them all; and have always found that their progress in piety towards God, and in juftice, kindness and charity towards men, has borne proportion to their cheerful dependence upon Chrift for righteoufnefs and strength.If some men are liars, yet others are credible, and may be trusted, especially when they give us undoubted evidence of their truth and fidelity. Even fo, in the prefent cafe, if some men are hypocrites, and evidence themfelves to be fuch, we have no reason from thence to suspect the truth of others profeffion and experiences, whofe wonderful change of life, and whole future converfation, are a continual teftimony to the fincerity of the profeffion they make, and to the credi bility of the experiences which they relate. But it feems you are especially prejudiced against religious experiences, by the "irregular fancy and "heated imagination," which you have obferved in fome pretenders to extraordinary attainments in religion; from whence you feem to argue, that becaufe fome of their "pretended experiences are extravagant flights of a disturbed brain, and evi. "dently flow from pride, felf-esteem, and uncha"ritableness towards others, and end in faction, di"vifion, and alienation of affection," that therefore, fince fome of their pretences are manifeftly false, and airy imaginations, you have juft reafon to con. clude, that all the reft of their pretences are of the fame fort, and flow from the fame depraved mind. I acknowledge, Sir, this is one of the moft plaufible objections that ever I have heard of, against the internal evidences of Chriftianity.And no doubt, our grand adverfary the devil has had an efpecial hand in blowing up this falfe fire, that he may turn away our eyes from the glory of the Lord arifen upon Zion.No doubt, Satan hath transformed himself into an angel of light, in the late late extravagant heats which have appeared in fume places, that fo by overdoing he might undo, and might bring reproach on the wonderful work of divine grace, which has made fuch a glorious progrefs in thefe parts of the world. A permiffion of thefe dreadful delufions may be esteemed a just judgment of God upon fuch as have remained careless and fecure in a remarkable feafon of grace, who have refifted the calls of the gofpel, the convictions of their confciences, and the strivings of the Holy Spirit, that they might thereby be hardened in their prejudices against vital and experimental religion, and perhaps finally stumble and fall. But how plaufible foever your objections may be, your reafoning is far from conclufive. What inconfiftency is there in the fuppofal, that a true convert may have fome very false apprehenfions and imaginations? That the fame perfon may have a fanctified heart, and a confufed head? And that he may build upon the true foundation fuch wood, bay, and stubble, as must be burnt up ? Our bleffed Saviour has undertaken to fanctify the hearts of all thofe who fincerely truft in him; but has never promised to make them infallible in all their conduct. If therefore, from a principle of love to God, thefe men fhould zealously endeavour to ferve him, and yet through heated imaginations, or erroneous apprehenfions of their duty in fome cafes, they fhould miftake their way, and suppose that they are doing God good fervice, when they are acting counter to the true intereft of Chrift's kingdom, what then? Is it any abfurdity to fuppofe they may act from a right principle, though in a wrong manner?-The error is in their opinions, but not in their wills: Their hearts are engaged in God's fervice, though their heads mislead them.They may have experi enced enced a real change, (in the manner described in my last letter), though through ignorance and mi. ftake, their endeavours to ferve God are, in fome inftances, irregular and finful,——They may have had real experiences in true and vital piety, at prefent, though their imaginations are imposed on by enthusiasm and delufion. -Thefe allowances may be made, and ought to be made, for those who hold faft the fundamental principles of Chriftianity and practical godliness, and for none but thofe.There ought to be fuch allowances made for those, because there is nothing in their charac ter inconfiftent with true and vital piety; yet there ought not to be fuch allowances made for any but thofe, because Chrift has undertaken to lead his fincere followers into all neceffary truth.-I think I have good reason to conclude, that the cafe is truly, and in fact, just as I have here defcribed it, with respect to numbers of thofe who have run into fome of those irregularities you complain of. -This appears in that fome of thofe, who have been convinced of, and penitently bewailed, thofe mistakes, do yet (their former irregularities not. withstanding), walk worthy their profeffed experi ence of a faving change, and approve themselves holy, humble, and charitable Chriftians. And I have the more hopes of others, who have not yet been convinced of their mistakes, upon account of their having been feduced into thefe errors, by fuch zealous leaders, of whofe piety they have fo great an opinion.-But you will perhaps inquire, what I can say for thofe leaders, who have influen ced others to these irregular heats? To which I must answer, that, as far as I am acquainted with them, I have reason for a much better opinion of the hearts of fome of them, than of their heads; and muft muft bear them witness, that they have a zeal of God, though not in every thing according to knowledge. men, But fuppofing, as you fuppofe, that "fome of "the chief of these preachers were very wicked who cloaked their evil intentions under a "fhew of zeal and extraordinary piety, the bet66 ter to infnare poor unwary fouls into their de"lufions, to promote divifions and contentions "in the land, and to compafs their covert de"figns:"My argument is, on this fuppofal, fo much the stronger. Herein the power and love of the great Redeemer are fo much the more confpicuous, that he has outshot Satan with his own bow and over-ruled those attempts, for the promotion of his own kingdom and intereft, which were levelled against it.-Nothing is more visible, than that great numbers of poor finners have been awakened, and brought to fly to Chrift for refuge. Nothing is more apparent than that the confequence of this has (in numerous inftances) been the renovation of their lives, and their converfion from a careless, finful, fenfual life, to a life of holiness, righteousness, kindness and charity. In thefe, therefore, the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift is become glorious, whatever covered defigns any of the inftruments were acted by. If thefe preached Chrift even of envy and ftrife, What then? notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Chrift was preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.-It is remarkable, that the great doctrines of the gospel, particularly touching the mifery of our natural ftate, the neceffity of an interest in Chrift, and the way of falvation by faith in him, were preached by them all, (whatever human imaginations were mixed with them), and thefe had their effect in a peculiar manner. Our bleffed Saviour has therein blessed bleffed his own inftitutions, and accomplished the defigns of his grace, whoever and whatever were the inftruments by whom these glorious effects have been produced. As far, therefore, as a fanctifying change in the hearts and lives of men has been effected, fo far muft we acknowledge this to be a work of God, and a difplay of the divine power of our bleffed Saviour.- The miracles of divine grace, which might be wrought by Judas, were as bright a difcovery of the Redeemer's power and goodnefs, as those which were wrought by the other Apostles. But you tell me, that " many of these new con"verts pretend to mighty experiences of divine "impulfes, raptures, ecftafies, and the like, but "fhew forth no moral virtues, nor true love "either to God or man." Well, Sir, what follows from this? Are there not many others who make no pretenfion to fuch mighty experiences. of divine impulfes, raptures, &c. that do fhew forth all moral virtues, and have a true love both to God and man?Is it a good argument, that because there are fome mere enthufiafts, who pretend to fuch experiences which the Scriptures do not make the character of true Chriftians, therefore they are all mere enthufiafts, even who pretend to fuch experiences as the Scriptures do make the character of all true Chriftians?-What is Chriftianity concerned with the ecftafies and heats of fuch men as you speak of? Where are thefe ecftatical heats described in the gospel, as the marks of the children of God? Be their experiences allowed to be according to their pretences, what follows from thence, but that, if they have no moral virtues, thefe mens religion is vain; it is all enthusiastical, unfcriptural, and without any foundation?-But then, on the other hand, the expe. H riences |
