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The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened By the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden, D.D. (1808-1892) CHAPTER XII – CAUTIONS
To walk boldly along the path of life, is the Christian’s duty and the Christian’s happiness. But he must also ‘walk circumspectly.’ As a religious guide, I must not only urge you forward, but I am bound to caution you that you step carefully, lest you fall by the way. I shall therefore hold up a beacon or two, which I trust may be useful to the heaven-bound traveler. The first caution I shall offer you, will be on the subject of Repentance. Now ‘Repentance’ is a word very common in our mouths, but very often misunderstood. As the world takes it, it is a thing easily accomplished, and soon over. To be sorry for having done wrong—to leave off some of our most pressing sins—to attend to some duty that has been neglected—to resolve upon leading a better life—this is the beginning and ending of the repentance of many. But, my dear reader, if God is working in your soul, I am very sure that your repentance will be something deeper than this. Think of past sin—the follies of your early youth, and those of your riper years—lost days that cannot be gathered up—idle words, that cannot be recalled —wasted opportunities—broken vows and resolutions—Sabbaths unimproved. Think what grace you have rejected in days past; how often you have resisted convictions; how carelessly you have felt towards Him who has so loved you; what a mere earthly life you have led; and how little you have thought of that better world before you! Think too how much has been wrong in you, even since you fairly set your face Zion ward; how slowly you have opened your heart to Christ; how coldly and feebly you have served Him, and are serving Him now! Oh, are there not ten thousand thoughts that make your very heart bleed—ten thousand reasons why you should be humbled in the dust? You are still a sinner before God, and undeserving in His sight. And though the blood of Jesus Christ can wash out every stain; though there is a full and free, yea a present, pardon for you; and though you may have a humble assurance that you have obtained that pardon—yet you have need still to mourn deeply over past transgressions, and present shortcomings. Though there is forgiveness with God, there must be no forgiveness with you. I mean, you must not forgive yourself. It has been well said, that ‘repentance has a sort of double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.’ Be not so anxious then to ask God to heal up your wound, as to probe it to the very bottom, even though it should give you much pain. Ask Him to grant you brokenness of heart, so that you may mourn over your sins with ‘godly sorrow.’ Awakened Christians are often so thankful for their deliverance, that they almost forget the pit from which the Lord in His mercy has brought them. They lose sight of their sin, in the joy of their forgiveness. Do not mistake me. The Christian cannot rejoice too much, when he beholds in Christ all he wants. He cannot feel His saving power to be too great. He cannot be too happy in the consciousness of being forgiven and accepted. You need not fear to trust too entirely to your Savior. He has indeed paid the whole of your debt—all of it—to the uttermost farthing. He has borne the full weight of your sins in His own body on the tree. He has placed Himself completely in your stead, and has shed His life-blood for you. You do but honor Him then by accepting His salvation—by believing that every sin is washed away, and that you are eternally saved for His sake. But remember, oh remember daily and hourly, how undeserving you are. You have still much indwelling sin within you. You still need the constant cleansing of the Saviors blood. This thought should deeply humble you. Nothing passes with God for true repentance, but a thorough change of heart and life ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well. When we discover our sin, it is not enough to confess it, and to mourn over it. We must forsake it utterly, and put it clean away. We must not only stop it in our actions, but pursue it home to our inclinations and desires, and dislodge it there: otherwise it will be all too little purpose; for the root being still left behind, it will surely shoot out again. Pray that you may, by the power of the Holy Spirit, gradually conquer this and that sin, and be ever aiming to be ‘holy as God is holy.’ It is very important to bear in mind that this Repentance must be a daily work; for you have daily sins to be repented of. Your disease is for ever breaking out anew. And you have need to go again and again to the cross to seek forgiveness. Your life must be a life of repentance, and a constant looking to Christ for fresh grants of pardoning mercy. Some may possibly call this a spirit of bondage. But truly that is a blessed bondage, which looses us from the chain of sin, and binds us closely to our Lord. You may be daily conscious of your sinfulness, and mourn over it before God; and yet you may have the fullest assurance of acceptance. You may he brokenhearted by reason of your unworthiness; and yet you may enjoy a peace that surpasses all understanding, from the happy knowledge that Christ has put away your sin. A child does not cease to be a child, and become a. slave, because he feels a keen regret for every act of disobedience to his loving father. Think often of your sins, to humble you, and to keep you low. But also think often with thankfulness of that ‘Fountain open for sin and for uncleanness,’ where every stain can be washed away. (Zech. 13.1.) Then will you know the meaning of those words, ‘Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;’ ‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ (2 Cor. 6.10; Matt 5.4) Next, let me warn you against an Infirm and Unstable Course. Steadfastness in religion is most important. Without it, we shall not do God’s will heartily, or be really happy in His service. St. Paul felt this, when he said to the Corinthians, ‘Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 15.58) On the other hand, the reproach of Reuben was, ‘Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.’ (Gen. 49.4) And St. James compares the unsteadfast, or unstable, to the sea that is tossed about by every wind that blows upon it. ‘He that wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.’ (James 1.6) There are some who begin well. They make a good start, and promise fair. The green leaves come out upon the tree, the blossom bursts forth, but no fruit comes to perfection. Many persons go on in this state for years. They seem to be well-disposed, and we hope that they will one day show more firmness and decision. We look for fruit; but again and again we are disappointed. Thus they pass through the world, and perhaps leave it, in the same unsatisfactory state. And since our Lord has said, ‘He that is not with me is against me,’ we tremble for their souls. Some again there are who seem to have accepted the promises of the gospel somewhat too easily. The truth was placed before them by their parents or teachers; and they received it almost as a matter of course, without any opposition or any doubting. They saw it was from God, and they embraced it. But there was never any great earnestness about them—never any very deep work in their souls. And what is the consequence? All is shallow and superficial. You talk to them of sin, and they willingly acknowledge that they are sinful and worthless. You speak to them of salvation by Christ, and they agree with you that ‘there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.’ They fall in with all you say for they sincerely believe it to be truth. They cast in their lot with God’s people; and we should be sorry to say that they are not His people; but they seldom or never become ‘burning and shining lights.’ You find them, time after time, much in the same state; and you cannot but see that there is a lack of earnestness and a feebleness of life about them, They are like plants in one’s garden, which have never firmly taken root, and therefore never thrive. Let not either of these be your character, dear reader. There should be stability and decision about the Christian. He should have his footing firm, and not be easily ‘moved away from the hope of the gospel.’ He should be ‘grounded and settled in the faith.’ (Col. 1.23) His character should be stable so that one may depend upon him as a religious man. There should be a vigor too about him, showing clearly that Christ is his hope, and Heaven his aim. Of course, we can hardly expect this of one who has only lately been brought to the knowledge and service of Christ. But what I would wish to urge upon you is, to aim at being steadfast, settled, and decided in your course. Now, I know of nothing that will conduce more to this than going constantly to the Bible, as the great source of all your spiritual instruction. Learn your religion from God, rather than from men. Lay your foundation on the solid truth contained in God’s word, and not on mere hearsay. ‘Thus says the Lord,’—let that be your warrant for every doctrine which you hold, and for every command which rules your conduct. Stand upon that ground, and you are safe. Let God’s Book be your main guide. Get your knowledge of His truth from that fountainhead. Draw water from that deep well, and you will feel the preciousness of every drop. Those who get their religious knowledge only from books, and from conversation with others, are for ever doubtful and wavering. They get a smattering of religious truth. They take up certain doctrines, because those whom they chance to be with have adopted them. But as they have not learnt them in God’s school, and from His Word, and by His teaching, these doctrines lie only on the surface, and their minds have never laid hold of them. But it is not so with the Bible-Christian. Every stone of his building has been hewn out of God’s quarry; and, therefore, it is solid, and will last. It may have cost a little more labor; but the work stands. The faith of such a Christian is not easily shaken. I mention this, because I have observed that Christians in the present day are a little disposed to lean upon books and tracts, and thus to slight the word of God. They perhaps find the doctrines of the gospel clearly stated for them in some nicely written book. This saves them trouble; and so they prefer it to God’s word. Ah! We may get a smattering of truth in this way; but this is not drawing water from the deep wells of salvation. Take the bucket yourself, and fill it at the clear spring. Dig deep into the Scriptures, and there you will find solid gold. By such means alone can you become a sound and settled Christian. An unstable member of any Body is a hindrance to it rather than a help. We want to reckon on the faithfulness and steadiness of those who belong to us. If I engage a Laborer to work for me, I like to feel that he is a sure man. If I buy anything at a shop, I like to go where I can depend upon the Tradesman. If a regiment of Soldiers goes out to fight for us, we like to feel that we can reckon upon their patriotism and their bravery. Seek, then, dear Reader, to be such a Christian, that men may be able to count upon your not flinching in the hour of trial, and not turning aside to the right hand or to the left. Another thing I must caution you against is Religious Excitement. Not that you can be too much in earnest, or be too eager in pressing onward to heaven. Oh! no; the fire will not burn too warmly; the fear is lest it