THE design of this little Treatise, is to display the glory and all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to encourage weak believers to glorify Him more, by depending and living more upon His all-sufficiency. Whatever grace He has promised in His Word, He is faithful, and He is almighty to bestow, and they may receive it of Him freely by the hand of faith. This is its use and office, as a hand of instrument, having first received Christ, to be continually receiving out of Christ's fulness. The apostle calls this "living by faith," a life received and continued with all the strength, comforts, and blessings belonging to it, by faith in the Son of God ; and he also mentions the work of faith, its working effectually in the hearts and lives of believers, through Christ strengthening them, and its growing in them, yea growing exceedingly from faith to faith, by the power of Him who loveth them. This is the subject ; and it properly belongs to those only who have obtained the true faith, given them of God, and wrought in their hearts by His Word and Spirit. Such persons meet with many difficulties every day to try their faith, and to hinder them from depending continually upon the Lord Christ for all things belonging to life and godliness. By what means these difficulties may be overcome, is plainly taught 'in Scripture, is clearly promised, and is attained by faith, which becomes daily more victorious, as it is enabled to trust, that He is faithful who promised. The strengthening of it I have had all along in view, hoping to be the means, under God, of leading the weak believer by the hand, and of removing hindrances out of his way, until the Lord thoroughly settle and establish him in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

But I must admonish the reader that I do not expect this merely from what I have written. It is too high and great a work for any mere man. Faith is the gift of God. And He alone who gives it, can increase it. The Author of faith is also the Finisher of it : and we do not use the means to set the Lord of all means aside. No. We use them that we may find Him in them. It is His presence which makes the use of them effectual. By this, and this only, can any reader of this little book be rendered stronger in faith. Being well assured of this, I have therefore looked up to Him myself, and it will be for thy profit also, reader, to look up to Him in prayer, for His blessing. Entreat Him of His grace to countenance this feeble attempt to promote His glory and His people's good. Beg of Him to make thy reading of it the means of thy growth in faith, and to accompany it with the supply of His Holy Spirit to every believer, into whose hands it may fall. And forget not in thy prayers thy well wisher and servant, for Jesus' sake,

April 24, 1793. W. ROMAINE.

The persons for whoso use this little tract is drawn up, are supposed to be practically acquainted with these following truths: they have been convinced of sin, and convinced of righteousness. The word of God has been made effectual by the application of the Holy Spirit to teach them the nature of the divine law; and upon comparing their hearts and their lives with it, they have been brought in guilty. They found themselves fallen creatures, and they felt the sad consequences of the fall, namely, total ignorance in the understanding of God and his ways, an open rebellion against him in the will, and an entire enmity in the heart, a life spent in the service of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and on all these accounts guilty before God, and by nature children of wrath. When they were convinced of those truths in their judgments, and the awakened conscience sought for ease and deliverance, then they found they were helpless and without strength. They could take no step, nor do anything, which could in the least save them from their sins. Whatever method they thought of, it failed them upon trial, and left conscience more uneasy than before. Did they purpose to repent? They found such a repentance as God would be pleased with, was the gift of Christ. He was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance. Suppose they thought of reforming their lives, yet what is to become of their old sins? Will present obedience, if it could be perfectly paid, make any atonement for past disobedience? Will the broken law take part of our duty for the whole? No. It has determined, that whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. And let him be ever so careful in doing what the law requires, or in avoiding what the law forbids, let him fast and pray and give alms, hear and read the word, be early and late at ordinances, yet the enlightened conscience cannot be herewith satisfied; because by these duties he cannot undo the sin committed, and because he will find so many failings in them, that they will be still adding to his guilt and increasing his misery.

What method then shall he take? The more he strives to make himself better, the worse he finds himself. He sees the pollution of sin greater, He discovers more of its guilt. He finds in himself a want of all good, and an inclination to all evil. He is now convinced, that the law is holy, just, and good; but when he would keep it, evil is present with him. This makes him deeply sensible of his guilty, helpless state, and shows him that by the works of the law he cannot be saved. His heart, like a fountain, is continually sending forth evil thoughts, yea, the very imaginations of it are only and altogether evil, and words and works partake of the nature of that evil fountain from whence they flew; so that, after all his efforts, he cannot quiet his conscience nor attain peace with God.

The law having done its office, as a schoolmaster, by convincing him of these truths, stops his mouth, that he has not a word to say, why sentence should not be passed upon him. And there it leaves him, guilty and helpless. It can do nothing more for him, than show him that he is a child of wrath, and that he deserves to have the wrath of God abiding upon him for ever: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The gospel finds him in this condition, as the good Samaritan did the wounded traveller, and brings him good news. It discovers to him the way of salvation contrived in the covenant of grace, and manifests to him what the ever blessed Trinity had therein purposed, and what in the fulness of time was accomplished. That all the perfections of the Godhead might be infinitely and everlastingly glorified, the Father covenanted to gain honour and dignity to his law and justice, to his faithfulness and holiness, by insisting upon man's appearing at his bar in the perfect righteousness of the law. But man having no such righteousness of his own, all having sinned, and there being none righteous, no not one; how can he be saved? The Lord Christ, a person in the Godhead co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, undertook to be his Saviour. He covenanted to stand up as the head and surety of his people, in their nature and in their stead, to obey for them, that by his infinitely precious obedience many might be made righteous, and to suffer for them, that by his everlasting meritorious stripes they might be healed. Accordingly, in the fulness of time he came into the world, and was made flesh, and God and man being as truly united in one person, as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man. This adorable person lived, and suffered, and died, as the representative of his people. The righteousness of his life was to be their right and title to life, and the righteousness of his sufferings and death was to save them from all the sufferings due to their sins. And thus the law and justice of the Father would be glorified in pardoning them, and his faithfulness and holiness made honourable in saving them. He might be strictly just, and yet the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. In this covenant the Holy Spirit, a person co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son, undertook the gracious office of quickening and convincing sinners in their consciences, how guilty they were, and how much they wanted a Saviour, and in their judgments how able he was to sate all that come unto God through him, mad in their hearts to receive him, and to believe unto righteousness, and then in their walk and conversation to live upon his grace and strength. His office is thus described by our blessed Lord in John xvi. 13, 14:--"When the Spirit of truth is come, he shall glorify me; for he shah take of mine, and shall show it unto you;" that is, when he comes to convince sinners of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, he takes of the things of Christ, and glorifies him by showing them what a fulness there is in him to save. He leads them into all necessary truth in their judgments, both concerning their own sinfulness, guilt, and helplessness, and also concerning the almighty power of the God-man, and his lawful authority to make use of it for their salvation. He opens their understandings to comprehend the covenant of grace, and the offices of the eternal Trinity in this covenant, particularly .the office of the sinner's surety, the Lord Christ; and he convinces them that there is righteousness and strength, comfort and rejoicing, grace for grace, holiness and glory, yea, treasures infinite, everlasting treasures of these in Christ; and hereby he draws out their, affections after Christ, and enables them with the heart to believe in him unto righteousness. And the Holy Spirit having thus brought them to the happy knowledge of their union with Christ, afterwards glorifies him in their walk and conversation, by teaching them how to live by faith upon his fulness, and to be continually receiving out of it grace for grace, according to their continual needs.

The corruption of our nature by the fall, and our recovery through Jesus Christ, are the two leading truths in the Christian religion; and I suppose the persons for whose sake this little tract is drawn up not only to know them, but also to be established in them, steadfastly to believe and deeply to experience them. The necessity of their being well grounded in them is very evident; for a sinner will never seek after nor desire Christ, farther than he feels his guilt and his misery; nor will he receive Christ by faith, till all other methods of saving himself fail; nor will he live upon Christ's fulness farther than he has an abiding sense of his own want of him. Reader, how do these truths appear to thee? Has the law of God arraigned thee in thy conscience? Hast thou been there brought in guilty, and has the Spirit of God deeply convinced thee by the law of sin, and of unbelief, and of thy helplessness, so as to leave thee no false resting-place short of Christ? Has he swept away every refuge of lies; and thus put thee upon inquiring what thou must do to be saved? If not, may the Lord the Spirit convince thee, and in his own good time bring thee to the knowledge of thyself, and to the saving knowledge of and belief in Christ Jesus, without which this book can profit thee nothing. But if thou hast been thus convinced, and the Lord has shone into thy understanding, and enlightened it with the knowledge of the way of salvation, then read on. May the Lord make what thou readest profitable to thine establishment in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus!

There are two things spoken of faith in Scripture, which highly deserve the attention of every true believer. The first is the state of safety, in which he is placed by Christ, and is delivered from every evil and danger in time and in eternity, to which sin had justly exposed him; and the second is the happiness of this state, consisting in an abundant supply of all spiritual blessings freely given to him in Christ, and received, as they are wanted, by the hand of faith out of the fulness of Christ. By which means, whoever has obtained this precious faith ought to have a quiet conscience at peace with God, and need not fear any manner of evil, how much soever it be deserved; and thereby he may at all times come boldly the throne of grace, to receive whatever is necessary for his comfortable walk heavenwards. Every grace, every blessing promised in Scripture, is his, and he may and does enjoy them so far as he lives by faith upon the Sob of God; so far his life and conversation are well ordered, his walk is even, his spiritual enemies are conquered, the old man is mortified with his affections and lusts, and the new man is renewed day by day after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness. And from what he already enjoys by faith, and from the hopes of a speedy-and perfect enjoyment, the Scripture warrants him to rejoice in the Lord with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

It is much to be lamented, that few live up to these two privileges of faith, Many persons, who are truly concerned about the salvation of their souls, live for years together full of doubts and fears, and are not established in the faith that is in Christ Jesus; and several who are in a good measure established, yet do not walk happily in an even course, nor experience the continual blessedness of receiving by faith a supply of every want out of the Saviour's fulness. These things I have long observed, and what I have been taught of them from the Scripture, and from the good hand of God upon me, I have put together, and throw it as a mite into the treasury. I am sure it was never more wanted than at present, May the good Lord accept the poor offering, and bless it to the hearts of his dear people, to the praise of the glory of his own grace!

For the clearer understanding of what shall be spoken upon the Life of Faith, it will be needful to consider first what faith is; for a man must have faith before he eau make use of it. He must be in Christ, before he can live upon Christ. Now faith signifies the believing the truth of the word of God: so says Christ, "Thy word is truth:" it relates to some word spoken, or to some promise made by him, and it expresses the belief which a person who hears it has of its being true. He assents to it, relies upon it, and acts accordingly.' This is faith. And the whole word of God, which is the ground of faith, may be reduced to two points; namely, to what the law reveals concerning the justification of a righteous man, and to what the gospel reveals concerning the salvation of a sinner. A short examination of these points will discover to us a great number of persons, who have no faith at all in the word of God.

First.–Every man in his natural state, before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit, has no faith. The Scripture says, God hath shut up all that are in this state in unbelief; and when the Holy Spirit awakens any one of them, he convinces him of sin, and of unbelief in particular. "When the Comforter is come," says Christ, "he shall convince the world of sin, because they believe not in me." Secondly.–A man who lives careless in sin has no faith. He does not believe one word that God says in his law. Let it warn him of his guilt, and show him his great danger, yet he sets at nought the terrors of the Lord. He acts as if there was no day of judgment, and no place of eternal torments. He has no fear of God before his eyes. How can such a practical atheist as this have any faith?

