The inner life

Front matter

|# LI BRARY OF C0?(G1!E SS.

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Introduction

There is not enongli of an3^thiDg good in the world, which depends on man, not enough even of those good things of which it is asserted most frequently, that there is too much. Books are plenty, good books are few, and among the classes of the few good books none are more rare than those which are thoroughly adapted to the experimental life of the Christian. Eeligious books, written in the course of professional life, and printed simply because they have been written, — books prepared for the benefit of the author, or of the publisher, not for the benefit of the reader, — are common enough. Smooth and graceful in style and rich in thought such works may be, but as they do not come from the heart they do not go to the heart, they simply swell the number of books already too large, books wrought out in no genuine experience, and addressed to no specific want, and incapable of moving the afifections of men, a result without which their judgments are enlightened in vain.

o i>:troduction.

The volume which now lies before the reader claims a. moment from him, on the ground that it is no bookseller's nor book-writer's manufacture, but a true growth, an humble but genuine growth out of a life kindled by the Saviour and hidden with him in God. It is offered to God and to His Children, as the witness of a heart which was led through sore conflicts to precious experiences, out of the darkness not alone of nature, but of a seductive and delusive system of theology, to a knowledge of the truth of God in his Word, and of the God of truth in his only-begotten Son, through the Holy Ghost, the illuminer and Comforter. Its author asks a hearing, not because of the earthly wisdom or human eloquence for which the natural heart seeks, but because he speaks what it is his joy, in common with all that are in Christ Jesus, to know, and testifies, in the fellowship of all who are led by the Spirit of God, what he has seen.

This volume may be made a hand-book for the Pilgrim who turns his face Zionward, not indeed as a substitute for God's own Guide-book, but as a simple Manual, in which is arranged what that great and exhaustless Book furnishes for the way. With this testimony of God's inspired servants is connected, in these pages, the record in which the

INTRODUCTION.

Biiliits of many lands, and the "wayfaring man" himself, set their seal to God's ever-abiding truth. The Bible, the life and testimony of Bible Christians, the sweet and heavenly strains of holy men and women who drew their inspiration from the Bible, these will be fouiid grouped together here in all the artless fervor of a soul which desires to know nothing among men, but "Jesus Christ and him crucified." It is a book in which the yearning heart of seeker and saint will find a voice for its longings, in which the mourning and the rejoicing will find words of comfort and of exultation. It has an extraordinary air of reality, as if the invisible were visible, as if the glory to be revealed were a present thing grasjDed in living faith. The man who has no religion, or who imagines that religion is all summed up in frigid speculation, may not comprehend the fire of devotion which glows in these pages, and yet he must be cold indeed, if he can peruse them without feeling something of their own ardent life and aspiration.

But this little volume is not merely devotional; it is eminently practical. It unfolds duty as well as privilege, duty in the closet, and duty in the family circle. It is especially a book for the family. The Chapters on " Obedience to Parents" are peculiarly comprehensive and forcible. The

10 INTRODUCTION.

family which is so happy as to take its shape under the influence of those Chapters will never cease, no, not to eternity, to thank God that this book was brought within it.

This book is also rich in consolation. The ever-touching theme of *' Family Bereavements" is handled with a tenderness which would have been impossible on the part of one who had not tasted very deeply of the bitter cup, and very deeply of the consolations which a Saviour's love mingles with it. As the author approaches the termination of his work, the heavenly home assumes to him an increasing vividness ; he rises and carries the reader with him, within the veil. He gathers a cloud of witnesses around the saint's dying hour, and central among them all stands the faithful and true Witness, "The Author and finisher of our faith," the adorable and loving Saviour. To that Saviour this book is an oiFering of love and gratitude ; and all who love him, and all who wish to love him, will find pure delight and an abiding blessing in an earnest, repeated, and prayerful perusal of it.

CO^^TENTS.

