neighbour, not by works, not of our selves; but, by grace, by mere favonr, through faith, through such an entire confidence in our Physician, as makes us gladly take his powerful remedies, abstain from the pleasing poison of sin, and feed on those divine truths, which communicate angelical vigour and happiness, to our souls, Eph. ii. 8.

VI. If our nature is so completely fallen and totally helpless, that in spiritual things 66 we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing [truly good] as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God;" it is plain, we stand in absolute need of his Spirit's assis tance, to enable us to pray, repent, believe, love, and obey aright. Consequently, those who ridicule the Holy Spirit, and his sacred influence, despise the great Helper of our Infirmities, and act a most irrational, wicked, and desperate part, Rom. viii. 26.

VII. If by nature we are really and truly born in sin, our regeneration cannot be a mere metaphor, or a vain ceremony; our spiritual birth must be real and positive, How fatal therefore is the mistake of those who suppose that the new-birth is only a figurative expres sion for a decent behaviour!-How dreadful the error of those, who imagine that all, whose faces have been typically washed with the material water in baptism, are now effectually born again of living water and the Holy Spirit! And how inexcusable the case of the multitudes, who, in the Church of Eng land, are under this dangerous mistake, so prudently guarded against by our pious Reformers !

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In our catechism, they clearly distinguish between "the outward visible sign or form in baptism," and "the inward spiritual grace:" and by defining the latter, a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness," they declare, that whosoever is not dead, or dying to sin, and alive to righteousness, is not truly regenerate, and has nothing of baptism, but the outward and visible sign. In the 27th of our articles they mention, that Baptism is not the new birth, bat a "Sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they who receive baptism rightly, are grafted into the church." And if our Church returns thanks for our regeneration, of the infants whom she has admitted to baptism, it is chiefly* upon a charitable supposi tion, that they have "received it rightly, and will, for their part, faithfully perform the promises made for them by their sureties." If

they refuse to do it when they come of age, far from treating them as her regenerate children, she denounces a general excommunication against them, and charges them "not to come to her holy table, lest Satan bring them, as he did Judas, to destruction both of body and soul.”

VIII. If the fall of mankind in Adam, 'does not consist in a capricious imputation of his personal guilt, but in a real, present participation of his depravity, impotence, and misery; the salvation that believers have in Christ, is not a capricious imputation of his personal righteousness; but a real, present participation of his purity, power, and blessedness, together with pardon and acceptance.

Unspeakably dangerous then is the delusion of those, whose brains and mouths are filled with the notions and expressions of imputed righteousness; while the poor, carnal, unregenerate hearts, remain perfect strangers to the Lord our Righteousness,

IX. If the corrupt nature, which sinners derive from Adam, spontaneously produces all the wickedness that overspreads the earth the holy nature which believers receive from Christ, is only spontaneously productive of all the fruits of righteousness described in the oracles of God: "Good works springing out,* necessarily of a true and lively faith." Art. xii.

Such ministers, therefore, as clearly preach our fall in Adam, and that faith in Christ, which is productive of genuine holiness and active love, will infallibly promote good works and pure morality: when those who insist only upon works and moral duties, will neither be zealous of good works themselves, nor instrumental in turning sinners from their gross immoralities. The reason is obvious: evangelical preachers follow their Lord's wise directions; Make the tree good, and the fruit shall be good also:" but moralists will have corrupt trees bring forth good fruit, which, in the nature of things, is impossible, Matt. xii. 33. Luke vi. 43. Therefore, as nothing but faith makes the tree good, and as without faith it is impossible to please God; the Christian, that will come to him with good works, must not only believe (as heathens) "that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him ;" but also that he was in Christ, "reconciling the world unto himself," &c.

X. If corruption and sin work so powerfully and sensibly, in the hearts of the unregenerate, we may, without deserving the name of Enthusiasts, affirm, that the regenerate are sensible of the powerful effects of

This is to be understood of a moral, and not of an absolute, irresistible necessity for faith never unmans the believer.

divine grace in their souls; or, to use the words of the 17th Article, we may say, "They feel in themselves the workings of the Spirit of Christ:" for where the poison of sin hath abounded, and has been of course abundantly felt; grace, the powerful antidote that expels it, does much more abound, and consequently may be much more perceived.

Therefore the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins, the assurance of faith, and the peace of God passing all understanding, are the experienced Blessings of the converted; as certainly as a guilty conscience, the gnawing of worldly cares, the working of evil tempers, the tumults of unbridled appetites, and the uproars of rebellious passions, are the experienced curses of the unconverted.

