true faith is a consent of the will also, with the full concurrence of our warmest affections: it is called in one place a believing with the heart;" and in another a believing with all the heart." In few words, faith is a new and living principle, whereby we are enabled to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ for all the ends and purposes for which he came into the world; a principle, which, at the same time that it takes us off from all selfdependence, leads us to purify our hearts from the love and practice of all sin. To such faith as this our Lord frequently annexes a promise of eternal salvation:, in his discourse with Nicodemus he says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted, up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." And in the close of that chapter it is added, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Not that there is any thing meritorious in this grace more than in any other; for, as a grace, it is inferior to love; but salvation is annexed to this rather than to any other, because this alone unites us to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we are accepted, and by whose merits we are saved.

To the term Salvation is opposed another of a most awful import, namely, Damnation: as the former cannot be limited to any temporal deliverance, so neither can this be limited to any temporal judgment: for, not to mention the express and repeated declarations that the punishment of the wicked will be as "a worm that dieth not, and a fire that is not quenched," our Lord, in the very words before us, contrasts the consequences of unbelief with the consequences of faith; thereby manifesting, that they were to be considered by us. as of equal magnitude and duration: and, in his account of the final sentence which he will pass upon the righteous and the wicked in the day of judgment, he describes the happiness of the one and the misery of the other by the very

same epithet, in order to cut off all occasion of doubt respecting the continuance of either: These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." We are constrained, therefore, to acknowledge, that the threatening in the text includes nothing less than the everlasting misery of the soul, under the wrath and indignation of God.

This, tremendous as it is, will be the fruit of unbelief; "He that believeth not shall be damned." We must not suppose that the unbelief here spoken of characterizes only professed infidels, who openly avow their contempt of Christianity; for then it would by no means afford a sufficient line of distinction between those that shall be saved, and those that shall perish; seeing that there are many who profess to reverence the Christian revelation, while they live in a constant violation of every duty it enjoins. If the receiving of Christ, as he is offered in the Gospel, be the faith that saves, then the not receiving of Christ in that manner must be the unbelief that condemns. This observation is of great importance: for the generality seem to have no idea that they can be. unbelievers, unless they have formally renounced the Christian faith their consciences are quite clear on this subject: the guilt of unbelief never caused them one moment's uneasiness. But can any thing be more plain, than that the same faith, which is necessary to bring us to salvation, must be also necessary to keep us from condemnation? Indeed it is so self-evident a truth, that the very mention of it appears almost absurd; and yet it will be well if we admit its full force in the point before us: for, however zealous many are to comprehend holy actions and affections in their definitions of saving faith, they are backward enough to acknowledge that a want of those qualities must evidence them to be in a state of unbelief: yet, till this truth be felt and acknowledged, there is little hope that the Gospel will ever profit them at all.

There is a qualifying clause in the text which we must not leave unnoticed; and the rather, because it is added. in the former, but omitted in the latter part; "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Our Lord had appointed baptism as that rite whereby his disciples should be introduced into the Christian covenant, as the Jews had

been

been by circumcision into the Mosaic covenant: and men's submission to this rite served as a test of their sincerity, and a public badge of their profession. If any were inwardly convinced that the religion of Christ was indeed of divine authority, and were not prevented by insurmountable obstacles from conforming to this rite, they must cheerfully enlist themselves under his banners, and honour him in his appointed way; they must "follow the Lord fully," if they would be partakers of his benefits. But, on the other hand, if they should submit to this ordinance, and yet be destitute of true faith, their baptism should not save them; they should perish for their unbelief: baptized or unbaptized, they should surely perish.

The parts of the text being thus explained, there remains no difficulty in the meaning of the whole as it stands connected together. No words can be found that can more forcibly express the solemn truth, which our Lord intended to convey: the import of his declaration is so obvious, that we shall not attempt to elucidate it any farther, but will proceed

II. To vindicate its reasonableness.

That men should be saved for their good works, or condemned for their gross iniquities, would be thought reasonable enough; but that they should be saved by faith, or condemned for unbelief, seems to many to be utterly unreasonable and absurd. But, to a candid inquirer, the equity and reasonableness of both these points may be easily and plainly evinced.

