397 both himself, and the whole creation, so to speak, with which he stands connected? The aid therefore of the blessed Spirit is seen chiefly in the humble but fervent expression of these painful feelings. The Christian in this world is in a state of conflict. Every thing combines to make his devotions partake largely of the language of depression and grief. He has to contend with the corruption of a desperately wicked heart; he has to resist the temptations to unbelief and despair which Satan presents; he has to keep under his body and bring it into subjection. Besides this, he has to perform the duties of his station, to ascend in affection to God, to walk in the love of Christ, to exercise faith in an unseen world, and to aim in all things at the Divine glory. He has further to bear with the infirmities of others, to witness the disorder which sin has brought into families and neighborhoods and kingdoms, to behold the contempt that is put upon the astonishing remedy provided for fallen men in Christ Jesus, and to see his fellow-sinners rush into eternity with heedless and desperate determination. Then his own conscious feebleness and mistakes, his sense of indwelling sin, his shame and confusion for his small proficiency in the ways of God and duty-all these topics, connected with the thoughts of heaven and of his Saviour's presence there, make him groan, being burdened: not for that he would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. And when the Holy Spirit is pleased especially to help his weaknesses in prayer and intercede for him, so that he knows what to pray for, and how to pray with somewhat of right affections, he expresses his "desire to depart and be with Christ" in fervent aspirations which God only can fully understand. There, with the importunity of the man in our Lord's parable who begged the three loaves, he perseveres in his carnest suit. Then, like the royal Prophet, he "follows hard after God." Then, like Jacob, he says with holy boldness, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me. These impassioned sighs and expectations, are utterly unknown to the irreligious world; nor can they be fully explained in words. They are regarded however by God who searcheth the heart. A man must be "born from above" before he can attain any just conception of prayer in general, and much less of these mysterious breathings of the devout penitent. They are not the fruit of impatience or self-will; but they are the humble yet eager breathings of a soul "which breaketh out for the very fervent desire which it hath always unto God's judgments." They do not flow forth so much in copious and fluent expressions, as in broken sentences and detached ejaculations, which imply more than we can find terms to utter. They may not even be framed into words, but conveyed to heaven in the sighs and throbs of a contrite heart. And the penitent is perhaps ashamed at the incoherence of his devotions, at the very time that the all-seeing God accepts and answers them. Thus the Holy Ghost relieves and helps the true Christian. He thus supports him under his burdens. He thus assists him in the most important duty of prayer. He thus teaches him what is the right matter, and what the due manner of supplication. And the humble Christian pouring out all his desires before God, confessing unto him all his sins, adoring his perfections, pleading his promises, dedicating himself to his service, and longing for the fruition of his salvation, is kept in humility and faith, in watchfulness and dependence, in holiness and joy; and is at length brought by the mercy of God to that full redemption both of body and soul, after which he has so long and perseveringly sighed. Before we close this subject, it may be proper, 1. To meet the difficulty which it may occasion to a trembling Christian. There are, perhaps, many who may be ready to despond under the idea that they have never reached the heights of devotion which have been above described. They have been strangers to these unutterable groanings; and they fear, therefore, that they are strangers also to prayer and to the intercession of the Holy Spirit. You must observe, then, that there are various degrees in Christian attainments, and that you may be truly devout, though you have not advanced so far as to understand the full meaning of some parts of our subject. If you are indeed repenting of your sins, believing in Christ Jesus, and obeying the commandments of God, be encouraged to go forward. Already the Holy Spirit must have aided you in your infirmities, or you could not thus have sought and found his grace. But you are further distressed because you conceive the language of the text to imply some sensible influences of grace, some illapses of the Spirit, some positive and distinct impression which you have never felt. There cannot be a greater mistake. The agency of the Spirit, mighty as it is, is not yet secret and imperceptible; and cannot be directly distinguished from the operations of our minds. It is discerned in its effects. It acts in a manner suited to our rational and accountable nature; and is constantly to be tried by the written word of Holy Scripture, and by no other rule. Even the inexpressible emotions to which we have alluded correspond with the revealed will of God; and lead, not to