such power, that it turns a man, as it were, out of himself, delivers him from his own selfish whims and intentions, releases him from a multitude of slavish fears and concerns, and causes him ardently to desire and delight in those things alone, which may exercise a gracious and thankful spirit in showing forth the praises of his kind Redeemer.

CHAPTER XLII.

On Self-Sufficiency.

MULTITUDES of professors, without breach of candour, evidently appear lifted up in themselves; and too many, from this unsubdued principle, are plainly working for worldly eminence or observation, while they would be thought to be working only for God.

What is the origin of this evil? To me it seems to be founded in the imperfect knowledge of the divine law, and consequently in a proportional ignorance of their own fallen nature. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." The Holy Spirit uses it, in the day of his power, to show to the heart its own absolute sinfulness, to convince it of this neverto-be-forgotten truth, that "in the flesh dwelleth no good thing." Hence the force of our Lord's declaration, "Ye must be born again." The old nature is corrupt altogether, "according to the deceitful lusts:" and in it the sinner must perish, if

he obtain not the grace of the Spirit, producing regeneration and a renewal of mind.

From the ignorance of this truth, either in principle or practice, or in both, men, professing religion, and holding even some important doctrines of the gospel, become conceited and full of themselves. If the law had read its lesson duly upon their hearts, it would necessarily sink their arrogance into humiliation and abasement. From the want of this teaching, they think it possible for a man to repent of himself, to ask in faith before he hath it, and to do much that even God in his purity will accept and approve. Upon some latent or dormant principles of inherent goodness and strength, not quite diminished by the fall, they presume, that a person may begin with God, and that, after this beginning, God will, in consequence, (absurd as it may seem,) begin with him. This rotten foundation, grounded upon reason, or the exercise only of the argumentative faculties, is the chief support of the false and incoherent superstructure, which, in their further proceeding, they unavoidably build upon it. basis and the building are truly of the same materials -the proud conceit and unsubdued ignorance of the natural heart. If the numerous ramifications of error were traced to their origin, they will be found, more or less, to unite in this master-error- -a vain presumption of the free-will, ability, or rational capacity, of fallen man.

The

The Lord teaches his redeemed a very different lesson. They are first brought down by him, that they may, in due time, be properly exalted.

He

teaches them the right use of the law, that they may know how to receive truly, and enjoy sweetly, the rich grace of his gospel. In proportion as men sink by the one, they rise by the other. He, therefore, who most lives the gospel, (for it is a life, and not a mere profession,) who most spiritually enjoys the gospel, and in it most entirely gives himself up to the will and word of the Redeemer, is and must be best acquainted with the nature and purpose of the law, and, by its use, enters most deeply into the renunciation of himself. He who mingles law and gospel (a case not unfrequent even among great professors) through ignorance of the right place of either, must proportionably walk in darkness and discomfort, and may, unless God in mercy prevent it, fall into some dangerous errors, the very nature of which tends to harden the heart, as well as to blind the eyes of those who are subverted by them. Heresy is no slight affair, but will spread and "eat as doth a canker." In very deed, every man without real be his denomination what it may, is and must be, either secretly or openly, if not both together, a real Antinomian.

grace,

Who then "is sufficient for these things," or able" to direct his own steps?" How can any escape, since all are blinded by nature, and shut up under sin and condemnation through the holiness of the law? Blessed be the Lord for his grace and allsufficiency! Viewing these in faith, the believer may say with his brother of old, Though "I am not sufficient of myself to think any thing as of myself, yet my sufficiency is of God;" or, with a bro

ther of still higher antiquity, "Jehovah is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” He, who knows what all this means, will tremble to have recourse to the powers of nature, or to rely upon himself; and, of course, boasting will be excluded. Egotisms, or much about a man's own self, rarely become a Christian, and are seldom necessary. Publications of this sort are usually the ebullitions of an overflowing vanity, or the high conceit of a man's own consequence in the world.

CHAPTER XLIII.

On Liberty of Soul.

THE real liberty of the soul consists in a happy freedom from the usurped dominion of sin and Satan. The Christian therefore denies himself, because of sin in his mortal body; he shuns the spirit of the world, because by its sinfulness it promotes his inbred corruptions; he prays and watches against the evil one, because he is the grand tempter and stirrer of all iniquity both in himself and others.

The more this frame is maintained, the more will the heart enjoy "the glorious liberty of the children of God." This is a holy and righteous freedom, which the Christian pants after continually, and which is then most sweetly experienced, when the soul is most abstracted from the low solicitudes and

dull satisfactions of sense and time. The Father of mercies is the cause, the Son of his love is the means, and the Spirit of grace is the power, of all the spiritual freedom in earth and heaven, and of all the transporting blessedness resulting from it.

The world and the flesh are a dead weight upon the mind in its possession and exercise of this delightful liberty; and therefore, in the mind's struggles to gain and secure it, the world and the flesh must be brought down and kept down, having, like the devil's jailers, nothing about them but miserable chains and fetters, wherewith to bind and imprison the soul.

CHAPTER XLIV.

On Sickness.

If we

ALL sickness and sorrow arise from sin. were not unholy creatures, we could not be unhappy creatures. Because of the ill-habit occasioned by transgression, every element fights against our health by changes and inclemencies; and the very food we eat, while it nourishes for a time, lays the foundation of disease in our bodies, already prepared by their own weakness and ill temperament to receive and increase it.

Sickness is a dismal scourge to the ungodly, and a painful spur to the gracious. To the one, it is the harbinger of terror and misery; but, to the other,