If faith were, as some imagine it to be, a mere assent to certain propositions, it must be confessed, that, to expect salvation by it were preposterous in the extreme : but it has already been shown that this is not saving faith. The man who truly believes, invariably comes to Christ in this way; he confesses with humility and contrition his past offences-he acknowledges, from his inmost soul, that he deserves the everlasting displeasure of God-he renounces every hope that might arise from his comparative goodness, his penitential sorrows, his future purposes, his actual amendment-he embraces Christ as a suitable and all-sufficient Saviour-and relies simply and entirely upon the promises which God has made to us in the Son of his love. This, I say, is the believer's experience at the first moment he truly believes in Christ. To

this

this we might add, that, from that moment, he lives in a state of communion with his Saviour, and exerts himself to the utmost to adorn his profession by a holy life and conversation: but we intentionally omit all the fruits of faith which he afterwards produces, lest any one should be led to confound faith with its fruits, or to ascribe that to faith and works conjointly, which properly belongs to faith alone. Consider then a person coming in this penitent manner to Christ, and trusting in the promises of his God; is it unreasonable that such a person should be saved? Who in all the world should be saved so soon as he, who implores deliverance from his lost estate? Who should reap the benefits of Christ's death, but he, who makes that his only plea and dependence? Who may so justly hope to experience God's fidelity, as he who rests upon his promises? Who, in short, should enjoy all the blessings of redemption, but he who seeks redemption in God's appointed way? Surely, if it be reasonable that Christ should "see of the travail of his soul," and that God should fulfil his own word, then is it most reasonable that he who believes in Christ should be saved.

With respect to the condemnation of unbelievers, we readily acknowledge that that also would be unreasonable, on a supposition that unbelief were nothing more than a dissent from certain propositions, through a want of sufficient evidence to establish their divine authority. But unbelief is a sin of the deepest dye; and the person who is under its dominion is in a state as offensive to God as can well be conceived. For, in the first place, he rejects that which has been established by every kind of evidence which a revelation from heaven can admit of: and, in rejecting it, he shews that he is lifted up with pride and presumption: for he not only takes upon him to sit in judgment upon God, but denies his own state to be so dangerous and depraved as God has represented it. If he acknowledges himself to be a sinner, he still feels neither his guilt nor his helplessness as he ought, but "goes about to establish a righteousness of his own, instead of submitting to the righteousness of God." That wonderful method which the infinite wisdom of God has contrived for the restoration of our fallen race, he accounts "foolishness;" and substitutes what he esteems a safer and better method of his own. The most stupendous display of divine

love

love and mercy that ever was or can be exhibited, he disregards; and thus, both "tramples under foot the Son of God, and does despite unto the Spirit of Grace:" yea, to use the language of an inspired Apostle, he " makes the only true God a liar;" for whereas God has said, that "there is no other name whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus, or any other foundation than that which he himself has laid," the unbeliever directly contradicts him, and unequivocally declares his expectation, that there is and shall be some other way of acceptance with him. Now is it unreasonable that such a person should be punished? that such a despiser of God should be left without any part in the believer's portion? Let us only apply the case to ourselves-If a child should pour contempt upon the wisest counsels of his parents, and question the truth of their most solemn protestations, should we not think him worthy of his parents' displeasure? would not we ourselves, in such a case, manifest our disapprobation of his conduct? Who then are we, that we should insult GOD thus, and do it with impunity? Who are we, I say, that, when we are at liberty to withhold a blessing from an ungrateful fellow-creature, or to inflict a punishment on him adequate to his offence, we should not be in like manner amenable to God? If any say, "We acknowledge the sinfulness of unbelief, but think the punishment of it too severe;" I answer, God himself is the best judge of the malignity of sin; and he has denounced death, eternal death, as the wages due to every sin much more therefore may it be inflicted for unbelief; since there is no sin so complicated, nor any that so effectually precludes even a possibility of salvation we may purge away any other sin by a believing application to the blood of Christ; but by unbelief we reject the only remedy provided for us.'

Hoping that the reasonableness of our Saviour's declaration has been satisfactorily proved, we come

III. To display its excellency.

While the Gospel of Christ is misrepresented and opposed by man, the angels, who are incomparably less interested in its provisions, are ever contemplating it with admiration and joy. And, if it were better understood amongst us, it could not but meet with a more favourable reception; for it has innumerable excellencies, which

render