CONSISTING
OF
LETTERS
AND OTHER PAPERS
LETTERS
TO HIS FRIENDS.
ADVERTISEMENT.
MR.
BRAINERD had a large acquaintance and correspondence, especially in the
latter part of his life, and he did much at writing letters to his
absent friends; but the most of his acquaintance living at a great distance
from me, I have not been able to obtain copies of many that he wrote: however,
the greater part of those which I have seen, are such as appear to me of
profitable tendency, and worthy of the public view: I have therefore here
added a few of his letters.
N.B.
Several of these which follow, are not published at large, because some
parts of them were concerning particular affairs of a private nature.
LETTER
I.
To
his brother John, then a student at Yale college, New Haven.
DEAR
BROTHER, Kaunaumeek, April 30, 1743.
I
SHOULD tell you, “I long to see you,” but that my own experience has taught
me, there is no happiness, and plenary satisfaction to be enjoyed, in earthly
friends, though ever so near and dear, or in any enjoyment, that is
not God himself. Therefore, if the God of all grace would be pleased
graciously to afford us each his presence and grace, that
we may perform the work, and endure the trials he calls us to, in a most
distressing tiresome wilderness, till we arrive at our journey’s end; the
local distance, at which we are held from each other at the present, is
a matter of no great moment or importance to either of us. But, alas! the
presence of God is what I want.--I live in the most lonely melancholy desert,
about eighteen miles from Albany; for it was not thought best that I should
go to Delaware river, as I believe I hinted to you in a letter from New
York. I board with a poor Scotchman: his wife can talk scarce any English.
My diet consists mostly of hasty pudding, boiled corn, and bread
baked in the ashes and sometimes a little meat and butter. My lodging
is a little heap of straw, laid upon some boards, a little way from the
ground; for it is a log-room, without any floor, that I lodge in. My work
is exceeding hard and difficult: I travel on foot a mile and half, the
worst of ways, almost daily, and back again; for I live so far from my
Indians.--I have not seen an English person this month.--These and many
other circumstances as uncomfortable attend me; and yet my spiritual
conflicts and distresses so far exceed all these, that
I scarce think of them, or hardly mind but that I am entertained in the
most sumptuous manner. The Lord grant that I may learn to “endure hardness,
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ!” As to my success here I cannot
say much as yet: the Indians seem generally kind, and well-disposed towards
me, and are mostly very attentive to my instructions, and seem willing
to be taught further. Two or three, I hope, are under some convictions:
but there seems to be little of the special workings of the divine Spirit
among them yet; which gives me many a heart-sinking hour. Sometimes I hope,
God has abundant blessings in store for them and me; but at other times,
I am so overwhelmed with distress that I cannot see how his dealings with
me are consistent with covenant love and faithfulness; and I say, “Surely
his tender mercies are clean gone for ever.”--But however, I see, I needed
all this
chastisement already: “It is good for me” that I have endured
these trials, and have hitherto little or no apparent success. Do not be
discouraged by my distresses. I was under great distress, at Mr. Pomroy’s,
when I saw you last; but “God has been with me of a truth,” since that:
he helped me sometimes sweetly at Long Island, and elsewhere. But let us
always remember, that we must
through much tribulation enter into
God’s eternal kingdom of rest and peace. The righteous are scarcely
saved: it is an infinite wonder, that we have well-grounded hopes of being
saved at all. For my part, I feel the most vile of any creature living;
and I am sure
436
BRAINERD’S REMAINS.
sometimes,
there is not such another existing on this side hell.--Now all you
can do for me, is, to pray incessantly, that God would make me humble,
holy, resigned, and heavenly-minded, by all my trials.--“Be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might.” Let us run, wrestle,
and fight that we may win the prize, and obtain that complete
happiness, to be “holy, as God is holy.” So wishing and praying that you
may advance in learning and grace, and be fit for special service for God,
I
remain,
Your
affectionate brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
II.
To
his brother John, at Yale college, New Haven.
DEAR
BROTHER, Kaunaumeek, Dec. 27, 1743.
I
LONG to see you, and know how you fare in your journey through a world
of inexpressible sorrow, where we are compassed about with “vanity, confusion,
and vexation of spirit.” I am more weary of life, I think, than ever I
was. The whole world appears to me like a huge vacuum, a
vast empty space, whence nothing desirable, or at least satisfactory, can
possibly be derived; and I long daily to die more and more
to it; even though I obtain not that comfort from spiritual things which
I earnestly desire. Worldly pleasures, such as flow from greatness,
riches, honours, and sensual gratifications, are infinitely worse
than none. May the Lord deliver us more and more from these vanities!
I have spent most of the fall and winter hitherto in a weak state of body;
and sometimes under pressing inward trials, and spiritual conflicts: but
“having obtained help from God, I continue to this day;” and am now something
better in health than I was some time ago. I find nothing more conducive
to a life of Christianity, than a diligent, industrious, and faithful
improvement of precious time. Let us then faithfully perform that
business, which is allotted to us by Divine Providence, to the utmost of
our bodily strength and mental vigour. Why should we sink, and grow discouraged,
with any particular trials and perplexities we are called to encounter
in the world? Death and eternity are just before us: a few
tossing billows more will waft us into the world of spirits, and we hope,
through infinite grace, into endless pleasures, and uninterrupted rest
and peace. Let us then “run with patience the race set before us,” Heb.
xii. 1, 2. And oh that we could depend more upon the living God,
and less upon our own wisdom and strength!--Dear brother, may the God
of all grace comfort your heart, and succeed your studies, and make
you an instrument of good to his people in your day. This is the constant
prayer of
Your
affectionate brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
III.
To
his brother Israel, at Haddam.
MY
DEAR BROTHER, Kaunaumeek, Jan. 21, 1743-4.
--THERE
is but one thing that deserves our highest care and most ardent
desires; and that is, that we may answer the great end for which
we were made, viz. to glorify that God, who has given us
our beings and all our comforts, and do all the good we possibly
can to our fellow-men, while we live in the world: and verily life
is not worth the having, if it be not improved for this noble end and purpose.
Yet, alas, how little is this thought of among mankind! Most men seem to
live to themselves, without much regard to the glory of God, or
the good of their fellow-creatures. They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue
after the riches, the honours, and the pleasures of life, as if they really
supposed, that wealth, or greatness, or merriment, could make their immortal
souls happy. But, alas, what false and delusive dreams are these!