Thirdly.–the formalist has not true faith. He is content with the form of godliness, and denies the power of it. The veil of unbelief is upon his heart, and the pride of his own good works and duties is ever before his eyes, that he finds no want of the salvation of Jesus, and is averse to the grace of the gospel. All his hopes arise from what he is in himself, and from what he is able to do for himself, He neither believes God speaking in the law, nor in the gospel. If he believed his word in the law, it would convict him of sin, and forbid him to go about to establish a righteousness of his own; because by the works of the law shall no flesh living be justified; yet this he does not believe. If he believed the word of God in the gospel, it would convince him of righteousness, of an infinitely perfect righteousness, wrought out by the God-man Christ Jesus, and imputed to the sinner without any works of his own: for unto him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is imputed for righteousness. To this he dare not trust wholly for his acceptance before God; therefore he has not true faith.

Fourthly,–A man may be so far enlightened, as to understand the way of salvation, and yet have not true faith. This is a possible case. The apostle states it, 1 Cor. xiii. 2, "Though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, yet I may be nothing." And it is a dangerous case, as Heb. x. 26, "If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Here was such a knowledge of the truth, as left a man to perish without the benefit of Christ's sacrifice; therefore he wanted that faith, which whosoever hath shall be saved.

What great numbers are there under these delusions! Reader, art thou one of them? Examine closely: for it is of eternal moment. Prove thine own self, whether thou be in the faith. If thou askest how thou shalt know it, since there are so many errors about it; hear

what God's word says,–Whoever believes truly, has been first convinced of unbelief. This our Lord teaches, John xvi. 9, "When the Comforter is come, he will convince the world of sin, because they believe not on me." He convinces of sin, by enlightening the understanding to know the exceeding sinfulness of it: and by quickening the conscience to feel the guilt of it. He shows the misery threatened, and leaves sinners no false refuge to flee unto. He will not suffer them to sit down content with some sorrow, or a little outward reformation, or any supposed righteousness, but makes them feel that, do whatever they will or can, still their guilt remains. Thus he puts them upon seeking out for salvation, and by the gospel he discovers it to them. He opens their understandings to know what they hear and read concerning the covenant of the eternal Trinity, and concerning what the God-man has done in the fulfilling of this covenant.

The Holy Spirit teaches them the nature of the adorable person of Christ-God manifest in the flesh, and the infinitely precious and everlasting meritorious righteousness, which he has wrought out by the obedience of his life and death; and he convinces them, that this righteousness is sufficient for their salvation, and that nothing is required except faith, for its being imputed unto them; and he works in them a sense of their being helpless and without strength to rely upon this righteousness, and through faith in it to have peace with God. He makes them see, that they cannot by any power of their own in the least depend upon it; for all their sufficiency is of God. It requires the same arm of the Lord, which wrought out this righteousness, to enable them with the heart to believe in it. They are made clearly sensible of this from the word and Spirit of God, and from their own daily experience; and thereby they are disposed to receive their whole salvation from the free grace of God, and to him to ascribe all the glory of it. These are the redeemed of the Lord, to whom it is given to believe. They are quickened from a death in trespasses and sins, their consciences are awakened, their understandings are enlightened with the knowledge of Christ, they are enabled in their wills to choose him, and in their hearts to love him, and to rejoice in his salvation. This is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit; for faith is his gift. (Eph. ii. 8.) Unto you it is given, says the apostle (Phil. i. 29), in the behalf of Christ to believe on him; none can give it but the Spirit of God; because it is the faith of the operation of God, and requires the same almighty power to believe with the heart, as it did to raise Christ's body from the grave. (Eph. i. 20.) And this power he puts forth in the preaching of the word, and makes it the power of God unto salvation. The word is called (2 Cor. iii. 8) the ministration of the Spirit, because by it the Spirit ministers his grace and strength. So Gal. iii. 2, "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" It was by hearing faith preached, that they received the Spirit; for faith cometh hearing, and hearing by the word of God, which is therefore called the word of faith. And thus the word is the means, in the hand of the Spirit, to dispose the hearts of those who hear it to receive and to embrace Christ; whereby they attain the righteousness of faith, as Rom. x. 10: "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." the heart is the chief thing in believing; for into it Christ is received, and in it he dwells by faith. The vital union between Christ and the believer is manifested and made known in the heart, and therein it is cemented and established. With joy can the believer say, "My beloved is mine, and I am his;" happy for me, we are but one person in the eye of the law, and our interests are but one. Blessed state this! Christ gives himself freely to the believer, who also gives himself up in faith to Christ. Christ, as the believer's surety, has taken his sins upon himself, and the believer takes Christ's righteousness; for Christ makes over all that he has to the believer, who by faith looks upon it, and makes use of it, as his own; according to that express warrant for his so doing in 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23:–All things are yours, because ye belong to Christ.

This vital union, between Christ and the believer, is largely treated of in Scripture. Christ thus speaks of it in his prayer for his people (John xvii.):–"I pray for them who shall believe on me, through their word; that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." And in John vi. 56, he says, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in mo and I in him;" and this indwelling is by faith, as Eph. iii. 17: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And it is the office of the Holy Spirit to manifest this union to their hearts, as John xiv. 20: "At that day, when the Spirit of truth is come, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." And besides these, and many other plain words, this union is also represented by several striking images, such as that of husband and wife, who are in law but one person, the husband being answerable for the wife's debts, and the wife sharing in her husband's honours and goods. It is set forth by the union between a building and the foundation upon which it stands secure; between a tree and its branches, which live because they are in the tree, and grow by the sap which they receive from it; between the head and the members, which by holding under the head, live and grow, having a supply of nourishment administered to every part. Under these beautiful images, the Scripture sets forth the reality and the blessed fruits of this union. The Holy Spirit makes it known to the believer, by enabling him to rely on God's word as infallible truth, and to receive Christ's person as the Almighty Saviour; and he strengthens it by enabling the believer to make use of Christ's fulness, and to live by faith upon him in all his offices, for the partaking of all his promised graces and blessings. That faith, which is of the operation of God, always produces the knowledge and the fruits of this blessed union, and enables the soul to give itself up to Christ, that it may be one with him, not in a figurative, metaphorical way, but as really and truly as the building is one with the foundation; as much one in interest as husband and wife; one in influence, as the root and the branches, the head and the members. So that this is not an empty notion about Christ, or some clear knowledge of him, or a more approving of his way of salvation, but it is an actual receiving of him into the heart for righteousness to justify, and to dwell and reign there to sanctify; a receiving him as a perfect Saviour, and living upon him and his fulness; waiting upon him to be taught daily; trusting wholly for acceptance to his blood and righteousness; resting, relying, leaning upon his promised strength to hold out unto the end; and hoping for eternal life as the free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The saving faith thus receives Christ, and thus lives upon Christ. Now, reader, examine and prove thyself whether thou hast this faith. Dost thou believe with thy heart unto righteousness? Thou canst not live upon Christ unless thou art first in Christ. Thou must be first persuaded of thine interest in him, before thou canst make use of it and improve it; and therefore the knowledge of thy union with him must be clear and plain before thou canst have a free and open communion with him. There must be faith before there can be the fruits of faith, and strong faith before there can be much and ripe fruit. Little faith will receive but little from Christi the weak believer is full of doubts and fears; and when he wants comfort or strength, or any other things which Christ has promised to give his people, he is questioning whether he has any right to expect them; and therefore he does not receive them, because he has not boldness and access with confidence to God by faith in Christ Jesus. From hence appears the necessity of being established in the faith. The believer must have clear evidence of his interest in Christ before he can live comfortable and happy upon Christ; therefore he must look well to the foundation, and see there be no doubts left about his being settled upon it. Christ being the sure foundation, how can he safely build thereon all his salvation, unless he be first satisfied that he is upon it? The peace with God in his conscience, every act of spiritual life, and the whole walk and well ordering of his conversation, depend upon the settling of this point.

It ought to be finally determined and brought to this issue –"Christ is mine; I know it from the word of God. I have the witness of the Spirit of God; and Christ allows me, unworthy as I am, to make use of him and of his fulness for the supply of all my needs; and I find I do make use of him, and thereby I know from daily experience that I am in him, because I live upon him." According as this point is settled, so in proportion will be the life of faith. If the believer be thoroughly grounded in it, without any doubt or fear, then he may and will with confidence improve his interest in Christ; but if he still leave it in suspense, his faith can be but little, and therefore he will obtain little comfort or strength from Christ.

Reader, art thou one of the weak in faith? Dost thou feel it? Dost thou mourn for it? And dose thou know from whence thy faith is to be strengthened? Who can increase it but he alone who gives it? O pray, then, to the Lord God to give thee the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that the eyes of thy understanding may be enlightened to see the infinite sufficiency of Christ's person, as God-man, and the everlasting merit of his life and death to save his people from their sins. And whatever hinders thee from seeing the fulness of Christ's salvation, and resting comfortably by faith upon it, earnestly entreat the Lord to remove it. If it be sin, beg of God to make thee more willing to part with it. If it be guilt, pray him to ordain peace in thy conscience, through the blood of sprinkling. If it be much corruption, it cannot be subdued until it be first pardoned. If thou hast got under the spirit of bondage, look up to the Lord Christ for that liberty wherewith he makes his people free. Whatever it be, as soon as it is discovered to thee, make use of prayer, believing God's word of faithfulness, that what thou askest thou shalt have, and that he will so establish thee that thou shalt go on from faith to faith. May it be thy happy case! Amen.

Reader, if thou art an awakened man, convinced of sin by the word and Spirit of God, all thine enemies will try to keep thee from the dear knowledge of thy union with Christ. The reason is plain, because then thou wilt not be able to depend upon Christ's promised strength, and to make use of it by faith, which is almighty to defeat them all. Hearken not, therefore, to any suggestion, nor be afraid of any opposition, which would hinder thee from seeking to be fully convinced of thine interest in Christ, and of thy being a branch in the true vine. Satan will use all his wiles and fiery darts, and all carnal professors will be on his side, and they will have close allies in thine own breast, in thine unbelief, in thy legal spirit, and in thy lusts and corruptions. Consider why do these enemies fight so hard against thy being safely settled and comfortably grounded upon Christ by living faith? Is it not because thou wilt then be an overmatch for them, through the strength of Jesus? And does not this plainly show thee the absolute necessity of knowing that Christ and thou are one? Till this be known, thou wilt be afraid to apply to him, and to make use of his strength; and till thou dost use it, all thine enemies will triumph over thee. O beg of God, then, to increase thy faith, that thou mayest be fully convinced of thy union with Christ, and mayest live in him safe, and on him happy. Hear and read his word, and pray for the effectual working of the Lord the Spirit in it and by it, that faith may come and grow by hearing, until it be finally settled, without doubt or wavering, that Christ is thine and thou art his. After the believer is thus grounded and established in the knowledge of his union with Christ, it behoves him then to inquire what God has given him a right to in consequence of this union; and the Scripture will inform him, that in the covenant of grace it has pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell in his Son, as the head, for the use of his members. He has it to supply all their need. They cannot possibly want anything, but it is treasured up for them in his infinite fulness; there they may have it, grace for grace, every moment as their occasions require; and they have it in no other way, and by no other hand than faith, trusting the word of promise, and relying upon Christ's faithfulness and power to fulfil it: as it is written, "the just shall live by his faith." (Hab. ii. 4.) Having received justification to life by faith in the righteousness of Christ, 'he depends on Christ to keep him alive, and makes use of Christ's fulness for all the wants of that spiritual life which he has given. He trusts him for them all, and lives upon him by faith for the continual receiving of them all; and according to his faith so it is done unto him.

