manifest, which are these, adultery, &c. of which I tell you [believers] that they, who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.'

7. To running, fighting, faithfully laying up treasure in heaven, and feeding the flock of God." They who run in a race, run all; but one receiveth the prize: So run, that you may obtain. Now they are temperate in all things to obtain a corruptible crown; but we, an incorruptible. I therefore so run-fight- and bring my body into subjection, [that I may obtain ;] lest I myself should be cast away;' i. e. should not be approved of, should be rejected, and lose my incorruptible crown.

" Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. -Lay up treasure in heaven.-Make yourselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when you fail on earth, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.-Charge them who are rich, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.-Feed the flock of God, &c. being examples to the flock, and when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive the crown of glory, that fadeth not away.'

8. To love and charity.-Though I have all faith &c. and have no charity, I am nothing. She [the woman] shall be saved, &c. if they [womankind] continue in faith and charity.-Whosoever hateth his brother hath not eternal life.-He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.-We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.-If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema.— The crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.'

9. To a godly walk. 'There is no condemnation to them, &c. that walk not after the flesh.-As many as walk according to this rule, mercy, [be, or will be] on them. If we walk in the light [of good works, Matt. v. 15,] the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.-The Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk

uprightly. Many [fallen believers] walk, &c. enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction.'

10. To persevering watchfulness, faithfulness, prayer, &c. He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.-Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.-Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.-Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee, &c.-To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne. -To him that keepeth my words unto the end, &c. will give the morning star.-Take heed to yourselves, &c. watch and pray always, that ye may be counted worthy to escape, &c. and to stand before the Son of man.' In a word,

11. To patient continuance in mortifying the deeds of the body, and in well doing. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.-For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap perdition; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting: And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap [not, if we faint or not, but] if we faint not. He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.-Ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.'-God, at the revelation of his righteous judgment will render to every man according to his deeds: Eternal life to them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory.-Anguish upon every soul of man that does evil, &c. but glory to every man that worketh good, &c. for there is no respect of persons with God.'

Is it not astonishing, that in sight of so many plain scriptures, the Solifidians should still ridicule the passport of good works, and give it to the winds as a

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paper kite?" However, if the preceding texts do not appear sufficient, I can send another volley of gospel truths, to shew that the initial salvation of believers themselves may be lost through bad works.

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I know thy works, &c., so, then, because thou art lukewarm, I will spue thee out of my mouth.'-' What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man [71s any one, and two verses below, any one of you, James ii. 14, 16,] say he hath faith, and hath not works,' [now?] Can faith save him? &c. Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.-Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned.' [In the original it is the same word which is rendered damned, Mark xvi. 16.]—' If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: If we [believers] deny him, he will also deny us.-Add to your faith virtue, &c., charity, &c.-If ye do these things ye shall never fall, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord.-It had been better for them, that have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Saviour, [i. e., for believers,] not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.-Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, my Father taketh away. Abide in me, &c. If a man abide not in me [by keeping my commandments in faith] he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and [he shall share the fate of the branches that have really belonged to the natural vine, and now bear no more fruit] men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.'-The fig-tree in the Lord's moral vineyard is cut down, for not bearing fruit. Him that sinueth I will blot out of my book. -Some, having put away a good conscience, concerning faith have made shipwreck.-Such as turn back to their own wickedness, the Lord shall lead them forth with the evil-doers.-Towards thee, goodness, if [by continuing in obedience] thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou shalt be cut off.'

Again, For the wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more. -Some are already turned aside after Satan :-having VOL. II.

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damuation because they have cast off their first faith; -the faith that works by love; the mystery of faith kept in a pure conscience;-the faith unfeigned [that the apostle couples with] a good conscience ;'-the faith that is made perfect by works;-the faith that cries like Rachael, Give me children, give me good works, or else I die ;-the faith that faints without obedience, and actually dies by bad works; the following scriptures abundantly proving that faith, and consequently the just who live by faith, may die by bad works.

"When a righteous man§ doth turn from his righte ousness, and commit iniquity, &c., he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness, which he has doue, shall not be remembered.' (Ezek. iii, 20.)—Again, When the righteous, &c. does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness, that he has done, shall not be men

§ That this is spoken of a truly righteous man, i. e., of a believer, appears from the following reasons: (1.) The rightcous here mentioned, is opposed to the wicked mentioned in the context: As surely then as the word wicked, means there one really wicked, so does the word righteous mean here one truly righteous.-(2.) The righteous man's turning from his righteousness, is opposed to the wicked man's turning from his iniquity: If therefore the righteous man's righteousness is to be understood of feigned goodness, so the wicked man's iniquity must be understood of feigned iniquity.-(3.) The crime of the righteous man here spoken of is turning from his righteousness : But if his righteousness were only an hypocritical righteousness, he would rather deserve to be commended for renouncing it; a wicked sly Pharisee being more odious to God than a barefaced sinner, who has honesty enough not to put on the mask of religion, Rev. iii. 15.—(4.) Part of this apostate's punishment will consist in not having the righteousness that he has done remembered: But if his righteousness is a false righteousness or mere hypocrisy, the divine threatening proves a precious promise; for you cannot please an hypocrite better, than by assuring him that his hypocrisy shall never be remembered.— What a pity is it, that to defend our mistakes we should fix egregious nonsense and gross contradiction upon the only wise 'God!

tioned: In his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.' (Ezek. xviii, 24.)-Once more: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression, &c. When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live ;§ if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, he shall die for it.' (Ezek. xxxiii. 13.)

It seems, that God foreseeing the Solifidians would be hard of belief, notwithstanding the great ado they make about faith, condescended to their infirmity, and kindly spoke the same thing over and over; for setting again the broad seal of heaven to the truth that chiefly guards the second gospel axiom, he says for the fourth time, 'When the righteous turneth from his righteous. ness and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby: But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.' (Ezek. xxxiii. 18, 19.)

If Ezekiel be not allowed to be a competent judge, let Christ himself be heard: Then his Lord said unto him: O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, &c. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors.' (Matt. xviii. 26, &c.)

All the preceding scriptures are thus summed up by our Lord (Matt. xxv. 46.) These [the persons who have not finally done the works of faith] shall go into everlasting punishment; but the righteous [those who have done them to the end, at least from the time of their reconversion, if they were backsliders] shall go into eternal life.' This doctrine agrees perfectly with the conclusion of the sermon on the mount: Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doth them ; I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house

These words are another indubitable proof, that the righteous here mentioned is a truly-righteous person; as the holy ́and true God would never say to a wicked Pharisee, that he shall surely live.