And how miserable will those ere long be, who are not awaked out
of them, to see, that all their happiness consists in living to God,
and becoming “holy, as he is holy!” Oh, may you never fall into the tempers
and vanities, the sensuality and folly, of the present world! You are,
by Divine Providence, left as it were alone in a wide world, to
act for yourself: be sure then to remember, it is a world of temptation,
You have no earthly parents to be the means of forming your youth
to piety and virtue, by their pious examples, and seasonable counsels;
let this then excite you with greater diligence and fervency to look up
to the Father of mercies for grace and assistance against all the
vanities of the world. And if you would glorify God, or answer his just
expectations from you, and make your own soul happy in this and the coming
world, observe these few directions; though not from a father, yet
from a brother who is touched with a tender concern for your present and
future happiness. And,
First,
Resolve upon, and daily endeavour to practise, a life of seriousness
and strict sobriety. The wise man will tell you the great advantage
of such a life, Eccl. vii. 3. Think of the life of Christ; and when you
can find that he was pleased with jesting and vain merriment, then
you may indulge it in yourself.
Again,
Be careful to make a good improvement of precious time. When
you cease from labour, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer:
and while your hands are labouring, let your heart be employed, as much
as possible, in divine thoughts.
Further,
Take heed that you faithfully perform the business you have
to do in the world, from a regard to the commands of God; and not
from an ambitious desire of being esteemed better than others. We should
always look upon ourselves as God’s servants, placed in God’s world, to
do his work; and accordingly labour faithfully for him; not
with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the
good we possibly can.
Again,
Never expect any satisfaction or happiness from the world.
If you hope for happiness in the world, hope for it from God, and
not from the world. Do not think you shall be more happy
if you live to such or such a state of life, if you live to be for yourself,
to be settled in the world, or if you should gain an estate in it: but
look upon it that you shall then be happy when you can be constantly
employed for God, and not for yourself; and desire to live in this world,
only to do and suffer what God allots to you. When you can
be of the spirit and temper of angels who are willing to come down into
this lower world to perform what God commands them, though their desires
are heavenly, and not in the least set on earthly things,
then you will be of that temper that you ought to have, Col. iii. 2.
Once
more, Never think that you can live to God by your own power or
strength; but always look to and rely on him for assistance, yea,
for all strength and grace. There is no greater truth than this,
that “we can do nothing of ourselves,” (John. xv. 5. and 2 Cor. iii. 5.)
yet nothing but our own experience can effectually teach it us.
Indeed we are a long time in learning, that all our strength and
salvation is in God. This is a life that I think no unconverted
man can possibly live; and yet it is a life that ever godly soul
is pressing after in some good measure. Let it then be your great concern,
thus to devote yourself and your all to God.
I
long to see you, that I may say much more to you than I now can for your
benefit and welfare; but I desire to commit you to, and leave you with,
the Father of mercies, and God of all grace; praying that
you may be directed safely through an evil world to God’s heavenly
kingdom.
I
am your affectionate loving brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
IV.
To
a special friend.
The
Forks of Delaware,
July 31, 1744.
--CERTAINLY
the greatest, the noblest pleasure of intelligent creatures must result
from their acquaintance
LETTERS
TO HIS FRIENDS. 437
with
the blessed God, and with their own rational and immortal souls. And oh
how divinely sweet and entertaining is it to look into our own souls, when
we can find all our powers and passions united and engaged in pursuit after
God, our whole souls longing and passionately breathing after a conformity
to him, and the full enjoyment of him! Verily there are no hours pass away
with so much divine pleasure, as those that are spent in communing with
God and our own hearts. Oh how sweet is a spirit of devotion, a spirit
of seriousness and divine solemnity, a spirit of gospel simplicity, love,
and tenderness! Oh how desirable, and how profitable to the christian life,
is a spirit of holy watchfulness and godly jealousy over ourselves; when
our souls are afraid of nothing so much as that we shall grieve and offend
the blessed God, whom at such times we apprehend, or at least hope, to
be a father and friend; whom we then love and long to please,
rather than to be happy ourselves, or at least we delight to derive
our happiness from pleasing and glorifying him! Surely this is a
pious temper, worthy of the highest ambition and closest pursuit of intelligent
creatures and holy Christians. Oh how vastly superior is the pleasure,
peace, and satisfaction derived from these divine frames, to that which
we, alas! sometimes pursue in things impertinent and trifling! Our own
bitter experience teaches us, that “in the midst of such laughter the heart
is sorrowful,” and there is no true satisfaction but in God. But, alas!
how shall we obtain and retain this sweet spirit of religion and devotion?
Let us follow the apostle’s direction, Phil. ii. 12. and labour upon the
encouragement he there mentions, ver. 13. for it is God only can afford
us this favour; and he will be sought to, and it is fit we should
wait upon him, for so rich a mercy. Oh, may the God of all grace afford
us the grace and influences of his divine Spirit; and help us that we may
from our hearts esteem it our greatest liberty and happiness, that “whether
we live, we may live to the Lord, or whether we die, we may die to the
Lord; that in life and death we may be his!
I
am in a very poor state of health; I think scarce ever poorer: but through
divine goodness I am not discontented under my weakness and confinement
to this wilderness. I bless God for this retirement: I never was more thankful
for any thing than I have been of late for the necessity I am under of
self-denial in many respects. I love to be a pilgrim and stranger
in this wilderness: it seems most fit for such a poor ignorant, worthless,
despised creature as I. I would not change my present mission for
any other business in the whole world. I may tell you freely, without vanity
and ostentation, God has of late given me great freedom and fervency in
prayer, when I have been so weak and feeble that my nature seemed as if
it would speedily dissolve. I feel as if my all was lost, and I
was undone for this world, if the poor heathen may not be converted. I
feel, in general, different from what I did when I saw you last; at least
more crucified to all the enjoyments of life. It would be very refreshing
to me to see you here in this desert; especially in my weak disconsolate
hours: but I think I could be content never to see you or any of my friends
again in this world, if God would bless my labours here to the conversion
of the poor Indians.
I
have much that I could willingly communicate to you, which I must omit,
till Providence gives us leave to see each other. In the mean time, I rest
Your
obliged friend and servant,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
V.
To
a special friend, a minister of the gospel in New Jersey.
The
Forks of Delaware,
Dec. 24, 1744.
REV.
AND DEAR BROTHER,
--I
HAVE little to say to you about spiritual joys, and those blessed
refreshments and divine consolations, with which I have been
much favoured in times past: but this I can tell you, that if I gain experience
in no other point, yet I am sure I do in this, viz. that the present
world has nothing in it to satisfy an immortal soul: and hence,
that it is not to be desired for itself, but only because God may
be seen and served in it. And I wish I could be more patient
and willing to live in it for this end, than I can usually find
myself to be. It is no virtue I know to desire death, only to be freed
from the miseries of life: but I want that divine hope which you observed
when I saw you last, was the very sinews of vital religion. Earth can do
us no good; and if there be no hope of our doing good on
earth, how can we desire to live in it? And yet we ought to desire,
or at least to be resigned, to tarry in it; because it is the will of our
all-wise Sovereign. But perhaps these thoughts will appear melancholy and
gloomy, and consequently will be very undesirable to you; and therefore
I forbear to add. I wish you may not read them in the same circumstances
in which I write them. I have a little more to do and suffer
in a dark disconsolate world; and then I hope to be as happy as you are.--I
should ask you to pray for me were I worth your concern. May the Lord enable
us both to “endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ;” and may
we “obtain mercy of God to be faithful to the death,” in the discharge
of our respective trusts!
