration but in degree. If all the creatures in the
universe were completely happy, or perfectly miserable to all eternity, their
happiness or misery, though endless in duration, would be but finite in degree.
But God's happiness is not only endless in duration but infinite in degree. His
happiness is, therefore, just as much more valuable than that of all his
creatures, as infinite exceeds finite. Then, is it not right - is it not
according to the moral fitness of things, that all his creatures should value
his happiness and glory infinitely above their own? Is it not right that he
should do this, not because it is his own happiness, but because it is an
infinitely greater good?
Does not moral
fitness, does not the eternal law of right demand, that he should regard his
own happiness according to its real value? Has he any right to prefer the
happiness of his creatures above his own? Does not justice require that he
should regard every thing in the universe according to its relative importance?
and should he not regard his own happiness and glory infinitely above all
things else; and should he not require all his intelligent creatures to do the
same; would it not be a manifest departure from the immutable principles of
right? Therefore, to have a supreme regard to your own happiness, to value it,
and to desire it more than you do the happiness and glory of God, is to trample
upon the eternal principles of justice and moral fitness which God is bound to
maintain; to array yourself in the attitude of open and outrageous war against
God, against the universe, against heaven, against the principles of your own
nature, and against whatever is right, whatever is lovely and of good report.
Again. That you
should love your neighbor as yourself is agreeable to the immutable law of right.
That you should regard your neighbor's happiness according to its real value,
and the happiness of all mankind according to the relative importance of each
one's individual happiness, and the happiness of the whole as much above your
own as the aggregate amount of theirs is more valuable than yours, is right in
itself. To refuse to do this, is at once to sin against God, to declare war
with all men.
But again look at
the utility of benevolence. It is a matter of human consciousness that
the mind is so constituted that benevolent affections are the source of
happiness, and malevolent ones the source of misery. God's happiness consists
in his benevolence. Wherever unmingled benevolence is, there is peace. If
perfect benevolence reigned throughout the universe, universal happiness would
be the inevitable result. The happiness of heaven is perfect, because
benevolence is there perfect. They love God with all their heart, and soul, and
mind, and strength, and their neighbors as themselves; and who that knows the
joy there is in holy love, does not know that the full tide of benevolence is
but another name for the full tide of happiness? Perfect benevolence to God and
man would at once give us a share in all the happiness of earth and heaven.
Benevolence is good will, or willing good to the object of it. If we desire the
happiness of others, their happiness will increase our own, according to the
strength of our desire. If we desire their welfare as much as we do our own, we
are made as happy by good, known to be conferred on them as upon ourselves; and
nothing but selfishness prevents our tasting the cup of every man's happiness,
and sharing equally with him in all his joys. If we supremely desire the
happiness and glory of God, the fact that he is infinitely and immutably happy
and glorious, and that he will glorify himself, and that "the whole earth
shall be full of his glory," will constitute our supreme joy. It will be
to us a never failing source of pure, and high, and holy blessedness. And when
we look abroad upon men, and see all the wickedness of earth; when, through the
page of inspiration, we survey as with a telescope the deep caverns of the pit;
when we listen to its wailings, and behold the lurid flashes of its fires, and
contemplate the gnawings of the deathless worm; in all this we see only the
legitimate results of selfishness. Selfishness is the discord of the soul: it
is the jarring. and dissonance, and grating of hell's eternal anguish.
Benevolence, on the other hand, is the melody of the soul. In its exercise, all
the mental powers are harmonized, and breathe the sweetness of heaven's
charming symphonies. To be happy, then, you must be benevolent. Selfishness,
you see, is neither reasonable nor profitable. Its very nature is at war with
happiness. It renders you odious to God, the abhorrence of heaven, the contempt
of hell. It buries your good name, your ultimate self- esteem, your present and
future happiness, in one common grave, and that beyond the hope of
resurrection, unless you turn, renounce your selfishness, and obey the law of
God.
[4. Consider
the reasons why God should govern the universe.]
