410

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY-ITS DIVERSITIES.

a force which brought up from its depths many a precious pearl, or many a hallowing lesson. Christians were often refreshed and made glad by communion with that spirit; for the chamber where it seemed to dwell in darkness and alone, was frequently a meetingplace between the soul and God. Not merely did the tried one submit without a murmur-not merely was there patience and resignation; in many cases these are only negative, and may be cold-but in her case there was peace and joy; in short, some of the richest fruits of the Spirit might be gathered from that devout and tranquil sufferer, ornamented as she was by a meek and quiet spirit. The truth, early deposited in the heart, and often pondered and prayed over, kept the lamp of divine light constantly burning; and though she sat in darkness to the eye of man, she was all radiant in the beauty of holiness, in the sight of Him who is light, and in whom there is no darkness at all. Many gathered rich fruits there, and were glad.

In contemplating this diversity of the Christian cha racter, in which gentle acquiescence in the divine will, and love to the divine Word, are the prominent peculiarities, the remark is suggested that much depends upon the peculiar character of the ministry under which the soul is converted. A ministry in which the law's requirements are made very prominent, as in the case of Dr Love, at one period of his life, will lead to one exhibition of the divine life; a ministry in which the love of God in Christ is made the prominent topic, will lead to another; and between these two, we find countless varieties and shades, all producing as many diversities of Christian experience. In some cases, the gospel is so obscurely or faintly presented, that the worshipper must proceed, somewhat as the devout Jew had to do, to discover truth and arrive at salvation through means of types, and shadows, and symbols. In other cases, the full blaze of light is poured upon the worshipper's soul, from a heart charged with love, and sanctified knowledge, and high aims at the glory of God in the salva

REV. E. BICKERSTETH.

411

tion of man. All these, then, must lead to great diversities in the Christian life; and it is when a meek and quiet spirit meets with a ministry of life, and simplicity, and vigour, that it shoots up like the palm tree, or like willows by the water-courses.

Take, as an instance, the ministry of Edward Bickersteth. He held some peculiarities in doctrine, which might impede the progress of some more vigorous minds; but the grand distinction of his ministry was its simplicity, its exquisite adaptation to meet the desires of the meek and quiet spirit. Truth was presented in its most unctional and attractive forms. In his hands, doctrines which are often made repulsive by bolder and more powerful minds, were made pleasing and full of comfort. We have known him, for example, surmount the difficulty of a scrupulous inquirer on the subject of election, where much more able advocates had failed to satisfy or convince. The character of Bickersteth's own mind was that of transparent simplicity; and the simple attractiveness which he threw around truth, decorated by him, not in the meretricious ornaments which man's taste suggests, but pure and heavenly as it came from God, gave to his ministry a character and a tone which carried many forward in that grace which is strong because it is simple, meek, and quiet.

But, in spiritual things as elsewhere, extremes often lie close together. The transition from Edward Bickersteth to Jonathan Edwards is very great, and yet they partook of the same spirit-they were members of the one great family; and the American, as well as the English divine, was characterised by great meekness and quietness of soul. When Edwards was virtually ejected by an ungrateful people, for whom, perhaps, his ministry was too holy, and heavenly, and pure, his own account of his condition is at once tenderly touching, and sublime in its composed, its meek and quiet confidence in God. "I desire your prayers," he wrote to a Christian brother, "that I may take a suitable notice of the frowns of Heaven on me and this people, in bringing to

412

JONATHAN EDWARDS.

