Alexander Campbell's Short Sermons on Christian Practice: Sermons on Prayer No. I
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SHORT SERMONS ON CHRISTIAN PRACTICE by Alexander Campbell FROM THE MILLENNIAL HARBINGER, 1839 Sermon #1: On Prayer MAY, 1839. SERMONS ON PRAYER--No. I. TEXT.--Continue instant in prayer. Col.2.2. Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. Phil. 4. 6. Be patient in affliction, continue instant in prayer. Rom.12.12. Is any man afflicted? Let him pray. James5.13. Praying always, with all deprecation and supplication in the spirit. Eph. 6.18 . Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks. 1 Thess.5. 17, 18. I exhort first of all, that deprecations, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men--for kings and for all in authority; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to an acknowledgment of the truth. 1 Tim.2.1-4. Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. Matth. 7. 7. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their supplication. 1 Pet. 3. 12. Pray for one another.--The inwrought prayer of the righteous man availeth much. James 5. 17. If you fathers know how to give good things to your children that ask you, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him. Matth. 7. 11.----[Lord, increase our faith in these promises!!] RELIGION, my Christian brethren, as the term indicates, began after the Fall. Holy men and angels did not need faith, repentance, prayer, altars, priests, victims, rites, or religious usages, to bring them back, or bind them fast to God. The word religion, indeed, imports a previous apostacy. The verb religo, with all its family, indicates a binding again, or tying fast that which was dissolved. The primitive man loved, wondered, and adored, as angels now do, without religion; but fallen man needs religion in order to his restoration to the love, and worship, and enjoyment of God. To know and enjoy God himself is the supreme bliss, as it is the highest style and dignity of man; and to this, religion is but the means: for as Jesus says, "Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man." So we may say that man was not made for religion, but religion, or a remedial system, was made for fallen man. That which is properly called religion is immutably the same thing, though variously dispensed. Thus we have had various dispensations of religion adapted to the different states of the human family in its progress onward to the present moment. New institutions have characterized these different dispensations. Still the remedial system is necessarily and essentially the same thing; and therefore religion, in all its elements, is, like its Author, "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Thus prayer, like faith and repentance, belongs to no age or [[@Page:204]] dispensation; but has always been an institution of grace--a part of a remedial system; and is alike the privilege of all the miserable and distressed of human kind who acknowledge a Mediator. Hence, while they who want nothing need not pray, the right of petition is the inalienable, equal; and universal right of all the miserable and distressed under a just and merciful administration. But in order to our being acceptably heard In our deprecations, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings, there are certain indispensable prerequisites; and the burthen of my present discourse shall be a definition of these prerequisites. The first of these in order is a Mediator. God cannot listen to a rebel on his own merit or account. It would be beneath his dignity, not merely in his own esteem, but also in that of a universe of pure and exalted intelligences, to commune with, or listen to, the importunities of a guilty and polluted transgressor. Hence we say with Paul, "There is but one God, and one Mediator between God and men--the man Christ Jesus"--and with Peter we say, "There is none other name under heaven given amongst men by which we must be saved:" for Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father but by me." In the second place, faith in God and in his son Jesus Christ is indispensable; for "without faith," says Paul, "it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."Let him ask in faith," says James; and let not the man that is undecided, or that "wavereth, think that he shall receive any thing from the Lord." In the 3d place, repentance, or a full preparation of our hearts to seek the Lord, is a prerequisite, without which no man can be accepted of God. Thus spake Peter to Simon, "Repent of this thy wickedness, and pray to God." And said the Lord to Jeremiah, "You shall pray unto me, and, I will hearken unto you; and you shall seek me and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart." Jer. xxix. 12, 13. A thousand testimonies