says, that our assurance of God's I do not mean to insinuate that your correspondent could intend to substitute any other source of support in death for that which, by its very title, is alone adequate to that exigence. It is self-evident that nothing can sustain sinking nature except "the hope of glory;' and this, according to St. Paul, being neither more nor less than "Christ in us," I should think it unfair to suppose that your correspondent would intentionally advance a contrary idea. But I candidly submit, whether, in respect of language, he has been sufficiently vigilant on this important point, exactly to "speak as the oracles of God." love and favour must not be mystical. This is, at least, a very dubious negation so that, in fact, it is equally difficult to decide what it is your correspondent rejects, or what he approves. In the book of Common Prayer there is a petition, that the water of baptism may be sanctified to the mystical washing away of sin; and the same established formulary speaks also, on another occasion, of the mystical union between Christ and his Church and St. Paul appears to sanction this particular epithet, when, in his Epistle to the Colossians, he represents it as the primary object of the apostolic ministry, to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which," says he," is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 66 66 If, indeed, by rejecting what is mystical, your correspondent means only to protest against reliance on sudden illapses, or unaccountable impressions-which, I conclude, is his meaning-then, no doubt, the sentiment may be just; though the propriety of the expression must still be questioned, inasmuch as there is a sense in which the assurance of God's love and favour must be mystical in order to its being scriptural. To establish this position it is only necessary to dwell for a moment on the text just quoted. Christ, in the inner man," says St. Paul, is a mystery ;" and "Christ in the inner man," he also asserts, "is the hope of glory." Can there then be any well-founded or scriptural assurance of God's love and favour, but in the clear possession of that hope? But, according to St. Paul, must not such assurance be mystical? That is, must it not imply an operation and influence as much beyond man's conception as it is above his power; of the undelusive effects of which the rational mind may have the fullest satisfaction; but of the nature of which our Lord himself has assured us it is fruitless to inquire? I should not, however, have troubled you with these remarks, for the mere purpose of correcting a verbal inaccuracy. The expressions of your correspondent may, in their consequences, involve a far more important error. From their want at least of precision, they may be understood to sanction a species of "support in death," of which it might be difficult to say whether it is more against reason or against Scripture. "There is," says your correspondent," but one source of support in death;" namely, "an assurance of God's love and favour, founded on the hope of salvation by Christ." Will not these words, most probably, be thought to mean, that all true comfort in the hour of death must consist in abstract reliance for acceptance with God on what Christ did in our behalf, once for all, in the days of his flesh? But this single and exclusive support in death would surely be found as unscriptural as it is obviously irrational. Not again to adduce the already quoted words of St. Paul, I would ask, what reasonable hope can there be of future salvation through the merits of Christ, except so far as there is a consciousness of present spiritual salvation through the grace of Christ? The hope of salvation by Christ must be apprehended, not according to the fancy of self-deluding man, but according to the design of its all-wise and all-gracious Author; and in all that our Redeemer has spoken-yea, and in all that prophets had said before and aposiles have said after Him-do we not invariably find salvation by Christ to be in the first instance spiritual in its effects; and this by necessity in order to its being eternal? To prove this fact from holy Scripture would be superfluous. There is no part of the New Testament wherein it is not either directly or indirectly established. Why, then, on such a momentous question as how to secure the only true support in death, should not the order of evangelical truth be accurately kept in view? Why, in a word, should it not uniformly be urged, that "hope maketh not ashamed" on this indispensable ground, that "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us?" I the more anxiously call attention to this subject, because I soberly believe, that in such views as the language of your correspondent may be thought to countenance, Antinomian extravagancies find their chief support. Were it once felt, that the salvation of the Gospel, as offered to individual man, is primarily and supremely a spiritual salvation; that our Lord Jesus Christ saves his people from their sins; that he gave himself for them, to redeem them from all iniquity; and that his dominion, as the Messiah, is over men's minds and hearts, there could no longer be any difference of opinion, respecting either the chief business of life, or the true support in death. "To know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, by being conformed to his death," would be, in modern Christians, as it was in St. Paul, the supreme object of pursuit; and inward consolation, in life and in death, would be felt in proportion as it was hoped that this pursuit had been effectual. It might indeed be otherwise, if "the great salvation" were external and material, instead of internal and spiritual. But as the very nature of men, as well as the concurrent voice of Scripture precludes such an idea, why should not every word which is said on religious