CHRIST

FORMED IN THE SOUL,

THE ONLY FOUNDATION OF HOPE FOR

ETERNITY.

ADDRESSED TO THE YOUNG.

BY REV. PHIlip Doddridge, D. D.

It was the unhappy case of Agrippa, that though al

most, he was only almost, persuaded to be a Christian; and I fear it is now the case of many, and particularly of many young persons, who have enjoyed the advantages of a religious education. I believe it is difficult to find any among them who have not been brought, at some time, under serious impressions. With regard to the internal operations of the blessed Spirit, as well as external means, the morning of life is generally to them, in a peculiar sense, the day of their visitation; and they often seem to know it, and in some measure to improve it: but, in too many instances, we find their goodness as a morning cloud, and as the early dew, which soon passeth away. The blossoms open fair and beautiful, and give a very agreeable prospect of plentiful fruits of holiness in the life; but too often, when storms of temptation and corruption arise, the goodly appearance is laid in ruins; the blossoms fall to the ground, and leave the tree blasted and naked; or at best covered only with the leaves of an external profession, which, however green and flourishing they may for the present be, will not at last secure it from being "cut down, and cast into the burning." Though they for awhile had escaped the pollutions of the world through lust, they are afterwards entangled and subdued; and the consequence is, they prove a scandal to religion, and a discouragement to others, till, in the end, they bring aggravated destruction on themselves; so that, on the whole, as the apostle

Vol. 5.

02

observes, "it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than" thus, "after they have known it, to turn aside from the holy commandment."

These are matters of universal importance. But though I hope my remarks may be useful to all, I would, at present, address them especially to THE YOUNG. I hope there are some among you who are experimentally acquainted with the essence of Christianity, and have received from above an "incorruptible seed." There are others, to whom I must say, with the apostle to the Galatians, "I stand in doubt of you;" and to such, I hope, I can apply myself in the language of the same apostle, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, till Christ be formed in you." Pardon me, if in this instance "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy." I would endeavour, with the sincerest and tenderest affection, and with such freedom as the importance of the case requires, first to guard you against those sandy foundations, which will bury you and your hopes in eternal ruin; and then to direct you to "the Rock of Ages," on which they who build shall "never be ashamed."

I therefore entreat your serious attention, and would humbly ask, both for myself and you, the teachings of that blessed Spirit, whose peculiar office it is, in the most efficacious manner, to show you your danger and your remedy.

I. I would caution you against several things, on which young persons are peculiarly prone to build a false confidence. As you love your own souls, and value your eternal hopes, trust not to the privileges of your birth, or the rectitude of your speculations in matters of religion, or the purity and frequency of your forms of worship, or the warmth of your passions, or the morality of your conduct: for none of these apart, nor even all of them united, can, according to the tenor of the Gospel, be sufficient for your security and happiness.

1. Trust not to the privileges of your birth and education, as the foundation of your eternal hopes.

You may be ready to plead, that you were born of pious parents, and have been brought up in the most regular and Conscientious manner: you have been surrounded with holy instructions and correspondent examples, from your

infancy; and fervent prayers, both in the family and in secret, have been sent up to heaven upon your account. These are indeed signal advantages, and you may justly rejoice in them; for, in these respects, you are the children of the kingdom: but rejoice with trembling; for our Lord hath told us, that it is more than a possible case that the children of the kingdom may be cast out, and have their portion in utter darkness. The piety of your parents may, perhaps, be abused by some of you, as an encouragement to presumptuous hopes. But remember, that Ishmael was the son of Abraham, and Esau of Isaac, and yet neither the one nor the other inherited the blessing of his father. Remember that beautiful, but dreadful parable, which represents a wretched creature in hell, that could cry, Father Abraham, and yet in vain added, have mercy upon me, and send me but a drop of water to cool my tongue. Once more, remember those emphatical words of John the Baptist, so expressly levelled against this arrogant presumption. "Think not," says he, "to say within yourselves, we have Abraham for our father; for I say unto you, that God is able, of these stones, to raise up children unto Abraham" as if he had said, "The promises made to those who are the children of Abraham, respect not merely them who are lineally descended from him, but those who are the heirs of his piety and his faith; for if God were to turn these stones into men, and to form them by his grace to a holy character and temper, such, though descended from no human parents at all, would, in the sense of the promise, be children of Abraham." And it were more reasonable to expect such a transmutation, than that God should acknowledge "a generation of vipers" as his people, because they were derived from holy ancestors. On the contrary, God directly assures us, that if the son of the most religious father forsake the way of virtue and holiness, and prove as "the degenerate plant of a strange vine," in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." And surely herein the ways of the Lord are equal; for it is most evident, that a long descent from God's people is a reproach and condemnation, rather than an honour, to those who abandon that good old way in which their ancestors have trod, and which was the care and the glory of preceding generations.