speak the same things. In the fourth place, we mast be led by the Spirit; for we know not what we should ask without its teachings. In other words, we must pray according to the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, or its promptings in us. For example, we cannot pray for worldly riches and honor in faith, in repentance, or in the Holy Spirit: not because we have no promise of these things, but because such requests are not compatible with repentance, nor with the teachings of the Holy Spirit. We may, indeed, pray for competence, for influence, for wisdom, for the salvation of our families, &c. because such desires are prompted by the Holy Spirit. Four things are therefore indispensable to acceptable and successful prayer--a Mediator, faith, repentance, and the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Without these four, no person can expect to be answered or accepted of the Lord, And no man can ask any thing from the Lord, with these prerequisites, which he will not certainly obtain from the Lord. In these matters, other things not mentioned, may, by some, be supposed to be included. But, in the mean time, we teach only what [[@Page:205]] is now, and always was, indispensable to acceptable and successful prayer. We shall now advert to two difficulties which have frequently fallen in our way:-- 1st. No testimony, no promise--there can be no faith. Now as we have not promises importing to us that all things we may ask shall be conferred, how can we pray in faith? But it has been said that we must pray according to the Holy Spirit; consequently there is nothing which the Holy Spirit prompts us to ask which may not be asked in faith, that God is both able and willing to bestow it. Now the Holy Spirit has taught us that God wills our sanctification and salvation through the truth as it is in Jesus: consequently we may ask in faith whatever is necessary to this end. And whatever earthly bounties or temporal favors for ourselves or others we may ask, the Spirit teaches us to ask them confidently, so far as they may be according to the will of God; and no farther can we lawfully desire them. Our text affords ample proof of this: for Christians, as such, are commanded to "be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication to make their requests known to God." Now I ask, would the Lord command so to ask without an intimation in the command that we should receive! If we are to "continue instant in prayer"--"to pray always"--"to pray without ceasing," and for all things that we can lawfully desire, surely it is because "the Lord's ears are open to our prayers," and it is that we may receive the blessings that we ask. If our natural and selfish parents answer our requests, how much more will our heavenly Father confer our desires! But a second difficulty is sometimes urged with much vehemence--"Is not God immutable, and are not all his laws fixed? And does not prayer imply a wish to change the heavenly Father, or to cause him to change the laws of his moral or physical government?" I answer this difficulty by stating a fact, and adding an illustration of it: In the first place God has promised many favors on condition that they shall be asked. Now in obtaining those favors by prayer, we have only complied with the conditions on which God always and immutably willed to confer them. Now this may be illustrated many ways--as, for example, when Joseph, the governor of Egypt, had stowed away provisions for seven years' famine, he made proclamation to all Egypt, that, on certain conditions, he would supply every applicant with bread. Now when those applicants came and asked for bread according to the terms of the proclamation, could any one of them think that he had effected a change in the mind of the governor by his application! And should a sceptic in the power, wisdom, and generosity of Joseph, have asked an applicant while on his way to the store-houses, if he intended to effect a change in the mind of the governor; might he not have replied, No, sir, I am only complying with the gracious terms of his proclamation; for it is written in the proclamation, "For all these favors I will be inquired of by all the wretched sons of want in all the land of Egypt." I have recently learned that there is much scepticism on the subject of the utility of prayer in the minds of some professors. I intend, with the help of the Bible and common sense, to attempt the eradication of this deleterious influence: for a prayerless Christian is as paradoxical to me as a lungless man. I could as easily believe that a man could [[@Page:206]] live seven years without breathing, as a Christian live seven days without praying. A. C. [The Millennial Harbinger, New Series, 3 (May 1839): 204-207.]
Sermon #2: On Prayer JUNE, 1839. SERMONS ON PRAYER--No. II.
