Part 2

"He was the only man that I ever knew that had an unstained integrity. He was a lively and faithful minister of Christ and a worthy Christian, such as none who were acquaint with him could say any other but this, that he was a beloved Jedidiah of the Lord. I never knew a man more richly endowed with grace, more equal in his temper, more equal in his spiritual frame, and more equal in walk and conversation. When I speak of him as a man--none more lovely in features, none more prudent, none more brave and heroic in spirit; and yet none more meek, none more humane and condescending. He was every way so rational, as well as religious, that there was reason to think that the powers of his reason were as much strengthened and sanctified as any man's I ever heard of. When I speak of him as a Christian--none more meek, and yet none more prudently bold against those who were bold to sin--none more frequent and fervent in religions duties, such as prayer, converse, meditation, self-examination, preaching, prefacing, lecturing, baptizing, and catechising; none more methodical in teaching and instructing, accompanied with a sweet, charming eloquence, in holding forth Christ, as the only remedy for lost sinners; none more hated of the world, and yet none more strengthened and upheld by the everlasting arms of Jehovah, to be steadfast, and abound in the way of the Lord, to the death; wherefore he might be justly called "Antipas," Christ's faithful martyr. And as I lived then to know him to be so of a truth, so, by the good hand of God, I yet live, thirty-six years after him, to testify that no man upon just grounds had any thing to lay to his charge. When all the critical and straitening circumstances of that period are well considered, save that he was liable to natural and sinful infirmities, as all men are when in this life, and yet he was as little guilty in this way as any I ever knew or heard of, he was the liveliest and most engaging preacher to close with Christ, of any I ever heard. His converse was pious, prudent, and meek; his reasoning and debating was the same, carrying almost with it full evidence of the truth of what he asserted. And for steadfastness in the way of the Lord, few came his length. He learned the truth and counted the cost, and so sealed it with his blood. Of all men that ever I knew, I would be in the least danger of committing a hyperbole when speaking in his commendation. And yet I speak not this to praise men, but for the glory and honour of God in Christ, who makes men to differ so much from others, and in some periods of the Church more than others."

The "LECTURES AND SERMONS" of James Renwick that remain were published from the notes taken, at the time of their delivery, by some of his attached hearers and followers. They were not prepared with any view to future publication; and the trying circumstances in which their devoted author was placed, wholly prevented any correction or revisal. Yet they contain not only remarkably clear expositions of the word, and a full exhibition of the scheme of salvation, but also many passages which, for searching application to the conscience, and moving eloquence, are unsurpassed in the discourses of eminent preachers either in ancient or modern times. As specimens of the matter of Renwick's discourses delivered in the _Conventicles_, in the fields, amidst all dangers and incidents of weather, and by night as well as day, the following are selected from the published reports of his hearers:--

In a discourse on Song i. 7,--"Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon,"--he thus earnestly pleads, "Love Him, and you shall not come short of the enjoyment of Him hereafter. It is true, faith is that which, as an instrument, apprehends Christ and engrafts us in Him; yet it worketh by love, and love accompanieth faith, as the sunbeams do the sun. Oh what shall I say? Love him! love him! Ye cannot bestow your love so well. Turn others to the door, and take in this Beloved. Here I make offer of Him unto you, here I present Him unto you! Lift up your heads, O ye doors, that the king of glory may come in. I present a glorious Conqueror _this night_, to be your guest. O cast ye open the two foldings of the door of your hearts, to wit, that ye may receive Him; cast ye open the hearty consent of faith and love, that He may take up His abode with you. Oh, what say ye to it? Friends, will ye close with Christ? I obtest you by his own excellency, I obtest you by the joys of heaven, and the torments of hell, that you close with Him. _All of you come, whatever you have been or are; none of you_ shall be cast _out_. Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."

