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 MATTHEW HENRYS EXPOSITION of the 
 
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 By the Rev. EDWARD BICKERSTETH, 
 
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AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. HAMILTON, D. D. 
 
 MINISTER OF STRATHBLANE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR HAMILTON, ADAMS AND CO. 
 
 33 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCXXX. 
 
PRINTED BY ANDREW YOUNG. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the present publication, I had at first no other in- 
 tention than, in compliance with the wish of some 
 friends, to print in a separate form, and with a few 
 additions, the chapter on Distress arising from the 
 want of Assurance of Salvation, in " The Mourner in 
 Zion Comforted." But since that volume appeared, 
 Mr Erskine and his followers have propagated so 
 many erroneous opinions on the Assurance of Salva- 
 tion, as well as on the other topics intimately connect- 
 ed with that subject ; that, in order to guard this im- 
 portant doctrine from mistake and misapprehension, I 
 have been insensibly led to enlarge the following Es- 
 say far beyond my original design. 
 
 On the points discussed in the ensuing pages, the 
 reader will find some valuable observations in the 
 fourth Sermon, entitled Rational Evidences for Heav- 
 en, in the second volume of Boston's Sermons on 
 Communion Occasions ; and in a small Treatise on 
 Faith in the fourth volume of President Edwards' 
 
 Works. They are short, but precious articles ; and 
 A2 
 
IV 
 
 their re-publication in the form of Tracts would be a 
 great service to the religious public. 
 
 Since my Remarks on Universal Redemption left 
 the press, the Church has been furnished with several 
 excellent antidotes to the pernicious tenets circulated 
 by Mr Erskine and his disciples. The following pub- 
 lications are well worthy a careful perusal. A Sermon 
 on Universal Pardon, by the Rev. David Davidson, 
 of Broughty Ferry. Notes added to the Second 
 edition of a Sermon on the Way of Salvation, by the 
 Rev. David Russel, Dundee. Examination and Re- 
 futation of the Unscriptural Principles and Senti- 
 ments advocated by Mr Erskine; printed by J. & 
 D. Collie, Edinburgh. An Essay on Justification by 
 Faith, by Mr Barclay, Irvine. A Treatise on the 
 Forgiveness of Sins, by the Rev. John Smyth, Glas- 
 gow. The Gareloch Heresy tried, by the Rev. Dr 
 Burns, Paisley. A Reply to the Lay Member of the 
 Church of Scotland, by the same. And the Doctrine 
 of Universal Pardon considered and refuted in a series 
 of Sermons by the Rev. Dr A. Thomson, Edinburgh. 
 
 Could argument decide the questions at issue ; after 
 the clear and able publications of Thomson, Burns, 
 and Smyth, the debate would soon terminate. But, 
 alas ! there are some minds which no argument can 
 reach, nor all the power of demonstration move. 
 Some men are incapable of comprehending the mean- 
 ing of the plainest statements, and others have the 
 
baseness willfully to pervert what they cannot mis- 
 take. 
 
 The principal object most anxiously and earnestly 
 inculcated, in the fifth chapter of my Remarks upon 
 Universal Redemption, is, that a speculative belief of 
 all the truths of revelation will not save us ; and that 
 we cannot be saved without receiving Christ for our 
 own Saviour, and trusting in him for our own salva- 
 tion. It was for this purpose that the chapter was 
 opened with the following paragraphs. " If an Israel- 
 ite, who understood the import of the Divine ordin- 
 ance, had been asked how he expected to be cured of the 
 bite of the fiery flying serpents ; he w r ould not have said 
 by believing that the brazen serpent was the antidote 
 to their sting, or that it had annihilated their poison, 
 and had already secured the congregation against 
 all danger from their attacks. He would have said 
 that he expected a cure by looking at the serpent of 
 brass. It was distinctly stated in the promise, c It 
 shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when 
 he looketh upon it, the serpent of brass, shall live.' 
 And it is as plainly recorded in the narrative, that ' if 
 a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the ser- 
 pent of brass, he lived.' 
 
 " From the beginning to the end of the sacred vol- 
 ume, Christ and his work are held up as the only ob- 
 jects of saving faith. Christ and his righteousness are 
 
 the sum and centre of the whole expanse of revelation. 
 A3 
 
He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the 
 ending. He is all, and in all. And saving faith is re- 
 presented as such a belief of the truth concerning him as 
 leads the soul to rest, trust and depend on him and his 
 righteousness, for all its salvation" 
 
 This fact is uniformly kept in view throughout the 
 volume ; and the chapter in question is studiously di- 
 rected to its confirmation. It is then stated, " Though 
 there can be no saving faith without the belief of this 
 testimony," the scriptural record concerning Christ: 
 u the belief of this, of any truth, of the whole truths 
 of revelation is perfectly useless, unless it leads the 
 soul to receive and rest on the Lord Jesus Christ alone 
 for our salvation. The stung Israelite was not cured 
 by simply believing the truth of the proclamation con- 
 cerning the brazen serpent ; but by actually looking at 
 it. And we are not saved by barely believing the re- 
 port concerning Christ ; but by believing it SO AS 
 TO RECEIVE HIM FOR OUR OWN SAVI- 
 OUR, AND TRUST IN HIM FOR OUR OWN 
 SALVATION." " Though faith cometh by hearing, 
 and hearing by the word of God ; we must never for 
 a moment forget the oft-repeated truth, that no faith is 
 genuine which terminates in the mere belief of doctrines. 
 The only faith which can either sanctify or save, is 
 that which leads the soul to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and make him all its salvation and all its desire" " I 
 must affirm that we may assent to the truth of every 
 
vn 
 
 syllable in the creed, make ourselves masters of the 
 whole doctrines of revelation, and cram our heads with 
 the learning of libraries ; and yet be as destitute of 
 real religion, as before we began the laborious task." 
 " Whenever faith is mentioned in Scripture, whether 
 in direct terms or figurative representations ; it is 
 UNIFORMLY spoken of in such language as to 
 shew, its ultimate object is not the doctrinal proposi- 
 tions concerning Christ, but Christ himself; and that 
 it never can be sound and genuine till it lead the heart to 
 trust in him entirely, and rest on him alone" 
 
 Whether the doctrine in the above language be 
 true or false ; the language itself is certainly free from 
 ambiguity, and no man of common understanding can 
 be at a loss to discover the doctrine which it asserts. 
 But how are these statements regarded by modern 
 Bereans ? One of their number, calling himself a Lay 
 Member of the Church of Scotland, in a Letter to Dr 
 Burns and myself, quotes the following fragment of a 
 paragraph from the midst of an argument against the 
 notion that Christ died for all men alike ; and which 
 after separating it from the context and distorting it by 
 altering the characters in which it was printed; presents 
 it to his reader as evidence that I plead for the idea that 
 all that is necessary for salvation, is the belief that Jesus 
 is omnipotent and his atonement all-sufficient. •* The 
 extent of the Redeemer's death is a secret thing which 
 belongs unto the Lord. It is enough for us to 
 
Vlll 
 
 know that his power is Almighty, and his atonement 
 possessed of infinite value ; that his heart is made of 
 tenderness, his bowels melt with love." Here his 
 transcript stops. The rest of the paragraph, which is 
 as follows, is suppressed. " Omnipotence is requisite 
 for the formation of a worm ; and more is not required 
 for the formation of a seraph. Less than the perfect 
 righteousness of Immanuei could not have satisfied the 
 demands of law and justice, and secured the salvation 
 of a single soul : but more than this, if they had need- 
 ed redemption, could not have been necessary for the 
 salvation of the whole universe." 
 
 The reader may perhaps imagine that this paragraph 
 lies far remote from the chapter which treats of Faith. 
 This however is an apology which the Lay Member 
 cannot plead. The paragraph which he quotes is in 
 the very heart of the chapter on Faith. " Well then : 
 but he has not read the chapter through ; and has 
 formed his opinion before he had discovered your real 
 sentiments." But if he did not read the chapter 
 through, he ought to have read it before he condemned 
 it. Some who were not very scrupulous about justice 
 when they wished to carry a point, admitted the pro- 
 priety of judging no man, before they heard him, and 
 knew what he did. But the Lay Member cannot 
 have the benefit even of the awkward plea of condemn- 
 ing what he had not read. For in the fourth page of 
 his Letter, he represents me as saying that " the be- 
 
iX 
 
 lief of the record which God has given of his Son, is 
 not faith ; that a man may believe every word of it, 
 and not have faith ; and that faith is a receiving and a 
 resting on Christ alone for salvation." Though this, 
 as the reader may observe by turning to the sixth 
 page of this preface, is neither my language nor mean- 
 ing ; there is no part of the book where he can find a 
 pretext for ascribing such words to me, except in the 
 very chapter from which he makes his quotation. 
 
 There can be no doubt therefore that he read the 
 chapter : but either from incapacity to comprehend 
 the meaning of the plainest terms ; or from a want of 
 moral honesty to avow his convictions, he deliberately 
 charges me with affirming the reverse of what he must 
 have known that I maintain. 
 
 The doctrine for which he contends is, that saving 
 faith consists in believing that we are the objects of 
 God's love and shall be saved. It is for this purpose 
 that he quotes, for censure, the paragraph already 
 copied, p. seventh. And yet he reprobates me p. 
 fourth, for denying that simple assent is saving faith. 
 
 He calls himself a member of the Church of Scot- 
 land ; and yet he rejects, p. fourth, the definition given 
 by that Church of faith, as a " receiving and resting 
 on Christ alone for salvation." 
 
 He professes great zeal for the gospel : and yet 
 though the Bible says He that believeth not shall be 
 damned; he quotes as an object of his readers' avoid- 
 
ance and aversion, " BEFORE that singular individ- 
 ual could expect SALVATION he would FIRST be 
 obliged to BELIEVE THE GOSPEL." 
 
 The zealous diffusion and the eager adoption of 
 such tenets as are inculcated by his Tract and the 
 publications issued from the same shop, ought to alarm 
 the friends of religion, and excite their pity for the 
 numbers who can be so easily corrupted from the 
 simplicity that is in Christ. Men of piety should ex- 
 ert themselves strenuously in the cause of God. Life 
 is short. Our opportunities for usefulness will soon 
 terminate for ever. But, till the day of trial come, we 
 never can conceive the amount of ignorance and cre- 
 dulity that exists, and how many are at all times pre- 
 pared to swallow any delusion that may be proposed. 
 
 W. H. 
 
 Strathblane Manse, 
 March 30, 1830. 
 
 i 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 4 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ASSURANCE OF "SALVATION IS NEITHER ESSEN- 
 TIAL TO THE NATURE OF FAITH NOR INSEPARABLE 
 FROM A STATE OF GRACE, .... 5 
 
 If it were essential to the nature of faith, the essence of faith 
 would consist in the belief our own salvation; the influence 
 of the Holy Spirit to maintain our peace and joy would be 
 superseded ; the hope and comfort of believers could never 
 be destroyed nor disturbed by temptation ; we should be 
 as often required to believe in our own salvation as to 
 believe in Christ ; faith would be incapable of degrees ; 
 believers would not be exhorted to seek assurance ; assur- 
 ance would not be promised as a blessing distinct from 
 faith; no provision would be made for the support of 
 desponding and forsaken believers ; assurance would be 
 regarded as a matter of the greatest moment ; and those 
 who labour under doubts and fears must be in a state of 
 condemnation. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE ATTAINABLENESS OF ASSURANCE, . . 33 
 
 This is proved from the nature of faith ; the change which 
 believers undergo at regeneration ; the love which Christ 
 entertains for his people ; the testimony which the Holy 
 Ghost bears to their adoption; assurance has been attained; 
 the Scriptures enjoin it; it is promised. 
 
Xll 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE MEANS BY WHICH ASSURANCE IS OBTAINED, 48 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 ASSURANCE IS NOT OBTAINED BY ASSUMING AN INTEREST 
 
 IN CHRIST, . . 50 
 
 All are neither interested in Christ ; nor justified, nor par- 
 doned. None are justified or pardoned without faith and 
 repentance. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 ASSURANCE DOES NOT CONSIST IN A CONSCIOUSNESS THAT 
 
 WE BELIEVE THE GENERAL STATEMENTS OF THE GOSPEL, 74 
 
 Such a belief differs from saving faith in its object, nature, 
 origin, and effects. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 ON THE MEANS BY WHICH ASSURANCE IS OBTAINED, . 96 
 
 It is obtained by a renunciation of our own righteousness ; 
 reliance on the righteousness of Christ ; love to Christ ; 
 obedience to his will ; conformity to his image ; longings 
 for his presence; delight in spiritual enjoyments. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE DUTY OF LABOURING TO POSSESS ASSURANCE, 132 
 
 It is enjoined by God; and possessed of invaluable ad- 
 vantages. 
 
ON THE 
 
 ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Respecting the assurance of salvation the Christian 
 world has been long widely divided. Some have as- 
 serted that it is impossible to attain it, and that it is 
 highly presumptuous either to ask or expect it : whilst 
 others have affirmed that it is not only attainable but 
 absolutely essential to the very nature of faith, and 
 perfectly inseparable from a state of grace. 
 
 In matters of faith, we are not at liberty to call any 
 man master. We have the Scriptures in our own 
 hands : and by the authority of Him who gave them, 
 we are commanded to search them, and to try by the 
 law and the testimony every principle which is recom- 
 mended to our belief, and every practice which is 
 pressed upon our observance. On examining these 
 conflicting opinions by the unerring standard of reve- 
 lation, we shall find that neither the one nor the other 
 is strictly correct. We shall find that, though the as- 
 surance of salvation is neither essential to the nature 
 
 of faith, nor inseparable from a state of grace, it is a 
 A 
 
6 
 
 blessing 1 which has been attained, which is still attain- 
 able, and which it is the duty of every believer to la- 
 bour to secure. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION IS NEITHER ESSENTIAL TO THE NA- 
 TURE OF FAITH, NOR INSEPARABLE FROM A STATE OF GRACE. 
 
 It must be observed that there is a wide difference 
 betwixt the assurance of faith, and the assurance of 
 hope or of salvation. The assurance of faith is the 
 belief, the persuasion, or conviction of the truth and 
 certainty of what God has revealed in his word. This 
 is an assurance which is absolutely essential to the na- 
 ture of faith, and without which we cannot justly be 
 denominated believers at all. If we doubt or discredit 
 what the Scriptures contain we are unbelievers. If 
 from the proposition, " God so loved the world that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
 eth in him should not perish but have everlasting life ;" 
 we take away the certainty of what it states, or in 
 other words, the assurance of the facts which it affirms: 
 what is the consequence ? We must either deny these 
 precious truths entirely, or else be left in a state of 
 awful uncertainty whether God has loved the world, 
 whether he has given his only begotten Son for our 
 
salvation, and whether faith possesses any connection 
 with eternal life. And in the same manner, if we are 
 not firmly convinced of the truth and certainty of every 
 promise and declaration of the Bible, we cannot be said 
 to believe them. We in reality are unbelievers ; and 
 expose ourselves to all the dreadful consequences of 
 rejecting the testimony of the God of truth. 
 
 We may therefore safely maintain that the assur- 
 ance of faith, or a clear and full conviction of the re- 
 ality of the truth believed, is absolutely essential to 
 the nature of faith. In fact, this assurance and faith 
 are one and the same. They are only two names for 
 the same thing. And none who understands the 
 meaning of the language, will ever hesitate for a mo- 
 ment to admit that this assurance is absolutely neces- 
 sary to the existence of religion in the heart. 
 
 But the assurance of hope, or of salvation, is quite 
 another matter. This does not consist in the belief of 
 what the Scriptures reveal, but in the knowledge which 
 a Christian possesses of his own interest in the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel and of his own right to eternal life. 
 It is of this assurance that we are now to treat : it is 
 of this asaurance alone that the term is employed in 
 the following pages : it is of this that we aver, that it 
 is neither essential to the nature of faith, nor insepar- 
 able from a state of grace. The essence of a thing is 
 only another name for its nature : and an essential 
 
 property is a quality necessary to the being of the ob- 
 A2 
 
8 
 
 ject to which it belongs ; and which cannot be altered 
 or destroyed, without changing the nature or destroy- 
 ing the existence of the subject in which it resides. 
 Could the solidity of a stone be annihilated, the stone 
 itself would lose its nature ; and the existence of fire 
 cannot survive the extinction of heat. If the assur- 
 ance of salvation is essential to faith, either saving 
 faith and assurance must be identically the same, or 
 so thoroughly incorporated with each other as to be 
 absolutely inseparable. 
 
 In such a case, the essence of saving faith would 
 consist in the belief of our own safety ; the necessity 
 of the Spirit's influence to maintain our peace and 
 joy would be superseded ; the hope and comfort of be- 
 lievers could never be destroyed nor disturbed by 
 temptation; the unregenerate would be as often re- 
 quired in the first act of faith to believe in their own 
 salvation as to believe in Christ ; faith would be inca- 
 pable of degrees ; those who believe in Christ would 
 never be exhorted to seek assurance ; it never would 
 be promised as something distinct from faith, and as a 
 blessing superadded to the possession of that grace ; 
 no provision would be made for the support and en- 
 couragement of doubting and disconsolate believers, 
 the highest encomiums would be bestowed upon assur- 
 ance, the dejected and desponding would be describ- 
 ed as in a graceless state, and all would be represent- 
 
ed as safe, who are secure and confident respecting 
 their everlasting welfare. 
 
 But are these things so ? Are we warranted to as- 
 sert that they are consistent with either the letter or 
 the spirit of the sacred records ? 
 
 1. If the assurance of salvation is essential to faith, 
 and inseparable from a state of grace; then the essence 
 of faith must consist in the belief of our own salvation. 
 
 If assurance is essential to faith, and the two are 
 indissolubly conjoined: though we may speak of them 
 and reason about them, as if they were different, they 
 must in reality be one and the same thing ; and faith 
 can no more be possessed without assurance, than 
 scriptural assurance can be enjoyed without faith. To 
 admit that they are distinct and separable, is to grant 
 us the subject in debate. This is to renounce the idea 
 of their necessary connection ; to abandon the notion 
 that assurance is essential to faith ; and allow that the 
 two may be divided, and the one attained without the 
 other. But if in their own nature they are insepar- 
 able, and the one essential to the other : faith and as- 
 surance must be identical, and the essence of saving 
 faith must consist in the belief of our own salvation. 
 
 Now, so far is this from being the case, that the 
 Scriptures represent the essence of faith to consist, not 
 in a belief of our own justification, acceptance with 
 
 God, nor salvation ; but in a belief of the testimony 
 A3 
 
10 
 
 of God, of the record which he has given concerning 
 his Son. They describe faith by coming unto Christ, 
 by fleeing for refuge to lay hold on the hope set be- 
 fore us, receiving Christ, believing on him, and trust- 
 ing in him. Saving faith may therefore be said to 
 be, not a mere belief of the truth in general, but such 
 a belief as leads the soul to apply to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, for spiritual life and salvation, and to rely on 
 him for all the purposes for which he is offered to us 
 in the Gospel. 
 
 Now, though from this act of the soul assurance of 
 salvation may, and ought to result ; it is at the same 
 time evident that, however closely related, they are 
 neither radically the same, nor inseparably united. By 
 faith we pass from death unto life : by assurance we 
 know that we have become the subjects of this blessed 
 change. By faith we believe to the saving of the 
 soul: by assurance we know that we have believed 
 through grace. By faith we embrace the Saviour, and 
 obtain an interest in all the blessings of his salvation : 
 by assurance we know that Christ and all his fulness 
 are become our own. 
 
 Now, though frequently conjoined, it is obvious that 
 in themselves they are totally distinct, and that in the 
 experience of Christians they often may be separated. 
 Every living man has the possibility of enjoying health: 
 but health and life are not inseparable. Every man 
 who is possessed of reason, is capable of learning : but 
 
11 
 
 every rational man is far from being a man of litera- 
 ture and science. Some may never have enjoyed an 
 opportunity for cultivating their minds ; and others, 
 from the bustle of business or the decay of memory, 
 may have lost much of the learning which they had 
 once acquired. And in the same manner, though faith 
 and assurance are closely allied, they are neither ne- 
 cessarily nor indissolubly connected. Faith may some- 
 times rise to a calm and settled assurance, and exult 
 with a joy unspeakable and full of glory; and at other 
 times be obliged to contend with weakness and imper- 
 fection, with doubts and fears. In some cases the 
 Christian may know in whom he has believed : and in 
 others be able only to say, Who knows but the Lord 
 may be gracious ? We may take a medicine fitted to 
 remove our malady, under a full persuasion of its effi- 
 cacy, and yet not be conscious for a time of a begun 
 recovery. The well-known generosity of a man of 
 philanthropy, who never was heard to have rejected a 
 single application, may encourage us in our difficulties 
 to solicit his aid ; but till we actually receive his as- 
 sistance, we may have many an anxious thought about 
 the success of our petition. And a sinner may apply 
 to the Lord Jesus Christ, completely convinced of his 
 ability and willingness to save them to the uttermost 
 that come to God by him ; and yet be long doubtful 
 whether he himself shall be made a partaker of salva- 
 tion with eternal glory. Some may never arrive at 
 
12 
 
 this blessed hope ; and others, who have enjoyed it for 
 a season, may afterwards lose it. Many, who at one 
 time imagined that their mountain stood strong, and 
 that they never should be moved, have soon been per- 
 plexed and troubled. 
 
 In Scripture accordingly we find the assurance of 
 salvation represented not as the essence, but as one of 
 the fruits and effects of faith. For unless this is the 
 case, why are we told that the tree is known by its 
 fruits ? why are we commanded to shew our faith by 
 our works? why are we informed, that "being just- 
 ified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; by whom also we have access into this 
 grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the 
 glory of God ?" and why are those who have already 
 believed through grace, required to make their calling 
 and election sure ? If assurance of salvation were es- 
 sential to the nature of faith, and inseparable from a 
 state of grace ; then every believer would be en- 
 dowed with this inestimable blessing, and it would 
 be as superfluous and absurd to exhort the people of 
 God to seek it, as to enjoin the innocent to sue for 
 pardon, or the seeing to pray for eye-sight. 
 
 To affirm therefore that the assurance of salvation 
 is essential to the nature of faith, confounds the effect 
 with the cause, the fruits and consequences with the 
 nature and essence of faith. 
 
13 
 
 2. To assert that the assurance of salvation is es- 
 sential to the nature of faith, supersedes the necessity 
 of the influences of the Holy Spirit to maintain our 
 peace and joy. 
 
 In such a case, though his agency might be requis- 
 ite to produce and preserve our faith, there could be 
 no occasion for a separate exercise of his love and 
 power to impart or continue assurance. The pre- 
 sence of the one would necessarily ensure the exist- 
 ence of the other. Faith could no more be severed 
 from assurance, than the subject from its attributes, or 
 the object from its essence. 
 
 The sacred Scriptures however intimate that, 
 though faith, or real religion, tends to inspire peace, 
 hope, and joy; still assurance does not flow from a 
 work of grace by any natural and irresistible necessi- 
 ty, as heat from the fire, or light from the body of 
 the sun. It is the gift of the Holy Ghost; who is not 
 only the source of spiritual life and vigour, but also 
 the author of peace and comfort ; and who communi- 
 cates or withholds them in any measure or proportion 
 that he knows to be most for his own glory, and our 
 best and eternal interests. He is the Spirit of adoption. 
 It is he who makes known to us the things that are 
 freely given us of God : who bears witness with our 
 spirits that we are his children; who enables us to 
 cry, Abba Father ; and who blesses us with the ear- 
 nest of our inheritance, and the first fruits of glory. 
 
14. 
 
 When our ways please the Lord, he makes our ene- 
 mies be at peace with us. He makes his paths to- 
 wards us mercy and truth ; and fills us with a peace 
 that passes all understanding, and a joy that is un- 
 speakable, and full of glory. But if we rebel and vex 
 the Holy Spirit, he will turn to be our enemy, and 
 fight against us. He will withdraw the reviving, 
 strengthening, and cheering influences of his grace: 
 and, as all the ingenuity of man is utterly unable to 
 produce light to supply the place of the sun; so, when 
 he withholds the elevating and comforting communi- 
 cations of his love, all the contrivances of the Christ- 
 ian are totally inadequate for the removal of the 
 trouble which he feels, and the restoration of the joys 
 which he has forfeited. 
 