"I exhort first of all,--that deprecations, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men--for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives, in all godliness and honesty: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to an acknowledgment of the truth."--1 Tim. 2. 1-4. Men, Brethren, and Fathers, WE are not among those who believe that when Paul commanded Christians to "teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs," he meant hymns--and hymns--and hymns. Nor can we be persuaded that when he exhorts that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men, he meant only one thing, four times stated. Paul had neither time nor taste for such tautology. Any address to God expressive of our desires may be generically called prayer. But here are specific duties denominated deprecation, prayer, intercession, and thanksgiving. In this apostolic classification Christians in their prayers are to attend to four distinct items:--They are to deprecate evils; supplicate favors; intercede for persons; and return thanks for benefits received. Yes, they may deprecate all sorts of evils--"Deliver us from evil"--"Abandon us not to temptation:" supplicate all sorts of favors, temporal and spiritual--"Give us this day our daily bread"--"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors:" they are to intercede for all sorts of persons, as did Abraham--"Peradventure there be ten righteous in the city, wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place--the city and its inhabitants--for ten's sake?" "And the Lord said, I will not destroy the city for ten's sake." And said Jesus, "Into whatever house you enter, say, Peace be to this house;" for so prayed he for others--"I pray for all them that shall believe on me through their word--that they all may be one--that the world may believe that thou hast sent me"--"Forgive them, for they know not what they do," &c. And finally, we are in every thing to give thanks, and for all sorts of favors conferred on ourselves and others.1
1 We are not so whimsically critical, nor so mathematically precise, as to imagine that in the order of the words these things must be so arranged as that we most always begin with deprecations and end with thanksgivings, else our worship is inacceptable. We do not thus convert the New Testament into a ritual or rubrick, an Two questions, my beloved friends, arise here:--For whom and for what are Christians to pray? For method's sake, and for your memory's sake, I will formally ask, and answer these two questions:-- 1st. For whom are Christians to pray? Paul shall answer. He has answered in our text.--"For all men." But says the Universalist, "It is not for the salvation of all men: for all men are decreed to be saved." One, then, may as consistently [[@Page:272]] pray for the sun to rise to-morrow morning, as to pray for the ultimate salvation of all men; because both events are foreordained from all eternity. Again, says the ultra Calvinist, 'The Christian cannot pray for all men; for the elect are so definite and so fixed, that their number can neither be increased nor diminished. It is for all sorts of men--for kings, and all in authority,' says he, 'and not for all individual men. The praying for sorts of men, rather than men, is a doctrine of the schools, and not of Christ. But can we pray for a sort or class of men without praying for the men that compose it? It is preposterous. Could an Englishman pray for kings and for all in authority in that great empire, without praying for the persons of those kings and public functionaries of authority? It is absurd. To pray for all sorts of men is to pray for all men in all these classes, or it is downright mummery and mockery.' Paul assigns two reasons for these universal prayers. Perhaps we may learn something from considering them. The reason assigned for praying for kings and officers is, that Christians under their government be allowed to lead quiet and peaceable lives, in all godliness and honesty. For their own good, then, they are to pray for the governments under which they live; for this will not only propitiate the governors one of our very precise brethren in the West, who will, in despite of all remonstrance, have It that the order of words in Acts ii. 42. is the divinely stereotyped order of Christian worship; who, to prove that in narration that which is first told always first happened, actually proved that Noah's oldest son Japheth was the youngest, because he is always last mentioned. Thus refuting himself without knowing it! [272] to their interests, but the Lord sustaining and blessing the governors with prosperity, it will secure like favors to them. Thus preached Jeremiah to the captive Jews--"Seek the good of the city whither the Lord has caused you to be carried away captive: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace." But the second reason rises beyond their own interest: for adds the Apostle, This is moreover "good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved," and to come to an acknowledgment of the gospel, or of the truth. It is, then, in harmony with the divine will. It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour to pray for all men; and surely this is the beat reason in the world that can be given for doing any thing! This point decided, we next ask-- 2d. For what are Christians to pray? We answer first in very general terms:--As we may pray for all persons whom we love, so we may pray for all things that we desire--according to the will of God. Whom may we love? According to the will of God, I ask, whom may we love? I answer, All men, friends and foes. Bless your friends; "bless your enemies;" "pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you;" not for that class, but for the very individuals that compose