"Seeing it is the duty of people to set their love upon Christ, I exhort you to give some testimonies of love. Think ye that ye love him? Will ye then show that? I would expostulate for some testimonies of your love. When Peter confessed that he loved Christ, our Lord desires him to show that by feeding His lambs and sheep. It is true, you cannot show your love that way, for ye are not called to that office; but ye ought to show it in the way that is competent to you in your stations. So as I was saying before, I expostulate with you for some testimonies of your love. "Make a free and full resignation of yourselves and your all to Christ, that ye may say with the spouse, I am my Beloved's! Oh, ye should not prig (higgle) with Him about anything. Some prig with Him about their hearts, and will have a part thereof in their darling idols, which they cannot think to quit. Some prig with Him about their time, and will make religion but their by-work. If their worldly employments be throng, they will neglect the worship in their families, and prayer in secret. Others, if they keep any family worship, it is in the evening: ordinarily they are impatient, and haste to an end in it: and neglect it in the morning altogether. Oh, what a sad prigging is this. Some prig with him about their relations. They will not quit these when He calls them to suffer for His sake; but will tempt them, or will insinuate upon them to comply, and deny His cause. Some prig with Him about their possessions, and yielding to this or that iniquity, will keep their houses and lands, they will not quit them. And some will prig with Him about their lives; and if the swearing of a sinful oath, the subscribing to an iniquitous bond, or denying of His cause, will save their lives, they will not lose them. Oh, what sad prigging is this! Oh, be ashamed of it. Will ye lay all at his feet, and count it your honour and joy that He dispose of the same as He pleaseth? Give this testimony of your love to Christ, rejoice in Him when present, and keep His room empty when absent. I say rejoice in him when present. I need not press you much to do this, for in his presence there is great joy: though the enjoyment of Him here be imperfect, yet it brings exceeding gladness with it. Therefore saith the Psalmist,--'Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than when corn and wine are increased.' But when He is absent, see that ye keep His room empty for Him. When He sees it meet at any time for your correction, trial, and instruction, to withdraw Himself, or hide His face, then idols or other lovers will readily present themselves, and seek to possess His room. But, be chaste and true to your Beloved, as the spouse who, in His absence, could not be contented, but used all means and diligence until she found Him."

In a sermon on Song v. 16,--"His mouth is most sweet, yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,"--the following affecting views are presented: "The second property of Christ's love is, that it is a _strong_ love, which appears from what He hath done for sinners. He has done great things for sinners. He took upon Himself all the sinless infirmities of human nature--not sinful nature. Yea, He endured a shameful and lingering death, besides a flood of wrath that he waded through, such a flood of wrath as would have drowned all the sons and daughters of Adam to all eternity. Thus 'He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Oh, my friends, if ye will follow Christ through all the steps of his humiliation, ye may see that the love of Christ is strong love, which makes him endure such things for sinners. He gives great things to sinners, whereby He shows the strength of his love to them; for He gives grace and glory, and no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly; for He saith, 'Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me.' Christ gives the believer union with himself and communion in glory with the Father, even a share of that glory which the Father giveth Him, He giveth them. He gives them a crown of righteousness which shall never fade away; and He gives them to drink of the rivers of his pleasures, that are at his right hand for evermore. Oh, my friends, Christ doth not prig with His spouse: He will keep nothing back from them, that He sees to be for her profit.--Oh, but His love is _strong_. He requires no more for all that He has done, and all that He hath given, but that He see the travail of His soul. He will think but little of all that He hath done, if we will but accept of His love, and lay our love upon Him. Yea, so may be said of Him, as was said of Jacob,--the seven years that he served for Rachel seemed but a few days, for the love that He bare unto her. His love is so strong, that although thou shouldest run away from Him never so fast, yet His love will overtake thee, and bring thee back again. Paul ran very fast in opposition to His love, when he was going to Damascus to persecute the Church. But Christ's love overtook him suddenly. Manasseh ran very fast from Christ, when he made the streets of Jerusalem to run with innocent blood, and set up an abomination in the house of God, and used witchcraft; and yet Christ's love overtook him, and brought him back again from the pit. If thou art one of those that the Father hath given to the Son, though thou shouldest run to the brink of hell, He will bring thee back again from thence.

"Christ's love is _pure_ and _sincere_ love. 'Herein is love, not that we loved Him, but that He loved us;" not for any advantage that He can have by us, for He is infinite in all perfections without us; therefore we can neither enrich Him, nor add any more glory to Him. We may well magnify His power; that is all we can do, and all the advantage is our own. Christ's love is not a base love; He loves us not for His good or advantage, but for our real good and advantage. It is pure and sincere love, for all the advantage is ours.

"Christ's love is an _enriching_ love, for those upon whom His love is bestowed are no more poor. How can they be poor who have Christ for their riches? for, saith the Apostle, 'All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' If ye have this love bestowed on you, then all other things are made to serve for your good--ye shall lack nothing.

"Christ's love is a _free_ love. He gives His love freely, without any reward, and so it is free love; the offer is _alike to all_. If ye will but take it off his hand, He makes open proclamation of it to you all, saying, 'Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.' Oh, my friends, all other love is infinitely beneath this. He took not on him the nature of angels, but He took the seed of Abraham. Oh, my friends, God hath made us the centre of His love; and therefore, I beseech you, do not despise His love. He came not to redeem any of the fallen angels, but the seed of Abraham."

