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the same species of divine interposition was as requisite for making the sinner believe as for making the blind man see. The hand of God would have been equally desiderated for giving faith to the mind in the one case, and for giving sight to the eye in the other. And the imposing theory of its being merely necessary to receive the fact as being indisputably applicable to each, because it was affirmed to be common to all, would have failed to satisfy any one of its being so hostile, as it is alleged to be, to the idea of human merit.

But observe, in the third place, what is the probable and almost inevitable influence of such illustrations as those on which we are commenting, on men's notions respecting faith. They are informed that pardon is laid at every man's doorthat the veriest profligate has a right to it-that it does not belong to the believer merely, but that it actually belongs to all mankind alike—and that it is as much theirs as the air or the light in the natural world. And they are, moreover, informed, that as they have simply to open their eyes, in order to enjoy the beauty and the advantages of the light, and simply to open their mouths, in order to enjoy the freshness and vivifying effects of the air, in like manner they have simply to believe that they are pardoned, in order to experience the consolation of the pardon already conveyed to them, and all the manifold and import

ant benefits which are implied in the great salvation. So that well knowing how easy a thing it is to open the eye and the mouth, so as to see and breathe—an operation which every one who has these organs in a sound and healthful state, performs thousands of times in the course of every day that he lives,-they must conclude that there can be no great difficulty in believing that they can do it at any time hereafter, when they may deem it useful or find it convenient that any morning when they open their eyes to behold the light of the sun, they may, at the same moment, and with the same ease, open the eyes of their minds to behold, to acknowledge, and to rejoice in the fact, that all their sins are long ago forgiven, and that it is discrediting the truth of God, to be in any alarm about the condemnation which sin deserves. Thus by being taught to consider faith as a work at their own command, and of their own accomplishment, they are tempted to be careless, and procrastinating, and presumptuous in their dealings with the "one thing needful." The feeling of pride and self-conceit is gendered by the thought that they can so readily effectuate the mighty achievements ascribed to faith, and at the same time, the anxiety of which they might otherwise be conscious, to have that grace formed, and settled, and stablished in their minds, is greatly diminished, or altogether suppressed.

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Nor will these evils be lessened or counteracted by the doctrine itself, that the fact to be afterwards believed, is their existing freedom from the penalties of the law which they have transgressed, and in the transgression of which they are still living, and may continue to live, without dread from the denunciations of that law. a doctrine is calculated to prevent the law from acting as a schoolmaster to bring them unto Christ. Recurring to the similitudes brought from the air and the light, they may perceive, without the help of much sagacity, that these similitudes have very little power to hasten their belief. It is true that they cannot see the light without opening their eyes, and cannot breathe the air without opening their mouths, and therefore they never fail to perform both of these necessary functions. But the resemblance does not apply to their case. For they are told by our opponents, who, of course, look for their assent to the statement, that whatever other purposes believing may subserve, assuredly it has nothing to do with getting them pardon—that there is no necessary connexion between the two -that the latter is theirs, even though they should never practise the former-that they are as much freed as ever they can be, from that penalty which God's justice denounced against the breakers of his commandments. And, there

fore, while the opening of the eyes and of the mouth is indispensably requisite for their seeing and breathing, or having any benefit whatever from the light and air, common property though they be, faith is not requisite at all for their possessing pardon, that being a common property to every individual of our race, be he a believer, or be he an unbeliever. To say that without believing, they cannot know that they are pardoned, and cannot therefore be comforted or sanctified, is little or nothing to the purpose. If they are really ignorant of this, so far at least as not to be influenced by it to be at ease in Zion, it is owing to no want of zeal on the side of our opponents, who labour hard to give them a speculative, if they cannot produce in them a saving conviction of the fact. And as a man may believe in the existence of God, though his belief in that proposition does not persuade him to love and serve and glorify God, so they may be brought to believe that their sins are already pardoned, though their belief may go no farther than to give them encouragement to persevere in sin..

SERMON XII.

SAME SUBJECT.

We shall now direct your thoughts to some of the causes which have chiefly operated in produc ing and spreading the deadly heresy that we have been so long employed in exposing. Our discussion of this part of the subject, however, must necessarily be very limited and imperfect.

1. And first, I am more convinced than I was when I first announced it to you, that the doctrine of universal pardon has originated in a great measure, in the high doctrine of assurance of faith.

The doctrine I refer to consists in making the assurance of a man's own personal salvation to be of the very essence of his faith. A considerable time ago I explained to you what I conceived to be the sound and scriptural view of the subject. The first thing that a true believer does is to give credit to the divine testimony concerning Christ

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