it. Pray for all men. Love and desire are, then, the metes and boundaries of prayer; and this love and desire are only to be limited by the revealed will of God. All persons may be loved--all good things may be desired. For both, then, it is lawful to pray. But both the power of prayer and the objects and uses of prayer will be better seen and more highly appreciated by an induction of instances from the Bible:--Abraham prayed for the king of Egypt, and he was cured. He prayed for a son, and Isaac was born. Isaac and Rebecca had no issue; he entreated the Lord, and Jacob and Esau were the answer to his prayer. Jacob prayed for Joseph, and he inherited blessings above the blessings of his progenitors. Jacob wrestled with the Lord and prevailed, and obtained the title "Israel"--a Prince of God. [[@Page:273]] Moses interceded for Aaron, and his life was saved: he lifted up his hands to heaven, and Israel triumphed over Amalek. Hannah prayed for a son, and Samuel was the son that was given. Samuel prayed against the enemies of Israel, and the Lord answered him by thundering upon them from heaven; and again he prayed, and the Lord answered him by thunder for a sign to Israel. How oft did David say, "I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears"--"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even. into his ears"--"Thou heardest the voice of my deprecations when I cried to thee"--"I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications; because he has inclined his ear unto me: therefore will I call upon him so long as I live." Hezekiah, seized with a deadly distemper, prayed earnestly to the Lord, and the Lord said, "I have heard thy prayer, and have seen thy tears, and I have added unto thy days fifteen years." Again, he prayed to be saved from the Assyrian hosts under Sennacherib their king, and in one night the angel of death slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand men! And what shall I more say? The time would fail me to tell of Elijah, who shut and opened heaven by prayer; of Zacharias and Elizabeth, whose prayers obtained another Elijah; of the multitudes of Jews who sought and obtained many cures and blessings from the Messiah; of Cornelius, whose prayer brought an angel from heaven, and Peter from Joppa to communicate to him the word of eternal life; of the prayers of the primitive church, that shook both heaven and earth--that brought Peter out of the inner prison at the hour of midnight, and made the word of the Lord run speedily throughout the earth. All sorts of blessings, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, have been vouchsafed to men and women in answer to prayer. Wherever there is much faith there will be much prayer; and little faith, little prayer. The Lord is very liberal; but he desires for our good that we should ask, seek, and knock, not only once, twice, or three times, but often, very often; for he that thus seeks, finds; and to him who thus knocks, it shall be opened. Having, then, answered these two important questions--For whom we ought to pray, and for what--we shall notice an objection sometimes offered against the obvious meaning of these words, "Who will have all men to be saved." An objector says, 'Is not God omnipotent, and can he not do what he wills? If, then, he wills the salvation of all, must not all be saved? God, indeed, is omnipotent; but wisdom and goodness direct his power. He can only do what his goodness prompts and his wisdom directs. Power, then, only executes what wisdom directs and goodness prompts. Now goodness prompts to save the willing, and not the unwilling; and wisdom guides how this may be done compatibly with the promptings of divine goodness: therefore, God cannot save the unwilling, though he desires not the death of the sinner, but rather that he would turn and live; for, as Peter says, "he desires not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." God is, then, omnipotent to save all that come to him by his Son; but he cannot save those who will not have his Son to reign over them. Brethren, pray for every one you love, and for every thing you [[@Page:274]] lawfully desire. A Christian should not desire any thing for which he ought not to pray; and he ought to pray to the Lord for every thing he rationally desires, even to the minuteness of his daily bread. Be anxious, then, for nothing; but in every thing, by prayer and deprecation, let your requests be made known to God. A. C.
[The Millennial Harbinger, New Series, 3 (June 1839): 272-275.]
Sermon #3: On Prayer VOLUME III.-----NUMBER VII. JULY, 1839. SERMONS ON PRAYER--No. III. Be patient in affliction; continue instant in prayer. Rom. 12.12. Is any man afflicted? Let him pray. James 5.13. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. I Thess. 5.16, 17. Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. Eph. 6.18. TWO things are strongly suggested to us in these apostolic injunctions: The occasions and the seasons of prayer. Occasions and seasons, though intimately connected, and sometimes confounded, are not identical. The occasion is the incident that calls for any thing to be done; and the season is the time when it should be done. Among the occasions of prayer, afflictions are most prominent and chief. "In my distress I called upon the Lord," said the royal poet. Hezekiah in his afflictions besought the Lord. Jesus himself especially prayed in the scenes of darkness and distress through which he passed. "In the days of his flesh," says Paul, "when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, to Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard because he was pious," or "in that he feared." Prayer, indeed, is the language--the natural expression of affliction and distress. And to have a tender-hearted sympathizing friend to whom to