I
am your very unworthy brother,
And
humble servant,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
VI.
To
his brother John, at college.
Crossweeksung,
New Jersey,
Dec.
28, 1745.
VERY
DEAR BROTHER,
--I
AM in one continued, perpetual, and uninterrupted hurry; and Divine Providence
throws so much upon me that I do not see it will ever be otherwise. May
I “obtain mercy of God to be faithful to the death!” I cannot say I am
weary of my hurry; I only want strength and grace to do more for God than
I have ever yet done.
My
dear brother; The Lord of heaven, that has carried me through many
trials, bless you; bless you for time, and eternity; and fit you
to do service for him in his church below, and to enjoy his blissful presence
in his church triumphant. My brother; “the time is short:” oh let us fill
it up for God; let us “count the sufferings of this present time” as nothing,
if we can but “run our race, and finish our course with joy.” Oh, let us
strive to live to God. I bless the Lord, I have nothing to do with earth,
but only to labour honestly in it for God, till I shall “accomplish as
an hireling my day.” I think I do not desire to live one minute for any
thing that earth can afford. Oh, that I could live for none but
God, till my dying moment!
I
am your affectionate brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
VII.
To
his brother Israel, then a student at Yale college, New Haven.
Elizabeth-town,
New Jersey,
Nov. 24, 1746.
DEAR
BROTHER,
I
HAD determined to make you and my other friends in New England a visit
this fall: partly from an earnest desire I had to see you and them, and
partly with a view to the recovery of my health; which has, for more than
three months past, been much impaired. And in order to prosecute this design,
I set out from my own people about three weeks ago, and came as far as
to this place; where, my disorder greatly increasing, I have been obliged
to keep house ever since, until the day before yesterday; at which time
I was able to ride about half a mile, but found myself much tired with
the journey. I have now no hopes of prosecuting my journey into New England
this winter; my present state of health will by no means admit of it. Although
I am, through divine goodness, much better than I was some days ago; yet
I have not strength now
438
BRAINERD’S REMAINS.
to
ride more than ten miles a day, if the season were warm, and fit for me
to travel in. My disorder has been attended with several symptoms of a
consumption; and I have been at times apprehensive that my great
change was at hand: yet blessed be God, I have never been affrighted;
but, on the contrary, at times much delighted with a view of its
approach. Oh, the blessedness of being delivered from the clogs of flesh
and sense, from a body of sin and spiritual death! Oh, the
unspeakable sweetness of being translated into a state of complete purity
and perfection! Believe me, my brother, a lively view and hope of these
things, will make the king of terrors himself appear agreeable.--Dear brother,
let me entreat you to keep eternity in your view, and behave yourself
as becomes one that must shortly “give an account of all things done in
the body.” That God may be your God, and prepare you for his service
here, and his kingdom of glory hereafter, is the desire and daily prayer
of
Your
affectionate loving brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
VIII.
To
his brother Israel, at college: written in the time of his extreme illness
in Boston, a few months before his death.
MY
DEAR BROTHER, Boston, June 30, 1747.
IT
is from the sides of eternity I now address you. I am heartily sorry
that I have so little strength to write what I long so much to communicate
to you. But let me tell you, my brother, eternity is another thing
than we ordinarily take it to be in a healthful state. Oh, how vast and
boundless! Oh, how fixed and unalterable! Oh, of what infinite importance
is it, that we be prepared for eternity! I have been just a dying
now for more than a week; and all around me have thought me so. I have
had clear views of eternity; have seen the blessedness of the godly,
in some measure; and have longed to share their happy state; as well as
been comfortably satisfied, that through grace I shall do so: but oh, what
anguish is raised in my mind, to think of an eternity for those
who are Christless, for those who are mistaken, and who bring their
false hopes to the grave with them! The sight was so dreadful I could by
no means bear it: my thoughts recoiled, and I said, (under a more affecting
sense than ever before,) “Who can dwell with everlasting burnings?” Oh,
methought, could I now see my friends, that I might warn them to see to
it, that they lay their foundation for eternity sure. And you, my
dear-brother, I have been particularly concerned for; and have wondered
I so much neglected conversing with you about your spiritual state at our
last meeting. Oh, my brother, let me then beseech you now to examine, whether
you are indeed a new creature? whether you have ever acted above
self? whether the glory of God has ever been the sweetest
and highest concern with you? whether you have ever been reconciled to
all the perfections of God? in a word, whether God has been our portion,
and a holy conformity to him your chief delight? If you cannot answer
positively, consider seriously the frequent breathings of our soul: but
do not however put yourself off with a slight answer. If you have reason
to think you are graceless, oh give yourself and the throne of grace
no rest, till God arise and save. But if the case should be otherwise,
bless God for his grace, and press after holiness.*
My
soul longs that you should be fitted for, and in due time go into, the
work of the ministry. I cannot bear to think of your going into
any other business in life. Do not be discouraged, because you see your
elder brothers in the ministry die early, one after another. I declare,
now I am dying, I would not have spent my life otherwise for the
whole world. But I must leave this with God.
If
this line should come to your hands soon after the date, I should be almost
desirous you should set out on a journey to me: it may be, you may see
me alive; which I should much rejoice in. But if you cannot come, I must
commit you to the grace of God, where you are. May he be your guide and
counsellor, your sanctifier and eternal portion!
Oh,
my dear brother, flee fleshly lusts, and the enchanting amusements,
as well as corrupt doctrines, of the present day; and strive to
live to God. Take this as the last line from
Your
affectionate dying brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
LETTER
IX.
To
a young gentleman, a candidate for the work of the ministry, for whom he
had a special friendship; also written at the same time of his great illness
and nearness to death in Boston.
VERY
DEAR SIR,
HOW
amazing it is, that the living who know they must die, should
notwithstanding “put far away the evil day,” in a season of health and
prosperity;
and live at such an awful distance from a familiarity with the grave, and
the great concerns beyond it! and especially it may justly fill us with
surprise, that any whose minds have been divinely enlightened, to
behold the important things of eternity as they are, I say, that
such should live in this manner. And yet, Sir, how frequently is this the
case! how rare are the instances of those who live and act from day to
day, as on the verge of eternity; striving to fill up all their
remaining moments in the service and to the honour of their great Master!
