Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1825-02-03

" them when they are the results oil
some gospel truth brought home to the
understanding and heart bythss spirit of
God The enthusiast thinks more Of
a rapture and rus,liug Of the passions,
than OF having the dispositions and
tempcrs OF his heart righttowards God
and man; and more of seeing a con
gregation under an exercise of what
he calls the power Of God, once a
week, than of the chaste converse
ton and godly life ofa thousand Chris
tians. His religion is the religion of
times and places, aud is principally
confined to the House of God, and the
assembly of his brethren. 1.-The could
live in meetings he would be a saint
all the time. And when there, it is
his object to work himself aud others
into certain frames and feelings. As
for doctrine, reproof and instruction in
righteousness, he cares but little about
them ifhe can get his comfortable feel
ings raised to a certain pitch. But
when his object is accomplished, what
has he gained, for he generally leaves
his good feelings behind him, with
the place and circumstances which
produced them, and returns as empty
as he went, and soremains tillthe next
meeting. But with him perhaps the
meeting is a great ways of. For ma
king his own feelings his rules of ac-
ton nall things, ifhe feels like stay
ing at home, he stays; if be feels like
visiting a neighbor, going into compa-
ny, or to some place OF amusement or
recreation while his brethren are met
for mutual exbortatioD and prayer, or
to hear the word of God, bis place a
mong them is empty. His being the
religion of feeling merely, and stand
ing on circumstances which are con
tinually varying. is never even and
steady, but consists of ups and downs,
and the downs are more than the ups.
Though so Jealous at times when a
tide ofgood feelings happens to take
him, yet ordinarily he had no zeal for
God, no love for the souls of his Eel
low creatures and will not do so much
to save the soul of a luke warm or
backslidden brother, as the Jew for
his enemy's OK or ass which he met
going astray, for he would bring it
back to is owner. 1t cannot be expec.
ted that such a Christian should grow
in grace and in the knowledge OF u
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or
that he should abound in good works,
which God has ordained, and that he
should walk in them.
Not SO with the Bible Christian.
He thinks nothing ofthat power which
goes neither 20 increase nor preserve
the knowledge and grace of Christ
within, nor of that comfort which
does not spring from, and is not &C
compained by, the principles and ex-
ercise of holiness Of heart and life.
The Cristian's grand aim is to please
God in all things. He thinks more of
this than of his own comforts He
takes the will Of God revealed to him,
not in impressions and blind impulses
upon The mind, but in the Holy Scrip
lures, as the standard Of his piety and
the rule of his conduct.-Let his frame
and feelings be whatthey may, hisstan
dard and rule always the same, and
his life will be ever and regular.-And
if his feelings are not so elevated and
rapturous, yet they are more even; and
as he goes on seeking an entire con
formity to the will of God, both in
heart and life, his peace flows. his
comfort rises, and his joy abounds. till
he finds his God a place Of broad ri
vers and streams 10 his soul.
Mark the difference between these
two characters in their devotions.-
The one is frequently loud-boister-
Gus and full of gesticulation, which
with an air of wildDess. and a vacant
c~ountenance, he stares round uponthe
congregation, and seems to say, "here
I am, behold mel" While the other
remains in a devout and collected
frame, silently breathing the desires
of his soul into the Ears of his God j:
his passions unrufied, his mind as
calm as the "bosom of summer sea-"
his attention fixed, and through the un.
derstanding his heart feeding upon the
word, or sinking into the arms Of his
Saviour, overpowered with The sight
of his PROJECTIONS and glory. And all
the while unobserved and uninterrup
ted by those about him. Here is an
instance Of The nnMer Of God 'Hhic