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' had fulfilled the whole law? I must take heed what

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say; but the apostle saith, God made Him to be sin, for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made 'the righteousness of God in him." Such we are in 'the sight of God the Father, as is the very Son of 'God himself. Let it be counted folly, or frenzy, or

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fury, whatsoever, it is our comfort, and our wisdom; 'we care for no knowledge in the world but this, that 'man hath sinned, and God hath suffered; that God ⚫ hath made himself the Son of man, and that men are 'made the righteousness of God."

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Equally determinate and expressive are these words (page 500): As for such as hold with the Church of Rome, that we cannot be saved by Christ alone with'out works, they do, not only by a circle of consequence, 'but directly, deny the foundation of faith; they hold

it not, no not so much as by a thread.' If the judicious Hooker's judgment may in this important concern be depended upon, (and I suppose it will not easily be proved erroneous,) I fear the foundation of faith is held by only a small part of that Church, which has honoured her champion with this distinction.

Page 508 and 509, he thus defends his doctrine against the objections of the Papists, (for at that time none but the Papists, openly objected to it.) It is a childish cavil wherewith, in the matter of justification, our adversaries do so greatly please them'selves, exclaiming that we tread all christian virtues under our feet, and require nothing of christians but 'faith; because we teach that faith alone justifieth. Whereas, by this speech, we never meant to ex'clude either hope, or charity, from being always

'joined, as inseparable mates with faith in the man 'that is justified; or works from being added as ne

cessary duties required at the hands of every justi'fied man but to shew that faith is the only hand 'which putteth on Christ unto justification; and 'Christ the only garment, which, being so put on, 'covereth the shame of our defiled natures, hideth the 'imperfections of our works, preserveth us blameless in the sight of God; before whom, otherwise, the 'weakness of our faith were cause sufficient to make 'us culpable; yea, to shut us from the kingdom of 'heaven, where nothing that is not absolute can en

'ter.

Had I at this time met with such passages in the writings of the Dissenters, or in any of those modern publications, which, under the brand of methodistical, are condemned without reading, or perused with in. vincible prejudice, I should not have thought them worth regard, but should have rejected them as wild enthusiasm. But I knew that Hooker was deemed perfectly orthodox, and a standard-writer, by the prelates of the church in his own days. I learned from his dispute with Mr. Travers, that he was put upon his defence, for making concessions in this matter to the Church of Rome, which the zealous Protestants did not think warrantable; and that he was judged by the more rigid too lax in his doctrine, by none too rigid. I had never heard it insinuated that he was tinctured with enthusiasm; and the solidity of his judgment, and the acuteness of his reasoning faculties, need no voucher to the attentive reader. His opinion therefore carried great weight with it; made me suspect

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the truth of my former sentiments; and put me upon serious enquiries and deep meditation upon this subject, accompanied with earnest prayers for the teaching and direction of the Lord in this important point. The result was, that after many objections and doubts, and much examination of the word of God, in a few months I began to accede to Mr. Hooker's sentiments. And at the present my opinion in this respect, as far as I know, coincides with these passages of this. eminent author, and is supported and vindicated by the same arguments: he, therefore, who would prove our doctrine of justification by faith alone to be an error, will do well to answer in the first place these quotations from Mr. Hooker.

Indeed, as far as I can understand him, there is scarcely any doctrine which, with no inconsiderable offence, I now preach, that is not as evidently contained in his writings as in my sermons, Witness

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particularly his Sermon of the certainty and perpetuity of faith in the elect;' in which the doctrine of the final perseverance of true believers, is expressly taught and scripturally maintained: and he closes it with this noble triumph of full assurance, as resulting from that comfortable doctrine in the hearts of confirmed and experienced christians; "I know in whom "I have believed;" I am not ignorant whose precious blood has been shed for me; I have a Shepherd 'full of kindness, full of care, and full of power: unto him I commit myself. His own finger hath engraC ven this sentence in the tables of my heart. "Satan "hath desired to winnow thee as wheat, but I have *prayed that thy faith fail not." Therefore, the as

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surance of my hope I will labour to keep as a jewel ' unto the end, and by labour,' through the gracious 'mediation of his prayer, I shall keep it.' (Page 532) With such words in my mouth, and such assurance in my heart, I wish to live, and hope to die.

The insertion of these quotations from this old author will, I hope, need no apology. Many have not his works, and these extracts are worthy of their peJusal: others, from these specimens, may be prevailed with to read what perhaps hath hitherto been an unnoticed book in their studies. Especially I recommend it to those, who admire him as the champion of the external order and discipline of the church, and who willingly allow him the honour of being distinguished by the epithet Judicious, that they would attentively read and impartially consider his doctrine. This would put an effectual stop to those declamations that, either ignorantly or maliciously, are made against the very doctrines as novel inventions, which have just now been explained and defended in Mr. Hooker's own words. For my part, though I acknowledge that he advances, many things I should be unwilling to subscribe, yet I heartily bless God that at this time I read him: the first material alteration, that took place in my views of the gospel, being in consequence of it.

One more quotation I shall make, and so take my leave of him. Addressing himself (in his 2d. Ser'mon on part of St. Jude's Epistle,') to the pastors. who are appointed to feed the chosen in Israel, he says (Page 552,) if there be any feeling of Christ, any 'drop of heavenly dew, or any spark of God's good Spirit within you, stir it up; be careful to build and VOL. I.

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edify, first yourselves and then your flocks, in this most holy faith. I say, first yourselves; for he, which will set the hearts of other men on fire with 'the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. It is want of faith in ourselves, my brethren, which 'makes us retchless [careless] in building others. • We forsake the Lord's inheritance, and feed it not. • What is the reason of this? Our own desires are ⚫ settled where they should not be. We ourselves are like those women which have a longing to eat coals, and lime, and filth: we are fed, some with 'honour, some with ease, some with wealth: the

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gospel waxeth loathsome and unpleasant in our taste; how should we then have a care to feed others ' with that which we cannot fancy ourselves? If faith wax cold and slender in the heart of the prophet, it ' will soon perish from the ears of the people.'-It is not needful to add any reflections upon this passage, every one will readily make them for himself: we are however, reminded of Solomon's words, (Eccl. i. 9, 10.) "There is no new thing under the sun; is "there any thing whereof it may be said, see this is "new? It hath been already of old time which was

before us." (Eccl. iii. 15.) "That which hath "been is now, and that which is to be hath already "been."

To my shame be it spoken, though I had twice subscribed the Articles, which allow the book of Homilies to be sound and whoisome doctrine, I had never yet seen them, and understood not what that doctrine was. But, being at length engaged in a serious enquiry after truth, and Hooker's works hav

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