By this faith the believer being [ftrongly] united to Chrift, as a member to the body, becomes entitled to [a much larger fhare in] the benefit of all that our Lord did and fuffered; and in confequence of this vital union with him, who is the fource of all goodnefs,

Selves, but unto us, they did minifter the things, which are now reported in the Chriftian gofpel? 1 Peter i. 11, 12. And how abfurd is it to fuppofe, that nothing is gofpel, but a doctrine, which the first preachers of the Chriflian gofpel knew little or nothing of, even while they preached the gospel under our Lord's immedi ate direction? Did not John the Baptift exceed in evangelical knowledge, all that were born of woman? Were the Apostles much inferior to him, when they had been three years in Christ's school? Did not our Lord fay to them, Blessed are your eyes for they fee, and your ears for they hear; for verily many prophets and righteous men have defired to fee the things that ye fee, and have not feen them; and to hear the things that ye hear, and have not heard them? Again, did he not teftify, that in general they had juftifying faith, i. e. faith working by love? Did he not fay, Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you—The Father himself loveth you, be caufe you have loved me, and believed that I came forth from God? Nay, did he not fend them two and two, to preach the gofpel of the day: The kingdom of heaven is at hand: Repent and believe THE GOSPEL? And would he have fent them to preach a gospel to which they were utter ftrangers? But were they not perfectly strangers to what paffes now for the only gofpel? Had they the leaft idea that their Mafter's blood was to be fhed for them, even after he had faid, This is my blood of the New Teftament, which is fhed for you and for many, for the remiffion of fins? When he spoke to them of his fufferings, were not they fo far from believing in the atonement which he was about to make, that they were offended at the very idea? Is not this evident from the words of Peter, their chief speaker, who began to rebuke him, faying, Be it far from thee, Lord: This fhall not happen unto thee: i. e. We do not yet fee the end of thy blood: Nay, when Chrift had actually fhed it, and the atoning work was finished; far from having the leaft notion about what is called finished falvation," and "gofpel" in our day; did they not fuppofe that all their hopes were blafted, faying, We trusted that it had been he, who fhould have redeemed Ifrael, Luke xxiv. 21 ? From thefe obfervations may I not conclude; (1) That an expli cit knowledge of Chrift's paffion and atonement, is the prerogative of the Chriftian gospel? And (2) that those who make it effential to the everlafting gofpel, doom to hell, not only all the righteous Jews, Turks, and Heathens, who may now be alive; but alfo almost all the believers, who died before our Lord's crucifixion, and fome of the difciples themselves after his refarrection ?

nefs, he derives a [degree of] power till then unknown, to do good works truly fo called.

[O thou, that profeffeft the Chriftian faith,] fhew me thy faith by thy works: fhew me that thou art grafted in Chrift [according to the Chriftian difpenfation] by ferving God with all thy ftrength; by doing all the good thou canft to the fouls and bodies of men with chearfulness; by fuffering wrong and contempt with meekness; by flighting earthly joys, mortifying fleshly lufts, having thy converfation in heaven, and panting every hour after a clofer union with Chrift, the life of all believers. If thou doft not bring forth these fruits, thou art not a Christian; thou art not in Chrift a new creature, 2 Cor. v. 17. Thou mayft talk of faith, and suppose that thou believeft; but give me leave to tell thee, that if thou believest at all, it is with the drunkard's faith, the whoremonger's faith, the devil's faith, James ii. 19. From fuch a faith, may God deliver us, and give us, inftead of this counterfeit, the faith once delivered unto the faints, the mystery of faith kept in a pure confcience! Get it, O finner, who beareft a Chriftian name, and Christ and heaven are thine: [but if thou] die without it, [whether it be by continuing in thy present fin and unbelief, or by making shipwreck of the faith,] thou dieft the second death; thou finkeft in the bottomlefs pit for evermore. Mark xvi. 16.

Having thus given you an account of both covenants, and laid before you the condition of each; namely, the firft, a finless, uninterrupted obedience to all the commands of the holy, fpiritual law of God, performed by ourselves [without the leaft mediatorial affiftance:] and for the fecond, a lively faith in Chrift [the light of the world, according to the gofpel-difpenfation we are under ;] by which faith the virtue of Chrift's active and paffive obedience to the law [of innocence] being imputed to us, and applied to our hearts, we are made new creatures, born again, and created in Chrift Jefus unto good works, without which there can be no lively faith [under

any

any of the divine difpenfations:] and having [by that important diftinction of the two grand covenants] removed a great deal of rubbish out of the way; I hope it will not be difficult to prove, under the

SECOND HEAD,

That the way of falvation by fuch a lively faith only, or, which is the fame, by the covenant of grace is the one way that leads to life, according to the bible and our articles of religion.

