all the souls that perish. He could not trust the Lord wholly with his ark, but must have a meddling finger, called in the Bible margin, his rashness. Rash worm indeed, to help God do his work! But thousands every where are guilty of this rashness and perish by it. Jesus Christ is jealous of his glory as Saviour. He will not share it with another; and whoso takes it from him, takes it at his peril.

The Saviour's word to an Israelite is, "Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of God. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall support thee. Look to me for salvation, all the ends of the earth. Call on me in time of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

A stranger to the life of faith, makes a snuffle at believing, and thinks no work so easy or so trifling. He wonders why such gentle business should be called the fight of faith; and why the chosen twelve should pray for faith, when every human brain might quickly furnish it.

For my own part, since first sensible of my unbelief, I have been praying fifteen years for faith, and praying with some earnestness, and am not yet possessed of more than half a grain. You smile, Sir, I perceive, at the smallness of the quantity; but you would not, if you knew its efficacy. Jesus, who knew it well, assures you that a single grain as small as a mustard seed, would remove a mountain; remove a mountain load of guilt from the conscience, a mountain lust from the heart, and any mountain load of trouble from the mind.

The gospel law is called the law of faith, and Jesus

1

sends help according to our faith, and is obliged to send it; not through any merit which is found in faith, but by virtue of his promise," according to your faith, be it unto you."

This law of faith, or a whole reliance upon Christ for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption; is become an exploded doctrine; and human arms are called in to help the Saviour in his work. Salvation is no longer, as St. Paul declares, by grace through faith, but grace and nature jointly. And see, Sir, what has followed. Morality has lost its right foundation, and is sinking daily, because it rests on a human shoulder, which cannot bear the weight.

The gospel too, is become not only much neglected, but rejected and despised also, a certain conse quence of the present modish doctrine. A mixed covenant of human might and heavenly help, will rest at last on human shoulders altogether.

For observe, preachers say, we must ourselves do something in salvation work, but cannot say how much. They do not mark the boundary of grace and nature, because they cannot tell what human wit and might may do; of course every man must make the boundary. himself.

One thinks he can do much, another can do more, and a deist will do all. Why should he not? You have put him in the path and set his feet a going, and you must not be offended if he takes a step beyond you. Perhaps you can do with only Christ's shoe latchet, and he will cast the latchet too away. If your path be right, he may enlarge his step, just as he pleases; for you cannot mark the ground where he ought to stop.

Thus when the doctrines of human merit, or of human might are preached, they must naturally, and will judicially end in deism, or a total rejection of the grace of Christ; because no limit can be fixed, where that buman merit, or this human might shall end. “If Jesus Christ is not all in every thing, he will become a cypher.

Paul says, salvation is of faith, that it might be by grace; that is, we must be saved by faith alone in Christ, by a whole dependance upon him for every thing, otherwise salvation cannot be by grace, cannot be a mere matter of grace. If men retain some native will and power to save themselves, and exercise it properly, so far they are saved, not by dependance upon Jesus, but by a proper exercise of their own abilities. Adam was endowed with native will and power to save himself, and had he persevered in a right use of these powers, he would not have been saved by grace at all, but by works altogether. And if fallen man has yet some power to save himself, and makes a proper use thereof, so far he is saved by his own works; but then, says Paul, pray what becomes of grace? If you are truly saved by grace, it must be through faith alone. Your whole dependance must be fixed on Jesus, and your obligations rise entirely from him, else you are not saved by grace. What you can do for yourself, you need not be obliged to another for: no grace is wanted here.

And as salvation, in a covenant of grace, must be through faith alone; so that covenant supposes that we want such grace, for God will offer nothing needless, not even grace.

A fallen man has no more power than a fallen angel

to sanctify his nature, or make atonement for siù. Man fell through pride, as angels did; and to humble man in his recovery, he must go clean out of himself for salvation. His whole dependance must be on the Saviour's blood for pardon, and on the Saviour's grace for holiness. Therefore, Jesus says, "Look to me, and be saved."

But Sir, a little recollection, how it fares with your self and neighbors, would save a deal of talking on this matter. You are an aged man, and seem an honest man, and must have tried what human strength can do. Are your tongue and temper better bridled than they were some forty years ago? Can you love and feed an enemy much better? Can you deal your bread more freely to the hungry, and more cheerfully submit to sickness, pain, and worldly disappointments? Are you growing more humble, and more vile in your own eyes? Can you pray more frequently and fervently and walk with God more closely, and find the comfort of his presence? Is the word of God more read, and read with sweeter savour? Can you keep a stricter watch upon your bosom, and find more power ever bosom sins? Survey yourself all over; then call upon your neighbors, and ask them all the same questions, and see what answers they will make. I believe you will find no great amendment, and no room to vaunt of human strength, but abundant room for self condemnation.

As for the tub you mentioned, it lost its bottom, Sir, above 5000 years ago; and it wonld be strange ir dsed, if it stood upon a bottom when it had none. Adam bas unhooped all our vessels, and left us no foundation to rest upon but Jesus Christ. Adam fell, and ruined all

his race.

Indeed, Doctor, I have the vanity to think myself as good a man as Adam was before he fell. Why should his fall injure me? Could he not stumble without throwing me down? Perhaps he received a bruise, and his ankle might be sprained; but I do not read that he broke his neck. Do the scriptures intimate that his whole nature was impaired, and that he fell from his first estate altogether?

So I think, Sir, but hear and judge. The Lord tells Adam, “In the day he eateth he shall surely die." Adam did eat of the tree, and of course he died on the day he eat, if the word of God is true and faithful. But what death did Adam die on the day he eat? Not a natural, but a spiritual death. All spiritual life ceased on the day he sinned, and his soul was dead to God. His animal life became a sickly and a mortal one; and his spiritual life expired in him, as in the sinning angels.

To fancy that mere mortality was only meant by the threatening, is a strange perversion of this awful sentence, which does not say, thou shalt be liable to death, but thou shalt surely die.

Adam lived 900 years after his transgression, and might have lived nine millions, consistently enough with mere mortality, but not with the threatening. And if one expositor may add the word liable to the threatening, in order to shove it from the spirit; why may not another add the little word not, to shove it from the body too? So the threatening runs thus, "In the day thou eatest, thou shalt not be liable to death," and all is safe and well. The threatening proves mere papal thunder.

But why must all the threatening light upon the body.