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by such persuasion. The mind is brought "out of darkness into marvellous light," and the eyes of the understanding are enlightened; and it is by this light that the truth is perceived and the reason discovered, for belief in the testimony of God. The understanding thus becomes assured in the sanctified use of revelation; not by thinking and disputing, but by hearing and learning from Him who can alone both know and teach perfectly. A fulness of knowledge results from the diligent employment of the means of instruction; a fulness of conviction concerning the truth of such knowledge, from the vouchsafed and improved energy of the divine Spirit. The belief of an understanding thus influenced is not a blind and ignorant, but an intelligent, persuasion: the former consists not with understanding, but the latter with its perfect employment and exercise. Much less is it uncertain opinion, at the mercy of every wind of doctrine, but is an effectual preservative against such lamentable and dangerous fluctuations as disgrace those minds which have not the establishing power of spiritual perception to settle their convictions on the ascertained foundation of God's authority. Such assurance of understanding, then, is the product of God's powerful Spirit in the soul, and never can result from human or ecclesiastical authority, which lack the faculty of producing the state of mind necessary to its development within us. An assent to the truth of a doctrine only on account of the authority of its teachers, the multitude of its believers, or from any such external motive, is but notional in its character, and creaturely in its principles. The suffrage of authority is not necessary to confirm this conviction, which is itself full;" and Fathers, Councils, and tradition are light and inconsiderable in any comparison with the heavenly and spiritual considerations, and modes of mental determination, which give existence to its satisfactions within us. Thus Bishop Davenant observes, (Epis. Collos. Exposition,) "We do not reject the external voice of the church, or consider its ministry at all unnecessary; but we hold that the full assurance of understanding' in matters of faith arises from internal light and the testimony of the Spirit, without which, if the church were a thousand times to inculcate the belief of this or that, yet no one should believe it." No evidence of truth is so satisfactory as that embraced by a gracious and spiritual understanding; and no conclusions or persuasions are so assured to us as those which arise out of, and co-exist with, its influence. The full persuasion wrought by the Holy Ghost in a spiritual understanding, in the simple recognition and improvement of the unaided sufficiency and unrivalled authority of God's revelation, is the best evidence of the truth of Christianity and to such assurance Paul here refers.

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"Full assurance of faith," (Heb. x. 22,) is connected with the "full assurance of understanding." It implies the steadfastness of enlightened adhesion, and not the quiescence of the intellect; and has respect to the promises of God, in the word, which refer to salvation by Jesus Christ, and all other present and future blessings through him. In its connexion with the personal experience of salvation by the Christian, it is not to be confounded, as is frequently the case, with

that assurance of God's favour which arises from the direct testimony of the Holy Ghost within us, and which follows the exercise of the faith, which justifies, and continues with its continued operation. It is rather a full and cordial belief of the doctrine of propitiation, and of God's setting forth and preparing Christ to take away our individual guilt; excluding all scruple and doubtfulness in our approach to God for his promised mercy; and, after the bestowment of his mercy upon us, in looking unto and waiting upon God for blessing, succour, and deliverance, in our continued religious course, and in and to the sanctification of our diversified circumstances. At the same time, the degree of our faith will regulate the measure of the confidence and joy which spring from that act of the Holy Spirit within us which testifies to, or assures us of, our sonship; so that an assured or full faith will be accompanied with the highest degree of evidence of our personal reconciliation with God, as its capacity is alone suited to the reception of such abounding satisfaction. Still it refers altogether to present pardon and favour, and to our present condition, safety, and edification; and does not at all imply a fully ascertained certainty of perseverance, but the full, unwavering, and energetic exercise of the grace (faith) in the mercy of God through Christ, accompanied by its fruits of holiness and goodness of living.