flee in times of affliction, is a relief, a consolation not to be expressed. Hence, among the many glorious attributes and accomplishments of our High Priest, that to us most suitable and admirable in our afflictions, is, that he is "touched with a feeling of our infirmities; that he was in all these respects made like to his brethren," that he might have a proper measure of compassion upon the erring and upon the afflicted. Griefs and sorrows, if not divided, are diminished when uttered into the ears of a kind and sympathetic friend. When participated by him, they are lessened to us. And when we come into the presence of Him who "pitieth us as a father pitieth his own dear children," the belief that "he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men," is an alleviation, a comfort not to be described. "We have had fathers of our flesh, who chastised us, and we gave them reverence," [thanks for it;] "shall we not, then, much more be in subjection to the Father of our spirits, and live," who only afflicts us for our good! In all the afflictions of his people the Lord may be said to be afflicted: for, said Isaiah, "according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses, he said, Surely they are my children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted; and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Such now is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Is any Christian afflicted? Then let him pray. Let him tell all his tale of woe and pour out his soul before God, who will certainly hear, and succor and relieve him: for if he does not think it good to take away the affliction, he will, at least, enable him to endure it. But there are occasions of thanksgivings as well as of prayer. Favors received, and blessings enjoyed, call for thanksgivings. Therefore, said James, "Is any one merry? Let him sing psalms." "In every thing give thanks" is a blissful precept. We may even in [[@Page:326]] affliction thank the Lord on two accounts:--First, that he has not treated us as bastards; but as sons, in chastening us; and, in the second place, that he has mingled so many blessings amid so much less chastisement than we deserve. There are seasons of prayers and thanksgiving as well as of petition and supplication. We may, indeed, convert particular times into occasions both of prayer and thanksgiving. We may make the morning and the evening not only the times, but the occasions of petition and of praise. "Thou shalt hear my voice in the morning," said David. "O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer to thee." Psalm 5.3. "I will sing, of thy power; yea, I will sing of thy mercy in the morning; for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of trouble." Ps. 59.16. "In the morning shall my prayer prevent thee." Ps. 88.13. The Jews "gathered their manna every morning;" "the priests burned incense every morning;" and the Levites were to "stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even." 1 Chron. 23.30. From the book of Job we learn that, even under the patriarchal dispensation the good and excellent of the earth were observers of occasions and seasons in their worship of the Lord. Thus Job himself, during the seasons of festivity amongst his sons and daughters, "sent and sanctified them, and rose early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. Thus did Job continually." Job 1. 5. God's people have always been a peculiar people--not like other people. They have made many occasions and seasons of devotion. The most distinguished of them have been most distinguished in these particulars. David says, "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me: evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice." Ps. 55.16,17. "Daniel kneeled upon his knees three times a-day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime," or as his manner was. But the Apostles of Christ have taught us to pray always--to be instant in prayer--and to pray without ceasing. These expressions denote a habitual devotion, a constant communion with God. In one word, then, we are to make all important occasions seasons of peculiar devotion; and we are to make the seasons themselves--morning, noon, and evening, occasions of prayer and thanksgiving. We are to take occasions when they occur, and to make occasions when they do not, of pouring out our hearts to God. It is not a pharisaic precision, a sanctimoniousness at times and seasons, a hypocritical exactness; but a genuine, unaffected, cordial engagedness of soul, on all important occasions, and at regular seasons, for which we plead as the import both of the precepts and examples of the Holy Book. We need, then, to pray for "the spirit of grace and of supplication," and to cultivate a prayerful temper habitually and constantly; for, without this, it is impossible to enjoy Christian privileges. Our hearts cannot be kept right any other way. We cannot have confidence in God, nor in ourselves, but from living near, very near to God, in our daily and constant meditations, prayers, and thanksgivings. The stream of piety is a clear, constant, tranquil, swelling current that bears the soul nearer to the bosom of our Father and our God. [[@Page:327]] Say not, my Christian brother, you have not time for this; rather say you have not disposition. Say not this will interfere with your business of life. Time is given you for no other purpose than to be saved; that is, to be purified, sanctified, and fitted for heaven; and your daily and constant business is, "to give all diligence to make your calling and your election sure." A. C. [The Millennial Harbinger, New Series, 3 (July 1839): 326-328.]
Sermon #4: On Bible Reading VOLUME III.-----NUMBER VIII. AUGUST, 1839. SHORT SERMONS ON CHRISTIAN PRACTICE--No. IV. ON BIBLE-READING--No. I.
