How God's People may
Make Great Attainments
William Plumer
Professors of religion may be divided into three classes.
1. First, there are those of whom charity dares not say
that they are passed from death unto life. They are carnal, careless,
covetous. They are manifestly just such as they were before they joined the
church. In them no change of life appears to prove a change of heart. They
are much like their other worldly neighbors, except that they attend church.
They add no strength to the cause of truth. They are spots and blemishes in
Christian feasts. They are a grief and a shame to godly people. The church
has their names, but the world has their hearts. The number of such is
painfully large.
2. A second class consists of those, who sometimes seem
quite changed. Once in a while their faith and love and zeal appear to be
sincere, and their humility profound. But their course is not uniform. At
times they are like sky-rockets for brilliancy; but soon they lose their
effulgence, and all you find left is a dirty stick. They have great defects
and are also guilty of some excesses. The best Christians have no confidence
in them; not because they love to indulge suspicion, but because they cannot
help it. Paul said to some: "I stand in doubt of you." (Gal. 4:26)
It is a sad thing when the conduct of professors of piety
keeps their brethren in a state of alternate fear and hope, distrust and
confidence. If they either fully and heartily condemn or confide in such,
they fear that they are doing wrong. This class of church members at one
time seems to be quite under the power of evil--and then quite penitent.
There is perhaps not much very decidedly against them--but there is nothing
very decidedly in their favor. They are always falling--and yet seeming to
recover themselves. They sin and seem to repent--and yet seem not to have
thoroughly repented, for they soon sin again. Their number is considerable.
Some, perhaps more of them than is generally hoped for, will be saved; but
many of them will no doubt perish. Those of them, who shall reach heaven,
will be saved as by fire. They will suffer great loss too, for their works
shall be generally burned up, because they are wood, hay, and stubble. What
a blessing it is that the Lord knows those who are his, and can find a grain
of wheat in a bushel of chaff. Those of them, who are not saved, will perish
very fearfully, for they had many convictions, made many vows, lived in the
enjoyment of privileges, and yet all to no purpose.
3. The third class of professors consists of those, whose
profession is attended by fervent love, deep humility, Christian firmness, a
well-tempered zeal, attachment to the whole law of God, and a habitual
renunciation of the world as a portion. Such have trials, days of darkness,
and doubts, which lead them to cry mightily to God. At times perhaps they
suffer even keen anguish. But no charitable person, who knows them,
seriously doubts where their hearts are. They do not turn back — they do not
look back. They are reliable people. They maintain regular secret devotion,
and consequently they exhibit a devout temper in society. Their brethren
trust them, and are never disappointed. In their presence even wicked men
feel "how solemn goodness is," and often cease to lay snares for them, for
they see that their minds are made up. They lose little time in debating
idle questions. They do not by a doubtful course of life create distressing
questions of casuistry. Their rule is to keep themselves as far as
possible from all sin. They seldom dally with temptation. If they are
overcome, it is only to rise with new strength after every fall. There is a
sweet savor of piety about them.
Their manners are perhaps very various, some being
polished and bland, or affable and free; others being awkward and uncouth,
or quiet and retiring. But they uniformly show a tenderness of conscience,
an uprightness of intention, a zeal for God and a love to his people, which
cannot be mistaken. They use the world as not abusing it. They live not
after the flesh. They live unto God and they will die unto God. They do not
overact their part. They are zealous--but not ostentatious; prudent--but not
cowardly; decided--but not obstinate. They greatly love the truth. It is
their food. They hate every false way and all lying words. But they do not
make a man an offender for a word. They are modest, but not miserly. They
are often cast down, but not in despair. Their humility, like the ample
folds of a large cloak, covers even their good works from the gaze of
many--and especially from their own eyes. They say but little to their own
praise, because they do not think well of themselves. They put themselves
among the least of all saints, yes among the chief of sinners.
With pleasure they acknowledge the gifts and graces of
their brethren. They often feel reproved by what they esteem the superior
attainments of others. They never think themselves eminent Christians. They
forget the things that are behind and press forward to learn and to do more
and better than ever before. They hate and resist vain thoughts. They are
ashamed of their many failures. They grow. They first cast their roots
downwards, then they bear fruit upwards. They not only begin but they
continue to live by the doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Their fruit
remains in them because they abide in Christ. He is their life and all their
salvation. They glory in his cross. They glory in nothing else. Having begun
in the Spirit, they end in the Spirit also.
