as he draws near, till he falls prostrate before the cross, a new creature in Christ Jesus. By giving his heart to sinners and for them, holiness finds that it has nothing to ask, nothing to do, only to raise the sinner from the dust, and to become the guardian of his new life: the sinner finds that nothing is left him to desire, except that he may never wander from the sight of that cross which has made him the ward of infinite holiness, and is preparing him for heaven. Here God erects his throne, and man adores; to each the cross is ineffably precious, for it is only in its immediate presence that sin can be vanquished, and yet the sinrer saved!" What a body of divinity is in the above! My soul exclaims with Paul, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." How gloriously illustrated last night! Rank behind rank of broken-hearted penitents detached from the confederacy of sin by the magnetic power of that cross; lines of benches behind benches filled from end to end, and all the place vocal with their cries for mercy! but drawing nearer and nearer to the cross, one and another, and another, and so on, are changed into new creatures in Christ. This will do. Hallelujah! More of this, my Lord! Satan is having the worst of it now. The town begins to be moved. Dec. 20th. A hard time last night; the greatest pains brought the least success. Have had free, heavenly seasons in preaching with little preparation; an easy carelessness followed by an amazing elasticity and power; a sort of slap-dash, off-hand talk, has had in it somewhere "a chosen shaft," which somehow reached the mark, and did its work in the conscience, and won the field. Perhaps there is peril here. The Lord may not be willing to trust me here; might become too EASY and careless, trifling and prayerless, before preaching, and presume upon divine help. Satan may lie in ambush hereabouts, tempting to a careless spirit, to superficial preparation, to offer unbeaten oil in the sanctuary, which was a crime under the law of Moses. That which costs nothing is apt to go for nothing. Have often been tempted thus, and punished for yielding; driven back again to my knees, to my face on the floor, in humiliations, groans, cries and tears; the Lord telling me plainly, as if I heard his voice, that he would never make an exception a general rule!- that a free, happy, elastic time in preaching, with little previous preparation of head and heart, was an EXCEPTION; but close thought and close union with himself, with earnest cries for help from above, was his STANDING. RULE for a good and successful time in the pulpit. After such a lesson, I have returned to the pulpit with a tightly-bent bow, and the arrows of the Lord flew thick as hail and straight to the mark, as if barbed and feathered by an angel's hand! Now to my knees. Past two o'clock. - Prayer and action! blessed words. Christian honeycombs !-0, what sweetness there is in them! "Then most existence with herself is satisfied." A great fact this. God has wonderfully woven our duty, his glory and our happiness, together; may the web of my experience be this, till I enter upon duty in worlds above! Amen. That was a noble sentiment of that dying saint, "I repent of all my life but that spent in communion with God and in doing good." That, also, was a fine remark of another, who had stood high in the world, that the best state of mind a man can attain is, to be at leisure to do good! ay, if he will but employ that leisure in doing good. These gentlemen tasted largely of this honeycomb. I would go on eating of it, as Samson did his, and give of it to others, as Samson to his father and mother, and then like him go down among Philistine sinners, and slay heaps upon heaps, with sermons, crooked, may be, as the jaw-bone of the ass. With it he slew a thousand men; in it God gave him a miraculous well of pure water to quench his thirst after battle, just as he refreshes my soul in prayer and action! Samson called the place En-hakkore, that is, the well of him that called, or cried.-Judges 15. Many such wells does the Lord cleave for my thirsty soul in the heat of action. Hallelujah! A larger number of souls saved last night, I understand. The work advances with such impetuosity that a poor sermon, if it does no good, has no power to retard. Praise Jesus for that! The people light their torches from above. The angel of the Lord has no lack of coals on the holy ltar to scatter among the people, if my poor words do seem ake coals fallen out of the grate till cold and dead. Rev. 8: 5. - - Past five o'clock. There is a great thaw upon the cearts of the people. Spring has come indeed, with "the Anging of birds." He caused the wind to blow, and the waters flowed. He sent forth his commandment, and his word runs very swiftly. He sent out his word and melted them, and the hills flowed down at his presence. He prepared the rain for the earth, and made the grass grow upon the mountains. Ps. 147. I was thinking, to-day, that when winter is disputing the vance of spring death is in the aspect of everything. Ihere is nothing around to give sign of a change of season. But how deceitful are such appearances! Break a twig, how rife it is with sap! Scrape away the earth, behold the germs and buds of life! The sap is ascending dead-looking trees vigorously, and circulates noiselessly and unseen over all the branches; by and by the infant green is appearing everywhere with buds and blossoms. It is just so previous to a revival, frequently. So it has been and so it is in Huddersfiela ! There is a great bowing among the people, with groaning which sometimes cannot be uttered, but now and then loud enough, with entire consecration, "irreclaimable burnt-offerings to Christ," as Fenelon expresses it. The wise men of the East bowed before the infant Christ. It was wise in them to bow the knee, and wise to offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It is wise in this people to bow the knee, but wiser still to present an offering more valuable than gold, and frankincense, and myrrh! 66 "Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion, Odors of Eden and offerings divine? Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean, Vainly we offer each ample oblation, Vainly with gifts would his favor secure ; Richer by far is the heart's adoration, Dearer to God are prayers of the poor." Sinners are laying down their weapons in considerable numbers daily. There appears to be an extensive disposition to surrender. Thinking, when out around, of the old stories I used to read of battles and sieges, and surrenders of besieged castles,-how vigorously they resisted, how obstinately they held out, but, in extremity, to save themselves from the horrors of famine, they surrendered upon terms, or at discretion - Acts 9: 6,- thus it comes to pass in these days. Saturday morning, Dec. 21.- Preached last night on sanctification. Acts 26: 18. "Sanctified by faith that is in me." Dwelt on the substitutes for faith employed by some to obtain sanctification, such as abandonment of sin, prayer, entire consecration, deep conviction, and substituting the blessing itself for the faith that brings it. Showed their inefficiency. Guarded my sentiments by insisting upon the necessity of these things previous to sanctification; that God never cleanses a heart where sin is indulged; faith in the world's rotundity would as soon purify the soul, as faith in Christ's veracity, when sin is held on to, where prayer is restrained, consecration refused, and conviction unfelt. Yet, these may all be practised, but, if faith be wanting, so will purity. They are to the soul what Moses was to the Israelites, a guide to the verge of the promised land. Faith is the Joshua to conduct the soul through Jordan over into the Canaan of perfect love. Believe that ye do receive it,- Mark 11: 24,-was pressed home. Many saw their error and embraced the Gospel plan, and were saved. |