the crowd should, like a flock of sheep, follow some bold leader with a blind confidence: but it is humbling to see men that have minds, and boldness to think for themselves, building up theories, the foundation of which they have never brought to the test of a severe examination. For it is not difficult often to discover, that men are rather persuaded that their arguments are good, because they have a previous persuasion of the truth of their hypothesis, than convinced that their hypothesis is just, by the force of the arguments which support them. R. D.

ON CHRISTIAN VIGILANCE.

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."-O! that these words were "writ on the table of the heart" of every believer. Watch! How many considerations, with corresponding duties, does that one comprehensive word embrace; and yet how few can feel the necessity of vigilance, and how much fewer evince, by their Christian walk, that they understand what it is, and are convinced of its all importance. Watch! Watch for Providences and means of grace: watch the conduct of others with becoming caution and reserve: watch the fierce assaults, and the still more dangerous allurements, of Satan: but above all, observe with the strictest scrutiny, watch with the most jealous vigilance, the destructive wiles of a heart, "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

Let us now, with God's assistance, endeavour to make a few reflections on this foremost exercise of a Christian life, and as it is vain to contend with enemies without, while beset by traitors within, let us consider, in the first instance, the importance of self-watchfulness in some of those particulars which we are apt to suppose least beholden to its exercise, but which, in truth, demand it with peculiar exigency. I speak not to those who are absolutely thoughtless or unconcerned about the things which belong to their peace; for in minds so totally unawakened as theirs, vigilance of any kind cannot exist-unless their eyes are opened they "sleep the sleep of death," and wake but at the last trump, not to them the harbinger of joy, but of shame, of confusion, of condemnation, of eternal misery. But I speak to those who have "tasted that the Lord is gracious," and have "made a good profession before many witnesses"-who can look with just compassion on those who "sleep and are drunken in the night," but who, when they fondly hope that they themselves follow the precept "let us watch and be sober," are but too often slumbering in the careless security of their day dreams, or indulging in the intoxicated hallucinations of a heated mind.

Watch then-but how? "The Lord searcheth the heart," but "who" beside "can know it?" Alas! how can we attain to vigilance sufficient to guard us against the multiplied foes which war against the soul? How are we to crush that hydra, temptation, which when we have deprived it of one head raises up another in our path, swelling up its crested form, and fascinating our souls with its magic glance? What watchfulness can detect that Proteus, sin, ever varying in its form, eluding our grasp, and momentarily adapting its semblance to the present weakness of our minds? Let those say, who have contended even against a single sin, who have struggled hard with the flesh for the mastery of one solitary passion, who have experienced the difficulties of the first steps of a Christian_up-hill course, and who know the tumult which the soul endures under the con

flict of sinful nature with divine grace-let them, if they can, declare the utter anguish of the heart-let them, if they can, describe the hopeless gloom of disappointment which closes round the soul-let them endeavour to give but a vague idea of that death-like sickness which pervades the entire man, when they have found themselves, notwithstanding all their experience, all their struggles, all their conflicts, betrayed into the hands of sin when they least expected a fall. "What fruit had they then in those things whereof they are now ashamed ?" It is well remarked, that "the agonies of a sinner in the first pangs of his repentance, are not to be named on the same day with those of a blackslider in heart, when he comes to be filled with his own way." It is agony inexpressible, indescribable; they cannot declare it. But they can tell the need there is for never wearied watchfulness, if we would avoid such unspeakable wretchedness of mind; they can further tell, that the unassisted eye of man will but vainly strive to penetrate the disguise with which sin is ever shrouded from his apprehension, and that the unction of the Spirit can alone enable it to recognise the prince of darkness in the garb of an angel of light. "Watch and pray," is, therefore, our blessed Lord's injunction; the two exercises are inseparable; we must "watch unto prayer," and pray for a spirit of watchfulness. It is well observed by the author of the admirable exposition of the 119th Psalm, that "as watchfulness without prayer is presumption, so prayer without watchfulness is self-delusion. To pray that our eyes may be 'turned from vanity,' without 'making a covenant with our eyes,' that they should not behold it, is like taking fire into our bosoms,' and expecting 'not to be burnt,' because we have prayed, that we might not be burnt. If we desire not to be 'led into temptation,' we must watch, that we enter not into it; unless we wish to be ensnared, we must keep at a proper distance from the danger; thus showing the sincerity of our prayer by the watchfulness of our conduct." "But," he adds "that we may offer effectual resistance in moment of danger, let us be constant in seeking at once the preventing grace of God, to turn away our eyes and heart from temptation, and his quickening grace to urge us forward in the way to heaven" "He that shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munition of rocks: bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure." There is nothing more ascertained by the experience of believers, than that sin usually presents itself to them in the form, and at the seasons when they least suspect its presence. To the openly profligate and profane, of whom Satan counts himself so secure, that he will not be at the trouble to tempt them, sin appears in its naked grossness, and with all the privileged familiarity of long acquaintance: with those whose conscience has been awakened, and who have begun to see the error of their ways, he is ordinarily more cautious in his approach; but in their unguarded moments, he makes such unceremonious intrusions into their presence, that they frequently have cause to loathe themselves at the recollection of the clumsy devices by which they were betrayed into sins, which they have learned to abhor, though they have not yet received strength entirely to subdue. But it is his peculiar triumph and delight to ensnare the faithful servants of God; and to effect this his favourite object, he leaves untried no stratagem which the father of lies can invent. His every temptation is a counterfeit of some Christian duty, which Divine teaching alone can discover to the believer he prompts them to run headlong and uncalled into spiritual danger, suggesting that it may afford an opportunity of usefulness; but if (as Doddridge well remarks,) they mean more by this, than a capacity of

