SRAPS

FOR THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

BROTHER BEEBE:—The following remarks are submitted for your publication, if you consider them worthy.

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear: Mark iv. 23.

By nature, we are all dead in trespasses and sins, not only strangers to God, but in a state of enmity and opposition to his government and Grace. In this respect, whatever difference there may be in the character of men as members of society, they are all whither wise, or ignorant; whether sober or profane, equally incapable of receiving or approving divine truths, 1 Cor. ii. 14. On this ground our Lord declares, “no man can come unto me except the Father who has sent me draw him.” Though the term Father most frequently expresses a known and important distinction in the adorable Trinity; I apprehend our Lord sometimes uses it to denote God, or the Divine Nature, in contradistinction from his humanity, as in John vi. 44, and this I take to be the sense here: “No man can come unto me, unless he is taught of God,” and wrought upon by a divine power. The immediate exertion of this power, according to the economy of salvation, is rather ascribed to the Holy Spirit, than to the Father, xvi. 8, 11; but it is the power of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore severally attributed to the Father, Son, and Spirit, John, v. 21, & vi. 44, 63: 2 Cor. iii. 18: 2 Thes. ii. 5.

The Lord leads all his people effectually and savingly to the knowledge of the same essential truths; but in such a variety of methods, that it will be needful to set aside as much as possible, such things as may be only personal and occasional in the experience of each, and to collect those only which are in a greater or less degree, common to them all. I shall therefore endeavor to state as clearly as I can what the scriptures teach us concerning the nature of a work of grace, so far as it will bear a general application to all who are the subjects of Grace. The Lord teaches us from the growth of the corn: First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”

I shall confine myself strictly to the three different states of this corn, and first, the blade. By the blade, I understand a person who is under the drawings of God, which will infallibly lead him to the Lord Jesus Christ for life and salvation. The beginning of this work is instantaneous; it is effected by a certain kind of light communicated to the soul, to which it was before an utter stranger; the eyes of the understanding are opened and enlightened; the light at first afforded is weak and indistinct; like the morning dawn, but when it is once began, it will certainly increase and spread to the perfect day. We commonly speak as if conviction of sin was the first work of God upon the soul, that he is in mercy about to draw unto himself; but I think this is inaccurate. Conviction is only a part, or rather an immediate of that first work; and there are many convictions which do not at all spring from it, though for a season they may be very sharp, and put a person on doing many things.

In order to a due conviction of sin, we must previously have some adequate conceptions of God with whom we have to do. Sin may be feared as dangerous without this; but its nature and demerit can only be understood by being contrasted with the holiness, majesty, goodness, and truth of the God against whom it is committed; no outward means, no mercies, judgments, or ordinances, can communicate such a discovery of God, or produce such a conviction of sin without the concurrence of this divine light and power to the soul. The natural conscience and passions may be indeed so far wrought upon by outward means, as to stir up some desires and endeavors; but if these are not founded in a spiritual apprehension of the perfections of God, according to the revelation he has made of himself in his word, they will sooner or later come to nothing; and the person effected will either return by degrees to his former ways, 2 Peter, ii. 20. or he will sink into a self-righteous form of godliness, destitute of the power. Luke xviii. 8.

And therefore, as there are so many things made use of in this day, calculated to work upon the natural passions of men, the many awful miscarriages and apostasies amongst professors are not to be wondered at. For though the seed may seem to spring up and look green for a season, if there be no depth for it to take root, it will surely wilt away. We may be unable to judge with certainty upon the first appearance of a religious profession, whether the work be this deep and spiritual or not, but “The Lord knoweth them that are his,” and where it is real, it is an infallible token of salvation.

SCRAPS.