subjects point undeviatingly to "the one thing needful." Why, finally, should either the living or the dying be led to rest satisfied with any source of support, but a "well founded. and scriptural consciousness of the life which is hid with Christ in God?" "There The last sentence of your correspondent's paper contains a just and important observation. is," says he, "no topic of Christian casuistry which stands more in need of elucidation than the right mode of conducting deathbed visits." I believe that nothing can be more true than this remark; but, if so, I would presume to ask,, is the former position in every sense correct, that there is but one source of support in death? If one single ground of hope is simply and without qualification, to be rested in by all, then what farther light can be thrown on the right way of conducting death-bed visits? But if, on the other hand, it be practically felt that no one sole and simple representation will correspond to all cases, ought not the assertion of one single and exclusive source of support in death. to have been more cautiously hazarded? May I say on this subject what strikes me to be the plain truth? I believe there is just one single disease of the mind for which the one source of support which your correspondent insists upon would be the specific remedy. I conceive, wherever there is a doubt of Divine mercy to the returning sinner, the truth to be urged must be the assur ed "hope of salvation by Christ." Beyond all doubt, in such a case, no argument can be used like that of St. Paul;" He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" But how rare are cases of despondency, in comparison with those of spiritual insensibility! However a death-bed may alarm the feelings, it will not change the heart; and of course, the far greater number of persons in that awful situation are likely to be found, not only devoid of the dis positions which can alone qualify them for heaven, but scarcely capable of conceiving what those dispositions imply, or on what ground they are necessary. Such persons may indeed tremble at the prospect of everlasting punishment; for all men are perfectly susceptible of this species of terror; and if they be encouraged to believe that an unreserved reliance on what our blessed Saviour has done on their behalf will ensure not only their escape from hell, but their admission into heaven, is it not too possible that natural fear and self-love may induce them eagerly to entertain such a confidence? Is it consistent then with Christian charity, to leave the smallest opening for this lamentable selfdelusion? On the contrary, ought it not in every such case to be strenuously urged, that notwithstanding all that Christ has done for our salvation, he himself has instructed us, that only the pure in heart can have the blessedness of seeing God; and that therefore whatever was done for us by the Redeemer was with the intention not only of atoning for us, but of fitting us for the Divine Presence previously to our admission to the fulness of joy which that Presence implies; in other words, of saving us spiritually here, in order to our sharing in immortal bliss hereafter. Can there then be a doubt that this vital subject in one aspect or other, should be the ruling theme in all addresses both to the living and the dying? The ignorant should be instructed in its nature; the careless should be impressed with its importance. Habitual violations of the Divine Law, and neglect of known duties, are not to be overlooked; much less the assurance of forgiveness to the penitent through the expiation of the great High Priest. Still, however, outward sins are to be dwelt upon, not as if they were the chief source of danger, or the guilt incurred by them the great evil to be remedied, but much more as evidences of an internal pravity, of an inherent aversion to good, and propensity to evil, for which expiation, however indispensable as a preliminary in the great scheme of salvation, is not, in itself, the appropriate remedy; inasmuch as our natural enmity to God must be subdued, and what is internally polluted, must be internally purified. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of Heaven." Prayer, then-earnest and continual prayer for the renovating grace of Christ-ought to be urged as, amongst means, the great resource of that soul which begins to listen to the Divine call at the eleventh hour. As there can be no entrance into heaven without inward purification, and as this effect can be accomplished only by the omnipotent grace of the Redeemer, to implore this grace, and to exercise it in proportion as it is communicated, is the great point which ought to be pressed upon the dying penitent, and to which, therefore, all other topics of discourse should be made subservient. The New Testament, interpreted not by dogmatical prepossession, but by the light of a spiritual mind, will, throughout, be found applicable to this vital purpose. Matter, therefore, for expostulation, exhor- Nor is prayer for internal grace a means of safety only; it is also the surest vehicle of Divine consolation. It is hardly possible to pray for spiritual blessings with cordiality, and not to feel conscious comfort in the very act; because, to pray with cordiality is to pray with interest, and to be interested in purely spiritual blessings is already to possess commencing principles of spirituality. tation, direction, and consolation, can never be wanting. The instructor who has been intent, not only on discovering the spiritual sense of Scripture but on feeling its entire influence on his own mind and heart, will ever be in readiness to apply it skilfully and opportunely to the inward exigencies of those to whom he is called to afford ministerial assistance. Such a person will peculiarly endeavour so to communicate the matter of Scripture, as that it