THE Cottager's Monthly Visitor. DECEMBER, 1831. SELF-EXAMINATION AT THE CLOSE OF THE THERE is not a more necessary, or a more difficult duty than serious self-examination; neither can there be a more proper season for endeavouring, by the grace of God, conscientiously to perform it. Let me, then, request you seriously to ask yourself,—what has this year done for me in a spiritual point of view? Standing, as you now do, at the close of one of those portions of time, of which life is made, it is a most important question; look back, then, through the year now drawing to a conclusion, and answer it sincerely and candidly to yourself. How stands the account between God and my soul? Not a day, not an hour, not a hasty word, not a profane expression, not an improper thought, not a single action, can ever be recalled; and yet not one is forgotten; all are registered in that book which Daniel the prophet assures us shall one day be opened against us. How, then, have I spent this year? Am I indulging in the same sins now which I did at its commencement? Have I the same sensual delights? Is there any gratification which I have given up for the love of God, or the desire of pleasing him? Is there any temptation which I have been enabled by his grace, successfully to resist? Have I been more constant in my attendance on public worship, at the prayers, and at the Sacrament? Have I read the word of God more frequently, prayed in private more earnestly, thought NO. 12.-VOL. XI. A a upon religion with greater pleasure? Have the afflictions with which I have been visited been the means of drawing my heart more closely to my Redeemer? Have the mercies with which I have been blessed, excited my gratitude, increased my love, and made me more zealous in the service of him from whom they flow? Has my religion been that of the heart as well as the lips? With all my professions of godliness, have I been deficient in its fruits? Have I been strictly honest, sober, true, chaste? Have I served my earthly masters, as unto God, and not with eye-service? Have I, as much as is in my power, been kind and charitable, in word, and deed, and action, to all men? Is there any improvement in my temper? Am I as willing as I ever was, to believe evil, and to speak evil of my neighbours ? Have I the same fear and love of the world? Do I dread its anger and seek its approbation? Do I enjoy its pleasures, and follow its maxims, with the same zeal, at the close of the year, that I did at its commencement ? Or do I find that, by my union in faith with my Redeemer, my conduct has been really and radically improved; that I have attained to some blessed degree of resemblance to him, that I have become, by the influence of his grace, more devoted to his will, more anxious for his glory, more patient of injury from others, more desirous of benefiting them, and, above all, more spiritually minded myself? These enquiries (and many more might be added,) are not trifles; it is of essential consequence, that we thus, as the apostle expresses it, "Examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith." It is one of the most essential methods, under Providence, to induce us to "watch and be sober." To watch, that the great enemy of our souls get no advantage over us; to be sober, that when our Lord cometh, he may not find our thoughts misled, our minds dazzled, our hearts led astray by the allurements and fascinations, and revellings of this world; but that he may acknowledge us among the On the Epistle for the first Sunday after Easter. 531 number of those sober and faithful servants, who were constantly employing the talents entrusted to them for the honour and glory of him who gave them; that he may see us among those wise and watchful virgins, whose lamps were always trimmed, whose lights were always burning, and who went forth to meet the expected bridegroom. (From "the Poor Churchman's Evening Companion." By the Rev. H. Blunt.) ON THE EPISTLE FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 1 John v. 4. IN the Epistle for Easter-day, we were taught to consider the death and resurrection of Christ, as figuring our own death unto sin, and rising again unto righteousness. Every Christian is bound, by the most solemn vows, to renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh. The world is the most dangerous outward enemy we have to combat, and is the chief instrument employed by our spiritual foe, the devil, to work our ruin here, and our eternal misery hereafter. Its temptations beset us so constantly, that, in our necessary intercourse with it, we stand in hourly danger of falling a prey to its false and delusive maxims, and its seducing example. Our Lord knew this; and, therefore, when he was leaving the earth, he fervently prayed for his disciples, who would no longer be shielded by his presence and example from the assaults of this subtle enemy. Yet he prayed, not that they might be taken out of the world, but that his heavenly Father would "keep them from the evil." John xvii. 15. The world is constantly tempting us to follow its wicked courses, and to make shipwreck of our souls. It keeps up a constant warfare with those pure and holy dispositions which are the gift of the blessed Spi rit of God. What, then, must be our defence and guard against this so formidable enemy? Where shall we look for safety? The beloved apostle who was present when our Lord so earnestly prayed for him, and the rest of his fellow-disciples, that apostle who was admitted to closest intimacy with his Master,-he tells us of one, and but one secure defence,-even "the shield of faith." "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that in the very first age of the Gospel, and during the lifetime of this apostle, some were found who dared to disbelieve the Divine nature of our Lord, who regarded him as a mere man, and considered his life, and his death, only as a perfect example of obedience and resignation. They refused to acknowledge that his sacrifice was the atonement for their sins, and that he who offered it was God as well as man, and had all power thereby given him to save all that should come unto him for pardon. Looking upon him as a mere man, his promises could give them no comfort; and his blessed precepts were, by these unbelievers, slighted and contemned *. They fell an easy prey to all the snares of the world around them, for they had not that "Anchor of the soul," that assured faith, which would have kept them from such pollution, by shewing the abhorrence which God must have to sin, for which nothing but the death of his Son could atone. Yet, what excuse could they have for such hardness of heart?Proof could not be wanting of the fact they dared to dispute. They must have heard from the multitudes who were present at our Lord's baptism, of the glorious voice which proclaimed him the Son of God, while the Spirit descended to bear witness; and to their public manifestation of the Three Divine Persons, St. John refers, as a complete overthrow of the infidelity † which he found so fatally prevalent. Again, even the heathen * Despised. + Unbelief. Visit to a Cottage. 533 centurion, who watched the cross of Jesus, was constrained to exclaim, "Truly, this man was the Son of God." And this was "the witness of men," which they would readily receive in any other case, equally clear and free from doubt. But "the witness of God," in raising his Son from the dead, "was greater ;" and this none can reject without incurring the heavy guilt of total apostacy *. But let us not dwell on the dreadful and revolting topic of man's unbelief; but gladly, thankfully, and devoutly, turn to the rich and boundless mercy which our blessed Lord hath wrought for us. No less a prize than eternal life is ours, if we hold fast the profession of our faith firm unto the end. "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." In loving him, in serving him, in seeking to adorn his doctrine in all things, in denying ourselves every sinful indulgence; in stedfastly resisting all the temptations of the world, to draw us from our duty, must our life here be spent: for this will shew that Christ, indeed, dwelleth in us, and we in him. And can any hardships, or difficulties, affright us from following such a course, when we have, the sure and certain word of him who cannot lie, thus declaring, "To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. iii. 21. L. S. R. SIR, VISIT TO A COTTAGE. To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor. THE following sketch is drawn from the life. The scene is a village in Wiltshire; and some of your The sin of giving up our religion. |