 This is a case of frequent occurrence. For, though 
 by the provisions of the everlasting covenant, and the 
 power and grace of the Saviour, all the children of 
 God are effectually secured against apostacy and final 
 perdition ; yet, to manifest their own weakness, and 
 teach them the necessity of habitual and unremitting 
 dependence upon his care and protection, they are of- 
 ten left to bitter and long backslidings. Such how- 
 ever is the rooted aversion which he entertains to all 
 sin, that he will not allow it to pass with impunity 
 even in his own people. If they forsake his law and 
 walk not in his judgments ; if they break his statutes 
 and keep not his commandments ; to awaken them 
 
15 
 
 to contrition, to recall them from their wanderings, 
 and compel them to return and seek their rest and 
 happiness in himself, he gives his judgments a com- 
 mission to pursue them, lays bands on their loins, 
 causes men ride over their heads, visits their trangres- 
 sions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes, 
 and makes their own wickedness correct them, 
 and their backslidings reprove them. Under these 
 painful visitations however it is sometimes difficult, 
 if not impossible, to distinguish betwixt the correc- 
 tions of a friend, and the rebukes of an adversary; be- 
 twixt the salutary chastisements of a parent, and the 
 vindictive inflictions of a judge. In these circumstan- 
 ces, though still interested in all the riches of redeem- 
 ing mercy ; the believer, like a child under the frown 
 of his father, is filled with alarm, and terrified lest he 
 shall be cast out from the Divine presence, and given 
 over to blindness of mind and hardness of heart 
 
 3. If the assurance of salvation be essential to the 
 nature of faith, and inseparable from a state of grace, 
 the hope and comfort of believers can never be de- 
 stroyed nor disturbed by temptation. 
 
 The gifts and the callings of God are without re- 
 pentance. He rests in his love ; and whenever he be- 
 gins a good work, he will perform it unto the day of 
 Christ. Faith is one of his irrevocable communica- 
 tions. Wherever it is once implanted; whatever 
 
16 
 
 checks and restraints it may suffer, it will sur- 
 vive all opposition and surmount every difficulty and 
 danger. If therefore assurance were essential to the 
 nature of faith, however furiously it might be attack- 
 ed, and with whatever ingenuity and perseverance it 
 might be assailed, our peace, hope, and confidence 
 could no more be forfeited and lost than our faith. 
 The whole would remain as firm and immoveable as 
 the Rock of Ages. 
 
 It is notorious however that in violent and long con- 
 tinued temptation; many christians, who have retained 
 their faith and accordingly remained in a state of 
 grace, have been deprived of all hope and joy. They 
 could no more doubt the leading doctrines of the 
 gospel, than their own existence. They have believ- 
 ed and been sure that there is mercy with God, and 
 plenteous redemption; that Christ is able to save to 
 the uttermost, and that his blood cleanseth from all 
 sin: but they could derive no more comfort from these 
 precious truths, than if such language had been ad- 
 dressed to the inhabitants of another planet. They 
 durst not indulge a suspicion of the power or grace of 
 the adorable Redeemer : but neither could they enter- 
 tain a hope for themselves. They have rashly and pe- 
 remptorily concluded that they were cast out from the 
 Divine presence, and given up to blindness of mind 
 and hardness of heart. What comfort did Zion pos- 
 sess, when she said, " The Lord hath forsaken me, 
 
17 
 
 and ray Lord hath forgotten me ?" Where was the 
 assurance of Asaph, when he asked, " Hath God for- 
 gotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his 
 tender mercies ?" What consolation did Heman retain, 
 when he cried, " Lord, why castest thou off my soul ? 
 why hidest thou thy face from me? thy fierce wrath 
 goeth over me ; thy terrors have cut me off?" 
 
 The most holy man that lives is not beyond the 
 reach of Satan's assaults, nor secured against the most 
 foul and blasphemous suggestions. If the devil when 
 he said, " If thou be the Son of God ;" had the auda- 
 city to endeavour to insinuate a doubt into the mind 
 of our Lord concerning his Sonship; to what fears 
 and jealousies must we be exposed respecting our ad- 
 option ? Our blessed Redeemer was proof against his 
 utmost efforts : but we frequently fall before his tempt- 
 ations. While we hold fast our belief of the gospel 
 in general, we are induced to doubt our personal inter- 
 est in its provisions, and reject the bright hopes and 
 ineffable consolations which it contains. 
 
 Since therefore many, who at one time possessed peace 
 and joy in believing, have afterwards been filled with 
 alarm and terror : unless we are prepared to say that 
 there is mutability with God, and that his gifts are un- 
 certain and fluctuating, we must deny that assurance 
 is essential to faith. But with God we know that there 
 is no variableness, and that his gifts are beyond the 
 
 danger of recall. We may therefore justly conclude 
 B 
 
18 
 
 that assurance is not essential to faith ; and that our 
 peace may be lost without destroying our safety. The 
 inmates of the ark might be scared with dreams, gid- 
 dy with the agitation of the vessel, and terrified lest 
 they should founder in the wide waste of waters. But 
 though their happiness might be influenced by their 
 fears and apprehensions, these could not affect their 
 preservation. And though temptation may disturb or 
 break our peace, it cannot endanger our salvation. For 
 we are upheld not by our own strength or joy, but by 
 the mighty power of God : and he is able to make us 
 stand. 
 
 4. If assurance is essential to the nature of faith; 
 the unregenerate would have been as often required, in 
 the first act of faith, to believe in their own salvation 
 as to believe in Christ. 
 
 Since, in such a case, faith and assurance were so 
 closely allied, as to be either identically the same, or 
 equally essential to the existence of each other ; it 
 would have been a matter of indifference whether the 
 graceless had been exhorted, in the first instance, to 
 believe in Christ, or to believe that they were saved 
 men. At any rate the one form of address would 
 have been as frequently employed as the other: or 
 rather, since the supposed result must have been the 
 same, and salvation obtained with equal certainty on 
 either hypothesis, why was the process " divided into 
 
19 
 
 two steps," when one would have sufficed? What 
 prevented the ungodly from being called on to believe 
 that they were the heirs of everlasting life, and to re- 
 joice in their own safety and dignity ? 
 
 But where within the whole compass of the sacred 
 volume are such exhortations to be found ? 
 
 Israel, or the church of the living God, is command- 
 ed to rejoice in him that made him, and the children 
 of Zion to be joyful in their King. Strong consola- 
 tion is provided for them, who have fled for refuge to 
 lay hold upon the hope set before them. And these 
 are repeatedly enjoined to rejoice in the Lord, and to 
 rejoice alway. 
 
 But where are such exhortations addressed to the 
 impenitent and hardened, to the profane and the prof- 
 ligate, to those who are living without God and with- 
 out Christ in the world ? Is this the character of the 
 following admonitions ? " Repent and be converted, 
 that your sins may be blotted out." " Draw nigh to 
 God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your 
 hands, ye sinners ; and purify your hearts, ye double- 
 minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep : let your 
 laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to 
 heaviness." " Go to now, ye rich men, weep and 
 howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." 
 " Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of 
 your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil, 
 
 learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed. 
 B 2 
 
20 
 
 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: 
 Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white 
 as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall 
 be as wool." " Repent and believe the Gospel." 
 " Seek first the kingdom of God, and the righteous- 
 ness thereof." " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved." " This is the work of God, 
 that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." 
 
 With such exhortations the Scriptures abound. And 
 will any man say that these are equivalent to a com- 
 mand to believe that we are in a state of salvation, 
 and to rejoice in the Lord as our own God? Are re- 
 pentance, humiliation, affliction, and mourning for 
 our guilt and danger, the same as exultation in the 
 favour of God, and triumph in our interest in the 
 righteousness of our Redeemer ? 
 
 The careless and secure, instead of being required 
 to rejoice in the Lord, and confide in their own safety, 
 have a very different task assigned them. They are 
 commanded to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; to 
 receive the salvation of the Gospel : and then, when 
 they have made their calling and election sure, and 
 obtained good hope through grace ; they are enjoined 
 to go on their way rejoicing, and to comfort their 
 hearts with the prospect of everlasting felicity. But 
 till then so far from authorizing them to appropriate 
 the promises of God, the Scriptures declare that they 
 
21 
 
 are of the works of the law and under a curse, the 
 children of disobedience and wrath. 
 
 5. If assurance were essential to the nature of faith, 
 faith itself would be incapable of degrees. 
 
 Assurance is evidently unsusceptible of any modifi- 
 cation. We may have a darker or a clearer concep- 
 tion of a subject: and we may be more or less per- 
 suaded of the truth of a narrative : but in the nature 
 of things we cannot be more or less sure of its reality. 
 If we entertain any doubt at all of its truth, we are 
 not sure, but uncertain of its existence. If we have 
 any assurance whatever of our own salvation ; we are 
 convinced that Christ and all the blessings of the 
 Gospel are our own, that the Lord is our God, and 
 heaven our inheritance and home. More than this no 
 assurance can impart: and less than this cannot be 
 possessed where any assurance is enjoyed at all. 
 
 If therefore assurance were essential to the nature 
 of faith, and inseparable from a state of grace ; faith 
 would be utterly incapable of different degrees. All 
 believers would be alike. The tranquility, hope, and 
 confidence of the whole would be the same. Those 
 who have lived longest under the power of religion, 
 who have given the greatest diligence to keep close 
 to God, and made the greatest attainments in the spi- 
 ritual life ; could possess no more than a peace that 
 
 passes all understanding, and a joy unspeakable and 
 B3 
 
22 
 
 full of glory : but, according to the theory iu ques- 
 tion, the youngest and feeblest in all the family of the 
 faithful would possess no less. In such a case how- 
 could the Scriptures speak of the " weak in faith ?" of 
 the faith of some " growing exceedingly ?" of faith 
 as " a grain of mustard seed which is the least of all 
 seeds, but when it is grown, is the greatest among 
 herbs ?" In such a case, there could be no babes in 
 Christ; and no tender plants in the garden of God. 
 The trees would instantaneously start from the seed 
 to their utmost size; and the men would be born in 
 the complete maturity of their powers, and in the 
 possession of the full measure of their stature. In 
 such a case, their faith could not grow. It would be 
 as perfect at the beginning as at the end of their 
 course ; and as firm and strong on the day when they 
 enter the christian church, as at the hour when they 
 reach the heights of the celestial Zion. 
 
 6. If assurance were essential to the nature of faith, 
 and inseparable from a state of grace; then no ex- 
 exhortations would be given to believers to seek as- 
 surance, and to cultivate religious joy. 
 
 Every Christian, from the mere circumstance that 
 he is a believer, would be infallibly possessed of as- 
 surance, and peace and joy would necessarily flow from 
 its presence. It would be as idle to admonish him to 
 seek the attainment of these blessings, as to enjoin us 
 
23 
 
 to pray for the communication of life, or the saints 
 in glory to ask the way to the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 But clear and unquestionable as this fact is; we find 
 Paul thus addressing the very men whom he knew, 
 that as they had been partakers of his sufferings, so 
 should they also be of his consolation: " Examine 
 yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your 
 own selves; know ye not your own selves, how 
 * that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be repro- 
 bates? Though he was persuaded that the He- 
 brew converts were possessed of the things that 
 accompany salvation, and had displayed a work of 
 faith and a labour of love, which should not be for- 
 gotten of God ; yet he desires every one of them to 
 " shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope 
 unto the end." Peter, writing to those who had ob- 
 tained like precious faith with himself through the 
 righteousness of God our Saviour, says, " Give dili- 
 gence to make your calling and election sure," And 
 often do the sacred writers pray for the peace, hope, 
 and consolation of those, of whose faith they could 
 not entertain a doubt ; and exhort them to rejoice in 
 the Lord, and rejoice alway. 
 
 But if faith and assurance are inseparable, these 
 prayers and exhortations are utterly superfluous. The 
 presence of faith, without the labour or solicitude of 
 the believers, would as inevitably have secured that 
 assurance, peace and joy; as the presence of an opaque 
 
24. 
 
 substance will, in the effulgence of sunshine, ensure 
 the existence of its shadow. 
 
 7. If assurance were essential to the nature of faith ; 
 it would not be promised as something distinct from 
 faith, and as a blessing superadded to the enjoyment 
 of that grace. 
 
 Were the two either identical or inseparable, the 
 presence of the one would infallibly convey the pos- 
 session of the other ; and though they might be desig- 
 nated by different names, they would uniformly be 
 represented as contemporary, and communicated simul- 
 taneously. 
 
 But so far is this from being the case, that the two 
 are represented as not only distinct in nature, but as 
 actually divided in time. For unless this is the fact, 
 why does St. John declare, " These things have I 
 written unto you that believe on the name of the Son 
 of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life ?" 
 Why are we told that " the work of righteousness 
 shall be peace : and the effect of righteousness, quiet- 
 ness and assurance for ever ?" Why are we informed 
 that " then shall we know, if we follow on to know 
 the Lord ?" And why are the peace, and hope, and 
 joy, and the light of the Divine countenance, which 
 constitute the substance and essence of assurance ; in- 
 variably mentioned as blessings distinct from faith, 
 and conferred through the special loving-kindness of 
 
25 
 
 the Lord upon those who are already in a state of 
 grace? Psalm iv. 6, xxxi. 16, lxvii. 1. Isa. liv. 13, 
 lviii. 7—12. John xiv. 15—17. Rom. xv. 13. Phil. 
 iv. 7. 2 Thess. iii. 16. 
 
 8. If assurance were essential to the nature of 
 faith ; no provision would be made for the support and 
 encouragement of weak and timid, of desponding and 
 forsaken believers. 
 
 Such characters would be utterly unknown. All 
 men would either be in a state of high hope and over- 
 flowing joy, or in a state of utter insensibility, and of 
 hardened impenitence and unbelief. A doubting or 
 dejected, a feeble or sorrowful Christian could not be 
 found. All who believe would know their calling and 
 election of God, and be able with confidence to say 
 " This God is our God for ever and ever." Amidst 
 bodily trouble and temporal trials, they would possess 
 their souls in patience. They would take pleasure in 
 infirmities, and glory in tribulation. To mental dis- 
 tress and spiritual alarm they would be entire strang- 
 ers. Whatever restlessness or terror they might have 
 experienced in their unconverted state ; from the day 
 that the grace of God enters their hearts till they are 
 raised to sit down with Christ on his throne, they 
 would be as completely free from religious apprehen- 
 sion and perplexity, doubt, fear, and sorrow, as the 
 spirits of the just made perfect. Their hope, anchored 
 
26 
 
 on that which is within the veil, would for ever abide 
 both sure and steadfast : and the peace of God, which 
 passes all understanding, would perpetually keep their 
 hearts and minds. 
 
 But with the Scriptures of truth in our hands; 
 where we so often meet with complaints from the 
 faithful, that their soul is cast down within them ; that 
 they are feeble and sore broken ; that they have roared 
 by reason of the disquietness of their heart ; that they 
 have been afflicted, and ready to die from their youth 
 up ; and that while they suffered the terrors of God 
 they were distracted: with these Scriptures in our 
 hands, where we find so many instances of believers 
 complaining", " we go forward, but he is not there ; 
 backward, but we cannot perceive him;" where we 
 hear them crying, " Lord, why castest thou off our 
 soul ? why hidest thou thy face from us ? How long 
 wilt thou hide thy face from us ? How long shall we 
 take counsel in our soul, having sorrow in our heart 
 daily ?" With these facts before us, shall we have the 
 hardihood to say that the life of the believer is "a 
 course of constant sunshine and unbroken joy; and 
 that the assurance of his personal interest in the pro- 
 visions of the everlasting covenant, accompanies him 
 from the commencement to the close of his pilgrim- 
 age ? When we hear our adorable Redeemer declar- 
 ing that he will not break a bruised reed, nor quench 
 the smoking flax; that he was anointed to preach good 
 
27 
 
 tidings to the meek, and sent to bind up the broken- 
 hearted ; when we hear him pronouncing his first and 
 best blessings upon the poor in spirit, and upon them 
 that mourn : shall we dare to denounce these objects 
 of Divine compassion and tenderness, as graceless and 
 ungodly characters, who are under condemnation, and 
 exposed to everlasting wretchedness and ruin ? 
 
 But if we dare not curse those whom God has bless- 
 ed: shall we, on the other hand, presume to assert 
 that these people are possessed of the full assurance of 
 hope, and rejoicing in the prospect of celestial bliss ? 
 Is sorrow akin to joy? Are those who are walking 
 in darkness, overpowered with the blaze of light? 
 Are those who are represented under the figures of 
 bruised reeds and smoking flax; strong in faith, and 
 animated by the heart-cheering knowledge of their 
 own interest in the mercies of the everlasting Gospel ? 
 Are those who are complaining that the Lord hath 
 forsaken them, and their Lord hath forgotten them ; 
 realizing the unchanging love of their Redeemer, and 
 exulting in the blissful anticipations of eternal glory ? 
 
 9. If assurance were essential to the nature of faith; 
 it would have been regarded as a matter of the 
 greatest moment, and the highest encomiums would 
 have been pronounced upon those who possessed it. 
 
 We know the mighty importance attached to faith. 
 It is the turning point in religion. He that possesses 
 
28 
 
 it is safe : but he that is without it, cannot see life. 
 But in what part of the sacred volume shall we find a 
 similar value ascribed to assurance? Where is it 
 either said or insinuated that the man who is destitute 
 of assurance, is under a sentence of exclusion from 
 the Divine presence and all the delights and honours 
 of the world of bliss ? 
 
 We have just now seen the kindly and soothing 
 terms in which the Scriptures address the humble, the 
 timid, the depressed, and mourning. And so far are 
 they from eulogizing boldness, security and confi- 
 dence, that they administer many strong admonitions 
 to caution, diffidence, watchfulness, and jealousy of 
 ourselves. They tell us that " happy is the man that 
 feareth alway :" that " the first shall be last, and the 
 last first :" that " not he that commendeth himself is 
 approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." They 
 inform us of the danger of trusting in ourselves that 
 we are righteous ; and of imagining that we are rich 
 and increased with goods; and exhort us not to be 
 high-minded, but to fear. 
 
 10. If assurance were essential to faith ; then every 
 one who labours under doubts and fears must be in a 
 state of condemnation, and all must be safe who are 
 secure and confident respecting their everlasting hap- 
 piness. 
 
 In such a case, to be possessed of firm trust and 
 
29 
 
 unshaken confidence in our own safety, would be 
 an infallible proof of being in a state of grace ; and 
 every degree of doubt and alarm would with equal 
 certainty bespeak a state of condemnation and wrath. 
 But we have lately seen that none are dearer to the 
 heart of the Redeemer, nor enjoy a larger portion of 
 his tenderness and care ; than the humble, the broken- 
 hearted, the feeble-minded, who are walking in dark- 
 ness, and going mourning without the sun. And it 
 must now be added, that unless the heart is sprinkled 
 from an evil conscience, and peace obtained through 
 the soul's reliance on the righteousness of Christ ; to 
 manifest calmness and tranquility and confidence, so 
 far from being a favourable sign, is one of the most 
 fatal and alarming symptoms that any wretched mortal 
 can discover. 
 
 Salvation is an object of infinite importance. It 
 augurs well of a man to hear him complaining of his 
 doubts and fears about his eternal welfare. This 
 shews that he has some concern about this subject, and 
 encourages the hope that he is laying it seriously to 
 heart. It is a most alarming circumstance to find any 
 man, in an affair of such magnitude, too calm and con- 
 fident. It naturally excites a suspicion that he has 
 neither part nor lot in the matter ; for if he were 
 aware of its immense value, he would from time to 
 time discover a solicitude to examine the foundation 
 
 of his hope and ascertain the safety of his state. If 
 
 C 
 
30 
 
 you see two travellers ; the one, without ever looking 
 after his luggage, making a great noise about the 
 treasure which it contains ; and the other, without 
 saying much about the matter, frequently examining 
 if his baggage be secure ; you would be at no loss to 
 pronounce which of them acted the most rational part, 
 and was likely to be possessed of the greatest wealth. 
 And the man who says least about his hopes, but gives 
 the greatest diligence to make his calling and election 
 sure, is generally more alive to religion, and far near- 
 er the kingdom of heaven, than the professor, who 
 natters himself on the safety of his state, but is careless 
 about the means of advancing his growth in grace, 
 and promoting his progress in holiness and spirit- 
 uality. 
 
 Anxiety and alarm are distressing and painful ; but 
 they are at the same time salutary. If the man is 
 already savingly converted, they will soon pass away, 
 and the end will be peace : but if he is not yet recon- 
 ciled to God, if they are of a sound and genuine na- 
 ture, they will never leave him till he is established 
 in the faith. But amongst all the melancholy objects 
 which we meet, none is so affecting and overpowering 
 as the sight of men, whose temper and conduct prove 
 that they are in the gall of bitterness and bond of 
 iniquity; and yet are perfectly secure and easy; and, 
 in spite of every remonstrance, persevere in the lull- 
 ing and deceitful cry of Peace, peace, till their feet 
 
31 
 
 stumble upon the dark mountains, and the shadows of 
 death close for ever around them. If the christian be 
 possessed of the assurance of faith ; hypocrites and 
 formalists have the confidence of presumption : and 
 the blind boldness of the latter is often far more im- 
 pregnable, than the peace and hope of the former. 
 Whilst the strong man armed keepeth his house, 
 there is frequently as great quietness within, as when 
 it is brought under the power of a stronger than he. 
 The dearest of God's saints have at times been in 
 perplexity and despondence ; when the foolish vir- 
 gins were secure ; and those who were farthest from 
 acceptance with God, shew by their address to our 
 Redeemer in the day of judgment, that they enter- 
 tained the firmest persuasion of their safety. " Lord, 
 Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in 
 thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done 
 many wonderful works ? And then will I profess un- 
 to them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye that 
 work iniquity." The Pharisees imagined that they 
 never were in bondage : and none are more confident 
 and fearless, than those who trust in themselves that 
 they are righteous, and despise others. 
 
 If therefore these things are so ; if the essence of 
 
 faith does not consist in confidence in our own safety, 
 
 but in the soul's reliance on Christ for salvation ; if 
 
 the assurance of our interest in the love of God is 
 
 C 2 
 
32 
 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost, and forfeited by our se- 
 cure and careless conduct ; if during violent tempta- 
 tion, while we retain our belief of the truths of the 
 gospel, we lose our hope and comfort ; if the unregen- 
 erate are never required, as a substitute for faith, to 
 believe in their own safety nor rejoice in the hope of 
 heaven ; if there are different degrees of faith, and 
 yet assurance is incapable of degrees, and can never 
 be enjoyed without strong faith : if those who have 
 already believed through grace, are exhorted to seek 
 assurance, and to rejoice in the Lord; if assurance is 
 promised to believers as a blessing distinct from faith, 
 and one that is superadded to it ; if rich provision is 
 made for the support and encouragement of weak, 
 timid, desponding and forsaken believers ; if no super- 
 lative importance is attached to assurance; if no intima- 
 tion is given that the dejected and desponding are in a 
 state of condemnation, nor the secure and confident in 
 a state of safety : if all this is true, then we are com- 
 pelled to affirm that the assurance of salvation is neith- 
 er essential to the nature of faith nor inseparable from 
 a state of grace ; and that a man may be a child of 
 God and an heir of heaven, though at times uncer- 
 tain of his situation, and apprehensive of the issue of 
 his hopes for eternal life. Assurance is an important 
 and invaluable blessing: but it holds only a subor- 
 dinate place. It must yield the palm to faith, repent- 
 ance, contrition, humility, self-denial, love, and godly 
 
33 
 
 fear. It is indispensable lo our comfort ; but it is not 
 necessary to our salvation. It contributes unspeakably 
 to the happiness of the voyage ; but cannot affect 
 either its safety or its success. 
 
 Many from the best motives may insist on the in- 
 separable connection betwixt faith and assurance. 
 But the intention is neither a test of truth nor a rule 
 of duty. Many rash hands are stretched out to fix 
 the ark of God. From whatever motive the tenet 
 under consideration has been inculcated, it is destitute 
 of foundation in the word of God ; and is calculated to 
 do great mischief in the flock of Christ. It is fitted 
 to make many sad, whom God has not made sad. It 
 tends to break the bruised reeds ; and to crush those 
 broken hearts, which the kind hands of our adored 
 Redeemer are employed in binding up. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE ATTAINABLENESS OF ASSURANCE. 
 
 Having endeavoured to provide for the comfort and 
 establishment of those whose souls are broken and 
 bowed down, from an apprehension that they are in a 
 graceless condition, because they are destitute of the 
 assurance of salvation; in compassionate faithfulness 
 C 3 
 
34 
 
 to a class far more numerous, and in a far more dan- 
 gerous situation, it is now high time to shew, that 
 the assurance of salvation is a blessing which has been 
 attained, and which is still attainable. 
 