We insensibly trifle away time, while we seem to have enough of
it; and are so strangely amused, as in a great measure to lose a sense
of the holiness and blessed qualifications necessary to prepare
us to be inhabitants of the heavenly paradise. But oh, dear Sir,
a dying bed, if we enjoy our reason clearly, will give another view
of things. I have now, for more than three weeks, lain under the greatest
degree of weakness; the greater part of the time, expecting daily and hourly
to enter into the eternal world: sometimes have been so far gone, as to
be wholly speechless, for some hours together. And oh, of what vast importance
has a holy spiritual life appeared to me to be at this season! I
have longed to call upon all my friends, to make it their business to live
to God; and especially all that are designed for, or engaged in, the
service of the sanctuary. O, dear Sir, do not think it enough to
live at the rate of common Christians. Alas, to how little purpose
do they often converse, when they meet together! The visits even
of those who are called Christians indeed, are frequently extremely barren;
and conscience cannot but condemn us for the misimprovement of time, while
we have been conversant with them. But the way to enjoy the divine presence,
and be fitted for distinguishing service for God, is to live a life of
great devotion and constant self-dedication to him; observing
the motions and dispositions of our own hearts, whence we may learn the
corruptions that lodge there, and our constant need of help from God for
the performance of the least duty. And oh, dear Sir, let me beseech you
frequently to attend the great and precious duties of secret fasting
and prayer.
I
have a secret thought from some things I have observed, that God may perhaps
design you for some singular service in the world. Oh then labour
to be prepared and qualified to do much for God. Read Mr. Edwards’s piece
on the affections, again and again; and labour to distinguish
clearly upon experiences and affections in religion, that you may make
a difference between the gold and the shining dross. I say,
labour here, if ever you would be a useful minister of Christ; for
nothing has put such a stop to the work of God in the late day as the false
religion, and the wild affections that attend it. Suffer me therefore,
finally, to entreat you earnestly to “give yourself to prayer, to reading,
and meditation” on divine truths: strive to penetrate to the bottom of
them, and never be content with a superficial knowledge. By this
*
Mr. Brainerd afterwards had greater satisfaction concerning the state of
his brother’s soul, by much opportunity of conversation with him before
his death.
LETTERS
TO HIS FRIENDS. 439
means,
your thoughts will gradually grow weighty and judicious; and you hereby
will be possessed of a valuable treasure, out of which you may produce
“things new and old,” to the glory of God.
And
now, “I commend you to the grace of God;” earnestly desiring that a plentiful
portion of the divine Spirit may rest upon you; that you may live
to God in every capacity of life, and do abundant service for
him in a public one, if it be his will; and that you may be richly
qualified for the “inheritance of the saints in light.”--I scarce expect
to see your face any more in the body; and therefore entreat you to accept
this as the last token of love, from
Your
sincerely affectionate dying friend,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
P.S.
I am now, at the dating of this letter, considerably recovered from what
I was when I wrote it; it having lain by me some time, for want of an opportunity
of conveyance; it was written in Boston.--I am now able to ride a little,
and so am removed into the country: but have no more expectation of recovering
than when I wrote, though I am a little better for the present; and therefore
I still subscribe myself,
Your
dying friend, &c.
D.B.
LETTER
X.
To
his brother John, at Bethel, the town of christian Indians in New Jersey;
written likewise at Boston, when he was there on the brink of the grave,
in the summer before his death.
DEAR
BROTHER,
I
AM now just on the verge of eternity, expecting very speedily to
appear in the unseen world. I feel myself no more an inhabitant of earth,
and sometimes earnestly long to “depart and be with Christ.” I bless God,
he has for some years given me an abiding conviction, that it is
impossible for any rational creature to enjoy true happiness without
being entirely “devoted to him.” Under the influence of this conviction
I have in some measure acted. Oh that I had done more so! I saw both the
excellency and necessity of holiness in life; but never in such
a manner as now, when I am just brought to the sides of the grave. Oh,
my brother, pursue after holiness; press towards this blessed mark;
and let your thirsty soul continually say, “I shall never be satisfied
till I awake in thy likeness.” Although there has been a great deal of
selfishness in my views; of which I am ashamed, and for which my
soul is humbled at every view; yet, blessed be God, I find I have really
had, for the most part, such a concern for his glory, and the advancement
of his kingdom in the world, that it is a satisfaction to me to
reflect upon these years.
And
now, my dear brother, as I must press you to pursue after personal
holiness, to be as much in fasting and prayer as your health
will allow, and to live above the rate of common Christians; so
I must entreat you solemnly to attend to your public work; labour
to distinguish between true and false religion; and to that
end, watch the motions of God’s Spirit upon your own heart. Look
to him for help; and impartially compare your experiences with his
word. Read Mr. Edwards on the Affections, where the essence
and soul of religion is clearly distinguished from false affections.* Value
religious joys according to the subject matter of them: there
are many who rejoice in their supposed justification; but what do
these joys argue, but only that they love themselves? Whereas, in
true spiritual joys the soul rejoices in God for what he is in
himself; blesses God for his holiness, sovereignty, power, faithfulness,
and all his perfections; adores God that he is what he is, that he is unchangeably
possessed of infinite glory and happiness. Now when men thus rejoice in
the perfections of God, and in the infinite excellency of the
way of salvation by Christ, and in the holy commands of God,
which are a transcript of his holy nature; these joys are divine
and spiritual. Our joys will stand by us at the hour of death, if
we can be then satisfied that we have thus acted above self; and
in a disinterested manner, if I may so express it, rejoiced in the glory
of the blessed God.--I fear you are not sufficiently aware how much false
religion there is in the world; many serious Christians and valuable ministers
are too easily imposed upon by this false blaze. I likewise fear,
you are not sensible of the dreadful effects and consequenses of
this false religion. Let me tell you, it is the devil transformed into
an angel of light; it is a brat of hell, that always springs
up with every revival of religion, and stabs and murders the cause of God,
while it passes current with multitudes of well-meaning people for the
height of religion. Set yourself, my brother, to crush all appearances
of this nature among the Indians, and never encourage any degrees of heat
without light. Charge my people in the name of their dying minister,
yea, in the name of him who was dead and is alive, to live and walk
as becomes the gospel. Tell them, how great the expectations of God and
his people are from them, and how awfully they will wound God’s cause,
if they fall into vice; as well as fatally prejudice other poor Indians.