They may not be able to reason with subtle errorists, but
neither are they led astray by them. They know that all doctrine which puffs
up the carnal mind, which gives low views of sin, which detracts from the
glory of Christ, which gives iniquity an advantage over us, must be unsound.
They, therefore, wisely shun it. They have learned the difference between
truth and error chiefly, perhaps, by means of that spiritual discernment,
taste, and experience, of which they are possessed. Though they may not be
skillful in argument, they are wise unto salvation. As the children of
wisdom, they always justify her.
Everyone of them is at heart a martyr, and, under a fair
trial, would be found unto praise and honor and glory. Through education, or
church relations, they may have imbibed some narrow views--but they are not
at heart bigots. And it is delightful to see their pure love like a flowing
stream, rising above all obstructions, and pouring forth its warm sympathies
on all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever be their name or nation,
color or condition.
The prosperity of Christ's kingdom lies near their
hearts. They are often filled with sadness at the abounding of sin; but they
rejoice at the progress of truth and righteousness. The state of the
unconverted and perishing millions of men deeply affects them. The low state
of piety in the church makes them mourn and weep and pray. Yet the joy of
the Lord is their strength. They rejoice in tribulation. They are useful and
pray and study to be more and more so. Their example is a sermon which no
man can answer. By well-doing they put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men. They are not aware of half the good they are doing.
As they advance in life a delightful mellowness of
character is more and more perceptible. They may seem to shrink away
from the public gaze and from public duties, but it is not because they are
soured with the world, nor because they have any haughty or embittered
feelings. They have learned in honor to prefer one another. They love to be
alone with God. Their meditation of him is sweet. They think of him in the
night watches. They rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
Some such eminent servants of God finish their course
early in life. Their sun rises and shines in his strength, but goes down
before it is noon. What a blessing such people are! Those who know and love
them cherish their memories with extreme tenderness. Their removal from
earth is one of the things which makes good men willing to be absent from
the body and present with the Lord.
Others live longer and die at a time when we would
expect them to be most useful. Such were Halyburton, and Brainerd, and
Martyn, and Payson, and Nevins, and thousands whose record is on high. Their
death makes sad all their pious friends; but it is hallowed. Had they lived
longer, many might have leaned on them, or the church might have felt less
her need of ascension gifts from Christ her Lord. Their work was done, and
the Master called them to fill a higher sphere of usefulness, and honor, and
felicity. And when he called them, good men both wept and rejoiced.
Some of the eminently pious are spared to old age.
Then, like shocks of corn fully ripe, they are gathered into the garner of
the Lord. Their last days are to the body full of pain and weakness, but to
the soul full of peace. Their hoary head is a crown of glory, because it is
found in the way of righteousness. No man can read the memoirs of John
Newton, Thomas Scott, John Brown of Haddington, and many others, without
seeing something desirable in the heritage of the saints even in old age.
Balaam said: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be
like his."
All of this class of people enjoy religion. It is their
food and drink. They have bread to eat which the world knows not of. The
secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he shows them his
covenant. He is their portion. They are not driven out of the world, but
willingly leave it. "They rest from their labors, and their works do follow
them." No sorrowing friend is sunk to the earth, for fear that they are not
saved. In the next world they shine as the stars forever and ever.
The well-spring and fountain of all these attainments
must be sought in God, and in God alone. He says: "From me is your fruit
found." "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." And
God is a Sovereign, dividing his gifts severally as he will. His grace is as
free and unmerited as it is great and glorious.
Yet God commonly makes his grace abound the most where
his people most diligently use the proper means. Spiritual sloth is worse
than natural sloth. We must be up and doing. Words are cheap. We have in the
church "many walking and talking skeletons." They are not fat and
flourishing. They are sometimes loud and noisy professors, yet none but
themselves think well of their case. They may talk of zeal and love, yet
they never are much. But others are like cedars in Lebanon. They are strong
men in Christ Jesus. They are pillars in the church. How did they become so?
The answer is, God made all grace abound to them, and so they abound to
every good work.