 That assurance is an attainable blessing is evident, 
 
 1. From the nature of faith itself. 
 
 The cause always precedes the effect. We must be 
 in a state of grace before we can discover the fact : and 
 be possessed of faith before we can enjoy assurance. 
 While we are without faith, we are without God, 
 without Christ, and without hope. We are of the 
 works of the law, and under a curse. But when faith 
 comes, we are no more under a curse. We are the 
 children of God, and the heirs of promise. The word 
 of Him who cannot lie, declares, " He that believeth 
 shall be saved." 
 
 Now, faith is not merely a belief of the gospel as 
 true, but an approbation of it as infinitely excellent, 
 and exactly adapted to our circumstances. It is a re- 
 ceiving of the Lord Jesus Christ in all his offices, and a 
 resting on him for our own salvation. It leads us to 
 renounce every other dependence, and cleave to him 
 simply, and confide in him alone. 
 
 And while we cast on him all our care, and rely on 
 him for righteousness and strength : is it credible that 
 we never can ascertain whence we look for safety, and 
 where we have fixed our trust ? We may at times 
 
35 
 
 doubt our acceptance. The number and enormity of 
 our offences, our frequent falls and deplorable imper- 
 fections, may occasionally inspire a fear of the gen- 
 uiuess of our faith, and create a suspicion he will re- 
 ject onr application. But amidst all our weakness 
 and inconsistency, our views never change of his 
 glory and grace. Our souls still lean on him entirely, 
 and our hearts continue to follow hard after him. We 
 dare not let go our hold, nor change the foundation 
 of our hope : but hearing the general calls and invita- 
 tions of the gospel, we apply them to our own case ; 
 and never can be satisfied till we have cleared up our 
 own interest in their provisions and our personal right 
 to the rich and precious blessings which they proclaim. 
 The grand ambition of the believer is to convert the 
 general and indefinite language of revelation into 
 special, individual addresses ; and as he travels through 
 the sacred pages to be able to say, " This promise is 
 mine, this mercy and that blessing are my own : the 
 pardon, the peace, the righteousness, and strength of 
 which I read belong to me ; Jesus has loved me, and 
 given himself for me: this God is my God for ever 
 and ever. 
 
 'Tis mine, the covenant of his grace, 
 
 And every promise mine ! 
 All sprung from everlasting love, 
 
 And seal'd by blood divine. 
 
On my unworthy favour'd head, 
 
 Its blessings all unite ; 
 Blessings more num'rous than the stars, 
 
 More lasting, and more bright." 
 
 And though he may not at all times possess the ob- 
 ject of his desire, it surely is attainable. The lan- 
 guage of the gospel is as general as that of the law. 
 And if he knows, from the indefinite language of the 
 law, though he is named neither in its precepts nor 
 penalties, that he is under its obligation and answer- 
 able to its authority: when the Spirit of all grace un- 
 folds the glorious import, and illustrates the universal 
 extent of the gospel calls and promises ; can the be- 
 liever be at a loss, though he finds his name in none 
 of its announcements, to argue from its general unlimit- 
 ed invitations, his own right to its offers, and his own 
 warrant to embrace all its invaluable provisions ? 
 
 2. From the change which believers undergo at re- 
 generation. 
 
 When we are admitted into the family of God, 
 we not only receive a new name, but are likewise 
 made partakers of a new nature. We are not only 
 invested with a title to the kingdom of heaven, but 
 also with a meetness for the inheritance of the 
 saints in light. Old habits are broken off, and new 
 ones formed. We are made to dislike the things 
 which we formerly loved, and pursue the things which 
 
37 
 
 we previously shunned and hated. We are made to 
 experience a radical and total transformation ; for " if 
 any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things 
 are passed away ; behold all thing's are become new. 
 Whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate to 
 be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might 
 be the first-born among many brethren." And so ab- 
 solutely essential is this renovation of nature, and this 
 conformity to the image of the Saviour, to the exist- 
 ence of religion in the heart, that " if any man have 
 not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 
 
 Now, shall a man undergo such a great and aston- 
 ishing change ; and after all be unable to ascertain its 
 existence ? Shall we be renewed in the spirit of our 
 minds, created again in Christ Jesus unto good works, 
 and rendered not merely reformed or altered men, 
 but new creatures ; and after all, are we to imagine 
 that it is impossible in any case to arrive at a know- 
 ledge of the fact, and that we must through the whole 
 of life remain ignorant of this blessed and gracious 
 transformation ? 
 
 If any great alteration takes place in our outward 
 circumstances; if from a state of poverty we are 
 raised to affluence ; if from pining sickness we are re- 
 stored to health; if by patient application to study, 
 from being ignorant and illiterate, we acquire litera- 
 ture and science; we soon become sensible of the 
 agreeable improvement. The delightful transition is 
 
33 
 
 not published to the world, and concealed from our- 
 selves : we are the first to know it. And shall we im- 
 agine that a man may be the subject of the greatest of 
 all changes ; a change whose effects shall follow him be- 
 yond the bounds of all that is visible, and impress its 
 own character on the whole of his endless existence ; 
 and yet never discover the interesting and momentous 
 fact ? From trifling with religion and keenly pursu- 
 ing the vanities and follies of time and of sense, shall 
 he become earnest for everlasting bliss, and fix his 
 affections supremely on God and things divine ; from 
 neglecting his immortal part, and despising the ador- 
 able Redeemer, shall Jesus become precious to his 
 soul, all his salvation and all his desire ; from coolly 
 following the multitude to do evil, and walking in the 
 sight of his own eyes and in the ways of his own heart, 
 shall he flee from the wrath to come, strive to enter 
 in at the strait gate, and labour to take the kingdom 
 of heaven by violence : shall he experience all this, 
 and yet never perceive that he has undergone the 
 slightest alteration in his desires and occupations? 
 Is the path to heaven so like the road to hell ; the 
 life of faith so much a-kin to the course of the world ; 
 the confines of light so similar to the regions of dark- 
 ness; that we may be transported from the gloom and 
 horrors of a graceless, and ruined condition, into the 
 light and purity, the high hopes and glorious liberty 
 
39 
 
 of the sons of God, without ever discerning the small- 
 est difference ? 
 
 The change may be accomplished suddenly or slow- 
 ly ; it may be produced openly and visibly ; or take 
 place in a manner secret and unobserved : for there 
 are diversities of operations ; and in forming the 
 soul anew, the Holy Spirit is not confined to any 
 particular mode, nor restrained by any fixed and 
 immutable law. He acts according to the good 
 pleasure of his will. But still in whatever way 
 the change takes place, at whatever age, or by 
 whatever means it is accomplished ; the consequences 
 are great and lasting ; so that from the effect we are 
 at no loss to ascertain the nature and reality of the 
 cause. The descent of the dew may escape observa- 
 tion : but when we see it lying on the grass all around, 
 we are certain that it must have fallen. A child can 
 give no account of the commencement of his existence, 
 nor of the time and manner in which his soul joined his 
 body; but no sooner does he arrive at the exercise of 
 reason, than he is convinced that his being must have 
 had a beginning, and that at some time or other his 
 soul must have been united to his body. And the 
 Christian too may be unable to tell exactly by what 
 means he was brought to the knowledge of the truth, 
 or to describe distinctly how the blessed change began, 
 and was carried on. He may have learned much from 
 this sermon, and more from that. He may have profit- 
 
40 
 
 ed much by one exercise or ordinance, and more by an- 
 other. " So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should 
 cast seed into the ground; and should sleep and rise 
 night and day, and the seed should spring and grow 
 up, he knoweth not how ; for the earth bringeth forth 
 fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after 
 that the full corn in the ear." But though unable to 
 describe the process, by which he was brought from 
 nature to grace : yet when he is established in the 
 faith, he must find a great and total difference betwixt 
 what he was once and what he is now ; so that, like 
 the man whom our Lord had cured of his blindness, 
 who declared, " One thing I know, that, whereas I 
 was blind, now I see;" when the believer takes a 
 calm and enlightened survey of his present state in 
 contrast with his past condition, he also will be able 
 to say, " One thing I know, that whereas by nature 
 I neither knew God nor loved him, the desire of my 
 heart is now to him and to the remembrance of his 
 name; whereas I walked according to the course of 
 this world, and lived in the vanity of my mind ; now 
 my heart's desire and prayer are, that Christ may be 
 magnified in me, whether that shall be by life or by 
 death : for whom have I in heaven but thee ? and 
 there is none upon earth whom I desire besides thee." 
 And if such is the result which a Christian's examina- 
 tion of his own experience is calculated to afford ; is it 
 not obvious that the assurance of salvation may at 
 
41 
 
 times be attained ; and that he shall be able to discov- 
 er his calling and election of God ? 
 
 3. From the love which the Lord Jesus Christ bears 
 to his people. 
 
 He has loved them with an everlasting love, and 
 therefore with loving-kindness he has drawn them. 
 From love to us he left the throne of heaven, assum- 
 ed our nature, suffered, bled, and died. From love 
 to us he rose from the dead, ascended to the right 
 hand of the Majesty on high, watches over all our inter- 
 ests, guides us by his council, protects us by his pow- 
 er, and keeps us as the apple of his eye. Now, can 
 we suppose that he has so long taken such a deep 
 and tender interest in our welfare ; and that during 
 the whole of our pilgrimage, he will conceal from us 
 every discovery of his peculiar and endearing love ? 
 Would he die for our redemption, and with the feel- 
 ings of a brother, intercede for us in the presence of 
 his Father ; and after all, leave us, till our dying day, 
 in a state of painful uncertainty whether we shall be sav- 
 ed or lost ? We cannot for a moment entertain such 
 a harsh and dishonourable thought. For the correction 
 of our faults, or the trial of our faith and patience, he 
 may for a season withdraw the light of his counten- 
 ance, and involve us in perplexity and trouble. But 
 the strong affection which he bears us, the numerous 
 
 and costly proofs which he has given of his ardent and 
 D 
 
42 
 
 everlasting regard, are all a security and pledge that 
 sooner or later we shall be honoured with the mani- 
 festation of his favour, and blessed with a foretaste of 
 our future and eternal joy. 
 
 That believers may arrive at a knowledge of their 
 salvation may be inferred, 
 
 4. From the testimony which the Holy Spirit bears 
 to our adoption. 
 
 It is by the agency of the Holy Ghost that we are 
 qualified for the discharge of our different duties, and 
 furnished with our spiritual enjoyments. It is he who 
 assists us in prayer ; who strengthens us with might in 
 the inner man; who guides us into all truth; and gives 
 us an unction from the Holy One, whereby we know 
 all things. It is his office to glorify Christ : for he re- 
 ceives of the things of Christ, and shews them to us. 
 It is he who expels the spirit of bondage unto fear ; 
 and who is the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 
 Abba, Father. 
 
 Every believer may not at all times be blessed with 
 the same measure of his influences : for if there are 
 seasons when he can come boldly to the throne of 
 grace, and fill his mouth with arguments ; there are 
 also occasions on which he can make his requests only 
 with groanings which cannot be uttered. But though 
 we may not at all times be equally favoured with his 
 presence and aid: he never totally withdraws these in- 
 
43 
 
 estimable blessings. He abides with us for ever. He 
 dwells with us, and is in us. " If any man have not 
 the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 
 
 Now, is every believer blessed with the presence of 
 the Holy Spirit ? does he act as the Spirit of adop- 
 tion ? take of the things of Christ, and shew them to 
 us ? and even bear witness with our spirit that we are 
 the children of God ? and yet is it credible that the 
 believer, through the whole of his pilgrimage, shall 
 never be able to discover the high dignity to which he 
 is raised, and the invaluable privileges to which he is 
 entitled ? Though it is the prerogative of the Holy 
 Ghost to search the deep things of God, and to unfold 
 the mysteries of Christ, and though he is endowed 
 with omniscience and omnipotence: is he unable to 
 make his voice be heard, and render his communica- 
 tions intelligible? 
 
 5. Assurance is a blessing which has been attained. 
 In the Psalms we frequently find David speaking 
 of his gracious relation to God: calling himself his 
 servant, and the Lord the portion of his inheritance. 
 With all the confidence and calmness of one who 
 had the witness in himself that he was born from 
 above, and that he was an heir of the righteous- 
 ness of faith ; he declares on his death-bed, that God 
 had made with him an everlasting covenant, or- 
 dered in all things, and sure. Job possessed the same 
 
 D 2 
 
44 
 
 exalted and delightful attainment, when he said, " I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
 stand at the latter day upon the earth : and though 
 after my skin worms destroy this hody, yet in my flesh 
 shall I see God ; whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
 eyes shall behold, and not another." And did not 
 Paul too enjoy the same sublime and animating confi- 
 dence, when he said, " I know whom I have believed, 
 and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed unto him against that day ?" Was it 
 not in consequence of this assurance that he declared, 
 " I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live, yet 
 not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I 
 now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of 
 God, who loved me, and gave himself for me ?" "Was 
 it not under the influence of the same strong and glo- 
 rious hope, that on the survey of his long career, and 
 in the near prospect of its violent and bloody termina- 
 tion ; with holy boldness and sacred triumph he said, 
 h I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, 
 I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for 
 me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
 righteous judge, shall give me at that day ?" 
 
 From such language, it is evident that these holy 
 men had no doubt of their own interest in the cove- 
 nant of grace. And is it credible that this precious 
 blessing was imparted to them, and that it will be 
 withheld from others, who walk in their steps and are 
 
45 
 
 partakers of their faith ? Is there partiality or respect 
 of persons with God? Shall one man be saved 
 by grace through faith ; and shall another man who 
 cleaves to grace through faith, be lost? And shall 
 one man by the exercise of faith on the Son of God, 
 arrive at the assurance of his own eternal safety ; and 
 shall another man, who seeks the same blessing in the 
 same manner, be prevented from ever reaching it ? 
 
 That this blessing was intended for the benefit of all 
 believers who seek it, in the manner which God has 
 prescribed in his word, is manifest, 
 
 6. From the exhortations which in Scripture are 
 given to secure it. 
 
 In one place we are exhorted to (t give diligence to 
 make our calling and election sure ;" and in another to 
 " give the same diligence to the full assurance of hope 
 unto the end." But if it be impossible to obtain a 
 knowledge of our own salvation, for what purpose 
 were these injunctions left on record? Were they 
 written merely to tantalize us with empty and falla- 
 cious ho};es, and excite our industry in a direction ab- 
 solutely unavailing? Men destitute of sensibility, and 
 completely hardened in crime, may sport with the feel- 
 ings of their fellow-creatures, and amuse them with 
 hopes which they never intend to realize : but the 
 
 Father of mercies and the God of love never enjoins 
 D3 
 
46 
 
 any duty that is impracticable, nor inspires any ex- 
 pectations which he has no intention to fulfil. 
 
 On the same principle therefore on which I believe 
 that truth, honesty, and sobriety are all practicable 
 duties, because they are inculcated in the Bible; from 
 the exhortations to make our calling and election sure, 
 and to give diligence to the full assurance of hope, I 
 am also obliged to believe that the assurance of salva- 
 tion is an attainable blessing. These injunctions to 
 seek it are a pledge of the love and veracity of the 
 Lord, that, if we employ the diligence which he has 
 prescribed, and in the manner which he has directed, 
 we shall not labour in vain, nor spend our strength for 
 nought, but shall most certainly know, if we follow on 
 to know Him. 
 
 This conclusion is confirmed, 
 
 7. By the promises of God. 
 " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear 
 him, anl he will shew them his covenant. He that 
 believeth hath the witness in himself." Believers are 
 represented as possessing the first-fruits of the Spirit ; 
 as knowing their calling and election of God ; as re- 
 joicing in hope of his glory; as now the sons of God, 
 but that it doth not yet appear what they shall be ; as 
 knowing that they are of God, and as having fellow- 
 ship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 
 And our blessed Lord himself declares, " He that 
 
47 
 
 loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will 
 love him, and manifest myself to him. If a man love 
 me, he will keep my words : and my Father will love 
 him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode 
 with him." 
 
 From all these facts taken together ; from the pecu- 
 liar and appropriating" nature of faith itself; from the 
 total renovation which is experienced at conversion ; 
 from the love which Christ entertains towards his 
 people; from the office of the Holy Ghost as the Spir- 
 it of adoption ; from the example of the saints ; from 
 the exhortations to seek assurance ; and the promises 
 to bestow it, we are warranted to maintain that the 
 assurance of hope is an attainable blessing ; and that 
 it is brought within the reach of every Christian, and 
 that it is his duty to secure it. If any man can live 
 coolly without it, this is of itself sufficient to destroy 
 the credit of his Christianity. The matter is too 
 momentous to be left in suspence: and the means 
 of arriving at a clear decision, are so abundant, 
 that every man who is really religious may by 
 persevering diligence obtain the most full and am- 
 ple certainty. The contrast betwixt a state of na- 
 ture and a state of grace is so great ; that, if we are 
 doubtful whether we have actually passed from the 
 one to the other, we have great reason to fear that 
 this indecision haunts us, not because the boundaries 
 are ill-defined, but because we are still on the wrong 
 
48 
 
 side of the line. We cannot reap where we have 
 not sown, nor gather where we have not scattered. 
 If we are still carnal, and minding earthly things ; 
 we cannot possess the fruits of the Spirit, nor en- 
 joy, in a meetness for the inheritance of the saints 
 in light, the evidence of our title to heaven. The 
 man, who is not sensible of a mighty moral revolution 
 within him, has sad cause to conclude that he is still 
 in his sins. To cry for peace, and clamour in such a 
 situation for comfort, is at the peril of all the interests 
 of his soul. Peace, obtained without an entire change 
 of nature, is only the forerunner of everlasting ruin. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE MEANS BY WHICH ASSURANCE IS OBTAINED. 
 
 Since we have seen that assurance is attainable; it 
 becomes a most interesting question ; How is this in- 
 valuable blessing to be acquired ? 
 
 The language of mortals is too feeble to express the 
 importance of a sound scriptural answer to this in- 
 quiry. It is not to the ministers of religion, nor to 
 our brethren in the christian church, that we must 
 submit the grounds on which we come to a favourable 
 decision on this incomparably momentous subject. A 
 season of darkness and desertion may arrive, when our 
 
49 
 
 heart will meditate terror, and our faces gather pale- 
 ness; and when our ever-watchful enemy will endeav- 
 our to raze the foundations of hope, and strive by a 
 thousand arts to persuade us that our peace is false, 
 and our expectations delusive. Affliction and trouble, 
 disease and dissolution, are approaching : and when 
 heart and flesh are fainting and failing, and every 
 thing around and within us is shaking and dissolving, 
 it is no easy matter to retain that calmness and tran- 
 quility which we possessed when death and eternity 
 seemed at a distance ; and to say, " I know whom I 
 have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to 
 keep what I have committed to him against that day." 
 The judgment seat is before us : and it is a serious 
 thing indeed to undergo the scrutiny of Him, whose 
 eyes are as a flame of fire, who knows what is in us, 
 and who will bring all our thoughts and deeds under 
 review, and render to each of us according to our 
 works. 
 
 In a matter of such unspeakable importance, involv- 
 ing alike our present peace and our everlasting safe- 
 ty; we cannot proceed with too much caution, nor 
 examine too carefully the nature of the evidence on 
 which we conclude that we are Christ's, and he is 
 ours. Building for eternity, we have need to dig 
 deep, and lay the foundation on a rock ; that, amidst all 
 the tempests and trials that come, the fabric may stand 
 immoveable, and our souls be kept in perfect peace. 
 
50 
 
 But is this the nature of that assurance which arises 
 from assuming, without either faith or repentance, our 
 interest in Christ ? from believing that he died for all, 
 and that all men are redeemed, pardoned, and justi- 
 fied by his death ? or from a consciousness that we be- 
 lieve the general statements of the Gospel, such as 
 that Christ came to seek and to save that which was 
 lost, and that he is the propitiation for sin ? Each of 
 these opinions will require a little consideration. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 ASSURANCE IS NOT OBTAINED BY ASSUMING AN INTEREST IN CHRIST. 
 
 Some suppose that assurance is to be acquired by 
 assuming, without either faith or repentance, our own 
 interest in Christ; by believing that he died for all; 
 and that all are redeemed, pardoned, and justified by 
 his death. It will be best to state this scheme in their 
 own words. " So long as it is received as truth, that 
 God's forgiveness is bestowed only on those who pos- 
 sess some particular quality, such as faith or repent- 
 ance, or sincerity — so long are men necessarily com- 
 pelled to regard their possession of these qualities as 
 the ground of their confidence before God. They 
 may conceive that there is forgiveness in God through 
 Christ sufficient for all men, and they may hold, that 
 there is no confidence to be placed in any thing else ; 
 
51 
 
 but while they believe that this forgiveness does not 
 actually come out to any man, until he possesses this 
 quality of faith or repentance, they must necessarily 
 have hope or fear before God, just according as they 
 consider themselves possessed of these qualities or 
 not." " Many suppose that the gospel is an offer 
 of pardon to all men, and that those who believe in 
 the offer, or who close with the offer, receive the par- 
 don. But this statement really denies that a man is 
 pardoned until he believes. And thus it throws his 
 whole confidence on his having believed, or his having 
 closed with the offer. The offer of the gospel does not 
 refer to the pardon, but to the enjoyment of the pardon? 
 " If I ask what is it to believe in Christ ? I receive 
 for answer, that it is that Christ died for those who 
 should believe on him. Why, is not this moving in a 
 circle? Is it not absolutely nothing? Is it not a 
 shifting sand, which affords no rest to the wearied 
 soul? Well, but they say, after we have believed 
 this general truth, we have a right to assume our own 
 interest in it. And why not at first? What is the 
 use of making two steps instead of one ?" " When 
 it is said that he (Christ) was delivered for our of- 
 fences, it cannot mean that he was delivered in order 
 that we might offend ; it evidently means, that he was 
 delivered because we had offended. And so in the last 
 clause of the sentence, the for must have the same 
 
52 
 
 interpretation ; he was raised again not in order that 
 we might be justified, but because we were pardoned."* 
 
 Such, in the words of one of its advocates, is the 
 scheme proposed for attaining assurance. The theory 
 is abundantly simple. In a matter however of such 
 matchless importance, and where mistakes are so nu- 
 merous and fatal ; we are not at liberty to inquire what 
 is most easy, or agreeable. Our business is to ascer- 
 tain what bears the stamp of truth, and will abide 
 the scrutiny of the holy and heart-searching God. 
 
 Were the premises true, that Christ has redeemed 
 and pardoned all, the conclusion would necessarily fol- 
 low, that faith and repentance are superfluous, and 
 that every man may safely assume his interest in the 
 Redeemer's righteousness. But are the premises 
 true? 
 
 1. Is it true that all have an interest in Christ ? 
 There can be no doubt of the power of the Re- 
 deemer, and the infinite worth of his righteousness. If 
 within the whole compass of revelation there is one 
 truth which shines with a more bright and steady lus- 
 tre than another, it is the precious, the glorious fact, 
 that Christ is an almighty Saviour, and has wrought 
 
 * Mr Erskine's Introductory Essay to Extracts of Letters to a 
 Christian Friend, by a Lady. pp. 14-, 15, ]6, 24, 63, 6i. 
 
53 
 
 out a complete and all-sufficient salvation. His blood 
 cleanseth from all sin ; and lie is able to save them to 
 the uttermost that come to God by him. And whilst 
 the blessings of his salvation are innumerable and im- 
 mense ; they are presented freely to all, and pressed 
 upon the acceptance of every child of Adam. The 
 calls of the gospel are universal, and its offers are 
 free. " Ho every one that thirstetli, come ye to the 
 waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and 
 eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money 
 and without price." 
 
 But because his power is almighty, and his obed- 
 ience and sufferings are possessed of infinite value; 
 does it therefore follow that all are redeemed by his 
 blood, and justified freely by his grace ? 
 
 The resources of nature are inexhaustible ; and pos- 
 sess enough for the subsistence and enjoyment of all 
 who live. But is every man endowed with health, 
 strength, and affluence, or even with a competent 
 share of temporal comforts ? Literature and science 
 are every where spreading around us their charms, 
 and inviting us on to the contemplation of the won- 
 ders they disclose, and the possession of the delights 
 which they impart. But are all rational intelligent 
 and learned ? The duties of morality and the exer- 
 cises of piety are within the reach of the whole hu- 
 man race, and urged on the attention and observance 
 
 of all. But can you say that every one is upright, 
 
 E 
 
5* 
 
 honest, devout, and faithfully fulfilling the various 
 obligations which he owes to God and man? The 
 power of God is almighty. He can do all things; 
 neither is there any thing too hard for him. But can 
 you say all are equally benefited by its exercise, and 
 alike preserved from distress and danger, and encom- 
 passed with deliverance and safety? 
 
