Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

quiries into our spiritual state; and we know of few works better fitted to assist the honest inquirer in his search, than MR. GUTHRIE'S "CHRISTIAN'S GREAT INTEREST." It is divided into Two Parts, “The Trial of a Saving Interest in Christ," and "How to attain to a Saving Interest in Christ;" and we think it impossible to peruse this valuable Treatise, with the candour and sincerity of an honest mind, without arriving at a solid conclusion as to our spiritual condition. His experimental acquaintance with the operations and genuine fruits of the Spirit, and his intimate knowledge of the workings of the human heart, fitted him for applying the tests of infallible truth to aid us in ascertaining what spirit we are of-for exposing and dissipating the false hopes of the hypocrite—for leading the careless Christian to investigate the causes of his declension in godliness, and to examine anew whether he be in the faith-and for detecting and laying open the fallacies and delusions which men practise on themselves, in regard to the state of their souls. He faithfully exposes the insidious nature of that deceitfulness of the human heart, which lulls men into a false security, while their Christianity is nothing more than a heartless and hollow profession, and they are standing exposed to the fearful condemnation denounced against those who have " a name to live, but are dead."

Nor is his clear and scriptural exhibition of the dispensation of grace less fitted to guide the humble inquirer into the way of salvation. As a faithful ambassador of Christ, he is free and unreserved in his offers of pardon and reconciliation, through the death

and obedience of Christ, to the acceptance of sinners; but he is no less faithful in stating and asserting the claims of the gospel, to an unshrinking and universal obedience, and to an undisputed supremacy over the heart and affections. And to aid the sincere Christian in the cultivation of the spiritual life, he urgently enjoins an implicit acquiescence in the guidance and intimations of the Holy Spirit, through whose operation it is that a cordial and affectionate faith in the whole of God's testimony can be wrought in the soul; by whose spiritual illumination it is that the truth becomes the instrument of sanctifying and saving us; while by the inward experience of the Spirit's light, and comfort, and renewing power, combined with the outward and visible growth of the fruits of righteousness in the character, we acquire the best and surest evidence that we have obtained a saving interest in Christ.

The intimate acquaintance which he manifests with the spiritual life, and his clear, affectionate, and earnest expositions of the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, render this Treatise a precious companion to the sincere Christian; while his powerful and urgent appeals to the conscience are peculiarly fitted to awaken men to a concern about those matters to which the Scriptures attach such an infinite importance; to lead them in earnest to avoid the possibility of continuing in deception; and to constrain them to seek after a full assurance on that subject on which, above all others, it becomes men to be well assured. T. C.

St. Andrews, January, 1825.

MEMOIRS

OF THE

REV. WILLIAM GUTHRIE.

CURIOSITY is ever busy. It urges us to trace objects up to their source, and impels alike the philosopher and historian, to account for the various phenomena presented to them in the natural and moral world. On coming in sight of a majestic river mingling its waters with the great ocean, bearing on its bosom flotillas of wealth from every country, and washing the shores which its own immensity has formed, we are naturally led to run our thoughts beyond the objects before us, to trace in imagination the source from which this great sheet of ever-flowing water has its rise, and to follow it through all its windings, from the bubbling pool, down to the point where it resembles Time sinking into Eternity. If we meet accidentally a stranger, whose mind flashes genius from every sentiment which he utters, and whose conversation bears the solidity and depth of true science, and scatters improvement and wisdom on every side of him, we inwardly ask, Who can this be? What steps led to such intellectual

« AnteriorContinuar »