But how was his abundant grace bestowed on them? This is
a grave question, and deserves a grave answer. No man has ever become
eminent for piety but in the humble use of proper means. The Holy Spirit is
the sole efficient cause of holiness. We may use all the means and be no
better, unless he blesses them to us. But then he always sends a rich
blessing on all who rightly wait upon the Lord in the ways of his
appointment.
It has been said that some Christians, as some infants,
are born with much more vigor, and seem to grow much more rapidly than
others at the first. This is true. But did you ever see such after a while
become sickly? And have you not seen those, who seemed feeble at first,
become strong and mighty? A healthy child may be so injured by the treatment
it receives as never to make a strong man. The proper means must be used,
and the divine blessing secured on those means. What then must be done?
1. It is essential to the Christian's improvement that he
maintain tenderness of conscience.
A scrupulous conscience is
like a diseased eye, which weeps for nothing. But a tender conscience is
like a sound eye, which weeps when a mote is in it. It is called in
Scripture "a conscience void of offence towards God and man." We have many
pleasing examples of such a conscience. Take one. In the midst of battle
David became weary and thirsty. In that hour he thought, as men are apt to
do, of the water which he drank in his childhood and youth. David was
extremely thirsty and said, "If only someone would bring me water to drink
from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!" So three of the warriors broke
through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of
Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it.
Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. David said, "Lord, I would never do
such a thing! Is this not the blood of men who risked their lives?" So he
refused to drink it. (2 Samuel 23:15-17)
This was indeed a tender conscience. He knew that it was
lawful to drink water. He knew that it would please his faithful men for him
to drink this water. But then it had cost too much. It had been procured at
the hazard of life. So he made it a thank-offering to God, who had
mercifully, and, perhaps, miraculously preserved alive those fearless men
who had periled their lives for the comfort of their commander. Go and do
likewise. Keep a tender conscience at all costs and at all hazards. Put not
wicked gains into your pocket, nor lay them up for your children. In the end
they will bring a curse on all concerned. Give no quarters to sin. Parley
not with temptation. Touch not, taste not, handle not any evil thing, any
doubtful thing. Defile not your soul with courses, the correctness of which
you suspect. It is extremely perilous to do so.
2. Be a diligent student of God's word, of God's whole
word.
Despise no portion of it. Its promises encourage. Its
threatenings warn. Its precepts direct. Its histories teach by example. Its
songs cheer. Its doctrines edify. Its prophecies prove its divinity. Not
only read but hear the word of God, as it is the word of God. Beware of that
bane of profitable hearing--a critical spirit. A display of your critical
powers may please your vanity--but will never bring you on your journey
heavenward. Owen says of some: "They are ready to think and say, that the
preaching and religious exercises which they had in former days were far to
be preferred above what they now enjoy; and they despise the ministers of
the present age in comparison of their fathers. But the change is in
themselves. They have lost their spiritual appetite. Being grown full of
themselves and conceited of their own abilities, they have not that taste
and relish for the word which they had formerly; and this is both the cause
and the evidence of the decay of all their other graces."
Anyone who has formed the habits of a severe, not to say
capricious critic of preaching, is greatly to be pitied. Even faultless
preaching would but strengthen such a habit. Beware of it. Earnestly cry to
God for that faith which must be mixed with the word read or preached, that
you may profit withal. "As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may grow thereby." It is in this way that "The righteous
thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in
the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courtyards of our God. They will
still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare: "The Lord is
just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." (Psalm
92:12-15)
3.
Would you attain eminence in piety?
You must also be a companion of all those who fear
the Lord, and especially of such as have knowledge and experience in piety
superior to your own. "He who walks with wise men shall be wise."
The presence of such, is no small preservative against sin and no feeble
stimulant to good. It is a great thing to have before us the words and
example of one who is a burning and shining light. Great men often appear in
clusters, as in the days of Augustus, of Cromwell, of Queen Ann, and of
George the Third. The same is true of pious men. Eminent goodness is seldom
attained by one man alone. It needs a Peter to strengthen his brethren, a
John to set a high example of love, a Paul to bring out in their connection
the truths of Scripture--and these all taught from above, and giving us high
examples of virtue. Many a man has been vastly benefited by spending even an
hour with an eminent servant of Christ.
4.
If you would attain eminent piety,
study and labor to do good, as you have opportunity, to all men.