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Hope has reference to the future: Christian hope, to future and everlasting blessing, or eternal life; and is founded upon the resurrection and promises of Christ, and the sealing, earnests, and foretastes of it within us, resulting from the operation of the Holy Ghost. But this hope is also dependent upon, or connected with, our faith for its influence in our hearts: it is aroused by faith, and cannot exist without it. These graces necessarily co-exist, and the measure of hope is regulated by the degree of faith and the character of its operation. But the fullest degree of hope, "the full assurance of hope," (Heb. vi. 11,) can never amount to infallible certainty of perseverance and heavenly enjoyment in the case of any Christian living in the world; and thus speaks even St. Augustine. Now it is frequently said, "That which depends upon inspired hope cannot but come to pass: and to this we do not object, if understood in connexion with the conditions upon which such hope is inspired and maintained. The question rather has reference to the retention of the hope itself, than to the obtaining the things hoped for by those who keep it, for that result is certain; but the realization of our hope depends upon the keeping and working of our faith, without which the possession of inspired hope ceases. For proof of this we refer to the invaluable works of John Goodwin, and Dr. Whitby, on Redemption, and on the Five Points, where the position is triumphantly established. "So much and no more as faith every moment beholds with open face, so much does hope see to all eternity." (Wesley, Notes, Heb. vi. 11.) "The full assurance of hope" is, therefore, not an absolute and infallible certainty of perseverance, and consequently of heaven; but that confident and joyous persuasion and expectation which the believer, in the exercise of present faith, and the realization of his

filial relation to God, has of having his perseverance in piety crowned with those heavenly and everlasting blessings to which he now has a gracious title. It derives its strength, not from any certainty that he shall necessarily persevere, but from an assured, plentiful, or full faith, that God" is able to keep him from falling, and to present him faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."

On the whole, these scriptural expressions denote the full persuasion and confidence of the understanding in the truth of God; the full and confident exercise of faith in the mercy and grace of God through his Son; and the co-existent, as full and undoubting, expectation of everlasting life but they do not countenance the opinion of infallible assurance and certainty of perseverance unto the end.

CHAPTER IX.-PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.

How great, then, is the love manifested to believers in the bestowment of this divine witness; how invaluable the privileges of which it assures them; and how important the duties for the discharge of which it prepares them! Did St. John, in the ardour of his seraphic piety, exclaim, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God;" and should not they, with equal fervour, wonder and adore? Shall not they, with the ever-consistent St. Paul, feel the constraining influences of this affection, and live, in all things, devoted to the praise of Him who has so condescendingly exhibited his love to them? Possessed of the abiding witness that they are heirs of immortality, heirs of heaven, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, they should let the glory of their inheritance, the earnests and foretastes of its blessedness, and the honour of their relationship, wean them from unworthy or inordinate creature-attachments, and from the sordid attractions of worldly-mindedness. These are proper only to those who have their portion in this life; but they are inconsistent with the designation and prospects of the children of God. The purity of the Gospel should be sought in the light and by the assistance of their “ good hope." The "power that worketh in" them, and the conviction, that God "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," should prompt their faithful endeavour to "comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." Thus shall they "be filled with all the fulness of God;" thus will their regeneration develope itself in matured expressions of Christian holiness; present enjoyment will be chastened, elevated, and increased; the sufferings of the present time will be endured with fortitude and patience, as "not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed;" their whole behaviour will embody, show forth, and justify the filial exclamation, "Abba, Father;" and over all things which would oppose their godliness, or destroy their souls, they shall be "more than conquerors."

The trembling penitent, bowed down under the load of condemna

tion, and discouraged by the temptations of Satan, should rise above his fears. Let him use the manifold expressions of God's good-will towards sinners, and his exceeding great and precious promises of mercy to the repentant, in attempts to exercise present faith in Christ. So shall he appropriate to himself the benefits of the atonement ; obtain confidence in God, founded on the witness of the divine Spirit; exchange mourning for gladness; and the sighs of his broken heart shall be succeeded by a new song of praise and thanksgiving. Let him renounce his unbelief as he discovers the freeness of God's grace; prefer, with renewed earnestness, the prayer, Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation;" and put away vain reasoning, in the simple admission of the divine testimony; so shall he enter into "the glorious liberty of the children of God," and "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