But again,
consider the reasons why God should govern the universe. Perhaps, in words or
in theory, you have never denied his right to govern, yet in practice you have
always denied it. Your having never obeyed, is the strongest possible
declaration of your denial of his right to govern you. The language of your
conduct has been, "Who is Jehovah, that I should obey him?" "I
know not Jehovah, neither will I obey his voice." But have you duly
considered his claims upon your obedience? Have you not only admitted the fact
that he has a right to govern, but have you understood and thoroughly
considered the foundation of this right? If you have never attended to this, it
is not wonderful that you have refused obedience. The foundation of God's right
to the government of the universe is made up of the three following
considerations:
First, his moral
character. His benevolence is infinite. Were he a malevolent being, and were
his laws like himself, as they would be of course, he could have no right to
govern. Instead of being under an obligation to love and obey him, it would be
our duty to hate and disobey him. But his benevolence renders him worthy of our
love and obedience. But his benevolence alone cannot qualify him for, nor give
him a right to, the government of the universe. However benevolent he may be,
if his natural attributes are not what they should be, he cannot be qualified
to be the Supreme Ruler of all worlds. But a glance at his natural attributes
will show that he is no less worthy to govern, in respect to these, than in
respect to his moral attributes.
And, first, he has
infinite knowledge, so that his benevolence will always be wisely exercised.
2nd. He has
infinite power. However benevolent he might be, if he lacked either knowledge
to direct, or power to execute his benevolent desires, he would not be fit to
govern.
Again. He is
omnipresent; in every place, at every time; so that nothing that benevolence
desires, wisdom directs, or power can achieve, can be wanting in his
administration.
Again. He is
immortal and unchangeable. Could he cease to exist, or were he subject to
change, these would be fundamental defects in his nature as supreme Ruler of
the universe.
But, again.
Neither his moral nor natural attributes, when viewed separately or
collectively, afford sufficient ground for his assuming the reins of government.
For however good and great he may be, these constitute no sufficient reason for
his taking upon himself the office of supreme magistrate, irrespective of the
elective choice of other beings. But he is also the Creator, and holds by the
highest possible tenure the entire universe as his own. Thus he is not only
infinitely well fitted to govern, but by creation has the absolute and
inalienable right to govern. He not only has this right, but it is his duty to
govern. He can never yield this office, nor throw aside this responsibility.
[5. Consider the
reasonableness of God's requirements.]
But again. Look at
the reasonableness of his requirements. They are not arbitrary but such as it
is his bounden duty to enforce. The laws of God have not their foundation in
his arbitrary will, but in the nature, and relation, and fitness of things. To
love God and our neighbor, is not our duty simply because God requires it; but
it is our duty antecedently to any expressed requirement. He requires it,
because it is right in itself. He is not therefore at liberty to dispense with
our obedience if he please. He cannot good-naturedly humor his creatures and
let them have their own way - let them run into sin and rebellion, and then let
them go unpunished. He is solemnly pledged and bound by the rules of his own
government. If, therefore, you go on in sin, it is not at his option, when you
come to the judgment, to punish you or not. The laws of his empire are fixed,
eternal principles, which he can no more violate, without sin, than any of his
creatures. Do not hope then, if you persevere in sin, to escape "the
damnation of hell."
But perhaps, like
many others, you have made this excuse for your rebellion; that, upon the
whole, God desires you to sin; that, as he is almighty, he could prevent sin if
he pleased; and because he does not, you infer that he prefers the existence of
sin to its non-existence; and the present amount of rebellion to holiness in
its stead. To say nothing of his word and oath upon this subject, you have only
to look into his law to see that he has done all that the nature of the case
admitted, to prevent the existence of sin. The sanctions of his law are
absolutely infinite; in them he has embodied and held forth the highest
possible motives to obedience. His law is moral, and not physical; a government
of motive, and not of force. It is vain to talk of his omnipotence preventing
sin; if infinite motives will not prevent it, it cannot be prevented under a
moral government, and to maintain the contrary is absurd, and a contradiction.
To administer moral laws, is not the object of physical power. To maintain,
therefore, that the physical omnipotence of God can prevent sin, is to talk
nonsense. If to govern mind were the same as to govern matter - if to sway the
intellectual could be accomplished by the same power that sways the physical
universe, then, indeed, it would be just, from the physical omnipotence of God,
and from the existence of sin, to infer that God prefers its existence to
holiness in its stead. But as mind must be governed by moral power, as the
power of motive is the only power that can be brought to bear upon mind to
influence it, it is unjust, unphilosophical, illogical, and absurd, to infer
from the existence of sin, and God's physical omnipotence, his preference of
its existence.
If the motives to
obedience are infinite, well might he challenge the universe, and inquire,
"what more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not done?"
And will you, in the face of all these moving considerations, continue your
rebellion? and when required to turn, will you profanely reply: If God be
Almighty, why does he not turn me? O, sinner, why provoke your Maker?
