INTRODUCTION. "I would thou wert cold or hot." THE AMEN, THE FAITHFUL AND TRUE WITNESS, THE first lesson to be impressed on every man is, that a revelation hath come down to him from the Almighty Author of his being. Now, though the Scriptures at present bear not the outward pomp of such high authority, yet are they not merely speculative, but are connected with awful events before us in time, and yet to come; and their dictate is equally solemn, as if each day they were let down from heaven by the hand of the Lord, and their lines traced before every man's eye by a finger of fire. And let a man be assured, in his inmost spirit, that he is bound to give this revelation all attention, because it comprises, in its general character of a declaration of the will of his supreme Lord, a statement of his own duties, and an anticipative judgment on their eternal consequences. To him that lives on, and heeds it not, until surprised by the powers of the world to come, surely the portion must be great shame and confusion of face! How shall he stand up before a God whom he knows not? With dread perplexity, and the superadded aggravation to reflect, that this God he might have known and a way to obtain his favour. In a former life, having had eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a heart to understand, he yet dared to neglect all and to do despite to what, eternity, in remorse or joy, will pronounce the opportunities of that life,-the spirit of a great grace. Mighty events have come round, and a heavy judgment presses on his spirit, not only unprovided for the issue, but even unfortified by previous apprehension. God over all;-man his creature;-the fall of man ;—the Son of God a Saviour;—the Spirit of God the Sanctifier;-the present state of man;-his great relations ;-death ;—judgment ;-Heaven (the joys of man);—Hell (his woe);-eternity;-these are notes of this great revelation from God. Even where its innate, impressive majesty is not recognised at once by the spirit of a man, and the other evidences of its truth are doubtful; yet do these mighty things, about which it is conversant, demand of him not to despise it, but to set himself again to weigh and understand aright. To understand aright every part of this revelation, and even, in the very threshold of inquiry, to be persuaded that it is indeed from Heaven, are difficulties; and allowed, perhaps, by the wise God to try a man's consideration,— in this case, the first motion of faith,—whether, on conviction of its weighty topics, he shall subdue himself so far as to yield them profound attention. Pass we, however, the question of evidences at present. If the doubter hath sat down with the use of unprejudiced reason, and free from great viciousness of life, one main cause of unbelief;-the necessity of such a revelation;-this found out by the wisest of the heathen sages, and more strongly confirmed by the latter state of the world; the faith of a whole nation (the Jews) in immediate revelations from God, anticipative of, or rather part of the one in question; the strong evidences of its truth; and the mighty human reasons that have bowed to its authority;-the late history of the world, an enduring and growing testimony to the influence of the Christian religion, above all others, in ameliorating individuals and nations ;—all these, we trust, under God, will amount to the full conviction in his mind, that God hath indeed, in these latter days, spoken to us by his Son. To the inconsistency of present belief with former hardihood, and the ridicule of his unbelieving associates, the voice of reason and the voice of Jesus, "What is that to thee, follow thou me." |