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Let those who once possessed this divine witness, and who are endeavouring, unsuccessfully, to supply its absence, consequent upon their unwatchfulness and transgression, by every form of delusive consolation, and by an eager pursuit of earthly gratification, cease at once from the vain, the criminal, the ungrateful attempt. Let them tremble lest their infidelity should triumph, lest their minds should be darkened; lest their consciences should admit the dangerous and destructive calm of stupid insensibility; lest from the dreams of carnal security they should be awakened by the manifestations of a renounced Father's indignation; lest, in the endurance of well-merited and eternal punishment, they learn the value of that inheritance which they have abandoned for the beggarly elements of the world; and, in the accumulations of contempt and degradation, painfully estimate the honours they have so recklessly despised. The long-suffering of God is, in their case, salvation; nor from such sinners is "his mercy clean gone for ever."" Let them, then, with a promptitude and intensity suited to the urgency of the case, cry, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit;" and God, who compassionates the prodigal backslider, will not turn away their prayer nor his mercy from them. Their backslidings shall be healed; the whispers of divine love shall again cheer them; the Spirit's witness shall again be sent into their hearts; and, learning wisdom by their sufferings, their future faith shall exhibit a conversation becoming their special obligations to that grace, which, notwithstanding their manifold provocations of paternal love, delayed the oath, "They shall not enter into my rest."

This blessed privilege should be the constant subject of our meditations and of our prayers. It should be primarily regarded in our daily self-examination; its absence, though but for a moment, should humble us in the dust, in agonizing supplication for forgiveness; and every abatement of its influence should excite salutary concern, and lead us to the atonement. Maintain it, and the spirit of filial, fervent, and acceptable prayer will be preserved and promoted, access to God will be constantly vouchsafed, and growth in grace secured. If intermitted, let us anxiously examine, with honest and prayerful

scrutiny, into the cause. Let us not look for comfort to vague conjectures concerning the sovereignty of God, or to supposed variations in the administration of his grace; but rather, for our admonition and improvement, to our own conduct, to our own unfaithfulness. Will it not then appear that guilt has been contracted? that the cloud which obscures the joy of salvation has been created by the omission of duty, or by the commission of sin? The cure is to be found alone in renewed and immediate repentance, and faithful application to the mercy-seat. Thus, and thus only, shall we abide in God's love; and thus "God, who hath prepared for them that love " him "such good things as pass man's understanding," shall "pour into our hearts such love towards him, "that we loving" him "above all things" shall "obtain" his promises, "which exceed all that we can desire, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

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MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS.

ON THE SUPPOSITION THAT IT WAS THE WILL OF GOD TO REDEEM FALLEN MAN, WAS IT NECESSARY THAT FOR THAT PURPOSE HE SHOULD GIVE AND SEND HIS SON?

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TRANSLATED FROM THE TRAITE DE JESUS CHRIST," BY MONS. CLaude.

(For the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

ASSUMING it to be the good pleasure of God to save guilty, sinful, and helpless man, we must also acknowledge that there was no other way for its accomplishment than giving his Son for us, as he has done. Speaking after the manner of men, it was for God to decide whether or not the salvation of fallen man should be rendered possible; and in this sense, both the saving will of God, and the gift of his Son for its effectuation, may be considered as free; free, in the freedom of his absolute and supreme sovereignty, yet always acting, whether we are able or not to fathom the sacred profundity of his proceedings, according to his infinite wisdom and holiness, righteousness and love.†

But why, it may be asked, could not God save us by the simple exercise of his mercy, in pardoning our sins without satisfaction? I reply, that this was absolutely impossible. 1. Because justice is in God a natural and essential virtue, which does not make its object, but supposes it, and with the exercise of which he cannot dispense without violating his proper essence, which cannot be said without blasphemy. The Socinians, clearly perceiving the force of this reason, have been bold enough to seek to evade it by denying the foundation on which it rests; namely, that justice is a natural and essential virtue in God: they say, on the contrary, that mercy

* See Collect, Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

Thus far one or two thoughts have been added to the original, derived from the foregoing portions of the treatise, to prevent the abruptness and obscurity which would be occasioned by the entire isolation of the chapter translated, from those which precede it, and, in the progress of the argument, lead to it.-TRANS.

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