"Your judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and your damnation slumbereth
not."
[6. Consider the
atonement.]
But, again. When
the law was broken, and all mankind exposed to its fearful penalty, behold at
once the justice to the universe, and mercy to sinners displayed in the
atonement. To make an universal offer of pardon, without regard to public
justice, were virtually to repeal his law; but a due regard to the public
interest forbade the lawgiver to forgive and set aside the execution, without
some expedient to secure a veneration [love] for and obedience to the precept
[law]. So great, therefore, was his compassion for man, and his regard to law,
that to gratify his desire to pardon, he was willing to suffer in the person of
his Son, a substitute for its penalty. This was the most stupendous exhibition
of self- denial that ever was made in the universe. The Father giving his only
begotten and well beloved Son; the Son veiling the glories of his uncreated
Godhead, and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, that we
might never die.
Now, if you are an
impenitent sinner, you have never, in a single instance, obeyed your Maker.
Every breath that you have breathed, every pulse you have told [of your heart],
has but added to the number of your crimes. When God has fanned your heaving
lungs, you have breathed out your poisonous breath in rebellion against the
eternal God; and how ought God to feel towards you? You have set your
unsanctified feet upon the principles of eternal righteousness; you have lifted
up your hands, filled with poisoned weapons, against the throne of the
Almighty; you have set at nought the authority of God and the rights of man.
You have spurned, as with your feet, every principle of right, of love, and of
rational happiness. You are the enemy of God, the foe of man, a child of the
devil, and in league with hell. Ought not God then to hate you with all his
heart?
But in the midst
of your rebellion, behold the long suffering of God. With what patience has he
borne with all your aggravated wickedness! All this you have done, and he has
kept silence. Dare you think that he will never reprove?
[7. Consider the
required conditions of repentance and faith.]
But look for a
moment at the conditions of the Gospel, Repentance and faith. To repent, is to
hate and renounce your sin. This requirement is not arbitrary on the part of
God. It would neither be just to the universe, nor beneficial to you, to
exercise pardon until you comply with this requirement. Can a sovereign forgive
his subjects while they remain in rebellion? Can God forgive you while you
persevere in sin? No. This would be to give up his law, and, by a public act,
to confess himself wrong and you right, to renounce the stand he has taken, to
condemn himself and justify you. But this would be the publication of
falsehood, it would be a proclamation that sin is right and holiness wrong. Not
only so, but to forgive you, and leave you in your sin, would render your
happiness impossible. You might as well proclaim a man in health who is dying
with the plague.
Nor is faith an
arbitrary appointment of God. God has no means of getting you to heaven unless
you believe his word, and walk in the path he points out to you. If you will
not believe What he tells you of heaven and hell, of the way to avoid the one
and gain the other, your salvation is impossible in the nature of the case. You
cannot find heaven at the end of the road that leads to hell, nor hell at the
end of the road that leads to heaven, and nothing but faith in what he tells
you, can influence you to take the path that leads to heaven. And now, sinner,
what have you to say? Why the sentence of his law should not be executed upon
you? You have never cared for God, and why should he be under obligation to
care for you? You have never obeyed him, what good then do you deserve at his
hand? You have always disobeyed him, and what evil do you not deserve? You have
broken his law, despised his grace, and grieved his Spirit. "You have cast
off fear and restrained prayer." The tendency of your selfish conduct has
been to ruin the universe, to dethrone God, to build up the throne and
establish the dominion of Satan, to damn yourself and all mankind. This you
cannot deny. Let conscience pass sentence upon you. Let it give forth its
verdict. Do you not, even now, hear it in the deep recesses of your soul cry
out, guilty, guilty, and worthy of eternal death?
[8. The rightful
conclusion to these considerations.]