If you ask all the Pharifees, all the felf-righteous Heathens, Turks, Jews, and Papifts in the world, which is the way of falvation? They will answer, "Through doing good works, and leading a good life" that is, "Through the covenant of works;" flatly contrary to what I have proved in the first part of this difcourfe; namely, that by the works of the law, by the first covenant, fhall no flesh living be justified, Gal. ii. 16. Or if they have yet fome sense of modef ty, if they are not quite loft in pride, they will varnifh over blafphemy with two or three words about God's mercy." Why, fay they, it is to be hoped,

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we shall all be faved by endeavouring to lead good "lives, and do good works: and if that will not do, "God's mercy in Chrift will do the reft." Which means neither more nor less than this: "We are ftill to be faved by the covenant of works, by putting "6 on the robe of our own [Christless] righteousness; " and if it happen to be too fhort, or to have some "holes, Chrift will in mercy tear his spotless robe "[of merits,] to patch up and lengthen ours." [And this they fay, without the leaft degree of genuine repentance towards God, and heart-felt faith in our Lord Jefus Chrift.] O how many dream of getting to heaven in this fool's coat! How many, by thus blending the two covenants, which are as incompatible as fire and water, try to make for themselves a third covenant, that never existed but in their proud imagination! In a word, how many are there, who

fay

fay or think: We must be saved partly by [the covenant of works, and partly by [the covenant of] grace! Giving the lie to God and my text! Overturning at once the gospel and Proteftantism !- No, no: if a remnant is faved, it is by the covenant of grace; and if by grace, then it is no more [by the covenant] of works; otherwife grace is no more grace. But if it be (by the covenant] of works, then it is no more grace; otherwife work is no more work: [for the moment obedience is the work of faith, it can no more be opposed to faith and gofpelgrace, than the fruit of a tree can be opposed to the tree, and the fap by which it is produced.]

But, to the law and the teftimony! Do the oracles of God, or the writings of our Reformers, direct us for falvation to the covenant of works, or to a third covenant of works and grace patched up together? Do they not entirely and invariably point us to the covenant of grace alone?

Hear firft the word of the Lord. He that BELIEVETH on the Son according to the light of the difpenfation he is under] hath everlafting life: he that BELIEVETH NOT, fhall not fee life, but the wrath of God abideth on him, John iii. 36.-When the trembling jailer cries out, What must I do to be faved? Paul and Silas answer, BELIEVE in the Lord Jefus Chrift, and thou shalt be faved, Acts xvi. 31. God fo loved the world, fays St. John, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whofoever BELIEVETH in him, fhould not perifh, but have everlafting life. John iii. 16.-By GRACE, fays St. Paul, ye are faved through FAITH, and that not of yourfelves, it is the gift of God; not [by the covenant of works, [nor yet by the proper merit of any works,] left any man should boast. For to him that worketh [without applying to the throne of grace, as an hell-deferving finner] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt: but to him that worketh not [upon the footing of the first covenant;] but believeth on him that juftifieth the ungodly; his FAITH is counted for righteoufnefs: he is faved by FAITH which

is

is the CONDITION of the covenant of grace, Rom.

iv. 4.

Thus fpeak the fcriptures, and, bleffed be God! Thus fpeak alfo our liturgy and articles.

In the abfolution the priest declares, that [in the day of converfion] God pardoneth and abfolveth, that is, faveth, not those who being ashamed to repent, and fcorning to believe the gospel, endeavour to lead a good life to get a pardon by their own merits: but all thofe, who truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy gofpel; that is, all those, who, by true repentance renounce all dependance upon the covenant of works; and by a faith unfeigned fly for refuge only to [God's mercy in] the covenant of grace. Hence it is that in the communion fervice, we are commanded to pray, That, by the merits and death of Chrift, and through faith in his blood, we and all the whole church, may obtain remiffion of fins, and all other benefits of his paffion.

This holy doctrine is moft clearly maintained, and ftrongly established in the ixth, xth, xith, xiith, and xiiith of our articles of religion. And upon thefe five pillars, it will remain unfhaken, as long as the church of England shall stand.

Having thus fhewn you, how felf-righteous, unawakened finners dreamt of falvation, either by the covenant of works, or by a third imaginary covenant, in which two incompatible things [pharifaical] works and [evangelical] grace, merits and mercy are jumbled together; and having proved, that falvation cannot be attained, but under the second covenant that is, by faith only, and not by [the covenant of] works; I beg leave to recapitulate the whole in three articles, which contain the fun of the gofpel, and of the doctrine that I have conftantly preached among you, and am determined to preach, God being my helper, till my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.

Upon the proofs before advanced, I folemnly declare: (1.) That there is no falvation to be attained by [the covenant of works fince the fall. The best

man