Reader, if these inferences are justly drawn, is it not evident, that the principles generally exploded among us, as enthusias tical or methodistical, flow from the doctrine demonstrated in this Treatise, as naturally as light from the sun? These consequences lead you perhaps farther than you could wish; but let them not make you either afraid or ashamed of the gospel. Prejudices, like clouds, will vanish away; but truth, which they obscure for a time, like the sun, will shine for ever. A great man in the law said, Fiat justitia, ruat, mundus. Improve the noble sentiment, and say with equal fortitude, Stet, Veritas, ruat, mundus; let Truth stand, though the Universe should sink into ruins.

But happily for us, the danger is all on the side of the opposite doctrine: and that you may be convinced of it, I present you next with a view of the

Dreadful Consequences, necessarily resulting from the ignorance of our Depravity and Danger.

1. As the tempter caused the Fall of our first Parents, by inducing them to believe, that they "should not surely die," if they broke the divine law so now we are fallen, he prevents our recovery by suggesting, "the bitterness of death is past," and "we are in a state of safety." Hence it is, that you sleep on in carnal security, O ye deluded sons of men, and even dream, ye are safe and righteous. Nor can ye escape for your lives, till the veil of unbelief is taken away, and ye awake to a sight of your corrupt and lost

Those doctrines pointed out in the ten above-mentloned inferences, are. The alarming severity of the law. 2. The need of a deep, heart-felt repentance, 3. The Divinity of Christ. 4. The infinite merit of his sacrifice. 5. Salvation by faith in him. 6. The influences of the Holy Spirit. 7. The reality of the New Birth. 8. The necessity of a present salvation. 9. The zeal of believers for good works; and 10. The comfortable assurance which they have of their Regene

ration

estate: for there is no guarding against, nor flying from, an unseen, unsuspected evil; here, as in a conspiracy, the danger continually increases, till it is happily discovered. 2. I. ye are not sensible of our natural corruption, and the justice of the curse entailed upon us on that account; can help thinking God a tyrant, when he threatens unconverted moralists with the severest of his judgments, or causes the black storm of his Providence to overtake us and our dearest relatives.

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Answer, ye self-righteous Pharisees, that so bitterly exclaim against the Ministers, who declare by the authority of scripture, that, except ye repent ye shall all perish.” Answer, fond mother, whose tears of distraction mix with the cold sweat of the convulsed dying infant, on thy lap. Dost thou not secretly impeach divine justice, and accuse heaven of barbarity? Ah! if thou didst but know the evil nature which thou and thy Isaac. have brought into the world; if thou sawest the root of bitterness, which the hand of a gracious Providence even now extracts from his heart; far from being ready to curse God, and die with the child, thou wouldest patiently acquiesce in the kindly-severe dispensation: thou wouldest "clear him when he is judged" by such as thyself, and even glorify him in the evil day of this painful visitation.

3. Though man's heart, is as hard as steel, it does not frequently emit the hellish sparks of such murmurings against God, because it can seldom be struck by the flint of such severe afflictions; yet the mischief is there, and will break out, if not by blasphemous despair, at least by its contrary, presumptuous madness. Yes, reader, unless thou art happily made acquainted with the strength of thy inbred depravity, thou wilt rashly venture among the sparks of temptation; with carnal confidence thou wilt ask, "What harm can they do me?" And thou wilt con. tinue the hazardous sport, till sin and wrath consume thee together. Nor will this be more surprising, than that one, who carries a bag of gun-powder, and knows not the dangerous nature of his load, should fearlessly rush through the midst of flames or sparks, till he is blown up and destroyed.

4. This fatal rashness is generally accompanied with a glaring inconsistency. Do not you make the assertion good, ye saints of the present age, who pretend to have found the secret of loving both God and the world? Do not we hear you deny to men, that ye are condemned; and yet cry to God to have mercy upon you? But if we are not condemned, what need have you of mercy? And if ye are, why do ye deny your lost estate? Thou too, reader, wilt fall into this absurdity, unless thou knowest thy just condemnation. But the mischief will not stop here; for,

5. Ignorance of the mystery of iniquity within you, must in the nature of things, cause you to neglect prayer, or to pray out of character. As unhumbled moralists, instead of approaching the throne of grace, with the self-abasement of the penitent Publican, saying, "God be merciful unto me a sinner" ye will provoke the Most High, by the open profaneness of the Sadducee; or insult him by the self-conceited services of the Pharisee, boasting, ye "do no harm," and "thanking God, ye are not as other men.' On these rocks your formal devotion will split, till ye know, that, as the impenitent and prayerless shall perish, so the Lord accepts no penitential prayer, but that of the man who knows the plague of his own heart; be cause he alone prays in his own character, and without hypocrisy, 1 Pet. v. 5.-1 Kings viii. 38.