 And though the righteousness of Immanuel is in- 
 finite, and possessed of a value sufficient to communi- 
 cate an eternity of bliss to worlds unnumbered : dare 
 we affirm that all men are redeemed by his blood, and 
 possessed of an interest in the blessings purchased by 
 his death ? 
 
 The Bible recognizes no interest in Christ but what 
 is produced by the Holy Spirit, when he works faith 
 in us, and thereby unites us to Christ in our effectual 
 calling. For unless this is the case, why are we told 
 that by " one Spirit are we all baptized into one 
 body ?" that God is faithful by whom we are " called 
 unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our 
 Lord ?" that of Him are we " in Christ Jesus, who 
 of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption ?" and that Christ dwells 
 in our « heart by faith?" 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13 : i. 9, 30. 
 Ephes. iii. 17. 
 
 If all men have an interest in Christ before they 
 believe ; if they are born with such an interest, how 
 could the Apostle speak of some who were in Christ 
 
55 
 
 before him ? of our being by nature the branches of a 
 wild olive-tree, and by faith grafted into a good olive- 
 tree ? and why did Christ say, " if a man abide not 
 in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered?" 
 Can a false unfruitful professor be more completely 
 separated from Christ after this ejection, than he was 
 by nature ? Rom. xvi. 7 ; xi. 23, 24. John xv. 6. 
 
 If all men have an interest in Christ by birth ; why 
 was the Gospel revealed, and ordered to be preached, 
 to compel men to come in to Christ ? and how could 
 any adults be said to receive Christ, and put him on ? 
 How could we be told that before we believe, we are 
 shut up under the law ? that we are of the works of 
 the law, and under a curse ? without Christ, having 
 no hope? And what could the Apostle mean by 
 saying, " Be ye not unequally yoked together with 
 unbelievers ; for what fellowship hath righteousness 
 with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light 
 with darkness ? And what concord hath Christ with 
 Belial ? or what part hath he that belie veth with an 
 infidel ?" If all alike have an interest in Christ, a be- 
 liever could not find a better companion than an infi- 
 del ; and Christ and Belial must for years be dwelling 
 very peaceably together in the hearts of millions. 2 
 Cor. vi. 14, 15 ; 1 Cor. vi. 15—17 ; Gal. iii. 10 ; Ephes. 
 ii. 12. 
 
 And whilst the Bible informs us, that no man is in 
 
 Christ until he believes ; it also most distinctly teaches 
 E 2 
 
56 
 
 us, that, whenever this interest is produced, the man 
 is delivered from the curse of the law, reconciled to 
 God, possessed of a right to heaven, and a title to all 
 the riches of grace and the treasures of glory. He is 
 a new creature. He brings forth much fruit. He 
 lives by faith. He walks with God. He is made 
 meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. He is 
 blessed with the first fruits of the Spirit. He dwells 
 in God, and God in him. He shall never come into 
 condemnation, but have everlasting life. That this is 
 the very least that is implied by having an interest in 
 Christ, is manifest from such Scriptures as the follow- 
 ing. Gal. ii. 20 ; iii. 13, 29 ; Rev. v. 9 ; Col. i. 12, 13, 
 21, 22; 1 Cor. i. 30; 2 Cor. v. 17; Gal. ii. 20; John 
 xv. 5 ; Rom. vi. 22, viii. 1, 23. 
 
 But dare we say, either of the world at large, or 
 of the professors of religion in a body, that they are 
 crucified with Christ ? living by faith on the Son of 
 God ? and followers of him as dear children ? Dare 
 we say that their body is dead because of sin, and 
 their spirit is life because of righteousness ? that they 
 have their conversation in heaven, and their fruit 
 unto holiness ? that they are the heirs of eternal life ; 
 and shall never perish, nor come into condemnation ? 
 that they shall overcome, and inherit all things ? 
 
 While the world lies in wickedness, and the broad 
 road is crowded, we dare not make such assertions. 
 But unless, in the face of all that denounces the con- 
 
57 
 
 demnation and ruin of the impenitent and unbeliev- 
 ing, we are prepared to maintain their safety, we 
 cannot in the scriptural sense of the terms admit that 
 all are redeemed and interested in Christ. The right- 
 eousness of Christ is infinite, and the calls and invita- 
 tions of the gospel are addressed indiscriminately to 
 all : but till he actually believe in Christ, no man is 
 interested in him : and every man who has an interest 
 in him, is sanctified, and shall most certainly be kept 
 by his power through faith unto salvation. 
 
 And if we dare not say that all are interested in 
 Christ ; are we warranted to affirm, 
 
 2. That all men in their natural state are justified, 
 or even pardoned ? 
 
 This is repeatedly asserted in the broadest and most 
 unequivocal terms : and to give force to the averment, 
 we are informed that " the offer of the Gospel does 
 not refer to the pardon, but to the enjoyment of the 
 pardon" " Pardon," we are elsewhere told by the 
 same author, " is another name for holy compasssion:" 
 it is God in Christ reconciling the world to himself:" 
 " it is a manifestation of the Divine character in 
 Christ :" " the pardon truly is Jesus Christ." * 
 
 * Erskine on the Fulness and Freeness of the Gospel, pp. 
 
 122, 124, 168, 172. 
 
 E 3 
 
58 
 
 In other cases there is a wide difference betwixt an 
 offer and the enjoyment of the offered favour. The 
 offer of a sum of money is a very different thing from 
 its possession. The person who offers it, may change 
 his mind, or become unable to fulfil his generous in- 
 tentions. Now, are we equally benefited by his offer, 
 whether his money reach us or not ? An offer is not 
 only different from the enjoyment of the thing offer- 
 ed, but even from a gift, a legacy, or a pardon. If 
 these are entrusted to faithful men ; they will with 
 equal certainty be put into our hands, whether we 
 know or are ignorant of their existence, whether we 
 believe or discredit the report of their reality. 
 
 And is the case different with respect to the Gos- 
 pel? Do all who hear the gospel actually enjoy the 
 pardon which it proclaims ? The promise " ask, and 
 ye shall receive ;" is certainly an offer of the blessings 
 to be sought in prayer. But at the very time that the 
 Bible says, " ye have not, because ye ask not :" are 
 we to believe, whether this offer is accepted or re- 
 jected, that it gives us equally the enjoyment of the 
 blessings which we are encouraged to supplicate? 
 And are all men, whether they embrace or refuse the 
 offers of the gospel, alike blessed with the remission 
 of their sins and acceptance with God? The guests, 
 who were bidden, had undoubtedly an offer of the 
 supper. But though they declined the invitation ; 
 from the mere circumstance of having been invited, 
 
59 
 
 did they actually enjoy all the delights of the enter- 
 tainment; even though the king said, and faithfully 
 kept his word, that none of those men who were bid- 
 den should taste of his supper? By its coming into 
 the world, the world certainly had an offer of light. 
 By coming to his own, his own surely had an offer of 
 Christ. Those to whom he stretched out his hands 
 all day ; to whom Wisdom cried aloud ; to whom the 
 Apostles preached the Gospel, and declared that to 
 them the word of salvation was sent ; and those with 
 whom God reasoned and remonstrated, saying, How 
 long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ? turn ye 
 at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my Spirit un- 
 to you, I will make known my words unto you : 
 all these most assuredly received at least an offer of 
 pardon. But when his own did not receive Christ; 
 when the world was condemned for preferring the 
 darkness to the light ; when the hearers of the Apos- 
 tles rejected the counsel of God against themselves; 
 and when God in anger declared, Because I have 
 called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, 
 and no man regarded ; but ye have set at nought all 
 my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also 
 will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your 
 fear cometh : dare we say that they enjoyed either 
 pardon or any other spiritual blessing ? 
 
 The gospel contains the offer of far more than par- 
 don. It contains the offer of Christ, of God, of the 
 
60 
 
 Holy Spirit, of all the riches of grace, and glories of 
 heaven. If therefore the mere offer of the gospel se- 
 cures the enjoyment of pardon; why should this ob- 
 servation be limited to pardon ? What is to prevent 
 its including all the blessings which this dispensa- 
 tion contains for time and eternity ? Why this arbi- 
 trary and capricious distinction ? Why stop at the 
 threshold, and hesitate boldly to enter in and take 
 possession of the palace ? Why scruple to affirm at 
 once universal salvation ; and to tell the world that 
 all who have the offer of the gospel, actually enjoy 
 God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit; and are sanc- 
 tified, and saved, and heirs of eternal life ? 
 
 But to say no more about the identity of an offer 
 with the enjoyment of the offered benefit, we must go 
 on, and observe that the Scriptures inform us that 
 when sin is forgiven, God's anger is turned away, and 
 he comforts us. When sin is forgiven, it is blotted 
 out ; it is forgotten ; it is cast into the depths of the 
 sea ; the righteousness of Christ is imputed ; spiritual 
 blessings are imparted ; and eternal salvation invari- 
 ably follows. Isa. xii. 1, i. 18, xliv. 22 ; Psalm xxxii. 
 ], 2 ; Rom. iv. 6 — S ; Ephes. i. 7. 
 
 Now, if every sin except unbelief is forgiven be- 
 fore we repent and believe, and even before we were 
 born ; why do the saints so fervently implore the re- 
 mission of their iniquities, and so earnestly deprecate 
 the imputation of their offences ? why do the sacred 
 
61 
 
 writers so powerfully remonstrate against every trans- 
 gression of the Divine law, and so sedulously guard 
 believers against all manner of evil ? 
 
 If it is said that all sin is. forgiven except unbelief, 
 or the sin of rejecting the gospel: it must be remem- 
 bered that unbelief is only one sin. In that case we 
 never could have met with the word " sins" in the 
 New Testament. Christ would not have said, " if ye 
 believe not, ye shall die in your sins." We should 
 not have read of some men's " sins" going before hand 
 into judgment, and of some whom they follow after. 
 Believers would have been warned against no sin at 
 all ; and unbelievers would have been admonished only 
 to resist unbelief. 
 
 If therefore all sin except unbelief is pardoned, 
 why are believers and unbelievers alike anxiously ex- 
 horted to avoid every sin forbidden in the Decalogue ? 
 Why is the wrath of God revealed against all un- 
 righteousness and ungodliness of men ? Why are the 
 sins of the fathers visited upon the children to the 
 third and fourth generation ? And why is the whole 
 creation groaning and travailing in pain together be- 
 neath the burden of the Divine displeasure at the sins 
 of men ? 
 
 Shall we be told that men are ignorant of their 
 privilege ? that few know that they are pardoned, and 
 are able to plead their privilege; and therefore the 
 
62 
 
 Divine displeasure continues, and their punishment 
 goes on ? 
 
 In reply we must say that though they are ignorant 
 of their pardon, God must know it. And what would 
 we think of the magistrate, who, after he knew that 
 the prisoner had obtained his sovereign's free pardon, 
 should order his punishment to proceed, merely be- 
 cause the prisoner was ignorant of the fact? And 
 are we to suppose, after our pardon has not only been 
 purchased by our Redeemer, but even granted and 
 proclaimed by the Judge of all the earth ; that he 
 himself, merely because they are ignorant of the fact, 
 will subject multitudes to temporal and eternal mis- 
 ery ? 
 
 Nothing can be more opposite than grace and na- 
 ture, love and wrath. Now, if all men are redeemed 
 and pardoned ; instead of representing all by nature 
 as being in a state of grace, reconciled to God, and 
 blessed with the remission of sins ; why does the 
 Bible declare that by nature we are dead in trespass- 
 es and sins, of the works of the law, and under a 
 curse? Why did the Apostles never address their 
 audiences as redeemed and pardoned ; and argue with 
 them concerning their interest in the love of God, and 
 the death of the Lord Jesus Christ ? Why did they 
 uniformly tell the carnal and unconverted, that they 
 were without God and without hope ; and reason with 
 them of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
 
63 
 
 come ? Why, from the beginning to the end of the 
 sacred volume ; instead of finding a single instance in 
 which the graceless and hardened are described as re- 
 deemed and pardoned, are they without one excep- 
 tion pronounced stout-hearted, and far from righteous- 
 ness, the children of disobedience and of wrath ? 
 
 Since the Scriptures so clearly and expressly ex- 
 clude the idea of universal pardon; very little need 
 be said to expose the notion of universal justification. 
 Justification is far more than the mere remission of 
 sin, and deliverance from condemnation. This is the 
 accepting of us as righteous in the sight of God, and 
 entitling us to the enjoyment of liis presence and fa- 
 vour. 
 
 But if we are destitute of the first, it is as impossi- 
 ble that we can possess the last ; as that a man who 
 is unable to climb a mountain, is capable of finding 
 his way to another planet. Besides the Bible so fre- 
 quently connects justification with salvation ; that if 
 all were justified, all must be infallibly saved : Rom. 
 v. 8 — 10, viii. 30. But how can we assert the doc- 
 trine of universal salvation, when we are told ; that 
 wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth 
 to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat ? 
 and are assured that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
 from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them 
 that know not God, and that obey not the gospel ? 
 We are now prepared to inquire, 
 
64 
 
 3. Are faith and repentance unnecessary for the 
 attainment of pardon and justification ; and is every 
 man entitled to assume his own interest in Christ with- 
 out repenting, or believing the gospel ? 
 
 If it could have been proved that all are redeemed 
 and pardoned, then we must at once have acknow- 
 ledged that faith and repentance are superfluous, and 
 that every man may without them safely assume his 
 interest in Christ. But since we have no evidence 
 that all are redeemed and pardoned; faith and re- 
 pentance may still retain their place, and no man may 
 be entitled to assume his interest in Christ till he ac- 
 tually believe on him. 
 
 The necessity of faith and repentance, in order to 
 the remission of sin and the possession of an interest 
 in the righteousness of Christ, appears to be inculcated 
 in Scripture, in a variety of forms, and with uncom- 
 mon clearness and force. But though this truth seems 
 to stare us in the face on every page of the sacred 
 volume ; is it possible that this is a complete delusion, 
 and that the inspired writers never intended to assert 
 or insinuate that faith and repentance have the slight- 
 est connection with the forgiveness of sins, and an in- 
 terest in Christ ? Though the gospel is preached for 
 the obedience of faith ; though in it the righteousness 
 of God is revealed from faith to faith ; though salva- 
 tion is of faith that it might be by grace ; though 
 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every 
 
65 
 
 one that believeth ; though his righteousness shall be 
 imputed to us if we believe ; though we are told, that 
 through his name whosoever believeth in him shall 
 receive remission of sins; that he that believeth shall 
 be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned : 
 Are we after all to conclude that faith is needless for 
 securing the benefits of the Redeemer's death ; and 
 that unbelievers possess the same interest as believers 
 in his righteousness ? When the Apostle says there is 
 no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus ; this 
 implies that condemnation rests on all who are out of 
 him. When Christ says I am the way, and the truth, 
 and the life ; this is the same as if he had said, I am 
 the only way, and the truth, and the life. And when 
 we are told that he that believeth shall receive remis- 
 sion of sins; that Christ is the end of the law for 
 righteousness to every one that believeth ; and that 
 his righteousness shall be imputed to us if we believe : 
 what else can this mean than that believers alone have 
 remission of sins ; and that the righteousness of Christ 
 is imputed to none, except those who believe? And yet 
 in the face of these plain and solemn averments, shall 
 it be maintained that the infidel has the same part as 
 the believer in the righteousness of the Son of God ? 
 Acts x. 43 ; Rom. iv. 24, x. 4. 
 
 When the Baptist and his blessed Master preached 
 
 the doctrine of repentance ; when the Apostles went 
 F 
 
66 
 
 out, and preached that men should repent ; when God 
 commandeth all men every where to repent ; when we 
 hear of the joy in heaven over one sinner that re- 
 penteth ; when we are informed that he who covereth 
 his sins shall not prosper, but that whoso confesseth 
 and forsaketh them shall find mercy ; when the whole 
 Bible is replete with the kindest encouragements to 
 the penitent, and the most tremendous denunciations 
 against the careless and the hardened ; shall we have 
 the presumption to affirm that repentance has no con- 
 nection with the remission of sin, and that the impen- 
 itent are as completely pardoned as the penitent? 
 Prov. xxviii. 13 ; ] Kings viii. 30 — 50 ; Isa. lv. 7, i. 
 20; Luke xiii. 1 — 5. 
 
 Faith and repentance must either be possessed of 
 some place, and of some importance, under the gospel 
 or they must be possessed of none. If they occupy no 
 place and possess no importance ; then why are they, 
 in scripture, inculcated with such frequency and force ? 
 Why is such a transcendent value ascribed to them ; 
 as to represent them as constituting the very turning 
 point betwixt grace and nature, salvation, and perdi- 
 tion? Mark xvi. 26. Luke xiii. 1 — 5. 
 
 But if they retain a place and serve any purpose 
 under this dispensation of mercy, they must be exer- 
 cised either before or after our sins are forgiven and 
 we are interested in Christ. If their exercise is placed 
 before we are pardoned and interested in Christ : then 
 
67 
 
 the question is decided. We have obtained all for 
 which we are contending, the priority of faith and re- 
 pentance to our being pardoned and justified. But 
 if they are of no use till after we are pardoned and 
 justified : then, what service can they render at all ? 
 If, according to the theory under consideration, all 
 our guilt was blotted out before we were born ; we 
 can have no sin to deplore. Instead of sorrow and 
 mourning, exultation and gladness would be more 
 suitable to our situation : and when the angels are re- 
 joicing over our felicity, it would ill become us to 
 sadden the scene with our tears and lamentations. 
 And if we have no sin to repent of; are we to repent 
 of the high honour to which we are raised, and the 
 boundless happiness to which we are introduced ? 
 
 If our pardon and justification precede faith and re- 
 pentance; why are faith and repentance uniformly 
 represented as previously necessary to our being for- 
 given and accepted ? Why are we commanded to re- 
 pent and be converted that our sins may be blotted 
 out ? to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus 
 Christ for the remission of sins? Why must the 
 gospel be preached to open the eyes of men, " and 
 turn them from darkness to light, and from the power 
 of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness 
 of sins, and inheritance among them that are sancti- 
 fied by faith that is in Christ? Why did Jesus 
 
 deelare that he came not to call the " righteous but 
 
 F2 
 
68 
 
 sinners to repentance?" Why is there no joy in 
 heaven over the sinner until he repents ? Why was 
 Simon Magus exhorted to repent of his wickedness, 
 and pray God, if peradventure the thought of his 
 heart might be forgiven him ? Why are we told that, 
 " if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and 
 the truth is not in us : but that if we confess our sins 
 God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to 
 cleanse us from all unrighteousness?" What is the 
 meaning of all this language, if pardon precedes re- 
 pentance ? If pardon is prior to repentance ; why, 
 instead of being exhorted, in a single instance, to re- 
 pent because we are forgiven ; are we enjoined with- 
 out one exception to confess, repent, and forsake our 
 sins, in order that we may be forgiven ? Why are 
 we required to pray for remission ; and assured that 
 the sin against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable, be- 
 cause those who commit it cannot be renewed to re- 
 pentance? Acts ii. 38 ; iii. 19; xxvi. 18 ; viii. 22 : Mat. 
 ix. 13: Luke xv. 10: 1 John i. 8, 9: Heb. vi. 4—6. 
 
 If we are pardoned and justified before we believe; 
 why is every form of expression, which can denote 
 priority, employed to express the necessity of faitli 
 previously to our being pardoned and justified? When 
 sin is blotted out, righteousness is imputed. Psalm 
 xxxii. 1, 2, compared with Romans iv. 6 — 8. But to 
 whom is this righteousness imputed ? To believers, 
 or unbelievers? To believers most undoubtedly. 
 
69 
 
 " The righteousness of God, which is by faith of Je- 
 sus Christ is unto all, and upon all them that believe." 
 Was their justification past when Christ rose from the 
 dead ? If it was ; why did the Apostle, when writ- 
 ing long after that event, say ? " It is one God who 
 shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncir- 
 cumcision through faith." Why did he add ? " Now 
 it was not written for his sake alone, that it was im- 
 puted to him, but for ours also to whom it shall be 
 imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus 
 our Lord from the dead." Do we believe because we 
 are justified? No: the scripture doctrine is, "We 
 have believed that we might be justified." It is in 
 effectual calling that the Holy Spirit works faith in 
 us. But are any justified before they are called? 
 No : unless they are likewise glorified before they are 
 called. For the Apostle says, " Whom he did pre- 
 destinate, them he also called ; and whom he called, 
 them he also justified; and whom he justified, them 
 he also glorified." 
 
 Finding that such is the invariable language of the 
 sacred writings ; we certainly are warranted to main- 
 tain that faith must precede justification and the for- 
 giveness of sin. Rom. iii. 22 — 30; iv. 23, 24* ; viii. 
 30 : Gal. ii. 16:1 Cor. vi. 11 : Tit. iii. 5—7. 
 
 Some may be disposed to ask, if we shall leave this 
 
 topic without noticing the supposed demonstration 
 
 from Rom. iv. 25, that justification or at least pardon 
 F3 
 
70 * 
 
 goes before faith ? " What is the import of the ex- 
 pression ' raised again for our justification?' Does it 
 mean, raised again in order that we may be justified? 
 It may appear at first sight to have this meaning, but 
 it is not the true meaning, as a moment's considera- 
 tion will discover. The meaning of the preposition 
 for here, must be determined by its meaning in the 
 first clause of the sentence. The whole sentence is 
 ' who was delivered for our offences, and was raised 
 again for our justification.' Now, when it is said he 
 ' was delivered for our offences,' it cannot mean that 
 he was delivered in order that we might offend; it evi- 
 dently means, that he was delivered because we had 
 offended. And so in the last clause of the sentence, 
 the for must have the same interpretation ; he was 
 raised again not in order that we might be justified, but 
 because wc were pardoned." * 
 
 This paragraph is a complete specimen of the criti- 
 cal powers of its author, and its tendency is to lead the 
 reader to suppose that it was the Apostle's design to 
 contrast " offences" with " pardon." If any writer 
 really believes that the original word denotes pardon ; 
 his ignorance of Greek disqualifies him from pro- 
 nouncing any opinion upon the meaning of any thing 
 written in that language. But if, whilst he knows 
 
 * Erskine's Introductory Essay to Extracts of Letters, 
 pp. 63, 64-. 
 
71 
 
 that the word denotes "justification," he wishes to 
 make the merely English reader believe that it signi- 
 fies " pardon ;" this betrays such a want of fairness as 
 to render his assertions unworthy of the slightest at- 
 tention. 
 
 If we must retain, through a whole verse, the 
 meaning which a word has in one clause ; what sense 
 are we to make of such passages as John i. 10, where 
 the same word has no less than three different signifi- 
 cations ? " He was in the world, and the world was 
 made by him, and the world knew him not." Here 
 " world" denotes the earth, the creation, and the in- 
 habitants of the earth. 
 
 If we are to interpret the meaning of " for" in the 
 one clause, by the meaning Avhich it has in the other ; 
 why not go farther, and explain the whole of the one 
 clause, by the whole of the other? Now, is this critic 
 prepared either to translate the verse, " Who was de- 
 livered because he had made us to offend ; and raised 
 again because he had justified us?" or to render it, 
 " Who was delivered because we had offended, and 
 raised again because we had secured our own justifi- 
 cation ?" 
 
 But unless we are disposed to adopt such a version, 
 we may safely admit that Christ was delivered to ex- 
 piate our offences, and that the expiation was finished 
 at his death; without asserting that all were justified 
 at his resurrection. Though his atonement was com- 
 
72 
 
 pleted at his death, the work of justifying may not- 
 withstanding be carried on till time shall be no longer. 
 And unless this is the case, how could the Apostle 
 have, in the verse immediately preceding, represented 
 justification as posterior to faith, saying, " Now it was 
 not written for his sake alone that it," the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, " was imputed to him ; but for us also, 
 to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that 
 raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ?" If all were 
 justified, for it must be remembered that the word in 
 question signifies justification and not pardon; why is 
 it affirmed that he was exalted to give repentance and 
 remission of sin ? Why are faith and repentance, as 
 we have just now seen, uniformly declared to pre- 
 cede pardon and justification ? And, since justifica- 
 tion infallibly ensures eternal life ; if all were justi- 
 fied at his resurrection, why do any perish ? Rom. v. 
 8— 10, viii. 30—34. 
 
