Reply.

Invitation to the weary.

The prodigal.

I have no doubt there are multitudes who are substan tially in this state of mind. They are deterred by this difficulty from coming cordially to their great Friend above. I have stated the difficulty as distinctly and fully as I can, adopting as nearly as possible the words in which it has often been presented to me. I hope you will attend carefully to my reply, and if it is satisfactory now, lay it up in your memories, and never be embarrassed by this difficulty again.

My reply is substantially this-that a desire for the peace and happiness of piety is a perfectly proper motive for coming to God. It is the motive which the Bible every where presents. It is not, in any proper sense of the term, selfishness.

First. I say it is a perfectly proper motive. God is our great Creator and Protector, and he made us weak and dependant, but desirous of peace and happiness, for the very purpose of having us look to him for it. He never intended to make a universe of stoics, in which each one should be entirely indifferent about his own happiness. The spectacle which he wishes to see is all happy, and all happy in him. He wishes us to desire and seek his happiness, and to come to him for it.

Again, I say that the Bible every where presents the peace and happiness of piety as the motive why we should seek it. Jesus stood and cried in a great concourse of people, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." How strange that any one can imagine after this, that a love of rest and a desire to be relieved of burden, is not a proper motive for coming to Jesus Christ! The prodigal son, perhaps the most striking and complete emblem of the penitent sinner which the Bible contains, says, "How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, while I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father." Who would think, after reading this parable, that

A nobleman

The desk.

any sinner would be afraid to come to the Savior because his motive is to have his wants supplied? Look at the thousands who came to our Savior to be healed of their diseases, or to be rescued from some suffering. Did he ever turn them away because they came for their own benefit? A nobleman came once. His son was at the point of death. Parental affection urged him on. He came and begged the Savior to come and save his son. He was so far from being under the influence of any high philosophical notions of faith and disinterestedness, that when the Savior began to speak of faith and the influence of miracles upon it, he almost interrupted him by saying, "Come down, ere my child die." And did the Savior repulse him, and say he was influenced by wrong motives? It was not a wrong motive. He wanted happiness, and he was willing to come to Jesus Christ for it. And God wishes to see the whole human race eager for the pure joys of piety, and flocking around his throne to obtain them. O, if any of you are weary with the burden of sin, and long for the peace and happiness of piety, come boldly for it. Never fear that God will call it selfishness, and drive you away.

Once more; I said this could not be called selfishness; desiring the happiness of virtue, and taking the proper measures to preserve it, never is called selfishness, except by persons lost in the mazes of metaphysics. Suppose two children, whose parents had taught them habits of regularity and order so fully that they take pleasure in the systematic arrangement of all their little property, come and ask their father to let them have a large desk which stands useless in the garret, to bring to their little room, as a place of deposit for their books, and papers, and toys. Suppose now he should inquire of the boys, and should find that they have planned the disposal of their effects exactly in the shelves and drawers of the desk, and are anticipating much enjoyment from the ex

The father's refusal.

Real selfishness.

pected acquisition. He sees their countenances brightened with animation as they wait breathlessly to catch his answer, and then to fly away and commence the removal. Now suppose the father should stop them by such absurd words as these:

"My boys, I am very sorry to find that you are so selfish. I strongly suspect that the reason why you want that desk is because you expect some pleasure from it. Perhaps you think you will enjoy your property more by seeing it well arranged in such a good store-house, or perhaps you think you can spend rainy afternoons in your room more pleasantly if you have it. Now that is very wrong; that is selfishness. To desire any thing for the sake of the happiness which it affords is selfishness. Unless you can ask for some better motive than that, I cannot grant your requests."

I do not think that any gravity of countenance which could be assumed would lead the boys to imagine that their father could be serious in this. Certainly no parent would ever say it; and if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give his holy Spirit to them that ask him? that is, to them that ask him for it as a good gift, something which is to do good to them.

But what is selfishness? Why, if the desk, instead of lying useless in the garret, was used by the older brothers, and the younger wished to take it away, that would be selfishness. A disposition to encroach upon the rights and enjoyments of others in order to secure our own, is selfishness; and we must not come to God with this spirit. If any one however desires peace and happiness, and is satisfied that God only can give it, let him come and ask. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." God never will repulse you, because thirst urges you to come.

It is a very common impression among young persons,

Prayer of faith.

The morning prayer meeting.

and perhaps some of mature minds are not entirely free from the same perplexity, that in order to render prayer acceptable, the Christian must have a full belief that his request will be granted. This is called the prayer of faith. Hence many persons when they strongly desire some spiritual blessing for themselves or others, make a great deal of effort, when they pray for it, to believe that they shall receive it. Come with me to the morning prayer meeting. A few Christians whose duties of business press upon them during the day, assemble by the gray light of the dawn around the early fire of some Christian neighbor. They read and reflect a moment upon a few verses of the Bible. They sing a hymn, and are just about to kneel before God to unite in prayer for his blessing upon themselves and upon their families and neighbors during the day, when perhaps one of the number addresses the meeting as follows:

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'My brethren, we come this morning to ask great blessings, but we must have faith, or we cannot expect that God will hear us. He has promised to hear us, and to give us whatever we ask, believing. Let us believe then firmly and cordially that God will hear us. And let us ask for great blessings. God is ready to give us the greatest, if we only have faith."

They then unite in prayer, and there kneels with them, in a corner of the room, unnoticed perhaps by all but God, a young disciple who has hesitatingly asked of the master of the house permission to enjoy the privilege of joining that circle of prayer. She understands the exhortation which was given to mean, that she must fully believe that the blessings to be asked will certainly be granted. She tries therefore, as she listens to the words of the prayer, to believe this. Perhaps the first request is that God would pour out his Spirit upon all present, and purify them, and keep them that day devoted to his service and free from all sin. Now she thinks it right to

Prayer for a revival.

Difficulty.

pray for this; she sincerely desires it, but she cannot really believe that it will be fully granted. Then she reproves herself for her unbelief; that is, for the feeling that it is not probable that all present will be perfectly pure and holy during that day. She struggles against this feeling, but she cannot conquer it. Belief rests on evidence, not on determination.

The next petition is for a powerful revival of pure religion in that neighborhood; that, by a divine influence exerted over their hearts, Christians may be led to love their Maker more and to serve him better; and that those who are living in sin may universally be awakened to a conviction of their guilt and danger, and be persuaded to serve Jehovah. Now our young Christian sincerely desires this,—she hopes for it, but she is distressed because she cannot cordially believe that it will certainly come, and she considers this feeling a want of faith. She rises from her posture of devotion anxious and unhappy, because she does not feel absolutely sure that what she has asked is on the whole for the best, and that it will certainly be granted.

Now all her difficulty arises from misunderstanding the nature of the faith which ought to be exercised in prayer. The remarks made meant, or they ought to have meant, that we are to come to God confident that he will do what is on the whole for the best,-not positive that he will do exactly what we ask. God never has given assemblies of Christians authority to mark out a course for him to pursue, in such a sense as that he shall be bound to pursue it. He has promised to give us what we ask; but still the exceptions, universally understood to be implied by this language in other cases, are attached to it in this. We must offer our petitions, trusting in God,-believing, as the Bible expresses it, that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; but after we have offered our most earnest requests, we must leave