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6. And as ye cannot approach the throne of grace aright, while ye remain insensible of your corruption; so the reading or preaching of God's word, till it answers the end of conviction, is of no service to you, but rather proves, to use St. Paul's nervous expression, the "savour of death unto death." For when the terrors of the law only suit your case, ye vainly catch at the comforts of the gospel; or rather ye remain as unaffected under the threatenings of the one, as under the promises of the other: ye look on Mount Sinai and Mount Sion, with equal indifference, and the warmth of the Preacher, who invites you to fly from the wrath to come," appears to you an instance of religious madness. Nor is it a wonder it should, while ye continue unacquainted with your danger : When a mortal disease is neither felt nor suspected, a pathetic address upon its consequences and cure, must be received by any reasonable man with the greatest unconcern: and the person that makes it in earnest, must appear exceedingly ridiculous. Again.

7. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," says the Lord. This is true, particularly with regard to the knowledge of our depravity. Reader, if thou remainest a stranger to it, thou wilt look upon slight confessions of outward sins, as true repentance; and the "godly sorrow, that worketh repentance to salvation," will appear to thee a symptom of melancholy. Taking an external reformation of manners, or a change of ceremonies and opinions for true conversion, thou wilt think thyself in a safe state, while thy heart continues habitually wandering from God, and under the dominion of a worldly spirit. In a word, some of the branches of the tree of corruption thou mayest possibly lop off, but the root will still remain and gather strength. For it is plain, that a bad root, supposed, not to exist, can neither be heartily lamented, nor earnestly struck with the axe of selfdenial.

Even a Heathen could say, "The know ledge of sin is the first step towards salvation from it for he, who knows not that he sins, will not submit to be set right: thou must find out what thou art, before thou canst mend thyself.- Therefore when thou discoverest thy vices, to which thou wast before a stranger, it is a sign that thy soul is in a better state.

8. It is owing to the want of this discovery, O ye pretended sons of reason, that thinking yourselves born pure, or supposing the disease of your nature to be inconsiderable, ye imagine it possible to be your own physicians, when ye are only your own destroyers. Hence it is, that while ye give to Jesus the titular honour of Saviour, ye speak perpetually of being "saved merely by your own duties, and best endeavours." Hear him warning you against this common delusion: "O Israel, (says he,) thou hast destroyed thyself, but in ME is thy help found. The whole need not a physician but they that are sick," beyond all hopes of recovering themselves.

9. The prescriptions of this wise Physician, are excessively severe to flesh and blood, and some of his remedies as violent as our disease. Therefore, except we see the greatness of our danger, we shall beg to be excused from taking the bitter potion. Who can have resolution enough to cut off a right hand, to pluck out a right eye, to take up his cross daily, to deny himself and lose even his own life, or what is often dearer, his fair reputation ?— Who I say, can do this, till a sight of imminent ruin on the one hand, and of redeeming love on the other, malees him submit to the painful injunctions? Thou lovely youth, noted in the gospel for thy harmlessness, I appeal to thy wretched experience. When the Physician of souls, at whose feet thou wast prostrate, commanded thee to sell all and follow him, what made thee go away sorrowful and undone? Not barely thy great possessions, the ignorance of thy condition: for "all that a man hath will he give for his life," when he sees it in immediate danger, Matt. xix. 22.

10. If it is a desperate step to turn away from the prince of life, it is a daring one to approach him with a mere compliment. Of this nevertheless ye are guilty, ye unawakened sinners, who daily appear before the throne of grace, with thanks and praises to God, "for his inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ." Alas! when we deny the state of sin and misery, in which we are by nature, and yet presume to thank God for Redemption from it, do ye not mock him as solemnly