MOTTO.--Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17. 17. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12. 14. Be you holy, for I am holy--Holy in all manner of behaviour. 1 Peter 1. 15, 16. Having purified your souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren. 1 Peter 1. 22. Being born again, not of corruptible, but incorruptible seed; by the word2 of God, that liveth and abideth forever. 1 Peter 1. 23. WE speak to God in prayer, praise, thanksgiving. He speaks to us in nature, in his providence, in his word. Creation--universal nature is, indeed, a voice--"a still small voice"--a whisper from God in the ear of reason to the heart of man. "The heavens," said the royal poet, "declare the glory of God: the firmament showeth his handy work: day unto day utters speech, and night unto night teacheth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard: their line [or sound] is gone out through all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world." "What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark terrestrial hail-- What though no real voice nor sound Amid the radiant orbs be found-- In reason's ear they all rejoice And utter forth a glorious voice; Forever singing as they shine. The hand that made us is divine!"---- ADDISON. But in his moral government, as well as in creation, God speaks:--"The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Ps. cxlv. 17. "Just and righteous are thy ways, [providences,] thou King of saints." Rev. xv. 3. "By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation!" Ps. lxv. 5. "The works of his hand are verity and judgment." Ps. cxi. 7. "All his works are done in truth: he loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." Ps. xxxiii. 4, 5. But it is in the Bible alone that God speaks to man on his moral nature, relations, and destiny. That wondrous volume is so composed, arranged, and inspired, that it can be made to speak to man in answer to all his prayers for light, knowledge, motive, strength, comfort, in special, precise, and direct reference to any given case, in which he can by any possibility be placed. Men have ingeniously contrived instruments of music on which all sorts of tunes can be played; and thus a few strings when touched by the hand of a master, are made to express all the variety of human sentiments, frames, and feelings. Such a religious and moral instrument is the Bible, only incomparably more wonderfully fitted to its end. The Spirit that inspired the men that spoke and wrote it is ever present with it, giving it a life-inspiring, a soul-renewing efficacy; inasmuch that no man can possibly fall in love with the Bible, and become a habitual and prayerful student of the Book of Life, without
2 * Dia logos and dia pneumatos. It is the same in construction in verse 22 and 23:--"Through the Word"--"through the Spirit." [342] being inspired, animated, remoulded, and new created by the omnipotent moral energies of that holy and divine sanctifier, the Spirit of the [[@Page:342]] living God, which breathes upon our souls in all its facts, declarations, invitations, promises, precepts, and threatenings. On all hands, and in all schools, ancient and modern, happiness, perfect and complete, is confessed to be the universal aim, pursuit, and end of our being. It is to be regretted that the way of attainment is not so universally seen and appreciated as the end proposed. The Bible says, and says truly, for it speaks with authority, that holiness is the way to happiness; and that no other way exists or can he found. If this be true, (and who can disprove it?) then the means of holiness are the means of happiness; for happiness is to holiness as the shadow to the substance, or as light to the sun. But what is holiness? It is sanctification. And what is sanctification? It is a separation or consecration to God in heart as well as in state. And what is this separation of heart, but a conformity of views, feelings, and desires; or an approving and choosing the same thing? To will what God wills, to love what he loves, and to hate what he hates, is holiness in principle and in heart; and to carry this out in practice is holiness in fact and in truth. This implies a knowledge of God and his will, and of our own nature and condition, which can be acquired with infallible certainty, and with a soul-subduing power, but from One Book, and only one among all the books on this wide earth. The intelligence in that volume is to holiness what holiness is to happiness. They are united by a relation intimate and powerful as that of cause and effect. Bible-reading, then, comes recommended to us by this highest of considerations: Jesus himself, the LIVING and INCARNATE WORD OF GOD, proposes this word to us as the alone and all-sufficient means of sanctification--"Sanctify [or make them holy] through thy truth: thy word is truth." The fact that the Lord of Life has selected this word as the instrument and means of sanctification, is the best proof in the universe of its perfect adaptation to that end. That it is, then, the divinely wise and effectual mean of purifying, refining, elevating, and ennobling the human affections--of creating a clean heart, and renewing a right spirit in man, is placed beyond a rational doubt. Without farther evidence we then conclude, that the truth, or the word of God, is the true and proper instrument of holiness. But what means Bible reading? In one sentence, it is the devout, prayerful, habitual ponderings of the heart upon the facts, declarations, calls, precepts, promises, and threatenings of the Book of God; not an occasional reading, of a book or a chapter in the volume--not a periodical, measured, daily attention to some portions of sacred scripture, but a concentration of the whole mind upon the whole subject of revelation, as the very elements of devotion, and unfailing springs of our pleasures and delights. Such an earnest engagedness of the whole heart upon the subject, differs exceedingly from the readings of the textuary, the theologian, the disputant, the critic, the formalist, and the ordinary professor. The soul pants for this reading as the thirsty roe pants for the brooks of water. The Bible, thus read, is read for pleasure, for enjoyment, for communion with God--as a prelibation of the joys of celestial light, purity, and love; the nature and advantages of which, we shall have to make the subject of another sermon. Meanwhile, we beseech [[@Page:343]] and exhort all our brethren to be more distinguished by Bible reading as above defined, than by any other peculiarity whatsoever. This secures every thing--piety and humanity, holiness and happiness, usefulness and honor. No man can possibly be habitually and cordially pondering upon the communications of the Holy Spirit, without feeling the Spirit of God working in him to will and do every thing pleasing to God and profitable to man as he has opportunity. A. C.
