Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

66

to suppose that, in these days, we ought to imitate those who lived for weeks, and even years, on herbs, and roots, and pulse, and the like,yet we would remind the reader, that the word of God commands us to deny ourselves, and to take up our cross daily, and that high attainments in the divine life have never been made without this. Miss Holland was content to be the Lord's disciple on these terms, and regarded things grievous to flesh and blood," when she was providentially called to endure them, as opportunities of embracing God's will at the expense of her own; and, consequently, as so many steps by which she might advance towards perfection. There are two particulars mentioned in her diary, in which she thus denied herself,— abstinence from food, and engaging in public prayer. In reference to the former, she writes: "I purpose to use abstinence on every Friday. O Jesus, help me to deny myself, and follow thee! Let my motives be pure; let all my actions flow from love to thee!" The week after she formed this resolution she says: "This last week I have enjoyed more peace and solid comfort. I see that I must deny myself daily. It is easy when practised; and I resolve, henceforward, by the strength of grace, that 'whatsoever I do, whether I eat or drink, I will do all to the glory of God."" In reference to the latter of these particulars of self-denial she writes: "I have been kept in peace this day; but, at the class-meeting, I felt backward to engage in prayer. I could not take up my cross. Often have I brought darkness upon my mind by yielding to this temptation. If I prayed more in public, I should enjoy more of God." In the evening of the same day it would seem that she overcame the temptation; for she says: "In the prayermeeting to-night I found the Lord present. I can now rejoice in the God of my salvation; and I trust that I am willing to consecrate my service this day unto the Lord."

There is every reason to believe that she lived, for a considerable period, in the enjoyment of the blessing of entire sanctification. From notices in her diary, it appears that, in the year 1834, her mind was led to dwell upon this high Gospel privilege; and that, when convinced that it was attainable, she never rested until the perfect love of God was shed abroad in her heart,-until "the very God of peace sanctified her wholly ;" and then she depended on Him that her "whole spirit, and soul, and body should be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." Happy state! Blessed prelude to the purity and joy of heaven!

The space allotted to this sketch will not allow of further references being made to the characteristics of Miss Holland's life. But we must not omit to observe, that she manifested the deepest sympathy in the spiritual welfare of others. Her journal is replete with the most touching appeals to God on behalf of her relations and friends. But it was not for these alone that she felt concerned: she prayed for the salvation of all; and sought, as far as her circumstances would admit,

and as far as she was enabled to overcome her natural timidity, to extend the kingdom of Christ.

Such was the influence of divine grace on her heart and life. It led to gentleness of spirit, to communion with God, to intense delight in the services of the sanctuary, to careful self-examination and cheerful self-denial, to the enjoyment of perfect love, and to earnest longings for the salvation of others. Let us now follow her to the close of her earthly career, and witness the power of divine grace to support her when passing through "the valley and shadow of death."

Her last illness was sudden and unexpected. For some time previous to it her health appeared to be gradually improving, after long and painful affliction; and her anxious relations flattered themselves that she would be fully restored to them. But "God seeth not as man seeth :" in his mysterious providence, he often calls first the loveliest and most useful of our fellow-beings. She was seized with typhus-fever; and, under the influence of that malignant disease, rapidly wasted away. She bore her sufferings with signal patience; not a murmuring expression fell from her lips; and, on being informed that her medical attendant despaired of her recovery, she calmly replied,

"My Father's hand prepares the cup,

And what He wills is best."

Seeing her friends weeping around her, she entreated them to dry their tears, and to be resigned to the will of God; adding her favourite words," What He wills is best." On another occasion she requested that the 499th hymn in the Wesleyan Hymn-Book might be read to her; and, when the following words were repeated,

66 Hallelujah, they cry, to the King of the sky,

To the great everlasting I AM!

To the Lamb that was slain, and liveth again!
Hallelujah to God and the Lamb!”—

she was enraptured, and seemed already to mingle, by faith, with the celestial throng in adoring her enthroned Redeemer. Just before she expired, she continued to exclaim, "Jesus is precious; Jesus is precious!" her joyous countenance attesting the truth of her language. The moment of her departure was one of peculiar interest. The room seemed filled with the divine presence; and, whilst a solemn influence rested upon her friends, filling them with

"That speechless awe which dares not move,

And all the silent heaven of love,"

she sweetly fell asleep in Jesus, in the thirty-second year of her age, October 5th, 1840.

279

FAITH WORKING BY ACTIVE LOVE.

CHRIST JESUS Our Saviour gave himself for us, to redeem us from all our sins and wickedness, and to purify us "a peculiar people, zealous of good works." To this purpose we are admonished of the Lord : "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Therefore, whilst we have time, let us do good towards all men, and especially towards them of the household of faith. To this use the holy Scriptures were given unto us, that the man of God be perfect, and instructed unto all good works. It is clear, then, that we be not so justified by faith, that we should be unprofitable and barren; but rather that, giving ourselves continually unto good works, we should advance the glory of God's grace, and show it before the eyes of all men as the light of our new creation. For we are regenerated in Christ; and by its fruits we do declare ourselves before men to be justified. Therefore, let us not only show ourselves to be Christians in name, but to have become good of evil, and to declare, by good works, the goodness we have received of Christ. Good works be the fruits of faith, which worketh by love: they be works of God which he worketh in us, and by us; but it must be considered with what mind those things be wrought which be of themselves good, whether of the affection of love and mercy, or for some other cause; for he is not worthy straightway to have the commendation of good works, which doth bestow meat and clothing on the poor, not of the desire to do good, but rather to hunt and hawk for glory in the sight of men. Wherefore all be not immediately good works which are esteemed to be good, but only when they be such as do proceed from a good and faithful heart, and from the affection of charity. Nor is the goodness we are created unto determined in the works of mercy only, but it doth extend to our whole life, and common trade of living together, wherein one man is knit unto another by mutual love, aid, and service. And this true and sincere love is an inseparable property in the godly. No Christian without faith; and where is no love, is no faith. Where there is not the brightness of charity, neither is there the zeal of faith. Thou mayest as well take light from the sun, as charity from faith. Charity, in its fruits, is the outward act of the inward life of the Christian. As the body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without charity. He is not of Christ that hath not the Spirit of Christ; and he hath not the Spirit of Christ that hath not the gift of charity. Solomon's temple was all covered with gold within and without; so let God's temple, which is thyself, be all beautified with faith and charity within and without. Let charity move thy heart to compassion, and thy hand to contribution; for neither is sufficient without the other. Faith receiveth all from God, and charity giveth again unto our neighbour.— John Wells (1639).

MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS.

THE TRUTH OF GOD, THE INSTRUMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE SANCTIFICATION OF MAN.

(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

THE great religious controversy of the present day has a tendency to recall, to the devout and reflective mind, some important principles which it has, indeed, previously admitted, but its apprehension of which may have been feeble and indistinct. Thus the question, What is the channel through which the Spirit's influence flows to man? is calculated to lead those who derive their views of Christianity from the written word of God, to a more distinct recognition of the principle, that the truth is the grand instrument which the Spirit uses in all the processes by which he raises man to holiness on earth, and prepares him for the glory of the heavenly state. This principle is full of interest and instruction; and if, at first, it should be presented to the mind in a controversial form, it is of such a character, that the man who is in earnest about religion will soon cease to contemplate it controversially, and will apply it to the great purpose of his own advancement in piety.

It may, indeed, be safely affirmed, that, in every part of the New Testament, there is the highest honour put upon the truth of God, as the grand instrument of raising man to a state of peace and spiritual life, and then of nourishing and maturing every holy affection. The system of Christian doctrine is represented by the Apostle Paul as a mould, into which the human mind is to be cast; so that all its sentiments and affections shall bear an exact correspondence to that scheme of truth. Addressing the Romans, he says, "But thanks be to God, that whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye have now obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine into which ye have been deli

*

vered." (Rom. vi. 17.) The Apostle Peter refers to the truth of God, as the instrument of our regeneration: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter i. 23, 25.) And our adorable Redeemer, in his prayer recorded in John xvii., has the remarkable and emphatic passage,-" Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth" and, soon afterwards, he adds, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (Verses 17, 19.)

In accordance with this general principle, we find the Apostles ever manifesting a deep solicitude for the advancement of believers in spiritual knowledge. They urge this not only as conducive to spiritual com. fort, but as essential to the increase of piety. The prayers of St. Paul, for several of the churches, will illustrate this. To the Colossians he writes: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col. i. 9, 10.) His prayer for the Philippian church is of a similar charac ter: "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere

*Wesley's translation. See also his note on this passage.

and without offence till the day of Christ." (Phil. i. 9, 10.)

The teaching of the holy Scriptures on the subject before us, is guarded in a very accurate and instructive manner. It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to remark, that the knowledge of the truth is never adverted to, as if it could be of any avail, unless connected with a holy state of the affections, and with practical obedience to the divine will. If love to God, and benevolence to man, glow not within our breasts, then, however clear our conceptions of the divine character and government, and of the plan of redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ, we are still in the region of spiritual death. "Though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have not charity, I am nothing."

once

Again: the knowledge of the truth is never spoken of as if it effected our sanctification by a purely natural process, independently of an accompanying influence of the Holy Spirit. The "truth as it is in Jesus" is, indeed, the grand instrument employed in the entire course of our moral recovery; but we are ever taught to acknowledge the unseen but powerful agency of the Holy Spirit, as that which imparts a new spiritual life, breaks the power of sin, and renders obedience to the divine commands at practicable and delightful. It would be in vain to exhibit to the mind the beauty of holiness, and its tendency to give happiness to individuals and to society, unless a power from above were promised, to call into existence new principles and feelings, to turn into a new channel our desires, and hopes, and fears, and to effect even "a new creation in the breast polluted by sin, and enslaved by its fascinations and its power. The "law of sin which is in our members" cannot be reversed and destroyed by "the law of the mind," enlightened to behold the excellence of the divine precepts, but only by "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." The promise of the Holy Spirit's influence is, indeed, the great promise of the

VOL. XXIII. Third Series.

Christian covenant. It is his to convince of sin, to lead onward the penitent mind to a believing apprehension of the merits of Christ, to fill the heart thus resting on the atonement with child-like confidence and love, and to conform it to universal holiness. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." (Heb. viii. 10.) It is worthy of remark, that, in many passages of Scripture, the agency of the Holy Spirit, and the instrumentality of the truth, in the sanctification of man, are placed in intimate connexion. Thus St. Peter says, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." (1 Peter i. 22.) St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." (2 Thess. ii. 13.) And in the well-known passage of our Lord's prayer, offered up just before he entered upon the agonies of Gethsemane, Sanctify them through thy truth," the exertion of a divine power upon the mind is distinctly recognised, while the truth of God is pointed out as the great instrument of producing and sustaining our holy affections.

66

66

We find one illustration of the principle before us in the nature and process of that great change which constitutes us new creatures" in Christ Jesus. We are to be "born of the Spirit;" so that the agency of the Holy Ghost, in the work of regenerating the human mind, is altogether unquestionable; and the doctrine which affirms it is an essential and prominent doctrine of the Christian revelation. This action of the Holy Spirit on the mind of man is, in itself, mysterious; and its modes and varieties are not to be APRIL, 1844.

X

« AnteriorContinuar »