Let this be well weighed and considered, that the justified person lives and performs every act of spiritual life by faith. This is a very important lesson, and therefore it is taught in Scripture as plainly as words can speak. Everything is promised to, and is received by faith. Thus it is said, Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; and if children, then heirs according to the promise, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and holiness, made for their use, wisdom to teach them, righteousness to justify them, and holiness to sanctify them; yea, he has all things in his fulness for their use, as the free grant speaks (1 Cor. iii. 21), &c.: "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." Consider, believer, what a large estate this is: thy title to it is good, and thou enterest into possession by faith. See then that thou make use of thine inheritance, and live upon it. Do not say, when thou wantest anything, I know not where to get it; for whatever the God-man has of wisdom, righteousness, holiness, power, and glory, he has it, as the head of the body, for thee as one of his members, for thy use and benefit; and he has promised it to thee in his word. Make free with him then. Go to him with confidence. Thou canst not do him greater honour than to receive from him what he has to give. That is glorifying him. It is putting the crown upon his head, and confessing him to be a perfect, all-sufficient Christ when it pleaseth thee, as it did his Father, that in him should all fulness dwell, and when thou art content to live out of thyself upon his fulness for the supply of all thy needs in time and in eternity. To live thus upon him is his glory, and it is thy privilege, thy interest, and thy happiness. In every state, spiritual and temporal, and in every circumstance thou canst possibly be in, thou art commanded to look up to Christ, that thou mayest receive out of his fulness, and to depend upon him to save thee from every evil, and to bestow upon thee every good. In thy walk heavenwards, and in everything thou meetest with by the way, put thy trust in Christ, and expect from him the fulfilling of all his promises. He has all power in heaven and earth, for that very purpose. Still rely upon him, and cast thy burdens on him, when thou art tempted; when old corruptions arise, when the world and the devil assault thee, when under a sense of weakness and dulness in duty, when in darkness and desertion, in persecution and trouble, in pain and poverty, in sickness and death. This is the Life of Faith. Thou wilt live like a Christian indeed, if, being in any of these cases, thou believest that Christ is able, because he is almighty, and willing, because he has promised, to supply thy wants, and then canst trust in him for that supply. Depend upon it, thou shalt have it, and it shall be done unto thee according to his word.

After the believer is become one with Christ, and through him has a right to all the riches of grace, and may by faith make use of them as his own, why is he so long in learning this lesson perfectly? Being adopted into the heavenly family, and an heir of the heavenly inheritance, why does not he immediately live up to his privilege, and to his estate? His title is good. The inheritance is sure. All things are become his: for all fulness is in Christ, and by virtue of his union with Christ, this fulness is his: and he may by faith be always receiving out of it every grace and blessing, which Christ has promised: why then does not he at once attain to this happy Life of Faith? Sad experience proves that young believers do not. They meet with so many difficulties, that they grow up slowly into Christ in all things. They do not attain to a solid establishment in the faith in a day. Enemies without and within stop their progress, insomuch that they often continue little children for a long time. They have the same right to Christ, the same privileges, and the same promised grace, which young men and fathers in Christ have, but they have not learned by experience how to improve their interest in him, and to make the most of it. The difficulties and temptations which weaken their hold of Christ, and stop their growth in him, are many; some of the chief are these:–

1. They continue little children and weak in faith, because they do not presently attain a solid acquaintance with the person of Christ, and are not thoroughly satisfied, how able he was and sufficient for everything he undertook, and how perfectly he has finished every part of his work.

2. This keeps them ignorant of many things in which the glory of his salvation consists; hence they have not clear believing views of its fulness and of its freeness.

3. By which means they labour under many doubts about the manner of their receiving this salvation. A legal spirit working with their unbelief puts them upon reasoning continually against being saved freely by grace through faith; and–

4. These legal unbelieving reasonings gain great power from their unskilfulness in their warfare between nature and grace, the old man and the new, the flesh and the spirit; and–

5. All these difficulties are mightily strengthened from their hearkening to sense, and trusting to its reports more than to the word of God. While believers are under these difficulties, their faith meets with many in its growth, and until they be enabled to overcome them, they continue to be little children in Christ. Their weak faith receives but little from Christ, and it continues weak, because they have but little dependence upon the effectual working of Christ's mighty power the exceeding greatness of his power is able to strengthen them, and he has promised it, but they dare not trust him. Consider, therefore, reader, if thou art one of these babes, why thou dost not grow up faster into Christ.

The first thing that stops thee is the ignorance which is in thy mind about his person, and the prejudice against him, which is in thy carnal heart. These are in all men by nature; and these Satan will work upon, in order to hinder the increase of thy faith. He will use all his cunning, and his power, to keep thee from growing in that knowledge of Christ which is eternal life. He will inject into thy heart blasphemous thoughts against his Godhead; and when thou art reading in Scripture, or hearing about his being God manifest in the flesh, he will try to puzzle and perplex thy imagination with a How can these things be? He will represent the union of the two natures in Christ as a thing not to be understood, and as if they who believed it with the clearest evidence of God's word and Spirit, had only some fancy about it. He has an old grudge against Christ, and will not scruple to tell any lies of trim. He was a liar from the beginning, and abode not in the truth. Regard him not. Mind what the word of truth says, and pray thou mayest understand it: for the more thou knowest of the Lord Christ, that blessed God-man, the more wilt thou be settled and established in him. It is written of him, first, that he is God, true and very God, in the holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity; a person co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Isa. ix. 6): "Unto us a child is born, who is the mighty God." Secondly, that he is Jehovah, which signifies the self-existent essence (Isa. xliii. 11): "I, even I, am Jehovah, and besides me there is no Saviour." From whence it is evident, that the Saviour is Jehovah, and that he exists in a manner independent of, and distinct from, all other beings and things. St. Judo makes the opposition to this fundamental truth the condemning sin of certain heretics, who denied Jesus Christ to be the only Lord God and our Lord. In the covenant of grace this divine person undertook to be made man. He who was true and very God was made true and very man; he had a reasonable soul and human flesh, and was in all points like other men, sin excepted. And as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ. This is the glorious person who undertook in the covenant of grace to be man's surety. St. Paul calls him the surety of the New Testament; and what could there be wanting in him for this high office? He is every way qualified to be the surety for man, who is himself true and very man; who is also God as well as man, and therefore has all the perfections of Jehovah to render what he did and suffered as man's surety infinitely and everlastingly meritorious. This is the blessed object of faith, God and man united in one Christ. Consider, then, reader, what the Scripture says of his wonderful person, in order that thy faith in him may be established at very self-existent God, who spake and all things were made, who commanded and they stand fast to this very hour, was made flesh. He came to be the surety for his people, to obey and suffer in their stead. What could not his almighty power effect? Is anything too hard for the Lord God? What obedience can his Father's law demand, which he is not infinitely able to pay? What sufferings can satisfy his Father's justice, which he is not absolutely qualified to endure? For he has every perfection and attribute equal with the Father. On this truth thou must rest; and is it not a sure foundation? In the certainty of it thou must seek to be more grounded every day: because as thou growest in the knowledge of his divine person, thou wilt become more satisfied of his infinite sufficiency to save; and fully convinced of this, thou wilt be enabled from Scripture to answer and silence thine own unbelieving thoughts, and to reject the blasphemous suggestions of Satan against the Lord Christ. Observe, then, that he is God, and that he is Jehovah. I/cad and meditate on what the Scripture says of his Godhead, and pray that thou mayest be taught of God to understand it; for no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. It is his office to glorify Jesus, by enabling thee to believe him to be Lord and God, and to call him thy Lord and thy God; and to prove he is so, by thy humble dependence upon him for every blessing, both in time and in eternity.

It is much to be lamented, that believers in general take so little pains to get a clear knowledge of the doctrine of the ever-blessed Trinity; for want of which their faith is unsettled, and they are liable to many errors both in judgment and in practice. I would therefore most earnestly recommend it to all that are weak in faith, to be diligent in hearing and reading what in Scripture is revealed concerning the Trinity in Unity, looking up always for the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit; and I would direct them to a form of sound words in the Common Prayer-book for Trinity Sunday, which contains the shortest and best account of the subject that I ever saw. "It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord, almighty, everlasting God; who art one God, one Lord, not one only person, but three persons in one substance: for that which we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or inequality." These are precious words. Meditate, reader, upon them, and entreat the Holy Spirit to enlighten thine understanding with the saving knowledge of them, that being established in the doctrine of the ever-blessed Trinity, and of the Godhead of the Lord Christ, thou mayest be enabled to overcome the difficulties which arose,

Secondly,–From thy not being well acquainted with the nature of Christ's salvation, concerning which young believers are apt to have many doubts. Carnal reason is strong in them. The spirit of bondage resists with many and mighty arguments, and unbelief musters up all its forces, and there is a long and obstinate fight against being saved freely and fully by the grace of Christ Jesus. But the arguments which God has provided in his word, when applied by his Spirit, will prevail and overcome. Meditate upon them for the establishing of thy weak faith. Consider, first, the covenant. Salvation is not a thing of chance, or left to man's will or power, but it was contrived by the blessed Trinity in the covenant of grace, and everything belonging to it was perfectly settled It is said to be (2 Sam. xxiii. 5) an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. O thou of little faith, why then dost thou doubt? What! doubt of God's love? Here is a covenant springing from his mere love, and from everlasting. Doubt of its being well contrived? Infinite wisdom orders it in all things. Doubt of its being well executed? It is in all things sure, sure as God's almighty power and faithfulness can make it. What motives are here for the strengthening of thy faith? May the Lord render them effectual! Reflect, secondly, upon the undertakings of the Lord Christ, the surety of this covenant. There was nothing left out of this covenant: it was ordered in all things belonging to salvation, and Christ undertook to perform all things on the part of his Father, that his law might be magnified, and his justice made honourable and glorious; and on the part of the sinner, that he might be saved from all evil, and entitled to all good. And being God and man united in one Christ, he was a proper surety to reconcile God to man, and to reconcile man to God. May these things, then, sink deep into thy heart, that thy surety has undertaken the whole of thy salvation, to do all for thee, and all in thee, and all by thee. What canst thou desire more for the settling of thy faith?

Thirdly.–Perhaps thou wilt say, his undertakings were great, but has he fulfilled them? Yes, and perfectly, that he is able to save to the uttermost. He was called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins; as their surety, he was to fulfil the law for them by his obedience, and to suffer the pa{ns and penalties of it by his death and passion. Accordingly, in the fulness of time he was manifest in the flesh, and came to do the will of his Father: of his obedience to that will he thus speaks: "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." Of his suffering that will, he said, with his last breath, "It is finished." Observe, whatever he undertook to do in his life and death was finished; and it was demonstrated that, as man's surety, he had done and suffered everything ordered in the covenant, by his resurrection from the dead: for then did the Father declare him to be the Son of God with power. Will not all this satisfy thee, O thou of little faith? Here is one more cause of thy doubting removed; thou canst not deny but Christ has finished everything he undertook, and in consequence thereof he has all power in heaven and earth to bestow a full and finished salvation. What canst thou now object?