2. Trust not to the correctness of your sentiments, in matters of religion, as the foundation of your eternal hopes.

So various are the workings of men's hearts, and the devices of Satan, that, if I mistake not, there are some that place their confidence in the strictness, and others in the latitude of their religious opinions; but the one and the other will appear equally vain, when considered in the view now before us.

Some may possibly persuade themselves that their condition is secure, because their sentiments are orthodox. They live, perhaps, in the midst of the unbelieving and profane, and see daily contempt and derision thrown upon the blessed Gospel, or its most glorious peculiarities; but through the influence of a good education, or from some other principle, short of true piety, they may nevertheless not only hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints, but even contend earnestly for it: they are, perhaps, learned in the controversies of the time, and can indeed pronounce concerning them in a very rational and accurate manner.

If this, my friends, be the case with any of you, I con gratulate you on the happiness of a well-informed judg ment, but must caution you against mistaking it for a sanc tified heart. The mystery of faith, as the apostle himself assures us, is to be held with a good conscience; and in vain do you profess to retain the one, while you make shipwreck of the other. As precious a treasure as the knowledge of the truth is, if we go no farther than mere speculation, it will be to you "but as a talent of gold to a man sinking in the sea, which only serves to plunge him so much the deeper in ruin."

There are some who err in the contrary extreme. They pride themselves in having broken the shackles in which others are confined, and in seeing through the mist in which multitudes have been perplexed. They esteem mauy things which divide the world, as merely controversies ubout words; and are not much concerned about others in which there is a real difference, because they think them selves very sure that the fundamentals of religion lie in a very little room. They are confident of the innocency of error, and the safety of an honest mind, under those mistakes which have been branded by the severest names. A wicked life is, in their esteem, the only dangerous heresy;

and morality the only thing that is worth contending about. Charmed with their own wisdom and happiness in this freedom of thought, they look down with pity on persons under the influence of a contracted education and narrow sentiments, and possibly mingle their pity with a great deal of scorn, not to say indignation. But they are indeed themselves the objects of much juster pity, if, whilst they glory in their freedom, they are the servants of corruption. 3. Trust not in the external forms of devotion, as the foundation of your hopes for eternity.

You are, it may be, joined to some society, which not only wears the Christian name, but separates itself from others, under the apprehension at least of a more pure and scriptural worship. You, perhaps, so much approve and esteem this worship, as to be diligent and constant in attending on the public exercises of it, not only in its stated returns, but on occasional opportunities. You fill your places, from time to time, not merely in obedience to the commands of your parents and governors, but by your own voluntary choice. And, it may be, to these you add the forms of family devotion morning and evening, and, possibly, a few moments of daily retirement for reading and prayer. What can such religious persons have to fear? Nay, rather, what can you have to hope, if, while you "draw near to God with your mouth and your lips," you (( remove your hearts far from him?" If while "come before him, as his people come," and present yourselves in the posture of humble worshippers, "your heart be going after your covetousness?" God hath for ever confounded such vain presumption, by declaring that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to him; and that his shall certainly be so, who "turns away his ear from hearing the law," that is, who refuses obedience to it. The servant that knew his Lord's will, and did it not," became justly liable to "be beaten with many stripes;" and it is not to be wondered, if, in this sense, "judgment begin at the house of God," and seize first on those who affront and profane his ordinances, by making them to supercede the very things which they were originally appointed to promote.

you

4. Trust not to the warmth of your passions in matters of religion, as the foundation of your most important hopes.