Amen, my soul! none but Christ! none but Christ! Christ. None but Christ can do wretched sinners good. The BELIEVER was bidden to look unto Jesus, and to the riches of his goodness,-Rom. 2: 4; to the riches of his glory, Rom. 9: 33; to the riches of his grace,- Ephes. 1: 7; to the riches of his INHERITANCE in the saints,— Ephes. 1: 18; to the exceeding riches of his grace,Ephes. 2: 7; to his riches in glory,— Phil. 4: 19; to the unsearchable riches of Christ,- Ephes. 3: 8. 0, what a rich Saviour is ours! How often, when unfolding his love and the riches of his glory, I feel to say, with the great and good Rowland Hill, "Who can comprehend this mighty subject? It has breadths, and lengths, and depths, and heights, which pass knowledge. But I don't think there is a little sprat to be found who would complain that there is too much water in the sea for it to swim in; and so I, with my poor little sprat-like powers, am permitted to plunge into this ocean of love I shall never be able to fathom or fully comprehend." O, Jesus, who would not love thee with his whole soul and mind? People feel honored by their connection with some rich friend. O, my soul, how art thou honored by being united to Christ! How expressive! "The UNSEARCHABLE RICHES of Christ!" one is afraid to comment upon them; they are above all notions, names, conceptions, parables, expressions,-infinitely so! - eternally so! Well might one say, "Our necessities may be as many as the sands upon the sea-shore; our desires as boundless as the ocean these sands encircle; our hopes and aspirations as high as the heaven that looks down upon those sands and that ocean; yet in Christ there is a sufficiency of supply — infinite, unexplored, unfathomable." What a powerful unction in those words of John: "And I beheld, and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive POWER, and RICHES, and WISDOM, and STRENGTH, and HONOR, and GLORY, and BLESSING.". -Rev. 5: 11, 12. And next came the universal chorus, of every creature in heaven above, and on earth beneath, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and the burden of their united voices was, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever! O, but I do wonder how there can be a mere Unitarian or Socinian upon the face of the earth! Thursday, Jan. 23. — A storm last night; the elements of eternal truth in tremendous motion. That sinner has studied Shakspeare more than his Bible, I fear! Perhaps he was not far wrong; for it was awful! "Since I was man Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, Perhaps he may reflect upon another storm, which stands among the threatenings of God: "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup.”—Ps. 11: 6. An old Anglo-Saxon poet said, "THUNDER is the loudest of noises." Well, this was well-nigh my loudest preaching, and it was the Spirit's thunder-word, surely, to many a poor sinner, who, otherwise, perhaps, had not been awakened till he heard the thunder-wail of the lost in perdition. However, my noise was nothing, compared with what terrified sinners made. There was a storm of cries, indeed. O, how glorious it is, when the Gospel really becomes the power of God unto salvation! Surely it is worth. weeping, crying and groaning, in secret for, no matter what persecution follows; for it is sure to raise the devil in sinners and formalists and carnal professors; the Gospel, with the power of God in it, is a thing intolerable to the whole of them. Well, they have had it so, for once in their lives. Plenty of material for critics and croakers. No matter; sinners were converted. Friday morning, 24th.-A cramped time last night; fettered, overdid the previous night: "The soul was dead, and feeling had no place." "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." It is well: that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us, as St. Paul says. The work went or as usual; a great company saved. The people of God very happy. "The peace of God, beyond description sweet, Filled every spirit humbled at his feet." And my poor soul was happy, too; enjoying the sweet blessedness of being little,- decreasing, while Jesus, my Lord is increasing. CHAPTER XII. 66 SOME one inquired of Mr. Caughey concerning the nature of the besetting sin. That inquiry is answered in the present chapter. Let the "Inquirer" listen! You want to know what we mean by "the besetting sin of our nature." I reply, it is that which its title indicates, BESETTING; it is that which waylays, encircles and besieges, the soul; that which presses it on all sides, perplexes it, entangles it, and often renders an escape from falling by it exceedingly difficult. It is that which most embarrasses the conscience in its decisions. It is the habitual sin, ever-present, and makes itself to be felt and known upon occasion. It has many servants; some of which may be mistaken for itself, as in great houses a servant is often mistaken for the lady of the house, she dresses and appears so well. I said, the other evening, you may remember, it is the plague of the heart; or, "the sin of the inclination," as one termed it. It is the bosom rebel, a traitor to the soul and God. It is the bosom abomination. In some it has one complexion, or form, or tendency; in others, another; and so on, differing in each, as faces differ. It is "the complexion sin," as one called it who mourned over it, and "the sin of the temperament." It is that sin which BESETTING SIN grieves God, and frets your conscience,- brings leanness upon your soul, and Heaven's chastisements upon your body, the oftenest. It is that sin, that tendency in your nature, to which Satan most frequently appeals, and which is the aptest to respond. That is your besetting sin. Can you detect it now? — that sin which you think most of, the hardest to give up, or deny, and for which you are prone to invent many apologies. Looking over my private note-book the other day, I met with the following, which had been noted down, some years ago, from an old author that fell in my way. He gave, it seems, some half-dozen marks whereby we may know our besetting sin. His exact language I shall not promise, as my notes are meagre; but this was the spirit, or substance. You may detect it, 1. In that for which you do not like to be REPROVED! Herod could not bear to have the sin of incest touched; if John the Baptist meddled with that sin, he endangered his head. You are content to have the sins of others given to the knife; but if the minister puts his finger upon that sore, touches that sin, your heart burns with malice, or you become sick of the frets, and plan for retaliation,-a shrewd sign that is your Herodias! 2. It is that sin your THOUGHTS run most upon. If it come as a visitor, your thoughts run to meet it at the gate, and hail it at the open door; beckon to it from the windows, and give it a smiling welcome. It never comes amiss at the table, in the shop, in the counting-room, in the house of God, in the parlor, in the kitchen, in the cellar or garret, out of doors, in doors, or in the bed. It. is welcome everywhere; if untimely, not unkindly, or chidingly received; deferred, not cashiered. Which way |