Fourthly.–Does a thought arise in thy heart? It is finished: but is it so freely given, that such an unworthy creature as I am may partake of it? Yes: it comes to thee in the way of a free gift. Great, inestimable, and eternal, as it is, yet it is all thine in receiving. Not he who worketh, but he who believeth, is justified from all things. It is by faith that believers are justified and sanctified, are strengthened and comforted in their walk; by faith they fight against all their enemies, and by faith they conquer and lay hold of eternal life. And therefore it is all of faith, that it might be by grace. Salvation is wrought out and finished by thy surety, given to thee freely, continued with all its blessings in time and through eternity, as a free gift, to the praise of the glory of free grace. Why, therefore, art thou discouraged? Hast thou nothing to buy with? Then obey the Lord's command. Come and buy free salvation, without money and without price. How should this motive still add to the establishment of thy faith! for there thou seest whatever thou wantest is thine by believing. Thou mayest have it freely by grace. It is treasured up for thee in the fulness of thy dear Saviour, and thou canst not honour him more than to make free use of it. What dost thou say to this? Hast thou anything to object? Canst thou find any fault with the covenant of grace, or with the undertakings of the God-man in it? No, certainly, the covenant was well ordered in all things and sure, and what the surety of the covenant undertook he has perfectly fulfilled. Salvation is finished on his part; he has glorified the law by his infinitely perfect obedience; he has made divine justice honourable by his sufferings and death; he has brought in everlasting righteousness for his people, and will bring them to everlasting glory; for he has already taken possession of it for them as the head of the body the church, and he has all power in heaven and earth to save them day by day, until he make them .partakers of his eternal salvation. What can thy heart wish for more, than such a Saviour, and such a salvation? O! be not faithless then, but believing; and if thou hast any doubts left, endeavour to have them cleared up by reading and prayer, until thy faith be perfectly settled on the divinity of God thy Saviour, and the infinite sufficiency of his salvation. These two point lie at the very foundation of the Christian religion: they must be supposed in all its principles, and built upon in all its practice; therefore, being of universal influence, if they be thoroughly established, thy faith will be steadfast, and thy life well ordered and comfortable. Examine, then, and prove thyself here, before thou readest any farther. Dost thou believe Christ to be true and very God, in every perfection and attribute equal with the Father? And is his a full and a free salvation P All the following directions depend upon, and can only profit thee, so far as thou believest these two points. Look well, then, to thy establishment in them. If it be strong, the life of faith will be steady and prosperous; but if it be weak, thou wilt be liable to be tossed about continually with errors, and overcome with temptations, especially with those to which a legal spirit will expose thee, as I purposed to show under the

Third general head, in which is to be considered how the little children in Christ, for want of being established in the belief of his Godhead, and of his full and free salvation, labour under many doubts: a legal spirit working with their unbelief puts them upon reasoning continually against being saved freely by grace through faith:

He is of a legal spirit who is under the law, and apprehends himself bound to keep it as the condition of life, requiring of him, Do this and thou shalt live. In his understanding he sees this and no other way to life; in his will he is continually inclined to it, and in his heart he loves it, because he fancies it in his own power to attain life in this way, and he can merit it by his own works, which mightily gratifies his self-love and indulges his pride. This legal spirit reigns over all men in their natural state, but does not discover its tyranny until it be opposed; and then so soon as the soul is quickened from a death in trespasses and sins, it begins to fight, trying to keep the poor sinner in bondage by its legal workings and strivings, and putting him upon seeking for some good disposition or 'qualification in himself, on account of which God should love him. Thus the awakened soul, under the spirit of bondage, always seeks deliverance by the works of that law, which can do nothing more than bring him to the knowledge of sin, discover to him the exceeding sinfulness of it, and the exceeding great punishment which it deserves; by which means it is always nourishing the doubts and fears of unbelief. And after the Lord has in a measure removed them by a clear discovery of the salvation that is in Jesus, and by the gift of faith, yet still this legal spirit will be trying to bring the soul into bondage again to fear; and it too often prevails. Young believers find it the worst enemy they have to deal with. It is a sly, subtle foe, that seems to intend them a kindness, while it is always on the side of their greatest enemy. It would appear to them to be actuated by a zeal for God, but it is to eclipse the glory of the Lord Christ, to take away the all-sufficiency of his salvation, and to rob them of their great joy and peace in believing. If any one should ask how this legal spirit comes to have such power over mankind, the Scripture informs us,

First,–That all men, being God's creatures, are under the law to him, bound to keep it; or bound, if they transgress, to suffer the threatened pains and penalties. In this state man was created, and in it all men are by nature; and therefore there is in us all a continual leaning to the law, and a desire to attain righteousness by the works of it. We are all wedded to this way .of gaining God's favour. The apostle says there is a marriage union between ns and the law; and it, like a husband, has dominion over us as long as it liveth; so that we cannot be married to Christ until that be dead wherein we were held. You may see this in the Jews. How does Moses labour to bring them off from an opinion of their own righteousness? And a greater than Moses has done the same in his discourses against the Scribes and Pharisees: yea, the apostles of our Lord were forced to write and preach against this leaning to the law, it gave such disturbance to the true disciples of Christ. And notwithstanding the Scripture arguments against it, yet we have great numbers, among us who seek for a justifying righteousness by the works of the law. And they are put upon seeking this,

Secondly,–From their ignorance of the law. They are not acquainted with its nature, for it demands what they cannot pay. It insists upon an obedience, spiritual, perfect, and uninterrupted; for the least offence, if but in thought, it comes with its fearful sentence, "Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." On him who does not continue in all things,–and not one man ever did,–this sentence takes place; and if he was to live a thousand years, he could not do anything to repeal it. The law will always be to him the ministration of condemnation and the ministration of death; and that is all it can do for him. It provides no remedy, and gives him no hope, but leaves him condemned to the first and to the second death; and yet such is the blindness of the sinner, that he will be still leaning to the law, and afraid to trust wholly to the righteousness of Christ; and this arises,

Thirdly,–From his ignorance of Christ's righteousness, which is infinitely perfect, and wants no works of the law to be joined with it in the justifying of a sinner; because it is the righteousness of God, wrought out by the God-man for his people, and it is the righteousness of faith. They receive it by faith, without works, so that it is directly opposite to the righteousness of a legal spirit. Hence we have many among ns, great professors too, who are ignorant of God's righteousness; they have not been entirely brought off from a legal bottom, and therefore they talk of being justified without a justifying righteousness; which if God was to do, he would be unrighteous, and which, as he has declared he will not do, their fancied justification leaves them still in their sins. They dare not put their whole trust and confidence in the righteousness of Christ imputed unto sinners, and made theirs by faith. They have many fears about imputed righteousness, although the apostle has not scrupled to mention it eleven times in one chapter (Rom. iv.); and these fears make them read the Scripture with such prejudice, that they say they cannot find the expression, faith in the righteousness of Christ, in all the Bible. They may find the sense of the expression in Moses, and in all the prophets, and the very words in 2 Peter i. 1:–" Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who have obtained like precious faith with us in the righteousness of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Here is faith in the righteousness of Christ, with several glorious titles to recommend it; namely it is the righteousness of God, of God our Saviour, of Jesus Christ. From whence can men's opposition to this way of justification arise, but from their not being convinced by the Spirit of God of the necessity of Christ s righteousness? It is his peculiar office to convince us of this truth. No teaching but his can do it. O that, he may do it in the hearts of those who, out of a zeal for God, though not according to knowledge, eclipse the glory of the Lord, and rob afflicted consciences of their comfort by opposing imputed righteousness! It is a righteousness of so high and heavenly a nature, wrought out by another, and so wonderful a person is bestowed as a free gift upon the chief of sinners, whereby alone they obtain remission of their sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven; and they receive it by faith only, without works, which a legal spirit always wants to mix with it, that no one could ever believe in it unless it were given him from above. May it be given to those professors who cannot yet submit to the righteousness of Christ, to see their want of it, and with the heart to believe in it unto salvation! Reader, hast thou not found what an enemy this legal spirit is to thy peace and joy, and how iris always inclining ghee to some self. righteousness, through thy ignorance of the righteousness of the law and of the righteousness of faith? And wouldst thou gladly be delivered from it? Know, then, that nothing can subdue it but the bringing into thy conscience a better hope, from a better righteousness than that of the law; and when thou art enabled to plead it there, against all the charges of sin and Satan, then thou wilt stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made thee free. His is a better righteousness; it is infinitely perfect and everlasting, even the righteousness of God; by faith in this righteousness thou shalt be saved from the law, and shalt receive remission of sins; through it the Father doth accept thee, and give thee the Spirit of his Son to lead, and comfort, and sanctify thee; he doth love thee and bless thee, as his dear child, making all things work together under him for thy good, and keeping thee by his mighty power through faith unto salvation; so that in and on account of this righteousness thou shalt be saved from all the evils of sin, and receive all spiritual blessings in earth and heaven. And this thou shalt have freely, without any merit or work of the law; for this righteousness comes wholly by grace, and is for thee a sinner as such, and is to justify thee from the condemnation of the law, to turn its curses into blessings, and its threatened punishments into happiness. And this it can do for thee perfectly and everlastingly; so that being found in this righteousness, there is no grace promised in time or glory in eternity, but it shall be thine. The Lord God promises them to thee, in the fullest and freest manner,–to thee, without any exception or limitation, being a sinner and ungodly; though one of the vilest and basest, yet to thee, as such, is the word of this salvation sent. And it will be all thine in the comfortable enjoyment of it, through believing. Thou art to bring nothing to recommend thee, but that thou art a sensible dinner, and thy right and title to a finished salvation is clear from the warrant of God's word, when thou believest with thy heart in the righteousness of Christ. The divine command is, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; the promise is, Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, shall receive remission of sins, shall be justified from all things, shall have everlasting life. Why, then, dost thou lean to works, since salvation is by faith? Why dost thou disquiet thyself about attaining the righteousness of the law, and thereby suffer the law to disturb the peace of thy conscience, since thou hast a far better righteousness which ought to reign there, even the righteousness which is of God by faith? [For thou art a believer, and although a weak one, yet thou hast as good a title to Christ and his righteousness as the strongest believer in the world; because thy right comes from the free grant of the word of grace, and is apprehended by faith, by which all things are become thine. Thou art an heir of them all, by faith in Christ Jesus. O thou of little faith! why then dost thou doubt? Remember how highly thou dishonourest the infinite love and free salvation of Jesus, and how much thou robbest thy own soul of its peace, and of its growth in grace, by thy weak and little faith. Think upon these things, and entreat the Author and [Finisher of the faith to strengthen it in thy soul. But perhaps thou wilt say, How shall I so live upon Christ with my weak faith, that it may grow stronger, and I may get the better of my legal spirit? Here is the remedy–may it be to thee effectual! The Scripture directs thee to look at Christ God-man as thy surety, who for thee has wrought out a finished salvation; and whatever he has promised in his word relating to this salvation, thou art to trust him for the making of it good, and to depend upon his faithfulness and power to make it good to thee. What ever, therefore, he has done and suffered to save thee from the curse of the law and from the spirit of bondage, and to make thee free with the liberty of the children of God, thou art to live upon him for these blessings, and by faith to be always receiving them from him in the fullest and largest measure that he promises them to thee. Look not into thyself, then, for any qualification, but look unto Jesus, that thou mayest experience more of that liberty wherewith he hath made thee free, and mayest be no longer a babe, unskilful in the word of righteousness. Hear what he says:–If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed: free from the law of sin and death, free from condemnation at the bar of God; and being freed from the bondage of corruption, ye shall be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. This is the freedom which God promises thee; it is very extensive, has many noble privileges, and vast blessings. By faith all is thine. See how perfectly believers have received all; and may thy faith be like theirs! Item. viii. 15, &c: "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Observe what is here said of the believing Romans, and by faith thou shalt experience the same as perfectly as they did.