usefulness, which, when they have it they will not exert, they generally deceive themselves.

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In all the spiritual exercises, whether of the new disciple, or of the more advanced Christian, sin is ever present. In prayer, in self-examination, in study of the Scriptures, we have the most eminent need of that watchfaloess, which we are too apt to suppose requisite only for our intercourse with the world without. We are too willing to imagine, that mere employ ment in those and other Christian exercises is intrinsically pleasing to God; and not at all prone to suspect, that on these occasions we frequently offer the sacrifice of fools, forgetting that a God who searcheth the heart, must be worshipped in spirit, and in truth; that the "heart deceitful above all things," defies the shallow scrutiny of man who cannot tell "how oft he offendeth;" and that the great mystery of godliness is not to be known by the mere exercise of human reason on the speculative truths of Christianity. Canst thou by searching, find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." It is the Spirit, which takes of the things of Christ, and shews them unto us; it is by the " Spirit of adoption" alone, that we can "cry abba, Father;" it is he alone who can "make us to know our transgression and our sin.' In self-examination, who that has ever looked in upon his heart at all, has not felt, that when oftentimes conscience has condemned him, and the Spirit of truth has convinced him of sin, Satan is at hand to suggest some palliative circumstance, or even some ground of justification. When the transgression has been too open, too flagrant to permit so bold an attempt, does he not seek to draw us away from suspecting any error in our system of spiritual discipline, and to persuade us, that when surprised by an unforeseen temptation, a sudden fall does not involve us in the guilt of presumptuous sinning, does not materially hinder our progress in the heavenly race, and that we have nothing more to do, but get up and resume our course, without considering how we come to be thrown down? But, besides the interference of Satan in the performance of this duty, has not every believer experienced his determined hostility to the exercise itself? He fears the light, lest his deeds should be reproved, and dreads the exposure to which a constant and self-examination must perpetually subject him. He, therefore, strives by interfering with its exercises, to render it as unprofitable as he can, in or der that he may the more easily persuade us to relinquish it for its inutility; or by giving us false notions of our strength, induce us to attempt to walk independent of it, while as yet, we are unable to stand; and thus, as Doddridge observes, "prove the occasion of that false peace, which shall lead a man to bless himself in his own heart, and to conclude himself secure, while all the threatenings and curses of God's law are sounding in his ears." How much need has each of us to pray, "examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart," whenever we would "examine ourselves whether we be in the faith;" and when we say, "let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord," should we not cry with earnestness, "search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

If there be such a necessity for vigilance in self-examination, its importance is not diminished in the exercise of prayer. How apt is that blessed channel of intercourse between man and his reconciled Master, to degene. rate into a heartless formality, a trifling ceremony, rather than a devout

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homage, fit for the acceptance of our Father which is in heaven." Alas! how few of those "groanings which cannot be uttered," though abundance of expressions of sorrow, which have no kindred emotion in the heart. How little of that wrestling in prayer, of that spirit which will say to the Almighty, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me !" With many, the ceremony of prayer is every thing; and there is no thought, no desire, no anxiety, no waiting for answer. "Perhaps," as Mr. Bridges observes in the above mentioned valuable exposition, "we may have been wearying ourselves with knocking at the wrong door: perhaps we have not come in the appointed way, and therefore we have never really come at all: or if the name of Christ has been affixed to our prayers, has it not been rather as a component part of a formal system, than with any exercises of faith in building our hopes of acceptance upon it." "Our desires," as Bishop Taylor remarks, "must be lasting, and our prayers frequent, assiduous, and continual; not asking for a blessing once, and then leaving it; but daily renewing our suits, and exercising our hope, and faith, and patience, and long-suffering, and religion, and resignation, and self-denial, in all the degrees we shall be put to." Again, to borrow from the former excellent writer, (whose "exposition" contains a body of practical piety, worthy of the study of every Christian,) "The Lord is never angry with your presumption in coming so often, and asking so much, but he is often ready to upbraid you with your unbelief; that you are so reluctant and straitened in your desires-so unready to receive what he is so ready to give; that your vessels are too narrow to take in his full blessing; that you are content with drops, when he has promised rivers of living water; and above all, that you are so negligent in praising him for what you have already received."