Always insist, that their experiences are rotten, that their joys
are delusive, although they may have been rapt up into the third
heavens in their own conceit by them, unless the main tenour of their
lives be spiritual, watchful, and holy. In pressing these things,
“thou shalt both save thyself, and those that hear thee.”--
God
knows, I was heartily willing to have served him longer in the work
of the ministry, although it had still been attended with all the labours
and hardships of past years, if he had seen fit that it should be
so: but as his will now appears otherwise, I am fully content, and can
with utmost freedom say, “The will of the Lord be done.” It affects me
to think of leaving you in a world of sin: my heart pities you, that those
storms and tempests are yet before you, which I trust, through grace, I
am almost delivered from. But “God lives, and blessed be my Rock:” he is
the same Almighty Friend: and will, I trust, be your guide and helper,
as he has been mine.
And
now, my dear brother, “I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up, and give you inheritance among all them
that are sanctified. May you enjoy the divine presence both in private
and public; and may “the arms of your hands be made strong, by the right
hand of the mighty God of Jacob!” Which are the passionate desires and
prayers of
Your
affectionate dying brother,
DAVID
BRAINERD.
*
I had at first fully intended, in publishing this and the foregoing letters,
to have suppressed these passages wherein my name is mentioned,
and my Discourse on Religious Affections recommended: and am sensible,
that by my doing otherwise, I shall bring upon me the reproach of some.
But how much soever I may be pleased with the commendation of any performance
of mine, (and I confess, I esteem the judgment and approbation of such
a person as Mr. Brainerd worthy to be valued, and look on myself as highly
honoured by it,) yet I can truly say, the things that governed me in altering
my forementioned determination, with respect to these passages, were these
two. (1.) What Mr. Brainerd here says of that discourse, shows very fully
and particularly what his notions were of experimental religion,
and the nature of true piety, and how far he was from placing it
in impressions on the imagination, or any enthusiastical impulses, and
how essential in religion he esteemed holy practice, &c. &c. For
all that have read that discourse, know what sentiments are there expressed
concerning those things. (2.) I judged, that the
approbation of
so apparent and eminent a friend and example of inward vital religion,
and evangelical piety in the height of it, would probably tend to make
that book more serviceable; especially among some kinds of zealous
persons, whose benefit was especially aimed at in the book; some of which
are prejudiced against it, as written in too legal a strain, and opposing
some things wherein the height of christian experience consists, and tending
to build men upon their own works.
440
BRAINERD’S REMAINS.
DETACHED
PAPERS.
FIRST
PAPER.
A
SCHEME of a DIALOGUE between the various powers and affections
of the mind, as they are found alternately whispering in the godly soul.
Mentioned in his diary, Feb. 3, 1744.
THE
understanding introduced, (1.) As discovering its own excellency,
and capacity of enjoying the most sublime pleasure and happiness. (2.)
As observing its desire equal to its capacity, and incapable of being satisfied
with any thing that will not fill it in the utmost extent of its exercise.
(3.) As finding itself a dependent thing, not self-sufficient; and consequently
unable to spin happiness (as the spider spins its web) out of its own bowels.
This self-sufficiency observed to be the property and prerogative of God
alone, and not belonging to any created being. (4.) As in vain seeking
sublime pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness adequate to its nature, amongst
created beings. The search and knowledge of the truth in the natural world
allowed indeed to be refreshing to the mind; but still failing to afford
complete happiness. (5.) As discovering the excellency and glory of God,
that he is the fountain of goodness, and well-spring of happiness, and
every way fit to answer the enlarged desires and cravings of our immortal
souls.
2.
The will introduced, as necessarily, yet freely, choosing this God
for its supreme happiness and only portion, fully complying with the understanding’s
dictates, acquiescing in God as the best good, his will as the best rule
for intelligent creatures, and rejoicing that God is in every respect just
what he is; and withal choosing and delighting to a dependent creature,
always subject to this God, not aspiring after self-sufficiency and supremacy,
but acquiescing in the contrary.
3.
Ardent love or desire introduced, as passionately longing
to please and glorify the Divine Being, to be in every respect conformed
to him, and in that way to enjoy him. This love or desire represented as
most genuine; not induced by mean and mercenary views; not primarily springing
from selfish hopes of salvation, whereby the divine glories would be sacrificed
to the idol self: not arising from a slavish fear of divine anger in case
of neglect, nor yet from hopes of feeling the sweetness of that tender
and pleasant passion of love in one’s own breast; but from a just esteem
of the beauteous object beloved. This love further represented,
as attended with vehement longings after the enjoyment of its object, but
unable to find by what means.
4.
The understanding again introduced, as informing, (1.) How God might
have been enjoyed, yea, how he must necessarily have been enjoyed, had
not man sinned against him; that as there was knowledge, likeness,
and love, so there must needs be enjoyment, while there was no impediment.
(2.) How he may be enjoyed in some measure now, viz. by the same
knowledge, begetting likeness and love, which will
be answered with returns of love, and the smiles of God’s countenance,
which are better than life. (3.) How God may be perfectly enjoyed, viz.
by the soul’s perfect freedom from sin. This perfect freedom never obtained
till death; and then not by any unaccountable means, or in any unheard-of
manner; but the same by which it has obtained some likeness to and fruition
of God in this world, viz. a clear manifestation of him.
5.
Holy
desire appears, and inquires why the soul may not be perfectly holy;
and so perfect in the enjoyment of God here; and expresses most insatiable
thirstings after such a temper, and such fruition, and most consummate
blessedness.
6.
Understanding again appears, and informs, that God designs that
those whom he sanctifies in part here, and intends for immortal glory,
shall tarry a while in this present evil world, that their own experience
of temptations, &c. may teach them how great the deliverance is, which
God has wrought for them, that they may be swallowed up in thankfulness
and admiration to eternity; as also that they may be instrumental of doing
good to their fellow-men. Now if they were perfectly holy, &c. a world
of sin would not be a fit habitation for them: and further, such manifestations
of God as are necessary completely to sanctify the soul, would be insupportable
to the body, so that we cannot see God and live.
7.
Holy
impatience* is next introduced, complaining of the sins and sorrows
of life, and almost repining at the distance of a state of perfection,
uneasy to see and feel the hours hang so dull and heavy, and almost concluding
that the temptations, hardships, disappointments, imperfections, and tedious
employments of life will never come to a happy period.
8.
Tender
conscience comes in, and meekly reproves the complaints of impatience;
urging how careful and watchful we ought to be, lest we should offend the
Divine Being with complaints; alleging also the fitness of our waiting
patiently upon God for all we want, and that in a way of doing and suffering;
and at the same time mentioning the barrenness of the soul, how much precious
time is misimproved, and how little it has enjoyed of God, compared with
what it might have done; as also suggesting how frequently impatient complaints
spring from nothing better than self-love, want of resignation, and a greater
reverence of the Divine Being.
9.
Judgment
or sound mind next appears, and duly weighs the complaints of impatience,
and the gentle admonitions of tender conscience, and impartially
determines between them. On the one hand, it concludes, that we may always
be impatient with sin; and supposes, that we may be also with such sorrow,
pain, and discouragement, as hinder our pursuit of holiness, though they
arise from the weakness of nature. It allows us to be impatient of the
distance at which we stand from a state of perfection and blessedness.
