dient evidence thereof; the falvation is defirable, but not fufficiently proved to be true? Rather, does not your unbelief proceed from ignorance, and a confequent difinclination to believe? Without doubt it does. But to convince of this is a work, which He only, whofe name is the ALMIGHTY, can perform. Therefore it is faid, by way of apology, that fuch defire to know the gofpel. Then furely the nature, design, and evidence of the gofpel falvation fhould be laid before them, instead of putting them to pore upon their own hearts, in order to extract fome kind of comfort from their fuppofed defires.

But, as before hinted, the plain fact is, the gofpel hope is thought to be too weak to fupport them; and therefore this humble, fincere, earneft, and affectionate defire, is to believe, not in Chrift alone, but that they are the children of the Moft High, the peculiar favourites of hea-ven. This defire, therefore, may be confidered as an important ftruggle between confcience, which bears witness that they are not the children of God, and which the holy Spirit in the word confirms-and the afpirations of their pride, un-der the influence of that ancient doctrine, re. fhall be as Gods. Now as the former prevails, conviction, fear, fhame, and torment, are the painful confequences. But never the latter gains the afcendancy, and fo the confcience becomes blinded or feared thereby, then fome. kind of peace, joy, and comfort, are its attendants. But if fuch perfons are, through divine teaching, mercifully brought to obtain peace by the blood of the Redeemer's crofs; they will then perceive, that all their previous defires, prayers, refolutions, and endeavours, were not in reality after God's falvation, but aimed at

doing or feeling fomething from which, or through which, their peace and hope might be derived.

Once more: the perfon who is feeking faith, or defiring to believe, muft either be a believer or an unbeliever; for between these there is no confiftent medium. He cannot be a believer, or elfe what he profeffes to believe, would give rest to his foul. For being juftified by faith we have peace with God, and ceafe from thofe fruitlefs. works, &c. He must therefore be an unbeliever; and as fuch is in a carnal ftate. But the carnal mind is enmity against God. Therefore, though it is natural enough for one under the alarms of conscience, fincerely to defire peace; it is neither scriptnral nor rational to fay, he defires to believe the truth of Chrift, or is feeking faith in him. He does not underftand or know what faith in Chrift is; how then can he feek it? His heart rifes in enmity when the pure gofpel is preached; how then can he defire it? Would it not much better become Chriftian teachers, when they have to deal with such persons as those under confideration, to copy after the example of Chrift in his treatment of the like characters? Matt. xix. 16-21, &c.

Faith has also been defined a condition of juftification, or that act of the mind which God requires us to exert, inftead of obeying the whole law, and is frequently called obedience to the new law. This fentiment has been fufficiently expofed by those who have engaged in the Arminian controverfies; and ftands fo much opposed to falvation by grace, that no one can receive it, but he whofe mind is blinded by the god of this world, and who is under a strong delufion to believe a lie. It indeed comes under the fpecious recommendation of that doctrine,

which would feem to wear the face of more tharr ordinary holinefs, but is in fact an abominable Antinomian tenet, and aims at making void the law. As to faith, it is as foreign to the Scripture view of it, as darkness is to light. We fhall therefore offer no other refutation of this notion, than Paul's words, Rom. iv. 4, 5. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that juftifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Again: it has been faid that-" Faith is not "fimply the believing of any fentence that is writ"ten, or can be thought upon!"-It is feldom expreffed in thefe very words, though the fame thing is to be understood, when we are told that -"Faith is a faving grace implanted in the heart "at regeneration (and must therefore be pre"vious to understanding and believing the gof"pel) by the Spirit of God, and is a difpofition "or readiness in the human mind, to believe the gofpel." "-But this faith, whatever it be, cannot be the faith of the operation of God; becaufe that comes by hearing the word of God. It is · admitted, that unfeigned faith is a work of the Spirit, and that falvation is infeparably connected. with it; yet Scripture and common fenfe forbid us thinking, that faith can exift without a tef- timony.

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By others faith has been defined a belief that we have a right to falvation in preference to others-a belief that we are the elect of Godor a perfuafion that Chrift fhed his blood for me in particular, or that I fhall go to heaven, &c. That believers do come to a knowledge of their perfonal intereft in Chrift, and the things they believe and hope in, is granted. But it is moft

certain,

certain, that carnal men may and do embolden themselves, upon falfe notions, to use the most confident expreffions about their personal interest in the favour of God. Such as, "I know fo "furely as that there is a God in heaven, that he "is my God, and that I fhall as furely go to hea"ven as if I were there," &c. Who more confident than the Pharifees? they had no doubt of God being their father; and yet, who more blind to the knowledge of the true God than they? If it be faith, to believe our relation to God, to call ourselves the dear people of his choice, and appropriate all the bleffings of eternal life to ourselves; then the Pharifees had faith in a very eminent degree. But to fuppofe that faith confists in a firm perfuafion of our own intereft, is, in effect, the very fame thing as to fay, faith is a believing that we believe. To this it will be objected, that wicked men, deceiving their own fouls in believing a lie, are no argument against the appropriating act of faith upon the grant of the gofpel. True, if that were all the ground of objection. But it wants evidence from Scripture to fupport that notion, that God promises eternal life to every hearer of the gofpel, or, which is in fact the fame thing, that every bearer has a right to believe that Chrift died for him in particular. It is granted that the gospel proclaims falvation indefinitely, and declares that every believer thereof fhall be faved, and that whosoever believes on Chrift, hath everlasting life; yet-it is not any thing about ourselves that we are immediately called to believe, but the teftimony that God has given of his Son; and fo our confidence, if it be that which the gofpel produces, is not in ourselves, nor of the goodness of our ftate, but in the fufficiency of

that

that falvation which the Scriptures indefinitely proclaim. Befides, fome have rejoiced in the word of the gofpel, who have afterwards revolted from their profeffion-many think they believe the truth, who are at the fame time holding fome fatal delufion-and it is no where afcertained in the word of God, that Chrift died for the actual tranfgreffions of any perfon in particular. But the MYSTERY of this fort of faith is fet before us in the following lines, "Let it "be well obferved, that the reason why we are "to affure ourselves in our faith, that God freely giveth Chrift and his falvation to us "particularly, is not, because it is a truth be"fore we believe it, but because it becometh a "certain truth when we believe it, and because "it will never be true, except we do in fome "measure perfuade and affure ourselves that it "is fo. We have no abfelute promife or decla"ration in the Scripture, that God certainly. "will or doth give Christ and his falvation to "any one of us in particular; neither do we "know it to be true already either by Scripture, "or fenfe, or reafon, before we affure ourfelves "of it; yea, we are without Chrift's falvation "at prefent, in a ftate of fin and mifery, under "the curfe and wrath of God. Only I fhall 66 prove, that we are bound, by the command of "God, thus to affure ourselves: and the Scrip"ture doth fufficiently warrant us, that we shall "not deceive ourselves in believing a lie: but "according to our faith, fo fhall it be to us. "This is aftrange kind of affurance, far differ"ent from ordinary kinds; and therefore no wonder if it should be found weak and imper"fect, and difficult to be obtained, and affaulted "with many doubtings. We are concerned to "believe

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