In the following moving terms, he pleads with his hearers to accept of Christ and his salvation:--"Your eternal enjoyment of God will be your element, which ye shall for ever delight in, and this shall be to praise and admire his love. For, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things that the Lord hath prepared for them that love Him. Oh, then, sirs, what think ye of Christ? Will ye not, at _this time_, say, He is your Beloved and your Friend? Oh, give your consent to become His friends, and accept of Him as your friend. I leave this offer at your door; He is willing to befriend you, if you will come into an estate of friendship with Him. Come, come, and take His offer off his hand. Say not that ye have continued so long in sin, that ye know not if He will befriend you now; for if ye will come to Him, He will yet befriend you. Therefore, for the Lord's sake, put not away such an offer, but take it _in the present time_; for ye know not if ever ye shall have an offer again. If ye will not take his offer off His hand _this day_, I will be a witness against you in the great day of judgment, that this day, the Son of righteousness offered Himself to be your friend, and ye have made light of the offer. Yea, the hills and mountains about us shall be witnesses that ye had Christ in your offer such a _day_, in such a _place_; therefore, my dear friends, say now that He is your beloved, and that He is your friend."

His close dealing with the conscience, and his solemn warnings and exhortations are exemplified in the following passages:--

"Consider your own condition without Christ. Ye are lost and undone, limbs of Satan, children of wrath, hell to be your dwelling-place, and devils and damned souls to be your company eternally, and where sin shall be your eternal torment. This is your condition without Jesus Christ. What think ye of eternal exclusion from the presence and comfort of God? What think ye of hell, where there is nothing but utter darkness, weeping and wailing for evermore, to be your dwelling-place? What think ye of devils to be your continual company? And what think ye of sin to be your continual life--always blaspheming the glorious name of God? And what think ye of your final condition--to be in continual torment--always weeping and gnashing your teeth? All this, I say, is abiding you who will not embrace Jesus Christ, whatever your profession be. For, believe me, a profession will not save you from this eternal misery, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. Whatever your sufferings be here, yet ye shall suffer this hereafter, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. My heart bleeds for many sufferers in Scotland, who shall suffer everlasting torment in hell, because they will not receive and embrace Jesus Christ, this gracious and free Saviour, who is now in your offer. Oh, embrace Jesus Christ, otherwise, be ye who ye will, and do what ye will, God's justice shall pursue you, and He shall have war against you without cessation: there shall be no discharge in that war. The great warriors of the earth are all lying with their weapons broken under their heads; but here is a war that hath no end. You who will not receive Jesus Christ, you will see that ye have made an evil choice, when ye pass through the dark gates of hell, to the inner chambers thereof. To move you, further consider, that if ye will take Him, ye shall have Him and all His. Ye shall drink of the waters of life; your feet shall stand on the sea of glass before the throne. Ye shall have His name, and bear His image, and wear a crown of pure gold upon your heads, and follow the Lamb with palms in your hands, saying, 'Hallelujah! and glory, and honour and power, unto the Lord our God.' Ye shall have the fine white linen garments of Christ's righteousness, to wear in heaven, in clothing eternally. Ye shall have the glorious cloud of witnesses--angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, for your continual company; and ye shall have a life of love and joy everlasting, with Him that is altogether lovely. Oh, then, come and take Jesus Christ. Would ye make a happy choice? Then take Him and embrace Him, old and young, man and woman, lad and lass. Now Christ is in your offer; and you are all invited to come to Him. And now I charge you all, as ye respect the glory of God, and as ye desire this happy condition that I have spoken of to you, slight not this offer. Now the golden chain of salvation is let down to you. Grip, grip it fast, before it is taken up again. Go not away fools, lest ye never be at such a market-day again. "What shall I say to persuade you? Let the excellency and glory of His great name do it. Be entreated to accept of Christ in this present offer. Here I obtest you, by what He hath purchased for sinners, and by what He has suffered, come and embrace Him. I obtest you by the blood He shed on the cross; I obtest you by the great drops of blood He shed in the garden, and by all the joys that are above the clouds in heaven, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you, by all the torments of hell, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you by the glory of heaven, and by the crowns which believers put on His head, that ye slight not this offer.

"Here I take every man and woman to witness against one another, that ye had Christ in your offer; and I shall be a witness against all of you that have not received Christ _this night_. Yea, though he should never be glorified in such a sort by me, yet I will be a witness against you. Here, before the throne of grace, I declare in His name, that I have made an offer of Him unto you; and, therefore, your blood shall be upon your own heads if ye perish, and I shall be free of the same."