1. They were freed from the spirit of bondage under which they once had laboured.

2. They were so freed as to be under it no more; they were not to fear again, as heretofore; for,

3. They had received the spirit of adoption, and he gave them the evidence of their sonship. Upon which,

4. They believed God was their reconciled Father, and they had boldness and access to him with confidence. And therefore, 5. They lived in light, and walked in love, like his children and heirs, who were to abide in his house for ever.

See also what great freedom the Galatians had, chap. iv. 4, &c. "God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God. hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father; wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." O what treasures of grace and consolation are there in this scripture, tending to subdue thy legal spirit! Consider some of them.

1. All men having broken the law, and being under the curse of it, Christ was made under the law, that the law might reach him as the surety of his people; accordingly,

2. By his obedience to the precepts, and by his suffering the penalties of the law, he redeemed his people, who were under the law; so that,

3. They are no longer in bondage to it; but being made free, and having received the adoption of sons,

4. They have the spirit of liberty sent into their hearts to witness to them, that Christ fulfilled the law for them; and,

5. That the Father loves them, as his dear children, and they love him and serve him without fear, crying to him, Abba, Father:

6. Wherefore they are no longer servants in bondage to any one, but are made free indeed, being now the sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus; and,

7. If sons, then heirs of God, and free to inherit whatever he has promised to give his children in earth and heaven.

These and many more arguments are contained in this one scripture, tending to subdue thy legal spirit, and to bring thee to live more comfortably by faith upon Christ, who, as thy surety, has fully kept the law for thee in his life and death. Thou art to consider thyself now, not under the law, but under grace, and therefore absolutely free from the condemning power of the law. This thou must maintain against all the carnal reasonings of thy legal spirit, Christ is my law-fuller. And thou wilt glorify him for redeeming thee from under the law, and will live in sweet peace in thine own conscience, while thou keepest fast hold of this most blessed and eternally precious truth. May all thy reading and prayer, and the use of all means, help thee to grow in the knowledge and experience of it!

There is a very strong bias and leaning in weak believers to a legal spirit, which ought to make them read such promises as I have been mentioning over and over again, that God may thereby encourage them to maintain the liberty which he hath given them in Christ Jesus, and to stand fast in it against the fresh attacks of the devil and unbelief. They should be always jealous over themselves, and watchful against their enemies; because, after they have in a truly gospel and evangelical way, through grace, got their legal spirit subdued; yet if it be not in the same way kept subdued, it will break out with more power than ever, and will be likely to bring them into bondage again to fear. And this may, and I have known it often happen, after they had obtained some great victories over it; and finding it not stir for some time, they flattered themselves they should have but little trouble with it any more. Thus they were drawn off their guard, which gave room to their legal spirit to exert itself again with vigour. This surprised the weak believers, put them upon reasoning and doubting whether all had been right with them before; and so at the very time when they should have taken the shield of faith, and should have been making use of it, they were questioning whether they had any; which left them unarmed in the midst of their enemies, an easy prey to every temptation; but an invisible power kept them safe, although they were not comfortable in themselves. For the encouragement of persons in this case, that they may presently recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, they should observe, First, What the Scripture says of a legal spirit, describing it to be one of the members of their corrupt nature, one of the affections of the flesh, which will never be quite dead while the breath is in their bodies. It is an enemy that will be always fighting against the Holy Spirit; for they are directly contrary the one to the other; and therefore believers must not dream of any such victory as leaves no more fighting, but must expect sharp battles with their legal spirit, as long as ever they lire. And, secondly, The same means by which they formerly obtained victory must be made use of again. As often as the legal spirit is tempting, Christ's strength must be opposed to it, and his strength must be brought into the soul by faith in his righteousness, as it is written, Isa. xlii. 24: "Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." Righteousness comes first, and is established in the conscience, that it may be pleaded and maintained there against all the charges and accusations of the law. And as often as these arise afresh, still they must be answered and silenced with this plea–In the Lord Christ have I righteousness; he is my law-fulfiller; and I depend upon his promised strength to make me stand fast in that liberty wherewith he hath made me free. And the soul must not only thus quiet and stay itself by faith upon the righteousness and strength of Christ for victory over the present temptation, but must also, thirdly, continually do this; because there is in our nature a continual opposition to it; the experience of which is the believer's safety. The abiding sense of his being naturally inclined to lean to legal dependencies, and therefore his want of Christ every moment, to justify him by his righteousness, and to keep him by his strength, will be the surest way to prevent his falling into bondage: for this will keep him very jealous over himself, and will show him the necessity of living out of himself for righteousness and strength; and while he liveth upon Christ for these by faith, he shall not be overcome by any enemy.

The glory of the incarnate God, and his infinite sufficiency to save, have not a greater enemy than a legal spirit; and therefore I have enlarged upon this point, they were saved from the condemnation of the law, They will never live comfortably till they see the law dead and buried, and then willingly give up themselves to be espoused to Christ, who will make them free indeed. And when they have learned of him to enjoy and walk in their Christian liberty, then they will be better acquainted with the warfare between nature and grace, the old man and the new, the flesh and the spirit, which warfare is the Fourth great hinderance, that stops the growth of faith in weak believers. They are unskilful in it, soon tired of it, and often likely to be defeated. They do not enter into the battle strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, nor are they certain, if they fall in battle, they shall be saved with an eternal salvation. These are great discouragements; and until these be removed, they cannot fight the good fight of faith, like good soldiers of Christ Jesus. The case is thus: there is in every believer an old man and a new man–nature and grace, flesh and spirit; and these are opposite and contrary the one to the other in their principles and actions; they are always desiring different things, and pursuing different ends, which occasions a continual war between them. The flesh lusteth always against the spirit, and has many and mighty allies on its side, armies of lusts, the faculties of soul and body to bring forth sin, hosts of fallen angels, and all the world that lieth in wickedness. But the new man, renewed in the spirit of his mind, has a reconciled God on his side, and therefore he need not fear what any enemy can do unto him, but may bravely face the stoutest of them, even death itself, relying upon that sure word of promise, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Here is the believer's encouragement to fight, his God will never leave him. Here he obtains victory every day, his God never forsakes him; and after he has fought the good fight of faith, his God and Saviour will make him more than conqueror; he will send death to kill sin. And then the believer will never more have temptation from it, nor sorrow about it. But till that happy time come, he must be fighting against his corrupt nature and all its allies. No peace can be made with them, not even a truce. He must expect no kind of favour from them, because they are God's irreconcilable enemies; and therefore, as long as he is in the world, he must be fighting against the world; as long as he has a body of flesh, he must oppose it with its affections and lusts, because they war against the soul; and as long as he is in the reach of temptation, he must oppose the tempter, steadfast in the faith, never putting off his armour, until the Lord give him a discharge.

The believer's peace within, and victory without, are closely connected with the dear understanding of this case; and although I have stated it from the word of God and agreeably to the sense in which the church of God has always interpreted it, yet for its more full confirmation, some testimonies must be brought, which speak to the very point: first, to the believer's having in him an old man and a new; secondly, that these two are at war; and thirdly, that they fight together till death.

First,–the apostle says to the saints at Ephesus (iv. 22, &c.): "Put off the old man, put on the new." Mind, the same persons had both in them an old man, corrupt according to his deceitful lusts, daily to be put off, and a new man to be put on, and renewed day by day in the spirit of his mind. The old man is described to have a body of sin with all his members, his affections and lusts; these must not be obeyed, but mortified. "Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof; neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." (Rom. vi. 12, 13.) The saints at Rome had sin in them, and it wanted to reign as it had done heretofore in the lusts thereof; but,

Secondly,–They were not to obey them. There was in them a new man, who was to fight against those fleshly lusts which war against the soul. "the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would (Gal. v.17) Here is battle between two, the flesh, the whole nature of the old man, and the spirit of the new man born again of the spirit: the cause of it is, the one wills what the other hates; each wants to carry his own will into execution; and these being contrary the one to the other, they fight fir mastery; in the battle, the flesh, the old man, is defeated, and the spirit working in the new man conquers; and this lusting and fighting is in one and the same person, in him who is said to be not under the law, to be led by the spirit, and to live and to walk in the spirit. In Rom. viii. 7, the apostle calls the flesh the carnal mind; and he says, "It is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Since it is enmity itself, there is no reconciling it; it will not, nay it cannot obey God, but is ever lusting and rebelling against his law. The nature of the battle is described at length in Rom. vii., the chapter consists of three parts,–first, the believer's liberty from the law, to ver. 6; secondly, he answers some objections made against the law from its nature and properties; and that in his own person, because it had been the means of bringing him to the right knowledge of sin (ver. 7); and sin being discovered by the law, through the corruption of nature, raged and rebelled the more in him (ver. 8); and the law had made him sensible of God's anger against sin, and of his deserving death and hell for it (ver. 9 to 14); and from thence to the end of the chapter, he describes the conflict between the old man and the new, the one consenting to the law, and the other resisting the law. In this conflict there were three sharp attacks; in the first he found in himself two contrary principles of action always resisting each other, the old man fighting against the new (from ver. 14 to 18); secondly, when the will of the new man was good, through the opposition of the old man, it had not the desired effect (ver. 19, 20); and thirdly, he felt in himself two contrary laws, both requiring obedience, the law of the members warring and rebelling against the law of God written in the renewed mind; for no sooner did his mind guided by the Holy Spirit, set about everything which God's law commanded, but he found the law of the members making a strong resistance. This he groaned under, as a heavy burden, and was humbled for it before God, expecting pardon from him, and victory every day, and perfect deliverance at last. I cannot enlarge upon this chapter. Turn to it, and read it over upon the plan which I have here laid down, remembering all along that St. Paul is describing himself; he ten times says it is himself he is speaking: of, from ver. 7 to ver. 14, where he is showing of what use the law had been to him, when he was first convinced of sin; and from thence to the end, he mentions himself thirty-eight times. I, the apostle Paul, I myself, my very self, and not another; I myself am, now, at this present, at the very time of writing this; I myself, whom the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made free from the law of sin and death; I myself, to whom now there is no condemnation, for I am in Christ Jesus, and I walk after the Spirit, am still at war with sin that dwelleth in me, with the old man, with the flesh, with the law of the members, with the body of sin. Although I have a new nature, and God is on my side, yet it is a hard and a sharp battle. I find it so. The length of it makes it still more painful, and forces me to cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Paul was not out of God's favour, or accursed; but as the word rendered wretched means, he was weary and tired with this continual fighting, troubled with the filthy motions of sin rising and striving and, rebelling in him, and giving him no rest: this was such a hard warfare that he was ever looking out and praying, "Who shall deliver me?" He meant wholly, perfectly, deliver me from this corruption. He sighed for it, not because he doubted of an absolute deliverance, but because he had sure and certain hope of it; not because he was ignorant who his deliverer was, but because he had steadfast faith in him. "Thanks be to God through Jesus. Christ." This comforted him, and kept him fighting on with courage. He knew that he should gain the victory; and through Christ, not through his own virtues or works, but through faith in the life and death, in the blood and righteousness of Christ, he should at last be more than conqueror.

Since this was the case with the apostle, who can expect a discharge from this warfare until death? What! says one, is it to continue so long? Yes, the Scripture is very clear to this point, as I was thirdly to show.