• Initium est salutis notit a peccati, nam qui peccare

se nescit corrigi non vult: deprehendas ie opport antequain emendes. Sen. Ep. xxviii.-Et hoc ipsum argumentum est in melius translati animi, quod vitia sua, quæ adhuc ignorabat, videt, Ep. vi

as ye would the king, were ye to present him every day an address of thanks, for redeeming you from Turkish slavery, when ye never knew yourselves slaves in Turkey? O how provoking to God must these unmeaning thanksgivings be! Surely one day they will be ranked among the indignities offered by earthly worms to the Majesty on High. 11. Some indeed, more consistent than you openly throw off the mask. Seeing neither the unfathomable depth of their misery by the fall, nor the inmense height of their aggravated iniquities, they do not only trifle with, but at once deny the Lord that bought them. Yes, far from admiring the established method of a salvation, procured at so immense a price, as the incarnation, and crucifixion of the Son of God, they are not afraid to intimate it is irrational; and upon their princi. ples they may well do it; for if our ruin is not immense, what need is there for an immensely glorious Redeemer? And if our guilt reaches not up to heaven, why should the Son of God have come down from thence, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself?

12. As we slight or neglect the Saviour, till we are truly convinced of the evil and danger of sin; so we worship a false god, a mere idol. For, instead of adoring Jehovah, infinite in his holiness, and in his hatred of sin; inviolable in the truth of his threaten, ings against it, and impartial in his strict justice;-a God, in whose presence unhum. bled sinners, are not able to stand, and with whom evil cannot dwell: we bow to a strange god, whom pious men never knew; a god formed by our own fancy, so unholy as to connive at sin, so unjust as to set aside his most righteous daw, and so false as to break his solemn word, that we must turn or die, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. Is not this worshipping a god of our own making; or as David describes him, 66 a god altogether such as ourselves?" To adore an idol of paste, made by the baker and the priest, may be indeed more foolish, but cannot be more wicked, than to adore one made by our wild imagination, and impious unbelief.

13. We may go one step farther still, and affirm, that till we are deeply convinced of sin, far from worshipping the true God, (which implies knowing, loving, and admiring him in all his perfections) we hate and oppose him in his infinite holiness and justice. The proof is obvious: two things diametrically opposite in their nature, can never be approved of at once. If we do not side with divine holiness and justice, abhor our corruption, and condemn ourselves as hell-deserving sinners; far from approving, we shall rise against the holy and righteous God, who sentences us to eternal death for our sin: we shall at least wish he were less pure and just than he is: which amounts to wishing him to be no God. While proud fiends be.

tray this horrid disposition, by loud blasphe mies in hell: ye do it, Oye unconvinced sons of men, by your aversion to godliness upon earth. Haters of God, is then the proper name, and enmity against him, the settled temper of all unhumbled, unconverted sinners, Rom. i. 30, and viii. 7.

14. When the nature of God is mistsken, what wonder if his law is misapprehended? "The law is good, says St. Paul, if a man use it lawfully;" but if we make an improper use of it the consequence is fatal. Since the fall, the Law of God as contra-distinguished from the gospel of Christ, points out to us the spotless holiness aud inflexible justice of its divine Author. It teaches us with what ardour and constancy we should love both our Creator and our fellow-creatures. As a bank cast against the stream of our juiquity, it accidentally serves to make it rise the higher, and to discover its impetuosity; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. It demonstrates man's weakness, who consents indeed to the law that it is good, but fiuds not how to fulfill it, Rom. vii. 16, 19. As a battery erected against our pride, when it has its due effect, it silences all our selfrighteous pleas, and convinces us that a returning sinner is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ; a broken law, a law which worketh wrath, being absolutely unable to absolve its violator. In a word, it is our school master to bring us to Christ, and drives us with the rod of threatened punishments, to make us touch the sceptre of mercy, held out to us from the throne of grace.

But, while we remain strangers to our helpless and hopeless state by nature, far from making this proper use of the law, we trust in it, and fancy that the merit of our unsprinkled obedience to it is the way of saltion. Thus we go about to establish our own righteousness making light of the atoning blood, which marks the new and living way to heaven. This very mistake ruined the Pharisees of old, and destroys their numerous followers in all ages. Rom. ix. 31.

15. And when we form such wrong apprehensions of the Law, is it possible that we should have right views of the gospel, and receive it with cordial affection? Reason and experience answer in the negative. What says the Gospel to sinners? "Ye are saved BY GRACE," through mere favour and mercy not by the covenant of works, lest any, man should boast like the pharisee, Eph. ii. 8. Now, ye decent formalists, ye fond admirers of your own virtue, are ye not utterly disqualified to seek and accept of pardon in a gospel way? For your seeking it upon the footing of mere mercy, implies an acknowledgement, that ye deserve the ruin threatened against sinners. And suppose a pardon were granted you, before ye had a conscious.