APPENDIX, No. XXII. THE cultivation of the memory, with a view to religious improvement, Mr. Henry both felt, and urged, as being of special importance. Of this his manuscripts furnish the following illustration. In reply to the inquiry,-What means are we to use, that we may remember spiritual things better, to carry away with us more of what we hear, and to keep it more faithfully? He says; Get the heart filled with love to the things of God. I never yet saw a covetous old man forget where his money lay.* The reason is, his heart is upon it; see Psalm, cxix. 16. Labour to see the worth and excellency of heavenly truths; so many truths, so many jewels. Jewels we lay up. See your own concern in them, Deuteronomy, xxxii. 46, 47; yet a clear and distinct apprehension, Psalm, cvi. 7; and the more distinct the better. A man may carry a great deal more upon his back, if the things be well-ordered and packed up,+ than if they lie loose and confused. So it is with the memory. Hence catechisms are exceedingly useful. Submit to the power of the word; the sermon that doth us most good we shall best remember, Psalm, cxix. 93. Attention is a special help, Hebrews, ii. 1. It is said the people hanged on Christ while he was preaching to them, Luke, xix. 48. See Luke, viii. 18. Meditation, Luke, ii. 19. A garment that is double-dyed, dipped again and again, will retain the colour a great while; so a * "Nec verò quemqam senum audivi oblitum, quo loco thesaurum obruisset." Cicero de Senect. p. 155. Op. tom. 8, ut supra. "One will carrie twice more weight trussed and packed up in bundles, than when it lies untowardly flapping and hanging about his shoulders. Things orderly fardled up, under heads, are most portable." Fuller's Holy State, p. 164, ut supra. Meditation keeps out Satan. It increases knowledge, Psalm, cxix. 99; 1 Timothy, iv. 15. It inflames love, Psalm xxxix. 3. It works patience, Psalm, cxix. 23; Psalm, lxxvii. 6. It promotes prayer, Psalm, lxiii. 5, 6. It evidences sincerity. See Proverbs, xxiii. 7. P. Henry. Orig. MS. truth which is the subject of meditation. What harrowing is after sowing, the same is meditation after hearing,-it hides the word. Conference. See this and the former in one scripture, Psalm, lxxvii. 11, 12. As an orange, by being tossed to and fro, from hand to hand, leaves a scent behind it,- -so doth truth. Prayer. We should turn sermons into petitions. Pray for the Spirit. There is great encouragement from promises, Luke, xi. 13. The memory is a lazy faculty, unless rubbed up, 2 Peter, i. 12, 13. Exercise your memories. The way to have limbs is to use them. Consider the great advantage we shall get by it; by the help of a faithful, sanctified memory, truths may do us good long after we have heard them. See John, x. 41, 42; Psalm, exix. 52; Lamentations, iii. 21. But there are some things which God would have us especially to remember. In general, every part of his revealed will. Particularly, our Creator, Ecclesiastes, xii. 1; To keep holy the sabbathday, Exodus, xx. 8. Also, our latter end, Deuteronomy, xxxii. 20. Shortly, we must put off this our tabernacle; the thing itself is certain, the time uncertain. Could I be contented death should find me in my present state, in this place, company, so employed? Forgetfulness of our latter end makes us careless and secure, Isaiah, xlvii. 7; Lamentations, i. 9. The days of darkness, Ecclesiastes, xi. 8; not only that we must die, but also what comes after death; our state after death is to be an abiding state. If we die in sin, eternal darkness follows. Think of this. What a misery were it to be shut up in a dungeon, though in ease, for a few years; much greater, to be shut up in hell under chains of darkness, and flames of brimstone,+ and that for ever! We have little cause to envy wicked men those merry days which they now enjoy, for they are but few; the days of darkness, which are coming, are like to be many. Those who are in bonds, Hebrews, xiii. 3; our poor, distressed, afflicted, brethren; those, especially, who suffer for righteousness' sake. When we are at meat, we should think of those who are hungry, for whom nothing is provided; when at ease in our beds, of those who are sick, and in pain. Such a thought may conduce much to seriousness, sobriety, and thankfulness. Their condition might have been our's, and our's their's. They are our fellow members. See Psalm, cxxxvii. 