The seat of the corruption of the old man, or of the flesh, is not only in our nature, but is also our very nature itself. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, altogether carnal and corrupt. It is a filthy fountain, always sending forth impure streams, and therefore, while the believer is in the body, he must either be fighting against the flesh, or else be led captive by it. We that are, says St. Paul, in this tabernacle of flesh, do groan, being burdened with sin and sorrow. And when did they expect an end of their groaning, and rest from their burdens? Not till the tabernacle was dissolved by death. Ourselves, says he, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. The body wilt be redeemed from the grave, and raised like the glorious body of Jesus Christ; this is promised, and this we wait for; and until death deliver us from this mortal corruptible body, we shall be groaning under the burden of it. This was St. Paul's case. He had long sighed to be discharged from his warfare, and, like an old, weary, tired soldier, he wished the hard, tedious campaign was ended, that he might enter into rest; but hear with what joy he at last cries out, "I have fought the good fight." Have fought it? What! is the battle over? Yes, just over. "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand–I have finished my course." My battle and my life are finished together; and so must thine, reader. Thou art to resist unto blood, striving against sin; for thou art called to fight the good fight of faith, until thou lay hold of eternal life. Since thou art a believer, however weak, and hast a new man in thee, as well as an old, the will be fighting against each other, till thou finish thy course. And if this discourage thee, consider what God has spoken concerning this warfare, and what exceeding great and precious promises he has made to them who are engaged in it. He has promised to pardon those corruptions of the old man, to subdue them, and to 'deliver thee from the very being of them. Canst thou desire more? Mark well what he says to thee, and be not faithless, but believing.

First,–Although the believer has an old man, corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, always warring against the new man, yet the Lord God has promised a free and a full pardon, because he has imputed sin, all thy sin, to the Son of his love, who bore it in his own body upon the tree. After the apostle, in Rom. vii., had described the battle between them, he makes this inference, "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus," to them who are in Christ, united by faith as members to him their head, and thereby partakers of his righteousness, there is now, while they are fighting against their corruptions, no condemnation; "For," says he, "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of*sin and of death." (Rom. viii. 2.) These words demonstrate that Paul was speaking of himself in the 7th chapter. Although he had the corruption of nature still in him, and was fighting against it, yet being in Christ by faith, he was made free from the guilt and punishment due to it; therefore he had, and every believer shall have, a full pardon. In consequence of which, Secondly,–He shall subdue the corruptions of the old man. This is promised, and shall be made good. The Lord encourages believers to oppose the reign of sin in their mortal body, and not to obey it in the lusts thereof, with this promise, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." (Rom. vi. 14.) Ye are under grace, and grace is almighty to subdue sin, because it is atoned for. In like manner he says to the Galatians (v. 16), "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." Ye shall not fulfil them either in word or deed. The lusts of the flesh will be in you, but not one of them shall reign over you; the Spirit of Jesus will teach you to resist, and enable you to overcome them, yea, to crucify and mortify them day by day. And besides this, the Lord has promised,

Thirdly,–Deliverance from the very being of thy corruptions. The time is coming when they shall not exist in the believer, nor any more be suffered to tempt him. He shall be made holy and blameless, without spot or wrinkle of sin, or any such thing. In this perfect state the Father now sees him, and accepts him in the beloved, and after death admits the soul into his presence, cleansed with the blood, clothed with the righteousness, adorned with the graces of his dear Son; and body, soul and spirit shall be in this perfect state in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ–they shall be unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. It doth not yet appear how great a perfection of holiness this will be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall then be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Such are the divine promises. And dost thou not see from hence, reader, what great things thou art to expect in thy present war, fare? If thou sayest, How shall I attain all that is promised? Know that it is to come to thee by faith. Christ, and all that he has, is thine upon believing, and particularly a free pardon for indwelling sin, as well as for any other. Consider him as thy surety God-man, taking thy sins and sufferings upon himself to save thee from them. By his life and death he has obtained full salvation, which he gives to thee freely. And thou hast received it. Thou canal not deny but thou art a believer, and it is written, "All that believe are justified from all things;" from the corruption of their nature, as well as the corruptions of their lives. Know, then, that there is no condemnation to thee. The judge himself says so. And when he acquits, who shall lay anything to thy charge? Here thou must hold, through the power of the Lord, if thou wouldst have thy spiritual warfare successfully conducted. Abide by the sentence of God, and keep condemnation out of thy conscience. Have it ready to plead against all charges, from whatever quarter they come, that Christ hath made ME free from the law of sin and of death. Here I must refer thee back to what has been said concerning Christ and his finished salvation. Thou now seest how necessary it is thou shouldst be well established in the belief of his Godhead, and the infinite sufficiency of his salvation, so that he is both able and willing to save thee from all thy sins, and all the misery due to them, and to bestow upon thee eternal happiness, and to bring thee, by his almighty power, safe to the eternal enjoyment of it. All this he will give thee, not for working, but in believing. I entreat thee, therefore, to read again and again what has been before said upon these subjects; and the good Lord help thee to apply it to thy present ease, that thou mayest be fully assured thou art in Christ, and that there is no condemnation to thee!

But perhaps thou art ready to say–Steadfastly do I believe all this; but I do not find such victory over my corruptions as I could wish; nay, I think at times they rage more than ever. Here thou forgettest the Lord thy strength. Thou dost not make use of him, and therefore thou failest. The woman with the bloody issue grew worse and worse till she went to Christ: so wilt thou. Why is it given thee to know Christ in the Spirit, but that thou shouldst go to him daily and plead his promise –Lord, thou hast declared that sin shall not have dominion over thy people: I believe this word of thine cannot be broken, and therefore, helpless in myself, I rely upon thy faithfulness to save me from the dominion of such and such a sin (as then tempts thee). Put forth thy power, O Lord Christ, and get thyself glory in subduing my flesh with its affections and lusts! And then trust him to make his word good, and wait the event. Sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, than sin, any sin thus left with Christ to be subdued, shall reign over thee.

If thou sayest, I think I seek for victory over sin in no other way, and yet I do not attain it so completely as I desire; depend upon it, thou art under some mistake; for Christ is almighty to fulfil every promise in its largest sense alibi fullest meaning, and there never was a believer who could justly charge him with the breach of his word. Perhaps thou 'dost believe, that power to subdue sin comes from Christ, and thou art expecting it from him; but hast thou not some legal dependence, some notion of thy own working together with him? Search and see. Dost thou commit ALL to the Lord, who is to do ALL and in ALL? Is the whole battle left to him,–wisdom, and courage, and armour, and strength, and patience, and victory, are all from the Lord? If thou art not doing this simply, thou art not living by faith upon Christ, but thou art fighting in thine own strength, and depending upon some inherent stock of grace, or knowledge, or experience. While these proud selfish motives put thee upon asking his help, he will not give it thee; because thou dost not wholly depend upon him for it.

Or perhaps Christ does not appear on thy side, because thou art proposing some wrong end. Thou art working and striving against sin to establish a righteousness of thine own, which is to be some part of thine acceptance before God; and thou hast been trying in thine own strength to get thy corruptions quite subdued; but they were too strong for thee, and therefore now thou art glad to make use of Christ's help. And if he would do the work for thee, then thou wouldst have confidence in the flesh, and this thy fancied holiness would be the ground of thy rejoicing before God. Is it not so? If it be, thou wilt never succeed upon this plan. Christ will not give his glory to another, nor put the crown of his gospel grace upon the head of thy legal dependence.

Or perhaps thou art expecting from Christ what he has not promised, such a victory over thy corruptions that they shall not fight again for some time, or that they shall be quite dead and buried. And so they shall be in the Lord's appointed time. But now he calls upon thee to fight against them; he provides thee armour for that purpose, even the whole armour of God; and he requires thee to resist unto blood, striving against sin, promising thee daily victory. This is thy present state of warfare. To this thou art now called, and there is no discharge in this war. O beware then, as thou lovest thy soul, of a false peace! Thou wilt be sadly deluded, if thou ever supposest that thy fighting is over, before thy course be finished. The good fight of faith must continue till death; for till then, corruption being in thee, thou must oppose it, relying upon God for promised victory over it is able to save thee from the very being of it now, as well as in heave41. But it is not his mind and will. Here he will have thee to live by faith, which is every moment to keep thee dependent upon Christ, or thou wilt fall. This is to exalt his grace, and to subdue thy selfish legal spirit; to humble thy pride, to put thee upon prayer and watchfulness, to make sin more hateful, and heaven more desirable; and to secure the glory of every victory to him, whose strength is perfected in thy weakness. These are some of his gracious purposes in keeping thee continually dependent upon his strength; and if he has made thee willing to fight and conquer, to the praise of the glory of his grace, then thou wilt experience that blessed promise–"sin shall not have dominion over thee." And it will not be long before sin shall not have a being in thee. Reader, if thou hast fallen into these or any other mistakes concerning the subduing of thy corruptions, mind what is written and what is promised. Having first received, through faith, in the blood of Christ, the pardon of thy sin, then, as one of his good soldiers, thou art to fight against it all thy life. He being on thy side, promises to subdue sin for thee.

Without him thou canst do nothing in this warfare, and therefore thy faith resting on his promise, is to wait the fulfilling of it. He has given thee his word that he will use his almighty power for this purpose. To that word must thou look, believing that Christ will bring thee victory continually, if thy faith fail not; greater, as thy faith increases; complete, when the good fight of faith shall be ended, and thou shall rest from thy labours. All this he stands engaged to do, and his power is able to fulfil his engagements, and thy faith will bring thee happy experience of his power. When corruptions rise, temptations are strong, enemies numerous, dangers on every side, that is the time to glorify Christ, by making use of his promised strength. Then put thy trust in the captain of thy salvation, and fear not. Look unto Jesus, and look at nothing but him. The battle is his. He will fight for thee, and thou shalt hold thy peace. Leave him to direct all, to do all, and to finish ail relating to it, and then, as he can get all the glory, thou shalt see what a salvation he will bring thee. O that thy faith did but reach to the extent of his promises! How successful would be thy spiritual warfare, such victories over thine enemies, corruptions so subdued, the world so crucified, Satan so defeated, as thou canst now scarce believe. The Lord increase thy faith! Look up to him for it: because, as thy faith increases, let the battle grow hotter and hotter, thou wilt find thyself safer, and have more reason to give thanks to God, through Jesus Christ thy Lord.

For want of attending to the important truths already considered, and of bringing them into constant use and exercise, young believers are liable to fall into another great mistake, which keeps their faith weak, and stops its growth; namely, a hearkening to sense, and trusting to its reports; which is the fifth general head I purpose to consider.