It further indulges impatience at the delay of time; when we desire the
period of it for no other end, than that we may with angels be employed
in the most lively spiritual acts of devotion, and in giving all possible
glory to him that lives for ever. Temptations and sinful imperfections,
it thinks, we may justly be uneasy with; and disappointments, at least
those that relate to our hopes of communion with God, and growing conformity
to him. And as to the tedious employments and hardships of life, it supposes
some longing for the end of them not inconsistent with a spirit of faithfulness,
and a cheerful disposition to perform the one and endure the other: it
supposes that a faithful servant, who fully designs to do all he possibly
can, may still justly long for the evening; and that no rational man would
blame his kind and tender spouse, if he perceived her longing to be with
him, while yet faithfulness and duty to him might still induce her to yield,
for the present, to remain at a painful distance from him.--On the other
hand, it approves of the caution, care, and watchfulness of tender conscience,
lest the Divine Being should be offended with impatient complaints; it
acknowledges the fitness of our waiting upon God, in a way of patient
doing and suffering; but supposes this very consistent with ardent desires
to depart,
and to be with Christ. It owns it fit that we
should always remember our own barrenness, and thinks also that we should
be impatient of it, and consequently long for a state of freedom from it;
and this, not so much that we may feel the happiness of it, but that God
may have the glory. It grants, that impatient complaints often spring from
self-love, and want of resignation and humility. Such as these it disapproves;
and determines, we should be impatient only of absence from God, and distance
from that state and temper wherein we may most glorify him.
*
That is, more properly, impatience in a holy soul, and in
reference to a holy end; but impatience itself is not holy,
except we take the term in a less proper sense, as our author evidently
does.--W.
DETACHED
PAPERS. 441
10.
Godly
sorrow introduced, as making her sad moan, not so much that she is
kept from the free possession and full enjoyment of happiness, but that
God must be dishonoured; the soul being still in a world of sin, and itself
imperfect. She here, with grief, counts over past faults, present temptations,
and fears from the future.
11.
Hope
or holy confidence appears, and seems persuaded that “nothing shall
ever separate the soul from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” It expects
divine assistance and grace sufficient for all the doing and suffering
work of time, and that death will ere long put a happy period to all sin
and sorrow; and so takes occasion to rejoice.
12.
Godly
fear, or holy jealousy, here steps in, and suggests some timorous
apprehensions of the danger of deception; mentions the deceitfulness of
the heart, the great influence of irregular self-love in a fallen creature:
inquires whether itself is not likely to have fallen in with delusion,
since the mind is so dark, and so little of God appears to the soul; and
queries whether all its hopes of persevering grace may not be presumption,
and whether its confident expectations of meeting death as a friend, may
not issue in disappointment.
13.
Hereupon reflection appears, and minds the person of his past experiences;
as to the preparatory work of conviction and humiliation; the view he then
had of the impossibility of salvation from himself, or any created arm:
the manifestation he has likewise had of the glory of God in Jesus Christ:
how he then admired that glory, and chose that God for his only portion,
because of the excellency and amiableness he discovered in him; not from
slavish fear of being damned if he did not, nor from base and mercenary
hopes of saving himself; but from a just esteem of that beauteous and glorious
object: as also how he had from time to time rejoiced and acquiesced in
God, for what he is in himself, being delighted, that he is infinite in
holiness, justice, power, sovereignty, as well as in mercy, goodness, and
love: how he has likewise, scores of times, felt his soul mourn for sin,
for this very reason, because it is contrary and grievous to God; yea,
how he has mourned over one vain and impertinent thought, when he has been
so far from fear of the divine vindictive wrath for it, that on the contrary
he has enjoyed the highest assurance of the divine everlasting love: how
he has, from time to time, delighted in the commands of God, for their
own purity and perfection, and longed exceedingly to be conformed to them,
and even to be “holy, as God is holy;” and counted it present heaven, to
be of a heavenly temper: how he has frequently rejoiced, to think of being
for ever subject to and dependent on God; accounting it infinitely greater
happiness to glorify God in a state of subjection to and dependence on
him, than to be a god himself: and how heaven itself would be no
heaven to him, if he could not there be every thing that God would have
him be.
14.
Upon this, spiritual sensation, being awaked, comes in, and declares
that she now feels and “tastes that the Lord is gracious;” that he is the
only supreme good, the only soul-satisfying happiness; that he is a complete,
self-sufficient, and almighty portion. She whispers, “Whom have I in heaven
but this God,” this dear and blessed portion? “and there is none upon earth
I desire besides him.” Oh, it is heaven to please him, and to be just what
he would have me be! O that my soul were “holy, as God is holy!” O that
it was “pure, as Christ is pure;” and “perfect, as my Father in heaven
is perfect!” These are the sweetest commands in God’s book, comprising
all others; and shall I break them? must I break them? am I under a fatal
necessity of it, as long as I live in this world? O, my soul! woe, woe
is me, that I am a sinner! because I now necessarily grieve and offend
this blessed God, who is infinite in goodness and grace. Oh, methinks,
should he punish me for my sins, it would not wound my heart so deep as
to offend him; but, though I sin continually, he continually repeats his
kindness towards me! Oh, methinks, I could bear any suffering; but how
can I bear to grieve and dishonour this blessed God! How shall I give ten
thousand times more honour to him? What shall I do, to glorify and worship
this best of beings? O that I could consecrate myself, soul and body, to
his service for ever! O that I could give up myself to him, so as never
more to attempt to be my own, or to have any will or affections that are
not perfectly conformed to his! But oh, alas, alas! I cannot, I feel I
cannot be thus entirely devoted to God: I cannot live and sin not. O ye
angels, do ye glorify him incessantly: if possible, exert yourselves
still more, in more lively and ardent devotion: if possible, prostrate
yourselves still lower before the throne of the blessed King of heaven:
I long to bear a part with you, and, if it were possible, to help you.
Yet when we have done, we shall not be able to offer the ten thousandth
part of the homage he is worthy of. While spiritual sensation whispered
these things, fear and jealousy were greatly overcome; and
the soul replied, “Now I know, and am assured,” &c. and again, it welcomed
death as a friend, saying, “O death, where is thy sting!” &c.
15.
Finally, holy resolution concludes the discourse, fixedly determining
to
follow hard after God, and continually to pursue a life of conformity
to him. And the better to pursue this, enjoining it on the soul always
to remember, that God is the only source of happiness, that his will is
the only rule of rectitude to an intelligent creature, that earth has nothing
in it desirable for itself, or any further than God is seen in it; and
that the knowledge of God in Christ, begetting and maintaining love, and
mortifying sensual and fleshly appetites, is the way to be holy on earth,
and so to be attempered to the complete holiness of the heavenly world.
