James Hogg was a Presbyterian minister at Carnock in
Scotland
JAMES
HOGG. He was minister at Carnock, and died about the end of the 17th
century. He thus speaks of himself: –
“The
Lord began his saving work on my soul, with a deep conviction of my singular
and unparallelled sinfulness and guilt. Apprehensions of my being chargeable
with the guilt of Adam’s first sin, and of the corruption of my nature, so
impressed my mind with a sense of my loathsomeness and danger, as filled me
with strong fears, lest the Lord should, even in time, make me a terror to
myself, and all about me, a monument of his dreadful indignation; as an awful
warning to future generations against their abusing such advantages of
education, and other valuable mercies, as I had enjoyed. These convictions
preserved me, even when very young, from the common irregularities of
children; and made me diligent in using the Lord’s instituted means of
grace, public, private, and secret, which were sometimes attended with no
small inward sweetness and enlargement. Some of my near relations told me,
that they thought they observed evidences of the real grace of God about me,
in my most tender years. But, regardless of their accounts, I looked upon
myself as an heir of hell, a child of wrath, an alien from the
commonwealth
of
Israel, a stranger from the commonwealth of promise, having no hope, and without
Christ, and without God in the world, Eph. ii. 12. This fearful pressure of my
heart was produced, by conviction of such sins as could not be much observed
by others.
“I
had read nothing on conversion, and had little inclination to converse with
any about my case. Such as did converse with me also, either took my distress
to be no more than a natural melancholy, or thought too favourably of me.
None, except Mr Thomas Hogg, whom I met with in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh,
among other prisoners persecuted for righteousness sake, searched me in
answerableness to my real condition. I afterwards, when in great distress of
mind, endeavoured to have access to converse with him, when he was prisoner in
the Bass, but was refused it. Nevertheless, I got a letter conveyed to him, to
which he answered a most profound, clear, and encouraging answer. Though my
former heaviness was removed, I had no settled persuasion of my saving
interest in Christ: but was tossed hither or thither, as my frames and
exercise appeared favourable, or not. I got into familiar acquaintance with
some godly persons, with whom I used a great deal of freedom; and, by much
prayer and converse with them, received much light and pleasant instruction,
which I greedily drank in. As we were all of one mind, I had little
inclination to converse about the debates of the times, (between 1660 and
1688); but my chief concern was about that which related to the eternal
salvation, and the particular case of my soul.
“After
I had, for a considerable time, lived in great suspense, sometimes better, and
sometimes worse, when I was not so much as thinking on my case, light suddenly
broke into my heart. I immediately retired, sweetly meditating on that text,
‘Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eye to behold
the sun,’ Eccl. xi. 7. O how sweet the light was to me, who had been long
shut up in a dark dungeon! For some time, I could do nothing, but cry, O for
light, for light, for more light! ‘O send out thy light and thy truth, that
they may lead me, and bring me to thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles!’
Psal. xliii. 3. After I had thus cried, not without some experience of a
gracious answer, and expectation of more, I quickly found my soul brought out
of prison, and breathing in a free and heavenly air; altogether astonished at
the amazing mercy and grace of God in Christ, and the surprising
manifestations of it, which I enjoyed. But alas! I was soon tempted to think
it all delusive, because I had not, immediately before, been under any
spiritual exercise about my case; and to think none of my preceding concern
had proceeded from the spirit of adoption, and so this could not be an answer
to former prayers. In answer to these suggestions (1), I readily granted, that
I, and all my best works, instead of meriting any regard from God, did more
than deserve his most dreadful judgements, Is. lxiv. 6. (2) I saw the
unsearchable riches of his grace, shining more clearly in the freedom of this
mercy. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with this money; neither hast thou
filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with
thy sins; thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that
blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, &c. Is. xliii. 24,25.
(3) I saw that the Lord thus prevented me from having any temptation to
sacrifice to my own net. Had this singular manifestation immediately followed
any fervent prayer of mine, my proud heart, and Satan, would have taken
advantage against me, which now they had not. And the Lord of the mercy was
the more endeared to my soul, as I saw him only in it; and that the whole
praise belonged only, and wholly to him. And nothing has been more heavy to my
soul, than my miscarriages under soul-exercise, and my hard thoughts of the
Lord, and risings of heart against him, and my desponding fears that he would
answer my prayers by terrible things in righteousness, Psal. lxv. 5. Never any
in the world had less shadow of ground, to be taken up with any exercise of
their mind, than I; and yet I had need to be weaned from this form of
idolatry.
“Having
opportunity of a providential retirement, I, for almost three or four days on
end, had my soul filled with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God,
in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iv. 6. O the inexpressible and ravishing
beauty which I was made to behold in his person, offices, yolk, and cross; and
in every thing by which he made himself known! Formerly, I had little more
than an opinion, or rational deductions, concerning these things; but now, my
soul was filled with the most glorious and delicious irradiations from the
word, by the spirit and wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Christ.
Having formerly much hurt my soul, by a legal and selfish manner of personal
covenanting with God, at this time I did not incline to such dealing with him.