They are seeking to be established, and they think that they should have no doubt of their being true believers, if they had but the testimony of sense, and comfortable feelings, to assure them of it. And being used to judge in this way in other matters, for it is our strongest evidence in natural things, they are disposed to expect the same in spiritual; and they are the rather disposed to it, because sensible comforts are promised in Scripture: which being very desirable and pleasing to nature, they are apt to covet them too much; and from not regarding what the Scripture says about them, they are apt to seek them in a wrong way, and for a wrong end. Sense judges from what it sees, and draws its inferences from what it feels: so that its report to the conscience, either of a believer's state, or of his growth in it, is not from unchangeable things, which would settle the conscience in peace, but from changeable things, which leave room for continual doubting. Sense also looks at the fruits of faith more than at the object of it: and if the believer has been misled and taught to confound these two together, he will be at great uncertainty in judging of his state; for instead of making the word of God, he will make his comforts the ground of his faith; and as these are mole or less, so will his faith be When he has comfortable feelings, then he will think himself a believer; and when he has none, then he will think himself an unbeliever; changing his judgment of himself as his feelings do, like the wind, and varying as his comforts do, like the weather. This is a common case. I have seen the sad effects of it in the lives of many of my acquaintance, who, from being taught thus to judge of themselves, were tossed about for several years, up and down, now comforted, then doubting, and could not get any solid establishment, till the word and Spirit of God convinced them that sense was not to be the ground of their believing, nor the object; to which they were to look. Sense judges by feeling, and reports what it sees. Sense says, Now I am in the favour of God: for I feel it. Now he is my God: for I find him so; I am comforted. Now he demonstrates it to mo: for I feel nearness to him in prayer, and sweet answers. Now I am sure my duties and services are acceptable: for I am quite lively in them, and I come from them with warm affections. Now I cannot doubt; for I feel the assurance of his low to me. And when sense has lost those comfortable feelings, then it draws contrary inferences.–Now I am not in the favour of. God: for I do not feel it. Now he is not my God: for I do not find him so; I am not comforted, &c.

What can be the issue of this, but continual wavering and changing? for our feelings are sometimes more, sometimes less, as every believer experiences. What an unsettled state then must he be in, who has no way to judge of himself, but by those changeable things? What room does he leave for continual doubting, and what; trouble and misery does he thereby bring upon himself, as well as dishonour to the unchangeableness of God, in his nature and promises! If the poor, weak believer should say, I am convinced of this, and I should be glad to have my faith so fixed, that I might be freed from doubts and fears; then let it rest upon the word of God, which is the only ground of believing, and is therefore called the word of faith, upon which faith is built, and by which it is nourished and grows up. The believer should receive and rely upon what God hath spoken, and because he hath spoken it; for his word changeth not: it abideth the same for ever: therefore, what it truly reports, stands upon an immovable rock. Sense and feeling may report things contrary to it; but the believer can silence them with, God has spoken it: for his faith has evidence of things not seen; and he does not form his judgment by the things which are seen, but by the things which are not seen. Generally speaking, faith judges the very contrary .to what sense docs, and will not believe what sense preceives. Abraham, against hope, believed in hope; so do all his children. They believe the pardon of sin, victory over sin, and the death of sin; the immortality of the body, though crumbled to dust and atoms; the second coming of Christ, and the eternal state of happiness or misery. Faith looks at God's word, calling the things which be not, as though they were, and is commonly forced to contradict sense. Sense judges from what it sees,–faith from what God says; sense is governed by what appears,–faith by what God says shall be; sense looks inward,–faith looks outward: faith can answer the seeming contradictions which sense opposes to it, from the word of God, which cannot be broken; and, when sense is ready to despair, and all its fine frames and feelings are gone, then it is the believer's happy privilege still to trust in the Lord, and to have a good hope, because of the word of his grace.

But perhaps thou art ready to say, It is written, that there is great joy and peace in believing; yea, joy unspeakable and full of glory. True; these are what faith produces, and not what it is. These are the fruits of faith, which it brings forth in most abundance, from the inexhaustible fulness of Jesus. The more simple the believer is, the more he eyes Christ the object of faith, and the word the ground of faith, the more clear and distinct will the actings of his faith be, and consequently it will bring greater peace into the conscience, and more joy into the affections. But still these fruits are not faith; no more than the fruit is the tree. The fruits do not go before faith, but follow it, and grow from it. This is God's order. He gives us his word to be the ground of our believing; and by believing all things promised in the word are made ours then we go on comfortably and are happy; but when sense is put in the place of the word, then the consequence is, that weak believers have got a changeable rule to judge of themselves by, which hinders them from being established in believing, and from attaining the promised peace and joy.

Some may begin to object, What! are you against all lively frames, and sensible comforts? No, God forbid. I would have them spring from the right cause, that they might be more pure and fixed than they commonly are. God's word and promises are an unchangeable foundation to rest upon, even when sensible feelings are gone, because Christ, revealed in the word, and laid hold of in the promises, changeth not. Therefore, reader, for thine own sake, and for the glory of God, take heed what thou buildest thy faith upon. Beware of making anything that sense reports to thee the ground of it, but rest it upon that which abideth for ever. The word of God is a sure foundation: it will never fail thee. Thou mayest safely depend upon it, because it cannot be broken, and steadfastly rely upon Christ to make its promises good to thee. There is thy object. Look at him. And since he is thine, thy Saviour and thy God, make use of him as such, and trust body and soul, and all things belonging to them, in his hands, and, among the rest, thy comforts. Be content he should give them to thee as seemeth him good. Set not thy heart upon them, nor follow him, as the multitude did, for the sake of his loaves and fishes, and the dainties that he gave them, who, when these were withheld, soon forsook their kind benefactor. Thou art by faith to make up all thy happiness in him, and in him only; and he himself being thine, let him give thee or take away what he will besides, thou hast enough. What! is not this comfort enough, that thou hast got the pearl of great price, the infinitely rich, inestimably precious Jesus P who has the wisdom of God to contrive what is best for thee, boundless love to dispose him, and almighty power to enable him to give it thee; and he has promised it; canst thou desire more? Walk then with him by faith, and not by sight. When the word of God is the ground of thy faith, which rests there, and is grown to a fixed settlement, then thou wilt be enabled to go on comfortably, whatever thy frames and feelings be; yea, when these are at the lowest ebb, thou wilt not be thereby discouraged. Suppose thou art walking in darkness, thou canst walk by faith, because thou hast a promise: "Who is among you that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." (Isa. 1. 10.) Still let him trust and believe. Why? Because God is his God still. Mind that, his God still; this blessed relation still subsists, and faith may draw comfort from it in the darkest hour. Suppose thou art in heaviness through manifold temptations; the word says to thee, "Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Here thou mayest quiet thy heavy heart, and rest with confidence, till the Lord deliver thee out of thy temptations. Suppose God hideth his face from thee, thou hast the example of those in the same ease: "I will wait for the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and will look for him." (Isa. viii. 17.) Wait in faith, looking for him, and thou shalt see the light of his countenance. Suppose all other comforts fail; thou hast one still, worth more than all–"This God is my God for ever and ever. He will never leave me nor forsake me." This is the happiness of the true believer; he is enabled to maintain his confidence, when sensible feelings are no more. And thou seest, reader, how this happiness is attained, and how it is preserved. It is by trusting to things which change not, the word of God, the Son of God, and his promises, all which are in him, yea, made in him, and in him, Amen, fulfilled by him. May the Lord help thee simply to trust his word, and to live upon Christ for the fulfilling of it; and then thou wilt indeed get, what thou art now seeking in vain, a comfortable frame, and wilt be enabled to maintain it against all the discouragements of sense. To that end, search the Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation; and let it be thy daily request to the Lord to make thee strong in faith, that thou mayest not stagger at his promises through unbelief, but mayest against hope believe in hope. Beg of him, when sense goes contrary to the word, to enable thee still to believe it, and not to doubt of Christ's faithfulness to fulfil it–and ask for strength to walk every moment by faith, and not by sight. Thus the Lord will carry thee on safely and sweetly from faith to faith, till thou receive the end 'of thy faith, even the salvation of thy soul. May it be so. Amen.

St. Paul has been my guide hitherto, He says (Heb. v. 13), that a babe in Christ is one who is unskilful in the word of righteousness. To this determination of his, I have had an eye all along, and have accordingly endeavoured to remove those hinderances out of the way of young beginners, which chiefly arise from their unskilfulness in the word of righteousness. Righteousness signifies strict justice, with respect to God; it is paying him the full demands of his holy law: in this sense there is none of us righteous, no not one. The God-man Christ Jesus, the surety of his people, came to work out such a righteousness for them, and the word reveals it, sets it before them in its infinite freeness, and in its infinite sufficiency to justify from all things. The word is also the means in the hand of the Spirit, of bringing them with the heart to believe unto righteousness, and therefore the Scripture is called the word of righteousness; and being unskilful in it, signifies want of experience in the management of it, unskilful in the knowledge of the person of the Lord our righteousness; who is true and very God, as well as true and very man; unskillful in the nature of his righteousness, that it is absolutely perfect and everlastingly meritorious, so that any sinner, by receiving it, will be not only, delivered from sin, and all the miseries due to sin, but will also be en-titled to life and glory; unskilful in the gift of righteousness, how freely God bestows it, nothing being required make it the sinner's, but receiving it, and therefore it is called the righteousness of faith: because by faith he trusts in it for salvation, and for all its blessings in earth and heaven, and expects them as the fruits of righteousness–unskilful in experience, not knowing how to plead this righteousness against the charges of the law, of conscience, and of the accuser of the brethren, and therefore apt to fall into a legal spirit, to be distressed in their warfare between the old man and the new, and to covet and to rely more upon sensible feelings, than upon the sure testimony of God in his word. These are some of the principal difficulties which young believers meet with, and they all arise from their unskilfulness in the word of righteousness; and therefore I have particularly considered some scripture motives for removing them out of the way. And after thou hast perused these motives, have they been the means of settling thy judgment, comforting thy conscience, and strengthening thy faith? Dost thou see more of Christ's grace and power to save thee a sinner, than thou didst before, and therefore canst trust him better, and in time of need make more use of his premised grace? If this be thy case, give him the glory, and may he carry thee on from strength to strength! But if thou hast received no improvement from reading thus far–what is the reason? Perhaps thou art under -some of the temptations here described. Search, and see. And whatever it be, either in doctrine or experience, which hinders the increase of thy faith, may the Lord discover it to thee, and enable thee to overcome it, that thou mayest be no longer a babe unskilful in the word of righteousness, but mayest grow up to be a young man, strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might!

The apostle Paul has directed me how to speak to the babes in Christ; and another apostle shows how they grow up to be young men, and thereby he furnishes me with matter for the second part of this treatise on the Life of faith: "I have written unto you, young men," says he, "because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one." (1 John ii. 14.) These young men knew the principles of the doctrine of Christ; they were established in the belief of his Godhead, of the infinite sufficiency of his salvation, of the free gift of all its graces and blessings, promised to him that worketh not, and received by faith only, and all treasured up for the believer's use, in the fulness of Christ Jesus, to whom he is to bring nothing to recommend him, but the promise of the grace which he then wants, and a dependence upon Christ to supply that want. These young men had attained to a good degree of knowledge and experience in these truths. They began to be able to keep the evidence of their union with Christ clear and distinct, and to improve it by their communion with him in all his offices. But notwithstanding their establishment in these points, they had many temptations and great difficulties–still they knew but in part–still they had a fleshly corrupt nature to watch over and to fight against, always inclining them to trust to the law, to their feeling, to anything but Christ, and always disposing them to yield to the suggestions of the devil, and to the allurements of the world. This warfare, instead of ceasing, grows hotter and hotter, but they grow stronger. It is the peculiar character of the young men in Christ to be strong: they have learnt where their strength lies, and they put it forth. They go down to battle not trusting in any power or might of their own, but strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. He is their strength. When the enemy cometh in like a flood, then to Jesus they look for safety and victory–"O our God, we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, ut our eyes are upon thee." the abiding sense of their own weakness keeps them dependent upon him, so that the more they feel of their helplessness, the stronger they grow: because they live more upon Christ for strength, which illustrates that seeming paradox of the apostle, "When I am weak, then am I strong"–when I am most sensible of my own weakness, then am I strongest in the Lord; his strength is then perfected in me. And his strength is put forth in the effectual working of it by believing. It is not, neither can it be, inherent in them, who without Christ can do nothing, but it is brought in by faith; nor does faith bring it in to lodge it, or lay it up in store, till it shall be wanted; but when it is wanted, faith then regards the promise, looks up to Christ to fulfil it, and receives strength out of his fulness. And being his, freely promised, and freely given, it is therefore called the strength of grace. "Thou, therefore, my son," says Paul to Timothy, "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Strong faith gets strong grace from Christ, according as it is written–"All things are possible to him that believeth;" for according to his faith it shall be done unto him. If his faith reach to the full extent of the promises, he shall find all things possible, which God hath promised, yea, he shall be able to do all things through Christ strengthening him.