 We must now take leave of this subject, by saying 
 that, if faith and repentance retain a place under the 
 gospel ; and are declared by Him in whose hands are 
 our life and breath, and whose are all our ways, to 
 precede the forgiveness of sin, and our acceptance 
 with God ; if He who holds the keys of hell and of 
 death, and who opens and no man shuts, and shuts 
 and no man opens ; if He has assured us that except 
 we repent we shall perish, and that he that believeth 
 not shall not see life : it betrays no ordinary degree of 
 
73 
 
 hardihood, and is accompanied by no common peril, to 
 tell the guilty, blinded, perverse, and perishing child- 
 ren of men ; that, notwithstanding all that He has 
 said, they shall be sav r ed without either faith or re- 
 pentance, if they will only assume their interest in 
 Christ, believe that they are safe, and go on rejoicing 
 in their security. In every age, multitudes have been 
 striving to evade the obligation to repent to the ac- 
 knowledgment of the truth, and to discover some sub- 
 stitute for faith in the Son of God. This is the first 
 time, that any man under the profession of a regard 
 to the honour of the Redeemer, gravely recommended 
 an assumption of an interest in his righteousness, as 
 a substitute for faith in his person and work. Such a 
 scheme is what they have been long seeking in vain : 
 and when they hear it proposed under a profession of 
 superior zeal for religion, they will hail it with de- 
 light, and embrace it with avidity. 
 
 But is an assumption of an interest in Christ, the 
 process which the Scriptures point out for securing 
 the blessings purchased by his death ? Is this what 
 they intend by the work of God ? Is this what is 
 understood by striving to enter in at the strait gate, 
 and taking the kingdom of heaven by violence ? Is it 
 thus that we are to win Christ and be found in him? 
 Is this assumption the work of God ; and is nothing 
 less sufficient to produce it, than the mighty power 
 which was exerted in raising Christ from the dead ? 
 
74 
 
 If we are to trust the scriptural statements of the 
 manner in which a soul is brought into a saving rela- 
 tion to the Lord Jesus Christ ; we must without hesi- 
 tation maintain that a man may live and die, clinging 
 tenaciously to this assumption, and yet be destitute of 
 either part or lot in the gospel. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 ASSURANCE DOES NOT CONSIST IN A CONSCIOUSNESS THAT WE BELIEVE 
 THE GENERAL STATEMENTS OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Many imagine that our consciousness that we be- 
 lieve the gospel report, is sufficient to assure us of 
 our own salvation. They are accustomed to reason 
 as follows. " The Bible tells us, that God so loved 
 the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish but 
 have everlasting life ; that Christ came to seek and to 
 save that which was lost ; that he died for the ungod- 
 ly, and is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin 
 of the world. 
 
 " Now, can you be at any loss to discover whether 
 you believe or disbelieve these declarations ? When a 
 man informs you that your deceased friend has ap- 
 pointed you his heir; and bequeathed to you a legacy 
 of a thousand a year: are you unable to determine 
 whether or not you credit this intelligence? And 
 
75 
 
 with the Scriptures of truth in your hands, affirming 
 that Christ is the propitiation for sin, and the Saviour 
 of the world; can any thing be easier than to decide 
 whether or not you believe their announcements ? 
 
 " If you believe them, you are safe. The word of 
 that God who said, * He that believeth shall be sav- 
 ed,' is pledged for your security. You may go on 
 your way rejoicing : for till you enter the gates of 
 glory, you never can obtain more firm and infallible 
 evidence for your everlasting happiness. But if 
 whilst you admit that God has loved the world, and 
 Christ has died for the ungodly; you doubt if God 
 loves you, and Christ has died for you, you make 
 God a liar. For what else than a charge of falsehood 
 against God can be the consequence of acknowledging 
 that you are an inhabitant of the world, and that you 
 are ungodly; and yet, though God says he loves the 
 world, and Christ died for the ungodly, denying that 
 he loves you, and gave Christ to die for you ?" 
 
 This is what is called assurance from the direct act 
 of faith ; from the belief of what God has revealed in 
 his word, independently of all evidence from a work 
 of grace in the heart. Those who plead for this as- 
 surance, are hostile to that comfort which is derived 
 from what is called the reflex act of faith, or sancti- 
 fication. They imagine that the latter is in its own 
 nature changeable, uncertain, and of a legal tendency : 
 but they consider the former as clear, strong, steady, 
 
76 
 
 and what is calculated to destroy every self-righteous 
 bias. 
 
 This theory proceeds upon the supposition, that the 
 essence of saving faith consists in believing the gener- 
 al declarations of the gospel, such as that Christ is the 
 Saviour of the world and the propitiation for sin, or 
 our own Saviour ; and that we are to discover the ex- 
 istence of this belief, by our consciousness, or the 
 operations of our own minds. 
 
 If the first of these notions were correct, there could 
 be little occasion to dispute about the second. If the 
 essence of saving faith consist in merely believing such 
 propositions as that Christ is the Lamb of God that 
 taketh away the sin of the world, that he died for the 
 ungodly ; or that he died for us : in other words, if all 
 were real Christians who simply believe these things ; 
 then we should not hesitate to allow that our conscious- 
 ness is a sufficient evidence of our faith. For no man 
 in his sound judgment can be at a loss to recount the 
 articles of his creed, or unable to tell us what he be- 
 lieves. But if we cannot grant that such is the essence 
 of saving faith, we must pause before we concede that 
 consciousness is either the only or a sufficient proof of 
 the presence of such a faith. 
 
 Now, we are unable to grant that a bare assent to 
 the truth, or a mere belief of the doctrines of Christ- 
 ianity, is saving faith. There can be no faith without 
 such a belief. " All Scripture is given by inspiration 
 
77 
 
 of God." It is all founded on the same authority ; di- 
 rected to the same blessed ends ; and alike entitled to 
 our instant and absolute confidence. On the same 
 principle, therefore, on which we are informed, that, 
 whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend 
 in one point, is guilty of all : we are obliged to affirm, 
 that, whosoever shall acknowledge the truth of the 
 whole word of God, with the exception of one article, 
 has no faith whatever, but is an unbeliever. But 
 still, whilst we admit the importance of every propos- 
 ition in the sacred volume, and strenuously contend for 
 the necessity of believing all that it contains ; we can- 
 not consent to the opinion that saving faith consists in 
 merely believing the doctrines of the gospel, or assent- 
 ing to the truth of even all that the Bible reveals. 
 This belief is widely different from saving faith in its 
 object, nature, origin, and effects. 
 
 1. This belief differs from saving faith in its object. 
 
 To prevent mistakes respecting the object of faith, 
 and convey clear and distinct ideas of the subject ; it 
 is described in Scripture, both in direct terms and by 
 figurative representations. But in whatever form the 
 subject is introduced, it is invariably implied, that 
 faith does not terminate upon any doctrinal proposi- 
 tions, but upon Christ and his work. It employs the 
 calls, invitations, and promises of the gospel, to un- 
 ite the soul to Jesus, and give the believer an interest 
 G 
 
78 
 
 in bis righteousness. Never did the Apostles, either 
 in their sermons or epistles exhort the unconverted to 
 believe that God loved them, that Christ died for 
 them ; nor assert that, by simply believing the truths 
 which were stated, they should be saved. They invaria- 
 bly held up Christ and his work as the ultimate object 
 of faith, and enjoined their hearers to believe on him. 
 When the faith of believers is mentioned, it is said to 
 be faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. " The verb and 
 the noun in question," believe and faith, " occur up- 
 wards of fifty times in the New Testament, with the 
 preposition iU (on) governing the object of them; and 
 in not one of these instances is that object a proposi- 
 tion to be believed ; whereas the same words occur 
 nineteen times, construed with the conjunction on (that) 
 and in all these cases the object is a proposition either 
 expressed or plainly and definitively referred to. The 
 one form runs thus, Believe on God, on me, on my 
 name, on the Son of God, &c. the other runs, Be- 
 lieve that I came forth from God, that thou hast sent 
 me, that Jesus is the Christ, &c."* But to believe on a 
 person, is quite a different thing from believing a 
 doctrinal truth. To believe a doctrine is merely to be 
 convinced of its reality. To believe on Christ is to 
 trust in him for our own salvation, and to rest on him 
 for all the blessed purposes for which he is offered. 
 
 * The Old Doctrine of Faith, by the Rev. James Carlile, p. 48. 
 
79 
 
 To believe that Jesus is the Messiah, or the Son of 
 God is merely to be persuaded of the truth of these 
 facts ; but this persuasion is not necessarily connected 
 with any exercise of the heart, nor reliance on him for 
 our own salvation, which the Scriptures represent as 
 essential to faith. 
 
 This conclusion is confirmed by the figures employ- 
 ed to illustrate the nature of faith. It is often repre- 
 sented by looking to Christ, by turning to him, coming 
 to him, fleeing to him. Now, is it credible that words 
 so strongly expressive of activity, denote no more than 
 a passive belief that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of 
 God. When faith is described by entering into the 
 ark ; looking at the brazen serpent; fleeing for protec- 
 tion to the city of refuge : can we seriously suppose 
 that all this means no more, than our coolly standing 
 still where we are, and believing that we are already 
 safe, the objects of Divine love, and redeemed by the 
 blood of Christ ? Unbelief, which is the opposite of 
 faith, does not consist in doubting our own safety, or 
 that Christ died for us ; but in denying the record 
 which God has given concerning him and refusing to 
 trust in him for our own salvation. 
 
 It is true that the Scriptures declare, that " whoso- 
 ever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." 
 But then, in the judgment of Mr Scott,* this means, 
 
 • Works Vol. I. p. 461. 
 G 2 
 
80 
 
 that " His faith is the effect and evidence of his re- 
 generation, and not the cause of it. This is generally- 
 allowed to be the order of construction, where he says 
 " Every one that loveth is born of God ; and every one 
 that doeth righteousness is born of God. And by 
 what rule do we reverse it when speaking of faith?" 
 
 Granting, however, that this language was intended 
 to describe the nature of faith ; to any man who con- 
 nects it with the other scriptural accounts of that 
 grace, and remembers that faith is the gift of God, 
 that it leads its possessor to count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, to live 
 in heaven and have his conversation there; these 
 words of the Apostle can create no difficulty nor con- 
 fusion. He immediately explains and limits his mean- 
 ing, and places it beyond the possibility of mistake or 
 doubt : by adding, that he who possesses this faith, 
 " is born of God;" and that this faith includes love in 
 its very essence, and manifests its reality both by love 
 to God and the brethren. " Whosoever believeth that 
 Jesus is the Christ is born of God : and every one 
 that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is 
 begotten of him. By this we know that we love the 
 children of God, when we love God, and keep his 
 commandments. For this is the love of God, that we 
 keep his commandments ; and his commandments are 
 not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God over- 
 cometh the world ; and this is the victory that over- 
 
81 
 
 cometh the world, even our faith," 1 John v. 1 — 4. 
 But will any man deliberately affirm, that the chief 
 rulers who believed on Christ, but because of the 
 Pharisees they did not confess him, for they loved 
 the praise of men more than the praise of God ; that 
 Judas, who declared that he had sinned in that he had 
 betrayed the innocent blood : were born of God, 
 loved his people, kept his commandments, and over- 
 came the world ? "Were the devils, who knew who 
 he was, born of God ? John iii. 42. Luke iv. 41. 
 
 The Apostle in fact teaches us that faith and regen- 
 eration are correlatives ; and that he who is unre- 
 generate and destitute of love to God and the brethren, 
 is an unbeliever. 
 
 2. This belief differs widely from saving faith in its 
 nature. 
 
 If there were no dead faith ; if all faith were alike ; 
 if the same name were never applied to things appar- 
 ently similar, but in reality essentially different ; in 
 other words, were there only one kind of faith, and 
 no other could exist : then every man, who possesses 
 any thing which passes by the name of faith, would be 
 a believer. No matter whether it were a bare belief 
 of the truth, or a belief of it with the heart ; he would 
 in either case be a believer, and perfectly safe for 
 eternity. 
 
 But when in every other case we find that there is 
 G 3 
 
82 
 
 an immense difference betwixt the substance and the 
 shadow, betwixt the form and the power : dare we 
 say that all faith is alike ; and that, if the creed be 
 correct we need not inquire after the state of the 
 heart ? When we read of some who have a name 
 that they live, but are dead ; of some whose hearts 
 were far from God, though they approached him 
 daily as a people that did righteousness and forsook 
 not the ordinances of God ; and of others who deceive 
 themselves by being hearers of the word, without do- 
 ing its work ; are we to suppose that there is no false 
 nor spurious faith ; and that every thing which bears 
 this name is equally profitable and precious ? When 
 we hear of a faith which is dead being alone ; of some 
 that believed, but Jesus would not commit himself un- 
 to them ; of a distinction betwixt believing, and being 
 his disciples indeed ; of some who held the truth in un- 
 righteousness ; of Simon Magus who believed, while 
 he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity ; 
 and are told that the devils believe and tremble : we 
 dare not assert that all faith is alike, and that our 
 state is safe because we believe that Jesus died for the 
 ungodly. Though the gospel is addressed indiscrim- 
 inately to all, and faith includes a belief of what it re- 
 veals ; the essence of saving faith no more consists in 
 believing its general statements, or that we are safe, 
 or that Christ died for us ; than the essence of obed- 
 ience consists in believing that we have fulfilled the 
 
83 
 
 righteousness of the law, or that its commands and 
 threatenings are addressed to us individually. With- 
 out believing that we are comprehended both in the 
 precepts and penalties of the law, we will not submit 
 to its authority, nor dread its denunciations. And 
 though in saving faith there is uniformly a belief of 
 the general and precious invitations of the glorious 
 gospel ; faith no more stops there, than obedience con- 
 fines itself to the belief of the universal extent and the 
 equitable character of the law. They who obey the 
 law regard its precepts concerning all things to be 
 right; and cordially comply with its requisitions. 
 And in the faith that saves the soul, there is not only 
 a belief of the gospel as true, but an admiration of the 
 grace which it reveals, a cordial acceptance of the sal- 
 vation which it contains, and a firm and grateful re- 
 liance on the righteousness of Him who, though he 
 knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him. 
 
 Did this fact require additional confirmation, it 
 would be found in the representations which the 
 Scriptures give of the nature of saving faith. It 
 is described by hearing, hearkening to, yielding to, 
 and obeying the gospel. It is declared to be unfeign- 
 ed, to be a believing with the heart ; with all the heart ; 
 to be a receiving the things freely given of God ; a re- 
 ceiving the truth in love ; a receiving of the word with 
 gladness ; a receiving of Christ ; a putting on of the 
 
Si 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; a taking hold of his strength ; an 
 eating of his flesh, and a drinking of his blood. And 
 when in these, and in almost every description of faith, 
 we find the exercise of the affections, or the reliance 
 of the heart on the glorious Redeemer included : is it 
 warrantable to affirm, that faith is a mere belief of the 
 doctrines of Christianity, or a bare assent to the 
 truth of the gospel? 
 
 I say in almost every description of faith: for some- 
 times its nature is stated more concisely ; and the ex- 
 ercise of the heart, as in that passage which has been 
 lately quoted, 1 John v. 1, is not expressly mention- 
 ed. But even in such cases, though the exercise of 
 the heart is not especially noticed, it is unquestionably 
 understood. Sometimes the same individual has a 
 number of names : as Coniah, Jeconiah, and Jehoiac- 
 hin. But because these are not all enumerated, 
 in any one passage, where the father of Salathiel is 
 introduced ; does it therefore follow that they do not 
 all belong to him ? The attributes of God are men- 
 tioned separately. But because the whole are not re- 
 peated every time that any one of them is made the 
 subject of contemplation : are we to infer that the 
 others are either denied or undervalued ? And after 
 the inspired penmen, have in different parts of their 
 writings, so distinctly stated the various elements 
 which enter into the nature of faith ; are we at liberty 
 to conclude, because the whole of these qualities are not 
 
85 
 
 enumerated* every time that faith is named ; that it was 
 their intention to exclude every thing from its nature 
 except the property which they at that particular mo- 
 ment are illustrating ? Writing under the influence 
 of the same Spirit, every sentence which they have 
 recorded is possessed of the same authority. How- 
 ever widely the description of the various ingredients 
 in the nature of faith may be scattered over the Holy 
 Scriptures ; every principle which is enumerated, is 
 as essential to its nature, and as necessary to give us 
 a full and perfect idea of its character; as if the Holy 
 Spirit had brought them all into one chapter or verse, 
 and subjected the whole to our view at a single glance. 
 When, therefore, we so frequently find saving faith 
 declared to be unfeigned, to be with the heart, and 
 with all the heart : we are compelled to affirm that 
 these qualities are essential to its existence ; and that 
 their presence is taken for granted, even in those ac- 
 counts of its nature where they are not expressly 
 mentioned. 
 
 3. This belief differs widely from saving faith in its 
 origin. 
 
 Saving faith is the gift of God. Man neither posses- 
 ses it naturally, nor can produce it by his own powers. 
 For faith is a spiritual principle : and man by nature 
 is carnal. He is sensual not having the Spirit. The 
 natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 
 
86 
 
 of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither 
 can he know them, because they are spiritually dis- 
 cerned. He is dead in trespasses and sins. He can- 
 not please God. But when faith is so precious in the 
 sight of God ; if man either possessed it in his natural 
 condition, or could acquire it for himself, how could it 
 be said that he cannot please God? 
 
 Being utterly unable to acquire it for himself, it is 
 declared to be the gift of God, to be the effect of his 
 operation. Coming to Christ is a phrase descriptive 
 of believing on him. But Jesus says " No man can 
 come unto me except it were given unto him of my 
 Father/' It is also called a gift of the Spirit ; and we 
 are told that no man can even call Christ Lord but by 
 thb Holy Ghost. 
 
 But to believe speculatively that Jesus is the Christ, 
 01 assent to the truths of the gospel; is no more be- 
 yond the reach of our natural powers, than to believe 
 the discoveries of Science, or assent to the conclu- 
 sions of Arithmetic. Multitudes believe the doctrines 
 of Christianity on the authority of their parents and 
 teachers. They never doubt them. They are firmly 
 persuaded of their reality ; while all along they are 
 strangers to their saving and transforming power. 
 Such was the faith of the apostates, heretics, and 
 temporary professors mentioned in Scripture, who en- 
 dured for a while, and afterwards fell away. John vi. 
 66. Heb. vi. 4—8. 1 John ii. 19 
 
S7 
 
 But can we say that their faith was the gift of the 
 Spirit ? that it was wrought in them by God ? and 
 revealed unto them by our Father in heaven. Mat. 
 xvi. 15 — 17. xi. 25. The gifts and callings of God are 
 irrevocable. If it had been implanted in the heart by 
 his hand ; however much tried and shaken, it would 
 not have failed, but have nobly surmounted all opposi- 
 tion, and have endured unto the end. Luke xvi. 31, 
 32. John iv. 12, 14: vi. 47—55. 
 
 4. This belief differs widely from saving faith in 
 its effects. 
 
 Saving faith uniformly purifies the heart and works 
 by love. It humbles its posessor, and inspires him 
 with lowly ideas of his own attainments and services. 
 It creates a lively solicitude for the improvement and 
 welfare of all mankind, and endears the Redeemer to 
 the soul. They who savingly believe are born of 
 God : they are the children of God, and the heirs 
 of promise. The least degree of this faith ensures 
 eternal life. Without distinction betwixt weak, or 
 strong faith, the word is passed, " He that believeth 
 shall be saved." And therefore though the faith of 
 Peter was mixed with doubts and sad misgivings ; 
 since it was real, it was not allowed to fail. 
 
 But can we ascribe such effects as these to a mere 
 assent to the truth? to a belief of the general doctrines 
 of the gospel ? to the conviction that Christ is the 
 
88 
 
 Son of God, and the Saviour of the world ? 
 As we denominate a picture from its original, and 
 give the man the name of what he professes, though 
 destitute of its reality : those who possess such a 
 persuasion are, both in common language and in 
 Scripture, designated believers. But can we truly 
 say of such men that they are sanctified through the 
 truth? that to them Christ is precious? that they 
 are born of God ? that God dwells in them and they 
 in him ? that they live by faith, and walk with God ? 
 that they are partakers of the divine nature, and shall 
 inherit eternal life? 
 
 Compared with the faith of the operation of God, it 
 is not faith at all ; and no more entitled to that name, 
 than the picture of the tree can properly be called an 
 oak, or his statue can be styled the king. Such a faith 
 is unprofitable and vain. It cannot sanctify the na- 
 ture, and therefore is unable to save the soul. It 
 cannot subdue our iniquities, and therefore it is incap- 
 able of giving spiritual life to our hearts. It cannot 
 introduce us to the exercises and enjoyments of grace; 
 and must therefore be utterly unfit to carry us into 
 the world of glory. 
 
 Such a feigned and spurious faith may be connected 
 with much religious knowledge as well as moral de- 
 corum. As Mr Scott observes " A dead corpse may 
 have every limb, organ, and vessel, in exact order and 
 proportion : while a living man may want an eye, a 
 
89 
 
 leg", or hand, or be otherwise mutilated, defective, and 
 ill proportioned." Some real christians are very de- 
 ficient in their information, whilst many ungodly men 
 are masters of the whole system of revelation. But 
 whatever truth the former know, they have received 
 it in love, and are solicitous to be instructed fully in 
 the whole will of God. But while the latter can de- 
 fine every doctrine in the Bible, and assent to the truth 
 of all that it reveals ; they are strangers to the faith 
 that saves the soul. They hold the truth; but it is 
 in unrighteousness. They believe ; but, like Simon the 
 Sorcerer, their hearts are in the gall of bitterness and 
 bond of iniquity. They have faith: but they want works. 
 And « faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. 
 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith 
 without works is dead also." If we are not possessed 
 of a new nature ; we may subscribe to the truth of 
 every syllable which the Bible contains, and yet be 
 eternally undone. For unless we are born again, be- 
 lieve what we will, we are of our father the devil. 
 " In this the children of God are manifest, and the 
 children of the devil : whosoever doeth not righteous- 
 ness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his 
 brother." 
 
 Enough, I trust, has been said, to expose the notion 
 that saving faith consists in a mere assent to the truths 
 
 of Christianity. It differs from such an assent in every 
 
 H 
 
90 
 
 important and leading characteristic. It differs from 
 it in its object, its nature, origin, and effects. 
 
 And if the foundation fail, there is no necessity for 
 spending time to bring down the superstructure. It 
 will fall of its own accord. If saving faith does not 
 consist in a speculative belief of the doctrines of the 
 gospel : no genuine assurance can be derived from a 
 consciousness that we possess such a belief. Indeed 
 the testimony of consciousness, when unsupported by 
 other evidence, is at all times a very suspicious proof 
 either of a man's state or character. When the mind 
 is enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and the heart puri- 
 fied by grace ; the testimony of our consciousness to 
 this blessed and glorious transformation, is invaluable. 
 It is in this happy situation that the Holy Spirit gives 
 his attestation to the reality of our regeneration. It 
 is then that he bears witness with our spirits that we 
 are the sons of God. 
 
 But when separated from the enlightening and 
 renovating work of the Holy Spirit, the testimony of 
 consciousness is merely an index of our own opinion 
 and belief. It proves what notion we entertain of 
 ourselves; but it affords no test of our moral charac- 
 ter or religious state. At some happy moments, when 
 the Holy Ghost shines into our hearts, to give us the 
 light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face 
 of Christ Jesus, and unfold to us the sincerity of our 
 
91 
 
 own faith and love ; we are able to realize onr union 
 to the Redeemer, and exult in the anticipation of our 
 everlasting- presence with him in the world of purity 
 and peace. Our hearts condemn us not ; and we have 
 confidence before him. But if the Spirit of all grace 
 withdraw the light of his countenance, and suspend 
 the heart-cheering supplies of his power and love ; we 
 are filled with alarm and trouble, with perplexity 
 and darkness. 
 
 Real christians are habitually humble diffident and 
 cautious. They have the worm-wood and gall of a 
 natural condition still in remembrance : and they well 
 know the worth of the object at stake. But of all the 
 men whom the earth carries, none are more bold, con- 
 fident and secure than the graceless and ungodly. 
 Strangers to the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and 
 destitute alike of spiritual experience and discernment ; 
 they are totally unable to distinguish the things that 
 differ. They cannot tell what are the circumstances 
 which characterize a state of nature, nor what are 
 those which indicate a state of grace. A man igno- 
 rant of letters is unable to determine whether the pa- 
 per with which he is presented, is a post-bill or an ex- 
 cise document. To the blind, all colours are alike. 
 And a man who never was brought under the power of 
 religion, cannot from his personal knowledge perceive 
 the contrast betwixt the way of peace and the way of 
 
 death ; and will advance with as much alacrity on the 
 H2 
 
92 
 
 road to destruction, as if he had taken the path to 
 everlasting bliss. 
 