But (1) I was not only firmly persuaded of Jesus Christ’s infinite ability
and willingness to save to the uttermost, Heb. vii. 25; but I found the
beginnings of salvation already wrought in me, in a deliverance from the power
of sin and Satan, and giving me such views of the
Pearl
of great price, that I was in some measure ready to part with all things for
him. (2) By this manifestation, my soul was exceedingly engaged to him, and to
his way; earnestly desirous to know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings. (3) As I had destroyed myself, my desire
was to be entirely under his hand, that he might recover me, and finish the
work which he had begun in me, with shoutings of grace, grace unto it, Zech.
iv. 6. (4) I humbly requested, that he would not let me lie as an useless
weight upon the face of the earth, but graciously fit me for any service,
however mean.
“Thus
my transporting view of his stupendous condescension, and love in wooing, and
offering, and giving himself, and all his fulness, to such a wretch as I am,
did so delightfully overwhelm my soul, that I shall not say I gave myself
wholly to him; but rather that he, by his Almighty power, and efficacious
persuasion, did invincibly seize upon, and render me his most willing captive.
“Before
this time I had much, but perversely, delighted in reading the Life and
Letters of Mr Joseph Alleine; his applauded conduct being so like my own legal
exercise. But I now saw, that his exorbitant complaints and labours, and his
disabling of his body for the Lord’s service by them, or by his carelessness
about it, flowed from his legal Baxterian principals. I was enabled more
clearly to discern a legal spirit, doctrine or book. And I earnestly beseech
my friends to avoid, to the uttermost, whatever is of a legal strain. These
subtle and soul-ruining distempers, will most insensibly insinuate themselves,
and poison both heart and practice, even under the choicest means for
battering them down; and much more by legal sermons, or books, which shelter
and feed them. Such doctrines are not the channel of kindly convictions, or
sanctifying comforts. My soul, being now revived, began to learn a more
excellent way.
“I
perceived, (1) That all that which God hath testified concerning himself, is
really to be found in him, and that not by parts, but by perfect unity; his
holiness being nothing but himself, an holy God, &c. Deut. vi. 4. (2)
Hence, it must be the want of the knowledge and faith of what God is in
himself, that maketh us so ready to stagger concerning his truths,
providences, or our duty, or any other spiritual thing, especially when we are
sore tempted. If we beheld the beauty of the Lord, we would never fear, but
only believe, Mark v. 36, Psal. xxvii. 4-13, Job xl. 2,4,5, and xlii, 2-6. (3)
In perfect suitableness to their circumstances in this world, the Lord so
reveals himself to all his people, as they see his glory in his word and
providence, and know the truth in Jesus Christ, according to the measure of
the light bestowed upon them, Luke x. 21. (4) As all divine truths centre in
God himself, it is manifest, that according to the measure of saving light,
the knowledge of him, and of his truths and ways, go together, John xvii. 3.
The Lord is one, and his name, the manifestation of himself is one, Zech. xiv.
9. And, however, we may answer the quibbles of our spiritual enemies, by our
reasonings, yet, till the Lord gives eyes to see, there will be no real
deliverance; no change, making us children of the light, and of the day, not
of the night, nor of darkness, 1 Cor. ii. 14, 1 Thess. v. 5. (5) Spiritual
light, by manifesting God in Christ, who is all in all, fills the soul with
correspondent joy, 1 John i. 1,4,5, John xvi. 22, Rom. xiv. 17, with Col. ii.
9,10. And as the discoveries of his being God, and of his being our God and
our all in the promise, are inseparably connected in all the declarations,
offers, and invitations of the gospel, there can be no real believing of
God’s testimony concerning himself, without some assurance included in it,
though a poor tossed believer do not discern it.
After
he was ordained to the ministry, he speaks thus of himself:–
“My
own sad experience of all mixtures of the covenants of work and grace, in
legal doctrines and tempers, led me to the uttermost earnestness in
discovering those deceits; and in shewing, that the law hath not the promises,
nor can be the ministration of the Spirit, or the means of faithfulness to God
in heart or life. The Lord even led me to discern the legal strain of some
books, which were in great repute, and which I had highly esteemed, before the
Lord had more clearly shown me his new covenant, Psal. xxv. 14, Luke xvi. 15.
Though I was, in every respect, the most weak, sinful, and unworthy, that ever
the Lord had thrust forth to labour in his vineyard, and before him, was
fearfully guilty of sloth and carelessness, as to a previous digesting, in my
own spiritual exercise, the matters which I preached to others, he made my
practical discourses useful to the godly in my own congregation, and in other
places which I sometimes sojourned. But they wrought in others a secret
disgust; and the more plain they were, my hearers, who contented themselves
with a form of godliness, held them to be the more dark and unintelligible. My
sincere endeavours to discover the lie that was in their right hand,
exceedingly galled them.
“After
he had laboured in the congregation of Carnock between thirty and forty years,
and his ministrations had remarkably blessed to exercised souls, he died at
Edinburgh, amidst the prayers and
supplications of his Christian friends.”
Reference
“HISTORICAL
COLLECTIONS OF ACCOUNTS OF REVIVAL,” compiled
by the Rev. John Gillies, D.D., 1754. Published by The Banner of Truth Trust,
1981.
pp 190-192.
