"The kingdom of God is
within us," says our Lord; and, "he is not a Christian who is one
outwardly; but he is a Christian who is one inwardly." If any of you
place religion in outward things, I shall not perhaps please you this
morning; you will understand me no more when I speak of the work of
God upon a poor sinner's heart than if I were talking in an unknown
tongue.
I would further premise a caution, that I would by no means confine
God to one way of acting. I would by no means say that all persons,
before they come to have a settled peace in their hearts, are obliged
to undergo the same degrees of conviction. No; God has various ways of
bringing His children home; His sacred Spirit bloweth when, and where,
and how it listeth. But, however, I will venture to affirm this: that
before ever you can speak peace to your heart, whether by shorter or
longer continuance of your convictions, whether in a more pungent or
in a more; gentle way, you must undergo what I shall hereafter lay
down in the following discourse.
First, then, before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must be
made to see, made to feel, made to weep over, made to bewail, your
actual transgressions against the law of God.
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