It is in the hour of temptation, when we most stand in need of assistance, that Satan is apt to discourage our souls, and dishearten them from prayer; but if he cannot make us altogether omit praying, he will endeavour to weary us, by working upon the legality which cleaves so close to the heart. Satan," observes John Newton,* "is a hard task-master, when he interferes in the performance of our spiritual duties. When the soul is in a tempest, and attempts to pray, he will suggest, that prayer on these occasions, should be protracted to such a length, and performed with such steadiness, as is found to be at that season quite impracticable. Such constrained efforts are wearisome, and from the manner of the performance, he takes occasion to fix fresh guilt upon the conscience." The believer's great object in prayer, should be the enjoyment of God. "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." He knows that prayer is his duty, but he considers it likewise as his greatest honour and privilege. "In this light," says the same excellent author in his Cardiphonia, "he can recommend it to others, he can bid them expect a pleasure in waiting upon the Lord, different in kind, and greater in degree than all that the world can afford; and in this light he would consider and improve it for himself. But, alas! how seldom can he do as he would; how often does he find this privilege a mere task, which he would be glad of a just excuse to omit; and the chief pleasure he derives from the performance, is to think that the task is finished; he has been drawing near to God with his lips, while his heart was far from him. The like," he continues, "may be said of reading the Scripture. He believes it to be the word of God; he admires the

* Omicron Letters. Letter 14, " On Temptation."

wisdom and grace of the doctrines, the beauty of the precepts, the richness and suitableness of the promises; and therefore with David, he accounts it preferable to thousands of gold and silver, and sweeter than honey and the honey comb. Yet, while he thus thinks of it, and desires that it may dwell in him richly, and be his meditation night and day, in studying it, his heart is often less engaged than when reading a pamphlet." "The mere form of reading its contents," observes Mr. Bridges, "with whatever diligence and perseverance it may be observed, communicates nothing of its tried consolations. It is then read as a reality, and taken as a cordial, and the tempest-tossed soul, in casting anchor upon it, cries, 'remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.'" The word of peace is too frequently employed as an engine of domestic warfare among the servants of Christ; to this end it is studied, and every portion of Scripture considered, not as an integral part in the development of one grand scheme, in which we all profess to be interested, but merely as it bears upon some controverted point which divides the opinion of contending sects, and their peculiar view of which they each regard as the palladium of their orthodoxy. Schism, it is to be feared, must ever exist while fallible men are prone to exert their ingenuity in system making; but is it wise for professing Christians to display to the world without, how successfully they can make Scripture appear to contradict itself?-gathering together texts, (to use the forcible expression of a modern preacher) like heaps of stones, to throw at each other, instead of uniting to trace the complete harmony by which "the righteousness of God without the law," is "witnessed by the law and the prophets," even "Christ the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

Can we be surprised then, that while our study of the word is so heartless and unedifying as it frequently is, we do not feel truly athirst for the river of life, that we so often "forsake the fountain of living waters," and "hew out for ourselves broken cisterns;"-that we are so prone to "walk in the light of our fire, and in the sparks which we have kindled," while we profess to use the "word" as "a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path." What need have we then for watchfulness in all the varied employments of life, but especially in our religious duties and spiritual exercises! The palsied body shows not more surely the weakness of the mortal frame, than the lethargic soul betokens a total want of spiritual life and Christian energy; as we improve in vigilance, our character will advance towards perfection; if we would "be holy as Christ is holy," we should remember, that he is a "watcher," as well as an holy one.' Let us, therefore, "watch unto prayer;"" watch, with thanksgiving,""watch, stedfast in the faith." "WATCH, IN ALL THINGS!"

L.

ON THE CHRISTIAN WARFARE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER.

SIR-I happened some weeks since to attend divine service at a favourite chapel in the neighbourhood of Dublin; contrary to my expectations I did not hear the usual minister, but sincere as is my admiration of that gentleman, I had on this occasion little reason to regret the disappointment. The preacher chose his text from the 6th chapter of Ephesians"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,