CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Feel-well. How uncharitable you are!

Love-self. How destitute of the Spirit, and what an enemy to revivals!

Th. Revivals are a glorious reality; but it is greatly to their discredit to have every counterfeit pass for the true. The counterfeits will, at length, disclose their character, and be found worthless. And when it shall be so, then the credit of the true will suffer. For all those who have regarded both alike, and considered them both alike good, will now be likely to regard them as both alike worthless. I consider you, therefore, as the real enemies to revivals, because you now support the bad with the good, and thus help to bring the good ultimately into disgrace along with the bad.

F. W. We do not trouble ourselves with those distinctions in which you labor so much. We think they are all alike good; except that, in some instances, they are greatly cramped and incumbered, by setting up so many rules of prudence, and laying so many restraints upon the operations of the Spirit.

Th. You need, then, a further caution from Edwards. It is to make distinctions in these matters. In his remarks on the journal of Brainerd, he speaks not only of the opposers of all pretensions to experimental religion, as confounding the religion of Brainerd and that of the Separatists, in their condemnation of both; but also of those who profess to have experienced religion themselves, as refusing to make the necessary distinctions. He says: "Many honest, good people, and true Christians, do not very well know how to make a difference. The glistening appearance of false religion dazzles their eyes; and they sometimes are so blinded by it, that they look upon some of these impressions, which hypocrites tell of, as the brightest experiences. And though they have experienced no such things themselves, they think it is because they are vastly lower in attainments, and but babes in comparison of these flaming Christians. Yea, sometimes from their differing so much from those who make so great a show, they doubt whether they have any grace at all. And it is a hard thing to bring many well-meaning people to make proper distinctions in this case; and especially to maintain and stand by them.

Through a certain weakness, under which they unhappily labor, they are liable to be overcome with the glare of outward appearances. Thus, if in a sedate hour, they are by reasoning brought to allow such and such distinctions, yet the next time they come in the way of the great show of false religion, the dazzling appearance swallows them up, and they are carried away. Thus, the devil, by his cunning artifices, easily dazzles the sight of men, and puts them beyond a capacity of a proper exercise of consideration, or hearkening to the dictates of calm thought, and cool understanding. When they perceive the great affection, earnest talk, strong voice, assured looks, vast confidence and bold assertions, of these empty, assuming pretenders, they are overborne, lose the possession of their judgment, and saySurely, these men are in the right-God is with them of a truth;' and so they are carried away, not with light and reason, but, like children, as it were, with a strong wind.”

F. W. I have no need of making such distinctions, in order to find my religion. I go by my feelings.

Ard. But if your feelings should happen to be wrong, then you are all wrong.

F. W. No fear of that. I have too much feeling to be in any doubt.

Th. Edwards goes on to say: "The want of distinguishing in things which appertain to experimental religion, is one of the chief miseries of the professing world. It is attended with very many most dismal consequences; multitudes of souls are fatally deluded about themselves, and their own state, and thus are eternally undone; hypocrites are confirmed in their delusions, and exceedingly puffed up with pride; many serious Christians are dreadfully perplexed, tempted, and drawn aside from the way of duty; and sometimes sadly tainted with false religion, to the great dishonor of Christianity, and hurt of their own souls. Some of the most dangerous and pernicious enemies of religion in the world, though called bright Christians, are encouraged and honored, who ought to be discountenanced and shunned by every-body; and prejudices are begotten and confirmed in the minds of multitudes, against every thing in which the power and essence of godliness consists; and in the end, deism and atheism are promoted."

L. S. What distinction do you make between those experiences which are true, and those which are not?

Th. True religion is disinterested; false religion is selfish. In true religion God is loved for the excellence of his character, in false religion he is loved for his favors. A true and a spurious revival are distinguished by their fruits. In a true revival, we shall find the fruits of the Spirit. But what are

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they? Let the Scriptures answer: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." "Charity suffereth long, and is kind, charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." Those under the influence of the Spirit may be expected to "walk with all lowliness and meekness; with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." They may be expected to do nothing through strife and vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." They will "let all bitterness, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from them, with all malice; and be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven them." The younger will "submit themselves to the elder:" yea, all will be "subject one to another," and will be "clothed with humility." They may be expected to "put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another;" and to "let the peace of God rule in their hearts." They will manifest" the wisdom that is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." "The babe in Christ will desire the sincere milk of the word, that he may grow thereby, and receive it gratefully from his fathers in Christ."