[The Millennial Harbinger, New Series, 3 (August 1839): 342-344.]
Sermon #5: On Bible Reading (Thomas Campbell) VOLUME III.-----NUMBER IX. SEPTEMBER, 1839.
SHORT SERMONS ON CHRISTIAN PRACTICE—No. V. ON BIBLE-READING—No. II [[@Page:392]] [The following communication from Father Campbell comes so opportunely on the subject of my last sermon on Bible-reading, that I substitute it for mine this month. He is now on a tour in Pennsylvania, and had not seen my first when he wrote this.] A.C. ON PERSONAL AND FAMILY DEVOTION. They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Josh 24:15. IT is truly distressing, to the pious mind, to contemplate the manifest carnality of Christian society—so called. We can hear and see everything attended to but Christianity. If, therefore, out of the [[@Page:393]]abundance of the heart we speak and act, our stock of heart religion—of spiritual sentiment and devout affection, must, indeed, be very small. We can scarcely hear a word of it in any family. I speak of professors in general. It is true, we may sometimes hear sectarian controversies, and what is called the religious news of the day—a sort of religious politics, But what Christianity is in these things? What spiritual edification? The four grand cardinal points, which concentrate the entire intentional effect of Christianity, are personal holiness, family education, church edification, and public reformation;-the latter the combined extrinsic effect of the former three. Matth. 5.16. Whatever, then, does not directly and properly tend to promote these is foreign to the benevolent and blissful deism of our holy religion. Now certainly nothing can have a direct and proper tendency to promote personal holiness, which is but another name for supreme love to God, but what goes to promote the knowledge, belief, and retention of the holy scriptures. And what means, in our power, are calculated to do this, but reading, thinking, and conversing about their divine contents, (as directed, for this very purpose,) accompanied with prayer to God? And, as personal holiness is essential and fundamental to the three following comprehensive and blissful effects of our holy religion, that being duly secured, all is secured, that is necessary to our present saving utility, and also to our future happiness: “For without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” Consequently, every one possessing this shall enjoy his presence. These things being demonstrably so, how disgusting and mortifying to hear and see, in professing families almost nothing but the concerns of this world!!—the paltry affairs of a present life!!! They have not time to make an educational and edifying use of the scriptures in their families, by reading them connectively and attentively, with suitable interrogations, observations, and exhortations, for the edification of all concerned, according to their respective abilities; but, if read at all, they close the book without a single remark; and leave it as ignorant and unaffected as before they opened it; and so pass on to something else. Besides they never think of reading it regularly, in its proper connexion, as they do other books they want to understand; or, of assisting one another by conversing with each other familiarly and interestingly about it. Many of these indevout triflers are not ashamed to tell you, that they have not time: that they cannot afford to make such a sacrifice of their precious hours; —thus to waste their time in reading, and praying, and conversing about the sacred contents of the Book of Life. Are not such professors confessedly carnalists;— minders “of the things of the flesh, --earthly things?” Surely:--“For they that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit.” But they that are after the Spirit are all Bible things. They are no where else to be found but in the Good Book:—no, not one of them. In so far, then, as we neglect the Bible, we despise and neglect spiritual and heavenly things. But not so the good and happy man—the blessed man,— “for his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Wherefore, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper:” but “the ungodly are not so. ” Psalm 1:1-4. Yea, says another good man, ~.I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Job 23. 12. And another—“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” No wonder, then, that the godly [[@Page:394]] Daniel and David, and other such lovers of the divine word, should be as careful to enjoy it, as they were to enjoy their necessary food, even three times a-day, in their family worship: see Psalm 55. 