that he did not mean to differ with any one about a word, though it be Scriptural. That he meant by the word perfection, such a degree of the love of God and the love of man; such a degree of the love of justice, truth, holiness, and purity as will remove from the heart every contrary disposition towards God or man: and that this should be our state of mind in every situation, and in every circumstance of life. Oh! what a paradise would this earth be, were all Christians sanctified in this degree! Can there be a more amiable picture of the Gospel than this? Is it irrational to tell us that God sent his Son into the world to make us new creatures? To give us true views of God and of ourselves: of his love, mercy, truth, and goodness: of his providential care and his all-sufficiency to bless us with every blessing in heavenly things in Christ Jesus; to give us true views of life, death, and eternity, and hereby to arm us with divine strength to resist and overcome the world, the flesh and the devil; and to give us those dispositions of mind which prepare us to worship, love, reverence and serve God, and to be just, true, and helpful to one another in this wilderness, as a preparation for the enjoyment of God, and the society of heaven? And is this, I say, to talk irrationally? as an enthusiast? as one, who is doing an injury to the world ? How rashly do men judge and speak when their passions are inflamed; but candour must acknowledge that in this he excelled, and that, though his doctrine be contrary to the lives of the professors of religion in general, it is agreeable to the oracles of God, and to the nature and fitness of things.

There is another point that I mean to consider, relative to his religious opinions, and a point likewise that has been strangely misunderstood, and a great outcry raised against it ; not indeed by the bulk of religious people, but by men of abilities, and of learning, who make pretensions to reason and calm discussion. The article I mean is this; that all the blessings of the Gospel are to be obtained by faith. He has told us expressly, that we are saved by faith: he has told us also, what he means by salvation; the being put in possession of the blessings of the Gospel; the being justified by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ; the being sanctified, or made holy in heart and holy in all manner of conversation; he has taught you that all these things are to be obtained by faith. This has been thought a very irrational opinion; but I think it has been thought so very rashly. That it is consonant with the Scriptures is beyond a doubt you can hardly open you Testament in any part but you will find this doctrine taught: you can hardly read a

chapter

chapter in St. Paul's Epistles but you find it inculcated again and again. I apprehend it will bear the test of reason also, and be found upon strictest enquiry, to be agreeable to our state and condition in this life. Is it unreasonable, for instance, that we should believe in God? That we should believe in him, who made us, who upholds us, and who governs all things; in him, who conducts the whole machine of nature in all its vast extent, and in all its complicated operations; who comprehends every thing as it were in one grasp, in whom all things live, and move, and have their being. Is it unreasonable that a poor mortal who knows not what is just coming upon him, not even what shall happen to him the next moment, should trust in God? That he should confide in the goodness and providence of him, who sees all things at one view, past, present, and to come: and who sees man at one glance, in every period of his existence, with every surrounding circumstance? Must not every reasonable man allow, that this is agreeable to the nature of God, and the state of man?

The Gospel promiseth to us a state of intercourse and fellowship with God, in the present enjoyment of spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Faith is made a necessary condition of entering into this state of intercourse and enjoyment. In this, God has dealt with us in a way suitable to our faculties and our state of intercourse with one another. For you can have no kind of connexion with each other, without faith; all must acknowledge that faith is the bond of human society. Can you transact any kind of business without it? It is evident that you cannot. You can have no enjoyment of the things of this life without an act of faith preceding it. All your expectations and future prospects in life are founded on faith. You will find, upon examination, that in every branch of business, in every social intercourse, you must first believe, and then you will obtain the thing you expected, provided your faith be rightly placed. You cannot engage a servant, without faith in him. A merchant cannot transact business with any one, without first having faith in the person with whom he transacts that business. When the husbandman plows his land and sows his seed, faith is the principle from which he acts. Unless then we act from faith, we can have no fellowship with one another, nor enjoy the comforts of life. And we may further observe, that, if the mind be sufficiently furnished with knowledge and prudence, our success will be in proportion to the degree of faith, and the exertions that are made in consequence of it. This great man then, has shewn himself well acquainted both with Scripture and human na

ture,

ture, in explaining this important article of Christian experience.

It would be easy to shew at large how faith operates on the mind in every step of Christian experience. In repentance, the first step towards the Christian life is, a man must believe that there is a God, who is holy, just and good: he must believe the word of God; that there is a judgment to come, when every thought and action will be examined, and when the wicked will be condemned to punishment, and the righteous will inherit eternal life. He must believe also that God is merciful, that pardon may be obtained through Jesus Christ; for a view of the holiness of God and of his own sinfulness,, would, without this, produce despair, which is not Gospel repentance. When, by the grace of God, these things are imprest upon the mind of a man, with full conviction of their truth, they awaken the conscience, and excite him to attention and self-examination, and gradually prepare him to receive Christ, in his mediatorial character.