Chapter I. Advent Of The One Altogether Lovely

His amazing love — No room in the Inn for "poor" people — Born in a Stable — What the Angels did — His temptations and sufferings — His transfiguration — He weeps over a rebellious people — His groans and tears at the grave of Lazarus — What all the riches of the world could not purchase — He is forsaken by all his friends — His sorrows — The powers of darkness assail him — He prays the more earnestly — Sweats great drops of blood — What his tormentors and murderers said and did — The amazing riches and glory of the Christian — Eternal misery of all who refuse or neglect to come to Christ — The battle for souls betwixt the Armies of the Cross and Satan and his hosts — Earth a near door-neighbor to Heaven — Time has no duration in the reckoning of God — The speed of Angels — Christ ever present with the Christian in his public and private devotions — Infinite wisdom, power, and condescension of God Page 17

Chapter II. The Love That Passeth Knowledge

The love unspeakable and full of glory — What the sweet singer of Israel said of it — What St. John heard — Effect of a mother's prayers, and of preaching Christ and him crucified — Amazing

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xn CONTENTS.

effects of pardon — Why these raptures are allowed new converts — The proofs of true conversion — Who are true Christians, and who mere professors or "reprobates" — The conversion of William Cowper, and others — Heart-cheering experiences — The beacon-light of their Father's house in full view — Sounds like "foolishness" to men of the world — "Divers operations, but the same God" — No two leaves upon a tree alike — The cases of Lazarus, Zaccheus. and Mary Magdalene — What Mary's tears and love had won — Love and sorrow — Earth's night of weeping will soon sparkle in eternal sunbeams — Christ always uppermost in the thoughts of his people — They cling to the Cross like the ivy to the tree 35

Chapter III. The Warfare

What God does to the true members of his Church — The true nature of the Christian warfare — The devices of Satan — His onsets constant — Leave no unguarded place — What the Christian must expect and do — No cross no crown — The hidden designs of God — The rod — Words of cheer for sinking hearts — The morning without clouds — The everlasting hills of glory appear — The spirit of God sounds a string here and there — Conflicts and trials — The wa,j God teaches and trains his children — Fearful consequences of counteracting His afflictive dispensations — Frightful suff"erings and deaths of the most precious and lovely of God's children — Dreadful end of the wicked — Steadfastness of the saints of old — Why the Christian's course is not strewed with flowers and sunbeams 55

CHAPTER lY.

BATTLES FOUGHT AND VICTORIES WON.

The aged Soldier of the Cross — The smile upon his wasted cheek — His prospects of eternal happiness clenr and glorious — The wilderness passed — His Father's house in full view — Happy deaths — The glories of Immanuel's land — The unspeakable hap-

CONTEXTS. Xlll

piness of the childi^en of God — What the martyrs did in their last moments — Transporting views of the heavenly world — The ministry of Angels— Delightful death-bed scenes — Fearful condition of wicked men in a dying hour — Happy death of a Sunday-school scholar — His last words to his parents and sister — His " farewell" to each — Sees his Saviour — Angels around his bed — Hears delightful music — Longs to die — The smile of Heaven overspreads his countenance — His Ig^t Avord to his mother — Looks up to Heaven, smiles, and expires in his father's arms 81

CHAPTER Y.

PRAYER.

Prayer the life-breath of true religion — What God says of prayer — Dreadful condition of the prayerless man — What the saints of old did — No excuse will be taken — The prayers of David and Daniel — Places of prayer — What prayer did for Joshua, Elijah, Hezekiah, and other men of God — Amazing power of faithful prayer — Faith : definitions of it — Wrestling with God in prayer — Jacob's prayer — Praying " with strong crying and tears" — A dying father's last prayer for his daughter — Tears — The Lord despises all human strength in prayer — The proud praying lions flung aside to rot — "When I am weak, then am I strong" — Family worship — Dutiful children blessed — A dying father's last gift to his daughter — Its immense value — What God has promised to do for all who truly love him 103

CHAPTER YI.

PRAYER, CONTINUED.

The Bible — Its amazing value — What David and Daniel thought of it — W'hat the veterans of the Cross say — Dr. Arnold's remarks — " Praying with all prayer" hateful to the Devil — His devices — The weapons he uses — What the Christian must do — How to distinguish the true disciples of Christ from mere professors or "reprobates" — Sweet hour of prayei' — Prayer within the reach of 2

XIV CONTENTS.

all — Ignorance or want of education no excuse — What every ti-ue soldier of Christ does — What David said of "filthy rags" or self-righteousness — The power of Satan — His depths— His perfidious cruelty — Tries to delude, degrade, and ruin the Christian— His lying and detestable character — His last resource to destroy the Christian — The warnings of the fathers against his deceptions — What provokes Christ most — The recording Angel ever present — Unguarded moments — What the erring. Christian must do — What broke Peter's heart — The Lord's last prayer for his disciples, and for all who come to him , 125

CHAPTER YII.

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS.

