Real experience. for the most exquisite orations, because there is more of sublimity and glory in them than in any other. An author likewise may write about divine revelation, and all the mysteries of redemption, with precision, accuracy, force, and elegance, and yet himself be destitute of the main concern, which is, the faith and inward perception of these things for his own soul. I would deal fairly and closely with myself in this respect, as well as with others; and I will confess, that my light is far beyond my liveliness; and though I humbly trust that I have some little real life in my knowledge of God and his truths, yet I own with an aching heart, that it is indeed but little, too little, and much less than my inbred fondness for myself, or vanity, or pride, or conceit, (for, Lord, thou knowest, and I know, that I have all these in abundance within me!) will suffer me' at times to think that I have. Perceiving, then, my own weakness, and the deceivableness of unrighteousness in my own heart, I am able to see, and yet to pity and bear with, the same infirmities and defects in others. However, no real believer can find much or long satisfaction in any notions or conceptions of divine truth, though very subtle, clear, full, extensive, and convincing, without something of a more substantial nature arising from them. He doth not despise head-knowledge, indeed, because by this he can see the wisdom of God; but he would have heart-knowledge too, because he wishes to taste, to enjoy, to be assured of his interest in, the love of God. He can no more feed upon words and syllables in his soul, than he can live upon air only for his body. Dirine food. The Lord, therefore, when he imparts the demonstration of the spirit to a man, imparts it not in word only but in power: And so the gospel becomes the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. He cannot receive it aright without this power; he cannot live upon it but by this power; nor hold out in living and believing to the end but by the same power. This gracious feeding of the soul upon the things of God is its greatest enjoyment here upon earth, and one of its bright evidences for heaven. It is a secret holy act, carried on best without the clutter of the animal passions, or the intercourse of corporeal things. The holy bread was eaten in the holy place, before the holy light; and all out of the air, or view, or correspondence, of the world. Thus, in the secret place of the Most High, the soul feeds upon Christ, beholds Christ, and obtains all its divine communion with the' things of God. And when it hath thus tasted that the Lord is gracious, it loves to be with him, and says earnestly, as Peter did, It is good to be here. The carnal notion even of the best things will no longer satisfy or feed it. The bread of God which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the hungry soul, can alone satiate its cravings and completely answer its desires. Spirit of scoffing. CHAP. XXIX. ON THE SPIRIT OF SCOFFING. It is no less ungracious than unwise to indulge a scoffing temper in our souls. Pride and an unmortified opinion of self, joined with contempt of others, are the true origin of this evil. It is the more dangerous, and not so much to the scorned as to the scorning, when set off with wit and mimicry, point and satire. But attic salt is not the salt of the covenant; and, in sacred things especially, is not the true savour for a Christian. It may be diverting to mimic and to take off others, in order to expose their foibles or defects; but how, and to whom, is it diverting? Is it to the humble, spiritual, and mortified mind? No, but to the profane and the carnal; or, at least, to what is carnal and profane in a Christian, which is the very principle of all others that he would not strengthen or encourage, but subdue. There is so much inhumanity, as well as irreli gion, in this jeering temper, and usually so little good sense, that the Christian is bound to oppose it both in himself and in others.-Cheerfulness is his privilege; but surely he may be happy in his mind without planting thorns elsewhere; nay, it proceeds from the want of true happiness, if he can endure at any rate such a contemptible shadow of it. True peace is gentle in itself, and glows most sweetly in diffusing gentleness and kindness on every side. The happy Christian Nature and grace. would increase his own joy, by making, if possible, every one truly happy about him. CHAP. XXX. IT IS A GREAT POINT OF CHRISTIAN WISDOM TO DISTINGUISH WELL BETWEEN NATURE AND GRACE. EVERY real believer hath an old man and a new, an Esau and a Jacob, a carnal mind and a spiritual mind, within him: And these are contrary the one to the other; so that he cannot always do the right things that he would do for God, nor crush the evil things that he would not do, within himself. These opposite principles have two opposité laws, or rules, of action and power. The inclination and effect of the one are constantly di rected to self, and to carnal things for the indulgence of self; and those of the other to God, and to spiritual things for the glory of God. Men under nature, having only one of these principles, cannot, in their natural state, discern the other. It is by grace, as by a rule, that they are able to measure nature, and to know the tendencies and proportions of both grace and nature, within themselves. He that is spiritual, judgeth, or discerneth, all things ; yet he himself is judged of no man. Nature in the Christian is for cleaving to sense, to its own doings, and to its own powers, even in religion: But grace in his soul is for living by faith, above and often against the feelings of sense, upon the truth as it is in Jesus, and Nature and grace. upon his work and working, for life and salva tion. Nature loves to show and set off itself, and to be admired as excellent, eminent, wise, and great in the eyes of men. Grace doth not set much by itself, but is lowly and humble, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, dreads the applauses of men, and enables the soul to see, that it is so utterly weak and poor, as well as vile, that it must receive out of the fulness of Christ every one of its blessings, from the first spark of grace to the bright crown of glory. Nature is quarrelsome, impatient, and full of restlessness, desiring its own objects immediately and independently, and applying all it receives to its own ease or aggrandizement. Grace seeketh not her own, but the things which are Jesus Christ's, makes the spirit meek, and mild, and patient, and quiets it with the will and love of God in all things. Nature hates the cross, and shuns it as a bitter and evil thing; it struggles hard not to feel it, and, when it feels it, to get rid of it, without any other consideration than it is painful, and hinders all indulgences and gratifications. But grace submits to the cross with humble resignation, and desires that God's purpose may be answered by it; like as a wise patient wishes that his physic may have its due effect, however unpleasant and distasteful it may be in the act of receiving. When nature attempts holy duties, as she sometimes will either in fear or in pride, it is to make herself rich and increased in goods by them, so that she may have something wherewith to purchase even of God himself. But grace comes |