alone, he is evidentially justified before men, by those works of righteousness which his faith produces as its proper effects and fruits; so that no one whilst habitually living in sin, or in the wilful neglect of duty, can be considered in a justified state.

The practical use, therefore, of the present subject, consists in the avoiding of these two extremes-a self-righteous dependance on works, and a continuance in sin that grace may abound. Suffer then, my brethren, the word of exhortation, in its application to your consciences. And,

1. Do not frustrate the grace of God by a sinful reliance on your own works. This is exceedingly unwise, and dangerous to your eternal interests; it greatly dishonours Christ, and is in the highest degree offensive to God. "To put any confidence in our works, as by the merit of them to purchase to ourselves remission of sin, and so consequently, everlasting life," is in the judgment of our church, mere blasphemy against God's mercy, and great derogation to the blood-shedding

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of our Saviour.”*

served," is fatal.

"The principle of self

righteousness," it has been justly obIt implies the preva

lence of malignant dispositions which are offensive to God; such as pride, unbelief, and contempt of Christ. Many have actually perished by it. They attained not to the law of righteousness; because they sought it, not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.' Their case holds out a solemn warning to us. Let us examine the ground of our hopes. We must not trust to the regularity of our conduct, to good tempers, or any amiable dispositions. If Jesus Christ be not our sole dependance, nothing can be right in our system; we deceive ourselves in crying, Peace, peace; for there is no peace to us in such a state. · He that believeth Oh! may we yet

not shall be damned.' hear the voice of our God and Saviour, and submit to him with our whole hearts, that we may live for ever!"*—But, on the other hand,

2. How can we sufficiently admire the dis

* Homily on Good Works.

+ Robinson's Christian System. XLIV.

tinguishing grace of God! Contemplate the humiliating depths from whence it rescues the sinner, and the amazing heights to which it elevates him. "It raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory."* Alas! what is man in himself, man in a state of nature? He is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; under circumstances of extreme indigence and meanness. Such is man's spiritual condition, when the grace of the gospel comes in to his succour and deliverance. By that grace he is lifted up from the gates of death, raised from the dust, yea, from the very dunghill of natural corruption; he is washed from his filthiness, and clothed with fine linen; he is received into the household, and

and a place better than daughters. Marvellous

hath a name of sons or of

indeed is the

change in his state and character! He who was once an outcast and an alien, becomes a fellow-citizen with the saints;

* 1 Samuel ii. 8.

he who was a rebel and an heir of wrath, is made an heir of God through Christ; he who by his own wilful disobedience and unbelief had rendered himself the child of perdition, is made, through grace, an inheritor of immortal blessedness, and is destined to occupy a place amongst princes, and to sit down with Christ on his throne of glory. Admire then, I beseech you, admire and adore this amazing grace of God, prize it very highly, and seek it diligently for yourselves. But, am I addressing those who are the subjects of this grace? To such I would say, in the last place,

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3. Recommend the doctrines of free grace, by a consistent, holy, and heavenly conversation. Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love," glorify God and serve one another." Glorify God by the holiness of your lives, by the liveliness of your graces, and by the warmth of your affections. Serve him faithfully with all your members, and with all your talents and abilities; honour him in every relation, and in every

undertaking; show yourselves to be his "dear children," and most willing servants, in the minutest incidents of the passing hour, as well as in the more important transactions of every day. Let holiness be the element of your souls, and holy practice your delightful employment and aim continually at still higher degrees of spiritual mindedness, and a more holy and heavenly conversation. Thus exercising yourselves unto godliness, you will become progressively ripe for glory, and evince that you are neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus will you most effectually stop the mouths of gainsayers, and satisfy the scruples of sincere inquirers after truth; for you will prove, by an argument altogether unanswerable, that the doctrines of grace, whilst they rigidly exclude works from the ground of our dependance, afford the most ample security for the interests of holiness and morality, in the lives and practice of all who so embrace them as to live under their influence. And whilst, as “living epistles of Christ, known and read of all