In another place, he presses with like earnestness acceptance of the gospel offer:--"If ye would be rightly concerned, ye must at once come, and be a right son or daughter of the church, and member of Jesus Christ; until then, ye cannot have a fellow-feeling of the body. Come then, and Christ will give you a fellow-feeling with the sufferings of the church. Come and embrace Himself, and He will set the stamp of natural children upon you. Without Him, ye can do nothing; without Him, ye cannot be concerned with the sufferings of His name and members. Refuse not; reject not His offers, when He calls you to Himself. It is hard to say if some of you shall have an offer again. _Now_ is the acceptable time--_now_ is the day of salvation. He is _now_ spreading his net, and will ye not come about the net's mouth, that a catch of you may be gotten. He is proclaiming unto you that He hath invincible power, though managed by apparent weakness. Oh, find you any of this irresistible power of Christ? Oh, come unto Him who is the joy of heaven, and it shall be a joyful time in heaven. He will have a good report of you through heaven, if ye shall have it to say that some poor lad or lass hath put a crown upon His head in such a place. But oh, how sad will it be, if Christ shall have it to say, 'I gave offer of myself to a people like stocks and stones, but they would not hear!'"

On the duty of devoting the best to God's service, in another discourse, he thus forcibly reasons:--

"Observe, that it cannot but be a great injury against God, and procure a curse, when people employ not their best things in His service. This is clear from the words, 'Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing.' So men that employ not their best things in the Lord's service, believe it, they are chargeable with this. He calls for your best things in His service, and not that you should spend that upon your lusts. Ye are called to employ the best of your time in his service; and many of you give Him but the refuse of your time, or at least, He gets but your by-time for His service. But ye should give Him the best of your time and strength, and your hearts--all should be employed in his service. Do not say that you do the best that you can; for I am persuaded that there is none of you but may do more for Him than ye do. Do not say that ye improve the talent that He hath given you to trade with, for ye but misimprove it; and the best of you, we fear, come short of improving it. If ye improve it, ye should find it increase upon your hand, and you would appear like his children. But because people do not improve their time and abilities to lay them out for God, it procures a curse. For though our obligations go far beyond our duties that we do, yet when we do not lay out all our abilities for Him, and do not bestow our love, our affections, and our time, and all that we have for Him, but bestow them upon other things, we procure His curse. Young folks, set to the work, and be entreated to give up yourselves to his service, and employ your best things for Him, now when your desires are fast and quick. Oh, will ye bestow them on precious Christ? You have a brave prize put in your hand, if ye set aright to the work; ye may see Zion's King come back, and the crown set upon his head again."

Urging the necessity of being found within the kingdom of God, he says:--

"Seeing that the gate is very strait and narrow that leads to the kingdom of heaven, then what shall become of many of you, that never came the length that hypocrites have come? Oh, what will ye say, and how will ye meet with God, when He comes to count with you for a preached gospel? What will ye think of a Mediator that was offered to you, whom ye slighted and despised; when the heaven and earth shall melt away; and great men, and mean men, shall howl and cry, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him? Oh! this will be the portion of hypocrites from God.

"It is of use for trial--for all of you to try yourselves, and ponder in your hearts, and say, 'Oh, soul, whether art thou in the kingdom of heaven or not?' Oh, be exhorted to this, whatever be thy state, O man and woman. It is safe for thee to search thy state; if matters be right betwixt God and thy soul, it will be thy peace; if not, thou mayest possibly get righted. For my part, I count him the best Christian that is most accurate in this searching and communing with his own heart; for if ye neglect this, ye may come to lose the sight of your interest in Christ, if ever ye had it. Do not satisfy yourselves with being near the kingdom of God, but go into it. For this end, break the bargain and peace with your lusts and idols; and make up your peace with God through Christ, our Peace-maker, and ye shall find great advantage in the exchange; for the wicked have peace, but with sin and sinful men, but the godly have peace with God. Oh, will ye quit all other things, and seek to be interested in Him? For it is to be feared that many here have proclaimed peace with sin, and some idol, or other. Oh, break the bargain, and make peace with Christ! Make choice of Him; for He can give you that which no other lover can give you. O break that peace with your lusts and idols, and make peace with Him. Remember, He offers himself to you freely this day. Choose, therefore, what ye will do. O seek for the fulness of the Spirit of Christ, and rest upon nothing but upon himself alone; and seek to be in the kingdom of God, by the thorough work of conversion upon your souls.

"And now to all that are in the kingdom, I proclaim peace in the name of God, whatever troubles they are under here. So enter into the kingdom through Christ only, for that is the way to it. But as for you who will not come to him, and enter into the kingdom through Christ only, who is the way to it, I do, in like manner, proclaim war with that soul from God, whatever ye be in profession. O friends, lay it to heart, and choose you whether it be better to have heaven's peace, and the devil and the world's feud; or to have the devil and the world's peace, and feud with God for ever! And now to Him who is purchaser of true peace, be glory and praise for ever. Amen."