 Opposite causes frequently produce effects very sim- 
 ilar in appearance. The lethargy of disease is as pro- 
 found as the slumber of health. The sleep of death is 
 more unbroken than the repose of the living- The 
 peace of the seared conscience is more undisturbed 
 than the rest of the heart which has been purged by 
 the blood of sprinkling. From his past falls and re- 
 maining imperfections, the believer learns not to be 
 high-minded, but to fear ; and the stirrings of corrup- 
 tion and the assaults of Satan often fill him with appre- 
 hensions and keep him at all times humble and watch- 
 ful. But dead in tresspasses and sins, how can the 
 graceless be disquieted by the deceitfulness of their 
 hearts, or harassed and dismayed by the onsets of Sa- 
 tan ? As Boston says somewhere, " Many a groan 
 is heard from the sick-bed, but none from the grave." 
 Many a fear distracts the heart of the contrite : but no 
 complaint escapes from the lips, nor any uneasiness 
 nor alarm saddens the soul of the carnal. All is bur- 
 ied in the reign of darkness, and subjected to the sil- 
 ence and insensibility of death. 
 
 If therefore you leave men to decide their eternal 
 condition by their consciousness, the first will always 
 keep foremost ; the basest will fancy that they stand 
 highest in the divine esteem; and the brightest of the 
 
93 
 
 celestial crowns would be seized by those, whom the 
 righteous Judge will consign to endless perdition. 
 Saul was conscious that he had kept the command- 
 ment of the Lord, when returning from its violation. 
 There is a generation clean in their own eyes, while 
 they are not washed from their iniquity. Who ever 
 were more conscious of their own freedom than the 
 Jews, when in bondage to their own lusts and pas- 
 sions ? Or who ever possessed a stronger conscious- 
 ness of his own worth than the Pharisee, who thanked 
 God that he was not like other men, nor the Publican 
 who went down to his house justified, while he him- 
 self was condemned ? 
 
 This blind boldness andfatal presumption last through 
 life, and go down with the graceless to the grave. 
 They feed on ashes : a deceived heart hath turned 
 them aside, they cannot deliver their soul, nor say, 
 Is there not a lie in our right hand ? They have no 
 bands in their death : and nothing breaks the dreadful 
 spell by which they are bound, till they are encom- 
 passed with the horrors of a ruined eternity. Mat. vii. 
 21—23. 
 
 Let every reader who values his own present spirit- 
 ual prosperity and everlasting welfare, guard against 
 this rock on which others have made shipwreck ; 
 and never rest till he obtain better evidence than that 
 furnished by his own opinion or belief of his own in- 
 H 3 
 
94 
 
 terest in Christ, and of his right through him to ever- 
 lasting life. 
 
 Much of the mischief which we have cause to de- 
 plore, has arisen from confounding the warrant to 
 believe on Christ, with the evidence that we are be- 
 lievers. Our warrant to believe is the word of God. 
 This extends to the whole human race. The univer- 
 sal calls and the free offers of the gospel, are an ample 
 encouragement and an absolute authority to every 
 child of Adam, to go to Christ, and believe on him 
 for his own salvation. What more can the vilest and 
 most worthless of the species desire, than the declara- 
 tion that the Son of man has come to seek and to save 
 that which was lost; the commandment, addressed 
 without distinction to all to believe on his name ; and 
 the positive promise, that whosoever believeth on him 
 shall not perish, but have everlasting life ? 
 
 These invitations are directed indiscriminately to 
 all, and form a warrant to every man to believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by such general invita- 
 tions as these that hope is first raised in the guilty 
 breast, and the trembling steps of the rebellious wan- 
 derer are turned into the way of peace. Without 
 such gracious and unlimited encouragement : the sin- 
 ner when awakened to a view of his criminality and 
 danger; terrified and overwhelmed by the number 
 and enormity of his offences, would instantly conclude 
 
95 
 
 that his case could admit of no remedy nor relief, and 
 sit down in despair and die. But the kind and com- 
 prehensive language of the gospel reaches the most 
 forlorn and wounded heart, and emboldens the most 
 wretched and dejected to look to Christ that they may 
 live, and believe on him that they may be saved. 
 
 But our evidence that we are believers, that we 
 have actually gone to Christ, entrusted our interests 
 into his hands, and believed on him to the saving of 
 the soul ; is quite another matter. This does not con- 
 sist in the calls, invitations and promises of the gos- 
 pel ; but in the fruits and effects of faith ; in what 
 proves that we have believed the testimony of God, 
 and are made partakers of the grace that is in Christ. 
 The word of God, the addresses of the gospel, only 
 unfold the nature of this dispensation of mercy, and 
 tell us what has been done for the salvation of men : 
 but they cannot inform us of the treatment which we 
 have given the message of peace. This is information 
 which must be learned, not from an examination of 
 the record, but of our own hearts and lives. The 
 calls and invitations are the common property of the 
 species. But unless all men shall actually be saved ; 
 the mere existence of these calls and invitations, ex- 
 cept they are believed and embraced, will not save us. 
 
 Were a king freely to pardon the whole of a rebel- 
 ious province : his royal proclamation, whether it was < 
 known or unknown, welcomed or rejected, would en- 
 
96 
 
 sure the safety of all. But would this be the case if 
 the pardon were restricted to those who were qualifi- 
 ed in a particular manner, from age, character, or 
 any other consideration ? In such a case, before any 
 individual could derive the smallest advantage from its 
 provisions, he must be able to shew, that he is possessed 
 of the requisite qualification. If the gospel had pro- 
 claimed the free forgiveness of all the children of men ; 
 in whatever manner he would have regarded it, every 
 individual would have been perfectly safe. But since 
 it is an authoratative command on all men to accept 
 its blessings, accompanied with a positive promise of 
 salvation to ail who believe and embrace it ; and since 
 instead of ensuring the peace and safety of those who 
 reject or disregard it, it denounces against them in- 
 dignation and wrath ; it is manifest, that unless we 
 believe it and embrace it, the mere possession of the 
 record cannot save us. If the salvation is left without 
 us, we must be without salvation. If we neglect to 
 lay hold of it, and make it our own, amidst all the 
 rich and inexhaustible promises of the gospel, we must 
 perish. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 ON THE MEANS BY WHICH ASSURANCE IS OBTAINED. 
 
 The cause uniformly precedes the effect. The 
 tree must exist before the fruit : the fountain be- 
 
97 
 
 fore its stream : light before vision : and faith before 
 assurance. 
 
 To those who have the Bible in their hands, and 
 admit its authority, it is needless to prove that we are 
 saved only through Christ Jesus. The unbroken tes- 
 timony of the pages of inspiration is, that whilst he is 
 able to save to the uttermost, there is salvation in no 
 other. 
 
 And it is just as evident that salvation is of faith. 
 " It is of faith, that it might be by grace." " He that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved : but he that 
 believeth not shall be damned." 
 
 Till therefore we possess faith, we are not christians. 
 We have no connection with the Redeemer. We 
 are under sentence of condemnation, and exposed to all 
 the consequences of our sins. Whenever we believe 
 assurance becomes attainable. But any peace, hope, 
 or confidence which we entertain before we possess 
 faith in Christ, is false and spurious. It is only pre- 
 sumption and delusion : and will infallibly mislead us 
 to our utter confusion and everlasting ruin. 
 
 Since therefore assurance is so inseparably connect- 
 ed with faith, the question is, How are we to ascer- 
 tain the existence of faith? for whatever proves that 
 we are believers, lays a foundation for assurance, and 
 authorises us to infer our own interest in the ever- 
 lasting gospel. 
 
 Faith comes from Christ, and it leads to him. It 
 
98 
 
 exalts him in our esteem, and endears him to our 
 hearts. It unites the soul to him ; and renders him in 
 our happiness and in our hopes all in all. From the 
 commencement to the close of its course, faith is 
 occupied with him supremely, and cleaves to him only. 
 It is that grace by which we receive and rest on him 
 alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. 
 Its presence may be invariably known by, 
 
 1. Leading us to an entire renunciation of all de- 
 pendence on our own righteousness for acceptance 
 with God. 
 
 Before faith comes, we are righteous in our own 
 esteem. We may not be so good as we ought, nor so 
 good as we wish : but still we imagine that on the 
 whole there are many excellencies in our character ; 
 and that at any rate we are equal, if not greatly su- 
 perior, to most of our neighbours. We may be 
 chargeable with omissions, defects, or even with pos- 
 itive offences: but still, after all, we are not thorough- 
 ly depraved, and totally helpless. Our general in- 
 tegrity, our benevolence, or our religious observances, 
 will compensate for our trivial faults, or occasional 
 deviations from the paths of rectitude and piety. But 
 whatever may be the delusion to which we have re- 
 course ; while ignorant of the righteousness of God, 
 we go about to establish a righteousness of our own, 
 and submit not unto the righteousness of God. Like 
 
99 
 
 the Apostle, we are alive without the law ; but when 
 the commandment comes, sin revives, and we die. 
 
 But when we see our own character in the light of 
 the holy law ; we discover a most appalling and in- 
 supportable sight. We find that we are altogeth- 
 er as an unclean thing, and that all our righteousness- 
 es are as filthy rags. We find that those hearts, 
 which we had regarded as pure and generous, are 
 deceitful above all things and desparately wicked. 
 Sin, which we considered as a trifling and insignifi- 
 cant evil ; we find is exceedingly sinful, and the 
 abominable thing which God hates. With a holy God 
 above us, a righteous tribunal in view, and an endless 
 existence before us ; we would not venture into eter- 
 nity with such a deficient, worm-eaten and worthless 
 righteousness, for all that the earth possesses and the 
 whole creation contains. Each believer can say for 
 himself: " What things were gain to me, those I 
 counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count 
 all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge 
 of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom T have suffered 
 the loss of all things, and do count them but dung 
 that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not hav- 
 ing mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but 
 that which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
 eousness which is of God by faith." 
 
 This is one thing absolutely essential to the nature 
 of faith. As long as we retain the smallest depend- 
 
100 
 
 ence on our own righteousness, whether in the form 
 of morality or religion ; we are strangers to the faith 
 of the gospel. We are seeking righteousness by the 
 works of the law. We are guilty of high treason 
 against the righteousness of Christ, and entail on our- 
 selves all the curses of the law. His righteousness 
 can no more be blended with our own, than the ser- 
 vice of God with that of Mammon. Faith ensures 
 justification. But on the authority of the Apostle we 
 know, that whenever there is an attempt to establish 
 a righteousness by the law; justification is forfeited; 
 there is a fall from grace ; and the man has no faith 
 whatever. " Christ is become of no effect unto you, 
 whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are fal- 
 len from grace," 
 
 2. By a cordial reliance for our acceptance before 
 God on the righteousness of Christ. 
 
 When convinced of our sinfulness, we find that we 
 not only need the forgiveness of our offences, but a 
 righteousness to fit us for standing in the presence and 
 enjoying the favour of God. Vast and invaluable as 
 the pardon of sin is, it sinks as far below the worth of 
 righteousness ; as the deliverance from hell and from 
 the society of the devil and his angels, falls below the 
 possession of heaven and the enjoyment of the cove- 
 nant-fulness of an infinite and an all-sufficient God. 
 We carry within us a precious and immortal spirit, 
 
101 
 
 which is possessed of large capacities and strong 
 and vigorous powers. In the presence, in the love, 
 and in the image of the Most High, there is enough 
 not only to fill and feast our hearts, but to transport 
 and ravish a universe, and endure unimpaired through 
 an endless existence. 
 
 But, granting that every stain of guilt were erased, 
 that every iniquity were blotted out and all our per- 
 versness and rebellion were forgotten ; how are bene- 
 fits so sublime and unbounded to be secured ? How 
 are we to earn a title to their possession ? What 
 claim can we advance to the least in all their number ? 
 Sooner with our contracted arm may we grasp the 
 stars, or call worlds into being with our feeble word ; 
 than by our personal exertions merit a right to the small- 
 est in the whole of this bright assemblage of blessings. 
 
 The right however which we need is here. Jesus 
 has not only discharged our debt, but as our surety 
 has fulfilled all righteousness, magnified the law and 
 made it honourable. He has not only restored what 
 he took not away, but raised us to an elevation higher 
 than that from which we fell, and conferred on us a 
 title to a felicity more vast and invaluable than that 
 which we have forfeited. He has purchased an inherit- 
 ance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away ; and secured the privilege of becoming not only 
 the subjects, but the friends; not only the servants 
 
 but the sons of God. 
 
 I 
 
102 
 
 This righteousness is perfect in all its parts, and 
 possessed of infinite value : for it is the righteousness 
 of Him, who is God as well as man ; and who is in all, 
 and through all, and over all. He became man that 
 he might obey and suffer. But never had the eyes of 
 angels fastened on such a production of Omnipotence 
 as the human nature of our Lord. No evil emotion 
 could ever penetrate his soul. It was pure as his own 
 eternal Godhead. And his body, which was conse- 
 crated, ennobled and enshrined by his Divinity, was a 
 more sacred and interesting object, than the dazzling 
 magnificence of the wide creation : while the majesty 
 of the indwelling Deity gave to all his actions, and 
 sufferings, an unknown, inexhaustible and infinite 
 dignity and worth. 
 
 Thus perfectly prepared and divinely furnished, he 
 embarked in the arduous undertaking of expiating our 
 transgressions, and in bringing in an everlasting right- 
 eousness. The work was difficult, and far beyond the 
 reach of the whole of the hosts of God. But by him 
 every difficulty was successfully surmounted, and the 
 whole task nobly and completely accomplished. He 
 withdrew not from the service till he could say, 
 " Father, I have glorified thee on the earth : I have 
 finished the work which thou gavest me to do." 
 
 This is a righteousness capable of rescuing a rebel- 
 lious universe from guilt and wretchedness, and in- 
 vesting them in an immensity of bliss and an eternity 
 
103 
 
 of glory. " If by one man's offence death reigned by 
 one ; much more they who receive abundance of 
 grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in 
 life by one, Jesus Christ." 
 
 But infinitely pure and perfect as it is, it was pro- 
 vided for our benefit, and wrought out for our sakes. 
 He was wounded for our transgressions : he was 
 bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our 
 peace was upon him ; and by his stripes we are healed. 
 He who knew no sin, was made a sin-offering for us, 
 that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
 him. 
 
 This righteousness the believer embraces. On this 
 he places his dependence in life and his hope in death. 
 From this he derives his comfort now, and here he 
 fixes his trust for eternity. " Let the wise man glory 
 in his wisdom, let the mighty man glory in his might, 
 let the rich man glory in his riches : I will greatly 
 rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; 
 for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, 
 he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as 
 a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as 
 a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." 
 
 When he discovers his own guilt and misery, and 
 the absolute perfection and ineffable excellences of this 
 righteousness, the believer requires no force nor com- 
 pulsion to embrace it. When the avenger of blood 
 
 was at his heels, did the man-slayer require any vio- 
 
 I 2 
 
104 
 
 lence to urge him on to the asylum where he might 
 lodge secure ? When the deluge of wrath was descend- 
 ing, and all around becoming one watery waste, was 
 any force necessary to shut Noah up in the ark where 
 he might abide in safety amidst the wreck and horrors 
 of a sinking world ? And when conscience writes bit- 
 ter things against him, and makes him possess the ini- 
 quities of his youth ; when the heavens are gathering 
 blackness, and before him he sees, at the opening into 
 eternity, the piercing eyes of Omniscience looking fully 
 on him through the terrors of insulted, incensed omnipo- 
 tent justice: does the believer need any compulsion to 
 drive him out of his own lying refuges, and constrain 
 him to betake himself to the Divine and All-sufficient 
 righteousness of Immanuel ? No. He repairs to it 
 with eagerness, and clings to it with a tenacity that 
 time cannot relax, nor all the agonies of death dissolve. 
 We speak of trust, dependence, and reliance on this 
 righteousness. These however are terms far too feeble 
 to express the affection towards it, which the believer 
 feels. He prefers it to his chief joy ; glories in it as 
 all his salvation and all his desire, and determines to 
 know nothing else. Divinely precious and infinitely 
 perfect as it is, there is no part of it with which he can 
 dispense. Less than this cannot reach his wretched 
 case, nor impart the blesings that he wants. His pol- 
 luted and never-dying soul needs it all : and therefore 
 he embraces it wholly, and rests on it alone. 
 
105 
 
 3. By love to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 To you that believe he is precious. He is possessed 
 of every attribute and excellence. He is infinitely 
 great, and eternally blessed and glorious. He is the 
 perfection of majesty and beauty. He is altogether 
 lovely, the brightness of the Father's glory, and the 
 express image of his person. 
 
 But though the believer admires and adores him for 
 his infinite perfections and eternal excellencies ; the 
 whole derive an immense and inexpressible charm 
 from the wonders of redeeming mercy, and the tender- 
 ness and generosity of his saving grace. He has lov- 
 ed us and given himself for us. It is this astonishing 
 fact that over-powers the hosts of heaven, and calls 
 forth their most enraptured and melting strains of 
 adoring grateful praise. And it is this circumstance 
 which in our world of distance and darkness, dwells 
 nearest the believer's heart, and produces the most 
 powerful and affecting impression on his spirit. Jesus 
 is supreme in his esteem, and unutterably dear to his 
 soul. The Christian cannot live Avithout him. He 
 renounces all for his sake. Whatever obligations he 
 may owe his earthly benefactors, or whatever provi- 
 dential comforts he may enjoy, they shrink into insig- 
 nificance when compared with the blesssings in time 
 and through eternity which flow from the mediation 
 of Immanuel. He may have a taste for what is sub- 
 lime and magnificent in nature, and delight to contem- 
 I 3 
 
106 
 
 plate the manifestations of Divine power, wisdom, 
 and goodness spread so abundantly every where around 
 him : but the best and the brightest of them all have no 
 glory by reason of the glory that excelleth ; and draw- 
 ing away his thoughts and his eyes from the whole, 
 he says to his Redeemer and Lord, " Whom have I 
 in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth 
 whom I desire besides thee." 
 
 4. By obedience to his will. 
 " If ye love me keep my commandments. He that 
 hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is 
 that loveth me. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatso- 
 ever I command you." Such is the language of our 
 blessed Lord : and every one who believes on his 
 name, feels its force, and lives under its purifying 
 and transforming power. No matter to what service 
 or suffering he may be assigned : no matter whether 
 the duty to which he is called be easy or difficult, safe 
 or hazardous : he makes no hesitation nor delay. His 
 language is, " Here am I : the Lord do with me that 
 which seemeth good in his sight." The love of Christ 
 constrains him. He is not his own. He is bought 
 with a price : and therefore he labours to glorify God 
 in his body and spirit which are his. Whatever his 
 hand finds to do, he does with his might : and counts 
 not his life dear to himself, provided that Christ shall 
 be magnified in his body whether it be by life, or by 
 
107 
 
 death. In this manner faith appeared in the case of 
 the great Apostle of the Gentiles; and in that long 
 list of Worthies, recorded in the eleventh of the Heb- 
 rews, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought 
 righteousness, and obtained promises. In this manner 
 faith manifests itself in the case of every Christian. 
 The love of Christ constrains him : and he lives not to 
 himself, but to him who died for him, and rose again. 
 
 5. By conformity to his image. 
 He that sanctifleth and they who are sanctified are 
 all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call 
 them brethren. We are sanctified through the truth. 
 Our hearts are purified by faith. And though, in the 
 present life, our holiness is far from being complete 
 our renovation is begun, and our resemblance to Christ 
 is real. " Whom God did foreknow, them also did he 
 predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." 
 From the day that we know the truth as it is in 
 Jesus, old things pass away, and all things become 
 new; and all things are of God. The same mind 
 which was in Christ is in us, and we are in the world, 
 even as he was in the world. We live by the 
 same rule : mind the same things : pursue the same 
 ends. Like him we set the Lord continually be- 
 fore us ; his law is in our heart ; we are employ- 
 ed in his service; it is our meat to do his will, 
 and finish his work. Heaven is a holy place: the 
 
108 
 
 habitation of a holy God: and the seat of holy delights 
 and spiritual enjoyments. But all the vessels of mercy 
 are afore prepared unto glory, and made meet for the 
 inheritance of the saints in light. Accordingly, the 
 immediate vision of Immanuel's face in the world 
 above, does not begin our transformation into his im- 
 age, but merely perfects the assimilation which grace 
 had commenced in the world below. When he appears 
 we shall be like him : for we shall see him as he is. 
 Beholding openly his glory, we shall be changed in- 
 to the same image from glory to glory. 
 
 6. By longings for his presence. 
 
 Sin banished us from the Divine presence ; and re- 
 duced us to the state of strangers, aliens, and enemies. 
 It threw insurmountable obstacles in the way to God : 
 and deprived us alike of the ability and inclination to 
 return. But in Christ Jesus, we, who formerly were 
 far off, are made nigh by his blood. He is our peace. 
 He has broken down the walls of separation. He 
 has opened up a way into the holiest of all. Through 
 him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. So 
 that we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- 
 citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. 
 
 Knowing that life lies in his favour ; and that our 
 blessedness through eternity will consist in being near 
 him, and in seeing him as he is, every believer loves 
 his society now, and longs to enjoy all the pure and 
 
109 
 
 exquisite delights to be derived from elevating and 
 ennobling communion with him. It is for this purpose 
 that he searches the Scriptures, and makes the word 
 of Christ dwell in him richly. It is for this purpose 
 that he pours out his soul in prayer, and is found so of- 
 ten prostrate before the throne of grace. And it is for 
 this purpose that he attends the preaching of the gos- 
 pel, and frequents the ordinances of religion. In 
 these exercises he has something more exalted and in- 
 teresting in view, than merely to get his information 
 enlarged, or his frames and affections excited and en- 
 livened. His strong and intense desire is to see Je- 
 sus ; to behold his glory ; to lift up his soul before 
 him ; and enjoy those sublime and endearing tokens 
 of his presence and approbation which fill and feast 
 the heart, and afford a foretaste of celestial bliss. 
 
 7. By delight in spiritual enjoyments. 
 
 The riches of Christ are unsearchable. It hath 
 pleased the Father that in him should all fulness 
 dwell. The stores of nature, the bounties of provi- 
 dence, and the treasures of saving mercy, are all in 
 his hands and completely at his disposal. Knowledge, 
 pardon, righteousness, and strength, present grace and 
 future glory are all at his command and dispensed ac- 
 cording to the good pleasure of his goodness. 
 
 Each of his gifts is invaluable. Their full possess- 
 ion will constitute the substance of our heavenly in- 
 
no 
 
 heritance ; and their partial and limited acquisition at 
 present, forms the first-fruits of the Spirit, and fur- 
 nishes us with an anticipation of our future and ever- 
 lasting portion. 
 
 Every one therefore who knows the worth of salva- 
 tion, and is seriously desirous of being blessed with 
 the presence of God through eternity; has a strong 
 and intense longing now for religious employments 
 and spiritual delights. He thirsts not for wealth nor 
 fame, but for God, the living God, that he may see his 
 beauty and behold his glory. However large and pre- 
 cious communications of grace he may receive ; so far 
 are they from filling and satisfying his desires, that 
 they only excite a more ardent longing and vigorous 
 effort to secure the sublime honours and ineffable en- 
 joyments which he has not yet obtained. Forgetting 
 the things which are behind, and reaching forth to those 
 which are before, he presses on towards the mark for 
 the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus : 
 and can never be satisfied till he is blessed with all 
 spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, and 
 filled with all the fullness of God. 
 
 Such are the things which accompany salvation: 
 and by such things as these we are to judge of the 
 soundness of our faith and the safety of our state. 
 The illustration might have been greatly extended. 
 Many additional articles might have been introduced. 
 
Ill 
 
 For real religion, which is another name for faith and 
 its effects, includes every branch of practical godliness. 
 It renovates our nature, and produces a thorough 
 transformation upon our heart and life. It leads to 
 humility and self-denial. It inspires love to God and 
 man; and constrains us to undertake and accomplish all 
 that is within our power for the advancement of the 
 Divine honour and the present and everlasting wel- 
 fare of our brethren. 
 
