St26 PSALMS, ixvi. 16. [379.
by the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of re- demption." But still, great and glorious as these operations of the Spirit are, they are not sufficient oj themselves to prove that God has shewn mercy to our souls : they must have the concurring evidence of good works resulting from them : the feelings themselves may be so closely imitated by Satan, that it shall be impossible for man certainly to dis- tinguish between them : a person of a warm imagi- nation and a confident mind may easily be wrought upon by that subtle spirit, so that he shall appea? both to himself and others to be eminently distin- guished by manifestations from God, whilst yet he is only under the influence of a Satanic delusion. The evidences whereby alone the work of God upon the soul can be satisfactorily ascertamed are,
1 . The exercise of gracious affections —
[Love, joy, peace, with all the train of Christian virtues, are tlae fruits of God's Spirit alone. They cannot for any length of time be counterfeited : not even Satan himself can produce them. Hence we are told, by our blessed Lord, to look to them as the only certain marks and evidences whereby his people can be distinguished : " By their fruits ye shall know them," Would you then know for certain whether God has had mercy on your souls, and whether the supposed manifestations of God's love to your souls are genuine, see how the dispensation operates on your hearts and lives. If it lead you to a sense of lively gra- titude to God, if it fill you with a determination to serve and glorify him with all your powers, if it encourage you to commit your every concern to his all-wise disposal, and if it stimulate you to seek by all possible means the welfare of your fellow-creatures, you may confidently say, " He that hath wrought us to the self- same thing is God. "2
2. The mortification of all sin —
[David says, " If I regard ini(|uity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me''." To fancy therefore that we have received answers to prayer, whilst there is any sinful temper or disposition harboured in the heart, is a fatal delusion. Even the ungodly Jews, who set themselves in opposition to Christ, were fully con- vinced of this truth : for, imagining him to be a sinner, and tak- ing occasion from thence to deny the miracle he had wrought, they said, " Now we know that God heareth not sinners j but if
any
■J ver. 18.
"St&.] ANSWERS- •*0 PRAYER AClCNOWLEDGED. 227
-any man be A worshipper of God and do his will, him he h^ar- eth\'' This then must be a point of diligent inquiry; Is sin in general dispossessed of its power over me ? is my besetting sin in particular subdued and mortified ? is my hatred to sin inveterate, uniform, unreserved ? Unless this be our state, it is in vain that we pretend to communion with the Deity, and boast of our assured acceptance with him : if we are under the habitual in- fluence of any one reigning lust, of whatever kind it be, we may fnake a great profession of religion, but we are hypocrites ; we may make a noise about it, but " we are as sounding brass, and as tinkling cymbals."]
In reference to this subject, we beg leave to offer some ADVICE — 1 . Be careful to notice the dealings of God with your souls —
[Many set themselves against all kinds of Christian expe- rience, and make even the very word, experience, a subject of continual ridicule and invective. That injudicious persons have given but too just ground of offence by their statements of their own feelings, must be confessed : but we must not therefore suppose that religion has nothing to do with the feelings, and that it is a matter purely intellectual. Why should that alone have no in- fluence on the heart, when it is calculated more than any thing else to call into activity all the powers of our souls ? or why should that be enthusiasm in religion, which is deemed reason- able in all the common affairs of life ? Let a man be embarked m any thing that greatly involves his honour and interest through- out his life ; a merchant in trade; a commander in war; a stu- dent in academic contests: will he feel no anxieties? will he have no fluctuations of mind, no alternations of hope and fear,- of joy and sorrow, according as his prospects brighten or are obscured ? will the issue of his labours be to him such a mattei* of indifference, that he shall contemplate the probabilities of success or failure without any emotion? And if these diversified feelings are so called forth by things which pertain to this life, shall they have no scope for exercise in the things which relate to eternity ? Call them by the name of Christian experience, or by any other name, they must have place in our souls ; and if they have not, we are altogether dead in trespasses and sins. Let every one then take notice how he is affected with his everlasting concerns : for he can never have obtained mercy, who has not sought for mercy; nor he received an answer to prayer, who never cried from his inmost soul to God. I must even go farther, and say, he has no hope, who never had a fear ; nor shall he ever taste of joy, who has never been bowed down with penitential sorrow* As we deal with God, he will deal with us : " If we seek