should become slack. Be earnest; but let there be a staidness and sobriety with your earnestness. Do not mistake mere warmth and excitement of the feelings for the work of the Spirit in the heart. The one will soon cool down, while the other will last. I have witnessed some painful cases of this kind, where the feelings have been greatly moved, and the heart worked up for a time into a state of fever heat. And what is the consequence? Why, depression and coldness generally follow; the heart often sinks back into a state of greater deadness than ever; and the momentary peace it enjoyed is gone. For just as a fire, which is suddenly blown up into a flame, soon loses its brightness again, and becomes duller than before, and perhaps altogether dies out: so it will ever be with that soul in which mere excitement is allowed to take the place of quiet, genuine heart- earnestness. It is much the same with the body. Stimulating spirits will give unusual strength for a moment; but they often leave the man weaker than before: whereas solid, wholesome food, gives real and lasting strength to the frame. Thus you see how Christians may deceive themselves. Be on your guard, then, lest you fall into this error. Do not run here and there, in the hope of winding yourself up to greater religious fervor. There is no real religion in this; it is worth nothing. It is only like counterfeit coin, which for a time may pass for true, but will soon be found out, and leave the owner poorer than ever. But if you desire for yourself that warmth of feeling, strength of faith, and liveliness of hope, which will really last and steadily increase, depend upon it you will only obtain this by being much in prayer to God, by holding daily communion with Him, and by reading and meditating on His word. Thus He will lead you on from strength to strength, safely and surely. Some people are easily excited and worked upon. And they especially have need to be on their guard. Let not too much dependence be placed on mere inward feelings of any kind. They are very treacherous and deceitful, very fitful and uncertain. A person may feel warmlyunder a stirring and affecting sermon, and go home determined to enter heartily upon the work of religion: heavenly desires may be kindled within him, and this world may seem, for the time, as nothing in his eyes. But if God has not touched the heart, that heart, like a tightly strung bow, will fly back the moment the string is loosed. All his bright and happy feelings will pass away; a wintry dull will come upon his soul; and it will end perhaps in his having reason to doubt whether he is a child of God at all. Your religion then must not be a mere religion of the feelings. You must have something more solid to rest upon than the ever-varying pulse of your own frames and affections. See that there is a solid work of grace within you. See that the fire is lighted by a flame from heaven. See that it is God’s work, and not man’s. Try to look out of yourself to Christ, and rest upon Him. Rely upon what He has done for you, rather than upon what you may feel at the moment. Let Christ be the object on which your eye is fixed. So will you be kept in ‘perfect peace,’ your ‘mind stayed upon Him’ (Isa. 26.3). For, while your feelings are like the weather-glass, constantly changing, He is like the sun in the heavens—He changes not, but is ‘the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.’ (Heb. 13.8) Before I close the subject of Cautions, I feel that I should say a word or two about being led away by False Teachers. There are many of them in the world—Roman Catholics, for instance, and Mormons, and Socinians*, and numberless others. They may have a great deal to say. They may talk well, and thus mislead unstable souls. Beware of them. They will come to you with a show of truth. They will endeavor to unsettle your mind. They will very likely point out faults in your Church or they will speak slightingly of your Minister, and try to shake your confidence in his teaching. They will perhaps open the Bible, and appear to base their arguments on Scripture; so did the great enemy when he tempted Jesus. They will seem to take a great interest in you and they may really do so, for they may believe themselves to be right, while all the while they are in error. It was so with the Scribes and Pharisees of old they ‘compassed sea and land to make one proselyte;’ and no doubt theirs was an honest zeal, although they were ‘blind leaders of the blind.’ Beware, then, of receiving too readily any new Teacher who presents himself. Beware of accepting any doctrine, merely because it is plausibly set before you, and because it looks like truth. ‘Beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.’ (1 John 4.1) The best safeguard in such cases is to be firmly established in the truth yourself. Let there be in you a solid scriptural foundation. Rest upon God’s word. And trust fearlessly to those ‘old paths,’ and that ‘good way,’ by which your Church has guided thousands to a home of Safety. If not, you will be easily pulled this way and that, and be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. ‘Be fully persuaded in your own mind’ as to the truths you hold. Let them be grafted there by the very hand of God; and then you need fear nothing from those who would mislead you, and move you off from your foundation. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, act you like men, be strong.’ (1 Cor. 16.13) *[Socinians deny the doctrine of the Trinity and are largely represented today by Unitarians.] **************************************************** The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened, Ashton Oxenden **************************************************** PREVIOUS CHAPTER -- NEXT CHAPTER ©God’sGWG
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