every true believer correspondent to the law of God; insomuch that every such person delights in the law of God after the inner man-and this in exact proportion to the degree of grace which he receives......Indeed this is the grand distinguishing criterion of true faith......and is made, together with its effect in our obedient lives, the only decisive evidence of our being true believers. Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments: he that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

HUMILITY MAINTAINED BY MEANS OF THE LAW.

"THUS also it is that true Christians are, to the end of their lives, kept humble, empty, and dependent; even by comparing their conduct with the divine law, and finding how very far they are from coming up to its holy and equitable demands.-When a man is brought to some measure of religious seriousness and reformation, and to a degree of knowledge, and ability to discourse on spiritual subjects, with other gifts of that nature, comparing himself with himself and with others, he is very apt to shine in his own eyes, and to imagine that he shines in the eyes of others, and even in the eyes of God; to forget his vileness; to indulge self-admiring thoughts; and even, in spiritual pride, to fancy himself perfect-which is the very depth of diabolical delusion. But the true Christian, loving the law of God, and counting all that to be sin which comes short of its

requirements; and daily comparing his heart and life with that standard; grows in humility, godly sorrow, self-abasement, and genuine repentance, as he grows in knowledge and grace and thus, whatever his attainments or knowledge may be, he lives and dies a poor sinner trusting in free mercy through the atonement of Christ.

"On the other hand, the false pretender to faith, being at heart an enemy to the law, expresses that enmity by words or deeds, or both; leads a loose and negligent, if not a scandalous life; is easily puffed up; has a stupified, unfeeling conscience; and, if only he can keep up his confidence of his safe state, is little troubled about his sins, knows nothing of godly sorrow, selfloathing, or mourning for sin: but, while perhaps his ungodly life is the grief or scandal of his neighbourhood, he himself is little affected about it, complains of nothing but his legality and selfrighteousness, and that he is always doubting his good state; and expects ministers to soothe and comfort him in every sermon, or he will censure and revile them. This is a generation of them that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not cleansed from their filthiness. Nor has the Lord Jesus or his gospel worse enemies in the world.

"Reader, let me remind thee again that God has determined to magnify his law, and make it honourable and I have endeavoured to show thee in what respects. Let me exhort thee to examine thy heart and life on this subject: for delusions are many and fatal. Is the law of God written in thy heart? Dost thou cordially approve it, love it, and delight in it? Is it thy daily endeavour

and aim to keep it? Dost thou daily examine thy heart and life by it? Art thou humbled before God, and abased in thy own sight, on account of the imperfection of thy obedience to the good law of God? Does this lead thee simply to trust God's free mercy through the obedient life and death of the great Surety? and influence thee to pray daily for increase of grace, that thou mayest hate sin more, and love holiness more, and keep the law better? Dost thou press forward in this course, forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before? Is this thy experience, thy aim, thy prayer? If so, however weak, thou art certainly sincere. But be not deceived: if thou knowest not experimentally these desires, longings, and endeavours, thou art yet a stranger to true religion. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves.

OBSERVATIONS GROUNDED ON THE PRECEDING

DISCUSSIONS.

1. ON FAITH.

"IT must be obvious that faith, true faith, of which the scripture speaks so much, and to which it expressly ascribes our justification, is most simply and naturally described by the apostle as the belief of the truth; and that other and more intricate definitions only tend to perplex men's minds, to draw them off from plain scripture, and expose them to various delusions of Satan. The

ture all on, and part with all for, the gospel, are little acquainted with them. But every true believer, enlightened by the Holy Ghost, sees the internal glory of the gospel, in such a convincing light as silences all objections, and produces efficacious faith......The gospel has divine wisdom, justice, holiness, truth, and love stamped upon it, and it must be of God.-They therefore, who would use the best means of being determined as to the truth of the gospel, would do well to spend less time in studying controversial writers, and to apply themselves diligently to read the scriptures, to meditate on them, to compare one part with another, and with what they feel within themselves, and see around them: accompanying all with earnest prayer to the great God to teach them the truth, and aiming at the same time to be impartial in their minds. Such persons will, I doubt not, soon be convinced."

3. ON UNBELIEF ITS ORIGIN AND CRIMINALITY.

"AGAIN it appears from what has been said, that the great reason of the unbelief of mankind is their self-love. It would be no harder to believe God than to believe man, but that God proposes to us such humbling mortifying truths, which our good opinion of ourselves will not permit us to receive.

"Man by nature is exceedingly disposed to self-exaltation and self-admiration; and has very low and disparaging views of God: but the faith which the scripture requires implies the most

abasing thoughts of ourselves imaginable, and the most high, honourable, and admiring apprehensions of the divine majesty, purity, and excellence. This renders it so extremely difficult for proud man to believe the gospel, however reasonable and demonstrably true it may be. Thus Christ says to the Jews, How can ye believe who receive honour one of another? plainly implying that true faith, and seeking our own honour, are incompatible.On the other hand every species of false religion is calculated by the grand fabricator of error to soothe this corrupt principle, and to feed self-exaltation and self-complacency. Well knowing, from his own temper, how pleasing flattery is to pride, his conduct ever since hath been according to his original artifice, Ye shall be as Gods.-Schemes of religion being thus contrived, suited to the corrupt heart of man, little pains need be employed either to render them consistent or plausible, or to confirm them by argument or evidence: they are greedily embraced, and followed by multitudes, who find no inward difficulty in believing them; and they are rapidly propagated in the world. This the history of all ages proves; especially the preference which the Jews ever gave to the false prophets, who spake smooth things, before the true prophets who declared to them the truth in the name of the Lord and the preference given by the primitive churches to other teachers, rather than to the apostles, in particular St. Paul, evidently for the same reason; because those teachers fed their self-righteousness, and spiritual pride, while the apostles taught them to loathe and condemn themselves....