But, sinner, you
have seen, in the progress of this discourse, the reasonableness of
benevolence, and the hatefulness of selfishness. The right and the duty of God
to govern you, and your obligations to obey. You have seen the reasonableness
and utility of virtue; the unreasonableness, the guilt, and evil of sin. And
now what say you? What is your present duty? Is it right? Is it reasonable? Is
it expedient longer to pursue your selfish course? Is it not best, and right,
and manly, and honorable, and time, to turn and obey your Maker? Look at the
consequences of your present course, to yourself, your friends over whom you
have influence, to the church, and to the world. Will you continue to cast
firebrands, arrows, and death, - to throw all your influence, your time and
talents, your body and soul, into the scale of selfishness! Shall all your
influence continue to be upon the wrong side, to increase the wickedness and
misery of earth, to gratify the devil and grieve the Son of God? Sinner, if you
go to hell, you ought to be willing to go alone; company will not mitigate, but
increase your pain. Ought you not then, instantly, to throw all your influence
into the other scale; to exert yourself to roll back the tide of death, and
save your fellow- men from hell? Do you see the reasonableness of this? What is
your judgment in the case? Do not stop to look at your emotions, nor turn your
eye in upon your present state of mind; but say, will you cease your rebellion,
throw down your weapons, and enlist in the service of Jesus Christ? He has come
to destroy the works of the devil, to demolish his empire, and re- establish
the government of God in the hearts of men. Are you willing that he should
govern the world? Is this your choice? If allowed to vote, would you elect him
as supreme Governor of the world? Will you obey him yourself? But do you reply,
"Oh! I am so great a sinner, I fear there is no mercy for me?" That
is not the question. The question is not, whether he will pardon you, but
whether you will obey him. If he saw it not wise to pardon you, if the
circumstances of his government require your damnation, is it not on that
account the less your duty to obey him. The question for you to settle is,
whether you will obey him, and leave the question [matter] of your salvation
for him to settle, in view of all the circumstances of the case. He is
infinitely wise, and as benevolent as he is wise. You ought, therefore,
cheerfully to submit your final destiny to him, to make your duty the object of
your attention, and obedience your constant aim. The atonement is full and
perfect. The presumption is, that nothing is in the way of your salvation but
your impenitence and unbelief; and indeed you have the promise, that on
condition of submission to his will, you shall have eternal life. Do you see
what you ought to do, and are you willing to do it? "Choose this day whom
you will serve." To choose God and his services - to prefer these to your
own interest and to every thing else, is to change your heart. Have you done
it? Do you still ask, how shall I do it? You might with much more propriety
ask, when the meeting is dismissed, how shall I go home? To go home would
require two things, first, to be willing; secondly, to put your body in motion.
But here, no muscular power is needed. But one thing is requisite, that is a
willing mind. Your consent is all that is needed. Be willing to do your duty,
[and do it,] and the work is done.
INFERENCES AND
REMARKS.
1. From this
subject you see why many complain that they cannot submit to God. They do not
give their attention to the consideration necessary to lead them to submission.
Many occupy their thoughts with their state of feeling, are looking steadily at
the darkness of their own minds and the hardness of their own hearts. They are
anxiously waiting for the existence of certain feelings in their minds, which
they suppose must precede conversion. In this way they will not submit of
course. Their mental eye is turned away from the reasons for submission. In
this state of mind it is impossible that they should submit; it would be a
counteraction of all the laws of mind. Others, instead of attending to the
reasonableness and fitness of their Maker's claims, give their whole attention
to their own danger, and try to submit while they are only influenced by fear.
This is acting under the influence of self- love. It is not responding to the
voice of conscience; it is not submission to the laws of right; and, actuated
by such motives, the mind may struggle till the day of judgment, and still the
considerations that must lead the soul to a right submission are not before the
mind, and the soul will not submit. It is the rightness of the duty, and not
the danger consequent upon the non- performance of it, that must influence the
mind, if it would act virtuously. I have already said, that both hope and fear
bear an important part in leading the mind to make the requisite investigation.
But neither the one nor the other are the object of the mind's attention at the
instant of submission. He, therefore, who does not understand the philosophy of
this - who does not understand the use and power of attention, the use and
power of conscience, and upon what to fix his mind to lead him to a right
decision, will naturally complain that he does not know how to submit.
2. You see the way
in which the Spirit of God operates in the conversion of men; it is through the
medium of attention and conscience; he gets and keeps the attention of the
mind, and, through the influence of hope, and, fear, and conscience, conducts
the sinner along the path of truth, till he has given conscience the requisite
information to exert its utmost power; that when it gives forth its verdict,
the will may respond. - Amen.
3. This is the
experience of every Christian. He knows that in this way the Spirit of God
exerted its influence to change his heart. His errors and refuges of lies were
swept away. He can tell you that his attention was arrested and fixed, that his
conscience was enlightened, and the subject pressed upon his mind until he was
induced to yield.