17., with Dan. 6:10. Nay, the latter did it at the risk of his life. And all these were but old Testament saints, whose scriptures were as far inferior to ours, as moonlight is to sun-shine; yet they were to make them their constant them —“they were to talk of them when they sat in their house, when they walked by the way, when they lay down, and when they rose up— teaching them diligently to their children, — that their days might be as the days of heaven upon earth: see Deut. 11:18—21. Alas! then, of what a heaven upon earth do we deprive ourselves and our children, by neglecting, as we do, our vastly superior privileges! And we have not time to take our three spiritual meals per day, as Joshua, and those other old Testament worthies did, who, like him, were determined, that, let others do what they pleased, as for them and their families, they would serve the Lord. And why not, brethren’? Can we possibly make a better choice? Can we possibly spend our time to better purpose? Certainly not. But some will, perhaps, say, “We feel at a loss how to proceed, for we have never seen such a practice.’ This excuse, though not sufficient, it must be confessed is lamentably true. Still, however, we have the Book, and in it the proper directions for using it. We are to read it, to study it, to get it by heart, to make it the subject matter of our conversation, of our exhortation, of our meditation, of our prayer, and of our praise, day and night. Thus are we directed to use it. Now what remains, but that we use it accordingly, every one according to his peculiar circumstances, as he does his daily food: some at one hour, some at another; yet all generally three times a-day: those that have families, also thus providing for the nourishment of their families; thus training them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord: that so they may be seminaries of God—nurseries for heaven. And this, it is humbly suggested, may, for the most part, be conveniently and happily effected in the following manner:— As the demands of our sensitive nature generally bring us together thrice a-day for bodily refreshment let us avail ourselves of those opportunities for our spiritual refreshment also. For this purpose let every Christian family keep two tables; the one furnished with Bibles for feeding their souls, as the other is with the products of the earth for their bodily food. Thus provided, when they meet for breakfast, let them first take their spiritual meal, thus socially beginning the day with God—by reading a certain select portion of his word, with suitable questions, remarks, and exhortations for this purpose; thus rightly dividing the word of truth, that each may get his proper portion. This may be conveniently done by asking the following pertinent questions according to the respective capacities of the guests, viz.—l. Who is the writer or speaker of the portion read, or of any particular part of it? 2. To whom is it written or spoken? 3. What historic facts are contained in if? 4. What commands are contained in it? 5. What doctrinal declarations’? 6. What invitations! 7. What promises! 8. What threatening? Lastly, the why, when, and where those things were spoken or written, still remain to be considered, and are circumstances sometimes worthy of particular attention, in order to a correct understanding of particular passages, These things duly [[@Page:395]] attended to according to the ability and discretion of the heads of families, and the capacity of the respective members, with pertinent observations and exhortations, accompanied with appropriate prayers and praises, could not fail to make the scriptures forthcoming for the edification and instruction of every capable subject. These blissful exercises repeated thrice a-day, viz. -before breakfast, after dinner, and after supper, we would begin, continue, and end the day with God, as a family; that is, in our social capacity. And these exercises continued, the word of Christ would dwell in us richly, so that we should be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus we should never fall. “For so an entrance should be ministered to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1.5— 11, For this is the highway of personal holiness—from which all good and happiness proceed. And which, of course, being carried out into the church, by its duly qualified Elders, those heads of families who had thus successfully taught and ruled their own families well, the church would shortly resume its proper character, the school of Christ, with his one Book, Christian disciples, a family of families, taught and ruled by a selection of its own proper elders, instead of scientific college-taught clergy; every member furnished with his own proper book—the Book of life; which, being duly read and studied as above, would make every believing student ~~wise to salvation, thoroughly furnished for all good words.” May the good Lord hasten that happy time! Amen. THOMAS CAMPBELL.