may become the sustenance of prayer. By the prayer of the heart, as by a digestive organ, the sincere milk of the word is made nutritious to the inner man. According to St. Paul (Rom. x. 13, &c.) prayer is immediately connected with salvation; and both faith itself, and the hearing by which faith comes, are represented as of importance, on account of their being necessary preliminaries to prayer. May it not then, on the whole, be said, that in proportion as the spirit of cordial and scriptural prayer is awakened, a death-bed becomes illumined with the rays of well-founded and consistent hope? "Behold he prayeth," was the first evidence of the conversion of St. Paul and he who prays as he prayed is certain to partake of the same grace that he obtained; that grace through which the persecutor became "crucified with Christ," and by the strength of which he was made "more than conqueror" in every subsequent trial. Such must be the result: since, to pray with the heart is to "draw nigh to God," that he may " draw nigh to us;" it is, to follow in its simplicity the counsel of our Redeemer to the woman of Samaria, and thereby infallibly to participate in the blessing which he communicates. "If thou hadst known the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water." It is possible to implore admission into heaven, and to deprecate hell; it is possible to dread the terrible Majesty of the Most High, and to be anxious, on any terms, to escape his vengeance; and yet to have little if any wish to obtain purity of heart or supreme love to God. But to be solicitous for these real elements of life eternal, and to' look up to the incarnate Deity as the Fountain of that life as well as its ever-gracious Dispenser, is in truth the heart-pulse of the new creature; and to be more and more engaged in such exercises of the mind, to feel increased relish for them and deeper delight in them, is, even on a death-bed, to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He who is led thus to "believe on the Son of God" cannot fail to have "the witness in himself." His new cares, pursuits, and pleasures are the evidences of a new nature, and the pledge of a happy immortality; and as it was through prayer that these feelings were obtained, so in prayer will they be exercised. There will indeed be fruits visible to others; there will be serenity of temper, patience under suffering, increased self-controul, and thankfulness for kind attentions;-but to himself, what he increasingly feels, in inward converse with his God and Saviour, will be the support and rest of his soul, until mortality be swallowed up of life. CATHOLICUS. FAMILY SERMONS.-No.CXLVII. tioned in the text, or on their im ON PARTIAL REFORMATIONS AND RELAPSES. Matt. xii. 43-45.-When the unclean spirit goeth out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. THE Scriptures frequently represent it as among the unhappy circumstances of man's fallen condition, that we have become subject to the dominion of Satan, and are taken captive by him at his will. By nature we choose the world for our possession, and the world's god for our master; we submit to the unholy sway of "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that How worketh in the children of disobedience." Till changed in our affections by the grace of God, our life is spent in the slavery of sin, and the wages of sin are our fearful inheritance in the world to come. And this servitude is the more complete because we are not aware of our bondage: we think ourselves free when we are most enthralled, for our slavery is that of the will, which, being ouce gained to the side of our spiritual enemy, brings all our other powers into unresisting captivity. Such appears to be the condition of things pre-supposed in the text. The heart of man is there represented as the residence of an unclean spirit who usurps dominion over it, going in or out at his pleasure, and relaxing or multiplying his temptations as best suits his seductive purposes. We shall not dwell at present upon all the circumstances men mediate application to the case of those whom our Lord was addressing; but shall proceed to consider the affecting picture which they present of a mind over which Satan exercises his dominion. There are two principal stages pointed out: the first, when the evil spirit quits the heart for a season; the second, when he returns to it with seven other spirits worse than himself: the former we may consider as describing the case of a sinner during a temporary and partial reformation; the latter, his case when hardened again in his sins. -- First, We are to consider the case of a sinner during a temporary and partial reformation. There are many persons who have such a sense both of their folly and their danger while living in a state of sin, that they are anxious to pacify their accusing conscience by leaving off some of their evil habits; at least till the power of tempta. tion induces them to resume them." When warned of the awful conse quences of living and dying unreconciled to God, they are perhaps terrified into the outward semblance of repentance, which however proves itself not to be of a genuine kind, by not bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. Some of the more vicious dispositions, if such existed, are indeed reformed; but the heart remains unchanged; the evil spirit, though absent for a season, is not dispossessed of his dominion; and the sinner is only deluding himself by a superficial and transient amendment, which falls far short of real conversion and sanctification of soul. Let us examine some of the most common ways in which persons are thus apt to deceive themselves. 1. Many take credit to themselves for having forsaken a siu to which they were once addicted, when they have only ceased to fall into it by having their attention turned towards something in which . |