Page:Records of the Life of the Rev. John Murray.djvu/110

100 that is, they were not melancholy; and I therefore suspected they had not much piety. I attended to every thing; the hymn was good, the prayer excellent, and I was astonished to witness, in so bad a man, so much apparent devotion; for still, I must confess, the prejudices, I had received from my religious friends, were prevalent in my mind. Mr. Relly gave out his text. "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for every tree is known by its fruit; a good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." I was immeasurably surprised. What, thought I, has this man to do with a passage, so calculated to condemn himself? But, as he proceeded, every faculty of my soul was powerfully seized and captivated, and I was perfectly amazed, while he explained who we were to understand by the good, and who by the bad trees. He proved, beyond contradiction, that a good tree could not bring forth any corrupt fruit, but there was no man, who lived and sinned not; all mankind had corrupted themselves, there were none therefore good; no, not one.

No mere man, since the fall, has been able to keep the commandments of God; but daily doth break them, in thought, in word, and in deed. There was, however, one good tree, JESUS; He indeed stands, as the apple-tree, among the trees of the wood; He is that good tree, which cannot bring forth corrupt fruit; under His shadow the believer reposeth; the fruit of this tree is sweet to his taste; and the matter of his theme constantly is, "Whom have I in heaven, but thee, and there is none upon earth, that I desire, beside thee." I was constrained to believe, that I had never, until this moment, heard the Redeemer preached; and, as I said, I attended with my whole soul. I was humbled, I was confounded; I saw clearly, that I had been all my life expecting good fruit from corrupt trees, grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles. I suspected myself; I had lost my standing; I was unsettled, perturbed, and wretched. A few individuals, whom I had known at Mr. Whitefield's tabernacle, were among Mr. Relly's audience, and I heard them say, as they passed out of the aisle of the church, I wonder how the Pharisees would like our preacher? I wished to hear Mrs. Murray speak upon the subject; but we passed on, wrapped in contemplation. At length I broke silence: Well, my dear, what are your sentiments? "Nay, my dear, what is your opinion?" I never heard truth, unadulterated truth, before; so sure as there is a God in heaven, if the scriptures be the word of God, the testimony, this day delivered, is the truth of God. It is the first consistent sermon I have ever heard. I