But if, in contradiction to all this, you find the leading promoters of the revival puffed up with spiritual pride, "despising admonition and correction, being confident that they are right because they are so full of the Spirit," in "no danger of being led astray, because they are so near to God;" if they are disposed to denounce others who do not think as they do, and call them cold, and stupid, and dead; if they speak of the faults of others in harsh, severe, and terrible language; if the words devil and hell are almost continually in their mouths; if they treat opposers with bitterness and contempt, and make much noise about opposition and persecution; if they use the name of God with lightness and irreverence; if they are assuming and dictatorial towards their brethren in the ministry; if they manifest a self-confident boldness before God and man, and despise the ordinary rules of prudence, and are careless about giving offence to the Church or to those without; if

those who are young are wanting in respect towards the aged; if they are disposed to trust in impressions and impulses, as though this were being led by the Spirit; if they look only for present benefit in what they do, and disregard the remote consequences; if they disregard external order, and adopt. things new and strange, notwithstanding the remonstrances of their brethren; if they pretend to speak in the same authoritative style as Christ and the apostles; if they do not guard against the wiles of the adversary, in his efforts to corrupt the experience of Christians; if they are disposed to speak of serious things with lightness and laughter; if their love to God is chiefly for his favors; if their zeal for God is full of bitterness; if they are disposed to loud talking, crying out, falling down, and other external expressions of feeling; if they are disposed to pray for others in such a way as to cast reflections upon them; and especially, if they are disposed to make imprecations instead of prayers, and ask God to remove those whom they think to be obstacles to the work ;-if such things as these are found among the leaders and principal promoters of the work; and if the new converts are pert, forward, and bold, self-confident and self-willed, disrespectful to the aged, and regardless of the order and subordination which God has constituted; if they are disposed to neglect the word of God, and the duty of self-examination; if they manifest no self-diffidence nor humility; if any of the graces which have been brought into view as the fruits of the Spirit, are wanting;—then, we have the marks of a work which cannot stand the test of the Holy Scriptures, and which ought not to receive the countenance and approbation of wise and good men. There may

be many of these marks of a spurious work, where there are, nevertheless, some of the true fruits of the Spirit. For, where the Spirit of God is at work, producing a genuine revival, the spirits of darkness may be expected to be at work also, in producing as much as possible of the counterfeit. But where the signs of the counterfeit predominate, it would certainly be wrong to express our approbation of the work as a whole. It is seldom safe or proper to speak of any revival without making a careful discrimination between what is genuine and what is spurious. If the fruits of the Holy Spirit predominate, we may rejoice in the work, on the whole; though if defects are also seen, these should be observed, mourned over, and corrected, as far as possible.

Ard. We seem to have left the subject on which we began, which was, whether success is to be regarded as an evidence of the divine approbation.

Th. I mentioned two defects in the argument, as often

used. The first takes it for granted that all these excitements were true revivals, and all the subjects of them real converts; and the other was, in view of this, to conclude that God approved and set his seal to those men and those measures by which all this was accomplished. I have said what I thought necessary, at present, in order to understand the argument, as to the character of these excitements. I believe they ought to be examined more fully hereafter, that we may better understand their true character. I will now return to the question, whether, if all the good were actually done, which any suppose to be done, that would be an evidence of the divine approbation. I think it would not.

F. W. Do you think God would bless persons or means that he disapproved of?

Th. If you mean to ask whether God gives success to persons whom he does not approve, I answer, Yes. The history of his providence abundantly shows this. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord; but there is no evidence that he was a good man. God gave great success to his attempts to bring his fellow-men under his dominion, but he did not set the seal of his approbation upon him, or upon the means he used. So it was with Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Cæsar, Napoleon, and many other mighty conquerors.

F. W. That is another subject. Their enterprises related to worldly things, and not to the propagation of religion.

Th. Take the propagators of religion, then. It is thought that the worshippers of Boodh are the most numerous of any sect of religionists in the world. They have had the greatest success in the propagation of their faith; and, according to the argument against which I am contending, they have the strongest tokens of the divine approbation of their system of paganism. Mahomet preached his doctrine several years, and made few proselytes. He then began to propagate it with the sword; and, according to your phraseology, God blessed these means, and many millions were speedily brought to embrace the Mahometan faith; and the conclusion must be, that Mahometanism is right, and that it is right to propagate religion with the sword. The Roman Catholics are the most numerous body of professed Christians; and, according to the same phraseology, having been most successful in the propagation of their tenets, of all who bear the Christian name, they have the strongest marks of the divine approbation. And the Protestants, being the fewest, and having had the least success in bringing men to embrace their opinions, have less claims than the other religions of the world, to be approved of God, and to have "the seal of divine approbation visibly and indeliby fixed upon them."