Letter from Rev. C. Collins, Philadelphia, and answer- as thirty years ago PAGE 179 181 Why God permitted me to wander—Good results—Sad ones 182-188 First: Hard to bring people to benefit by the experience of Great weakness of man-Satan's devices—Angel of light Fifth Lesson: Young ministers-What they should do when Sixth Lesson: Downward tendency of unbelief Eighth Lesson: To converted sceptics 188-191 192-194 195-198 199-202 202 203-205 Ninth Lesson: Look for trouble-Bear it patiently satisfied sceptics-Buckle-Darwin-Theology Infidel objections answered 210-215 Christianity makes people happy-Even in great trials Counsels to churches, ministers, etc. Extracts from letters written over six years ago. 269-284 TEACHINGS OF EXPERIENCE; OR, LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED ON MY WAY THROUGH LIFE. W HEN a man has travelled far, and seen strange lands, and dwelt among strange peoples, and encountered unusual dangers, it is natural, on his return home, that he should feel disposed to communicate to his family and friends some of the incidents of his travels, and some of the discoveries which he may have made on his way. So when a man has travelled far along the way of life, especially if he has ventured on strange paths, and come in contact with strange characters, and had altogether a large and varied experience, it is natural, as he draws near to the end of his journey, or when he reaches one of its more important stages, that he should feel disposed to communicate to his friends and kindred some of the incidents of his life's pilgrimage, and some of the lessons which his experience may have engraven on his heart. He will especially be anxious to guard those who have life's journey yet before them against the errors into which he may have fallen, and so preserve them from the sorrows that may have embittered his life. And so it is with me. I have travelled far along the way of life. I may now be near its close. I have certainly of late passed one of its most important stages. I have had a somewhat eventful journey. There are but few perhaps who have had a larger or more varied experience. I have committed great errors, and I have in B consequence passed through grievous sorrows; and I would fain do something towards saving those who come after me from similar errors and from similar sorrows: and this is the object of my present discourse. At an early period, when I was little more than sixteen years of age, I became a member of a Methodist society. Before I was twenty I became a local preacher. Before I was twenty-three I became a travelling preacher; and after I had got over the first great difficulties of my calling, I was happy in my work; as happy as a mortal man need wish to be. It was my delight to read good books, to study God's Word and works, to store my mind with useful knowledge, to preach the Gospel, to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, and to promote the instruction and improvement of God's people. It was the joy and rejoicing of my heart. There were times, and those not a few, when I could sing with Wesley "In a rapture of joy my life I employ, 'Tis worth living for this, to administer bliss And I was very successful. I never travelled in a circuit in which there was not a considerable increase of members, and in one place where I was stationed the numbers in church fellowship were more than doubled. In those days it never once entered my mind that I could ever be anything else but a Christian minister; yet in course of time I not only ceased to be a minister, but even ceased to be a Christian. I was severed first from the Church, and then from Christ, and I wandered at length far away into the regions of doubt and unbelief, and came near to the outermost confines of eternal night. How happened this? And how happened it that, after having wandered so far away, I was permitted to return to my present happy position? I shall endeavour, to the best of my ability, to answer these questions. I. How came I to wander into doubt and unbelief? There are several causes of scepticism and infidelity. One is vice. When a man is bent on forbidden pleasures, he finds it hard to believe in the truth and divinity of the religion that condemns his vicious indulgences. And the longer he persists in his evil course, the darker becomes his understanding, the more corrupt become his tastes, and the more perverse his judgment; until at length he "puts darkness for light, and light for darkness; calls evil good and good evil, and mistakes bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." There are men who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. And it is the decree of Heaven that men who persist in seeking pleasure in unrighteousness, shall be given up to strong delusions of the devil to believe a lie. But there are other causes of scepticism and unbelief besides vice. Thomas was a doubter for a time, a very resolute one, yet the Gospel gives no intimation that he was chargeable with any form of vice. And John the Baptist, one of the noblest characters in sacred history, whose faith in Christ had been so strong, and who had proclaimed Him so successfully to others, when the Saviour failed to meet his expectations, began to doubt, and sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, "Art thou He that should come, or must we look for another?" Like the early disciples of the Saviour, and the Jewish people generally, John expected the Messiah to take the throne of David by force, and to rule as a temporal prince; and when He took a course so very different, his confidence in Jesus was shaken. And again: one of the sweetest Psalmists tells us that, as for him, his feet where almost gone; his steps had well-nigh slipped;" and that, not because he shrank from duty, or was eager to indulge in forbidden pleasures, but because he saw darkness and clouds about the Providence of God: he could not understand or "justify the ways of God to man." And there are thoughtful and good men still who fall into doubt and unbelief in ways like these. The kind of people who, like Thomas, are inclined to doubt by the very constitution of their minds, are not all dead. Baxter mentions a class of men who lived in his day that were always craving for sensible demonstrations. Like |