5, 6. We must remember them so as to relieve them, when we have opportunity, Hebrews, xiii. 16; which God will remember, Acts, x. 31. Our past sins, Deuteronomy, ix. 7. The sins of our youth, of our unregenerate state; not barely to talk of them, much less to please * 2 Peter, ii. 4. + Revelations, xxi. 8. See Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Works, vol. 3, p. 517, ui supra. ourselves in the remembrance of them, but for holy, spiritual ends and purposes; as to mourn over them that they may be pardoned, if that be not yet the case. If they are forgiven, the remembrance of them may be useful to keep us humble and low in our own eyes, 1 Corinthians, xv. 9; Ezekiel, xvi. 63; to provoke thankfulness, 1 Timothy, i. 12, &c.; to quicken us in our obedience. See 1 Peter, iv. 2, 3. The mercies we have received, Psalm, ciii. 2; Deuteronomy, xxxii. 6, 7, though long since. Herein the people of God have been very careful; sometimes compiling long songs of remembrance, Exodus, xv.; Judges, v.; sometimes setting up monuments of remembrance, Exodus, xvii. 15; 1 Samuel, vii. 12; sometimes imposing names of remembrance, Genesis, xli. 51, 52; Exodus, xviii. 3, 4. There is good reason why it should be so; for God remembers our kindness towards him, Jeremiah, ii. 2. The judgments of the Lord. Towards ourselves, Lamentations, iii. 19, 20. Thus and thus the Lord chastened me, and my sin was the cause. Shall I then continue in sin? Towards others, Luke, xvii. 32, so as to be warned. The words of the Lord Jesus, and of those whom he hath sent, Acts, xx. 35; Jude, verse 17. What are those special things which God would have us to forget? Injuries done to us, Romans, xii. 19, 20; our own people, and our father's house, Psalm, xlv. 10; i. e. the persons of our nearest, dearest relations, when they seek to keep us from Christ, Deuteronomy, xxxiii. 9; the customs, fashions, usages, of those with whom we conversed in our ignorance,-those things which are behind, Philippians, iii. 13.* *P. Henry. Orig. MS. APPENDIX, No. XXIII. THE following specimen of Mr. Henry's paternal counsel, will not, it is presumed, be unacceptable. Advice to the Rev. Matthew Henry, and Mrs. Henry, Dear pair, whom God hath now of two made one, In the first place see, that with joint endeavour, If one speak fire; t'other with water come; Your slips will falls be call'd, your falls, each one Do good to all, be affable and meek, Your converse must be preaching all the week. * If an offence be given by one, it must not be taken by the other: for if both be angry together, the fire will be the greater. Shute's Sarah and Hagar. p. 85, fol. 1649. "A good man, being vehement with the 'Reverend and faithfull servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. Richard Greenham,' he said, You are fire, and I will be water.'" Greenham's Works, p. 742, ut supra. See Matthew Henry's Miscellaneous Works, p. 148, ut supra. The Supplement to the Morning Exercise at Cripplegate, ut supra, p. 297. Sermon xvi. door Your house must be a Bethel, and your All are born once to trouble, but saints twice, On the marriage of Mrs. Savage, March 28, 1687, he founded an address, on Genesis, ii. 22, And brought her unto the man.† Weddings are likely, he observed, to be comfortable, when God brings the married couple to each other. All who come together, do so by his common providence. A sparrow doth not fall to the ground without him. But there is a special providence to be owned, when people marry in the Lord. That a marriage may be in the Lord, it is necessary that the proceedings be according to rule. In respect of parties, they must not be too near in relation, nor too far off in age, quality, and profession. The more suitableness, the more likely is it that they were brought together by God. Solomon missed it in marrying strange wives, and it was his ruin. Sons of God should not match with the daughters of men. Be not unequally yoked. There should be free consent of both parties, and parents also. Parents are not to infringe children's right, by forcing them, nor children their's, by disposing of themselves. It should be managed as an ordinance of God, sanctified by the word of God and prayer. What God brings, he will bless to us, and what he blesses, must needs be comfortable. When God blows upon any thing, it never prospers, Psalm, cxxvii. 1.‡ At Mrs. Hulton's marriage, he selected as a topick for advice, Ephesians, v. 24, 25. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, &c. And thus pleasantly remarked;-I am loath to invert the apostle's method and order, and, therefore, shall keep to that. Though the husband be the superior, and have the pre-eminence in other things, he must not be offended, if his wife go before him learning her duty. The church, (that is, of the first-born, considered as such, all the true saints in the world,) is subject to Christ. He is owned by them as their Lord and Ruler, both in word and deed. They have learned to deny their own wills, whereinsoever they From a copy, in the hand-writing of Mrs. Savage. + Dear father preached at family prayer that night, from that scripture in Genesis, -and brought her to the man. Mrs. Savage. Diary. Orig. MS. From Mrs. Savage's MS. |