With respect to pardon, when the mind is rightly prepared for it, the Gospel has made faith the express condition of it. How ably has our aged Minister in the Gospel established this truth, and defended it against all opposition. Pardon of sins is obtained for us by the blood of Christ, it is promised to us by the word of God; but it must be received by faith; we must believe in the word of promise, in order to receive it. And he that believeth is justified: he is justified now, the moment he receives Christ as his Mediator, as his Saviour, as his Atonement. His faith is counted to him for righteousness, it gives him a title to the promise of pardon, and to the blessings connected with it.

If we examine further how faith purifies the heart, we shall find that there is nothing irrational in the doctrine. There is nothing better adapted to remove every evil from the human heart than faith in Christ; there is nothing more efficacious, as a means to preserve us from evil through life, than faith rightly explained and rightly exercised; faith as it unites us to Christ our Living Head, gives us a principle of the divine life; we begin to live unto God, from a principle of love in the heart; to live a life that is given by him who is the resurrection and the life, and who raiseth the soul to an union with God. When this has taken place, old things are done away, all things are become new: the views, the purposes and the affections of the man are changed: he no longer acts from the same motives, nor by the same rule as before; a new principle of action is formed in the heart, which directly leads to holiness and to God.

seen.

Faith as a practical principle, is called by St. Paul, the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not It gives the things hoped for a present subsistence in the mind, in that degree which is suited to our present state. It is the evidence of things not seen: it realizes the truths of the Gospel to the mind, and enables it to view them with as much certainty as we have of the existence of corporeal objects, when we feel their influence on our senses. A man who acts under the influence of this faith, who has Gospel truths full in his view, with all the certainty that his senses can give him of the existence of external objects, will undoubtedly find his heart powerfully affected by them. This faith will work by love it will purify the heart from every thing contrary to the mind that was in Christ. It will enable him to acknowledge God in all his ways, to set him continually before his eyes, to live as in his presence, with a view to his glory, and resigned to his will. Let us instance in one thing only at present. Suppose a man believe that there is a Providence which superintends human affairs: if he be assured that Divine Love can intend nothing but good in every thing that happens to him, and that Infinite Wisdom cannot err in adapting the means to the end intended: if he be as fully assured of these truths as he is of the existence of the things which he sees or hears; will not this faith lead him to a reverential fear of God, and a perfect resignation to his will in every occurrence of life? It appears to me certain, that it will make him cautious in his conduct, and attentive to every part of his duty. He will be anxiously careful for nothing, but, living under a deep sense of the Divine Presence and care, his mind will be kept in perfect peace because it is staid upon God. In this then our aged Father in Christ, appears to have spoken agreeably to Scripture and

reason.

Let us now take notice of his notions of the universality of Gospel blessings. Here he shone with peculiar lustre; here he did honour to God and the Divine attributes; he maintained that God is a God of love, not to a part of his creatures only, but to all; that he who is the Father of all, who made all, who stands in the same relation to all his creatures; loves them all: that he loved the world and gave his Son a ransom for all without distinction of persons; that there is no respect of persons with God. This is an amiable character of the Deity. It always appeared to him, that to represent God as partial, as confining his love to a few, was unworthy our notions of the Deity.. He therefore represented the Gospel in the most glorious and extensive point of view. He maintained that Christ died for all men,

that

that he is to be offered to all; all are to be invited to come to him; and whosoever comes in the way which God has appointed may partake of his blessings. He maintained, That sufficient grace is given to all, in that way and manner which is best adapted to influence the mind. And may we not appeal to every man's experience for the truth of this? How often has he appealed to the consciences of men? Have not your hearts reproved you? Have not you at times trembled for your sins? Nay, have you not done more than this; have you not been ashamed of yourselves, have you not detested your own conduct in secret, when none has seen you but God, and none has been privy to your actions but your own heart? Whence does this arise? Certainly not from man but from God. It is an evidence that there is salvation for thee O man who art in this state; God is not willing that thou shouldst perish; he is calling thee, inviting thee to turn from thy sins, and turn to God. He has thus stated the truths of the Gospel with convincing evidence to the candid mind, which is open to the conviction of truth. And herein he spoke according to the Scriptures. The expressions of Scripture are positive in favour of this doctrine: there are passages which so positively declare it, that it is impossible to give any other construction to them without the greatest violence; but there is not a single passage in the New Testament, which seems to favour the doctrine that Christ died for a part of mankind only, which will not easily admit of a different construction.

It is true he has raised some enemies by this doctrine. He has been called an Arminian; and perhaps many who have used the term have annexed an idea to it by no means just. How often has he wished, and it is devoutly to be wished by all the friends of true religion, that the names of Calvinist and Arminian were buried in oblivion; they have only tended to keep up strife and discord, amongst those who ought to love one another as brethren, however they may have differed on some points of doctrine. But some have supposed that to be an Arminian is to maintain salvation by works: it is to degrade Christ; throw the lustre of redemption by Christ into a cloud at any rate, if not to overturn it. Was this the case with our minister of the Gospel? Did he not preach free grace as much as any Calvinist? Did he not assert that pardon is the free gift of God, without money and without price? Did he not assert that repentance itself only prepares the heart to receive the gift of God, and that it does not give any kind of merit to the man? How often has he declared to vou that the best works any man can perform need atonement. So far was he from putting works in the

place