 But though the subject might have been illustrated 
 at much greater length ; the little that has been al- 
 ready stated, may suffice to enable any man, who con- 
 scientiously enters upon the inquiry, to ascertain his 
 own situation in the sight of God. If his conscience 
 bear him witness in the Holy Ghost, that he has cor- 
 dially renounced all dependence upon his own right- 
 eousness; that he places his entire trust for acceptance 
 with God on the righteousness of Christ; that he loves 
 the Lord Jesus with his whole heart ; that he is sub- 
 missive to the Redeemer's authority and devoted to 
 his honour ; that he is growing in conformity to his 
 image, and is solicitous for more close communion 
 with him ; that he delights in religious exercises and 
 longs for spiritual enjoyments : if any man's conscience 
 bears him witness in the Holy Ghost that this is his 
 case, it is a token for good. It proves that he has pass- 
 ed from death to life ; and has obtained that faith 
 which saves the soul. To such the scriptures speak in 
 
112 
 
 the language of encouragement and promise. " Bless- 
 ed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the king- 
 dom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn : for 
 they shall be comforted, Blessed are they who hun- 
 ger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be 
 filled. Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall 
 see God. We know that we have passed from death 
 unto life, because we love the brethren. They that 
 are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections 
 and lusts. Grace be with all them that love our Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity. He that overcometh shall 
 inherit all things : and I will be his God, and he shall 
 be my son." 
 
 But without such fruits of righteousness as these, 
 we have no evidence of our own interest in the bless- 
 ings of the great salvation. Our faith is vain : and 
 we are yet in our sins. The same authority which 
 informs us of the power, the grace, and the all suffici- 
 ency of the Lord Jesus Christ, also describes the char- 
 acter of his people ; and whilst it announces that sal- 
 vation is of faith that it might be by grace, it likewise 
 proclaims the renovating influence and transforming 
 efficacy of that faith by which we are saved. It tells 
 us that this faith purifieth the heart, and worketh by 
 love ; that by it we are sanctified, and that it is the 
 substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of 
 things not seen ; that it is a living fruitful principle, 
 and productive of good works; and that we receive 
 
113 
 
 the Spirit, and Christ dwells in the heart by faith. 
 And it also informs us that if any man be in Christ 
 he is a new creature ; that he walks not after the flesh 
 but after the Spirit. 
 
 Now, are we at liberty to pick and choose amongst 
 the declarations of Scripture? Is the Bible more 
 worthy of our confidence, when it says, He that be- 
 lieveth shall be saved ; than when it assures us, that if 
 any man be in Christ he is a new creature; and faith 
 without works is dead ? Is it one God who has pro- 
 claimed the necessity of faith, and another that has 
 published the importance of works ? Is it one God 
 who has revealed the connection betwixt faith and sal- 
 vation ; and another who has stated the strong and in- 
 dissoluble ties that bind faith to obedience, to godli- 
 ness, and to every branch of goodness? All Scripture 
 is given by inspiration of God : and though the whole 
 may not refer to subjects equally momentous, every 
 sentence which it contains is founded on the same au- 
 thority, and possessed of the same eternal truth and 
 unchanging certainty. To trifle with its declarations 
 is the mark of crime and folly ; and to resist and dis- 
 regard them, is inevitable destruction. 
 
 But while every sentence on the face of the sacred 
 pages is possessed of the same authority and truth; 
 on examining their contents we find that they all con- 
 cur to prove that the gospel contains a holy salvation. 
 
 Were we chosen in Christ before the foundation of 
 
 K 
 
114 
 
 the world ? It was that we might be holy and with- 
 out blame before him in love. Did Christ come into 
 the world to seek and to save that which was lost ? 
 It was also to destroy the works of the devil, and save 
 his people from their sins. Did Jesus love us, and 
 give himself for us ? It was to redeem us from all in- 
 iquity, and purify us to himself a peculiar people, zeal- 
 ous of good works. Are we called to the knowledge 
 and enjoyment of the gospel? We are saved and 
 called with a holy calling, and translated from dark- 
 ness to light, that we may walk before God in new- 
 ness of life ; and be blessed not only with a right to 
 heaven, but also with a meetness for the inheritance 
 of the saints in light. 
 
 If therefore we are destitute of these effects of the 
 grace of Christ; believe what we may, and expect 
 what we please, our faith is vain and we are still dead 
 in tresspasses and sins. Without regeneration we 
 cannot enter the kingdom of grace; and unless we 
 take our passage through its territories, we shall find 
 no access to the kingdom of heaven, and shall be driv- 
 en in disgrace from the gates of glory. John iii. 3. 
 Heb. xii. 14. 
 
 Whilst destitute of the renewing of the Holy Ghost, 
 let me ask, To what are you trusting for salvation ? 
 Is it to your religious knowledge ? Religious know- 
 ledge is unquestionably good in its own place: and it 
 is criminal and dangerous for a soul to be without it. 
 
115 
 
 But where is any promise or security that knowledge 
 shall of itself save you ? Is this security derived from 
 the example of those apostates, who were once enlight- 
 ened, and had escaped the pollutions of the world, 
 through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ; but afterwards were entangled therein and 
 overcome ? Is this promise to be found in the declara- 
 tion, Though " I understand all mysteries, and all 
 knowledge; and have not charity, I am nothing?" 
 Heb. vi. 4—6. 2 Pet. ii. 20. 1 Cor. xiii. 2. 
 
 While destitute of the renewing of the Holy Ghost, 
 are you trusting to your external reformation, your 
 moral duties, or religious observances ? All these 
 things also are good in themselves, and without them 
 we can lay no valid claim to the christian character. 
 For if we say that we have fellowship with God, and 
 walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But 
 however important and valuable in their own place, 
 can these things save us ? Where is there any engage- 
 ment expressed or implied to that purpose within the 
 whole compass of the sacred oracles ? Can such a 
 conclusion be drawn from the denunciations against 
 formality and hypocrisy, against having a name to 
 live while we are dead, and the form of godliness 
 while strangers to its power ? 
 
 While destitute of a clean heart and a right spirit, 
 
 can we be saved by a belief of the truths of revelation ? 
 K2 
 
116 
 
 The truths of the gospel are inestimable, Faith com- 
 eth by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 
 One sentence, such as " Christ is the end of the law 
 for righteousness to every one that believeth ; the Son 
 of man is come to seek and to save that which was 
 lost ; Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ;" 
 is infinitely more precious than mountains of gold, or 
 the wealth of worlds. But while the heart is unaffect- 
 ed, and the life unsanctified ; can the cold unfeeling 
 barren assent of the understanding to these, or any of 
 the truths of revelation, ensure the salvation of the 
 soul ? Does the addition of a new name alter the na- 
 ture of a substance? Will the labelling of arsenic 
 with the title of cassia, destroy its deleterious qualities, 
 and endow it with a restorative and invigorating en- 
 ergy ? Bake it into bread ; place it in the hands of 
 a popish priest ; let him exhaust on it all the energies 
 of his ritual ; consecrate it, and form it into his host ; 
 will this annihilate its poisonous properties, and im- 
 part to it a medicinal or nourishing power? And 
 while his heart remains the same; will a graceless 
 man by assuming the epithet of a believer, or by ac- 
 tually yielding his assent to the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity, raise his moral worth, or improve his situation in 
 the sight of God ? Judas was enrolled amongst the 
 disciples, and the Apostles baptized Simon the Sor- 
 cerer. But whilst the hearts of these two wretched 
 men remained in the gall of bitterness and bond of in- 
 
117 
 
 iquity ; could they have averted their dreadful doom 
 and become heirs of eternal life, by the addition of a 
 few articles to their creed ; and, supposing that they 
 had not previously possessed such a faith, by believing 
 that Jesus was the Christ ; that God loved them ; and 
 had sent his Son to redeem them ? Arsenic is still 
 deadly, though in the consecrated wafer. The carnal 
 heart, though in conjunction with the soundest creed, 
 is enmity against God, and debarred all entrance into 
 his kingdom. And therefore whilst they retained 
 their corruptions ; no belief which they could have en- 
 tertained, could have been of the smallest service. 
 
 And if your faith continues barren ; though like 
 them you believe that God loves you, that Christ is 
 the Saviour of the world, and shed his blood to save 
 you ; what can such a faith profit you ? Are you to 
 make Christ the minister of sin? Did he die to break 
 down the strong and eternal bulwarks of truth and 
 holiness ? and pave a road to heaven, along which the 
 rebellious children of men might in daily succession 
 transport to the world of glory all the filth and impur- 
 ity that darken and disgrace our globe ? If you fancy 
 that such a faith will prove your passport to Paradise, 
 produce your authority. Is it to be found in that lan- 
 guage which can never be too often repeated ; " Ex- 
 cept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom 
 of God ? Faith, if it hath not works is dead, being 
 K 3 
 
118 
 
 alone ? For as the body without the spirit is dead ; so 
 faith, if it hath not works, is dead also ?" 
 
 While destitute of a new nature, will a firm per- 
 suasion either in your head or in your heart that your 
 souls are safe, and that Christ will certainly save you ; 
 enable you to surmount every difficulty and danger, 
 and arrive in triumph in the regions of everlasting 
 light ? 
 
 But pray was it ever known that a man's fancy, 
 opinion or belief, changed the nature of things, and 
 transformed a lie into the truth ? Is every man com- 
 petent for the situation, for which in his self-sufficiency 
 he thinks himself qualified ? Does the dying man's 
 belief that he is recovering, avert the stroke of death, 
 and send him back to the duties and enjoyments of 
 life ? Does the firmness of the Roman Catholic be- 
 lief in Transubstantiation, convert the bread and wine 
 into the body and blood of our Lord ? The Astron- 
 omer knows that the sun is stationary, and that the 
 earth and planets are perpetually revolving round him : 
 but does the inflexibility of the infallible Church in 
 the belief of the contrary, stop their progress, and put 
 the sun in motion ? Did the belief of the Leodiceans 
 that they were rich and encreased with goods, bless 
 them with spiritual wealth, and open up to them the 
 celestial treasures ? Did the persuasion of the Jews 
 that they never were in bondage, secure to them the 
 freedom of the sons of God ? Does the belief of their 
 
119 
 
 peace and safety prevent the sudden destruction of the 
 impenitent? 1 Thes. v, 3. And while you are des- 
 titute of the renewing of the Holy Ghost, will your 
 belief that you are a believer, and that Christ will un- 
 doubtedly save you ; put you in possession of salva- 
 tion ? Where, within the whole extent of Scripture 
 is there one promise, by which God pledges himself 
 to bestow eternal life on all who are confident of their 
 safety, and are persuaded in their hearts that Christ 
 will save them ? Is this such an inference as you are 
 warranted to draw from such declarations as these ? 
 " If a man think himself to be something, when he is 
 nothing, he deceiveth himself." " Not he that com- 
 mendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord 
 eommendeth." " Ye are they who justify yourselves 
 before men ; but God knoweth your hearts." Is this 
 such a conclusion as we are compelled to form from 
 the parable spoken against those who trusted in them- 
 selves that they were righteous, and despised others ? 
 and from the declaration that the first shall be last, 
 and the last first ? If the mere hope, belief, or per- 
 suasion that we shall be saved, could ensure our safe- 
 ty; why have the Scriptures so frequently enjoined 
 self-examination ? cautioned us so seriously against 
 self-deception ? and exhorted us not to be high-minded, 
 but fear ; and to take heed when we think we stand, 
 lest we fall ? If every man's belief were to be the 
 measure at once of his state and his attainments, these 
 
120 
 
 cautions and exhortations would hare been superfluous; 
 and the more secure and confident men become their 
 faith must have been the stronger, and their safety 
 the greater. These cautions and exhortations shew, 
 that however a man's notion of his state may affect 
 his own peace and comfort, it has not the slightest 
 influence on his situation in the sight of God. If he 
 is in a state of grace, his belief in his own salvation 
 will enable him more joyfully to advance in the way 
 to everlasting life : but if he is in a carnal graceless 
 condition, it will only make him proceed with greater 
 boldness in the road to eternal ruin. In the latter 
 case his destruction is just as certain after he adopts 
 the fancy that he is safe as it was before : and though 
 he clings to his strong delusion and firmly believes his 
 own lie, the strength and firmness of his confidence 
 cannot convert this falsehood into a fact, nor avert the 
 misery on which he is blindly and resolutely rushing. 
 
 Perhaps you may be disposed to reply, that this is 
 putting a case which ought not to be supposed ; and 
 that there never was an instance of an unregenerate 
 man who was possessed of such a faith. 
 
 But whilst faith is confined to the understanding, 
 and does not affect the heart, whilst it is merely spec- 
 ulative, and has nothing spiritual, nor necessarily and 
 essentially holy in its nature ; I would like to know 
 what faith a christian can entertain, which a hypocrite, 
 
121 
 
 a formalist, and a self-deceiver is unable to acquire ? 
 Is it that Jesus is the Son of God ? This fact was 
 undoubtedly acknowledged by the chief rulers who 
 believed on him, but durst not confess him, John 
 xii. 42 ; and the devils were not suffered to speak, 
 because they knew who he was. 
 
 Is it that Jesus is the Saviour of the world ? the on- 
 ly Saviour, an infinite and all-sufficient Saviour ? 
 This is the creed of the great majority of Christendom ; 
 but though they extol his saving power, and profess 
 that they know him, while in works they deny him ; 
 dare you maintain that they are on the road to ever- 
 lasting life ? 
 
 Is it that Jesus has loved us, and given himself for 
 us ? Indeed ! Is this a barrier which the ungodly 
 find it impossible to pass ? Is there really any thing 
 to prevent Satan and his own wicked heart, at the 
 very time that he is dead in sins, imposing on a man 
 the belief that God loves him, and Christ has died for 
 him ? Multitudes are perpetually deceiving them- 
 selves with the cry of peace, when there is no peace. 
 They fancy that they stand high in the Divine esteem, 
 and are precious before God, while they are an abom- 
 ination in his sight. Mat. vii. 21 — 23. 
 
 Is it the belief that we shall certainly and infallibly 
 be saved ? Well. Is this a persuasion that is beyond 
 the reach of nature ? Will every man who only con- 
 fidently assumes his own pardon and justification, and 
 
122 
 
 firmly and inflexibly believes that he shall be saved, 
 without failure gain the world of bliss ? This belief 
 is most abundant ; and if all who entertain it shall ac- 
 tually succeed, the realms of everlasting peace must 
 be crowded. But are there none who shall be asham- 
 ed of their hope ? Will no dissappointment nor con- 
 fusion be experienced in the day of decision among 
 those who imagined that they were favourites with the 
 Most High ? 
 
 Is it supposed that there is something so purifying 
 in the persuasion that Christ has loved us and died 
 for us, that the carnal heart cannot resist its sanctify- 
 ing influence ? and that holiness will invariably follow 
 from assuming our own pardon and acceptance, and 
 confiding firmly in our own salvation ? 
 
 Until the grace of God change it, I know nothing 
 either in the form of judgment or mercy, which the 
 human heart is unable to withstand. It can set at de- 
 fiance the revelation of Divine wrath ; and in the midst 
 of calamites and desolations, revolt more and more. 
 When loaded with benefits, it can abuse them: and 
 trample under foot the bounties of Providence, and 
 convert the blessings of religion into the means of 
 gratifying its depravity, and minstering to its basest 
 passions and vilest propensities. The knowledge that 
 Jesus was the Christ, did not discourage Herod from 
 attempting to cut him off in his infancy. The fact 
 that he did many miracles of power and mercy, was 
 
123 
 
 the very circumstance that goaded on the chief priests 
 and the Pharisees to combine to put him to death. 
 And notwithstanding all the displays which Judas had 
 seen of his glory ; and all the experience that he pos- 
 sessed of his love, for the paltry sum of thirty pieces 
 of silver, he was capable of betraying him to his mur- 
 derers. 
 
 After such specimens of the human heart, what 
 manifestations of Divine power or goodness, is it in- 
 capable of abusing ? When men could act on 
 the principle, This is the HEIR, come, let us kill 
 him : what atrocity is it unable to perpetrate ? Will 
 it find any difficulty in persuading a graceless man 
 that, if Christ has loved him and died for him, he may 
 do what he pleases, and riot with safety in his fancied 
 lawless liberty ? 
 
 The experiment of what can be accomplished by as- 
 suming an interest in the love of God and a right to 
 eternal life, has already been tried to a prodigious ex- 
 tent : but with what success ? Were the Jews who be- 
 lieved that the Lord was their God, sanctified by that 
 belief? Was the Pharisee as much holier than the Pub- 
 lican, as he believed that he was a greater favourite of 
 Heaven? Was the savage temper of the barbarous 
 servant subdued or softened, who actually knew that 
 his Lord had forgiven him a debt of a thousand talents: 
 and yet he no sooner found his fellow-servant who ow- 
 ed him only fifty pence, than he seized him by the 
 
124, 
 
 throat, and rigorously exacted payment of the con- 
 temptible sum ? Have we never heard of men, who 
 have despised the riches of the goodness, and forbear- 
 ance, and long-suffering of God : and instead of being 
 led to repentance, after their hardness and impenitent 
 heart have treasured up to themselves wrath against 
 the day of wrath ? of men, who after they had cast off 
 what was good, crying unto the Lord, My God, we 
 know thee ? If you wish to have a fair specimen 
 of the marvellous powers of assumption and con- 
 fidence, look at the proceedings of any knot of 
 blind zealots, or at the transactions of his Holiness 
 and his infallible Church. While they arrogate to 
 themselves a monopoly of the Divine favour, and fear- 
 lessly hurl their anathemas against all who hesitate to 
 subscribe to their dogmas and submit to their dictates : 
 can we suppose that they have any misgivings respect- 
 ing the soundness of their own faith, or any want of 
 confidence in the safety of their souls ? But amidst 
 all their complacent and unhesitating reliance on their 
 exclusive right to the love of God and the joys of 
 paradise, dare you say that either the Pope and his in- 
 fallibles, or any class of bigots are the best examples 
 of Scriptural piety and christian beneficence? Had 
 those men any doubt of the Redeemer's saving power, 
 or any apprehension of their own want of interest in 
 the blessings of his death ; who possessed the dead 
 faith condemned by James ? or had those professors 
 
125 
 
 any apprehension of their own salvation, who turned 
 the grace of Christ into lasciviousness and continued 
 in sin that grace might abound ? Of their own salva- 
 tion they never entertained a doubt : for the one believ- 
 ed that they were genuine believers, and therefore 
 from the inseparable connection betwixt faith and sal- 
 vation must have imagined themselves sure of eternal 
 life : and unless the other cherished the same persua- 
 sion, how could they have regarded themselves as the 
 subjects of grace, and even of abounding grace ? But 
 so far from being sanctified by this belief, the one 
 were destitute of good works, and the others were de- 
 graded by every abomination. 
 
 Facts such as these ought to shake our reliance on 
 the sanctifying powers either of an assumption of an 
 interest in the love of God and the death of Christ, or 
 of a confident trust in our own salvation ; and they 
 ought to lead us to take care that we are leaning on 
 the Rock of Ages, and making Christ and his work 
 all our dependence, hope, and joy. 
 
 From ignorance of the Spirit's agency to produce 
 and maintain faith ; some have long been in quest of 
 some doctrinal proposition, which shall operate as a 
 spell, which shall charm away the hardness and insen- 
 sibility of the corrupt heart, and infallibly ensure the 
 salvation of the soul. But the truth is, that, within 
 
 the whole range of the oracles of God, no set of words 
 
 L 
 
126 
 
 is possessed of such a supernatural power : otherwise 
 the sons of benevolence would long ago have reiterat- 
 ed them with such a plainess and a force, that they 
 would have been understood in every language, and 
 produced their marvellous effect in every land, and 
 driven impiety, vice and misery from every quarter of 
 the globe. But amidst all the importance and value 
 of every sentence of revealed truth, it is neither the 
 speculative belief of one class of phrases nor of anoth- 
 er, that will save us. Genuine faith is a spiritual 
 principle. It is the purchase of Christ : for we are 
 blessed with all spiritual blessings in him ; and he is 
 the author, as well as the finisher of our faith. It is 
 bestowed by God ; for by grace are we saved, through 
 faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. 
 It is the work of the Holy Ghost : for the fruit of the 
 Spirit is faith ; and if no man can say that Jesus is the 
 Lord, much less can he believe, but by the Holy 
 Ghost. 1 Cor. xii. 3. Mat. xi. 25—27 ; xvi. 15—17. 
 It is unfeigned. It is seated in the heart. It leads 
 its possessor to renounce all for the righteousness of 
 Christ ; to trust for acceptance to him entirely ; and 
 live to him alone. It is neither dead nor barren ; but 
 manifests its presence and its power by the fruits of 
 righteousness and the labours of love. He who has 
 this faith, is a partaker not only of a new, but of the 
 Divine nature : he bears the image and possesses the 
 Spirit of Jesus. 
 
127 
 
 Speculative belief is attained by the carnal, and 
 christian conduct has been imitated by the worldly. 
 But this faith never was lodged in a carnal heart. It 
 is completely beyond the reach of nature ; and cannot 
 be counterfeited by hypocrites and formalists : and 
 therefore the man who possesses it has a decisive evi- 
 dence of his gracious state, and an ample warrant to 
 cherish the hope of eternal life. But if our faith is of 
 a different description, and destitute of these effects : 
 unless God cancel every declaration like these, " Faith 
 is dead, being alone;" and »< except a man be born 
 again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ;" believe 
 what we may, and entertain what hopes we please, 
 our condition is alike deplorable and desperate. While 
 these declarations retain a place in the sacred pages, 
 they proclaim the utter uselessness of every faith 
 which does not work by love, and the total vanity of 
 every expectation which is not accompanied with a 
 clean heart and a right spirit. 
 
 The practice of trying our faith by our works, is by 
 some, loaded with hard names, and charged with 
 many dangerous and pernicious consequences. It is 
 reprobated as legal and self-righteous, as a mixing 
 of the law with the gospel, and as calculated to with- 
 draw our trust from the work of Christ, and place it 
 on our own attainments and efforts. 
 
 But if it is so legal and hurtful, why was it practis- 
 L 2 
 
128 
 
 ed with such frequency and care by the saints mention- 
 ed in Scripture ? After the most diligent examination 
 of themselves, fearful of deception, they carried the 
 matter to God ; saying, Search us, O God, and know 
 our heart; try us, and know our thoughts; and see if 
 there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in thy 
 way everlasting. Their rejoicing was this, the testi- 
 mony of their conscience, that in simplicity and godly 
 sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace 
 of God, they had their conversation in the world. 
 And their comfort was the testimony of the Spirit, 
 bearing witness with their spirit, that they were the 
 the sons of God. 
 
 If it is so legal and ruinous, why are we told that it 
 is the course which will be followed in the day of deci- 
 sion ? Instead of informing us that we shall be judg- 
 ed according to our faith, and have our eternity de- 
 cided according as we believe or disbelieve our inter- 
 est in the love of God, that Christ died for us, and 
 that we are in a state of salvation ; we are assured 
 that all shall be judged according to their works, and 
 receive according to the deeds done in the body. 
 Were the belief of men to fix their future condition, 
 we should not read of such sad reverses in the day of 
 doom ; of the children of the kingdom being cast out; 
 and the first becoming last, and the last first. 
 
 If it is so legal and destructive, why are we so often 
 enjoined to adopt the practice ? We are commanded 
 
129 
 
 not only to search the Scriptures, but also to examine 
 ourselves whether we be in the faith ; to prove our 
 ownselves ; to shew our faith by our works : and to be 
 ready always to give an answer to every man that ask- 
 eth us a reason of the hope that is in us. Every man 
 is exhorted to prove his own work ; and told that then 
 he shall have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in an- 
 other. We are informed that the tree is known by 
 its fruit : that we know that God dwelleth in us by the 
 Spirit which he hath given us ; and that we know that 
 we have passed from death to life, because we love the 
 brethren. We are assured that if we would judge our- 
 selves, we should not be judged: and are commanded 
 to take heed how we build even on the true foundation, 
 because every man's work shall be made manifest : for 
 the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed 
 by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work of 
 what sort it is. And it is added, If our heart con- 
 demn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth 
 all things. 
 
 Now is there any thing self-righteous or perilous in 
 following the approved example of the faithful ? in 
 applying the rule, which in the last day will be adopt- 
 ed by our blessed Lord? and in complying with his 
 own express and repeated injunctions to try ourselves 
 and prove our own works ? At this rate nothing 
 could be more dangerous than to pray, sanctify the 
 
 Sabbath, attend religious ordinances, and practise 
 L 3 
 
130 
 
 equity, temperance and kindness : for such conduct 
 is as much calculated as self-examination, to lead the 
 mind away from the true foundation, aud foster a self- 
 righteous spirit. 
 
