The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1866-10-10

that God, according to His sovereign
will. may conquer the obstinacy OF his
heart, and grant him the graces of
faith and repentance and love, as lie
did in the case of Paul; or leave him to
his hard and impenitent heart, as he did
in the case of Pharaoh; and that if, In
view of his ingratitude and continued re-
lection of Christ, God should bring him
to repentance, it would be display of
the riches of his unmerited grace.
DIR. Spencer, in his Pastors Sketches,
gives the case of an anxious sinner who
was advised mot to be discouraged, but
to keep on, read the Bible, and pray, and
he should find peace by and by. He
took the advice and soon became so little
discouraged about himself, that he lost
all anxiety about his soul.
Sometimes the anxious sinner says that
he ,gants to be Christian. This impress
sion made on his mind was not made by
the Holy Spirit; and it tends to deepen
his conviction if he is told what he
really does want,-that as long as he
is not sorry for his sins, he wants to be
delivered from the dreadful consequences
of them. while at the same time, he wants
to continue in them; and that aslong as he
rejects Christ, he does not desire such a
salvation as God has provided, a holy
salvation; and that he is under a delu-
sion when he thinks he is willing to be
saved, and is anxiously waiting for Christ
to save him, and Christ is not quite ready
to grant him what he wants. Such an
impression leads the sinner to cast the
blame of his wretched condition upon
God, and to excuse himself for continued
impenitency.
A young lady, who was under rehgi-
Gus impressions, once said to DIR. Nettle-
ton, 81 certainly do desire to be a Chris
tan, l desire to be holy. would give
all the world for an interest in Christ. .
The Doctor replied, "What you say will
not bear examination. If you really de-
sire religion for what it is, there is moth
ing to prevent you from possessing it.
I can make a representation which will
show you your heart if you are willing
to see it. 1t will look very bad. Sup
pose you were young lady of fortune
and suppose certain young man
should desire to obtain your fortune, and
should for that reason conclude to pay
his addresses to you. But he does not
happen to be pleased with your person.
He does not love you, but hates you.
And suppose he should come to you, and
say, 'Ireally wish l could love you, but
do not 1 would give all the world if |
could love you, but l cannot. What
would you think of that young man?
If an anxious sinner, acknowledging
the necessity of Regeneration, should
conceive the idea that it is not his duty
to believe and repent until God gives
him grace to exercise these acts, the idea
must be dislodged from his mind If his
impression is a true one, then those whom
God does not create anew, are under no
obligation to love and serve Him. That
is, those to whom God does not give new
hearts, are not bound to have right dis
positions towards Him. If the inability,
that is, depravity of sinners on earth, is
an excuse for their continued impeniten-
cy, then devils and damned spirits are no
longer sinners, being no longer bound by
the law of God.
Awakened sinners should never be adj
dressed as penitents, that is, persons who
have repented of their sins. If while
they reject Christ, they should regard
themselves as penitents, then the inhu-
ences of the Spirit reproving them of
sin because they believe not on Christ,
must be banished; and they either begin
to indulge a false hope, or relapse into a
careless state A man never repents of
sin aChile he continues an the san Of anbe-
lEef. You might truly tell an anxious
person that he is a Christian, if you can
truly tell him that he is penitent, God
invariably fOrgives the sins of those who
confess them, and pronounces those blessed
who mourn. So far from having an in
| furious effect upon a sinner, it will tend
to deepen his convictions and lead him to
see his truly lost condition, if the cha
racter of the mourning and distress which
he has, is fully explained to him. 1t will
tend to cut the strings of his pride and
self-righteousness to let him see that his
convictions and fears are the same az
kind with those which devils have when
they tremble at the apprehension of Gods
judgments
The celebrated Edwards, in a sermon
entitled True Grace, speaking of awak-
ened sinners, says: eff they had never
so great and long continued terrors from
real awakenings and convictions of truth,
and views of things as they are, this is
no more than what is in devils, and will
be in all wicked men in another world.
1t must be no small degree of terror
which should make those principalities
and powers, those mighty, proud, and
sturdy beings to tremble." tits well for
the anxious sinner to know these truths
in order that he may perceive that the
exercises of his soul while he continues
to reject Christ have no merit in them,
and cannot procure for him Gods saving
grace; and that he lies completely at the
mercy of God. When every straw of
self-righteOuSness is snatched from the
sinner who sees himself sinking in the
sea of Gods wrath, the Spirit may teach
him that it is better to trust in the in
finite, exhaustless mercy of God in
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