What God said in Abraham's praise — The example of Christ — Warnings to parents — " I won't" — Job and Solomon on Wisdom — The happy child — A man shall be known in his children — The life speaks — Every action has a tongue — Ahaziah and his wicked mother — Their fearful end — What a properly brought up child hates — What wicked children do — What the Scriptures say of them and their wicked parents — Indications by which their true states of mind may be known — What a parent has no right to ask his child to do — The drunkard and profane swearer — Frightful effects of ardent spirits on the human body and mind — The ruin wide-spread — Who is responsible — "Am I my brother's keeper?" — God commands a disobedient drunken son to be stoned to death by his parents — Spontaneous combustion of drunkards — The fearful doom that awaits them beyond the gi^ave — The profane swearer 141

CHAPTER VIII.

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS, CONTINUED.

Susceptibility of the young mind to evil impressions — The Christian family — A dying mother's last words to her son — The " far-off misty days" — The remembrance of her great love for him brings tears in his eyes — The boy who is "too big" to obey his

CONTENTS. XV

mother — What Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords did — The dreadful end of the wicked — The Bible knows no to-morrow — "Thinking about it" — A limit to provocation — The devices of Satan — His helpers and agents — AVhat the Scriptures say of the eternal home of the wicked — What Avicked children will say to their parents in the Day of Judgment 165

CHAPTER IX.

FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS.

The grave — The Christian family never grows less — Anxiety of the blest for the safety of their relations and friends — The Indian mother — The withered blossoms will bloom again — The cloud of witnesses — The loved ones of my childhood's days — The true Soldier of the Cross no believer in second causes — Extravagant desires — Conflicts and trials — Impatience and murmuring — The changed Cross — The bodies of the saints — Abel and hJiS harp — Sings the song of redeeming love — The faith of the saints of old — The music of Heaven — Unspeakable happiness of the redeemed — " I long to be there" — The Angels: their power and glory — The "house" of "many mansions" in full view — The ship enters the harbor — Home at last — The meeting of death-divided friends — The Saviour's amazing love 177

THE

INNER LIFE.

Chapter I. Advent Of The One Altogether Lovely

His amazing love — No room in the Inn for ''poor" people — Born in a Stable — What the Angels did — His temptations and sufferings — His transfiguration — He weeps over a rebellious people — His groans and tears at the grave of Lazarus — What all the riches of the world could not purchase — He is forsaken by all his friends — His sorrows — The powers of darkness assail him — He prays the more earnestly — Sweats great drops of blood — What his tormentors and murderers said and did — The amazing riches and glory of the Christian — Eternal misery of all who refuse or neglect to come to Christ — The battle for souls betwixt the Armies of the Cross and Satan and his hosts — Earth a near door-neighbor to Heaven — Time has no duration in the reckoning of God — The speed of Angels — Christ ever present with the Christian in his public and private devotions — Infinite wisdom, power, and condescension of God.

O THE depth of the love which brought the Lord Jesus from the bosom of his Father, in the " heaven of heavens," to the manger in Bethlehem, to the cross on Calvary, to the depths of the grave in Joseph's sepulchre, which induced him to wash men from their sins in his own blood. Isaiah liii. 3-12; Matt. xxvi. 26-28 ; 1 John iii. 16 ; Rev. i. 5, 6 ; vii. 13, 14. We 2* (17)

18 ADVEXT OF THE

were prisoners at the bar, condemned to die; but he left his " Father's house," and came down to earth, and stood at our side, saying, I will die for them, that they may live forever ! He took our nature upon him, and was born as a man ! He entered the world with all the circumstances of poverty ! He had a star to illustrate his birth ; but a stable for his bed-chamber, and a manger for his cradle ! The angels sang hymns when he was born ; but he was poor, despised, and afflicted : God being more careful to establish in him the covenant of sufferings, than^ to refresh his sorrows. Isaiah liii, 3-12 ; Heb. v. 8, 9. Presently, after the angels had finished their hallelujahs, he was forced to fly to save his life, and the air became full of the shrieks of the desolate mothers of Bethlehem for their dying babes. Matt. ii. 18; Jer. xxxi. 15. The Father had no sooner made him illustrious with a voice from heaven, and the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him in the waters of baptism, than he was delivered over to be tempted and assaulted of the devil in the wilderness !

His transfiguration was a bright ray of glory ; but he also entered a cloud, and was told a sad story of what he was to suffer in Jerusalem. So that upon Palm Sunday, when he rode triumphantly into that rebellious city, although hailed with the acclamations of a king, he wet the palms with his tears, sweeter than the drops of manna, or the little pearls of heaven that descended upon Mount Hermon, weeping in the midst of this triumph over an obstinate, perishing, and malicious people ! "And when he was come nigh, even at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord : peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." Luke xix. 3*7-4^ ; Prov. i. 24- 28 ; Jer. viii. 20. " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold your house is left unto you desolate." Matt, xxiii. Si, 38 ; John vii. 34, 35; Acts xiii. 45, 46. " If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin ; but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause."