SECOND
PAPER.
Some
gloomy and desponding thoughts of a soul under convictions of sin, and
concern for its eternal salvation.
1.
I BELIEVE my case is singular, that none ever had so many strange
and different thoughts and feelings as I.
2.
I have been concerned much longer than many others I have
known, or concerning whom I have read, who have been savingly converted,
and yet I am left.
3.
I have withstood the power of convictions a long time; and
therefore I fear I shall be finally left of God.
4.
I never shall be converted, without stronger convictions, and greater
terrors of conscience.
5.
I do not aim at the glory of God in any thing I do, and therefore
I cannot hope for mercy.
6.
I do not see the evil nature of sin, nor the sin of my nature;
and therefore I am discouraged.
7.
The more I strive, the more blind and hard my heart
is, and the worse I grow continually.
8.
I fear God never showed mercy to one so vile as I.
9.
I fear I am not elected, and therefore must perish.
10.
I fear the day of grace is past with me.
11.
I fear I have committed the unpardonable sin.
12.
I am an old sinner; and if God had designed mercy for me, he would
have called me home to himself before now.
THIRD
PAPER.
Some
signs of godliness.
THE
distinguishing marks of a true Christian, taken from one of my old
manuscripts; where I wrote as I felt and experienced, and
not from any considerable degree of doctrinal knowledge, or acquaintance
with the sentiments of others in this point.
1.
HE has a true knowledge of the glory and excellency of God, that
he is most worthy to be loved and praised for his own divine perfections.
Psal. cxlv. 3.
2.
God is his portion, Psal. lxxiii. 25. And God’s glory his
great concern, Matt. vi. 22.
3.
Holiness
is his delight; nothing he so much longs for, as to be holy as God
is holy. Phil. iii. 9-12.
4.
Sin
is his greatest enemy. This he hates, for its own nature, for what
it is in itself, being contrary to a holy God, Jer. ii. 1. And consequently
he hates all sin, Rom. vii. 24. 1 John iii. 9.
5.
The laws of God also are his delight, Psal. cxix. 97. Rom. vii.
22. These he observes, not out of constraint, from a servile fear of hell;
but they are his choice, Psal. cxix. 30. The strict observance of them
is not his bondage, but his greatest liberty, ver. 45.
A
SERMON
PREACHED
IN NEWARK, JUNE 12, 1744,
AT
THE
ORDINATION OF MR. DAVID BRAINERD,
A
MISSIONARY AMONG THE INDIANS UPON THE BORDERS OF THE PROVINCES OF NEW YORK,
NEW JERSEY, AND PENNSYLVANIA.
BY
E. PEMBERTON, A.M.
PASTOR
OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
LUKE
xiv. 23.
And
the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and
compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
GOD
erected this visible world as a monument of his glory, a theatre for the
display of his adorable perfections. The heavens proclaim his wisdom and
power in shining characters, and the whole earth is full of his goodness.
Man was in his original creation excellently fitted for the service of
God, and for perfect happiness in the enjoyment of divine favour. But sin
has disturbed the order of nature, defaced the beauty of the creation,
and involved man, the lord of this lower world, in the most disconsolate
circumstances of guilt and misery.
The
all-seeing eye of God beheld our deplorable state; infinite pity touched
the heart of the Father of mercies; and infinite wisdom laid the plan of
our recovery. The Majesty of heaven did not see meet to suffer the enemy
of mankind eternally to triumph in his success; nor leave his favourite
workmanship irrecoverably to perish in the ruins of the apostacy. By a
method, which at once astonishes and delights the sublimest spirits above,
he opened a way for the display of his mercy, without any violation of
the sacred claims of his justice; in which, the honour of the law is vindicated,
and the guilty offender acquitted; sin is condemned, and the sinner eternally
saved. To accomplish this blessed design, the beloved Son of God assumed
the nature of man, in our nature died a spotless sacrifice for sin; by
the atoning virtue of his blood “he made reconciliation for iniquity,”
and by his perfect obedience to the law of God, “brought in everlasting
righteousness.”
Having
finished his work upon earth, before he ascended to his heavenly Father,
he commissioned the ministers of his kingdom to “preach the gospel to every
creature.” He sent them forth to make the most extensive offers of salvation
to rebellious sinners, and by all the methods of holy violence to “compel
them to come in,” and accept the invitations of his grace. We have a lively
representation of this in the parable, in which our text is contained.
The
evident design of it is, under the figure of a marriage-supper,
to set forth the plentiful provision, which is made in our Lord Jesus Christ
for the reception of his people, and the freedom and riches of divine grace,
which invites the most unworthy and miserable sinners to partake of this
sacred entertainment. The first invited guests were the Jews, the favourite
people of God, who were heirs of divine love, while the rest of the world
were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise:” but these, through the power of prevailing prejudice, and
the influence of carnal affections, obstinately rejected the invitation,
and were therefore finally excluded from these invaluable blessings.
But
it was not the design of infinite wisdom, that these costly preparations
should be lost, and the table he had spread remain unfurnished with guests.
Therefore he sent forth his servant “into the streets and lanes of the
city,” and commanded him to bring in “the poor, the maimed, the halt, and
the blind,”--i.e. the most necessitous and miserable of mankind;--yea,
to “go out into the high-ways and hedges,” to the wretched and perishing
Gentiles, and not only invite, but even “compel them to come in, that his
house might be filled.”
The
words of the text represent to us,
I.
The melancholy state of the Gentile world. They are described as
“in the high-ways and hedges,” in the most perishing and helpless condition.
II.
The compassionate care which the blessed Redeemer takes of them
in these their deplorable circumstances. He “sends out his servants” to
them, to invite them to partake of the entertainments of his house.
III.
The duty of the ministers of the gospel, to “compel them to come
in,” and accept of his gracious invitation.--These I shall consider in
their order, and then apply them to the present occasion.
I.
I am to consider the melancholy state of the heathen world, while
in the darkness of nature, and destitute of divine revelation. It is easy
to harangue upon the excellency and advantage of the light of nature.
It is agreeable to the pride of mankind to exalt the powers of human reason,
and pronounce it a sufficient guide to eternal happiness. But let us inquire
into the records of antiquity, let us consult the experience of
all ages, and we shall find, that those who had no guide but the light
of nature, no instructor but unassisted reason, have wandered in perpetual
uncertainty, darkness, and error. Or let us take a view of the present
state of those countries that have not been illuminated by the gospel;
and we shall see, that notwithstanding the improvements of near six thousand
years, they remain to this day covered with the grossest darkness, and
abandoned to the most immoral and vicious practices.