enthusiasm, but to the fulfillment of that will; not to visions, and raptures, and voices, and external and audible groanings; but to purity, and humility, and devotion, and the love of God. Rely, then, on the silent and sacred guidance of the Holy Spirit. Implore his inspiration, and do homage to his work. Let nothing deter you from persevering prayer-no sense of weakness, no temptations, no fears. Thus shall you be further assisted in the duty. You shall be enabled to lay open your wants, and to plead your whole cause before God. The time will perhaps come, when, in the holy elevations of devotion, you shall feel more than any words can express; and when, in your sorrow for sin, of faith in Christ Jesus, of love to God, and desires of the heavenly felicity, you shall attain an enlargement of thought, a copiousness of expression, a humility and yet a fervor and confidence of mind, which shall lead you to bless and adore the mercy of your Saviour. And even in your present early stage of Christian picty, the promised aid of the Holy Ghost under your infirmities is surely more calculated to inspire you with encouragement, than the circumtances of your low attainments in spirituality of devotion, is to fill you with despair. And besides you have this additional assurance of being heard in your petitions, that these petitions are suggested by this blessed influence. God himself is the author of them. Our heavenly Father does not listen to them as new and strange, nor reject them as absurd; but kindly receives them as suggested by his Spirit, and agreeable to his will; "He that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Let, then, the sense of your infirmities lead you to a more entire reliance on the Holy Spirit. God afflicts us with trouble, and awakens us to a sense of our misery, not that we should pine away with grief, but that we should seek his grace and obtain relief by prayer. And the safest state of mind in which we can be, is that of humility under our deficiencies, and eager desire after greater attainments in devotion, and every other Christian duty. 2. But what shall I say to those, whom this whole argument musı convict of living without prayer? Such are assuredly without God and without Christ. Prayer is the breath, as it were, of the soul. When Paul was struck to the earth by the Saviour on his way to Damascus, the first evidence of his conversion was, "Behold he prayeth!" And in every age, the first indication of spiritual life is prayer. And yet you continue strangers, in fact, to this holy exercise. You are contented with the offering of the lips, without any movement of the affections. You join in the public prayers of the church, but you never confess your sins from your heart, you never once unite with holy fervency in the petitions of our devout Liturgy. In your families you live without prayer, though you call yourselves Christians. And as to your closet, you are strangers there; or at best a few formal words satisfy your consciences. You never pray with feeling, with importunity, with constancy, with spirituality; that is, you never pray at all. Witness your reluctance to secret devotion. Witness your indifference in it. Witness your frequent omission of the duty. Witness your entire unconsciousness of all those infirmities which the best Christian most knows and laments, because he is most in carnest about his salvation. Witness your contempt of the doctrine of His grace. Witness your reliance on your own understanding and your own powers for serving God. Allow an honest appeal to be made to your own conscience. Would you not treat with ridicule a humble Christian who should speak, with whatever sobriety, of the help and intercession of the Holy Spirit in prayer, and of the "groanings that cannot be uttered," which flow from it? Then surely your hearts nust be wrong before God. Surely all is yet to be begun in you as to religion. And it must begin at this point--The work and illumination of the Holy Spirit. Prostrate, then, yourselves in contrition before the throne of Mercy. Ask of God that gift of his Holy Spirit which he has promised to all that seek it. Be once in carnest, and you will soon perceive the unnumbered discases and infirmities of your soul. The aid of the Holy Ghost will then appear to you the most desirable and suitable of all blessings. What you now despise or disregard, you will then value above all price, and scek with intense solicitude. Nor shall you seek it in vain. It is the gracious office of the Holy Spirit to help your infirmities. He will condescend to teach you and to guide you in the ways of repentance, justification, holiness, obedience, and joy; he will be to you a comforter and sanctifier, will intercede in your heart here, and prepare you for eternal glory hereafter. SERMON XXXIV. THE WARRANT FOR PRAYER. By the Rev. EDWARD CRAIG, M. A., MATTHEW vii. 7-11. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? It seems consistent with sound reason to suppose, that between God and his rational creation, there would be some communication and intercourse; that men would naturally and readily seek to communicate with the Almighty mind from which they sprung; and that God would hear them, and answer, and bless them. Yet, on looking into the mind of man, in its natural state, and VOL. II.-51 |