Look at him at the grave of Lazarus I The sufferings of the two sisters touch his loving heart ; and there he — "the Lord of glory," and "the Creator of all things,"

stands forever sanctioning sorrow, and even exalting it into a manly, most noble thing. His eyes swim in tears, groans rend his bosom ; he is deeply, so uncontrollably, so visibly affected, that the spectators exclaim, " Behold, how he loved him ! " These were precious tears. The passing air kissed them from his cheek, or they were drunk up of the earth, or they glistened but for a little, like dew-drops on some lonely flower ; yet assuring us of his sympathy in our hours of sorrow, their memory has been healing balm to many a bleeding heart. This "man of sorrows," so gentle, so tender, so easily moved that he often wept, endued with a sensibility so delicate, that the strings of his heart vibrated to the slightest touch, has, by a word, rent the tomb.

Why flow the blessed Saviour's tears ? Is it because the cross he fears — Because he knows he soon shall die, And shall within the cold grave lie.

He weeps to see the sister weep Of Lazarus, who lies asleep ; So tender is his heart, so kind, That all from him may pity find.

Mary called her babe her Saviour. Luke i. 46, 41 ; Isaiah ix. 6 ; Micah v. 2, 3. Mary was once poor, but now she had what all the riches in the world could not purchase. Jer. ix. 23, 24 ; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. vi. 10; Colos. ii. 3. Ah, happy Mary ! happy Mary ! And yet — wonderful to relate, this amazing treasure of the now happy Mary, was once sold for thirty pieces of silver!

Zech. xi. 12, 18; Matt, xxvii. 3, 4. The first star that ever shone, nay, the first angel that ever sang, are but things of 3^esterday beside this manger, where couched in straw and wrapped in swaddling clothes, a new-born babe is sleeping. "Before Abraham was," or these were, " I am," says Jesus. His mother's maker, and his mother's child, he formed the living womb that gave him birth, and ages before that, the rock that gave him burial. A child, yet Almighty God ; a Son, yet The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace! Isaiah ix. 6; John xiv. 8, 9. See him in that hall — a spectacle of woe ; an old purple robe on his bleeding back ; in his hand a reed; and on his head a wreath — not of laurel, but of thorns, while the blood, trickling down from many wounds over his lovely face, falls on a breast heaving with a sea of sorrows !

Oh, my Saviour ! what a theme for mortal tongue !

For never yet hath burning spirit flung

O'er thrilling chord his rapture-making hands,

To theme so great, 'mid heaven's seraphic bands.

Through the long silence of eternal night,

Thou Avast, enthroned in uncreated light ;

Thyself a universe — thyself thine all !

And when, of thy mere goodness, thou didst call

Angelic worlds around thee, sweetly rolled

Their strains o'er harps of pure, ethereal gold.

They sung thee God — creation's fount and end,

Their Sovereign Benefactor, Lord and Friend.

Their " Holy, Holy, Holy," pealed around,

Deep echoing through immensities profound;

Yet none, amidst their shining hosts of light,

E'er hailed thee, "Saviour!" that supreme delight

Reserved for guilty man — for guilty me ! —

To sing through time, and through eternity.

Yes, He who had been waited on by angels, becomes the servant of servants, takes a towel, and girds himself, and washes his disciples' feet ! John xiii. 4, 5 ; Matt. xxvi. 21, 28. lie who was honored with the hallelujahs of ages is now mocked, spit upon, and scourged ! Oh, for words to picture his humiliation! Dan. vii. 13, 14; Psalm xxii. 16, 18 ; Ixix. 20, 21 ; Matt, xxvii. 29-35. The stupendous fabric of creation, yonder starry vault, this magnificent world, were the work of the hands by which, in love to poor sinful man, he " the Lord of glory," hung a mangled form, on the Cross of Calvary ! Deserted by the world, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," dependent on a few humble followers for the most common necessaries of life, within a few hours of an ignominious death, his foot already on the verge of the grave, he rises to the loftiness of Godhead ; and turning an eye that was to be soon darkened on earth, he claims a community of property with God. "All things," he says, "that the Father hath are mine."