4. You see how
unphilosophical it is, while pressing the sinner to submission, to divert his
mind and turn his attention to the subject of the Spirit's influence. While his
attention is directed to that subject, his submission is impossible. He can
only submit when his entire attention is directed to the reasons for submission.
Every diversion of his attention is but multiplying obstacles in his way. Hence
we never find the inspired writers, when calling upon sinners to repent,
directing their attention to the subject of divine influence. Begin with Joshua
- when he assembled the people of Israel and laid their duty before them, and
said, "choose you this day whom ye will serve," he did not
unphilosophically remind them at the same time of their dependence upon the
Spirit of God; but held the single point upon which they were to choose before
them, till their choice was made. So on the day of Pentecost, and in the case
of the jailer, and indeed in every other case where prophets, and Christ, find
the apostles called men to immediate repentance, we and them keeping close to their
text, and not going off to drag in the subject of divine influence to divert
the attention and confound their hearers.
5. You see the
importance of understanding the philosophy of conversion, and why it is that so
many sermons are lost, and worse than lost, upon the souls of men. First, the
sinner's attention is not secured; and, secondly, if it is secured, it is often
directed to irrelevant matters, and the subject embarrassed with extraneous
considerations that have nothing to do with the sinner's immediate duty. Often
the subject is not cleared up to his mind; or if he understands it, he does not
see its personal application to himself; or if he sees this, he is not made to
feel the pressure of present obligation, and not infrequently - `O tell it not
in Gath, ' the impression is distinctly left upon his mind that he is unable to
do his duty. The preaching that leaves this last impression is infinitely worse
than none.
6. From this
subject you can see that there are two classes of evidence of a change of
heart; one is, those vivid emotions of love to God, repentance for sin, and
faith in Christ, that often follow the change of choice. These constitute
happiness, they are most sought, and usually the most depended upon, but not
deservedly the most satisfactory. Highly wrought emotions are liable to
deceive, for, as they cannot be the subject of a present distinct examination
without ceasing to exist, they are the least to be depended on as an evidence
of a title to the inheritance of the saints in light. The other kind of
evidence is an habitual disposition to obey the requirements of God; that
abiding preference of God's glory, over every thing else, that gives a right
direction to all our conduct.
7. You see, from
this subject, the philosophy of self- examination. Many persons will set apart
days of fasting and prayer, and spend the day in trying to examine their
present mental state, in trying to catch a glimpse of their present emotions.
In this way they are sure to quench whatever of right feeling they have. Their
past thoughts and feelings, their past actions and motives, may be the subject
of present examination and attention; but whenever they make their present
emotions or state of feeling the subject of attention, they cease to feel. If,
then, you would try your hearts in regard to any object, bring that object
before your mind, consider it intensely, and if there be any moral affinity
between your state of mind and this object of attention, while you are musing
the fire of emotion will burn.
8. From this
subject you perceive the error of those persons who suppose themselves to have
much more religion than others, merely because they have more emotion.
Multitudes of minds seem not to be influenced by principle, but are carried
hither and thither by every gust of feeling, by whatever consideration these
feelings may be produced; and while they tell of their raptures, their love and
joys, they have so little regard to principle as to be guilty of Christ-
dishonoring conduct. Others, who much less frequently evince deep emotion, are
influenced by a sacred regard to right. They have much more of the consistency
of the Christian character, but perhaps complain of the absence of religious
joy.
9. From what has
been said, it is manifest, that where sinners continue to neglect the means of
grace, their case is hopeless. Many seem to think, that if they are to be
saved, they shall be saved, and if they are to be lost, they shall be lost; and
look upon religion as some mysterious thing, for the implantation of which, in
their minds, they must wait the pleasure of a sovereign God. They pay attention
to every other subject, and occupy their thoughts with every thing that is
calculated to banish religion from their minds, and still hope to be converted.
This is as irrational as if a man, desiring to obtain the perfection of
Christian sobriety, should continue to riot and drink, and stupefy his powers,
and expect that, in some mysterious way, he should by and by become a sober
man.
10. From this
subject you see the importance of giving a convicted sinner right instruction.
Great care should be taken not to divert his mind from fundamental truths. His
attention should be abstracted, if possible, from every thing irrelevant, from
every thing that regards merely the circumstantials of religion, and brought to
bear intensely upon the main question, that of unconditional submission to God.