pass such a separation between us, and that these troubles may be sanctified to me-that God would overrule this event for his own glory (which, doubtless, many adversaries will rejoice and triumph in)-that God would open a door for my future usefulness, and provide for me and my numerous family, and take a fatherly care of us in our present unsettled, uncertain circumstances -being cast on the wide world." There is no passion here, no recrimination, and not a single murmur amid such thickening troubles. All is meek and quiet, like one who had learned to behave as a weaned child. The sufferer cast himself, and all who were dear to him, on the providence of a Father in heaven, and then reposed in peace. Calm and serene in his temperament by nature, there was a height and a depth, a length and a breadth, in his religion, which transcended that of other men, as much as he soared above them in his mental power. "Sometimes," he writes, " only mentioning a single word caused my heart to burn within me, or only seeing the name of Christ, or the name of an attribute of God. And God has appeared glorious to me on account of the Trinity." "Once," he adds, "as I rode out into the woods for my health, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine meditation, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure, and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension." So meek and listening was his spirit, that a single clause of the Word riveted the whole soul of Edwards-nay, grand as it was, it bowed to the earth in the docility of a gentle child before a single word; and, in return for that docility, joy after joy was poured into his cup. "The soul of a true Christian," he said, "appears like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the year-low and humble on the ground-opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory-rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture-diffusing around a sweet fra

grancy-standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about, all in like manner opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the sun. Now, this is poetry as well as devotion-it is poetry placing its wreathes on the brow of the world's greatest theologian, and making theology a hymn.

Another exemplification of this beautiful combination of meekness and quietness is found, in a far different sphere, in the life of Mrs Ann Johnstone. Firm upon principle, but yielding in all besides, this Christian was the spiritual friend of thousands, and the spiritual benefactress of not a few; and as we trace her through her works of faith and her labours of love, we at once discover that one secret of her ascendency for good was found in the meekness and gentleness of her soul. In her case, the Scripture was pre-eminently true: "The work of righteousness is peace, and the effects of it quietness and assurance for ever;" and as she was thus meek and quiet, according to her Lord's requirements, she inherited the earth according to his promise that is, she was blessed in her soul above what can easily be told-clusters from Eshcol often cheered and refreshed her. "Frequently, from five o'clock in the morning until a late hour at night, the soul was so filled with believing views of the blessed Jesus, as a King and a Priest upon his throne for ever, that scarcely a wandering thought would be suffered to obtrude or draw away the mind; and sometimes, in secret prayer and meditation, the divine character and perfections, in the scheme of apostate man's redemption by a crucified Redeemer, the love of Christ, the promises of the covenant, and the joys and glories of heaven, were exhibited by the Spirit with such a vividness of spiritual perception, as to be too bright for mortal eyes to behold; and, as the tide of light, life, and love continued to flow into the soul, she was made to cry out, like the godly John Welsh, Hold, Lord! thy weak vessel can contain no more. Again" Her sister, who generally accom

6

* Bee Memoirs of the late Mrs Ann Johnstone, p. 9.

panied her to those wells of spiritual refreshment (the Lord's table), and who also thirsted eagerly after communion with God in his ordinances, was so struck with Mrs Johnstone's progress in grace, that she often said she wondered that her sister was so long out of heaven, and that it must be for the good of others that she was detained from partaking of the full enjoyment of the beatific vision."*

And amid her labours of love, Mrs Johnstone was not left without her immediate reward. Striving in all simplicity and meekness to follow the Lord fully, she was abundantly blessed in her deed; and has recorded, that when visiting a poor believer, whom she long sought to succour, "every step seemed to raise her higher above the world, and as soon as she entered his apartment, a purer atmosphere was breathed, the divine fellowship, joy unspeakable and full of glory, was experienced." 66 My blessed Lord," she sometimes said, "so bears me up, that I feel like a cork floating upon the bosom of the waters, which cannot sink, the eternal God the refuge, and underneath the everlasting arms." This saint of God had heard the Saviour's words, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly." She was enabled by the power and demonstration of the Spirit to act upon them, and by this process she became another among the throng who know that the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price. She imbibed the Redeemer's spirit, and was therefore made a partaker of his peace.

In contrast with all this, as the painter's depth of shade enhances the effect of his light, we might advert to the loquacious and loud professor, who appears rather to obtrude religion on our notice, than to act on the principle of not permitting the left hand to know what the right hand is doing. Casting away the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit-forgetting all that is said of the need of caution, lest we speak unadvisedly with our lips-rejecting the counsel of the wisest man, who said,

*Memoirs, pp. 33, 34.