Though He was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich ! 2 Cor. viii. 9 ; Matt. viii. 20 ; Luke ix. 58. He took upon him the form of a man, and ended a life of sorrow by a death of pain, that he might reconcile a fallen world to an offended God! Eph. ii. 15, 16 ; Rom. iii. 24, 25. His mental suffering was ineffable, inconceivable ; the temptations to which he was exposed were all that Satanic ingenuity could devise, to harass and shock his holy mind. Never was sorrow like his sorrow. All human suffering compared with his, scarcely deserves the name. The deeps environed him ; the waters came into his soul : all God's waves and billows passed over him. He was given up to the assaults of the infernal hosts. Oh, how they tormented his holy soul ! Oh, what nameless terrors ! He was indeed the man who saw affliction by the rod of God's wrath. What an idea do these words give of the intensity of his agony, " Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? — my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. This cup which Thou givest me to drink, shall I not drink it?" "And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

So deep were his soirows, so fervent his prayers, That down o'er his bosom roU'd great bloody tears; I wept to behold him; I asked him his name — He answer'd, 'Tis Jesus! from heaven I came.

I am thy Redeemer! for thee I must die; The cup is most bitter, but cannot pass by. Thy sins, like a mountain, are laid upon me ; And all this deep anguish I suffer for thee.

I heard with deep sorrow the tale of his woe, While tears like a fountain of waters did flow ; The cause of his sorrows to hear him repeat, Affected my heart, and I fell at his feet,

I trembled with sorrow, and loudly did cry,

Lord ! save a poor sinner, save, or I die !

He smiled when he saw me, and said to me, "Live;

Thy sins, whicli are many, I freely forgive!"

How sweet was that moment he bade me rej(jice ! His smile, how pleasant! how cheering his voice! I flew from the garden to spread it abroad — I shouted, Salvation I and Glory to God I

View that crucifixion ! Look at that thornv crown on his ensanguined temples ! See that ragged piirple robe, but ill concealing his lacerated and bleeding form ! Look at that mocking sceptre of a reed ; but the same meek, heavenly, and uncomplaining tenderness ! Oh, how mournful the expression of his lovely features ! His parted lips, already livid with approaching death, are uttering his dying prayer for his murderers, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." But — wonderful to relate, "they laughed him to scorn: they shot out the lip, they shook the head," saying, "He trusted in God : let him deliver him now, for he said, I am the Son of God." " They gave him gall for his meat, and in his thirst they gave him vinegar to drink." Ah, flow, ye tears, flow down these cheeks of mine.

Yes, he is surely dead,

The cruel soldier said ;

Then pierced the Saviour's side.

Behold, a mingled tide Of blood and water flowing from the wound, Covered with crimson stains Golgotha's ground.

The loving John was near ;

He saw the soldier's spear

Bring forth that wondrous flood

Of water and of blood ; And well remembered how his Master said, He came for sinful man his blood to shed.

The blood that flowed that day

Long since has passed away ;

But still there flows a stream —

Though by all unseen — For those that trust the blood on Calvary spilt ; And in that stream their souls are washed from guilt.

Oh, what a death for the Father's ''well-beloved Son ! " Xo one wiped the perspiration from his brow. No one cheered him with words of comfort. Whoever left the world more forsaken and involved in deeper shades than he ? Yet do not mistake him. It was not a conflict in which we see him engaged, but a sacrificial act. He did not yield to death like us, but devoted himself to it. The payment of the wages of sin is due only from sinners. The Holy One of Israel had nothing in common with death. What was it then we witness on Calvary ? Look up ! After having uttered the great and triumphant shout, " It is finished ! " he again moves his lips to speak. What will follow, signs of weakness and a mournful farewell? not so! Listen! With a loud voice, and the strength and emphasis of one who does not die from weakness, nor dying pays a forced tribute to a mournful necessity ; but as one who is Lord over death, and voluntarily yields himself up to it, he exclaims — and noise of rending rocks, falling mountains, and bursting sepulchres accompany his cry, " Father, into thy bands I commend my spirit!" and after these words, like one whose labor is finished, he bows, selfacting, his bleeding head upon his breast, and resigns his Spirit, or, as John expresses it, "gives up the ghost." 3

Yes, glory be to God, the Holy and Just submits himself, representatively, to the fate of the guilty, while the latter are forever liberated, and inherit the indescribably happy lot of the Son of God. Rev. xxi. Y ; 1 Cor. iii. 21- 23. O wonderful and incomparably blessed truth ! " God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him ! " 2 Cor. V. 21 ; Jer. xxiii. 6 ; Rom. x. 4. " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."