11. You see the
necessity of addressing the feelings, or hopes and fears of men, as a means of
awakening them, and securing their attention. Very exciting means are often
indispensable, to awaken and secure sufficient attention to lead the way to
conversion. When there are so many exciting topics almost continually before
the mind, so many Lo! heres, and Lo! theres, to call and fix the sinner's
thoughts to worldly objects, we must, of necessity, ply him with the most
moving considerations, and that in the most affectionate and earnest manner, or
we shall fail to interest his thoughts, and get the subject upon his mind for
consideration. One important design of his constitutional susceptibilities is,
to afford a medium of access to the attention, and through the attention to the
conscience. Many persons seem averse to addressing the feelings of men on the
subject of religion, they fear to excite animal feeling, and consequently they
in general excite no feeling at all. The reason is obviously this; they
overlook some of the most striking peculiarities of the mental constitution.
They strive to arouse the conscience, but fail for want of attention. The
attention will not ordinarily be secured but by addressing the hopes and fears
of men.
12. We should
carefully distinguish between a convicted and an awakened sinner. When the
sinner is once thoroughly awakened, there is then no need of creating further
alarm; and indeed in this situation all appeals merely to hope and fear are
rather an embarrassment and a hinderance to the progress of the work. When his
attention is thoroughly secured, the favorable moment should be seized upon
fully to enlighten his mind, and lead him to a right understanding of his
responsibilities and the claims of his Maker. If there is any flagging of the
attention, such appeals should instantly be made to the feelings as to arouse
and fix the thoughts; and an anxious watchfulness should be constantly kept up
to preserve attention, and enlighten the mind as fast as possible. In this way
you will most effectually aid the operations of the Holy Spirit, push matters
to an issue, and secure the conversion of the sinner to God.
Neglecting to
distinguish between awakening and conviction has been the cause of many sad
failures in securing sound conversions. Often, when sinners have been merely
awakened, they have been treated as if they were convicted: their spiritual
guides have neglected to seize the opportunity to force home conviction upon
them; they have called on them to submit, before they duly understood the
reasons for submission, or the nature of the duty. But, as might be expected,
instead of truly performing it, they have imagined themselves willing to do so,
till their awakenings have subsided, and the chill apathy of death has settled
down upon them.
13. You see that
preaching terror alone is not calculated to effect the conversion of sinners.
It is useful to awaken, but, unless accompanied with those instructions that
enlighten, will seldom result in any good.
14. You see why
those that preach alone to the hopes of men, seldom, if ever, effect their
conversion. Some go to one extreme and some to the other. Some appeal to fear,
and others again to hope, while they seldom reason with the sinner of
temperance, of righteousness, or of a judgment to come. They often excite much
feeling and many tears; but, after all, such appeals, unaccompanied with that
discriminating instruction which the sinner needs, in regard to his duty and
the claims of his Maker, will seldom result in a sound conversion.
15. You see the
philosophy of special efforts to promote revivals of religion. Why it is that
protracted meetings, and other measures which are new, are calculated to
promote the conversion of sinners. Their novelty excites and fixes attention.
Their being continued from day to day, serves to enlighten the mind, and has a
philosophical tendency to issue in conversion.
Lastly. I remark,
that from this subject it will be seen that a death- bed is but a poor place
for repentance. Many are expecting, that if they neglect repentance until they
come upon a bed of death, that then they shall repent and give their hearts to
God. But alas! how vain the hope! In the langour and exhaustion, the pain and
distraction, the trembling and the anxiety of a death-bed, what opportunity or
power is there for that fixedness and intensity of attention that are requisite
to break the power of selfishness and change the entire current of the soul? To
think, is labor; to think intensely, is exhausting labor, even to a man in
health. But, oh! upon a bed of death, to have the intricate accounts of life to
look over, the subject of the soul's character and destiny to ponder and
understand; to hold the agonized mind in warm and distressing contact with the
great truths of revelation, until the heart is melted and broken, rest assured,
is ordinarily, if not always, too great an effort for a dying man. Be it known
to all men, that, as a general truth, to which there are but few exceptions,
men die as they live, and no dependence can be placed upon those waverings, and
flickerings, and gleamings forth of the struggling mind, while the body, all
weakness and pain, is breaking down to usher it into the presence of its Maker.
Now is your time, in the wakefulness and strength of your powers, while the
command to make to you a new heart and a new spirit, and the reasons for the
performance of this duty lie fully before you; while the gate of heaven stands
open, and mercy, with bleeding hands, beckons you to come; while the pearl of
great price is tendered to your acceptance, seize the present moment, and lay
hold upon eternal life.