The
beauty and good order every where discovered in the visible frame of nature,
evidences, beyond all reasonable dispute, the existence of an infinite
and almighty Cause, who first gave being to the universe, and still preserves
it by his powerful providence. Says the apostle to the Gentiles, (Rom.
i. 20.) “The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
PEMBERTON’S
SERMON AT BRAINERD’S ORDINATION. 443
power
and Godhead.” And yet many, even among the philosophers of the Gentile
nations, impiously denied the eternal Deity, from whose hands they received
their existence: and blasphemed his infinite perfections, when surrounded
with the clearest demonstrations of his power and goodness. Those who acknowledged
a Deity, entertained the unworthy conceptions of his nature and attributes,
and worshipped the creature, in the place of the Creator,
“who is God blessed for ever.” Not only the illustrious heroes of antiquity,
and the public benefactors of mankind, but even the most despicable beings
in the order of nature, were enrolled in the catalogue of their gods, and
became the object of their impious adoration. “They changed the glory of
the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, to birds
and four-footed beasts, and creeping things,” Rom. i. 23.
A
few of the sublimest geniuses of Rome and Athens had some faint discoveries
of the spiritual nature of the human soul, and formed some probable
conjectures, that man was designed for a future state of existence. When
they considered the extensive capacities of the human mind, and the deep
impressions of futurity engraven in every breast, they could not but infer,
that the soul was immortal, and at death would be translated to some new
and unknown state. When they saw the virtuous oppressed with various and
successive calamities, and the vilest of men triumphing in prosperity and
pleasure, they entertained distant hopes, that, in a future revolution,
these seeming inequalities would be rectified, these inconsistencies removed;
the righteous distinguishingly rewarded, and the wicked remarkably punished.
But after all their inquiries upon this important subject, they attained
no higher than probable conjectures, some uncertain expectations. And when
they came to describe the nature and situation of these invisible regions
of happiness or misery, they made the wildest guesses, and run into the
most absurd and vain imaginations. The heaven they contrived for
the entertainment of the virtuous, was made up of sensual pleasures, beneath
the dignity of human nature, and inconsistent with perfect felicity. The
hell they described for the punishment of the vicious, consisted
in ridiculous terrors, unworthy the belief of a rational and religious
creature.
Their
practices
were equally corrupt with their principles. As the most extravagant errors
were received among the established articles of their faith, so the most
infamous vices obtained in their practice, and were indulged not only with
impunity, but authorized by the sanction of their laws. They stupidly erected
altars to idols of wood and stone; paid divine honours to those, who in
their lives had been the greatest monsters of lust and cruelty; yea, offered
up their sons and daughters as sacrifices to devils. The principles of
honour, the restraints of shame, the precepts of their philosophers, were
all too weak to keep their corruptions within any tolerable bounds. The
wickedness of their hearts broke through every enclosure, and deluged the
earth with rapine and violence, blood and slaughter, and all manner of
brutish and detestable impurities. It is hardly possible to read the melancholy
description of the principles and manners of the heathen world given us
by St. Paul, without horror and surprise; to think that man, once the “friend
of God” and “the lord
of this lower world,” should thus “deny the God that
made him,” and bow down to
dumb idols; should thus, by lust and
intemperance, degrade himself into the character of the beast, “which
hath no understanding;” and by pride, malice, and revenge, transform himself
into the very image of the devil, “who was a murderer from the beginning.”
This
was the state of the Gentile nations, when the light of the gospel appeared
to scatter the darkness that overspread the face of the earth. And this
has been the case, so far as has yet appeared, of all the nations ever
since, upon whom the Sun of righteousness has not arisen with healing in
his wings. Every new-discovered country opens a new scene of astonishing
ignorance and barbarity; and gives us fresh evidence of the universal corruption
of human nature.
II.
I proceed now to consider the compassionate care and kindness
of our blessed Redeemer towards mankind, in these their deplorable circumstances.
He “sends out his servants,” to invite them “to come in,” and accept the
entertainments of his house.
God
might have left his guilty creatures to have eternally suffered the dismal
effects of their apostacy, without the least imputation of injustice, or
violence of his infinite perfections. The fall was the consequence of man’s
criminal choice, and attended with the highest aggravations.--The angels
that sinned were made examples of God’s righteous severity, and are
reserved “in chains” of guilt “to the judgment of the great day.” Mercy,
that tender attribute of the divine nature, did not interpose in their
behalf, in order to suspend the execution of their sentence, or to avert
God’s threatened displeasure. Their punishment is unalterably decreed,
their judgment is irreversible; they are the awful monuments of revenging
wrath, and are condemned “to blackness of darkness for ever.”--Now justice
might have shown the same inflexible severity to rebellious man, and have
left the universal progeny of Adam to perish in their guilt and misery.
It was unmerited mercy that distinguished the human race, in providing
a Saviour for us; and it was the most signal comparison that revealed the
counsels of heaven for our recovery.
But
though justice did not oblige the Divine Being to provide for our relief,
yet the goodness of the indulgent Father of the universe inclined him to
show pity to his guilty creatures, who fell from their innocence through
the subtlety and malice of seducing and apostate spirits. It was agreeable
to the divine wisdom to disappoint the devices of Satan, the enemy of God
and goodness, and recover the creatures he had made from their subjection
to the powers of darkness.
He
therefore gave early discoveries of his designs of mercy to our first parents,
and immediately upon the apostacy opened a door of hope for their recovery.
He revealed a Saviour to the ancient patriarchs, under dark types and by
distant promises; made clearer declarations of his will, as the appointed
time drew near, for the accomplishment of the promises, and the manifestation
of the Son of God in human flesh. “And when the fulness of time was come,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
This
divine and illustrious person left the bosom of his Father, that he might
put on the character of a servant; descended from glories of heaven, that
he might dwell on this inferior earth; was made under the law, that he
might fulfil all righteousness; submitted to the infirmities of human nature,
to the sorrows and sufferings of an afflicted life, and to the agonies
of a painful ignominious death on a cross, that he might destroy the power
of sin, abolish the empire of death, and purchase immortality and glory
for perishing man.
While
our Lord Jesus resided in this lower world, he preached the glad tidings
of salvation, and published the kingdom of God; confirming his doctrine
by numerous and undoubted miracles, and recommending his instructions by
the charms of a spotless life and conversation. He sent forth his apostles
to pursue the same gracious design of gospellizing the people, and furnished
them with sufficient powers to proselyte the nations to the faith. He also
appointed a standing ministry, to carry on a treaty of peace with rebellious
sinners, in the successive ages of the church; to continue, till the number
of the redeemed is completed, and the whole election of grace placed in
circumstances of spotless purity and perfect happiness.
These ministers are styled “the servants of Christ,” by way of eminence: they are in a peculiar manner devoted to the service o