This is the life of these young men in Christ. They are strong in him, living upon his promised strength, and by faith receiving it. They live not upon anything in themselves; but whatever they stand in need of, and whatever they have a promise for, that they expect shall be given them, by the power of God their Saviour. They see themselves poor helpless creatures, full of continual wants, and no means in their own power to supply them the sense of this empties them of self-greatness and self-dependence, and the abiding sense of this keeps them humble and dependent upon Christ. Thus the Lord teaches them how to live out of themselves, and to be always receiving out of the Saviour's fulness grace for grace. They have his infinite storehouse to repair to, in which there is treasured up for them everything that they can possibly want. Happy for them, their God has promised to supply all their need out of the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus, and by faith they have an abundant supply to the praise of that God, who keepeth his promise for ever. In him they live–he is the Lord and giver of spiritual life, as Paul says-"I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." They are made strong in him. "The Lord is the strength of my life," says the Psalmist (Psalm xxvii. 1). That life which I live by the faith of the Son of God has all its strength kern him,–and is continued by his power–"For none can keep alive his own soul." (Psalm xxii. 29.) "It is God who holdeth our soul in life." (Psalm lxvi. 9.)

And is kept by faith–"Ye are kept by the power of God through faith." (1 Pet. i. 5.) Whatever strength the believer wants, to enable him to bear hardship, endure the cross, fight his spiritual enemies, daily gain victories over them, he expects it from God, and through faith he receives it, and is kept–yea, so kept as to be confirmed unto the end. He that is able to keep believers from falling, Will keep them until they receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls. Thus the life which Christ begins by his grace, he continues by his strength; and every act of this spiritual lift is from him. The will, the power is his; for he doeth all, and in all. These young men were so well assured of this, that they lived upon Christ for strength, and they received it; they were strong in him. Their faith viewed him in his exalted state with all power in heaven and earth, and engaged as their covenant head to use it for them, to make them and to keep them alive to God. On this power they depended; and whatever promise they had of its being used in their behalf, and pleaded it out at the throne of grace, and trusted Christ with the fulfilling of it, he never disappointed them. They were made strong, and stood fast in the Lord, who never withdrew his supporting arm; therefore they never ceased to put their whole trust and confidence in him.

When the enemy sees them thus strong in the Lord through faith, it stirs up his devilish malice, and makes him burn with envious rage. He leaves no temptation untried to draw them from Christ. He is well skilled in cunning wiles and sly devices for this purpose. He does not begin with tempting them to open sin; that would at once disc?over his wicked design; but he artfully tries to sap the foundation, and to weaken their faith. If he can get them from their dependence upon Christ, he carries his point; and too–too often he succeeds. Oh, beware, reader, of everything; suspect it, let its appearance be ever so fair and good, which in the least; tends to weaken thy fast hold of Christ. Cleave to him with full purpose of heart, as long as ever thou livest; for the enemy's whole plan is to separate thee from him.

Formerly he tried to do this by distressing thee about thy sins–how they could be pardoned–whether, being so great, so many, the blood of Christ could cleanse from all: now thou hast through believing received forgiveness of sins, he will try to do the same by distressing thee about thy duties. Sometimes he will try to bring guilt into thy conscience, by suggesting to thee thy many failings and shortcomings in them–the disorder of thine imagination–thy wanderings in thy prayers–thy dulness in hearing and reading the word–the little life and power thou findest in thine attendance upon the ordinances, and the coldness of thy love to God and man. If he can get thee to dwell upon these things, so as to forget Christ, then he has made way for this insinuation–How could it be thus with thee, and thou a strong believer? And if he can get thee to reason upon it, then he has thee fast, thou art catched in his snare. But if the Lord has taught thee not to be ignorant of Satan's devices, as soon as the thought arises, whether thou art in Christ, because of such failings, thou wilt know from what quarter it comes, and wilt immediately resist it. So, that the temptation will make thee stand faster: it will drive thee closer to Christ, make thy dependence stronger on his blood and righteousness; put thee upon making more use of him as thy intercessor and advocate with the Father, and help thee to live more out of thyself by faith upon him. Thus Christ becomes precious, thou art more humble: the snare is broken, and thou art delivered. When the enemy sees this, his implacable malice will soon tempt thee again. He has another deep-laid stratagem relating to thy duties, and that is from their being unsuccessful. Thou hast had something laid much upon thy heart, and thou hast carried it to God in prayer, and thou hast waited long, but no answer comes. Upon this, Satan takes occasion to suggest–Now you see God does not give you what you ask; although he has promised, Ask and ye shall have; the fault cannot be in him, therefore it is plain you are not in his favour; his promises do not belong to you. And if he can thus work a little upon thy impatience, he will soon get thee into doubting and unbelief. Here thou mayest see how all the wiles of Satan tend to one point; namely, to separate thee from Christ, and how necessary then is it that thou shouldst have this settled beyond all question that Christ and thou are one? If this be maintained in thy conscience, then Satan's stratagem is defeated: for Christ being thine, he will give thee everything that he has pro-raised; and although thou hast it not just at the time thou hast fixed thyself, yet he knows best. Thou shalt certainly have it, if his infinite wisdom sees it good for thee; and if he does not see it good, his love will give thee something better. Thy faith must wait God's time. Strong faith can wait long. Having such a promise as this to depend upon–" They shall not be ashamed to wait for me" (Isa. xlix. 23), thou mayest with confidence wait, and be a follower of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises; who by faith regarded the promises, by patience waited for the fulfilling of them; and although they waited long, yet they succeeded at last, and did inherit every grace and blessing for which with faith and patience they had been waiting. Go, and do thou likewise. Upon the failing of these temptations, the enemy has another ready. Since he cannot get thee off thy guard, by bringing thee into doubting and unbelief, he will attack thy faith in another way. He will come like an angel of light, and seem to be Christ's friend and thine. He will allow thee to be a child of God, and to be strong in faith. The more clearly thou art satisfied of thy union with Christ, the more will he improve, if thou art not aware, this thy certainty to his own wicked purposes. He will try to keep thine eye upon thy great graces and high gifts; he will flatter thee exceedingly upon them, and will tempt thee to view them with a secret delight, every now and then insinuating what a great Christian thou art–how few there are like thee–to what an exalted state thou hast attained–what temptations thou hast overcome–what victories thou hast gained over Satan–and how safe thou art now, fast upon the rock'! And if he finds this pleasing bait is not instantly rejected with a–Get thee behind me, Satan, then he will begin to work upon thy self-love, and to give thee many plausible reasons for self-admiration, so that thou shalt first look pleasing]y at, then fondly love, and at last sacrilegiously dote upon thy wondrous attainments. Thus he will lift thee up with pride, and will try to draw thee into his own crime, and into his own condemnation. What a dangerous temptation is this! How many have I known who fell into it! If thou sayest, By what means shall I escape it? Mind the first approach: for it is coming upon thee as soon as thou beginnest to think of thyself more highly than thou oughtest to think. Thou art in thyself a poor, miserable, helpless sinner, and to this very moment without Christ thou canst do nothing. Thou canst not do one good thing, nor overcome the weakest enemy, nor take one step in the way to heaven, without Christ: nay, thou canst not think one good thought without him. What hast thou then to be proud of, and to stir up thy self-admiration? Nothing but sin. The humble abiding sense of this tends to thy safety; for while this is ever present with thee–"In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing," it will lead thee to live by faith upon Christ for all good things. And being all his, and received every moment from him as his free gift, thou wilt be glorifying and exalting him in all, and for all; knowing that he resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace unto the humble. The Lord keep thee humble, and then thou wilt have grace to escape this cunning wile of the devil.

If thou shalt say, Alas! I am fallen into it; how prosperity said he never should be moved, the favour of the Lord had made his mountain to stand so strong. (Psalm xxx. 6, 7.) He was too confident in himself, and was moved. How did he recover his standing? "I cried unto the Lord, and unto the Lord I made my supplication. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me, Lord be thou my helper." His prayer was heard; he found mercy to pardon his offence, and help to raise him up; and his mourning, he says, was turned into joy and gladness. Look up as he did to the Lord Christ. Plead thy pardon through his promised mercy, and beg of him to enable thee to walk more humbly with thy God. Then shall the Psalmist's experience be thine, and thou shalt escape the snare which was laid for thy precious life.

These young men having thus overcome the devices which Satan had contrived to weaken their faith, must expect a fresh attack from him. He will tempt them concerning the ground of faith. He sees they are strong, because the word of God abideth in them, therefore he will use all his cunning and power to weaken their trust in the word and promises of God. By the incorruptible seed of the word, faith is begotten; and by the same word it is nourished up and strengthened, growing exceedingly from faith to faith. The word, which is the sole ground of faith, reveals the covenant made by the eternal Trinity for the salvation of sinners, and makes many free promises of every covenant blessing to him that believeth. These promises may most steadfastly be relied upon, because of the unchangeable nature of God, who makes them. All his perfections are engaged for the fulfilling of his word; so that what he has spoken has an actual being and existence, he says, and it is done–saying and doing are the same with him. Let there be ever so great a distance of time between the word spoken and the thing done, yet this is as real as anything now in being; because it exists in the-mind and will of God, is revealed in his word, and by his faithfulness and almighty power is to be established at the time appointed. How is it possible then that this word should be broken? There is no matter of fact of more undoubted evidence, nothing in futurity, not even, the rising of the sun to-morrow, so fixed and certain. as the accomplishment of God's promises to him that believeth. These young men in Christ were most assuredly persuaded of this truth. They knew that heaven and earth should pass away before one tittle of God's promises should fail, They looked upon them all as made, in Christ, in him Yea, and in him Amen; made in him, and fulfilled to him, as the head of the body the church, and in him fulfilled to all his members. As certainly as every one of them has been made good to him the head, so will they be made good to his members. He has all power in heaven and earth committed to him for that very purpose. Whoever by believing is joined to him, he has thereby a right and title to every promise, and may boldly sue it out in time of need: and then it is Christ s office and glory to fulfil the promise. If mountains of difficulties stand in the way, the believer need not fear or doubt. Christ is upon the throne. What are difficulties against his almighty power? Besides, Christ has already given him good security. He has put into his hands the pledges and earnests of the promised inheritance, and how is it possible he should fail in fulfilling his engagements, and putting him in due time into actual possession? Read what the apostle says of this subject. Turn to the passage; for it is too long to quote, Heb. vi. from verse 11 to the end of the chapter; in which you may observe these particulars:–

1. The heirs of promise are apt to be full of doubt, and to have strife in their consciences about their right and title to all the graces and blessings of salvation.

2. God was willing, out of his infinite mercy, to establish their right and title to them beyond dispute, and to put an end to all strife.

3. Therefore he engaged, by promise, to give them all those graces and blessings, and,–

4. To show the unchangeableness of his will herein, be confirmed the promise by an oath.