 But let not the bugbear of a bad name deter any 
 man from yielding obedience to the revealed will of 
 Christ. Better incur the reproach of legality by do- 
 ing what he has commanded, than become the victim 
 of a spurious doctrinal system, and incur his condem- 
 nation by disregarding his authority and rejecting his 
 grace. The man who has no works to shew is desti- 
 tute of faith : and is as much a despiser of the grace 
 of the gospel, as he is a rebel against the obligations 
 of the law. 
 
 The danger of self-righteousness from judging of 
 our faith by our works, is perfectly imaginary. Be- 
 cause the antidote will not cure unless it is employed ; 
 does any man dream that his application of the med- 
 icine has infused its virtue into the prescription ? The 
 application does not put the virtue into the medicine, 
 but into the man. Noah's entering the ark did not 
 give it strength and buoyancy: but this entering se- 
 cured to him the benefit of its strength and buoyancy. 
 And can any man in his senses imagine that his be- 
 lieving in Christ, and manifesting the reality of his 
 faith by his works, endow the gospel with its saving 
 power ? The saving efficacy resides in the gospel : 
 but without believing it with a living operative faith, 
 
131 
 
 he can derive no more advantage from this dispensa- 
 tion of mercy ; than a patient from a medicine that is 
 not employed, or Noah from the ark which he had not 
 entered. The patient relies for a cure, under God, on 
 the medicine, and not on the act of taking it. Noah 
 trusted for his preservation to the ark, and not to the 
 process by which he had gone on board. And the 
 believer depends for his salvation, not on the nature 
 of his faith but the all-sufficiency of the righteousness 
 which it embraces. But knowing that faith worketh 
 by love : if on examination he find, that he is desti- 
 tute of that goodness, righteousness, and truth which 
 it uniformly produces, he is compelled to conclude 
 that there is something wrong : that he has mistaken 
 some quack prescription for the gospel specific : and 
 he is thus enabled, before the day of visitation close, 
 to betake himself to the hope set before him, and lay 
 firm hold on the great salvation. In this manner self- 
 examination extends the triumphs of faith, by multi- 
 plying the number of those who are driven out of 
 their lying refuges, and shut up to the righteousness 
 of Christ. The opposite practice neither ensures 
 obedience to the law nor submission to the gospel. A 
 man's opinion does not alter his condition. His be- 
 lieving that he is safe, while in reality he is in a state 
 of condemnation ; does not transfer him to the ranks 
 of the redeemed, and put him in possession of salvation. 
 But terrified lest by such an exercise he should con- 
 
132 
 
 tract the dreadful guilt of legality, he shuns self-ex- 
 amination. He goes blindly and resolutely on crying 
 peace, peace, when there is no peace ; and never sus- 
 pects that he is clinging to a strong delusion, till death 
 dissolves the pleasing dream; when the bright, but 
 deceitful vision for ever vanishes, and to his horror he 
 discovers that the gloom of eternal darkness surrounds 
 him. Notwithstanding all the outcry against legality, 
 the antinomian theory of faith, is in fact as much op- 
 posed to the gospel as the law ; and is as much calcu- 
 lated to prevent its votaries from believing in Christ 
 as from rendering obedience to the law of God. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE DUTY OF LABOURING TO POSSESS ASSURANCE. 
 
 The duty of seeking this blessing cannot admit a 
 moment's doubt, if we consider either the command of 
 God, or the numerous advantages with which the as- 
 surance of salvation is attended. 
 
 1. The command of God on the subject is clear and 
 explicit. He has distinctly enjoined every christian to 
 prove his own work, and said that then he shall have 
 rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. He 
 
133 
 
 has required us to cultivate sincere brotherly love, that 
 we may know that we are of the truth, and may assure 
 our hearts before him. He has charged us to shew 
 the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the 
 end ; and to give all diligence to make our calling and 
 election sure. 
 
 When nothing more than his authority is requisite to 
 oblige us to adopt any practice or pursuit ; after he has 
 so clearly and repeatedly inculcated the duty of acquir- 
 ing assurance, it must be at our peril that we despise 
 or neglect an injunction so express and solemn. If 
 the man forfeits all right to the name of an obedient 
 subject of his government ; who, in defiance of the 
 commandments to keep holy the sabbath, to be just, 
 honest, and temperate, lives in the violation of all 
 those precepts : can we with any more propriety or 
 truth be denominated his faithful and obedient ser- 
 vants ; if, notwithstanding all the frequency and ear- 
 nestness with which he has enforced the duty of secur- 
 ing a knowledge of our own salvation, we refuse to 
 give diligence to attain the full assurance of hope ? 
 
 2. The advantages with which the assurance of sal- 
 vation is attended, are numerous and invaluable. 
 
 It dignifies and ennobles the soul. For what can 
 raise the mind to a higher elevation ; give it a more 
 decisive superiority over all that is low, grovelling and 
 base ; or fill it with a more exalted and delightful con- 
 
134, 
 
 sciousness of its own real dignity, its renovated grand- 
 eur, and tbe boundless extent of the glory and felicity 
 to which it shall ultimately rise ; than to know that 
 we are the children of God, the brethren of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and the heirs of his eternal kingdom ? 
 Can any honour or distinction be more joyous and 
 transporting, than to have a sense of our reconciliation 
 to God, and of our interest in redeeming love, demon- 
 strated to our understanding, and impressed upon our 
 hearts ; and to be able, amidst all the duties and la- 
 bours, the trials and distresses of life, to say, " This 
 God is my God for ever and ever, and Jesus is my be- 
 loved and my friend?" 
 
 It sanctifies and purifies the heart, and renders its 
 possessor active in the cause of God and goodness. 
 Having the love of God shed abroad in his soul by the 
 Holy Ghost, possessed of the spirit of adoption, and 
 knowing his calling and election of God ; the believer 
 feels an alliance to Deity, breathes the air of paradise, 
 has fellowship with the happy spirits before the throne, 
 and transfuses into his temper and conduct, something 
 of the unsullied purity and seraphic ardour, which a- 
 dorn the characters, and dignify the services of the in- 
 habitants of heaven. Where was there a man that 
 ever rose higher in faith, or love, or holiness ; a man 
 whose soul was more completely free from the dross 
 and dregs of mortality ; a man who followed the Lord 
 more fully, and was more zealously devoted to his hon- 
 
135 
 
 our; a man who had acquired more of an angel's mind, 
 and possessed more of the spirit of his adorable 
 Master, than Paul ? But the great spring of all his 
 activity, the rich source of all his consolations, the 
 grand impelling principle which carried him forward 
 with such matchless energy in his divine career, was a 
 knowledge of his union to the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 of his interest in the great salvation. " The love 
 of Christ," says he, " constraineth me. I know whom 
 I have believed. The life that I live, I live by the 
 faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave him- 
 self for me." And did we possess the same blessed 
 assurance in the same high and solid degree, it would 
 still produce the same glorious and transforming ef- 
 fects. We would not reckon with flesh and blood. 
 The love of Christ would constrain us to live not to 
 ourselves but to him, who died for us and rose again. 
 We would spend and be spent in his service, and be 
 stedfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the 
 work of the Lord. 
 
 It supports and cheers the mind under the various 
 trials and distresses of life. Without this assurance, 
 the mind, in a time of trouble and danger, is in a state 
 of perpetual agitation and distraction ; like a wave of 
 the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. But this 
 assurance proves an anchor to the soul, which keeps it 
 sure and stedfast ; gives stability to the sublime and 
 bliss-creating expectations of the mind ; and preserves 
 
136 
 
 it amidst all the attacks and all the foes that can assail 
 it, in perfect serenity and unbroken peace. Our con- 
 dition may be low, and our lot calamitous ; our world- 
 ly affairs may be in disorder, and our friends may prove 
 false and treacherous; the dear companions of our youth 
 may be sleeping in the dust, and our once happy habita- 
 tions may be laid in darkness and desolation by the 
 ravages of calamity and the inroads of death: but 
 none of these things can move us, when we know that 
 we have God for our portion, Jesus for our Saviour, 
 and heaven for our inheritance and home. By dis- 
 closing the extent of our security, and giving a pre- 
 sent subsistence to the objects of our hopes, it disarms 
 adversity of its gloom, death of its sting, and the 
 grave of its horrors. It has carried thousands com- 
 fortably, joyfully, through the greatest fi£ht of afflic- 
 tions, and brought them off with more than victory. 
 It will enable us to take a calm and steady survey of 
 all the terrific forms in which tribulation can possibly 
 assail us, and then to say, in the intrepid tone and holy 
 triumph of the Apostle, " Who shall separate us from 
 the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or 
 persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or 
 sword ? Nay, in all these things we are more than 
 conquerors, through him that loved us. For I am 
 persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
 principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
 things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
 
137 
 
 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of 
 God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 If therefore you would wish to live in the enjoy- 
 ment of the blessings for which you pray ; to grow in 
 grace ; to walk with God ; to possess the glorious lib- 
 erty of his children ; and to command every day a 
 more exact and ample foretaste of heaven : take care 
 to have your hearts fully assured of your union to the 
 Saviour and interest in the riches of his grace. If 
 you would wish to possess the precious blessings which 
 Christ has purchased ; the peace, the liberty, the sa- 
 cred vigour, and the sublime, and spiritual hope, and 
 consolation which he bestows : strive more and more 
 to realize the safety of your state, and comfort your 
 hearts with knowing in whom you have believed. If 
 you would wish when you die to enter on the full 
 fruition of your Lord ; to get rid of the body of death ; 
 to see Jesus as he is ; to walk with him in white ; and 
 to be made exceedingly and eternally glad in the light 
 of his countenance and the joys of his salvation: give 
 diligence to make your calling and election sure, and 
 banish all darkness and doubt respecting your own 
 right to the blessings of the everlasting gospel, and 
 the whole covenant-fulness of an infinite and all suffi- 
 cient God. Assurance is a powerful mean of reduc- 
 ing to your immediate enjoyment all the riches of 
 grace, and of solacing yourselves with the anticipa- 
 tion of glory. And if we know that the man who 
 
 M 
 
138 
 
 has no value for the ordinances of religion, and no 
 solicitude to live under the power of the gospel ; by 
 his carelessness and indifference demonstrates that he 
 has no solicitude to see God, and gain the delights of 
 heaven : how can we believe that you have any real 
 desire for either the riches of grace or the treasures 
 of glory ; while you decline to employ the measure 
 which God has appointed and blessed for giving you 
 the present enjoyment of the one, and the best and 
 purest representation of the other ? 
 
 Indifference to the subject of assurance, is a most 
 alarming and fatal symptom. A man may be a Christ- 
 ian without at all times knowing his calling and elec- 
 tion of God. But when salvation is our all ; when it 
 is not more connected with the honour of God, than 
 our own eternal welfare ; when the means of securing 
 assurance are so obvious and easy, and God has so 
 repeatedly and forcibly enjoined us to secure it : how 
 can that man be possessed either of a regard for the 
 Divine authority, or concern for his own spiritual im- 
 provement and everlasting welfare, who lives in the 
 neglect of such an important and indispensable duty ? 
 Afloat on the troubled and stormy ocean of time ; 
 where dangers are so numerous and secret ; where so 
 few reach the haven of peace and safety, and such 
 multitudes make shipwreck of the faith, and drown 
 themselves in perdition : are you unable to tell in 
 what direction you are steering, or coolly allowing 
 
139 
 
 your vessel to drift about at the mercy of every wind 
 and current ? When furnished with chart and com- 
 pass, and all that is requisite to ensure the safety and 
 success of the voyage : have you lost, or never found 
 your reckoning 1 , and yet tamely permit days and weeks 
 to pass over you, without any rational or vigorous ef- 
 fort to dispel your suspense, and ascertain with ex- 
 actness your place and your tendency? Is it thus 
 that you manifest your solicitude for your own salva- 
 tion ; and your determination to seek first the king- 
 dom of God, and the righteousness thereof? Is it 
 thus that you are to fight the good fight of faith, and 
 lay hold on eternal life ? Is it thus that you are to 
 strive to enter in at the strait gate, and take the king- 
 dom of heaven by violence ? 
 
 What could we think of that man's integrity, who 
 should imagine it enough to know that God is the 
 friend and patron of honesty, and has enjoined it on 
 all ; but cannot tell whether he himself is honest and 
 upright ? What could we think of the loyalty or pa- 
 triotism of that man, who should consider it enough to 
 know that all are required to serve their king and 
 their country ; but is unable to tell whether he himself 
 is in the service of his native state, or of its inveterate 
 and implacable foe ? And when assurance is pressed 
 upon every Christian, and the means of acquiring it 
 are so obvious and easy ; how can we give that man 
 
 credit for any genuine religion, who thinks it enough 
 M2 
 
140 
 
 to believe in the omnipotence of Immanuel's power, 
 and the all -sufficiency of his atonement, the universal 
 extent of the gospel calls, and the absolute freeness of 
 its offers, without believing on the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for his own salvation, and accepting these calls and 
 invitations for his own personal benefit ? Can a man 
 be any more entitled to the name of a believer, with- 
 out embracing the general calls and promises of the 
 gospel for his own salvation ; than to the name of an 
 obedient subject of the law, without personally com- 
 plying with the commands which it has indiscrimin- 
 ately addressed to all ? 
 
 Consult, as you please, either Scripture or common 
 sense, and you will find ; that though the believer may 
 sometimes be destitute of the assurance of salvation, 
 he is never destitute of solicitude respecting that mo- 
 mentous and invaluable subject: and that the man 
 who can remain at his ease, while unable to tell 
 whether he shall be saved or lost, by that ease and in- 
 difference broadly publishes his own infidelity and 
 proclaims his own condemnation. His listlessness 
 and apathy on a matter of such infinite magnitude, 
 prove a hard heart and a darkened understanding; 
 and demonstrate that he is in the gall of bitterness 
 and bond of iniquity. A christian can never be at 
 rest till his doubts and fears are dispelled ; and till he 
 is able to say, I know in whom I have believed ; and 
 am persuaded that he will keep what I have commit- 
 
141 
 
 ted to him against that day. The matter is too mo- 
 mentous to be left in a state of suspence. Nothing 
 less than clearness and certainty can satisfy him, and 
 these, at whatever cost, he must obtain : and he will 
 earnestly and perseveringly follow after them till he 
 is blessed to secure them. 
 
 Perhaps some may be saying, " Gladly would I get 
 assurance if I could. There is nothing that I value 
 more. What should I do, were I to gain the whole 
 creation, and be deprived of the favour, and banished 
 from the presence of God ? For whom have I in 
 heaven but him ? and there is none upon earth whom 
 
 I desire besides him. But I cannot tell if I have 
 faith : and without faith, I know that there is no sal- 
 vation. What must I do to assure my heart, that I 
 possess the faith which is of the operation of God?" 
 
 Look back to the preceding chapter, to the marks 
 there enumerated by which saving faith may be known, 
 and then look inward to the state of your soul. Have 
 you renounced every thing for Christ? Are you 
 trusting in him simply for wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption ? Are you resting on 
 him and his righteousness entirely ; and cleaving to 
 him with your whole heart ? Is this your case ? 
 Then what says the answer of God concerning you ? 
 
 II Let him take hold of my strength, and he shall 
 
 make peace with me. Blessed is the man that trust- 
 M 3 
 
142 
 
 etli in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Him 
 that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. There 
 is no condemnation to them that are in Christ." 
 
 Where are your affections fixed ? Where have you 
 placed your chief joy? Is Christ supreme in your es- 
 teem and precious to your heart ? Do you love his 
 society, and long for more close and ennobling com- 
 munion with him ? Or can you live peacefully and 
 comfortably without him ? u Live without him ! 
 He is all my salvation and all my desire. To whom 
 can I go but unto him ? he has the words of eternal 
 life. Live without him ! As with a sword in my 
 bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they say unto 
 me, Where is thy God ? Oh that I knew where I might 
 find him ! I would come near unto him, even unto his 
 seat, yea I would order my cause before him." 
 
 While you prefer his favour to your chief joy; while 
 his glory and grace engage and engross your affec- 
 tions ; and your soul thirsts for God : can you call 
 yourself a reprobate ? an outcast from his presence ? 
 or an alien from his friendship ? Who told you of his 
 loveliness and glory ? What rivetted your attach- 
 ment to him, and constrained you to renounce all for 
 his sake ? Why have your former pleasures lost 
 their attraction ? Why have the things that are seen 
 and temporal ceased to command your whole attention, 
 or even to divide your hearts ? Whence this mighty, 
 and, at one time, unexpected revolution? Has it 
 
143 
 
 been accomplished by Satan or his agents ? Does he 
 sow discord in his own dominions, or employ measures 
 to disunite and weaken his kingdom ? 
 
 Do these desires and longings which you experience, 
 ever lodge in graceless and ungodly hearts ? Do you 
 ever find the men of the world grieved, ashamed, and 
 heart-broken, for their ignorance, their coldness, their 
 stupidity, deadness and unbelief? Do you ever hear 
 them crying, When shall we come and appear before 
 God? Oh that we knew where we might find him? 
 Give them wealth, honour, pleasure and amusement ; 
 and what will they care for all the riches of redeem- 
 ing mercy, and all the vast ineffable blessings of sav- 
 ing love ? The presence, therefore of these spiritual 
 desires and gracious principles, prove that you are 
 possessed of another and a better spirit ; that you are 
 born from above ; and created again in Christ Jesus. 
 It is of such as you that the Redeemer says, " Bless- 
 ed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness ; 
 for they shall be filled. Blessed are they that mourn 
 for they shall be comforted." It is of such as you 
 that it is said, " A bruised reed shall he not break, 
 and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall 
 feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the 
 lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom, and 
 gently lead those that are with young. Thus saith 
 the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose 
 name is holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, 
 
144 
 
 with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, 
 to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the 
 heart of the contrite ones." 
 
 But if all this cannot relieve you ; if you can take 
 comfort neither from what you have formerly exper- 
 ienced nor what you at present feel ; go to Jesus as 
 if you had never gone before. All without exception 
 are invited : and the worst that applies is made heart- 
 ily, and inexpressibly welcome. To meet every case 
 its invitations are expressed in the most general and 
 comprehensive terms that language can afford. They 
 are such as these. " Come unto me, all ye that la- 
 bour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the 
 earth. The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let 
 him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is 
 a- thirst Come. And whosoever will, let him take 
 the water of life freely. Him that cometh unto me, 
 I will in no wise cast out." 
 
 Can your heart desire more rich precious and am- 
 ple encouragement than this? Is not this such a sal- 
 vation as you need ? a salvation unto all and upon all 
 them that embrace it ? Take courage then, and go to 
 the blessed and adorable Redeemer. Believe on him : 
 submit to him : trust in him. Your safety is there. 
 He has fulfilled all righteousness. He has magnified 
 the law, and made it honourable. He has blotted out 
 the hand- writing which was against us ; and cleared 
 
145 
 
 away every obstacle and impediment which blocked up 
 our return to God. And to secure for yourself all the 
 immense and unsearchable blessings of his salvation, 
 you have nothing more to do than to renounce your 
 own lying refuges, and to make him all your salvation 
 and all your desire ; to rest on him for wisdom, right- 
 eousness, sanctification, and redemption ; to know 
 nothing but him, and confide in nothing but his right- 
 eousness and grace. 
 
 Are you still afraid to come? Do you fear that the 
 blessings are too great and glorious to be intended for 
 a creature so vile, guilty, and abominable as you ? 
 Pray tell me, who but the poor want charity? who but 
 the sick need a physician ? who but the lost and per- 
 ishing require a Saviour ? Now Jesus came, not to 
 call the righteous but sinners to repentance ; to seek 
 and to save that which was lost. It is therefore to 
 such as you that the word of this salvation is sent. 
 Though addressed to all, it is especially directed to 
 you. Believe in it : and you will find that the saying, 
 which is worthy of all acceptation ; is, when applied to 
 yourself, true and faithful, that Christ Jesus came into 
 the world to save sinners. 
 
 Wait for no qualification to warrant you to believe, 
 or give you a right to the enjoyment of so great a 
 blessing. Your warrant lies in his own word, in the 
 call, invitation, offer, and promise of the gospel. Your 
 right is to be found, not in your own preparation or 
 
146 
 
 exercises, but in his word of truth, the general and 
 unlimited invitations of the Bible. Salvation is all of 
 grace. It is presented to you at this moment as a 
 free gift : and though you could wait till the consum- 
 mation of all things, if even then you were to receive 
 it, you must accept it as a gift. And as such it is of- 
 fered to you this moment. 
 
 " But when I can find my name neither in the calls 
 nor in the promises of the gospel; what authority have 
 I for concluding that its invitations and offers are 
 meant for me ?" But pray, Are you named either in 
 the precepts or' penalties of the law ? But because 
 you are not named in either, does it follow that you 
 are exempted from both? you know that the law comes 
 from God ; that it speaks in general terms ; and by 
 the universality of its language comprehends every 
 human creature. And when the gospel comes from 
 God; when it is enjoined to be preached in all the 
 world to every creature ; and uses terms that admit of 
 no limitation nor exception : what other inference can 
 you draw from these facts, than that it is designed for 
 you ? that you are included in its invitations ? and 
 that the whole of its vast and ineffable blessings are 
 pressed on your acceptance ? The highest saint now 
 in heaven, in the days of his pilgrimage had no more 
 special nor peculiar warrant than this, to embolden 
 him to believe on Christ for his own salvation. By its 
 general language, addressed indiscriminately to the 
 
147 
 
 human race, to men, the sons of men, the lost ; you 
 have all the authority of the God of love and truth, to 
 embrace for your personal salvation the universal invi- 
 tations and rich promises of the gospel. Your right 
 to believe in Christ, and rely on him for all the bless- 
 ings of his purchase could not be rendered more clear 
 and unquestionable, even though you were the only in- 
 habitant of the earth, or saw your name engrossed in 
 the calls and offers of this matchless dispensation of 
 mercy. In that case you could have no more to rely 
 on than the word of the true and unchangeable God : 
 and with the Bible in your hands, and these precious 
 invitations and promises before your eyes, you have 
 nothing less than the same word to depend on. 
 
 It is at our peril that we either doubt or deny that 
 each of us is individually addressed in every call and 
 invitation of this scheme of mercy. The commands 
 and threatenings of the law are not more universal 
 than the calls and invitation of the gospel. If there- 
 fore the man would be regarded as a rebel against the 
 the Divine authority, who should maintain that he was 
 free from all obligation to obedience, because his 
 name was not to be found in the whole decalogue ; can 
 we be chargeable with less guilt and presumption, in 
 affirming, because we cannnot discover our names in 
 any corner of the gospel, that therefore we are exclud- 
 ed from its general, unrestricted, universal calls and 
 invitations ? The whole comprehends the parts. 
 
148 
 
 What is spoken to all, belongs to each. And the free, 
 generous, and unlimited language of the gospel, de- 
 monstrates that you are as really included in its invi- 
 tations and offers, as in the the precepts and penal- 
 ties of the law. 
 
 I must here leave the matter. I have endeavoured 
 to shew that the assurance of salvation is neither es- 
 sential to the nature of faith, nor inseparable from a 
 state of grace. I have attempted to prove that it is an 
 attainable blessing. I have pointed out the means by 
 which it may be secured, and stated some facts to il- 
 lustrate the duty and importance of possessing it. 
 
 The success of this feeble effort depends on the bless- 
 ing of the Spirit of all grace. May he mercifully 
 prosper the undertaking for the direction establishment 
 and comfort of his own people ; and overrule it to rouse 
 some of the secure and thoughtless to attend to what 
 belongs to their peace ! It is a poor miserable thing to 
 live without God in the world : and it is dreadful to 
 pass into eternity without hope. But what words can 
 express the blessedness of the man, who knows in 
 whom he has believed ; and has the witness within 
 him that he is born again, that he is a child of God, 
 and if a child, then an heir of God, and a joint heir 
 with Christ. All things are his. For him to live is 
 Christ, and to die is gain. He can intelligently, and in 
 the full extent of their comfort and joy adopt the 
 strains of our sacred bard : — 
 
149 
 
 " When I can read my title clear 
 To mansions in the skies ; 
 
 I bid farewell to every fear, 
 And wipe my weeping eyes. 
 
 Should earth against my soul engage, 
 And hellish darts be hurl'd ; 
 
 Then I can smile at Satan's rage, 
 And face a frowning world. 
 
 Let cares like a wild deluge come, 
 And storms of sorrow fall, 
 
 May I but safely reach my home, 
 My God, my heav'n, my all. 
 
 There shall I bathe my weary soul 
 
 In seas of heavenly rest, 
 And not a wave of trouble roll 
 
 Across my peaceful breast. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 THE END 
 
 ANDREW YOUNG, PR1NTE1