"He who waters shall be watered." The widow's oil increased only so long as
she continued pouring out. He whose world is himself must have both narrow
views and contracted feelings. The very spirit of piety is benevolent. Our
Savior went about doing good. Nor did he tire at his work. Even when wearied
with his journey he sat at Jacob's well, he would not fail to do good to the
Samaritan woman. But beware of Jehu's pride and vanity, and of what is akin
to it, an angry spirit. Be grieved, but not offended, if sinners will not
turn to God. Do not be bitter against them. You ought to bear with the
wicked as long as God does. "Be patient toward all men." Quarrel not with
them. They will be glad to have their controversy with God brought down to a
contest with you. If they revile you; you bless them.
Expect not to be useful, but at a cost of feeling, ease,
or money. Try every way that is lawful and wise. Encourage and aid those who
show any desire to flee from the wrath to come. Do all you can and in as
private and modest a way as possible. Sow not sparingly. If men were but
governed by an enlightened self-love, they would hardly be as penurious as
they often are. "So quickly has the 'wheel turned round', that many a man
has lived to enjoy the benefit of that charity which his own piety projected
and consummated." In the very exercise of benevolence there is a blessing
which is worth far more than all it costs. The joy of doing good is one
of the purest and most pleasing of all our affections. To do good from
pure love, is to be like God. But watch providence. To run uncalled, and not
to run when called, are two things more nearly allied in temper and in guilt
than is commonly supposed. Payson says: "What God calls a man to do, He will
carry him through. I would undertake to govern half a dozen worlds if God
called me to do it; but I would not undertake to govern half a dozen sheep
unless God called me to it."
And keep in your own sphere. "As a bird that wanders from
her nest, so is a man who wanders from his place." When Nero entered the
lists to write poetry in competition with Lucan, he was ridiculous and his
life was embittered. When Henry the Eighth undertook to confute Luther, he
burned his fingers, and the reforming monk laughed him to scorn. Let no man,
in doing good, undertake what he cannot do well. The frogs may swell
themselves until they burst, but they will never be oxen. And let not the
oxen try to become little as frogs. It is no glory to a king, a senator, or
a minister of Christ to excel in fiddling or in jesting. It is well to know
what you can do, and what it befits you to do. When Cyrus of Persia and
Jackson of America did the duties of a private soldier, it was to animate
their troops by example. What is your proper place in the church of God, and
in all labors of love? Find it out. Never leave it. Many a useful and
honorable teacher of a Sunday School loses all his influence by attempting
to preach. Many souls may be won to Christ by a humble, laborious
colporteur, who would be a burden to the church if he attempted some higher
calling. "Earnestly covet the best gifts"; but give not your great labors
for something above you or beneath you. There should be a place for every
church member, and every church member should be in his place.
5.
If you would advance rapidly in divine
attainments, you must be serious.
Moroseness is a sin, and melancholy is no friend to true piety. But
seriousness is essential to great success in anything, and especially in
piety. In the days of Elizabeth flourished that great statesman, Walsingham.
In old age he retired into private life. Some, who relished merriment,
visited him and ridiculed him on what they called his melancholy. He
replied: "I am not melancholy; I am serious; and it is fit I should be so.
Ah my friends, while we laugh, all things are serious about us. God is
serious, who exercises patience towards us; Christ is serious, who shed his
blood for us; the Holy Spirit is serious in striving against the obstinacy
of our hearts; the Holy Scriptures bring to our ears the most serious things
in the world; the holy sacraments represent to us the most serious and
solemn things; the whole creation is serious in serving God and us; all that
are in heaven and hell are serious--and shall not I be serious too?" A mind
soured with the world, though it may be more unamiable and tormenting--is
hardly a greater enemy to piety than is levity.
6.
When you have done all these things, and
whatever else seems called for, cast yourself
entirely and constantly upon the Almighty Father for strength;
upon Jesus Christ for mercy, for atonement, for righteousness and for
all-prevailing intercession; and upon the blessed Holy Spirit for
illumination, guidance, purity and abundance of inwrought grace. Do this at
all times, praying with all prayer. Whoever at any time has gone to heaven
has climbed up there on his knees. Nothing can be a substitute for a
devotional spirit. Prayer is our vital breath. Without it we die
spiritually.
Whoever does these things shall never fall, nor shall he
be barren, nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
shall make his calling and election sure; and so an entrance shall be
ministered unto him abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.